394 



ROMAN EMPIRE. 



Roman 

 Empire. 



Pyrrhus is 

 desirous of 

 peace. 



Prepares for 

 a new cam- 

 paign. 



Pyrrhus de- 

 feated by 

 the Ro- 



mans. 



the top of a hill, and even to have driven a cloud of 

 dust into the city. Titus Coruncanius the other con- 

 sul, having returned from the reduction of Hetruria 

 with his victorious army, compelled Pyrrhus to raise 

 the siege of Praeneste, and to retrace his steps into 

 Campania. Here he found Laevinus with a more 

 powerful army than the one he had defeated. The 

 Roman consul endeavoured to bring him to a battle, 

 but Pyrrhus declined it, and terminated the campaign 

 by retiring to Tarentum. 



The knowledge which Pyrrhus had acquired of 

 Roman valour, pointed out to him the prudence of 

 seeking an honourable peace. He learned, therefore, 

 with joy that three ambassadors had been sent to him 

 from Rome; but he was mortified to find that their 

 only object was to redeem 1800 prisoners whom he 

 had taken. After consulting his council, Pyrrhus re- 

 leased 200 of the prisoners without ransom, and per- 

 mitted the rest to return to Rome on their parole, to 

 celebrate the saturnalia in the midst of their families. 



Having thus created a friendly disposition in his 

 favour, he dispatched his faithful general Cyneas to 

 Rome to conclude a peace. The conditions, however, 

 which he proposed, though by no means unfavourable 

 to Rome, were nevertheless violently opposed by Ap- 

 pius Claudius, an old and blind orator, who prevailed 

 upon the conscript fathers to reject all offers of peace 

 till Pyrrhus had quitted Italy. 



Pyrrhus had now no other course than to prepare for 

 a new campaign. The Roman army under the consuls, 

 P. Sulpicius Saverrio and P. Decius Mus, marched 

 into Apulia, and having found Pyrrhus encamped near 

 Asculum, they fortified a position at the foot of the 

 Appennines, separated from the enemy by a broad 

 river which flowed through the plain. The Romans 

 crossed the river, and drew up in order of battle on 

 the plain ; their centre, consisting of four legions, who 

 were to engage the phalanx of the enemy, while the 

 Roman cavalry and the light armed auxiliaries were 

 placed in the wings. Pyrrhus likewise marshalled 

 his troops with that consummate skill which he pos- 

 sessed, having in the centre his phalanx, on the right 

 wing his Epirots and Samnites, and on his left the 

 Lucanians, Bruttians, and Salentines. The Romans 

 had provided chariots armed with scythes, and filled 

 with soldiers carrying firebrands, to frighten the ele- 

 phants and burn their wooden towers, and they di- 

 rected a body of Apulians to attack Pyrrhus' s camp 

 during the battle. The contest at last began. The 

 central phalanx of Pyrrhus sustained the furious attack 

 of the four legions ; but being compelled to give way, 

 Pyrrhus marched round his elephants against the Ro- 

 man cavalry which were thus thrown into disorder. 

 The phalanx again returned to the charge, and drove 

 back the Roman legion, who left their consul Decius 

 among the dead. The preconcerted attack of the 

 Apulians, however, upon the enemy's camp turned the 

 fortune of the day. The king was obliged to send a 

 strong body to defend it, and the Epirots thinking 

 that their entrenchments were forced, lost their courage 

 and began to retire. The whole army followed their 

 example, and though Pyrrhus strove to rally them, 

 and returned to the battle with a small band of his 

 friends and officers, yet his gallant exertions were 

 fruitless, and after being severely wounded, he retired 

 with his band of heroes, and left the Romans in pos- 

 session of the field. Unable to pursue the advantage 

 which he had gained, Sulpicius recrossed the river, 

 and returned to his camp; but when he found that 

 3 



Pyrrhus had retreated to Tarentum, he put his army 

 into winter quarters in Apulia. 



The Roman army again took the field under the 

 command of the new consuls, C. Fabricius and Q. 

 Emilius Pappus. Advancing into the territory of 

 Tarentum, they came up with Pyrrhus, and while 

 they were waiting for a favourable opportunity of 

 giving him battle, his physician Nicias brought 

 a letter to Fabricius offering to poison his master. 

 The consuls were so shocked with the proposal that 

 they wrote a letter to Pyrrhus informing him of the 

 traitorous plans of those around him. Grateful for 

 this mark of kindness, Pyrrhus immediately released 

 the Roman prisoners without ransom; but the consuls, 

 unwilling to accept of a favour, sent back to Pyrrhus 

 an equal number of Tarentines and Samnites. Unable 

 to procure an honourable peace with the Romans, and 

 sensible of his want of resources to withstand their 

 military prowess, Pyrrhus accepted of an invitation 

 from the Sicilians to assist them against the Carthagi- 

 nians. He, therefore, set out for Sicily with a fleet of 

 200 ships, and an army of 36,000 infantry, and 2500 

 cavalry. His success was at first brilliant, but the 

 severity of his exactions alienated the affections of the 

 Sicilians. A powerful Carthaginian army speedily 

 recovered the cities which Pyrrhus had taken, and he 

 found himself unable to resist their overwhelming 

 force. See our article CARTHAOENA, vol. V. p. 570. 

 His presence in Italy being anxiously demanded by 

 the Tarentines, Pyrrhus landed in that country, having 

 escaped from the dangers of an attack by the Mamer- 

 tines. In passing through the country of the Locri, 

 who had put to death the troops he left behind him, 

 he retaliated by every kind of severity, and supplied 

 his army from the plunder of the temple of Proserpine. 

 The vessels in which he shipped the treasures of this 

 temple were overtaken by a tempest, and every soul 

 on board perished in the waves. The treasure which 

 was cast on shore, he ordered to be collected and re- 

 placed in the temple, and he endeavoured to appease 

 the irritated goddess by killing those who had advised 

 him to commit sacrilege against her shrine. 



Reinforcing his army by his Italian auxiliaries, 

 Pyrrhus was soon opposed to two Roman armies, 

 under the consuls Curius Dentatus and Cornelius 

 Lentulus. Having repulsed the vanguard of Pyrrhus, 

 Dentatus drew up his army in the Taurasian fields, 

 and gave battle to the enemy. The narrowness of the 

 plain was unfavourable to the large army of Pyrrhus, 

 and though one of his wings began to give way, yet 

 that which he commanded drove back the Romans to 

 their entrenchments by the aid of the armed elephants. 

 Curius immediately ordered a corps of reserve to attack 

 the elephants with torches in one hand, and swords in 

 the other, and having put them to flight, the elephants 

 broke into the phalanx of the Epirots and threw their 

 ranks into the utmost confusion. The Romans took 

 1200 prisoners, and 8 elephants, and the loss of Pyr- 

 rhus has been variously stated from 20,000 to 30,000 

 slain. 



Finding it in vain to cope with the Romans, and 

 having been disappointed in his demands of assistance 

 from Greece, Pyrrhus arrived at Acroceraunium in 

 Epirus, after an unsuccessful war of six years in Italy. 

 He, however, left Milo with a strong garrison in Tar- 

 entum, and in order to remind him of his duty, he is 

 said to have presented this general with a chain co- 

 vered with the skin of Nicias. 



Thus deserted by their great ally, the Samnites 



Roman 

 Empire. 



Generosity 

 of Fabricius 

 to Pyrrhus. 

 B. C. 278. 



Pyrrhus 



assists the 

 Sicilian? 

 against the 

 Carthagi- 

 nians. 



Returns to 

 Italy, 



where he 

 is totally 

 defeated by 

 the Ko- 



Pyrrhus 

 returns to 

 Epirus. 

 B. C. 27*4. 



