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"My men, we have more reason for shame; saved by those sixteen brutes!"
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<p>[QUOTE="Magnus Maximus, post: 4581358, member: 73473"]<font face="Times New Roman">When Seleucus I Nikator was assassinated by Ptolemy Ceranus in 281, it nearly spelled the end of the Seleucid State. With the death of Seleucus, the majority of his army defected to Ptolemy and opportunistic powers in Asia Minor quickly took advantage of the chaos. Seleucus's son, Antiochus I, hearing of the disaster, made his way straight for Anatolia. In an ideal world Antiochus would return to Asia Minor, kill Ptolemy, and finish his father's reconquest of Macedon. However, when Antiochus reached Antioch he found the entire Syrian countryside in revolt; most importantly the main calvary garrison in Apamea Syria had defected to the rebels. </font></p><p><font face="Times New Roman"><br /></font></p><p><font face="Times New Roman">After his victory against the rebels in 275, Antiochus moved to Sardis to survey the damage. In the six years since Seleucus's murder; Ptolemy Ceranus had died in battle with the Celts, who then pillaged northern Greece and had made their way into Asia Minor. In late 275 or early 274, Antiochus decided it was time to confront the Celts in a pitched battle.</font></p><p><font face="Times New Roman"><br /></font></p><blockquote><font face="Times New Roman">The Antonine era writer Lucian recounts the large Celtic army amassed opposite to Antiochus's forces:</font></p><blockquote><p><i><font face="Times New Roman">These people were good fighters, and on this occasion in great force; they were drawn up in a serried phalanx, the first rank, which consisted of steel-clad warriors, being supported by men of the ordinary heavy-armed type to the depth of <b>four-and-twenty; twenty thousand cavalry</b> held the flanks; and there were <b>eighty scythed, and twice that number of ordinary war chariots</b> ready to burst forth from the centre.</font></i></p><p><i><font face="Times New Roman"><br /></font></i></p></blockquote></blockquote><p><font face="Times New Roman">Antiochus was allegedly filled with terror after seeing such a large army, as his own mainly consisted of light infantry and sixteen elephants hastily sent from the satrap of Bactria. The night before the battle Antiochus supposedly received a dream from Alexander the Great that told him to use the password "health" in the upcoming battle. Encouraged by his dream and by one of his generals(Theodotas of Rhodes), Antiochus pushed for battle the following morning. Theodotas advised Antiochus to hide the elephants until the Celtic chariots and horses charged their lines, then to let them loose against them. Theodotas reasoned to Antiochus, that because the Celts were new arrivals to Anatolia their horses likely hadn't become accustomed to the sight and scent of elephants. </font></p><blockquote><font face="Times New Roman">Lucian describes the subsequent battle in detail:</font></p><blockquote><p><i><font face="Times New Roman">Neither the Galatians nor their horses had ever seen an elephant, and they were so taken aback by the strange sight that, long before the beasts came to close quarters, the mere sound of their trumpeting, the sight of their gleaming tusks relieved against dark bodies, and minatory waving trunks, was enough; before they were within bow-shot, <b>the enemy broke and ran in utter disorder</b>; the infantry were spitted on each other's spears, and trampled by the cavalry who came scurrying on to them. The chariots, turning in like manner upon their own friends, whirled about among them by no means harmlessly; <b>it was a Homeric scene of 'rumbling tumbling cars'; when once the horses shied at those formidable elephants, off went the drivers,</b> and 'the lordless chariots rattled on,'<b> their scythes maiming and carving any of their late masters whom they came within reach of</b>; and, in that chaos, many were the victims. <b>Next came the elephants, trampling, tossing, tearing, goring; and a very complete victory they had made of it for Antiochus.</b></font></i></p></blockquote></blockquote><p><font face="Times New Roman">Antiochus and Theodotas had won a spectacular victory against the Celts, who swiftly retreated beyond Seleucid controlled territory and would never again directly threaten Seleucid authority.</font></p><p><font face="Times New Roman"><br /></font></p><p><font face="Times New Roman">As the day ended, Antiochus's men gathered around the camp and celebrated with wine and song. Antiochus's men made a wreath for the King and praised him for his victory, but Antiochus would have none of it. Antiochus, realizing that his army would have been annihilated without the elephants, stated:</font></p><blockquote><p><font face="Times New Roman"><i><b>"My men, we have more reason for shame; saved by those sixteen brutes! If their strangeness had not produced the panic, where should we have been?".</b></i></font></p></blockquote><p><br /></p><p><font face="Times New Roman">News of Antiochus's victory soon spread throughout the region and the greater Hellenistic world. In Ilion(Troy) the local city council praised Antiochus with an inscription: </font></p><blockquote><p><font face="Times New Roman">"<i><b>Whereas King Antiochus, son of King Seleucus,</b> when he first took over the kingship and adopted a glorious and noble policy, s<b>ought to restore the cities of the Seleukis, which were beset by difficult circumstances on account of those who were in rebellion, to peace and to their former prosperity</b>, and, <b>marching out against those who attacked his kingdom, as was just, (sought) to recover his ancestral empire</b>; wherefore, embarking upon a noble and just enterprise and having not only his friends and forces eager to support him to the end in his struggle for the state but also the supernatural as a kind ally, he restored the cities to peace and his kingdom to its former condition; and now, coming to the area on this side of the Taurus (mountains) he has with all zealous concern at once established peace for the cities and brought his affairs and his kingdom to a greater and more brilliant condition, mostly thanks to his own virtue, but also thanks to the good-will of his friends and his forces...."</i></font></p></blockquote><p><font face="Times New Roman"><br /></font></p><p><font face="Times New Roman"><br /></font></p><p><font face="Times New Roman"><br /></font></p><p><font face="Times New Roman">In honor of Ilion paying honor to Antiochus and Antiochus's elephant victory, here is a rare tetradrachm depicting Antiochus from Phocaea and a bronze piece from Troy.</font></p><p>[ATTACH=full]1134759[/ATTACH]</p><p><font face="Times New Roman">SELEUCID KINGDOM. Antiochus II Theos (261-246 BC). AR tetradrachm (32mm, 16.99gm, 12h). Phocaea. <u><b>Diademed head of Antiochus I right, elderly to middle ages, with full hair and aquiline nose</b></u>; dotted border / BAΣIΛEΩΣ / ANT-IOXOY, Apollo seated left on omphalus, testing arrow in right hand, left hand on grounded bow to right behind; forepart of griffin left in upper, outer left field, A(PT) monogram in outer right field. SC 508. Extremely rare - no examples in sales archives. Pleasant medium gray old collection toning. Extreme high relief.</font></p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH=full]1134760[/ATTACH]</p><p><font face="Times New Roman">Greek Troas. Ilion 301-281 BC. </font></p><p><font face="Times New Roman">Bronze Æ 11 mm., 1,82 g Very Fine</font></p><p><font face="Times New Roman"><br /></font></p><p><font face="Times New Roman">The Seleucid Empire in 270 BCE</font></p><p>[ATTACH=full]1134763[/ATTACH]</p><p><br /></p><p><font face="Times New Roman">An artist's depiction of Seleucid war elephants engaged with a Ptolemaic phalanx.</font></p><p>[ATTACH=full]1134766[/ATTACH]</p><p><br /></p><p><font face="Times New Roman">Sources</font></p><p><font face="Times New Roman"><a href="https://www.sacred-texts.com/cla/luc/wl2/wl207.htm" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="https://www.sacred-texts.com/cla/luc/wl2/wl207.htm" rel="nofollow">https://www.sacred-texts.com/cla/luc/wl2/wl207.htm</a></font></p><p><font face="Times New Roman"><a href="http://www.historyofwar.org/articles/wars_syrian_1st.html" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="http://www.historyofwar.org/articles/wars_syrian_1st.html" rel="nofollow">http://www.historyofwar.org/articles/wars_syrian_1st.html</a></font></p><p><font face="Times New Roman"><a href="http://www.columbia.edu/itc/classics/bagnall/3995/readings/b-d2-1b.htm" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="http://www.columbia.edu/itc/classics/bagnall/3995/readings/b-d2-1b.htm" rel="nofollow">http://www.columbia.edu/itc/classics/bagnall/3995/readings/b-d2-1b.htm</a></font>[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>
[QUOTE="Magnus Maximus, post: 4581358, member: 73473"][FONT=Times New Roman]When Seleucus I Nikator was assassinated by Ptolemy Ceranus in 281, it nearly spelled the end of the Seleucid State. With the death of Seleucus, the majority of his army defected to Ptolemy and opportunistic powers in Asia Minor quickly took advantage of the chaos. Seleucus's son, Antiochus I, hearing of the disaster, made his way straight for Anatolia. In an ideal world Antiochus would return to Asia Minor, kill Ptolemy, and finish his father's reconquest of Macedon. However, when Antiochus reached Antioch he found the entire Syrian countryside in revolt; most importantly the main calvary garrison in Apamea Syria had defected to the rebels. After his victory against the rebels in 275, Antiochus moved to Sardis to survey the damage. In the six years since Seleucus's murder; Ptolemy Ceranus had died in battle with the Celts, who then pillaged northern Greece and had made their way into Asia Minor. In late 275 or early 274, Antiochus decided it was time to confront the Celts in a pitched battle. [/FONT] [INDENT][FONT=Times New Roman]The Antonine era writer Lucian recounts the large Celtic army amassed opposite to Antiochus's forces:[/FONT] [INDENT][I][FONT=Times New Roman]These people were good fighters, and on this occasion in great force; they were drawn up in a serried phalanx, the first rank, which consisted of steel-clad warriors, being supported by men of the ordinary heavy-armed type to the depth of [B]four-and-twenty; twenty thousand cavalry[/B] held the flanks; and there were [B]eighty scythed, and twice that number of ordinary war chariots[/B] ready to burst forth from the centre. [/FONT][/I][/INDENT][/INDENT] [FONT=Times New Roman]Antiochus was allegedly filled with terror after seeing such a large army, as his own mainly consisted of light infantry and sixteen elephants hastily sent from the satrap of Bactria. The night before the battle Antiochus supposedly received a dream from Alexander the Great that told him to use the password "health" in the upcoming battle. Encouraged by his dream and by one of his generals(Theodotas of Rhodes), Antiochus pushed for battle the following morning. Theodotas advised Antiochus to hide the elephants until the Celtic chariots and horses charged their lines, then to let them loose against them. Theodotas reasoned to Antiochus, that because the Celts were new arrivals to Anatolia their horses likely hadn't become accustomed to the sight and scent of elephants. [/FONT] [INDENT][FONT=Times New Roman]Lucian describes the subsequent battle in detail:[/FONT] [INDENT][I][FONT=Times New Roman]Neither the Galatians nor their horses had ever seen an elephant, and they were so taken aback by the strange sight that, long before the beasts came to close quarters, the mere sound of their trumpeting, the sight of their gleaming tusks relieved against dark bodies, and minatory waving trunks, was enough; before they were within bow-shot, [B]the enemy broke and ran in utter disorder[/B]; the infantry were spitted on each other's spears, and trampled by the cavalry who came scurrying on to them. The chariots, turning in like manner upon their own friends, whirled about among them by no means harmlessly; [B]it was a Homeric scene of 'rumbling tumbling cars'; when once the horses shied at those formidable elephants, off went the drivers,[/B] and 'the lordless chariots rattled on,'[B] their scythes maiming and carving any of their late masters whom they came within reach of[/B]; and, in that chaos, many were the victims. [B]Next came the elephants, trampling, tossing, tearing, goring; and a very complete victory they had made of it for Antiochus.[/B][/FONT][/I][/INDENT][/INDENT] [FONT=Times New Roman]Antiochus and Theodotas had won a spectacular victory against the Celts, who swiftly retreated beyond Seleucid controlled territory and would never again directly threaten Seleucid authority. As the day ended, Antiochus's men gathered around the camp and celebrated with wine and song. Antiochus's men made a wreath for the King and praised him for his victory, but Antiochus would have none of it. Antiochus, realizing that his army would have been annihilated without the elephants, stated:[/FONT] [INDENT][FONT=Times New Roman][I][B]"My men, we have more reason for shame; saved by those sixteen brutes! If their strangeness had not produced the panic, where should we have been?".[/B][/I][/FONT][/INDENT] [FONT=Times New Roman]News of Antiochus's victory soon spread throughout the region and the greater Hellenistic world. In Ilion(Troy) the local city council praised Antiochus with an inscription: [/FONT] [INDENT][FONT=Times New Roman]"[I][B]Whereas King Antiochus, son of King Seleucus,[/B] when he first took over the kingship and adopted a glorious and noble policy, s[B]ought to restore the cities of the Seleukis, which were beset by difficult circumstances on account of those who were in rebellion, to peace and to their former prosperity[/B], and, [B]marching out against those who attacked his kingdom, as was just, (sought) to recover his ancestral empire[/B]; wherefore, embarking upon a noble and just enterprise and having not only his friends and forces eager to support him to the end in his struggle for the state but also the supernatural as a kind ally, he restored the cities to peace and his kingdom to its former condition; and now, coming to the area on this side of the Taurus (mountains) he has with all zealous concern at once established peace for the cities and brought his affairs and his kingdom to a greater and more brilliant condition, mostly thanks to his own virtue, but also thanks to the good-will of his friends and his forces...."[/I][/FONT][/INDENT] [FONT=Times New Roman] In honor of Ilion paying honor to Antiochus and Antiochus's elephant victory, here is a rare tetradrachm depicting Antiochus from Phocaea and a bronze piece from Troy.[/FONT] [ATTACH=full]1134759[/ATTACH] [FONT=Times New Roman]SELEUCID KINGDOM. Antiochus II Theos (261-246 BC). AR tetradrachm (32mm, 16.99gm, 12h). Phocaea. [U][B]Diademed head of Antiochus I right, elderly to middle ages, with full hair and aquiline nose[/B][/U]; dotted border / BAΣIΛEΩΣ / ANT-IOXOY, Apollo seated left on omphalus, testing arrow in right hand, left hand on grounded bow to right behind; forepart of griffin left in upper, outer left field, A(PT) monogram in outer right field. SC 508. Extremely rare - no examples in sales archives. Pleasant medium gray old collection toning. Extreme high relief.[/FONT] [ATTACH=full]1134760[/ATTACH] [FONT=Times New Roman]Greek Troas. Ilion 301-281 BC. Bronze Æ 11 mm., 1,82 g Very Fine The Seleucid Empire in 270 BCE[/FONT] [ATTACH=full]1134763[/ATTACH] [FONT=Times New Roman]An artist's depiction of Seleucid war elephants engaged with a Ptolemaic phalanx.[/FONT] [ATTACH=full]1134766[/ATTACH] [FONT=Times New Roman]Sources [URL]https://www.sacred-texts.com/cla/luc/wl2/wl207.htm[/URL] [URL]http://www.historyofwar.org/articles/wars_syrian_1st.html[/URL] [URL]http://www.columbia.edu/itc/classics/bagnall/3995/readings/b-d2-1b.htm[/URL][/FONT][/QUOTE]
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