12-18-2009, 10:52 PM
The battle M Demetrius mentioned between Regulus and Xanthippus was fought in North Africa, not Sicily, if memory serves correctly.
Hannibal used them effectively against Spanish tribes according to Polybius, and they may have taken part in his victory at Trebia.
They were used en masse by the Ptolemies and Seleucids at the Battle of Raphia; I don't know of any other battle that saw more elephants take the field. The Ptolemies won, but the Seleucid elephants fared better than their opponents, again according to Polybius.
The Romans used war elephants at the battles of Pydna and Cynoscephelae and won both battles. They were used in a relatively minor role at Pydna, but at Cynoscephelae they smashed right through a loose group of phalangites who didn't have enough time to form a phalanx.
I'm pretty sure Polybius is the best source for those battles too.
The Sasanid Persians used elephants, but I'm not sure how well they fared with them.
But I know that the Eastern Roman Empire had a habit of adopting its enemies' most effective tactics and units (i.e., mounted archers and cataphracts), and they never tried copying the Sasanids' use of elephants.
That may have been simply due to the costs of procuring and maintaining a stable of them in Constantinople (domestically raised elephants are docile and gentle, so adult elephants had to be captured in the wild for use in warfare). Or it might have been due to the fact that elephants weren't reliable and predictable enough to be worth the trouble.
Hannibal used them effectively against Spanish tribes according to Polybius, and they may have taken part in his victory at Trebia.
They were used en masse by the Ptolemies and Seleucids at the Battle of Raphia; I don't know of any other battle that saw more elephants take the field. The Ptolemies won, but the Seleucid elephants fared better than their opponents, again according to Polybius.
The Romans used war elephants at the battles of Pydna and Cynoscephelae and won both battles. They were used in a relatively minor role at Pydna, but at Cynoscephelae they smashed right through a loose group of phalangites who didn't have enough time to form a phalanx.
I'm pretty sure Polybius is the best source for those battles too.
The Sasanid Persians used elephants, but I'm not sure how well they fared with them.
But I know that the Eastern Roman Empire had a habit of adopting its enemies' most effective tactics and units (i.e., mounted archers and cataphracts), and they never tried copying the Sasanids' use of elephants.
That may have been simply due to the costs of procuring and maintaining a stable of them in Constantinople (domestically raised elephants are docile and gentle, so adult elephants had to be captured in the wild for use in warfare). Or it might have been due to the fact that elephants weren't reliable and predictable enough to be worth the trouble.
