ROM0058 – Ausculum

Ausculum, 279 BC: Pyrrhus Wins the Battle and Loses the War

279 BC. For the second consecutive year, King Pyrrhus of Epirus — the finest general of his age, the man Alexander the Great’s veterans called the only commander who reminded them of Alexander himself — has defeated Rome in pitched battle. At Ausculum in Apulia, his Macedonian-style phalanx and war elephants once again overcome the Roman legions. Once again, the field belongs to Pyrrhus.

The Victory That Destroyed Its Victor

But the butcher’s bill is staggering. Pyrrhus has lost nearly 4,000 of his best troops — irreplaceable veterans from Epirus and Macedonia. When his officers congratulate him on the victory, the king delivers one of antiquity’s most famous lines: “One more such victory and I am lost.” The Pyrrhic victory — a triumph so costly it destroys the victor — has entered the language of warfare forever.

Rome, by contrast, absorbed the losses of Ausculum with a grim efficiency that astonished the Hellenistic world. The Senate replaced the fallen legionaries with new ones. The strategic situation barely changed. Rome controlled its allies in Italy through a combination of citizenship rights and local autonomy; Pyrrhus controlled only his Epirote army, which was bleeding away battle by battle. The king could win every engagement and still lose the war — and he knew it.

Ausculum marks the moment Rome demonstrated one of its defining strategic qualities: inexhaustible human reserves and the institutional will to use them. Pyrrhus eventually abandoned Italy for Sicily, then returned, won more battles, lost more men, and finally sailed home. Rome went on to conquer the Mediterranean world.

The Original Artwork by Giuseppe Rava

This original Roman military art print by Giuseppe Rava — historical illustrator for Osprey Publishing since 2007 — captures the epic clash at Ausculum with the meticulous accuracy that defines every work by the Maestro. Republican Roman equipment versus Macedonian-style phalanx, war elephants on the ancient battlefield, rendered in oil on canvas with extraordinary drama.

The print is produced as a limited edition, individually numbered and hand-signed by Giuseppe Rava, SRA3 format (45×32 cm / 17.7×12.6 in), on premium fine art paper. Available worldwide with international shipping — essential for collectors of Roman history and students of Pyrrhus’s extraordinary campaigns.