Pyrrhic victory
A Pyrrhic victory is a victory which is only achieved with heavy losses on one's own side.This refers to the Battle of Ausculum (Ascoli Satriano, in Apulia). in 279 BCE, when the Epirote King Pyrrhus, aiding the Tarentines, defeated the Romans but with severe casualties. After the battle, Pyrrhus is recorded to have commented: "If we win another such a battle against the Romans, we will be completely lost" (Plutarch, Pyrrhus 21,14).
