The battles of Antiochus the Great : the failure of combined arms at Magnesia that handed the world to Rome

Antiochus III, the king of the Seleucid Empire for four decades, ruled a powerful state for a long time. He fought and won many battles from India to Egypt, and he lost almost as many. Compared with most of the other Hellenistic monarchs of Macedonian-founded kingdoms, Antiochus had a greater variety of units that he could field in his army. He was in a unique position among the other kings because he had access to the traditional infantry-based Greek cultures in Asia Minor as well as the cavalry-dominant cultures of Mesopotamia and Western Asia. Yet, despite these advantages, Antiochus repeatedly came up short on the battlefield and his tactical shortcomings were no more obviously laid bare than at the Battle of Magnesia-ad-Sipylum in 190 BC. There his huge combined army, one of the largest ever fielded by Hellenistic rulers, was soundly thrashed by the smaller Roman force. Through an analysis of the Seleucid army, the inherited standard tactics of Macedonian-style armies reliant on the sarissa phalanx, and a detailed examination of the three main battles of Antiochus III, this book will show how it was his failure to utilize combined arms at its fullest realization that led to such a world-changing defeat at Magnesia. Antiochus III, the king of the Seleucid Empire for four decades, ruled a powerful state for a long time. He fought and won many battles from India to Egypt, and he lost almost as many. Compared with most of the other Hellenistic monarchs of Macedonian-founded kingdoms, Antiochus had a greater variety of units that he could field in his army. He was in a unique position among the other kings because he had access to the traditional infantry-based Greek cultures in Asia Minor as well as the cavalry-dominant cultures of Mesopotamia and Western Asia. Yet, despite these advantages, Antiochus repeatedly came up short on the battlefield and his tactical shortcomings were no more obviously laid bare than at the Battle of Magnesia-ad-Sipylum in 190 BC. There his huge combined army, one of the largest ever fielded by Hellenistic rulers, was soundly thrashed by the smaller Roman force. Through an analysis of the Seleucid army, the inherited standard tactics of Macedonian-style armies reliant on the sarissa phalanx, and a detailed examination of the three main battles of Antiochus III, this book will show how it was his failure to utilise combined arms at its fullest realization that led to such a world-changing defeat at Magnesia. HISTORY / Military / Ancient Cover 1 Book Title 4 Copyright 5 Dedication 6 Contents 8 List of Illustrations 9 Acknowledgements 11 Introduction 12 Chapter One. The Seleucid Army of Antiochus the Great 32 Chapter Two. The Battle of Raphia 43 Chapter Three. The Battles of Arius and Panion 63 Chapter Four. The Coming of Rome and the Battle of Thermopylae 82 Chapter Five. The Legion versus the Phalanx:Roman and Macedonian Styles of Warfare 105 Chapter Six. The Naval War with Rome 132 Chapter Seven. The Battle of Magnesia ad Sipylum 146 Chapter Eight. Antiochus’ Failure of Combined Arms 163 Conclusion 167 Notes 170 Bibliography 177 Index 180 Back cover 186 Detailed study of the battlefield command of Antiochus III, one of the most powerful and significant leaders of his era.