up his phalanx. Vainly did the Romans with desperate
courage fall sword in hand on the -sarissae-; the
phalanx preserved an unshaken front under every assault,
but in its turn was unable to make any impression
on the Roman legions. It was not till the numerous
escort of the elephants had, with arrows and stones
hurled from slings, dislodged the combatants stationed
in the Roman war-chariots and had cut the traces of
the horses, and the elephants pressed upon the Roman
line, that it began to waver. The giving way
of the guard attached to the Roman chariots formed
the signal for universal flight, which, however, did
not involve the sacrifice of many lives, as the adjoining
camp received the fugitives. The Roman account
of the battle alone mentions the circumstance, that
during the principal engagement an Arpanian corps
detached from the Roman main force had attacked and
set on fire the weakly-guarded Epirot camp; but, even
if this were correct, the Romans are not at all justified
in their assertion that the battle remained undecided.
Both accounts, on the contrary, agree in stating
that the Roman army retreated across the river, and
that Pyrrhus remained in possession of the field of
battle. The number of the fallen was, according
to the Greek account, 6000 on the side of the Romans,
3505 on that of the Greeks.(4) Amongst the wounded
was the king himself, whose arm had been pierced with
a javelin, while he was fighting, as was his wont,
in the thickest of the fray. Pyrrhus had achieved
a victory, but his were unfruitful laurels; the victory
was creditable to the king as a general and as a soldier,
but it did not promote his political designs.
What Pyrrhus needed was a brilliant success which
should break up the Roman army and give an opportunity
and impulse to the wavering allies to change sides;
but the Roman army and the Roman confederacy still
remained unbroken, and the Greek army, which was nothing
without its leader, was fettered for a considerable
time in consequence of his wound. He was obliged
to renounce the campaign and to go into winter quarters;
which the king took up in Tarentum, the Romans on
this occasion in Apulia. It was becoming daily
more evident that in a military point of view the
resources of the king were inferior to those of the
Romans, just as, politically, the loose and refractory
coalition could not stand a comparison with the firmly-established
Roman symmachy. The sudden and vehement style
of the Greek warfare and the genius of the general
might perhaps achieve another such victory as those
of Heraclea and Ausculum, but every new victory was
wearing out his resources for further enterprise,
and it was clear that the Romans already felt themselves
the stronger, and awaited with a courageous patience
final victory. Such a war as this was not the
delicate game of art that was practised and understood
by the Greek princes. All strategical combinations
were shattered against the full and mighty energy of