Dictionary of Battles / From the Earliest Date to the Present Time

by Thomas Benfield Harbottle

Heraclea (Pyrrhus' Invasion of Italy).

Fought B.C. 280, between the Epirots, 30,000 strong, under Pyrrhus, and about 35,000 Romans, under P. Laverius Lævinus. The Romans crossed the Siris in the face of the enemy, when they were attacked by Pyrrhus, and after a furious conflict, were at last broken by his elephants, and fled in disorder, losing about 7,000 men. The Epirots lost 4,000.