Greek War Elephant

The Greek king, Pyrrhus of Epirus once used these mighty beasts to terrorize Rome and Sparta. The Romans first saw these creatures at the battle of Asculum in 279 BC. In the battle, the Romans used their Velites skirmishers to defeat the beasts. Pyrrhus used the beasts again in the siege of Sparta where, once a again, they were driven off. After Pyrrhus' death, the Greek Seleucid Empire used them against their rivals. Later, Hannibal Barca, the Carthaginian general also used elephants against the Romans in the Second Punic War.