Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- List of illustrations
- Transliteration of Hebrew
- Acknowledgements
- Prologue
- PART I HISTORICAL EVALUATION
- PART II ACCOUNTS OF THE BATTLES: INTRODUCTION, TEXT AND COMMENTARY
- PART III APPENDICES
- A The infantry Royal Guard in the Seleucid army
- B ma'arāḵā (= formation) and fālanḵs in the Hebrew original of I Maccabees
- C Was a Seleucid military settlement established in Jerusalem?
- D The location and history of the Seleucid citadel (the Akra) in Jerusalem
- E The chronology of Antiochus Epiphanes' expedition to the eastern satrapies
- F Defensive war on the Sabbath according to the Books of the Maccabees
- G The ceremony at Mizpah and the chapter on ‘(the Priest) Anointed for Battle’ in the mishnaic tractate Sotah
- H The Babylonian Jews and the Galatians
- I The geographical background and chronological sequence of the clashes with Timotheus in the Second Book of the Maccabees
- J The negotiations between the Jews and the Seleucid authorities in the reigns of Antiochus Epiphanes and Antiochus Eupator
- K The chronology of Lysias' second expedition
- L The route of Bacchides' second expedition to Judaea
- EXCURSUS
- Plates
- Abbreviations
- References
- Indexe locorum
- General index
- Index of Greek terms
- Index of Hebrew words and phrases
A - The infantry Royal Guard in the Seleucid army
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 04 August 2010
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- List of illustrations
- Transliteration of Hebrew
- Acknowledgements
- Prologue
- PART I HISTORICAL EVALUATION
- PART II ACCOUNTS OF THE BATTLES: INTRODUCTION, TEXT AND COMMENTARY
- PART III APPENDICES
- A The infantry Royal Guard in the Seleucid army
- B ma'arāḵā (= formation) and fālanḵs in the Hebrew original of I Maccabees
- C Was a Seleucid military settlement established in Jerusalem?
- D The location and history of the Seleucid citadel (the Akra) in Jerusalem
- E The chronology of Antiochus Epiphanes' expedition to the eastern satrapies
- F Defensive war on the Sabbath according to the Books of the Maccabees
- G The ceremony at Mizpah and the chapter on ‘(the Priest) Anointed for Battle’ in the mishnaic tractate Sotah
- H The Babylonian Jews and the Galatians
- I The geographical background and chronological sequence of the clashes with Timotheus in the Second Book of the Maccabees
- J The negotiations between the Jews and the Seleucid authorities in the reigns of Antiochus Epiphanes and Antiochus Eupator
- K The chronology of Lysias' second expedition
- L The route of Bacchides' second expedition to Judaea
- EXCURSUS
- Plates
- Abbreviations
- References
- Indexe locorum
- General index
- Index of Greek terms
- Index of Hebrew words and phrases
Summary
The Seleucid phalanx, the backbone of the army, was mobilized for the big wars primarily from among the military settlers of Greco-Macedonian descent who were called to the colours in time of need. However, the possibility of utilizing military settlers was not unlimited. As farmers, they could not leave their settlements for very long periods, and their mobilization itself was a lengthy process because of the great distances between settlements, and between the settlements and the governmental centres and the battle sites. To fulfil basic military needs and supply manpower for ordinary guard duties and police functions as well as extinguish small local conflagrations, the Seleucid kings had a Royal Guard. Like all royal armies even to the present day, the Guard was at the disposal of the king at all times in peace and in war, and in battle the kings always took their place in one of the Royal Guard units. As might be expected, most of the Seleucid Royal Guard were foot soldiers, only a minority being mounted. We shall deal here solely with the infantry Royal Guard. This investigation can illuminate not only the matter of the regular arrangements for the security of the Seleucid empire, but also the way that the military settlements were organized, and in particular the manner in which the military capability of the heavy infantry forces in general was preserved.
Among the various units of the Seleucid army mentioned in the sources, three – the argyraspides, hypaspists and peltasts – refer at different times to units of the Royal Guard in the armies of Alexander, the Diadochs, and the Antigonid dynasty.
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- Judas MaccabaeusThe Jewish Struggle Against the Seleucids, pp. 413 - 431Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 1989