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185 - It's your moment of triumph! Where are you and what are you doing?
Once upon a time (about 300 B.C., in fact), there lived a Greek king named Pyrrhus of Epirus. Pyrrhus ruled great lands: he was king of the Molossians, Epirus and Macedon. A man who would not see his nations trampled beneath the marching sandals of the Roman Empire, Pyrrhus went to war. In battles at both Heraclea and Asculum, his armies soundly defeated the Romans.
Unfortunately for Pyrrhus, though his own forces took fewer casualties than Rome's, the centurions were of almost limitless supply, their camps quickly replenished with fresh, determined fighters, while Pyrrhus' own line had no reinforcements to be had. For his triumphs, the toll on Pyrrhus' army was much greater than his opponents'. "If we are victorious in one more battle with the Romans, we shall be utterly ruined," he said (according to Plutarch).
From his sad lesson we gain the term "pyrrhic victory", for a success paid with a dear price-- often too dear to accept.
( The winning side )
(756)
Once upon a time (about 300 B.C., in fact), there lived a Greek king named Pyrrhus of Epirus. Pyrrhus ruled great lands: he was king of the Molossians, Epirus and Macedon. A man who would not see his nations trampled beneath the marching sandals of the Roman Empire, Pyrrhus went to war. In battles at both Heraclea and Asculum, his armies soundly defeated the Romans.
Unfortunately for Pyrrhus, though his own forces took fewer casualties than Rome's, the centurions were of almost limitless supply, their camps quickly replenished with fresh, determined fighters, while Pyrrhus' own line had no reinforcements to be had. For his triumphs, the toll on Pyrrhus' army was much greater than his opponents'. "If we are victorious in one more battle with the Romans, we shall be utterly ruined," he said (according to Plutarch).
From his sad lesson we gain the term "pyrrhic victory", for a success paid with a dear price-- often too dear to accept.
( The winning side )
(756)
