Pyrrhus

pir'us, a king of Epirus. He lived about 318-272 B. C. He was a cousin of Alexander the Great, and, having had some small success in wars with his immediate neighbors, he became fired with an ambition to create an empire in the West as Alexander had done in the East. Rome was busy bringing the Greek cities of southern Italy under her sway. Tarentum, an opulent city, was the last to hold out, and sent a call for help to Pyrrhus. He accepted gladly. He landed on Italian soil in 280 B. C. with a fine army and a force of war elephants, something new to the Romans. Pyrrhus won the first battle decisively, but, as he looked over the field strewn with the bodies of his choicest soldiers, he exclaimed, "Another such victory, and I shall be ruined," hence an expensive success is called a Pyrrhic victory. The Romans were all but ready to treat for peace, but old Appius Claudius, a blind senator, cried out, "Rome shall never make peace with a victorious foe." According to the Roman tellers of the tale, the ambassador of Pyrrhus returned to him with the report that it was useless to make war on Rome, for the Senate was like an assembly of kings--unconquerable. Pyrrhus won a second victory as costly as the first, crossed into Sicily to stir up the cities there, recrossed to Tarentum, was defeated by the Romans, and returned home a disappointed man. According to all accounts, he met his end while storming the Greek city of Argos. A woman stunned him with a tile thrown from a house top, and he was slain ere his supporters could rescue him.