THE ARMY OF PTOLEMAIC EGYPT 323 TO 204 BC

◗ Paul Johstono ◗ Pen & Sword Military (17 Nov. 2020) ◗ £25.00 ◗ 320 pages (hardback) ◗ ISBN:9781473833838 ◗ pen-and-sword.co.uk

This is a book with an ‘agenda’, it’s not just a history, it is trying to ‘prove a point.’ This is not a bad thing because the author explains his aim right at the beginning. The ancient author and historian, Polybius, in his account of the Battle of Raphia in 217BC paints the Ptolemaic army as being in decline for much of the period this covers. The author disagrees.

The book starts first by looking at the account of Raphia and follows the army through eight chapters. The first is dedicated Raphia, the second to the first Ptolemy, satrap and then king. The third chapter covers the Antigonid Wars, 315285BC. The fourth chapter steps outside simple chronology to look at the origins of soldiers in the Ptolemaic Army.

In the fifth chapter we have the Wars of Ptolemy II Philadephus 282-246BC. The sixth chapter looks at the military settlements of the same period. Then with the seventh and eighth chapters we look at Ptolemy III. Chapter 7 covers the Third Syrian War, and Chapter 8 looks at the ‘purported’decline of the Ptolemaic army. Chapter 9 takes us back to Raphia and the conclusions. The book doesn’t attempt to follow the various campaigns. Given the amount of information we have left from this period this would be largely impossible anyway.

It also looks into how various soldiers were hired or taken prisoner, then were settled as military settlers. It even looks at the difference between mercenaries, military settlers who served for pay even when their units weren’t called up, and volunteers from Egypt who volunteered to be soldiers.

There is a lot of good stuff here. By looking at the original documents, where soldiers gave their city of origin, it is obvious that a lot of ‘Macedonians’ had no connection with Macedonia other than the fact they fought in a pike phalanx. Indeed a lot of Anatolian soldiers who were recruited may well have fought as pikemen and many then have been given land to make them military settlers when they retired or when the campaign they were recruited for finished. They would then, legally, be Macedonians.

The author looks at the recruiting of Egyptian troops and the awarding of land to them.

The author stops in 204BC with the great revolt of the Egyptians which lasted until 186 BC. Things changed dramatically in this period and the author does take some documentary evidence from this period and takes a brief look at some of the changes. He concludes that by Raphia the Ptolemaic Dynasty had managed to create a native ‘Greek’ army, loyal to the dynasty. This meant that they could fight major campaigns without being dependent on the mercenary market, or at least no more dependent than any other Hellenistic power.

All in all, I found it an interesting, useful and enlightening book. It’s not a ‘wargaming’ book: there are few details on equipment, useful pictures that would guide your choice of what figures, and – as I said above – the campaigns aren’t described in the sort of detail you’d need to ‘refight them.’ It’s a very useful addition to the rather thin shelf of stuff I have on the Ptolemaic army and I suspect anybody with a serious interest in Hellenistic warfare will end up getting it.