Didrachm

These years mark Herakleia's direct entanglement with Pyrrhus of Epirus, whose Italian campaign began in 280 BC at the invitation of Tarentum. The city sat close enough to the action that its mint output during this window likely served in part to fund or supply allied operations. The Battle of Herakleia itself — fought just outside the city in 280 BC, the first engagement between Rome and Pyrrhus — was a Pyrrhic victory in the most literal sense, costing him casualties he could not replace.