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King Pyrrhus and his pyrrhic victories

In 280 BCE, Pyrrhus, Greek king of Epirus, crossed the Ionian (Adriatic) Sea with 25,000 infantry, three thousand horses, and twenty elephants, to help the Greek cities being threatened by Rome. He was a despotic but popular ruler who gained much popularity because, like Julius Caesar would do ~200 years later, he brought historians with him to his military campaigns. Apparently he traced his ancestry to Achilles, and proved his genealogy by his courage. As Alexander had conquered Persia, the danger in the East, Pyrrhus would conquer Rome, the danger in the West. He met the Romans at Heraclea, and won, but his losses were so great, and his resources in men and materials were now so small, that when an aide complimented him on his success he created an historic phrase by replying that another such triumph would ruin him. He tried to negotiate peace, but failed. Fought again, won another suicidal victory at Asculum, and then, hopeless of success against Rome, sailed to Sicily with he generous resolve to free it from the Carthaginians. He received so little support that he had to abandon the island after a three years' campaign, making the prophetic remark, “What a battlefield I am leaving to Carthage and Rome!” Tired by six years of these wars in foreign soil, he returned to Epirus and after a couple of years went out to fresh wars. He was killed with a tile by an old woman in Argos… Needless to say, his most important accomplishment was giving the world a new adjective.

Source: Durant, Will, 1885-1981, The Story of Civilization, Vol. 2: The Life of Greece , A history of Greek government, industry, manners, morals, religion, philosophy, science, literature and art from the earliest times to the Roman conquest. Simon and Schuster, 1939.

Pyrrhus of Epirus.
Pyrrhus of Epirus.
Public Domain

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Full disclosure, I may occasionally borrow a sentence from Will Durant's Story of Civilization. I absolutely love that collection!