Roman Republic · 280-275 BC

Pyrrhus and the "Pyrrhic victory"

A Greek king with war elephants beat the Romans twice, but lost so many men that his name became a word. Students follow Pyrrhus across southern Italy and find out why Rome could not be worn down.

Teach it live New Open on the map
Length
45 minutes
Ages
11–14
On the map
3 steps, 300 BC to 200 BC
Live lesson
7 rounds, 3 on the map
Worksheet
Two A4 pages, with Classroom
You need
A projector; phones for live

Live lesson · new in Classroom

Teach it live. The class answers on their phones.

Put the board on the projector. Students join with a six-digit code, no account needed, and tap the map: where was the frontier, where did the grain come from. Their pins drop in together when you reveal, and the closest student takes the round.

€19 per month: every lesson live, every worksheet, cancel anytime. Rome at its height runs live for free.

A live lesson on the projector: the class's pins on the map around Alexandria, the closest students listed beside it A student's phone: the question and a map to tap
7 rounds
3 places to find on the map, quiz questions, a class vote and a one-line answer.
About 15 minutes
Run it as the map step, or to open the discussion. You move on with the space bar.
A report
Every answer, per student and per round, to read back or print after the lesson.
1

Introduction

5 min

Read aloud

A Greek king with war elephants beat the Romans twice, but lost so many men that his name became a word. Students follow Pyrrhus across southern Italy and find out why Rome could not be worn down.

By the end of the lesson, students can

  • Explain why the Greek city of Tarentum called in King Pyrrhus of Epirus.
  • Locate Tarentum, Heraclea and Beneventum on the map.
  • Explain what a "Pyrrhic victory" is and why Rome could afford its losses.
2

Explore the map

12 min

Project the map, or let students follow on their own devices. Each step opens the map at the right year and place.

a

300 BC

Greeks in Italy

Open the map in 300 BC and look at southern Italy. Find the Greek city-states on the coasts. Greeks had settled here for centuries. Where is Rome in relation to them?

Open this view on the map
b

280 BC

Across the sea

Pan east across the Adriatic to Epirus, the homeland of Pyrrhus, in today's northwest Greece and southern Albania. How far did his army have to sail?

Open this view on the map
c

200 BC

Rome takes the south

Drag the time slider from 300 BC to 200 BC. Who controls southern Italy and Sicily at the end?

Open this view on the map
3

Class discussion

14 min

Pick two or three. They run from what happened to why it mattered.

  1. Why would a Greek city in Italy ask a king from across the sea for help against Rome?
  2. The Romans had never fought war elephants before Heraclea. How do you think they felt?
  3. Plutarch says that after Asculum, Pyrrhus remarked that one more such victory would ruin him. What did he mean?
  4. Pyrrhus won battles but lost the war. What makes a war different from a battle?
  5. Can you think of a modern "Pyrrhic victory", in sport, politics or business?
4

Game round

9 min

No ruler in Rule History fought Pyrrhus. Play one round as Alexander the Great: Pyrrhus was a relative of Alexander's mother and dreamed of conquests like his. Discuss: why did the kind of army that conquered Persia struggle against Rome?

Open Rule History
5

Worksheet

5 min

This worksheet comes with Classroom

€19 per month unlocks every worksheet, every live lesson and the class workspace. The free lesson prints without a subscription.