In 279 B.C., King Pyrrhus of Epirus defeated a Roman legion at the Battle of Asculum. But that conflict cost so many casualties that his forces were left weak and vulnerable, leading the monarch to lament, “One more such victory and we are completely done for!” The phrase “Pyrrhic victory” has survived for more than 2,300 years because it so aptly describes a driven but deluded leader w...