Author Guest Post: Paul Johstono – Pen & Sword Blog
THE PTOLEMAIC ARMY AND THE BATTLE OF BABYLON In December 246 BC, 2,265 years ago this month, the larger part of the army of Ptolemaic Egypt and its king, Ptolemy III, could be found far, far from home, not far from modern Baghdad. It was the middle of the Third Syrian War. The Ptolemaic army was deep in Seleucid territory, pressing to extend early advantages with military conquests that took them city-by-city, and even street-by-street, through the great cities of Mesopotamia. BACKGROUND: THE LAODIKEAN WAR The war began when Laodice, the former queen of Antiochus II Theos, poisoned her husban...