The Pyrrhic War began when the Greek city of Tarentum in southern Italy asked King Pyrrhus of Epirus for help against Rome. Pyrrhus crossed the Adriatic with an army that included war elephants, which were new to the Romans, and won costly victories at Heraclea and Asculum. The heavy losses he suffered gave rise to the phrase Pyrrhic victory. He then campaigned in Sicily against Carthage before returning to Italy, where he was checked at Beneventum in 275 BCE and withdrew to Greece. Rome went on to take Tarentum and the rest of southern Italy, and its control of the peninsula brought it into direct conflict with Carthage in the First Punic War.
Before and after
- 283 BCEDeath of Chanakya
- from 282 BCE to 133 BCEAttalid dynasty
- from 281 BCE to 62 CEKingdom of Pontus
- from 280 BCE to 146 BCEFounding of Achaean League
- from 280 BCE to 275 BCEPyrrhic War
- from 279 BCE to 1480Construction of Lighthouse of Alexandria
- 276 BCEBirth of Eratosthenes
- from 274 BCE to 168 BCESyrian Wars
- c. 270s BCEAristarchus of Samos proposes that the Earth orbits the Sun
More in Wars, politics & history
- from 264 BCE to 241 BCEFirst Punic War
- from 149 BCE to 146 BCEThird Punic War
- from 58 BCE to 51 BCEGallic War
- 49 BCECaesar defeats Pompey at Pharsalus
- from 66 CE to 74 CEFirst Jewish-Roman War
- from June 68 CE to December 69 CEYear of the Four Emperors
The era
This moment belongs to the Ancient civilizations (3,200 BCE to 500 CE), writing, cities and empires. You can also browse everything in the 3rd century BCE.