Battle of Panium

The Battle of Panium was fought in 198 BC between Seleucid and Ptolemaic forces as part of the Syrian Wars. The Seleucids were led by Antiochus III the Great, while the Ptolemaic army was led by Scopas of Aetolia. The Seleucids won the battle. Details of this battle are not clear, but it is known today that major factor in the Seleucid victory was that the Seleucid army used the cataphract in a decisive manner. The cataphracts attacked the Egyptian cavalry on the flanks and drove the enemy cavalry off, leaving the backs of the enemy infantry to the front of the line exposed. The Seleucid cataphracts then attacked their infantry in the rear, thus leading to an Egyptian rout. The type of equipment used by these early cataphracts is not clearly known.

The battle was fought near the sources of the Jordan, and marked the end of Ptolemaic rule in Judea.

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