Who was the King of Epirus who defeated the Romans at the Battle of Asculum in 279 BC at the cost of his army being almost entirely destroyed?
Battle of Asculum treated the Greek city-states despotically. These cities turned against him. He was forced to return to southern Italy. He fought the Romans at the Battle of Beneventum (275 BC), where he was defeated. He then left Italy and returned to Epirus. Battle of Asculum The Battle of Asculum took place in 279 BC between the Roman Republic under the command of the consuls Publius Decius Mus and Publius Sulpicius Saverrio and the forces of king Pyrrhus of Epirus. The battle took place during the Pyrrhic War, after the Battle of Heraclea of 280 BC, which was the first battle of
Battle of Asculum the next battle. In the spring of 279 BC, Pyrrhus invaded Apulia. Many places were captured or capitulated. The Romans came upon him near Asculum and encamped opposite him. In Plutarch's account, instead, after resting his army, Pyrrhus marched to Asculum to confront the Romans. According to Dionysius of Halicarnassus, Pyrrhus had 70,000 infantry, of whom 16,000 were Greeks. The Romans had more than 70,000 infantry, of whom about 20,000 were Romans (four legions which at the time had 4,000 men), the rest being troops from allies. The Romans had about 8,000 cavalry and Pyrrhus had slightly more, plus nineteen