In 274 BC, Pyrros, a tireless military master, has just returned from his expedition in Italy. A series of defeats has faded his aspirations for an Epirus that will spread beyond the sea. But he sets new goals. He invades the neighboring Macedonia. Macedonia’s king, Antigonos Gonatas, reacts and expedites against Epirus. Pyrros is waiting for him on the banks of the Aoos River, leading an army of infantrymen, horsemen, Galatian mercenaries, and elephants. The victory gives him Upper Macedonia and a large part of Thessaly, so Pyrros consecrates copper Macedonian shields and spoils from the rival army to the sanctuary of Zeus at Dodona. The small part of copper coating with traces of the inscription "ΒΑ[ΣΙ]ΛΕΥΣ", which is kept in the museum today, was probably part of one of those commemorative shields.