A perfect balance of base strength, fast cavalry, and a hard-hitting elephant regiment. This set of initiators can be used to represent forces for the Seleucids (mid-3rd-2nd century BC), Ptolemaic (mid-3rd-1st century BC), or the Pyrrhonian empires (late 3rd century BC).
Seleucid (mid-3rd-2nd century BC)
Seleucus emerged from the civil wars that followed the death of Alexander the Great as the master of much of the ancient Persian empire. The dynasty he founded is known as the Seleucid dynasty, and the Seleucid empire lasted in some form or another until the annexation of Syria by the Romans. The Seleucid list in the biblical and classical supplement to Hail Caesar represents the armies of the empire before the rot, when the Seleucids could still give the Romans a run for their money and fight for hegemony of the Hellenistic east.
Although originally based in Babylon, the center of the Seleucid empire gradually moved to Syria and its capital to Antioch, one of many cities named by Seleucus to honor his father Antiochus, who was general to Alexander's father Philip. At its height, the Seleucid Empire extended as far east as India, towards Sogdia in the northeast, to the borders of Egypt in the south, and westwards to the Aegean.
Ptolemaic (mid-3rd-1st century BC)
After the breakup of Alexander the Great's empire Ptolemy emerged as the ruler of Egypt. The dynasty he founded would last the longest of all successors, ending only with the death of Cleopatra in 30 BC. The Ptolemies' main rival was the Seleucid Empire to the north.
The two Hellenistic kingdoms fought incessantly for control of the territory between Egypt and Syria. Elephants were an important part of these opposing armies. The Ptolemies started with a herd of Indian elephants but, unable to obtain replacements, tried to train African elephants instead. These proved unsatisfactory, being the smallest elephants native to North Africa. In a confrontation between the two types of elephant, the Indian beasts of the Seleucids had the advantage.
Pyrrhic (late 3rd century BC)
Pyrrhus of Epirus was one of the greatest generals of his age - it was in his blood - after all he was a second cousin of Alexander the Great. He became king of Epirus and Macedonia and led armies against the Romans in support of the Greek cities of southern Italy (known as Magna Graecia). The victories he won during that campaign were achieved at such a cost to his own army that the term "Pyrrhic victory" came into common use to describe a victory almost as crippling to the winners as the losers.
The Epirote army is typical of Western successors in that it is based on the pike-armed phalanx supported by lighter infantry and cavalry. We have depicted Macedonian and Epirote cavalry armed with light lances, which seems more in keeping with the general effectiveness of Greek cavalry after the days of Alexander. The proportion of pikes in Pyrrhus's armies fell in successive battles.
The Successor Army Box contains:
100 Plastic Phalangites 8 Metal Companion Cavalry 1 metal and resin War Elephant Successors 3 sheets of Phalangite shield decals and plastic bases
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