Pyrrhic War - Background

Background

To the north of Roman-controlled Latium lay the Etruscan cities, and to the south of Roman-controlled Samnium lay the Greek city states of Magna Graecia: politically independent cities in southern Italia and Sicily, settled by Greek colonists in the 8th and 7th centuries BC. Both in Sicily and on the mainland, conflict between all of these groups was ongoing. The Latin War (340–338 BC) had placed the Latium region under Roman dominance, if not outright control, and the resistance of the Samnites against Roman control was coming to an end with a few minor conflicts being the only remnants of the Samnite Wars (343–290 BC).

The patchwork of Italian and Sicilian cultures and nations had resulted in continuing conflicts and territory changes, which in recent decades had seen an expansion of Roman influence over Italy. Rome was, however, a "local Italian concern", never having tried its hand in the larger international affairs of the Mediterranean, nor pitted its military strength against any of the dominant Greek cultures. The Pyrrhic war would change both of these facts.