ABSTRACT
The Pyrrhic War is the culmination of Rome’s heroic age in the history of Dionysius when great deeds, personal combats, and divine intervention were commonplace. When describing the triumphal processions that paraded through Rome with the end of the Pyrrhic War, Florus emphasizes it as a moment of accomplishment in the conquest of Italy and the beginning of the period of trans-Mediterranean conquests. The story of the Pyrrhic War is shaped into both a laudatory and a cautionary tale. At the end of the Pyrrhic War when the Romans stood triumphant, they retained the moral superiority that had seen them through the conquest of Italy. For the Romans, the Pyrrhic War became something more and something less at the same time. The Pyrrhic War becomes a bridge from Rome’s ancient past to the incredible challenges of the Punic Wars that resulted in the creation of an empire that would itself reshape the Roman people.
