He obtained the supreme command of the troops of the Tarentines and of the other Italians in arms against Rome, along with the right of keeping a garrison in Tarentum.

The expenses of the war were, of course, to be borne by the city.

Pyrrhus, on the other hand, promised to remain no longer in Italy than was necessary; probably with the tacit reservation that his own judgment should fix the time during which he would be needed there.

Nevertheless, the prey had almost slipped out of his hands.

While the Tarentine envoys--the chiefs, no doubt, of the war party--were absent in Epirus, the state of feeling in the city, now hard pressed by the Romans, underwent a change.