Editing Calabria (section)

====Pyrrhic War====
{{Main|Pyrrhic War}}
Between 280 and 275 BC the Tarentine War was fought between [[Rome]] and [[Taranto]]. The latter sought help from [[Pyrrhus of Epirus|Pyrrhus]], king of [[Epirus (ancient state)|Epirus]], who in 280, together with his allies, the Bruttians and Lucanians, defeated the Romans at the [[Battle of Heraclea]], thanks to the use of elephants. But Pyrrhus was later defeated by the Romans at Maluentum (current [[Benevento]]) in 275 and retreated to Sicily, where [[Syracuse, Sicily|Syracuse]] needed help against the Carthaginians. Transiting through Calabria, Pyrrhus' army is said to have sacked the shrine of [[Persephone]] in Locri, running - it is said - into the wrath of the gods. This, combined with the fact that Rome had formed alliances with some of the last poleis of Magna Graecia, including Reggio, caused Pyrrhus to return home.<ref name=":24">{{Cite book |title=Storia della Calabria |publisher=Gangemi Editore |year=1988 |isbn=88-7448-158-6 |editor-last=Settis |editor-first=Salvatore |volume=I: La Calabria antica |location=Rome-Reggio Calabria |language=it |trans-title=History of Calabria}}</ref><ref name=":33">{{Cite book |last=Caligiuri |first=Mario |title=Breve storia della Calabria. Dalle origini ai giorni nostri |publisher=Newton & Compton |year=1996 |isbn=88-8183-479-0 |location=Rome |language=it |trans-title=Brief history of Calabria. From its origins to the present day}}</ref> 

After Pyrrhus was eventually defeated, to avoid Roman revenge the Bruttii submitted willingly and gave up half of the Sila, a mountainous plateau valuable for its pitch and timber.<ref>Dionysius of Halicarnassus, Roman Histories, 20.5–6</ref> Rome subjugated southern Italy by means of treaties with the cities.<ref>{{harvnb|Lane Fox|2005|p=307}}</ref>