Battle of Heraclea - Battle

Battle

Pyrrhus did not march against the Romans while he was waiting for his allies' reinforcements. When he understood that reinforcements were not coming, he decided to fight the Romans on a plain near the river Siris (modern Sinni), between Pandosia and Heraclea. Pyrrhus took up position there and waited. Before the fight he sent diplomats to the Roman consul, proposing that he could arbitrate the conflicts between Rome and the population of south Italy. He promised that his allies recognised him as a judge and demanded the same from the Romans. The Romans denied his request, and entered the plains on the right of the Siris river where they set up camp.

It is unknown how many troops Pyrrhus had left in Tarentum, but he probably had about 25-35,000 troops with him at Heraclea. He took up position on left bank of the Siris, hoping that the Romans would have difficulty crossing the river, which would allow him more time to prepare his attack. He set up some light infantry units near the river to let him know when the Romans began to cross, and planned first to attack them with his cavalry and elephants. Valerius Laevinus had about 30,000 soldiers under his command, including many cavalry, peltasts, and spearmen. It would be the first time in history that two very different juggernauts of war clashed: the Roman Legion, and the Macedonian Phalanx.

At dawn, the Romans started to cross the river Siris. The Roman cavalry attacked on the flanks the scouts and light infantry, who were forced to flee.

When Pyrrhus learned that the Romans had begun crossing the river he led his Macedonian and Thessalian cavalry to attack the Roman cavalry. His infantry, with peltasts and archers and heavy infantry, began their march as well. The Epirote cavalry successfully disrupted the Roman battle formation, and then withdrew. Pyrrhus' peltasts and archers began to fire and his phalanxes began to attack. The infantry line was near equal to the Romans' in length. Although Pyrrhus had a small advantage in number, the phalanx was by design deeper than the legion.

The phalanxes made seven attacks, but failed to pierce the legion. It had met a foe that was stronger than it had ever encountered. The Romans made seven attacks, yet it could not break the phalanx. The battle hung in the air. At one point, the battle became so pitched that Pyrrhus—realizing that if he were to fall in combat, his soldiers would lose heart and reason—switched armor with one of his bodyguards. This bodyguard was subsequently killed, and word spread through the ranks that the Pyrrhus had fallen. His force began to waver, and the Romans gave a thunderous cheer at the turn of events. Grasping the magnitude of the situation, Pyrrhus rode forward, bare-headed, along the lines of his men to show he was still living. This show of bravery strengthened their resolve, and the battle raged on.

Unable to make any significant gains in action, Pyrrhus deployed his elephants, held in reserve until now. The Roman cavalry was threatening his flank too strongly. Aghast at the sight of these strange and brooding creatures which none had seen before, the horses galloped away and threw the Roman legion into rout. Pyrrhus then launched his Thessalian cavalry among the disorganized legions, which completed the Romans' defeat. The Romans fell back across the river and Pyrrhus held the field.

In the opinion of Dionysius the Romans lost 15,000 soldiers and had thousands taken prisoner; Hieronymus states 7,000. Dionysius totalled Pyrrhus' losses at around 11,000 soldiers, 3,000 according to Hieronymus. In any rate this could be considered the earliest of his Pyrrhic victories against Rome.