Click here to go BACK to the main page

PYRRHIC VICTORY - A victory with devastating cost to the victor. The phrase is a reference to King Pyrrhus of Epirus, whose army suffered irreplaceable casualties when he defeated the Romans at the Battle of Heraclea during the Pyrrhic war in 280 BC and the Battle of Asculum in 279 BC.
the term is used by in fields such as business, politics, law, and sport to describe any similar struggle which is ruinous for the victor.