The Battle of Raphia (217 BCE): Historians vs. Biologists

Introduction. The batlle of Raphia, the general battle of the 4th Syrian War between the armies of Antiochus III and Ptolemy IV, became one of the largest in ancient history. Its course is generally known thanks to the comprehensive description by Polybius (V.82–86). The participation of war elephants attracts special attention of researchers because it was quite massive and successful. It was the elephant fight that became the most striking episode of the battle. In tactical terms, the actions of elephantry in conjunction with other troops are of undoubted interest in the context of combined arms warfare. Finally, the Battle of Raphia is the only known battle of Antiquity,

where African and Indian elephants battled against each other. Oddly enough, it is this picturesque detail that attracts scientists and remains the reason for a lively discussion in historiography to this day.

Materials and methods. The main source is Chapter V of Polybius’s General History, as well as other narrative sources (the works of Diodorus, Strabo, Plutarch, etc.).

Analysis. The debate about the exact species of ancient African war elephants has been going on since the beginning of the 20th century and is caused by the fact that elephants are no longer found in the regions that were accessible to ancient hunters. The point of the debate is to determine which living species of African elephant (savanna elephant or forest elephant) they could belong to, based on both Polybius’s report on the superiority of Indian elephants over Libyan ones (V.84.5) and zoological data. Several stages can be distinguished in the debate: the beginning of the 20th century (G. Delbrück et al., savanna elephant), the end of the 1940s (W. Gowers, forest elephant; P. Deraniyagala, species that is now extinct), the beginning of the 21st century (scientific results of the Gash-Barka expedition (2014), P. Schneider’s publications). It is currently ongoing, since only a genetic study of ancient skeleton remains can close it.

Results. The successful experiments in taming both the living species of African elephant conducted in the 20th century allow one to agree with P. Schneider’s conclusions that for both Polybius and the organizers of these experiments, the exact classification of elephants was of no importance. In addition, it is concluded that the participation of African elephants in the Battle of Raphia can be assessed not as unequivocally as Polybius did; the Ptolemaic commander Echecrates could have used them as a “mobile shield” – in a way – in preparation for a decisive blow to the Seleucid flank (Polyb. V.85.1–3), thereby using them in a manner quite conventional to Hellenistic tactics.

1. Delbruck H. History of the Art of War. Vol. 1. Saint Petersburg: Nauka, 1999. 414 p. (In Russ.)

2. Bar-Kochva B. The Seleucid Army: Organization and Tactics in the Great Campaigns. Cambridge: University Press, 1976. 306 p.

3. Bevan ER. House of Ptolemy: A History of Hellenistic Egypt under the Ptolemaic Dynasty. London: Methuen Publishing, 1927. 392 p.

4. Brandt AL. et al. The Elephants of Gash-Barka, Eritrea: Nuclear and Mitochondrial Genetic Patterns. Journal of Heredity. 2014;105(1): 82-90.

5. Charles MB. Elephant Size in Antiquity. DNA Evidence and the Battle of Raphia. Historia. 2016;65(1):53-65.

6. Charles MB. The African Elephants of Antiquity Revisited: Habitat and Representational Evidence. Historia. 2020;69(4):392-407.

7. Craven SP. The Mercenaries of Hellenistic Crete. Diss. ... PhD. Austin: The University of Texas, 2017. 340 p.

8. Csuti B. Elephants in Captivity in Biology, Medicine, and Surgery of Elephants. Oxford: Blackwell Publishing, 2006. P. 15-22.

9. Deraniyagala PEP. Some scientific results of two visits to Africa. Spolia Zeylanica. 1948;25(2):1-42.

10. Deraniyagala PEP. Some extinct elephants, their relatives and the two living species. Colombo: Government Press, 1955. 161 p.

11. Du Plessis JC. The Seleucid Army of Antiochus the Great. Weapons, Armour and Tactics. Barnsley: Pen & Sword Military, 2022. 340 p.

12. Galili E. Raphia, 217 B.C.E., Revisited. Scripta Classica Israelica. 1976/1977;3:52-126.

13. Glover RF. The Elephant in Ancient War. The Classical Journal. 1944;39(5):257-269.

14. Gowers W. African Elephants and Ancient Authors. African Affairs. 1948; 47(188):173-180.

15. Huss W. Untersuchungen zur Aussenpolitik Ptolemaios’ IV. München, 1976. 304 p.

16. Iversen E. The Domestication of the African Elephant. Pachyderm. 1995;20:65-68.

17. Johstono P. The Army of Ptolemaic Egypt 323-204 BC: An Institutional and Operational History. Barnsley: Pen & Sword Military, 2020. 344 p.

18. Laursen L, Bekoff M. Loxodonta Africana. Mammalian Species. 1978;92:1-8.

19. Pietrykowski J. Great Battles of the Hellenistic World. Barnsley: Pen & Sword Military, 2009. 256 p.

20. Sabin P. Lost Battles: Reconstructing the Great Clashes of the Ancient World. London: Continuum Books, 2007. 298 p.

21. Schneider P. De l’Hydaspe à Raphia: rois, éléphants et propagande d’Alexandre le Grand à Ptolémée IV. Chronique d’Égypte. 2009;84:310-334.

22. Schneider P. Again on the Elephants of Raphia: Re-Examining Polybius’ Factual Accuracy and Historical Method in the light of a DNA Survey. Histos. 2016;10:132-148.

23. Scullard HH. The Elephant in the Greek and Roman World. Ithaсa (N. Y.): Cornell University Press, 1974. 288 p.

24. Shoshani J. Order Proboscidea in Mammal Species of the World. A Taxonomic and Geographic Reference. 3rd Ed. Vol. I. Baltimore (MA), 2005. P. 90-91.

25. Sukumar R. The Living Elephants: Evolutionary Ecology, Behavior, and Conservation. Oxford: University Press, 2003. 478 p.

26. Tarn WW. Hellenistic Military and Naval Developments. Cambridge: University Press, 1930. 170 p.

27. Taylor MJ. Antiochus the Great. Barnsley: Pen & Sword Military, 2013. 190 p.

28. Walbank FW. A Historical Commentary on Polybius. Vol. I. Oxford, 1957. 776 p.

29. Winnicki JK. Operacje Wojskowe Ptolemeuszów w Syrii. Warszawa: Wydawnictwa Uniwersytetu Warszawskiego, 1989. 185 p.

30. Wrightson G. The Battles of Antiochus the Great. The failure of combined arms at Magnesia that handed the world to Rome. Barnsley: Pen & Sword Military, 2022. 154 p