Alexandros I of Epirus

Alexander I of Epirus (; c. 370 BC – 331 BC), also known as Alexander the Molossian , was a king of Epirus (343/2–331 BC) of the Aeacid dynasty. As the son of Neoptolemus I and brother of Olympias, Alexander I was an uncle and brother-in-law of Alexander the Great. The father of Pyrrhus of Epirus, Aeacides, was also his first cousin.

Biography Neoptolemus I ruled jointly with his brother Arybbas. When Neoptolemus died in c. 357 BC, his son Alexander was only a child and Arrybas became the sole king. In c. 350 BC, Alexander was brought to the court of Philip II of Macedon in order to protect him and in 343/2 Philip dethroned Arybbas and made Alexander, still in his late 20s, king of Epirus.

In his famous passage, speculating on what would have been the outcome of a military showdown between Alexander the Great and the Roman Republic, Livy reports that as Alexander of Epirus lay mortally wounded on the battlefield at Pandosia, he compared his fortunes to those of his famous nephew and said that the latter "waged war against women".