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In 279 B.C. near present-day Ascoli Satriano, in Apulia, Southern Italy, King Pyrrhus of Epirus met the Romans a second time at the battle of Asculum. Join this Channel for early access to videos and, finally, some answers After narrowly defeating the Romans a first time in 280 B.C. at the Battle of Heraclea, , Pyrrhus spent the winter of 280-279 trying to settle with Rome and achieve an honorable peace between Rome and himself, and also the Greek cities of Italy who had summoned Pyrrhus to Italy to fight for them. The Roman senate was about to vote on terms of peace with Pyrrhus when blind old Appius Claudius spoke to them (according to Plutarch): “Do not suppose that ye will rid yourself of this fellow by making him your friend; nay, ye will bring against you others, and they will despise you as men whom anybody can easily subdue, if Pyrrhus goes away without having been punished for his insults, but actually rewarded for them in having enabled Tarentines and Samnites to mock at Romans.“ After Appius said this, the Roman senators changed their minds about peace, and told Pyrrhus he must first depart out of Italy, and then, if he wanted, the Romans would talk to him about peace; but as long as he was in Italy with an army, the Romans would fight him. And so, closer to Rome than the first battle of Heraclea, the armies met near Asculum in 279. There was a first day of battle where the Greek elephants and phalanx could not deploy because of the wooded terrain and high points that the Romans fled to. But on a second day of battle, Pyrrhus occupied the high and wooded ground at dawn before any fighting began, forcing the Romans to fight him on a level plain. There, the two lines of infantry collided, and fought an indecisive battle for hours, until Pyrrhus unleashed his elephants from reserve. The war elephants broke the Roman lines and the Romans retreated, losing more than twice as many men as Pyrrhus. Nevertheless, after the battle a legendary exchange took place between Pyrrhus and one of his officers. The officer congratulated Pyrrhus on the day's victory. Pyrrhus replied “If we should win one more battle against the Romans we shall be utterly ruined.“ Any victory gained at too great a cost may now be called a “Pyrrhic Victory.“
