Pyrrhus

but Thoenon was accused by Pyrrhus of complicity with Sosistratus and put to death.[*](Cf. Dionysius Hal., Excerpta ex lib. xx., 8.) With this, the situation of Pyrrhus was suddenly and entirely changed. A terrible hatred arose against him in the cities, some of which joined the Carthaginians, while others called in the Mamertines. And now, as he saw everywhere secessions and revolutionary designs and a strong faction opposed to him, he received letters from the Samnites and Tarentines, who had been excluded from all their territories, could with difficulty maintain the war even in their cities, and begged for his assistance.

This gave him a fair pretext for his sailing away, without its being called a flight or despair of his cause in the island; but in truth it was because he could not master Sicily, which was like a storm-tossed ship, but desired to get out of her, that he once more threw himself into Italy. And it is said that at the time of his departure he looked back at the island and said to those about him: My friends, what a wrestling ground for Carthaginians and Romans we are leaving behind us! And this conjecture of his was soon afterwards confirmed.

But the Barbarians combined against him as he was setting sail. With the Carthaginians he fought a sea-fight in the strait and lost many of his ships, but escaped with the rest to Italy; and here the Mamertines, more than ten thousand of whom had crossed in advance of him, though they were afraid to match forces with him, yet threw his whole army into confusion by setting upon him and assailing him in difficult regions. Two of his elephants fell, and great numbers of his rearguard were slain.

Accordingly, riding up in person from the van, he sought to ward off the enemy, and ran great risks in contending with men who were trained to fight and were inspired with high courage. And when he was wounded on the head with a sword and withdrew a little from the combatants, the enemy were all the more elated. One of them ran forth far in advance of the rest, a man who was huge in body and resplendent in armour, and in a bold voice challenged Pyrrhus to come out, if he were still alive.

This angered Pyrrhus, and wheeling round in spite of his guards, he pushed his way through them-full of wrath, smeared with blood, and with a countenance terrible to look upon, and before the Barbarian could strike dealt him such a blow on the head with his sword that, what with the might of his arm and the excellent temper of his steel, it cleaved its way down through, so that at one instant the parts of the sundered body fell to either side.