Battle Of Raphia
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Battle Of Raphia
The Battle of Raphia, also known as the Battle of Gaza, was fought on 22 June 217 BC near modern Rafah between the forces of Ptolemy IV Philopator, king and pharaoh of Ptolemaic Egypt and Antiochus III the Great of the Seleucid Empire during the Syrian Wars. It was one of the largest battles of the Hellenistic kingdoms and of the ancient world, and determined the sovereignty of Coele Syria. Prelude The two largest Hellenistic kingdoms in the 3rd century BC, Ptolemaic Egypt and the Seleucid Empire, repeatedly fought for control of Syria in a series of conflicts known as the Syrian Wars. The Fourth Syrian War began in 219 BC, during which time Ptolemaic Egypt was ruled by Ptolemy IV, and the Seleucid Empire was ruled by Antiochus III the Great. In 217 BC, both armies were on campaign through Syria. The Seleucid and Ptolemaic armies met near the small Syrian town of Rafah. Antiochus initially set up his camp at a distance of 10 (about 2 km) and then only 5 stades (about 1 ...
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Fourth Syrian War
The Syrian Wars were a series of six wars between the Seleucid Empire and the Ptolemaic Kingdom of Egypt, successor states to Alexander the Great's empire, during the 3rd and 2nd centuries BC over the region then called Coele-Syria, one of the few avenues into Egypt. These conflicts drained the material and manpower of both parties and led to their eventual destruction and conquest by Rome and Parthia. They are briefly mentioned in the biblical Books of the Maccabees. Background In the Wars of the Diadochi following Alexander's death, Coele-Syria initially came under the rule of Antigonus I Monophthalmus. In 301 BC Ptolemy I Soter, who four years earlier had crowned himself King of Egypt, exploited events surrounding the Battle of Ipsus to take control of the region. The victors at Ipsus, however, had allocated Coele-Syria to Ptolemy's former ally Seleucus I Nicator, founder of the Seleucid Empire. Seleucus, who had been aided by Ptolemy during his ascent to power, did not t ...
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Theodotus Of Aetolia
Theodotus ( el, Θεόδοτος) was an Aetolian general, who at the accession of the Seleucid monarch, Antiochus III the Great (223–187 BC), held the command of the important province of Coele-Syria for Ptolemy Philopator (221–204 BC), king of Egypt. Theodotus was an able general, and repulsed with ease the first attack made by the king of Syria upon his province, but instead of being rewarded by Ptolemy for his services, he was recalled to Alexandria, where he nearly fell a victim to the intrigues of some of the courtiers and favourites of the king. Disgusted with this treatment, and despising the vices and luxury of Ptolemy, when he did resume command in Coele-Syria (219 BC), Theodotus conceived the idea of passing that province into the hands of Antiochus. His overtures were readily welcomed, and he surrendered the two important fortresses of Tyre and Ptolemais to the Seleucid monarch, whom he immediately joined with the forces under his command. Another of Ptol ...
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Javelin
A javelin is a light spear designed primarily to be thrown, historically as a ranged weapon, but today predominantly for sport. The javelin is almost always thrown by hand, unlike the sling, bow, and crossbow, which launch projectiles with the aid of a hand-held mechanism. However, devices do exist to assist the javelin thrower in achieving greater distance, such as spear-throwers or the amentum. A warrior or soldier armed primarily with one or more javelins is a javelineer. The word javelin comes from Middle English and it derives from Old French ''javelin'', a diminutive of ''javelot'', which meant spear. The word ''javelot'' probably originated from one of the Celtic languages. Prehistory There is archaeological evidence that javelins and throwing sticks were already in use by the last phase of the Lower Paleolithic. Seven spear-like objects were found in a coal mine in the city of Schöningen, Germany. Stratigraphy, Stratigraphic dating indicates that the weapons are abo ...
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Lydia
Lydia (Lydian language, Lydian: ‎𐤮𐤱𐤠𐤭𐤣𐤠, ''Śfarda''; Aramaic: ''Lydia''; el, Λυδία, ''Lȳdíā''; tr, Lidya) was an Iron Age Monarchy, kingdom of western Asia Minor located generally east of ancient Ionia in the modern western Turkey, Turkish provinces of Uşak Province, Uşak, Manisa Province, Manisa and inland Izmir Province, Izmir. The ethnic group inhabiting this kingdom are known as the Lydians, and their language, known as Lydian language, Lydian, was a member of the Anatolian languages, Anatolian branch of the Indo-European languages, Indo-European language family. The capital of Lydia was Sardis.Rhodes, P.J. ''A History of the Classical Greek World 478–323 BC''. 2nd edition. Chichester: Wiley-Blackwell, 2010, p. 6. The Kingdom of Lydia existed from about 1200 BC to 546 BC. At its greatest extent, during the 7th century BC, it covered all of western Anatolia. In 546 BC, it became a province of the Achaemenid Empire, Achaemenid Persian Empire ...
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Greeks
The Greeks or Hellenes (; el, Έλληνες, ''Éllines'' ) are an ethnic group and nation indigenous to the Eastern Mediterranean and the Black Sea regions, namely Greece, Cyprus, Albania, Italy, Turkey, Egypt, and, to a lesser extent, other countries surrounding the Mediterranean Sea. They also form a significant diaspora (), with Greek communities established around the world.. Greek colonies and communities have been historically established on the shores of the Mediterranean Sea and Black Sea, but the Greek people themselves have always been centered on the Aegean and Ionian seas, where the Greek language has been spoken since the Bronze Age.. Until the early 20th century, Greeks were distributed between the Greek peninsula, the western coast of Asia Minor, the Black Sea coast, Cappadocia in central Anatolia, Egypt, the Balkans, Cyprus, and Constantinople. Many of these regions coincided to a large extent with the borders of the Byzantine Empire of the late 11th cent ...
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Arabians
The Arabs (singular: Arab; singular ar, عَرَبِيٌّ, DIN 31635: , , plural ar, عَرَب, DIN 31635: , Arabic pronunciation: ), also known as the Arab people, are an ethnic group mainly inhabiting the Arab world in Western Asia, North Africa, the Horn of Africa, and the western Indian Ocean islands (including the Comoros). An Arab diaspora is also present around the world in significant numbers, most notably in the Americas, Western Europe, Turkey, Indonesia, and Iran. In modern usage, the term "Arab" tends to refer to those who both carry that ethnic identity and speak Arabic as their native language. This contrasts with the narrower traditional definition, which refers to the descendants of the tribes of Arabia. The religion of Islam was developed in Arabia, and Classical Arabic serves as the language of Islamic literature. 93 percent of Arabs are Muslims (the remainder consisted mostly of Arab Christians), while Arab Muslims are only 20 percent of the globa ...
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Cadusii
The Cadusii (also called Cadusians; grc, Καδούσιοι, ''Kadoúsioi''; Latin: ''Cadusii'') were an ancient Iranian tribe that lived in the mountains between Media and the shore of the Caspian Sea. The area that the Cadusii lived in bordered that of the Anariacae and Albani. The Dareitai and Pantimati people may have been part of the Cadusii. According to tradition, the legendary Assyrian king Ninus subdued the Cadusii. The Greek physician and historian Ctesias () was highly interested in the Cadusii, incorporating them in his invented history of an early Median dynasty. The Cadusii later voluntarily submitted to Cyrus the Great (), the first ruler of the Achaemenid Empire (550 BC–330 BC). According to Xenophon, as Cyrus was about to pass away, he appointed his younger son Tanaoxares (Bardiya) as satrap over the Medes, Armenians, and Cadusii. The Cadusii were most likely part of the satrapy of Media, and perhaps occasionally that of Hyrcania. Although they fought on side o ...
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Medes
The Medes (Old Persian: ; Akkadian: , ; Ancient Greek: ; Latin: ) were an ancient Iranian people who spoke the Median language and who inhabited an area known as Media between western and northern Iran. Around the 11th century BC, they occupied the mountainous region of northwestern Iran and the northeastern and eastern region of Mesopotamia located in the region of Hamadan (Ecbatana). Their consolidation in Iran is believed to have occurred during the 8th century BC. In the 7th century BC, all of western Iran and some other territories were under Median rule, but their precise geographic extent remains unknown. Although they are generally recognized as having an important place in the history of the ancient Near East, the Medes have left no written source to reconstruct their history, which is known only from foreign sources such as the Assyrians, Babylonians, Armenians and Greeks, as well as a few Iranian archaeological sites, which are believed to have been occupied ...
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Thracians
The Thracians (; grc, Θρᾷκες ''Thrāikes''; la, Thraci) were an Indo-European languages, Indo-European speaking people who inhabited large parts of Eastern Europe, Eastern and Southeast Europe, Southeastern Europe in ancient history.. "The Thracians were an Indo-European people who occupied the area between northern Greece, southern Russia, and north-western Turkey. They shared the same language and culture... There may have been as many as a million Thracians, diveded among up to 40 tribes." Thracians resided mainly in the Balkans (mostly Present (time), modern day Bulgaria, Turkey and Greece) but were also located in Anatolia, Anatolia (Asia Minor) and other locations in Eastern Europe. The exact origin of Thracians is unknown, but it is believed that proto-Thracians descended from a purported mixture of Proto-Indo-Europeans and Early European Farmers, arriving from the rest of Asia and Africa through the Asia Minor (Anatolia). The proto-Thracian culture developed int ...
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Agrianian
The Agrianes (Ancient Greek: Ἀγρίανες, ''Agrianes'' or Ἀγρίαι ''Agriai'') or Agrianians, were a tribe whose country was centered at Upper Strymon, in present-day central Western Bulgaria as well as southeasternmost Serbia, at the time situated north of the Dentheletae. Per Strabo the source of the river Strymon was within Agrianes' territory. In the times of Philip II of Macedon, the territory of the Agrianes was administered by Pella. They were crack javelin throwers and an elite unit of Alexander the Great's light infantry, who fought under the command of General Attalus. Etymology and tribal belonging Their name in Ancient Greek was Ἀγρίανες. The ethnonym is of Indo-European origin, it may have been derived from *''agro''- "field" (cf. Lat. ''ager'', Grc. ἀγρός ''agros'', Eng. acre). Irwin L. Merker considers it purely Hellenic, and lists certain Greek cognates such as the ethnonym of the Doric tribe Agraioi in Aetolia and the month Agrianos ...
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Persian People
The Persians are an Iranian ethnic group who comprise over half of the population of Iran. They share a common cultural system and are native speakers of the Persian language as well as of the languages that are closely related to Persian. The ancient Persians were originally an ancient Iranian people who had migrated to the region of Persis (corresponding to the modern-day Iranian province of Fars) by the 9th century BCE. Together with their compatriot allies, they established and ruled some of the world's most powerful empires that are well-recognized for their massive cultural, political, and social influence, which covered much of the territory and population of the ancient world.. Throughout history, the Persian people have contributed greatly to art and science. Persian literature is one of the world's most prominent literary traditions. In contemporary terminology, people from Afghanistan, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan who natively speak the Persian language are know ...
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Theodotus Hemiolius
Theodotus Hemiolius (in Greek Θεoδoτoς Hμιoλιoς) was a general in the service of king Antiochus III the Great (223–187 BC), who was sent by the king 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. However, the two generals were unable to control the rebel satrap and withdrew within the walls of the cities, leaving him in possession of the open country. After the later and final defeat of Molon by Antiochus, Theodotus was selected by that monarch to take the command in Coele-Syria, while Antiochus undertook to reduce Seleucia on the Tigris. What Theodotus accomplished is not known, but the next year (219 BC) he was serving under the immediate command of Antiochus and bearing an important share in the action against Nicolaus, one of the generals of Ptolemy IV Philopator (221–204 BC), near Porphyreon, as well as shortly after at the siege of Rabbatamana. On b ...
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