Pyrrhic War

The Pyrrhic War was an armed conflict between Rome and King Pyrrhus of Epirus, which was a small mountainous State lying in northwest Greece. It took place from 280 BC to 275 BC in southern Italy and Sicily. Although the Greek king came out victorious in the first two battles, he suffered heavy losses as the Romans put up tenacious resistance. He lost so many men that he is reputed to have said: "one more victory like this and I'll be lost," thus, leaving in history the famous phrase "pyrrhic victory".

The Pyrrhic War began as a hegemonic confrontation over the Greek city of Thurii, which lay in Magna Grecia (Great Greece, Southern Italy). Thurii has been attacked by the Lucanians, a warlike people from the mountainous region. Thus, the Thurians appealed to Rome for military help. When the Romans sent a small naval fleet to the city of Thurii, the Tarentines (from Tarentum, which lay nearby) felt that their geopolitical interests in the area had been infringed; therefore, they asked King Pyrrhus for help.

The first military clashes of the war was the Battle of Heraclea, in 280 BC, and the Battle of Asculum, in 279 BC. Although the Greek army defeated the Romans in both military encounters, they were costly victories, and King Pyrrhus asked for a peace treaty, which the Roman Senate rejected. As a result, the Greek king withdrew his forces from southern Italy and transferred them to Sicily. There, he defeated the Carthaginians, who were the dominant power of the island.

After being absent for three years, Pyrrhus returned to southern Italy to help the Tarentines again as they had been cornered by the Romans. In 275 BC, both armies clashed in the great Battle of Malventum (today's Benevento), with the Romans completely defeating the the Greeks. Rome had beefed up his army and acquired great experienced in the previous battles they had lost to the Greeks. With his army having been crushed, Pyrrhus decided to return to Epirus, in northwest Greece, where he would be killed a few years later when he tried to conquer southern Greece.

Below, a bust of the mercenary King Pyrrhus