ALEXANDER I., king of Epirus about 342 B.C., brother of
Olympias the mother of Alexander the Great, and son-in-law
of Philip of Macedon, whose daughter Cleopatra he married
(336). In 332 he crossed over to
Italy to assist the
Tarentines against the Lucanians, Bruttians and Samnites.
He gained considerable successes and made an arrangement
with the Romans for a joint attack upon the Samnites; but
the Tarentines, suspecting him of the design of founding
an independent kingdom, turned against him. Although the
advantage at first rested with Alexander, he gradually lost
it, and his supporters dwindled away. In 330 (or earlier)
he was defeated at Pandosia and slain by a Lucanian emigrant.
See Justin viii. 6, ix. 6, xii. 2; Livy viii. 3, 17, 24;
Aulus Gellius xvii. 21; and article MACEDONIAN EMPIRE.
Initial text from 1911 encyclopedia -- Please update as needed