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Pyrrhus, king of Epirus (319–272BC), won a battle but at great cost. He was a Greek who tried to unite the various Greek States against the increasing power of Rome. He led a Greek Army into Italy and, at the Battle of Asculum in southern Italy in 279BC, he defeated a numerically superior Roman Army but lost many of his own troops. He was congratulated on his triumph and replied ‘one more victory like that will finish me’. Practically from then on, such a bloody and costly win became known as a Pyrrhic victory.

Pyrrhus himself met a peculiar end. Invading the city of Argos, an old woman threw down a roof tile which knocked him for six, enabling an opponent to chop off the king’s head.