Battle of Raphia
217 BCE · Raphia (near modern Rafah, Gaza)
The Battle of Raphia was fought in 217 BCE in Raphia (near modern Rafah, Gaza) between Ptolemaic Egypt vs the Seleucid Empire; Ptolemaic victory; one of the largest battles of the Hellenistic world, with elephants on both sides.
Battle of Raphia: quick facts
- Date
- 217 BCE
- Location
- Raphia (near modern Rafah, Gaza)
- Belligerents
- Ptolemaic Egypt vs the Seleucid Empire
- Commanders
- Ptolemy IV vs Antiochus III
- Result
- Ptolemaic victory; one of the largest battles of the Hellenistic world, with elephants on both sides.
- Era
- 🏛️ Ancient Egypt & Mesopotamia
- Quiz difficulty
- hard
What happened at the Battle of Raphia?
Ptolemy IV Philopator of Egypt faced Antiochus III of the Seleucid Empire at Raphia in one of the largest battles of the Hellenistic world, with over 150,000 soldiers engaged. The battle featured a clash between African forest elephants on the Egyptian side and larger Indian elephants on the Seleucid side. Crucially, Ptolemy armed 20,000 native Egyptians as phalanx infantry, and their performance proved decisive. The Ptolemaic victory preserved Egyptian control of Coele-Syria, but the empowerment of native Egyptian soldiers led to internal revolts that would weaken the dynasty.
Did you know?
At Raphia, the smaller African forest elephants on the Egyptian side panicked and fled when they encountered the larger Indian elephants fighting for the Seleucids, causing chaos in the Egyptian lines.
Sources and further reading
- Battle of Raphia on Wikipedia for the full account, historiography and primary sources.
- How BattleGuess compiles and checks battle facts: see the About page.
Entry last reviewed 26 September 2026.