[Epeiros/Pergamon AAR] Heirs to Lysimachos

[QuintusSertorius]

The Seleukid War

In 239 a Seleukid army invaded Phrygia. Horreonios was no longer in command of the Pergamene army, having been called to act as governor of Byzantion after the death of the ruler there. The Greek Dexamenos Drytes was left with the reformed army. Reformed because there had been calls from the various Greek communites to lessen the burden they carried in serving in the army. Thus Galatians trained in a Greek manner, and more modern-styled units were drafted in to replace the hoplites of old.

The two forces were about evenly matched in numbers, although Noumenios Gazarinos' force was heavy in light Arabian skirmishers.



The two armies met in a hilly area of the Phrygian countryside. There was an initial race to get into a good position on the crest of a hill.



The Pergamenes, with their lighter line troops, got there first. Archers and slingers began to harrass the Arabians.



Gazarinos tried to break the skirmishing deadlock with a charge from his cavalry.



They were driven off with some casualties.



They charged again, and this time were badly handled.



With them dealt with, Drytes ordered the advance of the main line.



The Seleukids phalanxes presented a formiddable obstacle as the Pergamene centre closed.



But then the pike blocks withdrew ten paces. The Pergamenes followed, beginning flanking movements.



As the phalangites tried to withdraw again, the Galatian hoplites charged and the battle proper began.



On the left flank, Drytes and some thureophoroi charged Gazarinos and his bodyguard.



On the right, Parthian spearmen and Scythian axemen halted the flanking movement. They proved doughty fighters.



Gazarinos fought on.



The Galatian centre was suffering at the hands of the phalangites. They struggled to infiltrate their way past the long pikes.



On the right, some of the Galatian hoplites broke, leaving the Pergamene line open to being enveloped.



But rather than take advantage of this opportunity, the phalangites turned around and marched away, perhaps trying to escape the battle in good order. They were harrassed as they withdrew by fire from the Kretan archers.



His bodyguard slain, Gazarinos tried to flee the battle.



But his horse was tired and one of Drytes' men killed the enemy general.



The collapse of his army quickly followed.



And despite some nervous moments, Drytes had prevented the Seleukid invasion.





Editorial note

I added a couple of regular phalanx units and some cavalry to the army you could see pictured in the update for 239, made a much better fight than it might otherwise have been. Until the enemy general died, the result was actually in doubt, even though I killed swathes of those Arabian skirmishers. My new army composition is certainly less durable than the old one with all those Classical Hoplites able to hold the centre til the end of time.

The kill/casualty stats, which I don't usually show, make some interesting reading. The Kretans killed silly numbers of the enemy, mostly because they lacked much by way of armour. The Keltohellenikoi, even though they were fighting phalanxes, and even though one of them broke, still managed to get in a lot of kills. Most of course when they broke after the general died, but they endured.

Asian light cavalry as always killed a lot of routers.