Mar. 1, 2006 - The First Pyrric Victory
Several weeks ago I had to write an essay on the first Pyrric victory. This is the story that I wrote, but forgive me if some of the facts are wrong.
A grey dawn was rising as a young man walked to a large rock at the top of a hill. He looked down upon the awakening camp of the Romans.
The sleepy sun could see the quick look of surprise that flashed over the mans face, and then the thoughtful, contemplating look, as the man held his head in his hand.
Pyrrus had not been expecting such military precision from his adversaries. His most recent victory had been easy to win, but these were trained men who had fought long and hard to get what they had wanted.
As he looked over the golden hills of Italy, the large city in the distance, and the formdidable army forming below, Pyrrus began to have second thoughts about waiting for his allies. He had originally thought he wouldn't need them, he had plenty of his own men and horses. The last time they had counted around 25,000 men, he thought.
Now however, their chances of victory was looking slimmer.
Looking back at his own camp, he could see the men on the parade ground, marching to and fro like busy ants.
The quiet of early morning as suddenly shattered by the blow of a trumpet from the Roman camp.
Running quickly back to camp Pyrrus thought, "Well, so much for waiting for allies, here we go!"
The battle had been long and tiring so far, and Pyrrus knew that he would soon run into a young and ambitious Roman soldier, wanting glory for killing a king. He had to do something to help prevent that from happening.
One of the older soldiers came close, and Pyrrus told him to switch armour with him. Hurriedly the soldier obeyed, then ran back to where the fighting was thickest.
Amazingly, Pyrrus and his men won, what was left of them.
Yes, Pyrrus had the victory he had hoped for, but not without suffering tremndous losses.
After the battle, Pyrrus, the leader who would not stop fighting, said, "One more such victory, and I am lost."
This version of the Pyrric Victory is copyrighted February 2006 by Eyebright.
Comments
Mar. 3, 2006 - WOW!!
Posted by Deeonly1
That was great writing. I was just emailing with your mom about what to do with J for writing. I am impressed but not surprised.
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