Raphia, 217 BCE: The battlefield

The Battle of Raphia (June 22, 217 BC), the main battle of the Fourth Syrian War between the Seleucid ruler Antiochus III and the Egyptian king Ptolemy IV, was one of the largest in Ancient history and at the same time one of the most underestimated. For a long time, based on Polybius'sfairly detailedaccount, researchers concluded that the generals lacked skill. Only in the late1970sB.Bar-Kochva and E.Galili in their publications did attempt to reassess the course of the battle and reconstruct it based on topographic data. Relying on the same quotes by Polybius and taking advantage of the fact that he does not provide an exact description of the terrain, they come to different conclusions and localize the battlefield in different places. Their interesting arguments help to clarify some passages in Polybius and interpret certain tactical decisions of different commanders, although they are certainly not immune to criticism. Nevertheless, the main thing uniting both of them them is that they are, in their own way (in each case), offer rather convincing attempt to refute the old historiographical viewpoint stating so-called «decline» of Hellenistic military art after Alexander the Great. Both studies remain relevant to this day.