Pyrrhic is a adjective which derives from a Greek word. The term is associated with Pyrrhus , a monarch who ruled the Epirus State between 307 and 302 BC and between 297 and 272 BC
From this king, the Pyrrhic adjective that can qualify different situations or entities was developed. On the one hand, we can talk about pyrrhic army , which refers to the soldiers who were at orders from Pyrrhus .
Saying army On one occasion, he managed to impose himself on the battlefield before the Romans, but suffered thousands of losses. Therefore, over time, began to talk about pyrrhic victory to refer to the triumph that costs a lot or even causes more damage to the winner than the defeated. The wars that took place between 280 and 275 B.C. and that they had the Pyrrhic army as a participant they are known as Pyrrhic Wars .
You can talk about the Pyrrhic victory of a football team, for example, if the team in question wins a match but it ends with two players ejected and three injured. The qualifier of Pyrrhic in this case, refers to that said team will have to do without five of its players in their next meeting.
There is also talk of something Pyrrhic when the goal achieved does not have much value or it seems insignificant if the effort invested is taken into account: “I harvested apples for two months from sun to sun and received a Pyrrhic pay”, "I have been working on this project for two years: I will not settle for a Pyrrhic recognition".
Pyrrhic Wars
Between 280 and 275 a. C., several political alliances and battles took place that put against the Greeks, the Italic peoples, the Carthaginians and the Romans. Everything broke loose following a conflict between the city of Taranto and Rome, which emerged after the latter violated a maritime treaty. The participation of Pirro, a Greek ruler, in this dispute took place as compensation to Taranto for the help he had been given to recover the island of Corfu a year earlier.
Publius Cornelius Dolabella, a Roman consul, organized an expedition with the purpose of inspecting the southern coast of Italy, for which he sent ten ships. From the point of view of Taranto, this investigation violated a treaty Naval signed a long time ago and therefore launched an attack that sank four of the ships and captured another. In addition, he attacked and sacked the city of Turios, belonging to Magna Grecia.
Rome's attempts to solve the situation through the diplomacy they were in vain, after which the Roman Senate decided to declare war on Taranto, who asked for help from the ruling Pirro; he, on the other hand, obtained the collaboration of Ptolemy Cerauno, king of Macedonia, and the Samnites, and embarked with the Pyrrhic army towards Italy. There he tried to negotiate but the battle was inevitable.
Amid the fighting, some cities, such as Locri, joined Pirro, who went to Rome and then retired to Campania. In addition, the Pyrrhic army invaded Apulia, where he defeated the Romans in the battle of Ausculum, who left behind a very high number of victims. A year later, after several events, Pirro gets the support of several Sicilian cities; finally, he was proclaimed king of Sicily.
That same year, Pirro took over thirty cities and defeated the Mamertinos. In 278 a. C., executed Thoenon of Syracuse for suspecting that he had betrayed him, decision which cost him his popularity in Sicily and led him to return to Italy. Later, Pirro faced the Romans again in the battle of Benevento, where he was defeated, in part by the betrayal of some Tarentinos. Thus the wars ended, and Pirro left Italy.
