Battle of Raphia
Encyclopedia
The Battle of Raphia, also known as the Battle of Gaza, was a battle fought on 22 June 217 BC near modern Rafah
between the forces of Ptolemy IV Philopator, king of Egypt and Antiochus III the Great
of the Seleucid kingdom during the Syrian Wars
. It was one of the largest battles of the Hellenistic kingdoms of the Diadochi
and was waged to determine the sovereignty of Coele Syria.
, Ptolemy had 70,000 infantry, 5,000 cavalry, and 73 war elephant
s and Antiochus 62,000 infantry, 6,000 cavalry, and 102 elephants.
s (the Argyraspides
or Silver Shields) under Theodotus the Aetolian
, the man who had betrayed Ptolemy and handed much of Coele Syria and Phoenicia
over to Antiochus, 20,000 Phalangites under Nicarchus
and Theodotus Hemiolius
, 2,000 Persian
and Agrianian archers and slingers, 1,000 Thracians
under Menedemus of Alabanda, 5,000 Medes
, Cissians, Cadusii
and Carmanians under the Aspasianus the Mede, 10,000 Arabians under Zabdibelus, 5,000 Greek
mercenaries under Hippolochus the Thessalian and 1,000 Neocretans under Zelys the Gortynian, 500 Lydia
n javelin
eers and 1,000 Cardakes
under Lysimachus the Gaul.
4,000 horse under Antipater
, the nephew of the King and 2,000 under Themison formed the cavalry
and 102 war elephants of India
n stock marched under Philip and Myischos.
under Eurylochus the Magnesian (the Agema
), 2,000 peltasts under Socrates the Boeotian, 25,000 Phalangites under Andromachus the Aspendian and Ptolemy, the son of Thraseas, and 8,000 Greek mercenaries under Phoxidas the Achaean and 2,000 Cretan and 1,000 Neocretan archers under Philon the Cnossian. He had another 3,000 Libyans under Ammonius the Barcian and 20,000 Egyptians under his chief minister Sosibius
trained in the Macedonian way. Apart from these he also employed 4,000 Thracians and Gauls from Egypt and another 2,000 from Europe under Dionysius the Thracian.
His Household Cavalry (tis aulis) numbered 700 men and the local (egchorioi) and Libyan horse, another 2,300 men, had as appointed general Polycrates of Argos. Those from Greece and the mercenaries were led by Echecrates the Thessalian. Ptolemy's force was accompanied by 73 elephants of the African stock.
s; those of Antiochus were mainly of the large Syrian Elephant
s, brought from India. According to Polybius, the African elephants could not bear the smell, sound and view of their Indian counterparts and would easily give way and rout.
After 5 days of skirmishing, the two Kings decided to array their troops for battle. Both placed their Phalangites in the center. Next to them they fielded the light armed and the mercenaries in front of which they placed their elephants and even further in the wings their cavalry. They spoke to their soldiers, took their places in the lines — Ptolemy in his left and Antiochus in his right wing — and the battle commenced.
In the beginning of the battle, the elephant contingents on the wings of both armies moved to charge. Most African elephants, the species used by Ptolemy, retreated in panic before the impact and ran through the lines of friendly infantry arrayed behind them, causing disorder in their ranks. At the same time, Antiochus had led his cavalry to the right, rode past the left wing of the Ptolemaic elephants charging the enemy horse. At the same time, the right wing of Ptolemy was retreating and wheeling to protect itself from the panicked elephants. Ptolemy rode to the center encouraging his phalanx to attack, while on the Ptolemaic far right, Ptolemy's cavalry was routing their opponents.
Antiochus routed the Ptolemaic horse posed against him and pursued the fleeing enemy en masse, believing to have won the day, but the Ptolemaic center eventually drove the Syrians back and soon Antiochus realized that his judgment was wrong. Antiochus tried to ride back, but by the time he rode back, his troops were routed and could no longer be regrouped. The battle had ended.
After the battle, Antiochus wanted to regroup and make camp outside the city of Raphia but most of his men had already found refuge inside and he was thus forced to enter it himself. Then he marched to Gaza and asked Ptolemy for the customary truce to bury the dead, which he was granted.
According to Polybius
, the Syrians suffered a little under 10,000 foot dead, about 300 horse and 5 elephants, 4,000 men were taken prisoner. The Ptolemaic losses were 1,500 foot, 700 horse and 16 elephants. Most of the Syrian elephants were taken by the Ptolemies.
in 198 BC
Antiochus defeated the army of Ptolemy's young son, Ptolemy V and recaptured Coele Syria and Judea
.
Ptolemy owed his victory in part to having a properly equipped and trained native Egyptian Phalanx which for the first time formed a large proportion of his Phalangites, thus ending his manpower problems. The self confidence the Egyptians gained was credited by Polybius as one of the causes of the secession in 207-186 of Upper Egypt
under pharaohs Hugronaphor
and Ankhmakis
, who created a separate kingdom that lasted nearly twenty years.
The battle of Raphia marked a turning-point in Ptolemaic history. The growth in influence of the native Egyptian element in second-century Ptolemaic administration and culture, at first in the financial pressure aggravated by the cost of the war itself. The stele
that recorded the convocation of priests at Memphis
in November 217, to give thanks for the victory was inscribed in Greek and hieroglyphic and demotic Egyptian: in it, for the first time, Ptolemy is given full pharaonic honours in the Greek as well as the Egyptian texts; subsequently this became the norm.
Some biblical commentators see this battle as being the one referred to in Daniel 11:11, where it says, "Then the king of the South will march out in a rage and fight against the king of the North, who will raise a large army, but it will be defeated."
Rafah
Rafah , also known as Rafiah, is a Palestinian city in the southern Gaza Strip. Located south of Gaza, Rafah's population of 71,003 is overwhelmingly made up of Palestinian refugees. Rafah camp and Tall as-Sultan form separate localities. Rafah is the district capital of the Rafah Governorate...
between the forces of Ptolemy IV Philopator, king of Egypt and Antiochus III the Great
Antiochus III the Great
Antiochus III the Great Seleucid Greek king who became the 6th ruler of the Seleucid Empire as a youth of about eighteen in 223 BC. Antiochus was an ambitious ruler who ruled over Greater Syria and western Asia towards the end of the 3rd century BC...
of the Seleucid kingdom during the Syrian Wars
Syrian Wars
The Syrian Wars were a series of six wars between the Successor states of the Seleucid Empire and the Ptolemaic Kingdom of Egypt during the 3rd and 2nd centuries BC over the region then called Coele-Syria, one of the few avenues into Egypt...
. It was one of the largest battles of the Hellenistic kingdoms of the Diadochi
Diadochi
The Diadochi were the rival generals, family and friends of Alexander the Great who fought for the control of Alexander's empire after his death in 323 BC...
and was waged to determine the sovereignty of Coele Syria.
Synopsis of Forces
According to PolybiusPolybius
Polybius , Greek ) was a Greek historian of the Hellenistic Period noted for his work, The Histories, which covered the period of 220–146 BC in detail. The work describes in part the rise of the Roman Republic and its gradual domination over Greece...
, Ptolemy had 70,000 infantry, 5,000 cavalry, and 73 war elephant
War elephant
A war elephant was an elephant trained and guided by humans for combat. Their main use was to charge the enemy, trampling them and breaking their ranks. A division of war elephants is known as elephantry....
s and Antiochus 62,000 infantry, 6,000 cavalry, and 102 elephants.
Antiochus' Forces according to Polybius
Antiochus' army was composed of 5,000 light armed Daae, Carmanians and Cilicians under Byttacus the Macedonian, 10,000 PhalangitePhalangite
Phalangite is the Greek name for*an infantryman deployed in a phalanx of Classical and Hellenistic antiquity. The Macedonian so-called Sarissaphoros had a tactical advantage over other phalangites because of their extremely long pikes known as a sarissa...
s (the Argyraspides
Argyraspides
The Argyraspides , were a division of the Macedonian army of Alexander the Great, who were so called because they carried silver-plated shields. They were picked men, were commanded by Nicanor, the son of Parmenion, and were held in high honour by Alexander. They were hypaspists, having changed...
or Silver Shields) under Theodotus the Aetolian
Theodotus of Aetolia
Theodotus was an Aetolian, who at the accession of Antiochus III the Great held the command of the important province of Coele-Syria for Ptolemy Philopator , king of Egypt...
, the man who had betrayed Ptolemy and handed much of Coele Syria and Phoenicia
Phoenicia
Phoenicia , was an ancient civilization in Canaan which covered most of the western, coastal part of the Fertile Crescent. Several major Phoenician cities were built on the coastline of the Mediterranean. It was an enterprising maritime trading culture that spread across the Mediterranean from 1550...
over to Antiochus, 20,000 Phalangites under Nicarchus
Nicarchus (general)
For other uses, see NicarchusNicarchus or Nicarch was one of the generals of the Seleucid king Antiochus III the Great . He served in Coele-Syria in the war between Antiochus and Ptolemy Philopator...
and Theodotus Hemiolius
Theodotus Hemiolius
Theodotus Hemiolius was a general in the service of king Antiochus III the Great , by whom he was sent in 222 BC together with Xenon against Molon, satrap of Media, who had raised the standard of revolt in the eastern provinces of the Seleucid Empire...
, 2,000 Persian
Persian people
The Persian people are part of the Iranian peoples who speak the modern Persian language and closely akin Iranian dialects and languages. The origin of the ethnic Iranian/Persian peoples are traced to the Ancient Iranian peoples, who were part of the ancient Indo-Iranians and themselves part of...
and Agrianian archers and slingers, 1,000 Thracians
Thracians
The ancient Thracians were a group of Indo-European tribes inhabiting areas including Thrace in Southeastern Europe. They spoke the Thracian language – a scarcely attested branch of the Indo-European language family...
under Menedemus of Alabanda, 5,000 Medes
Medes
The MedesThe Medes...
, Cissians, Cadusii
Cadusii
The Cadusii were an ancient Iranian people living in north-western Iran.-Geography:The Cadusii lived in a mountainous district of Media Atropatene on the south-west shores of the Caspian Sea, between the parallels of 39° and 37° North latitude, called for its inhabitants Cadusia...
and Carmanians under the Aspasianus the Mede, 10,000 Arabians under Zabdibelus, 5,000 Greek
Greeks
The Greeks, also known as the Hellenes , are a nation and ethnic group native to Greece, Cyprus and neighboring regions. They also form a significant diaspora, with Greek communities established around the world....
mercenaries under Hippolochus the Thessalian and 1,000 Neocretans under Zelys the Gortynian, 500 Lydia
Lydia
Lydia was an Iron Age kingdom of western Asia Minor located generally east of ancient Ionia in the modern Turkish provinces of Manisa and inland İzmir. Its population spoke an Anatolian language known as Lydian....
n javelin
Javelin
A Javelin is a light spear intended for throwing. It is commonly known from the modern athletic discipline, the Javelin throw.Javelin may also refer to:-Aviation:* ATG Javelin, an American-Israeli civil jet aircraft, under development...
eers and 1,000 Cardakes
Çardak
Çardak is a town and a district of Denizli Province of Turkey. It is situated on the road from Denizli to Ankara near the banks of the Lake Acıgöl.Denizli's airport is in Çardak....
under Lysimachus the Gaul.
4,000 horse under Antipater
Antipater
Antipater was a Macedonian general and a supporter of kings Philip II of Macedon and Alexander the Great. In 320 BC, he became Regent of all of Alexander's Empire. Antipater was one of the sons of a Macedonian nobleman called Iollas or Iolaus and his family were distant collateral relatives to the...
, the nephew of the King and 2,000 under Themison formed the cavalry
Cavalry
Cavalry or horsemen were soldiers or warriors who fought mounted on horseback. Cavalry were historically the third oldest and the most mobile of the combat arms...
and 102 war elephants of India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
n stock marched under Philip and Myischos.
Ptolemy's Forces according to Polybius
Ptolemy had just ended a major recruitment and retraining plan with the help of many mercenary generals. His forces consisted of 3,000 HypaspistsHypaspists
A hypaspist is a squire, man at arms, or "shield carrier". In Homer, Deiphobos advances "ὑπασπίδια" or under cover of his shield. By the time of Herodotus the word had come to mean a high status soldier as is strongly suggested by Herodotus in one of the earliest known uses:"Now the horse which...
under Eurylochus the Magnesian (the Agema
Agema
In ancient Macedonia, the Agema, meaning literally "the guards", were the elite guards.They were hypaspists and asthetairoi, and later argyraspids . In the eastern Diadochi States they were the infantry guards of the King...
), 2,000 peltasts under Socrates the Boeotian, 25,000 Phalangites under Andromachus the Aspendian and Ptolemy, the son of Thraseas, and 8,000 Greek mercenaries under Phoxidas the Achaean and 2,000 Cretan and 1,000 Neocretan archers under Philon the Cnossian. He had another 3,000 Libyans under Ammonius the Barcian and 20,000 Egyptians under his chief minister Sosibius
Sosibius
Sosibius was the chief minister of Ptolemy Philopator , king of Egypt. Nothing is known of his origin or parentage, though he may have been a son of Sosibius of Tarentum; nor have we any account of the means by which he rose to power; but we find him immediately after the accession of Ptolemy ,...
trained in the Macedonian way. Apart from these he also employed 4,000 Thracians and Gauls from Egypt and another 2,000 from Europe under Dionysius the Thracian.
His Household Cavalry (tis aulis) numbered 700 men and the local (egchorioi) and Libyan horse, another 2,300 men, had as appointed general Polycrates of Argos. Those from Greece and the mercenaries were led by Echecrates the Thessalian. Ptolemy's force was accompanied by 73 elephants of the African stock.
War Elephants
Ptolemy's elephants were of the African Forest ElephantAfrican Forest Elephant
The African Forest Elephant is a forest dwelling elephant of the Congo Basin. Formerly considered either a synonym or a subspecies of the African Savanna Elephant , a 2010 study established that the two are distinct species...
s; those of Antiochus were mainly of the large Syrian Elephant
Syrian Elephant
The Syrian elephant is a proposed name for the westernmost population of the Asian Elephant which became extinct in ancient times...
s, brought from India. According to Polybius, the African elephants could not bear the smell, sound and view of their Indian counterparts and would easily give way and rout.
Battle
Antiochus initially set up his camp at a distance of 10 (about 2 km) and then only 5 stades (about 1 km) from his adversary's. Many skirmishes took place before the battle due to this proximity. One night, Theodotus the Aetolian, formerly an officer of Ptolemy, sneaked inside the Ptolemaic camp and reached what he presumed to be the King's tent but Ptolemy was absent and so failed to assassinate him.After 5 days of skirmishing, the two Kings decided to array their troops for battle. Both placed their Phalangites in the center. Next to them they fielded the light armed and the mercenaries in front of which they placed their elephants and even further in the wings their cavalry. They spoke to their soldiers, took their places in the lines — Ptolemy in his left and Antiochus in his right wing — and the battle commenced.
In the beginning of the battle, the elephant contingents on the wings of both armies moved to charge. Most African elephants, the species used by Ptolemy, retreated in panic before the impact and ran through the lines of friendly infantry arrayed behind them, causing disorder in their ranks. At the same time, Antiochus had led his cavalry to the right, rode past the left wing of the Ptolemaic elephants charging the enemy horse. At the same time, the right wing of Ptolemy was retreating and wheeling to protect itself from the panicked elephants. Ptolemy rode to the center encouraging his phalanx to attack, while on the Ptolemaic far right, Ptolemy's cavalry was routing their opponents.
Antiochus routed the Ptolemaic horse posed against him and pursued the fleeing enemy en masse, believing to have won the day, but the Ptolemaic center eventually drove the Syrians back and soon Antiochus realized that his judgment was wrong. Antiochus tried to ride back, but by the time he rode back, his troops were routed and could no longer be regrouped. The battle had ended.
After the battle, Antiochus wanted to regroup and make camp outside the city of Raphia but most of his men had already found refuge inside and he was thus forced to enter it himself. Then he marched to Gaza and asked Ptolemy for the customary truce to bury the dead, which he was granted.
According to Polybius
Polybius
Polybius , Greek ) was a Greek historian of the Hellenistic Period noted for his work, The Histories, which covered the period of 220–146 BC in detail. The work describes in part the rise of the Roman Republic and its gradual domination over Greece...
, the Syrians suffered a little under 10,000 foot dead, about 300 horse and 5 elephants, 4,000 men were taken prisoner. The Ptolemaic losses were 1,500 foot, 700 horse and 16 elephants. Most of the Syrian elephants were taken by the Ptolemies.
Aftermath
Ptolemy's victory secured the province of Coele-Syria for Egypt, but it was only a respite; at the Battle of PaniumBattle of Panium
The Battle of Panium was fought in 200 BC between Seleucid and Ptolemaic forces as part of the Syrian Wars. The Seleucids were led by Antiochus III the Great, while the Ptolemaic army was led by Scopas of Aetolia. The Seleucids won the battle...
in 198 BC
198 BC
Year 198 BC was a year of the pre-Julian Roman calendar. At the time it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Catus and Flamininus...
Antiochus defeated the army of Ptolemy's young son, Ptolemy V and recaptured Coele Syria and Judea
Judea
Judea or Judæa was the name of the mountainous southern part of the historic Land of Israel from the 8th century BCE to the 2nd century CE, when Roman Judea was renamed Syria Palaestina following the Jewish Bar Kokhba revolt.-Etymology:The...
.
Ptolemy owed his victory in part to having a properly equipped and trained native Egyptian Phalanx which for the first time formed a large proportion of his Phalangites, thus ending his manpower problems. The self confidence the Egyptians gained was credited by Polybius as one of the causes of the secession in 207-186 of Upper Egypt
Upper Egypt
Upper Egypt is the strip of land, on both sides of the Nile valley, that extends from the cataract boundaries of modern-day Aswan north to the area between El-Ayait and Zawyet Dahshur . The northern section of Upper Egypt, between El-Ayait and Sohag is sometimes known as Middle Egypt...
under pharaohs Hugronaphor
Hugronaphor
Hugronaphor was an Upper Egyptian of apparently Nubian origin who led Upper Egypt in secession from the rule of Ptolemy IV Philopator in 205 BC...
and Ankhmakis
Ankhmakis
Ankhmakis was the second Pharaoh of the rebel 35th dynasty, which controlled much of Upper Egypt during the reigns of Ptolemies IV and V...
, who created a separate kingdom that lasted nearly twenty years.
The battle of Raphia marked a turning-point in Ptolemaic history. The growth in influence of the native Egyptian element in second-century Ptolemaic administration and culture, at first in the financial pressure aggravated by the cost of the war itself. The stele
Stele
A stele , also stela , is a stone or wooden slab, generally taller than it is wide, erected for funerals or commemorative purposes, most usually decorated with the names and titles of the deceased or living — inscribed, carved in relief , or painted onto the slab...
that recorded the convocation of priests at Memphis
Memphis, Egypt
Memphis was the ancient capital of Aneb-Hetch, the first nome of Lower Egypt. Its ruins are located near the town of Helwan, south of Cairo.According to legend related by Manetho, the city was founded by the pharaoh Menes around 3000 BC. Capital of Egypt during the Old Kingdom, it remained an...
in November 217, to give thanks for the victory was inscribed in Greek and hieroglyphic and demotic Egyptian: in it, for the first time, Ptolemy is given full pharaonic honours in the Greek as well as the Egyptian texts; subsequently this became the norm.
Some biblical commentators see this battle as being the one referred to in Daniel 11:11, where it says, "Then the king of the South will march out in a rage and fight against the king of the North, who will raise a large army, but it will be defeated."
External links
- Battle of Raphia animated battle map by Jonathan Webb