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In the 3rd Century BCE, the Greek king Pyrrhus of Epirus, wanting to break the Roman and Carthaginian hegemony in the Mediterranean world, invaded Sicily to drive out the Carthaginians from the island. After several victories, he was forced to draw out, letting Carthage take back the territories he had conquered.
Context
Pyrrhus was the King of Epirus, a kingdom in modern-day Albania. He was Greek, and a distant relative of Alexander the Great.
At this time, Rome was trying to extend its domination over all Italy. After the Etruscans were defeated, the last Italian cities still free from Roman control were the Greek colonies in Southern Italy (Magna Graecia). Sicily was divided between Carthage and the Greek colonies led by Syracuse. Greeks and Carthaginians had already fought seven wars over the island.
In 280, the city of Tarentum, in Apulia, had a conflict with Rome. The Tarentines called on Pyrrhus to help them against the Romans. Pyrrhus and his army settled in Southern Italy. He won several victories against the Romans, in Heraclea and Asculum. However, his victories were so costly in human lives that the expression “Pyrrhic victory” is used nowadays for a victory that comes so costly to the victor that it is almost equivalent to defeat.
Pyrrhus in Sicily (278-276)
Shortly after Pyrrhus’ victory in Asculum, the Greek cities of Sicily sent him messengers to ask for help to drive out the Carthaginians from Sicily. At the same time, the Macedonians, as their king had just died, called on him to take their throne. Pyrrhus, who still aspired to conquer an Empire, but also understood that he wasn’t powerful enough to continue fighting Rome, decided to go to Sicily.
Pyrrhus landed in Sicily in 278. After forcing the Carthaginians to lift their siege of Syracuse, he was proclaimed King of Sicily. His army was composed of 30.000 infantrymen, 3.000 horsemen, 20 war elephants, and 200 ships.
Pyrrhus’ campaign in Sicily lasted 3 years. After a first victory against the Carthaginians in Heraclea Minoa, other Punic and allied cities, like Selinunte and Segesta, joined his side. Eryx, the main Carthaginian fortress in Sicily, was taken in 277. Pyrrhus also submitted the Mamertines, in Messana.
In 276, Pyrrhus besieged Lilybaeum, the last Carthaginian possession in Sicily. As he knew that he wouldn’t be able to conquer the city without also blockading it by sea, he decided to collect money from the Sicilian cities to build a fleet. The unpopularity of this measure, together with his harshness in forcing the Sicilians to pay, caused him to lose the support of his allies. At the same time, the Romans started taking back the territories he had conquered in Southern Italy. In the end, Pyrrhus lifted the siege of Lilybaeum, and drew out of Sicily.
Later on
Back in Italy, Pyrrhus was defeated by the Romans in 275, at the Battle of Beneventum. He returned to Greece and was crowned King of Macedonia. He was killed in 272, after besieging Sparta and failing to take control of the Peloponnesus. After his death, Tarentum, the last Italian city that had not yet been conquered by the Romans, submitted to Rome.
In Sicily, the balance of power between Greeks and Carthaginians was almost unchanged by the war: Carthage took back control of the cities that had been abandoned by Pyrrhus. Several years later, Rome and Carthage, who were allied against Pyrrhus, fought each other for the control of the island: the First Punic War.
