In our previous video in this series we discussed the continuing struggles of the Diadochi,
and the beginning of Pyrrhus’ campaign into Italy at the Battle of Heraclea in 280BC.
As the conflict raged, his Roman opponents would continue to impress the King by improving
and showing their prowess in war. Welcome to the third video in our series on Pyrrhus
of Epirus, the Battle of Asculum and his Sicilian campaign.
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In the wake of the defeat at the battle Heraclea in 280 BC, Consul Laevinus returned to Rome.
The Roman recruiting machine intensified greatly, quickly replenishing the heavy losses they
had suffered in the previous battle. Meanwhile Pyrrhus, who still did not yet understand
the Roman mindset, sent his friend and advisor Cineas forward to Rome as an envoy with great
gifts, which were probably meant as bribes. Pyrrhus himself marched north in the direction
of Rome proper, and his army was swelled by the Italian-Greeks and Italian ‘allies’
of Rome who now viewed him as a hero for defeating their subjugators. In a show of Roman honour,
Cineas was sent away without achieving his goal of peace, but he had observed the frightening
speed of the Roman levy system. Almost directly after this, a Roman named
Fabricius arrived at Pyrrhus’ court with the aim of negotiating the release of the
prisoners taken at Heraclea. Pyrrhus tried to bribe him, to no avail, and then failed
to impress him by frightening him with an elephant.
Fabricius was also an extremely honourable, but prickly man. When Pyrrhus’ treacherous
physician offered to poison the king for money, Fabricius instead informed Pyrrhus and stated
that he would not dishonour Rome by defeating his enemy by treachery. Greatly admiring this
paragon of a man, the Epirote king offered the Roman first place among his companions.
Fabricius refused, stating that if he had accepted, the Epirots would soon wish he were
king instead of Pyrrhus. After this witty remark, he departed back to Rome with the
prisoners, who were released as a gesture of kindness.
The Pyrrhic army then continued its northward march and attempted to take Capua. Laevinus,
who had reached the city before them, prevented Pyrrhus from taking it, so the king pivoted
south and attempted to seize Neapolis, and again was repelled. After his failure to take
the cities in Campania, Pyrrhus marched on Rome via the Latin Road and stopped just six
kilometres from the city. After Brennus’ assault in 390 BC, the walls
of Rome had been strengthened and the city was reported to be impregnable. A strong garrison
held the city and two other armies were approaching Pyrrhus swiftly, and so he decided to retreat
south to Tarentum rather than besiege the city over winter. With the Romans refusing
to make peace, the campaign would continue into 279. Since his victory at Heraclea, the
Italian tribes had flocked to his banner: Samnites, Lucanians, Bruttians and Sallentines
all sent contingents to join Pyrrhus’ army. This year, instead of attacking the enemy
capital directly, he would campaign up the Adriatic coast in Apulia, hopefully inducing
more of Rome’s allies to change sides and securing his supply lines back to Epirus.
In spring, he began his advance. Up until this point, the legions had been reluctant
to confront Pyrrhus after their prior defeat at Heraclea, but having the important Apulian
cities threatened, they were forced to, and marched south to meet the Pyrrhic army near
the city of Asculum. Consuls Publius Decius Mus and Publius Sulpicius
Saverrio commanded the double consular army that the Romans had brought, consisting of
around 40,000 legionaries and 5,000 cavalry. In addition, they had learned from their previous
defeat at the hands of Pyrrhus’ elephants and had constructed roughly 300 anti-elephant
wagons armed with iron tridents and manned by missile troops. Pyrrhus meanwhile, had
around 38,000 infantry, 5,000 cavalry and 19 elephants.
His Macedonian Phalangites were ordered to the position of honour on the right wing.
To their left were the mercenaries hired from Tarentum and Ambracia. Next to these troops
were the Bruttians and Lucanians, Italian allies of the Pyrrhic army. In the centre
of the line were the Thesprotians and Chaonian tribes of Epirus. Ever closer to the left
were units of Greek mercenaries and on the left wing of the infantry line were the Samnites,
armed as the hoplites. Pyrrhus’ flanks were covered by his cavalry, with light troops
and elephants behind each wing. Outside of the main battle line, Pyrrhus formed up with
2,000 of his elite guard as a mobile reserve, ready to move wherever they were needed.
The Roman army had an excellent defensive position, anchored on the far side of a small
and swiftly flowing river. Seeing this and the uneven ground close to the river that
his phalanx currently occupied, Pyrrhus retreated to flatter ground to the rear and allowed
the Romans to cross the river. When both armies were on the same side of the river, they made
contact. The battle between the phalangites and legionaries
in the centre was inconclusive, while the cavalry on both wings engaged one another.
The Pyrrhic horsemen engaged in the Macedonian style, continuously wheeling and charging
again, while the Romans reigned their horses and fought like infantry. As the cavalry battle
intensified Pyrrhus called his elephants forward, but the Romans sent their wagons in as a response.
While this slowed the elephants at first, the light infantry deployed with them killed
the wagon crews or the oxen pulling them. Meanwhile in the centre, the Romans were getting
better of the Phalangites on the bad terrain until the Italian allies of Pyrrhus finally
broke under the pressure. The king, sensing the danger, charged with his 2,000 elite reserve
cavalry to plug the gap and managed to destroy the Roman front ranks in the area.
At this point 4,000 Roman allies, who had been trying to attack the Pyrrhic army from
behind, managed to find and burn the Pyrrhic camp, which was visible to the armies in the
field. The phalangites were demoralised by this loss and began to lose cohesion, being
pushed back by the Romans. The situation looked critical, but at this moment the elephants
and cavalry on the Pyrrhic wings finally managed to attack the Roman flank, which suffered
heavy losses. Sensing another massacre, Rome’s commanders
withdrew in good order back to their camp. The battle had been another hard contest but
Pyrrhus had gained victory again, at the cost of 3,500 men, while the defeated Romans lost
around 6,000. As his camp was destroyed, Pyrrhus lost a few hundred more men due to lack of
shelter and provisions in the days after the battle. He surveyed the destruction and corpses
all around him and famously stated “One more victory, and we are undone.” - This
is the origin of the term ‘Pyrrhic Victory’, triumphs so costly that they are just as bad
as defeats, a term which we still use 2,300 years later.
After the bloody battle at Asculum, Pyrrhus once again marched back to his base at Tarentum
and began to recruit fresh soldiers in order to fill his depleted ranks. As he recovered,
two embassies arrived, each with a unique opportunity for the Epirot king. One was from
Macedon back across the Adriatic, where in 279 BC Ptolemy the Thunderbolt marched out
to meet a Gallic invasion and had been killed after falling from his horse. Macedon was
in trouble and needed a king who was a proven warrior.
The second envoy was from the Greek cities of Sicily, which were beset by enemies including
the Mamertine mercenaries and more importantly, the extremely wealthy Carthaginians. Likely
tempted by ambitions of invading Sicily as a springboard to conquering Carthage, Pyrrhus
opted for the Sicilian option, horrifying his Tarentine allies. In late summer of 278
he departed Italy for Sicily with 8,000 infantry and 2,000 cavalry, his ships managing to avoid
the Carthaginian blockade of the island. Pyrrhus’ force landed at the eastern coastal
city of Tauromenium, where a local tyrant had already declared his allegiance to the
Epirote king. From there he sailed south to Catana; the citizens welcomed him as a liberator
and the army received 3,000 reinforcements. At this point, he travelled with both his
army over land and ships at sea towards Syracuse. The Carthaginian army which was besieging
the city had no naval support and were caught off guard by Pyrrhus’ advance, retreating
soon after despite their numerical advantage. After his victory at Syracuse, Pyrrhus was
able to gain possession of the 140-ship strong fleet there, which gave him an advantage over
the Carthaginian fleet around the island. He now moved west, and marched on Agrigentum
where the city’s tyrant Soristratus was also allied to him. It was here that Pyrrhus
wintered and gathered his troops together, before advancing further west.
At the beginning of 278 the Pyrrhic army set off once again. The next city, another Heraclea,
had to be stormed, and it was a sign that things were about to get much more difficult
as they passed the Halycus River into Carthaginian territory. Despite this, the next major cities
to the west, Selinus and Segesta, came over to Pyrrhus without a fight. This would be
the last walkover he would enjoy on Sicily. Meanwhile in Macedon, Demetrius’ son Antigonus
Gonatus stepped up and defeated an 18,000 strong Gallic army at Lysimachia by luring
them into attacking his abandoned camp, gathering many treasures and, when they were laden with
goods, trapping the Gallic force between his army and his fleet. After this he took the
kingship of Macedonia for himself. While Pyrrhus was now in the west, this was not the last
time Antigonus would be heard from. Next, Pyrrhus decided to attack the mountain
fortress city of Eryx on the northwest coast of the island. Pyrrhus laid siege to the settlement
first with catapults and ballistae, and then with scaling ladders. The sources emphasize
that Pyrrhus was first to climb the walls and fought heroically, pushing many defenders
back himself. After a hard-fought siege, this city was taken.
To the northeast was Panormus, a port settlement which possessed the finest harbour in Sicily.
Pyrrhus quickly stormed it after taking a few outlying fortresses and then finally turned
west once again, to Lilybaeum. In his attempt to capture this final holdout of Carthage’s
power on Sicily, he had to raise intense taxes and levies on the cities that he now ruled.
This new harsh conduct caused his Sicilian-Greek subjects to view him as a tyrant, and he was
no longer welcome. As this happened, Tarentum sent another envoy to their former ally; the
Romans had reversed all the gains Pyrrhus had made. Seeing no future on Sicily, he marched
back to the eastern city of Massena and sailed back to Italy.
The city of Locri in southern Italy had a temple to the goddess Persephone and was well
stocked with years of temple offerings. Always in need of funds, Pyrrhus robbed the temple
and loaded the contents onto his ships, which were promptly destroyed in a storm. This misfortune
had a great effect on the Epirote king, who considered himself cursed. But that is a tale
for our next documentary on Pyrrhus which will be released in the near future, so make
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