The naval Battle of ThuriiHistory Of Rome P78 was fought between

Ancient Rome In modern historiography, ancient Rome refers to Roman civilisation from the founding of the city of Rome in the 8th century BC to the collapse of the Western Roman Empire in the 5th century AD. It encompasses the Roman Kingdom (753–509 BC ...

and the Greek colony of

Tarentum Tarentum may refer to: * Taranto, Apulia, Italy, on the site of the ancient Roman city of Tarentum (formerly the Greek colony of Taras) **See also History of Taranto * Tarentum (Campus Martius), also Terentum, an area in or on the edge of the Camp ...

Following the battle, Tarentum appealed to Pyrrhus, ruler of

Epirus sq, Epiri rup, Epiru , native_name_lang = , settlement_type = Historical region , image_map = Epirus antiquus tabula.jpg , map_alt = , map_caption = Map of ancient Epirus by Heinri ...

, for military aid. Motivated by his diplomatic obligations to Tarentum, and a personal desire for military accomplishment, Pyrrhus landed a Greek army of some 25,000 men and a contingent of

war elephant A war elephant was an elephant that was trained and guided by humans for combat. The war elephant's main use was to charge the enemy, break their ranks and instill terror and fear. Elephantry is a term for specific military units using elepha ...

s on Italian soil in 280 BC,The Classical World, p. 304 where his forces were joined by the Greeks and a portion of the Samnites who revolted against Roman control.

The battle

The Romans had 30,000 men against the small 10,000 men of Tarentum who fought bravely but were overwhelmed by the Romans numbers and the effectiveness of the Roman legion.

References

Battles of the Pyrrhic War Battles involving city-states of Magna Graecia Battles involving the Roman Republic {{AncientRome-battle-stub