In the aftermath of Alexander’s conquests, a war for control of his vast empire raged
between his successors. Pyrrhus of Epirus was a rising star in this era, and in our
previous video we discussed his early life and conquests. Throughout the early 3rd century
BC, he gradually increased both his military power and his kingdom’s size and soon he
would be called to pursue conquests further afar as his ambitions grew ever greater. Welcome
to our second video on Pyrrhus and the beginning of his Italian campaigns.
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Demetrius’ theft of his wife and the island of Corcyra embittered Pyrrhus and, when he
discovered his foe was seriously ill in the wake of the Epirote victory over Pantauchus,
he sent an invading army into Macedonia in late 289. He was initially only attempting
to plunder the countryside, but without Demetrius to lead the defence he met almost no resistance,
reaching Aegae before he was repelled. When Demetrius had recovered, he gathered
a huge army and intended to reclaim his father’s old Asiatic possessions, and so made peace
with Pyrrhus. Confronted by Demetrius’ huge Macedonian army, the other kings - Ptolemy,
Seleucus and Lysimachus formed an alliance in order to cut their old Antigonid foe down
to size for a second time. The alliance sent embassies and letters to Pyrrhus in Epirus,
advising him of the best time to attack when Demetrius was occupied with the other kings.
Pyrrhus may have been hesitant, but to remain neutral would have resulted in no gain. If
Demetrius gained victory, he could overwhelm Epirus at any point and if the allies won
and Pyrrhus was not part of the alliance, he would reap none of the spoils. Most importantly,
this might give him an opportunity to conquer part of or all of Macedonia - and so he joined
the alliance. In 288 BC the coalition attacked. Ptolemy
sailed from Egypt in the south to attack Demetrius with a huge fleet of ships, while Lysimachus
thrust into upper Macedonia from his lands in Thrace. In response, Demetrius moved northeast
with his large army to confront Lysimachus, and at this point Pyrrhus invaded from the
south almost completely unopposed. Back to the north, Lysimachus was defeated in battle
by Demetrius, but his army was angry that their commander had allowed Pyrrhus to plunder
their lands, and unrest began to spread. After Demetrius marched against Pyrrhus himself,
the Epirote king sent agents into the enemy camp to spread propaganda and create chaos.
Small groups of Macedonians, who supposedly had begun to admire Pyrrhus and his increasingly
favourable reputation, defected, followed by the entire army. Demetrius escaped to the
coast. Though Pyrrhus had won a great victory and
gained Macedonia for himself, Lysimachus now marched into the kingdom and proclaimed that
the victory had been a joint effort. Pyrrhus, not confident in the loyalty of the fickle
Macedonians, left the kingdom to Lysimachus and retreated to Epirus. Over the next few
years, Demetrius I finally perished and his holdings were inherited by his son Antigonus
Gonatus. Lysimachus attempted to isolate Pyrrhus, but in 282 he was attacked by Seleucus. At
the Battle of Corupedium, Lysimachus was defeated and killed, while Seleucus was murdered shortly
after. His murderer, Ptolemy the Thunderbolt wasted no time after his treacherous act and
was declared king by the Macedonian army. The only other claimant to the throne of Macedon
was Pyrrhus, but he would soon decide on another course of action to the west.
Meanwhile, on the Italian Peninsula the southward expansion of a new power, Rome, was threatening
the independent Greek colonies in Magna Graecia. One of these cities, Tarentum, a colony built
by the Spartans, was the most powerful and had provoked the Romans by attacking their
ships and humiliating their envoys. Now worried about Rome, the Tarentines who governed democratically
at this point, voted to send an embassy to Epirus asking for assistance in 281 BC. Pyrrhus
agreed, but demanded that Tarentum must pay the costs of the war and give him supreme
command of the allied forces. To further pressure his western rival into going to Italy so that
he could concentrate on the east, Ptolemy the Thunderbolt of Macedon offered Pyrrhus
5,000 more Phalangites for the campaign. In early 280 BC, Tarentum sent its fleet to
transport Pyrrhus’ army to Italy. The force which embarked in Epirus consisted of 20,000
men, mostly Macedonian and Epirote Sarissa pikemen, and possibly some mercenaries, 3,000
cavalry, 2,000 archers, 500 slingers and 20 war elephants. After landing, the King began
to militarise Tarentum and deal with any political enemies there, while the Romans did the same
in the cities under their control. Preparing for the coming conflict, Consul
Publius Valerius Laevinus was given command of four legions and was ordered to march directly
against Tarentum. They wanted to force Pyrrhus into battle before his Greek allies arrived,
and raided the countryside while pushing south. In mid-280 BC their plan succeeded and, learning
that the Romans were bearing down on the Greek city of Heraclea, Pyrrhus marched to meet
his new foe for the first time. The invading Roman army consisted of four
Roman and four allied legions and was drawn up in the traditional manipular fashion. Young
Hastati manned the front ranks, more experienced Principes filled in behind them and veteran
Triarii stood in reserve. In total, the Romans had around 40,000 legionnaires. In addition,
2,400 Roman and allied cavalry were placed on the wings. They were commanded by Consul
Laevinus. Meanwhile, Pyrrhus’ initial force of 25,500
infantry had been supplemented by thousands of Magna Graecian infantry, mercenaries and
a few thousand cavalry. In total, the Greek army may have numbered around 31,000 infantry,
including his 20,000 heavy Phalangites and a few thousand local allies. 5,500 missile
troops, including 1,000 Rhodian slingers and Thracian Javelinmen formed Pyrrhus’ skirmishing
force, while his 4,000 cavalry were drawn from the expert horsemen of Thessaly in Greece,
who were famous for their ability to move in a diamond shaped formation and were armed
with the xyston, a twelve foot long two-handed spear, and some light javelins, being able
to harrass or charge with equal skill. In reserve were the Epirote king’s 20 war elephants.
In contrast to the typically aggressive Roman plan, Pyrrhus wished to delay any battle for
as long as possible until his allies could rally their forces and join him. Shadowing
the larger Roman force, he encamped on a plain outside the city near the left bank of the
Siris River, hoping to protect the settlement on terrain suitable for his phalanx, while
his enemy encamped on the other side of the river a little further upstream.
When his army was resting, Pyrrhus and his friend Megacles went scouting to examine the
enemy camp. Surprised at the organised nature of the supposedly ‘barbarian’ camp, the
Epirote king stated forebodingly “These don’t look like barbarians to me, we'll
see what they can do soon.” In order to guard the riverbank, a contingent of light
infantry missile troops was sent towards it. This done, Pyrrhus turned to other concerns,
thinking he had plenty of time in his strong defensive position. He was about to receive
a nasty shock. After a few hours of preparation, Laevinus
unexpectedly ordered the entire Roman army of over 40,000 legionnaires to cross the river.
The small force of light infantry skirmishers that Pyrrhus had placed on the riverbank pelted
the Roman vanguard with missiles and slowed them down a little, but the noise of an entire
army crossing the river deafened them, and they were unable to hear what was coming.
To their left, the Roman equites cavalry, who had crossed the river further upstream,
smashed into the flank of the defending missile units, who quickly retreated after suffering
huge losses. The Roman Velites were now coming across,
and Pyrrhus, who could not afford to lose his river defence entirely before his infantry
was ready, organised his phalanx before charging ahead of them with 3,000 of his best cavalry
and straight into the Roman light infantry vanguard. This slowed them down, and gave
the Phalangites a chance to catch up. As they approached the battle line, the Roman Hastati
crossed the river. They were better armed and armoured than the Velites, who pulled
back behind the line and instead engaged the cavalry on the wings. In this melee, Pyrrhus
was knocked off his horse and almost killed by an enemy rider, which prompted him to pull
back. His friend Megacles now swapped armour with Pyrrhus and donned the King’s unusually
magnificent armour, riding back into the fray. The Romans were now in trouble. Despite Laevinus’
bold crossing of the river, the wall of pikes was now fixed and began to slowly push the
doggedly determined Romans with their backs to the river. They fought with tenacity, but
had not found a way to hit the Phalanx in its flank or rear. Gradually, the Roman army
began to melt away under the pressure of the phalanx, but then everything turned.
Megacles, armoured in the King’s panoply, was slain by a legionary and the helmet was
paraded around the battle line, inspiring the Romans and demoralizing the Epirots, who
all believed that the king was dead. At this point, the Phalanx slowly began to waver and
the Romans pushed them back from the riverbank. The real Pyrrhus, understanding that this
was a key moment in the battle, charged up and down his line in an attempt to inform
his troops that he was not dead, shoring up their morale.
At the same time the 20 war elephants, which had until now been kept in reserve were unleashed
and hit both of the Roman flanks. While their infantry held firm, even against these monsters
most of them had never seen before, the cavalry horses panicked and bolted, retreating through
their own infantry and splitting the legion’s formation. Even the legions lost their grit
and began to run, while Pyrrhus commanded his Thessalian cavalry to chase the routing
enemy along the shore and into the shallows of the river.
By the end of the battle, 7,000 Romans had been killed and 2,000 captured, while the
Epirots had suffered 4,000 casualties, including many of their senior veteran officers. Though
Pyrrhus had won his first major battle against Rome, it had been a difficult and grinding
slogging match. He would soon learn that despite his own martial prowess, he had truly met
his match. Rome, dismissing Pyrrhus’ offers of surrender terms, began recruiting a new
army and the Epirot king began to patch up his own, ready for the next battle which was
soon to come. Our series on Pyrrhus will continue soon, so make sure you are subscribed to our
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