14. ¶Pyrrhus became famous for his victory and acquired a great
reputation from it, to such an extent that many who were standing
neutral came over to his side and that all the allies who had been
watching the turn of events espoused his cause. He did not openly
display anger towards them nor conceal entirely his suspicions; he
rebuked them somewhat for their tardiness, but otherwise received them
kindly. The result of showing excessive irritation would be, he feared,
their open estrangement, while if he failed to reveal his real feelings
at all, he thought that he would either be condemned by them for his
simplicity in not comprehending what they had done, or would be
suspected of harboring secret wrath. Such a surmise would breed in them
either contempt or hatred, or would lead to a plot against him, due to
the desire to anticipate injuries that they might suffer at his hands.
For these reasons, then, he conversed affably with them and presented to
them some of the spoils. (Mai, p.172. Zonaras, 8, 4.)

15. ¶Pyrrhus at first undertook to persuade the Roman captives (who
were many) to join with him in a campaign against Rome; when, however,
they refused, he treated them with the utmost consideration and did not
put them in prison or harm them in any other way, his intention being to
restore them voluntarily and through their agency to win over the city
without a battle. (Valesius, p.590.)

16. ¶The Romans, who by reason of the elephants,--a kind of beast that
they had never before seen,--had fallen into dismay, still, by
reflecting on the mortal nature of the animals and the fact that no
beast is superior to man, but that all of them in every way show
inferiority if not as regards strength, at least in respect to
understanding, they gradually became encouraged. (Mai, p.172.)