Ptolemaic (Egyptology)

NOW IN PAPERBACK (June 2019) This is the only substantial and up-to-date reference work on the Ptolemaic army. Employing Greek and Egyptian papyri and inscriptions, and building on approaches developed in state-formation theory, it offers a coherent account of how the changing structures of the army in Egypt after Alexander’s conquest led to the development of an ethnically more integrated society. A new tripartite division of Ptole- maic history challenges the idea of gradual decline and emphasizes the reshaping of military structures that took place between c. 220 and c. 160 BC in response to changes in the nature of warfare, to mobiliza- tion and demobilization, and to financial constraints. An investigation of the socio-economic role played by soldiers permits a reassessment of the cleruchic system and shows how soldiers’ associations generated inter-ethnic group solidarity. By integrating Egyptian evidence, Chris- telle Fischer-Bovet also demonstrates that the connection between the army and local temples offered new ways for Greeks and Egyptians to interact.

Arsinoe I is one of the least well-known Ptolemaic queens. This article aims to re-evaluate the available evidence that has been attributed to her and review in so far as possible her basic biographical information. I will examine issues such as the dates of her birth, her marriage to Ptolemy II, and her removal from court. Furthermore, this study includes an appraisal of the role of Arsinoe II in her namesake’s banishment as well as the accusations leveled against Arsinoe I. Additionally, I will have occasion to discuss inscriptions from Cyprus and Coptus. I will also note the theory that she left Egypt and moved to Cyrene. Finally, I will provide a brief sketch of the subsequent careers of her children. In all these notes are intended as a contribution to the study of early-Hellenistic chronology, genealogy, dynastic relations and marital practices.

The Raphia Decree of Ptolemy IV Philometor is best preserved in multiple Demotic redactions, but two fragmentary copies of the hieroglyphic portion have also survived.  Both stelae were published long ago by Kamal and Gauthier (Cairo, CG 31008 and 50048), yet lacunae and other uncertainties plague the first editions.

Through collation of the hieroglyphic texts, comparison to the corresponding Demotic redaction and other trilingual decrees, several troublesome passages are clarified. 

In one section, the divinities of Egypt speak to Ptolemy IV in an oracular dream, their message reported using direct speech.  Elsewhere, the text notes that Antiochus III was accompanied at Raphia by his wife, the distinguished stateswoman Laodike III, yet another example of a Hellenistic queen going to battle.

The article analyses one of the hexametric poems copied on a second century AD papyrus, possibly from Hermupolis, P.Lit.Goodspeed 2: a Hellenistic hymn to Aphrodite celebrated as a patroness of the sea and of wedded love. This portrayal of the goddess perfectly fits with Ptolemaic royal propaganda in III BC. The address to a "Ptolemai[c] Arsinoe" (II 5) reveals that here the goddess is worshipped as a divine image of a queen Arsinoe, most probably Arsinoe II Philadelphos, who had strong links with key-figures of the Ptolemaic navy. The hymn is compared with contemporary Alexandrian poetry, like the epigrams of the Milan papyrus P.Mil.Vogl. VIII 309. Some hypotheses are also presented about the context for the composition and the performance of the hymn (a Cypriot cult of Arsinoe Philadelphos?).

Publiées au début du siècle dernier par G. Daressy, les deux stèles hiéroglyphiques conservées au Musée égyptien du Caire (RT 2/3/25/7 et JE 44901) constituent les seuls exemplaires connus à ce jour du décret du synode de prêtres qui eut lieu à Memphis, en l’an 23 du règne de Ptolémée Épiphane. Cette première étude commentée du Décret de Memphis (182 a.C.) se propose de fournir une version normalisée de ces textes suivant une édition synoptique, un apparat critique, une traduction, un commentaire philologique de même que les photographies et les fac-similés des documents. Leur analyse permet de réévaluer leur apport au règne d’Épiphane : cérémonie en l’honneur d’un taureau Mnévis à Memphis, évergétisme des souverains à l’égard des clergés égyptiens, mesures politiques ponctuelles (amnistie pénale en l’an 21 du règne, exemptions de taxe). Leur intérêt majeur réside en la présence d’un récit historique développé. Relatant la répression de révoltes indigènes dans le Delta, il met en exergue l’intervention victorieuse du commandant en chef de la cavalerie Aristonikos dans la région de Tell el-Balamoun. Intégrés dans l’ensemble des actes des décrets synodaux du règne d’Épiphane, ces documents, inhabituels par leur forme et leur contenu, sont ainsi replacés dans leur contexte rédactionnel, historique et politique. C’est notamment à travers la  problématique de l’évolution des relations entre la Couronne alexandrine et les clergés indigènes que cette documentation officielle est appréhendée.

Cette première livraison du Glossaire des inscriptions de Karnak consacrée au vocabulaire a été rendue possible grâce au travail de dépouillement systématique de la documentation épigraphique des temples de Karnak réalisé dans le cadre du projet Karnak (Programme « Investissement d’Avenir » ANR-11-LABX-0032-01 Labex ARCHIMEDE). Débuté en 2013, ce projet d’édition des inscriptions des temples de Karnak a pour ambition de collecter, d’organiser et de rendre accessible le corpus des sources textuelles en hiéroglyphe, hiératique et démotique présentes ou issues des temples de Karnak. Depuis près de quatre ans, ce projet rend ainsi progressivement disponibles dans une interface accessible en ligne les textes publiés ou encore inédits de Karnak, collationnés in situ.

Le présent volume compte un peu plus de 1600 notices d’emploi de vocable qui représentent environ 100.000 attestations dans les inscriptions traitées à ce stade.

El presente trabajo se centra en el rol de los papiros como medios de comunicación en las sociedades del Egipto ptolemaico, para ello, presentamos un estudio que analice desde el proceso de fabricación del papiro, su forma de comercialización, redactores, distribución, hasta el por qué se realizaba y para quienes era destinado. El motivo consiste en desentrañar la utilidad e influencia que tenía esta herramienta en la antigua sociedad egipcia durante la dinastía ptolemaica. Para tal efecto, analizaremos papiros que se encuentran en hemerotecas digitales para obtener un contexto más amplio y entender lo que estos documentos querían transmitir, siempre apoyándonos de traducciones previamente realizadas por especialistas y que se encuentran en línea dentro de los propios repositorios digitales. A su vez, estudiamos una serie de fuentes secundarias que sirven para ampliar el contexto del tema tratado, contrastando criterios y datos.

‘Conception of Horus’ scenes in Egyptian temples date at least from Ramesside to Greco-Roman times. This article seeks to establish whether any changes to their composition or interpretation occurred over this long time-span. The main differences noted centre upon the identity of the bird above Osiris’s phallus, as follows. In the iconic ‘conception of Horus’ scene in the Ptah-Sokar chapel of the temple of Seti I at Abydos, the central bird – with whom the deceased yet ithyphallic Osiris copulates – is clearly labelled as Isis, and is therefore best understood as a kite. This type of scene is reprised three times in the Osirian roof-chapels at the Temple of Hathor at Dendera, built some 1300 years later. In the first scene at Dendera, the three birds above Osiris (which include two representing Isis and Horus) are collectively referred to as falcons, which does not preclude the central bird again representing Isis. However, in the second scene, the bird above Osiris’s phallus is identified as a vulture, and seemingly represents the goddess Nekhbet. In the third scene, the cognate bird is identified as ‘the Falcon of Gold’ – an epithet of Horus. Compositionally, this third scene is a good match for what remains of the ‘conception of Horus’ scene in the Osiris suite of Seti’s temple at Abydos, raising the possibility that the bird in this much earlier scene might also represent Horus rather than Isis. In contexts such as this, it is possible that the Horus-falcon was seen as the ba-bird of Osiris. In sum, the bird in ‘conception of Horus’ scenes may initially have been identified primarily with Isis, but it seems that it was equally compatible with interpretation as Nekhbet or Horus. Over time, these alternate identities became explicit in what survives of the artistic record.

This study deals with a unique crown that was created for Queen Arsinoë II. The aim is to identify and understand the symbolism that is embedded in each pictorial detail that together form the crown and how this reflects the wearer’s socio-political and religious positions. The study focuses on the crown and its details, while also including all contextual aspects of the relief scenes in order to understand the general meaning. This crown was later developed and usurped by other female figures; the material includes 158 Egyptian relief scenes dating from Arsinoë’s lifetime to Emperor Trajan, c. 400 years. In order to show the development of the crown’s symbolism, this work includes a large number of later scenes depicting the Egyptian goddess Hathor wearing a crown almost identical to Arsinoë’s.

The results of this study suggest that the crown of Arsinoë was created for the living queen and reflected three main cultural positions: her royal position as King of Lower Egypt, her cultic role as high priestess, and her religious aspect as thea Philadelphos. It indicates that she was proclaimed female pharaoh during her lifetime, and that she was regarded the female founder of the Ptolemaic Dynasty. The results of the study of the later material suggest that the later Hathoric crown was created in a time of political instability, when Ptolemy IV needed to emphasise his ancestry – underlining his lineage from Arsinoë II and Ptolemy II. The comprehensive study of the contextual pictorial setting indicates that this is a plausible explanation: the crown of Arsinoë became a symbol of authority worthy of continuation.

Miscellaneous texts from the inner chapels from Hibis Temple are better understood by considering textual
parallels from other temples and papyri from the New Kingdom through the Ptolemaic Period. These scenes
include: (1) A procession of New Year’s vases, with a special reference to water generated underground in
Heliopolis; (2) A widely attested offering text for idmy-linen; (3) A liturgical hymn celebrating the royal
inheritance of Wennefer.

Die Astrosophie ist eine auf Sternkonstellationen gerichtete Weltanschauung, die vornehmlich im Bereich der Esoterik und des Okkultismus vertreten wird. Etymologisch lässt sich der Begriff aus griechisch astron („Stern“) und sophia („klug, weise“) ableiten. Eine Gemeinsamkeit, der teils widersprüchlichen astrosophischen Lehren ist die Grundannahme, dass menschliches Leben durch ein lebendiges Planetensystem beeinflusst wird. Seit dem 16. Jahrhundert ist Astrosophie als Begriff eingeführt. Sie wurde und wird als Weisheitslehre von den weit bekannteren Nomina Astrologie (für Sterndeutung) und Astronomie (für Sternkunde) unterschieden.

Historische Begriffsverortung
Der Begriff unterliegt seit dem 16. Jahrhundert einem Bedeutungswandel und wurde im Laufe der Jahrhunderte mit religiösen bzw. spirituellen Hypothesen und mit naturwissenschaftlich orientierten Grundannahmen verbunden.

New edition of two cuboid statues belonging to Nesmin, a young Ptolemaic Priest from Thebes. Although both objects were published decades ago, many transcription errors in the modern editions rendered the inscriptions nearly illegible. Collation with new photographs enables substantial corrections, resulting in continuous texts, practically free of errors.
Most importantly, the new translations demonstrate something previous editors had overlooked: Nesmin had died prematurely, so that his parents, represented on his statues, buried him and commissioned his posthumous private statues. By comparing these monuments with another statue of Nesmin from the Karnak Cachette – previously unpublished – one can establish a relative chronology for his private statuary.
The striding, tonsured effigy (JE 38025) captured Nesmin while still an aspiring young priest, whereas his gloomier, idealizing cuboid statues (WAM 22.183, Linköping 102) place him among the blessed dead of Thebes.


"Schließlich brauchen sie uns nicht mehr, die Früheentrückten,
man entwöhnt sich des Irdischen sanft, wie man den Brüsten
milde der Mutter entwächst. Aber wir, die so große
Geheimnisse brauchen, denen aus Trauer so oft
seliger Fortschritt entspringt –: könnten wir sein ohne sie?"

– Rilke, Erste Duineser Elegie

Abstract: To date, four Ptolemaic mummy masks with chapter 151a of the Book of the Dead (spell with Anubis and the mask) inscribed on a fillet around the head are known: a mask at the Louvre and one in Bonn – both of which showing a hypocephalus on the top of head, a mask in Florence, and one from Abydos, whose location is unknown. The mask in Florence is inscribed also with BD 19 (spell for the wreath of justification), and other texts. There are four more masks with BD 151a in museums – one of which is inscribed also with BD 162 (spell to cause a flame at the head), and two masks with BD 19, one of which is to date unpublished. This paper focuses on the analysis of the mostly unedited texts on the masks. A spell around the edge of the hypocephali reveals important concepts surrounding the transfiguration of the deceased into a luminous and “effective” being. The spells, which were associated with amulets, form part of the protective, apotropaic and revivifying measures associated with the head.

Résumé: La littérature précédemment mentionnait quatre masques ptolémaiques de momies sur lesquels le chapitre 151a du Livre des Morts (formule avec Anubis et la masque) est inscrit sur un ruban autour de la tête: un masque au Louvre et l'autre à Bonn – tous les deux en montrant un hypocéphale sur le dessus de la tête –, un masque à Florence, et un d’Abydos, dont l’emplacement est inconnu. Le masque à Florence est inscrit en outre avec LM 19 (formule pour la couronne de la justification), et d'autres textes. Il y a quatre autres masques avec LM 151a dans les musées – un des lesquels est inscrit en outre avec LM 162 (formule pour provoquer une flamme à la tête) –, et deux masques avec LM 19, un des lesquels précédemment inédit. Cet article se concentre sur l’analyse des textes sur les masques, pour la plupart inédites. Une formule autour de bord des hypocéphales implique importants concepts sur la transfiguration du mort dans un être lumineux et “efficace.” Les formules, utilisés avec les amulettes, représentaient moyens protecteurs, apotropaiques et revivifiants associés à la tête.

Revolts in Hellenistic Egypt consisted of rebellions and riots, which occurred sporadically from the reign of PTOLEMY III EUERGETES (246–221) until the year following the Roman conquest (29). The term may also include the various periods of unrest in Roman Egypt until the end of the third century; normally, how- ever, it excludes riots of the mob in Alexandria, where the population consisted of Egyptians alongside Greeks and Jews, as well as the Jewish revolt in Egypt of 116–117. Several explana- tions have been put forward for these revolts...

The recent catalogue of previously unknown Kriegsverluste from the Museum August Kestner, Hannover, has brought to light an inscribed cuboid statue of the Late Period (Dynasty 30 to early Ptolemaic Period). Titles, prosopography, and textual parallels securely connect this object to Thebes, but the high-ranking statue owner was also a priest of Seth of the Southern Oasis (Hibis), the god of chaos who was supposedly demonized and proscribed within the Nile Valley during the Late Period.

Naukratis was a Nile Delta settlement in which many inhabitants followed the Egyptian religious and cultural practices of Lower Egypt. The over 550 Late Period Egyptian figures found at the site are a large and important group among the finds from Naukratis because they attest a clear link with native Egyptian practices at a settlement commonly misunderstood as predominantly Greek. Manufactured from both terracotta and limestone, they are of typical Lower Egyptian types, with representations of nude female, ithyphallic male and Bes figures particularly frequent. Indeed, phallic figures and ‘erotic’ figure groups used to be commonly known as ‘Naukratite figures’ because of the ‘great quantity of indecent statuettes’ (Edgar 1905, 130) uncovered at the site. This chapter discusses the production, meaning and use of this little understood group. Their production continued into the early Ptolemaic period when the industry was transformed by the introduction of new production techniques and styles from the late 4th century BC onwards.

Thebes (modern Luxor) was a popular tourist destination during the Roman Period, receiving the likes of Strabo, Germanicus, and Hadrian. Yet while its international fame rested on its royal tombs and the Memnon colossus, Thebes was also a vibrant religious center with over a dozen active temples. The purposefully archaizing inscriptions and architecture attracted both Egyptians and Romans in search of ancient traditions and millennial wisdom, influencing intercultural and multilingual texts produced in the region, including Gnostic, Hermetic, and magical writings.

This book surveys epigraphic and archaeological evidence for temple construction and renovation throughout the Theban nome during the Roman Period, studying the new inscriptions within their ritual and theological contexts. It also contains the first comprehensive treatment of the greater Theban Pantheon during the Graeco-Roman era, cataloguing over fifty local divinities and establishing their roles in various cosmogonies and mythological traditions.  The concluding chapter reconstructs the religious life of the district, tracking annual festival processions which united the multiple temples and their communities.

Was the individual in Ancient Egypt completely at the mercy of demons, illnesses or other threats? Or could various practices be called upon to keep the likes of these at bay? Christoffer Theis examines written and archaeological sources, which verify the magical protection of various rooms and spaces in Ancient Egypt. He presents a detailed analysis and commentary of evidence available for the protection of the land of Egypt, its temples, houses, sleeping chambers, and graves. Legacies from other contemporary cultures, such as Mesopotamia, Anatolia and the Syria-Palestine region are also dealt with. Going a step further, the author compares these with Greek, Coptic, Arab and Hebrew material. The currently available sources show clearly inter- as well as trans-cultural homogeneity and identification characteristics through the local and temporal spaces.

In this article two hitherto unpublished Ptolemaic block statues from Thebes belonging to the Chief Astronomer Harmais, son of Nesmin, are edited: Cairo, TR 25/10/17/5, in perfect condition, and JE 43652, highly destroyed. The study of iconography and texts, especially of TR 25/10/17/5, offers new insights concerning astronomical practice and the ritual contexts of astronomers in Ptolemaic Karnak.
The front of TR 25/10/17/5 shows Harmais with a tripartite astronomical equipment in front of the Theban triad: the merkhet-Gnomon, the visor and a ‚trident‘. The article suggests that the ‚trident‘ substitutes a second astronomer (the target figure) as a reference point when describing stellar positions. As a rare example from Ptolemaic Thebes, the texts of TR 25/10/17/5 localise the statue in Karnak next to the chapel of Thot-who-pleases-the-gods, south of the Sacred Lake. In line with the character of this chapel, the statue is thus involved in the offering processions from the magazine of Psammuthis towards the inner temple. The texts refer to a specific divine constellation: Amunrasonther, Thot and the goddess Nut. The analysis of phraseological and thematic parallels enables a thorough reconstruction of the mythological background of this constellation, its role in the distribution of offerings and the cultic implementation in Karnak and Djeme.

The Rosetta Stone, the trilingual key for deciphering the hieroglyphic script and bearer of the Memphis decree (196 BCE), is one of the most iconic monuments from Ptolemaic Egypt. The fragmentary state of the monument – half of the hieroglyphic part is missing today – calls for a renewed appraisal of the epigraphical findings, in particular at the partially destroyed edges of the stone. As a result, a new reading of the end of line 1 (hieroglyphic text), based on a discussion of historic and contemporary facsimiles and a 3D scan, is proposed.

The first season of the excavation at ancient Philadelphia necropolis was made thanks to the permission given by the Egyptian antiquities permanent committee of the Egyptian ministry of antiquities, the first season comes after the surveying of the site, we would like to thank Mr. Sayed Shoura general director of Fayoum inspectorate, Mr Ashraf Sobhy inspector of Fayoum accompanied the mission this year, Mr Mostafa Faysl director of Kom Oushim archaeological magazine as well chief of workmen Mohamed Antar and his team of workmen who did great efforts with the mission.

Since its discovery by Battiscombe Gunn, it is believed that Saqqara's Ostrakon is able to improve our understanding of how Egyptians designed curved elements, but the geometric significance of the hieratic values is still uncertain. Indeed, in order to obtain an indisputable result, the distance between the vertical ordinates is required, and this distance is not explicitly indicated on the limestone artefact.
But since there were no algebraic formulas at the time of the Pharaohs, a simple grid-based procedure was developed such as those used by the Egyptians to reproduce the scale drawings, to try to decipher the geometric meaning of the curve drawn on the find.
To conclude, this simple process permits to understand that the five hieratic values of the Saqqara Ostrakon describe a segmental arch whose span and rise correspond to the architectural proportions of several Egyptian tombs and arches, and that the numerical sequence of the artefact could be considered the most "ancient" mathematical formula of the circle.

At the temple of Esna, the seated baboon sign obtains several phonetic and ideographic values. In addition to previously recognized usages, this hieroglyph also represents the copula pronoun "pw", which at the time should have been pronounced "ip". Although apparently limited to Esna, this value occurs in over twenty examples, spanning the full diachronic range of the inscriptions.
All examples are translated with detailed commentary. In an appendix, four additional, previously unrecorded values of the seated baboon sign are discussed.

Le phénomène de miniaturisation dans la production artistique fait l'objet à l'heure actuelle d'un intérêt croissant. Parmi les formes que peut prendre la miniaturisation, il faut signaler le portrait. Le petit portrait royal trouve son origine à la cour macédonienne de Philippe II de Macédoine et de son fils et successeur Alexandre le Grand. Il a connu par la suite une grande faveur dans les royaumes hellénistiques, tout particulièrement dans l'Égypte ptolémaïque. Cette étude se veut une première synthèse sur les portraits en médaillons miniatures des souverains lagides. L'ouvrage s'organise en trois parties. La première est consacrée à l'étude des formes des " médaillons-portraits " miniatures (supports, matériaux privilégiés) et à la question des modes de représentation adoptés. La question des fonctions et des contextes d'utilisation de ces images spécifiques, ainsi que leur réception est examinée dans une deuxième partie, car des fonctions et des usages, des conditions de commande, découlent les types iconographiques créés et diffusés à un moment donné de l'histoire du royaume dans un contexte singulier. La question des attributs du pouvoir est posée dans une troisième partie. Enfin, on trouvera un catalogue des effigies commentées, organisé selon un classement typologique. Miniaturization is a topic of growing importance in the history of art. Among the forms that this miniaturization took was the portrait. In the ancient Greek world small-scale portraits of kings first appear in the courts of Philip II and of his son, Alexander 'the Great'. Such portraits grew in popularity in the Hellenistic kingdoms that the latter's generals established after 322 BC. This book is the first major study of royal portraits on small-scale medallions in Egypt's Ptolemaic kingdom where such portraiture was especially popular. The book analyses the materials that artists used to make these medallions and the established modes of depiction that they adapted for their royal portraits. It considers the functions that these striking medallions performed in the contexts in which they circulated. The book also explores how contemporaries perceived them and how this perception, as well as their documented use, determined largely the different iconographical types that this artwork took. Lastly the book studies the attributes of power that these portraits gave Ptolemaic kings and furnishes a catalogue of this important body of ancient portraiture. Images du pouvoir et pouvoir de l'image.

"Abstract: Of all the lost Foundation Poems attributed to Apollonius Rhodius, active at the court of Ptolemy II, the Ktisis of Alexandria must have been the most important for his contemporaries, and surely is the most intriguing for modern scholars of the Hellenistic world. Unfortunately, only a brief mention of this epyllion survives, in a scholion to Nicander’s Theriaka, relating to the birth of poisonous snakes from the severed head of Medusa, carried by Perseus over Libya. Deadly and benign serpents belong to a multi-cultural symbolic imagery intertwined with the Greek, Macedonian, Egyptian and Jewish origins of the city. This paper explores the possible connections of the only episode preserved from Apollonius’ Ktisis with the most ancient known traditions on the foundation of Alexandria —possibly even created at the time of Alexander or of the first Lagid dynasts, Ptolemy I and II."

Hunderte von Gottheiten schmücken die Wannen und Deckel ausgewählter Sarkophage und Särge aus der 30. Dynastie und der Ptolemäerzeit, die hauptsächlich in Saqqara gefunden wurden. Carolina Teotino teilt diese Götter in verschiedene Gruppen auf, die den Verstorbenen in Form kurzer Reden ansprechen.
Zwei beinahe parallele Objekte, die Sarkophage des Djedher und des Anchhapi, dienen als Ausgangspunkt dieser Studie und werden mit weiteren teilweise unveröffentlichten Quellen verglichen. Adressiert werden in erster Linie Fragen zum Ursprung und zur Funktion dieser Dekoration sowie zur Herkunft und zu den Ämtern der Inhaber dieser Sarkophage. Ein Fokus liegt dabei auf dem Diskurs zwischen Toten- und Tempelkult und der Form der Dekoration als monumentale Inszenierung der Episoden und Riten in der Balsamierungshalle. Die Gottheiten bieten dem verstorbenen Osiris Schutz und Beistand in Krisensituationen, sei es während der Mumifizierung, der stündlichen Schutzwache, der Bestattung, der Auferstehung oder der Wiedergeburt. Ihre Reden schützen vor möglichen Gefahren und formulieren gleichzeitig das Ziel, im Jenseits weiterzuleben. Die Ergebnisse zeigen, dass einige dieser Götterkreise sich bereits in das Mittlere Reich zurückverfolgen lassen, andere treten erst in den Räumen für den Osiris-Kult in den griechisch-römischen Tempeln auf. Die Reden sind teilweise kompiliert als Exzerpte aus bekannten osirianischen Kompositionen aus Tempel- und Totenkontext.

At its greatest extent the Roman Empire incorporated about 2.5 million square miles. This made it one of the largest empires in the world in antiquity.  To help protect this massive empire, Emperor Augustus implemented a permanent, professional army in the late first century BCE. Unfortunately there are no surviving records that indicate the exact strength of the Roman army as a whole or the exact strength of the Roman imperial legion or auxiliaries. Historians have attempted to reconstruct the military strength of imperial Rome through a mixture of imperfect literary and material evidence, available unit statistics, and speculation. Yet the estimates of the total size of the Roman imperial military have ranged from as little as 200,000 men to as much as 1,000,000 soldiers.  This paper will first attempt to settle upon acceptable army figures for the first three centuries of the Roman Empire; it then will address the judgment of whether or not the Roman imperial army was large or small. It will accomplish this task through a comparative analysis of the Roman imperial army with the armies of the other great imperial powers of antiquity. Due to the time limitations of presenting this paper in a conference forum, I am able only to discuss briefly the military capabilities of the Achaemenid Persians, the Hellenistic empires, the Parthians, the Sassanid Persians, and the ancient dynasties of China. I hope to demonstrate that the Roman imperial army was in fact comparatively massive.

Classical Association of the Middle West and South Annual Conference, Waco, TX, April 2014.

The use of elephants for military purposes was, for centuries, one of the most important military arms of the armies in the Antiquity. Although, these could get to suppose so many advantages as drawbacks and, for this reason, they were since then denominated by the classic authors as “the common enemy”.