Elephant battle

The elephant battle between the Seleucid king Antiochus I and the Galatians ( Celts ) who invaded from Europe probably took place in the year 268 BC. In Asia Minor .

After the First Syrian War (274-271 BC) Antiochus I turned to the Galatians as a threat. The Galatians, for their part, opened in 268 BC. An offensive against the Seleucid areas in western Asia Minor. After they were stopped at Kelainai , they later encountered the army of Antiochus. Although he was numerically inferior, he was able to achieve victory by using his war elephants . The victory of Antiochus was so overwhelming that from now on, after consultation with the Greek kings, he was able to assign the Galatians permanent settlement areas in the landscape named after them Galatia .

Schematic representation of the movements of Celtic troops in Greece, Anatolia and the Balkans during the invasions in the early 3rd century BC.

literature

• Christian Marek : History of Asia Minor in Antiquity. CH Beck, Munich 2010, ISBN 978-3-406-59853-1 , pp. 275-276.
• Elmar Schwertheim : Asia Minor in Antiquity. From the Hittites to Constantine. 2nd Edition. CH Beck, Munich 2011, ISBN 978-3-406-50848-6 , pp. 75-76.