The Battle of Raphia occurred on 22 June 217 BC during the Syrian Wars fought between Ptolemaic Egypt and the Seleucid Empire of Syria. In one of the largest battles of the ancient world, the Egyptians defeated the Seleucid army and conquered Syria and the Levant, but the Egyptian gains were reversed following the Battle of Panium in 200 BC.
Background[]
During the 3rd century BC, the two major eastern successor states to Alexander the Great's empire, Ptolemaic Egypt and Seleucid Syria, engaged in a series of wars for control of the Levant. In 219 BC, the fourth of these "Syrian Wars" broke out between Egyptian pharaoh Ptolemy IV and the Seleucid king Antiochus III. In 217 BC, the two armies campaigned in Syria and met in battle at Raphia (now Rafah, Gaza). The Egyptian army, consisting of 75,000 troops (70,000 infantry, 5,000 cavalry, and 73 elephants) faced the Seleucid army of 68,000 troops (62,000 infantry, 6,000 cavalry, and 102 elephants); the Ptolemaic African war elephants were afraid of the smell of the Seleucid Indian war elephants, posing a significant threat to the Egyptian chances of victory.
Battle[]
After five days of skirmishing, the two kings arrayed their troops for battle, placing their phalanx infantry in the center. Next to them, they placed their mercenaries and light infantry, and the cavalry further on both wings; the elephants were deployed in front of the army. The more powerful Seleucid Indian war elephants scared the Egyptian war elephants, causing them to retreat and cause disorder in the Egyptian ranks. However, the Ptolemaic cavalry on the right flank routed their opponents, and the Ptolemaic and Seleucid phalanxes engaged in a stiff and chaotic fight. The Ptolemaic phalanxes soon drove the Seleucid phalanxes back, and Antiochus was unable to regroup his army, which routed. Ptolemy's victory secured Syria for Egypt, but, seventeen years later, Antiochus defeated the army of Ptolemy V at the Battle of Panium and reconquered Syria and Judea.