The Battle of Ioudaia, 204 BCE
I've posted about this battle before in the "your largest battle" thread I made in the AAR subforum. I thought I had lost my screenshots, but it turns out they were just put in a different directory. I've thought about posting this in my earlier thread, but I think it deserves its own. (Best viewed in 1024*768 screen resolution.)
Battle of Ioudaia, 204 BCE
It is the summer of 204 BCE. The Makedonian kings have expanded their rule from only 4 small provinces to a mighty empire, the largest the world has seen since Megas Alexandros. From Roma in Italia to Antiocheia in Syria, all is ruled by the Makedonian King Demetrias II. Ever since the mighty armies of Makedon set foot in Anatolia there has been war with the Ptolemaioi. They have fought for every province and even now they continue to resist. Only a few years ago, the King captured the city of Antiocheia from the Ptolemaioi, who in turn had captured it from Arche Seleuceia years earlier. This great city was a centre of Makedonian settlers and as such an excellent place to supplement our exhausted armies with fresh troops. It was here, in the autumn of 203 BCE, only a few months ago, that the army under the command of general Antidoros Agreades was reformed into the elite army of the Makedonian empire. Little did he know, that he and his men would soon be facing the largest army the Ptolemaioi had fielded yet.
It was during the summer that our spies reported a large army near Hierosolyma and the King ordered Antidoros and his newly found army to 'take care of it'. Under no circumstance must an enemy army reach Syria, let alone Antiocheia, the centre of recruitment in the middle east. Thus, as ordered by the King, Antidoros offered the Ptolemaioi battle on the western bank of the river Jordan in the summer of 204 BCE.
The Ptolemaioi, confident of victory, by their superiour numbers accept battle. Their combined strenght totals a gargantuan amount of 8709 men. Antidoros has but 2855 men under his command.
Fortunately for Antidoros, the enemy army consists almost completely of infantry. The only cavalry to speak of is under the direct command of the enemy generals and function as their bodyguards. The enemy has also brought no significant amount of skirmishers to the battlefield.
The army of Antidoros consists of:
- 1 x Somatophylakes Strategou
- 2 x Argyraspides
- 4 x Pezhetairoi
- 2 x Hypaspistai
- 2 x Pheraspides
- 4 x Prodromoi
- 2 x Sphendonetai
- 2 x Galatikoi Tindanotae
As the battle begins the Ptolemaioi forces march towards our own. They seem intent on taking the fight to us. Let them come. Antidoros deploys his phalanx in a large semi-circle, with the elite argyraspides in the middle. Behind them are the Galatikoi Tindanotae, in reserve. Behind them the sphendonetai. Behind them Antidoros himself and his prodromoi. The hypaspistai and pheraspides cover the flanks of the phalanx.
The Ptolemaioi generals take their time. They meet up in front of our positions and send forth 2/3rds of their army. They keep the rest in reserve. The first to face our line are their Galatian swordsmen. Bravely they throw themselves onto our spears, to no effect. The phalanx holds.
As the enemy masses clash with our lines they wrap around our semi-cricle. Soon our flanks are fending off the enemy as well. Yet with all their numbers, they face all our divisions head-on, thanks to our army's formation. The Galatian swordsmen are no match for our hypaspistai.
At the height of the battle all cohesion is lost among the enemy's ranks. What was an army is now a mob. Men from all over the world are fighting under the banner of the Ptolemaioi - Ethiopeans, Egyptians, Galatians, Persians and even Greeks.
Suddenly, the enemy generals appear on the scene. In an attempt to turn the tide of the battle, they ride into battle themselves. Using the awesome power of their bodyguards as an elite shock cavalry they charge into left flank. Their General leads the charge himself. He is a brave man, yet also desperate and he risks his own life to break our lines.
Our Hypaspistai and Pheraspides take a heavy beating, but they are known as the elite for a reason and they stand their ground. Using their spears, the hypaspistai take on the enemy generals. They and their bodyguards fight bravely, but they are no match for our elites and as Antidoros himself and the 400 prodromoi under his command join the fight, the enemy generals are doomed. They both die fighting...
The news of their generals' deaths spread through the enemy ranks like a wildfire and before long they are all running for their lives. In a desperate attempt to save the lives of their comrades the Ptolemaioi reserves enter the battle, but the screams of death and terror from their fleeing comrades is such a blow to their morale that they too turn and run. The battle is over and the slaughter begins. Our Galatian naked warriors are released. Having stayed in reserve for the main part of the battle they are not tired and are eager to kill. They massacre the enemy troops, who are tired from the fight. Our Prodromoi cut down even more men. The fields of Ioudaia are drenched in blood.
The sight of the enemy dead is horrible, blooded bodies, severed limbs, but the screams and moans of the wounded is even worse. When the battle is over, the routing troops have been cut down and our men have calmed themselves they see the results of their devastation. The horror. All of our soldiers have seen battle before and all have seen the dead, but never on such a scale. 7000 men lay dead, only 400 of which are ours.
But for Antidoros this is his greatest triumph, this day is his forever.
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Originally Posted by Callicles
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