The Battle of Raphia
Elephants against elephants: Ptolemy IV keeps Palestine
On 22 June 217 BC at Raphia Ptolemy IV defeated the army of the Seleucid king Antiochus III in one of the largest battles of the Hellenistic age, with war elephants on both sides. Ptolemy's phalanx included 20,000 Egyptians trained in the Macedonian way, and their share in the victory boosted native Egyptian pride.
Wikipedia (Russian) · Wikipedia (English) · 3rd century BC
Meanwhile around the world (±25 years)
Europe
- 218 BC Hannibal crosses the Alps — 1 year earlier
- 216 BC Battle of Cannae — 1 year later
Africa
- 196 BC The Memphis decree of the Rosetta Stone — 21 years later
Asia
- 221 BC Qin Shi Huang unifies China — 4 years earlier
- c. 214 BC Great Wall of China — 3 years later
- 210 BC Terracotta Army — 7 years later
- 209 BC Modu Chanyu builds the Xiongnu empire — 8 years later
- 202 BC Founding of the Han dynasty — 15 years later
Alive at the time
- Archimedes (aged 70)
- Qin Shi Huang (aged 42)
- Hannibal (aged 30)
- Eratosthenes (aged 59)
- Liu Bang (Emperor Gaozu of Han) (aged 39)
- Scipio Africanus (aged 19)
- Empress Lü (Lü Zhi) (aged 24)
- Cato the Elder (aged 17)
- Modu Chanyu (aged 17)