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With his opportunities in Greece temporarily exhausted, Pyrrhus began looking abroad for new chances to enlarge his possessions and fame. It did not take long for a situation to present itself in Italy. The people of the Greek city of Tarentum feared the encroaching Romans, so they invited the Greek -speaking Pyrrhus to Italy to protect them in 280 BC, which marked the beginning of the Pyrrhic War (280-275 BC). <ref> Plutarch, Pyrrhus, XIII</ref> When Pyrrhus arrived in Tarentum, he found the Greeks of the city living a similar lifestyle to the Greeks of the city-states: they enjoyed poetry, philosophy, and the finer things in life. The Epirots and Macedonians were not used to that type of lifestyle, so Pyrrhus essentially put the city under martial law and conscripted many of the men into his army. He then marched out and met the Romans near Heraclea. Plutarch wrote that it was a costly battle that Pyrrhus only won due to his elephant corps.

“At last, as the Romans began to be driven back by the elephants, and their horses, before they could get near the great beasts, started to panic and bolt, Pyrrhus seized the his opportunity: as the Romans faltered, he launched a charge with his Thessalian cavalry and routed the enemy with great slaughter . According to Dionysius, the Romans lost nearly 15,000 men and Pyrrhus 13,000, while Hieronymus reduces these figures to 7,000 on the Roman side and 4,000 on the Greek. But these were some of Pyrrhus’ best troops, and in addition he lost many of the friends and commanders whom he trusted and employed the most.” <ref> Plutarch, Pyrrhus, XVII</ref>