Famous Men of Rome · Ch. XIII, part 2 · Unit 3: Pyrrhus and the wars with Carthage

18. Appius Claudius, part 2: Pyrrhus and his elephants

Goal: Your child can tell how Pyrrhus beat the Romans with elephants, what a "Pyrrhic victory" is, and how old blind Appius turned the Senate against peace.

⏱ About 25 minutes · 6 steps

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You'll need

  • The book, open to this chapter
  • A map of Italy and the Mediterranean (a free online map or a globe)
  • Paper and colored pencils

What's in the book

Sections II and III of Chapter XIII: King Pyrrhus of Epirus comes to help Tarentum and wins at Heraclea with seventy elephants, but loses thousands of men. His minister Cineas almost talks the Senate into peace, until old blind Appius Claudius is carried in to speak against it. Rome later wins at Beneventum and Pyrrhus goes home.

The lesson, step by step

  1. Set the scene

    Find Greece across the sea from the heel of Italy. Epirus was a land in Greece. Say: The Romans had never seen an elephant.

  2. Read the chapter

    Read from section II to the end of Chapter XIII. It begins:

    At this time the Tarentines had no general they thought would be able to fight the Romans.

  3. Tell it back

    Prompts:

    - What did Pyrrhus make the people of Tarentum do?

    - What did the elephants do in battle, and how was the Roman army saved?

    - What did Appius Claudius say in the Senate?

  4. A Pyrrhic victory

    Read what Pyrrhus said after the battle:

    A few more such victories and I must return to Epirus alone!

    SayToday, when someone wins but loses so much that the win is hardly worth it, we call it a Pyrrhic victory.

  5. Talk it over

    Read the Greek saying:

    The tongue of Cineas wins more cities than the sword of Pyrrhus.

    Ask: What does it mean? Can words be stronger than swords?

    SayCaecus is Latin for blind. Appius Claudius Caecus was old and blind, but his words still won.

  6. Extra (optional)

    Draw a war elephant from the book's picture, or think of a time something was a "Pyrrhic victory" (winning a game but hurting your ankle).

Answers to the book's problems

Pyrrhus closed the theaters and made the people drill as soldiers all day. A Roman soldier cut off part of an elephant's trunk; it turned and ran back through the Greek lines. Appius said it would be cowardly to give in after losing one battle: "Let us fight on." The saying means clever speech can win people over better than force.

Worked out for this site from the scan. If a number in your copy differs, trust the book.

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