King Pyrrhus of Epirius fought in a war with the Romans more than two thousand three hundred years ago, and though he won the battle against Rome, it came at such a cost that the ancient historian Plutarch reported King Pyrrhus had said:

“If we are victorious in one more battle against the Romans, we shall be utterly ruined.”

That was just after the victory at Asculum. Not too long after, Pyrrhus faced the Romans once more with his soldiers at the Battle at Heraclea, in which he too won but could not continue his campaign as he had too few soldiers, and ended up losing the war against the Romans because his victories came at too high a cost.

From this, a military term was born which is still used today: a “Pyrrhic Victory.”

At its most base level, this sort of win could be described as

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