A History of the Pyrrhic War

by Patrick Alan Kent

  For the Romans, the Pyrrhic War became something more and something less at the same time. Its position on the edges of Roman historical memory contributed to the Roman conception of the conflict. The transitory nature of the Pyrrhic War is a manifestation of Rome entering into a historical age. The Punic Wars were real and solid, discussed in detail by historians who had access to those that lived and participated in them. The period before the third century was a time of legend slowly becoming more grounded as the narratives approached the end of the fourth century, but relying on piecemeal information preserved by self-aggrandizing families, and sparse documents. The Pyrrhic War straddled these two eras, taking on characteristics the Romans imagined for both. While the war may have been preserved in the memories of the children and grandchildren of those that participated, it was ultimately malleable enough to be worked and reworked by later generations in their own constructed narratives.

  The Pyrrhic War lost its nuance as a multipolar regional conflict rooted in local conflicts as it became a morality tale, a duel between two foes admirable in their own ways, tricked into fighting. Pyrrhus became an avatar for his cousin Alexander the Great. A man whose skill surpassed that of Hannibal and who came to admire his Roman opponents, and in turn they him. Like his cousin, Pyrrhus had his faults, especially his hubris, but he is depicted as an extraordinary individual who pushed the Romans to their limits. It was not the king who was the villain of this story, it was the Tarentines, whose decadence and unfounded haughtiness forced them to seek outside help, and the Carthaginians, who revealed their perfidious nature at nearly every turn. Both peoples justified the next stage of Roman expansion as the Pyrrhic War itself finished the realization of a Roman Italy. The Romans were victorious because of the virtues of their ancestors that remained vibrant in that generation of heroes. The complex realities of the conflict are subsumed within a constructed Roman narrative. The Pyrrhic War becomes a bridge from Rome’s ancient past to the incredible challenges of the Punic Wars that resulted in the creation of an empire that would itself reshape the Roman people.

  Notes

  1 Ante hunc diem nihil praeter pecora Vulscorum, greges Sabinorum, carpenta Gallorum, fracta Samnitium arm vidisses: tum si captivos aspiceres, Molossi, Thessali, Macedones, Brittius, Apulus atque Lucanus; si pompam, aurum, purpura, signa, tabulae Tarentinaeque deliciae. Florus 1.13.27.

  2 οὐκ ἴσχυσε δὲ νικῆσαι τὴν πεπρωμένην, DH 20.12.2.

  3 For a discussion of Pyrrhus’ death, see Lévêque (1957) 622–626. None of the ancient accounts inspire any real confidence in their accuracy as they tend to veer into the unbelievable.

  4 DH 20.14; Val. Max. 4.3.9; Eutrop. 2.15; Justin 18.2.9; Livy Per. 14; Dio fr. 41; Zon. 8.6. Unlike the rest, the Dio/Zonaras claims that Ptolemy sent envoys to Rome first rather than the other way around.

  5 MRR 1:196.

  6 Peirano (2010) 51–53.

  7 Oros. Hist. 4.3.1–2; 4.5.2; Livy Per. 14.

  8 Livy Per. 14; 21.10.8; Dio fr. 43.1.

  9 Tum risum obortum Scipioni, et subiecisse “Quid nam tu diceres, si me vicisses?” “Tum vero me” inquit “et ante Alexandrum et ante Pyrrhum et ante alios omnes imperatores esse.” Livy 35.14.11; cf. Plut. Flam. 21.3–4.

  10 Livy 22.51.4; cf. Plut. Fab. 17.1; Lazenby (1998) 85–86.

  11 Plb. 3.78.1; Livy 22.1.3.

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