Ptolemaic army of 1st century BC

[bachmat66]

Hello gents,
we are doing some research regarding the Ptolemaic army of the mid 1st century BC - especially so called Alexandrine War period - over at the Polish site historycy.org,
and I am looking for info on that period Ptolemaic army and also on the army that Mithradates of Pergamon brought Caesar to the Delta in 47BC.

we already have the so called Palestrina mosaic - some fragments accessible here http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nile_mosaic_of_Palestrina
we are inferring that most Ptolemaic army was armed with pikes of Macedonian 'descent'. Also perhaps the Ptolemaic armies by Nick Sekunda could be of some use, I think?

also please some more info on the battle of the Nile please, because what I found was that 'Egyptians' put a stiff resistance but were overcome by the pila showers, as their pikes proved to be useless, and that the young king drowned in his shining thorax when his royal boat had sunk overloaded.
I found some old book which quoted Caesar-Mithradates army at 20000 strong versus the same number of Ptolemy warriors.
I have a internet translation of the Bellum Alexandrinum http://classics.mit.edu/Caesar/alexandrian.html
but haven't finished reading it yet
I looked ad the Adrian Goldsworthy's latest book 'Caesar' but his info there was more about the Cleopatra affair etc than the war itself..
thanks
Dario

[MeinPanzer]

we already have the so called Palestrina mosaic - some fragments accessible here http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nile_mosaic_of_Palestrina

I wouldn't rely on the Palestrina mosaic for much, as it is still unclear whether the troops are Roman or Ptolemaic.

If you want to know about weaponry and equipment of this time period, I have some relevant stuff.

The tomb of a soldier in the late Ptolemaic army (2nd to 1st C. BC) was found at Ard el-Môz which contains representations of the man's armament in relief. He wore a linothorax with a sash (indicating that he was an officer), a Thracian helmet with a feather projecting out from each side of the peak, and greaves. He carried a sword of the later style, which I think are Celtic in origin, similar to figures 125 and 126 in Nick Sekunda's Ptolemaic Army book; a hoplon; and two spears.

Based on a terracotta figurine of Bes, heavy Ptolemaic cavalry at this time would most likely have worn late Boeotian style helmets and muscled cuirasses (most likely of iron) and carried large round shields.

For the thureophoroi (soldiers carrying oval shields) at this time, there are a couple of terracotta figurines (Sekunda Figs. 91, 93) and a copy of a late Ptolemaic fresco to work from (Sekunda Figs. 84-88 ). In general, they would carry thureoi of a solid colour and spears and would have worn plumed helmets.

[bachmat66]

thank you for your replay - I would like to proceed further with some more inquiry into the tactics and equipment:

namely, did they -Ptolemaic Egyptians - use some sort of phalanx on the battlefield - I understand from reading 'Bellum Allexandrinum' that king Pharnaces of Pontus did use phalanx ( in 48 BC) against Ceasar's Domitius at Nicopolis - then it may be the case that they still used some sort of phalanx in Egypt that winter of 48/47BC?

also did they use some sort of a pike or shorter sarrisa? or just a Roman hasta?

This subject is not my chief field of interest in the Ancient world, and I got interested as I read about the Mithradates of Pergamon march from Cilicia/Syria to Egypt's border with newly recruited army followed by his 'lighting' march across the Delta towards the 'randezvous' with Ceasar - so I am curious who was fighting against the Caesarian war machine.

Also, from reading about the Bithynians and Galatians - via links on this forum - it seems that they traditionally found employment in the Ptolemaic army.. perhpas even taht winter 48 BC

and finally left over Romans, from Pompey and even Crassus armies - did they serve with the Ptolemaic army at that time?

[hoplite14gr]

Ptolemaic used a pike armed phalanx because the creators of that state state were officials who had their training and experience in the army of Alexander. Is also cheap and easy to create pikemen in contrast to other troops.
As the court politics dominated the affairs of that state so did the employment of mercenaries from Greece or Galatians depending on which power fraction "promoted" them.
Chances though are that these power politics had crushed the system that was used to create the phalanx by by 100 B.C, or at least they create inferior troops and units by that time.
If used properly the pike block is almost unbeatable and cheap to maintain.
So it is possible that is survived long.

It is belived that the "thyrophoroi" troops did not use the pike but the spear.
Iconographic evidence supports this.
Kind regards

[MeinPanzer]

thank you for your replay - I would like to proceed further with some more inquiry into the tactics and equipment:

namely, did they -Ptolemaic Egyptians - use some sort of phalanx on the battlefield - I understand from reading 'Bellum Allexandrinum' that king Pharnaces of Pontus did use phalanx ( in 48 BC) against Ceasar's Domitius at Nicopolis - then it may be the case that they still used some sort of phalanx in Egypt that winter of 48/47BC?

The only evidence you will find for this would be in literary sources. Unfortunately, I am not familiar with the sources for the 1st C. BC Ptolemaic army, so I don't know the answer to that question.

also did they use some sort of a pike or shorter sarrisa? or just a Roman hasta?

Non-phalangite troops would have used regular fighting spears.

Also, from reading about the Bithynians and Galatians - via links on this forum - it seems that they traditionally found employment in the Ptolemaic army.. perhpas even taht winter 48 BC

Numerous ethnicities regularly found employment in the Ptolemaic army. The most common were Galatians, Thracians, and Greeks. I don't know all that much about Galatians in the late Ptolemaic army specifically, but I do know that Cleopatra VII had a bodyguard of Galatians.

Bithynians were less common mercenaries, but there is some evidence for them for Ptolemaic Egypt, including that of Diazelmis of Apamea, a Bithynian officer who left Bithynia to serve the Ptolemies and who was buried in Egypt in the 2nd or 1st C. BC. They were present in the later Ptolemaic army, but most likely in small numbers only.