Tarentum. It was a gala day, and the people were assembled in the
theatre that overlooked the bay when the ships appeared. It was
determined to punish the intrusion. A fleet was manned, and four of
the Roman squadron were destroyed.

An ambassador, Postumius, sent by Rome to demand satisfaction, was
treated with insult and contempt. He replied to the mockery of the
Tarentines, that their blood should wash out the stain. The next year
one of the Consuls was ordered south.

Meanwhile Tarentum had sent envoys to ask aid of PYRRHUS, the young
and ambitious KING OF EPÍRUS. He was cousin of Alexander the Great,
and, since he had obtained no share in the division of the conquests
of this great leader, his dream was to found an empire in the West
that would surpass the exhausted monarchies of the East.

Pyrrhus landed in Italy in 281 with a force of 20,000 infantry, 3,000
cavalry, and 20 elephants. He at once set about compelling the
effeminate Greeks to prepare for their own defence. Places of
amusement were closed; the people were forced to perform military
duty; disturbers of the public safety were put to death; and other
reforms were made which the dangers of the situation seemed to demand.
Meanwhile the Romans acted with promptness, and boldly challenged him
to battle. The armies met in 280 on the plain of HERACLÉA, on the
banks of the Liris, where the level nature of the country was in favor
of the Greek method of fighting. The Macedonian phalanx was the most
perfect instrument of warfare the world had yet seen, and the Roman
legions had never yet been brought into collision with it.

The Romans, under LAEVÍNUS, were defeated, more by the surprise of a