Seleukid Lecture Series 6.1: The Battle of Panium - A New Perspective (by Graham Wrightson, 20/9/23)

Polybius’ description of the battle of Panium is mainly a critique of the description of another historian, Zeno’s account of the same battle. In modern analyses of the battle scholars follow Polybius’ description and continue to discount Zeno’s version of events. Yet in the context of the many other Hellenistic battles that saw armies deploy elephants, cavalry and a sarissa phalanx together Panium appears to be no different. Despite Zeno’s confusing narrative, and despite Polybius’ claims to the contrary, we can piece together the armies and the events of the battle as described by Zeno. Through a comparative analysis of the theory of combined arms in Hellenistic armies, we can rehabilitate Zeno and deliver him safely from Polybius’ withering critique.
Dr. Graham Wrightson is Professor of History at South Dakota State University.
The respondent Dr. Paul Johstono is Professor at the USAF Air Command and Staff College and directs the Program 'Leadership and the Profession of Arms'.
Dr. Altay Coskun (Professor of Classical Studies, University of Waterloo) and Rabbi Ben Scolnic (Professor at Southern Connecticut State University) co-host the Seleukid Lecture Series: www.altaycoskun...