Battle of Heraclea

E52800

ancient battle battle

The Battle of Heraclea was a major 280 BC clash in southern Italy where King Pyrrhus of Epirus defeated the Romans in one of the earliest and most famous engagements of the Pyrrhic War.

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Observed surface forms (2)

Surface form	Occurrences
Battle of Asculum	1
Battle of Heraclea (280 BCE)	1

Statements (48)

Predicate	Object
instanceOf	ancient battle ⓘ battle ⓘ
approximateEpiroteCasualties	around 4,000 killed ⓘ
approximateEpiroteStrength	about 25,000–30,000 men ⓘ
approximateRomanCasualties	around 7,000 killed ⓘ
approximateRomanStrength	about 35,000–40,000 men ⓘ
associatedWithPhrase	Pyrrhic victory ⓘ
belligerent	Epirus ⓘ Roman Republic ⓘ
chronologicalOrder	first major battle of the Pyrrhic War ⓘ
combatant	Epirus ⓘ Roman Republic ⓘ
commander	Publius Valerius Laevinus ⓘ Pyrrhus of Epirus ⓘ
commandingSide	Publius Valerius Laevinus on the Roman side ⓘ Pyrrhus of Epirus on the Epirote side ⓘ
conflictIn	Pyrrhic War ⓘ
date	280 BC ⓘ
era	Hellenistic period ⓘ
followedBy	Battle of Asculum ⓘ
geopoliticalContext	Greek intervention in Italy ⓘ
hasCasualties	heavy Roman casualties ⓘ significant Epirote casualties ⓘ
hasPrimarySource	Appian’s Roman History ⓘ Dionysius of Halicarnassus ⓘ Plutarch’s Parallel Lives ⓘ surface form: Plutarch’s Life of Pyrrhus
historicalRegion	Magna Graecia ⓘ
involvedPolities	Epirus ⓘ Magna Graecia ⓘ surface form: Greek cities of Magna Graecia Roman Republic ⓘ
locatedNear	river Siris ⓘ
location	Heraclea ⓘ surface form: Heraclea in Lucania Southern Italy ⓘ surface form: southern Italy
namedAfter	city of Heraclea ⓘ
notableFor	early use of war elephants against Roman legions ⓘ first major clash between Pyrrhus and Rome ⓘ one of the earliest engagements of the Pyrrhic War ⓘ
opponentOf	Pyrrhus of Epirus ⓘ Roman Republic ⓘ
outcome	Pyrrhic victory for Pyrrhus of Epirus ⓘ
partOf	Pyrrhic War ⓘ
precededBy	Pyrrhus’s landing in Italy ⓘ
result	Epirote victory ⓘ
tacticalFeature	clash between phalanx and Roman manipular legion ⓘ crossing of the river Siris ⓘ
usedUnitType	Macedonian phalanx ⓘ war elephants ⓘ
year	280 BC ⓘ

Referenced by (5)

Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.

Pyrrhic War → hasBattle → Battle of Heraclea ⓘ

this entity surface form: Battle of Heraclea (280 BCE)

Battle of Beneventum → previousEvent → Battle of Heraclea ⓘ

Magna Graecia → significantEvent → Battle of Heraclea ⓘ

this entity surface form: Battle of Asculum