A closer look
Pyrrhus of Epirus, one of the greatest military commanders of the ancient world, was unceremoniously killed when an angry old woman dropped a roof tile on his head. After winning so many incredibly costly battles that the term 'Pyrrhic victory' was literally named after him, he marched his battle-hardened army into the streets of Argos. During the chaotic urban skirmish, an elderly mother watching from a balcony saw Pyrrhus fighting her son below. In a spectacular display of ancient vigilante justice, she ripped a heavy clay tile right off her roof and chucked it with terrifying precision, striking the legendary king squarely in the spine. It is profoundly hilarious that a tactical genius who terrified the Roman Republic was ultimately permanently defeated by a frustrated senior citizen armed with basic masonry
