Publius Sulpicius Saverrio (consul 279 BC)

Publius Sulpicius Saverrio was Roman consul in 279 BC. A patrician, his consular colleague was Publius Decius Mus.[1] Assigned with Mus to the Pyrrhic War in southern Italy, the two consuls fought a joint battle against Pyrrhus at Asculum.[1] With around 40,000 men against Pyrrhus' similarly sized forces, the consuls were defeated after two days of fighting.[2] Via Plutarch, Pyrrhus reported Roman losses of around 6,000 and Epirote losses of 3,505: he then famously claimed that another such victory would ruin him, giving rise to the modern phrase "Pyrrhic victory".[3]

Saverrio's father was the consul of the same name in 304 BC.[4] He was also the grandfather of Publius Sulpicius Galba Maximus, consul in 211 and 200 BC.[5]

Magistrates of the Roman Republic reports no known magistracy other than the consulship of 279 BC.[6]

References

  1. ^ a b Broughton 1951, p. 192.
  2. ^ Kent 2020, pp. 51–55.
  3. ^ Kent 2020, p. 55; Plutarch, Pyrrhus, 21.
  4. ^ "P. Sulpicius (98) P. f. Ser. n. Saverrio". Digital Prosopography of the Roman Republic. Retrieved 7 September 2025.
  5. ^ Zmeskal 2009, p. 261.
  6. ^ Broughton 1952, p. 624.

Bibliography

  • Broughton, Thomas Robert Shannon (1951). The magistrates of the Roman republic. Vol. 1. New York: American Philological Association.
  • Broughton, Thomas Robert Shannon (1952). The magistrates of the Roman republic. Vol. 2. New York: American Philological Association.
  • Kent, Patrick Alan (2020). A history of the Pyrrhic War. Routledge. ISBN 978-1-138-54382-9.
  • Zmeskal, Klaus (2009). Adfinitas (in German). Vol. 1. Passau: Verlag Karl Stutz. ISBN 978-3-88849-304-1.
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