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.