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16 - Pyrrhus 2: Men and Beasts

Cost of Glory

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Bull Elephants in the Wild

Bull elephants in the wild can easily fight each other for ten hours straight, butting their huge heads. In ancient warfare, of course, they had blades fixed on those tusks. As they tore into the roman's left flank, they ripped up the cohesion of the roman line. How do you train for that sort of thing if you've never encountered a war elephant? The roman lines quickly buckle and the romans are routed. Pirus once again refrains from a murderous pursuit. But this was another very costly victory. And so this, the battle of asculum, was the first so called pyric victory, but it was victory none the less.

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