Quintus Aemilius. Roman

Ancient Rome

Ancient Rome was a thriving civilization that grew on the Italian Peninsula as early as the 8th century BC. Located along the Mediterranean Sea and centered on the city of Rome, it expanded to one of the largest empires in the ancient world....

 general and statesman. A Nobleman from an old and distinguished family, he was elected Consul

Consul

Consul was the highest elected office of the Roman Republic and an appointive office under the Empire. The title was also used in other city states and also revived in modern states, notably in the First French Republic...

 in 279 BC

279 BC

Year 279 BC was a year of the pre-Julian Roman calendar. At the time it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Saverrius and Mus...

, together with Gaius Fabricius Luscinus

Gaius Fabricius Luscinus

Gaius Fabricius Luscinus Monocularis , son of Gaius, was said to have been the first of the Fabricii to move to ancient Rome, his family originating from Aletrium....

; they shared command of the 70,000 man Roman-allied army sent against King Pyrrhus

Pyrrhus of Epirus

Pyrrhus or Pyrrhos was a Greek general and statesman of the Hellenistic era. He was king of the Greek tribe of Molossians, of the royal Aeacid house , and later he became king of Epirus and Macedon . He was one of the strongest opponents of early Rome...

 of Epirus

Epirus

The name Epirus, from the Greek "Ήπειρος" meaning continent may refer to:-Geographical:* Epirus - a historical and geographical region of the southwestern Balkans, straddling modern Greece and Albania...

, and were defeated at the Battle of Asculum

Battle of Asculum (279 BC)

The Battle of Asculum took place in 279 BC between the Romans under the command of Consul Publius Decius Mus and the combined Tarantine, Oscan, Samnite, and Epirote forces, under the command of the Greek king Pyrrhus of Epirus...

 in 279 BC

279 BC

Year 279 BC was a year of the pre-Julian Roman calendar. At the time it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Saverrius and Mus...

 in a particularly hard fought two day battle; of this battle, Pyrrhus is said to have remarked, "Another such victory and I shall be lost" which is the origin of the term Pyrrhic victory

Pyrrhic victory

A Pyrrhic victory is a victory with such a devastating cost to the victor that it carries the implication that another such victory will ultimately cause defeat.-Origin:...

.