Bircenna

Bircenna
Queen of Epirus
Tenure	c. 292 BC – c. 272 BC
Spouse	Pyrrhus of Epirus
Issue	Helenus
Greek	Βιρκέννα
Father	Bardylis II

Bircenna (Ancient Greek: Βιρκέννα; ruled c. 292 – 272 BC) was an Illyrian princess and later an Epirote queen.

Bircenna was the daughter of Bardylis II, and granddaughter of Cleitus.^[1] Bircenna was the fourth out of the five wives of Pyrrhus of Epirus; she married him around 292 BC.^[2] Pyrrhus married Bircenna for diplomatic reasons and to increase his power in southern Illyria as he was an ally of Bircenna's father. Bircenna had a son named Helenus, who at an early age accompanied his father in his ambitious campaigns conducted in the Italian peninsula.^[3] Lanassa, one of the wives of Pyrrhus, left him because she claimed that he took better care of his 'barbarian' wives.^[4]

See also

• Bardyllis
• Cleitus the Illyrian
• Bardyllis II

References

1. The Ancient Library - Bardyllis
2. Plut.Before her, Pyrrhus married Antigona, Antigone, a daughter of Autoleon, king of the Paeonians; and Lanassa, the daughter of Agathocles of Syracuse. After Bircenna he married the daughter of Ptolemy Keraunos. 9.
3. Plutarch, Parallel Lives: Pyrrhus, §9
4. Diodorus Siculus, Bibliotheca historica 22.8.2