The last time where we left off, Pyrrhus of Epirus was returning from Sicily, after his failed attempt to conquer the island and force the Carthaginians to flee back to Africa.
Although he had defeated the Carthaginians in a number of battles and taken most of their city, his downfall on island was due to his Sicilian allies who became unhappy and rebellious because of his tyrannical rule.
During this time the situation back in Italy was not looking good for the Greeks, Rome had taken nearly all the major cities in the area and had subdue the Samnites and the Lucanians only Tarentum was left intact.
It was time for Pyrrhus of Epirus to return to the real fight, but this time the odds were not in his favor.
Pyrrhus returned to southern Italy in 275. His visions of empire had already been shattered, and the renewed war against Rome, with only one third of his initial forces left, to make things even worse the Samnites refused to help him.
During the three years Pyrrhus spent campaigning in Sicily the Samnites suffered many defeats at the hands of the Romans and lost a substantial part of their territory. This made them resentful towards Pyrrhus. Therefore, most of them did not join his army in the upcoming battle.
Yet, he did not give up. Knowing that two Roman consuls were trying to unite their armies against him, he took a position between them, trying to defeat them separately, near the land of the Samnites.
Pyrrhus divided his forces into two divisions. He sent one of them against Cornelius Lentulus and marched with the other force during the night against Manius Curius, who was encamped near Beneventum who was waiting for help from Cornelius Lentulus.
Pyrrhus was in a hurry to engage Manius Curius in case his colleague showed up. However, his soldiers lost their way and fell behind because he went a long way round through woods.
This delayed Pyrrhus and at dawn he was in full view of the enemy as he advanced on them from the heights. Plutarch wrote that Manius Curius led his men out of the camp, attacked the enemy advance-guard and captured some elephants which were left behind.
Battle of Beneventum
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This success brought him to the plain, where he could engage Pyrrhus in battle on level ground. He routed some of the enemy lines, but an elephant charge drove him back to his camp, the Roman Consul called on the camp guards who were standing on the parapets of the rampart to cover their retreat. A hail of javelins and arrows greatly injured the elephants who started to run amok straight through the ranks of Pyrrhus, which were thrown into disarray, and as a result, the Romans won the battle.
A Roman Triarii
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Tarentine Cavalrymen of the Greek cityof Tarentum
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Pyrrhus no longer had a choice, he had to retreat back to Tarentum, where he was regarded as an oppressor. Leaving a token force behind, he sailed back to Epirus in the winter of 275/274. He promised the Greeks that he would come back, but they must have understood that they were abandoned. One by one, the cities surrendered to Rome, which turned out to be a surprisingly mild ruler.
The world now knew that Rome was a superpower in the making.
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Bibliography
*http://www.livius.org/articles/person/pyrrhus-of-epirus/pyrrhus-3/
*https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pyrrhic_War#Return_to_Italy,_Battle_of_Beneventum_and_end_of_the_war
*http://www.storiespreschool.com/pyrrhic_war7.html
*https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Beneventum