Pyrrhus' Sicilian ambitions had broken against the walls of Lilibam 25 years earlier, and now it was the Romans' turn to throw themselves at the defenses.
With the money, soldiers, and ships that the Western Greeks could provide, Pyrrhus' path to power in the Hellenistic world to the east would be assured.
He was accompanied by Sopater son of Pyrrhus from Berea, Aristarchus and Secundus from Thessalonica, Gaius from Derbe, Timothy also, and Tychicus and Trophimus from the province of Asia.