Roman military history is a popular subgenre in military history. Many books have been written about this period. Unfortunately, most of the original sources have been lost to history. For instance, Livy wrote a History of Rome from its beginnings to 9 B.C.E. Only 35 of his 142 books (equivalent to chapters) are extant. Books 12-14 covering the Pyrrhic War are lost. Livy is factually-challenged, but you don’t even have him if you are writing about the Battle of Asculum. Your main sources will have to be Plutarch, Dio Cassius, and Dionysius of Halicarnassus. All of whom would flunk out as a History major today. What follows is a summary of each’s account of the battle. The historian can use archeological evidence, but he still has to decided what to take from these sources. (Livy and Dio’s books came out around the same time, Dionysius’ around 211 C.E.) Do you leave in the sensational stuff because it is interesting, but likely made up?
Plutarch: The first day was fought in rough terrain where Pyrrhus could not make use of his cavalry and elephants. The fighting was bitter and both sides suffered heavy casualties. On the second day, Pyrrhus maneuvered so the battle would take place on a plain. He intermixed his elephants with archers and slingers. The Roman maniples were not able to move around because the battlefield was compacted. The legionaries fought hard with their swords against the sarissas because they knew they had to win before the elephants made their appearance. It did not work out because the elephant charge broke the Romans and they fled to their camp. Plutarch does not mention the wagons.
Cassius Dio: Before the battle, Pyrrhus learned that the Roman consul Decius Mus might perform a devotion. He warned his soldiers not to be afraid of this and to avoid killing any Roman who looked like they were performing the ritual. He even sent a messenger to Decius saying he would not be successful if he tried it and in fact, he would be captured and given a terrible death! Decius responded that he did not need a devotion to win. The two generals agreed that the Romans would be allowed to cross the river unmolested so it would be a fair fight. “The Romans, among other preparations, made ready, as a measure against the elephants, iron-pointed beams, mounted on waggons, and bristling in all directions. In the battle, the Romans had the wagons on one wing.” The Roman infantry was pushing the phalanx back when Pyrrhus shifted his elephants to the flank without the wagons. They ran off the Roman cavalry, but had little impact on the infantry. Some Apulians allied to Rome managed to get to Pyrrhus camp. Pyrrhus sent a force to evict them, but word spread through his ranks that their stuff was being looted and some of their mates were already running to the camp, so they should also. Pyrrhus’ army broke up and retreated to Tarentum. Pyrrhus was wounded in the later stage of the battle. Cassius Dio has the battle as a clear Roman victory!
Dionysius of Halicarnassus: He describes a secret weapon the Romans created to deal with Pyrrhus’ elephants.
Outside the line they stationed the light-armed troops and the waggons, three hundred in number, which they had got ready for the battle against the elephants. These waggons had upright beams on which were mounted movable transverse poles that could be swung round as quick as thought in any direction one might wish, and on the ends of the poles there were either tridents or swordlike spikes or scythes all of iron; or again they had cranes that hurled down heavy grappling-irons. 7 Many of the poles had attached to them and projecting in front of the waggons fire-bearing grapnels wrapped in tow that had been liberally daubed with pitch, which men standing on the waggons were to set afire as soon as they came near the elephants and then rain blows with them upon the trunks and faces of the beasts. He describes how the two forces were arrayed on a plain. The battle opened with the cavalry clashing on both wings.
The Roman cavalry fought hand to hand, but their opponents used “flanking and deploying maneuvers” which implies that they used hit and run tactics. Whenever the Roman cavalry was chased, they would dismount and fight on foot. In the infantry battle, both sides’ right wings were stronger than their opposite unit, so they forced their foes back. The wagons attacked the elephants, but the warriors in the towers rained missiles down on them and the light infantry attacked the crews and the oxen. The men abandoned the wagons and fled through the infantry, causing some disorder. The Romans broke through Pyrrhus’ Italian troops and Pyrrhus sent a cavalry force to help. At this point, a force of Roman allies arrived unexpectedly on a hill overlooking the battle. They could not figure out who was who and they saw the enemy camp unprotected. They had a choice between intervening in the chaotic battle or going after the riches in the camp. Guess what they decided to do. Pyrrhus sent some elephants and cavalry to save the camp, but they arrived too late. The allies did flee from the camp, their arms full of booty after setting fire to it. They went back to the hill where they were safe. Pyrrhus sent the elephants and cavalry to stop the Roman breakthrough. The Romans saw them coming and formed up on a hill. The elephants could not ascend the hill, nor the cavalry. Pyrrhus’ light infantry started harassing the Romans and Pyrrhus sent in infantry. The Roman commander reinforced his men with cavalry and a battle within the battle occurred. Dusk signaled an end to the fighting and both sides withdrew. The Romans across the river to their camp and Pyrrhus’s army to a miserable night without their tents because they had been destroyed. They had also lost all their stuff, their food, and their slaves! Many of his wounded died that night from lack of medical care.
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