The Biggest Battle Ever Fought - Ancient World

[Munch]

Yes, but the previous post about it didn't give all the facts, and even compared to all the other huge battles mentioned, if the old historians are to be believed then it probably is the largest battle fought.

[Blatta Optima Maxima]

Yes, but the previous post about it didn't give all the facts, and even compared to all the other huge battles mentioned, if the old historians are to be believed then it probably is the largest battle fought.

Herodotus is well known to have exaggarated the numbers, and all others based their work on Herodotus.

[Flavius Nevitta]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Raphia

[Caesar Germanico]

Cannae actually was surprisingly not very large, maybe about 60000 men max at the battle, although I'm no expert

what?no maybe even hannibal's army alone had almost that number

[Blatta Optima Maxima]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Raphia

No, Philippi was almost three times larger.

[Himster]

Why has no-one mentioned Alesia? 300,000 -380,000 men (including besieged gauls).
But still Philipi, if the auxilary claims are accurate we could be talking 410,000 men.

[Blatta Optima Maxima]

The gaulish numbers at Alesia were probably much smaller - history is written by the victor, and the victor likes to exaggerate his achievements.

[Elmar]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Lake_Poyang

Battle on a friggin lake, of all places. 650,000 vs 200,000. Before clicking on the wiki, guess who won.

I'm going to question that account without having a scrap of knowledge on that battle myself. Yes, yes, intellectually rather dubious. Normally I try not to hold forth an opinion without having some actual knowledge on the subject but that Wiki article just rang my alarm bell. Reads too much like myth.

The bow wave freeing the grounded ship? I just cannot see that happen.
Dummies equipped with armour and weapons on a fireship? Why?! To "confuse and trick" the enemy? There is limited scope for trickery and I reckon that given that there is a big ass battle going on that people might have better uses for weapons and armour. It's all too much a boys fantasy novel.
And then there is the casualty rate. I know there's been a fair few stunningly lopsided butchers bills but no, this one I refuse to believe.

Maybe, just maybe the number of participants is vaguely right (my gut says half that number despite Chinas known ability to amass large armies) but no way am I buy a 650.000 strong army got wiped out. Certainly not without doing significantly more in return. If you get pasted like that after the first 100.00 dead the other 550.000 in the army are disappearing over the horizon.

[Khassaki]

He wasn't tolerant. Being tolerant means you have a belief of something. Most nomad people didnt care monoteistic religions..they thought that doesnt matter how you respect god and on which name you call him. Ghenghis khan simply had no God for which he could kill people.

He was a devout pagan and prayed regularly. His law code, the Yasa, had rules for religious tolerance, banned animal cruelty and torture. The basis of these laws are still used by the current Mongolian government as part of their constitution, and played a part in the legal system of many central Asian nations.

[Mr. Shaboobies]

what?no maybe even hannibal's army alone had almost that number

I'm a little questioned by what he said too Caesar Germanico. I was under the impression the the Romans alone brought 80,000 men to the battle, and I'm sure Hannibal had a fair few as well. We're still talking about probably at least 100,000 men actively engaged at once (what a sight for the crows! ). But still if some of the other battles mentioned are remotely accurate in numbers, then Cannae, although incredibly decisive, wouldn't be near the top.

[Ciabhán]

The second hugest battle ,this time medieval, was in North West China (modern from 1949 included) it was a conflict of Chengis horde with now extinct European nation which called Tocharians(related to Yuesghi) or their Dungane-Uygur descendents(they are mix of Scythian Tocharians and Altaic-Turkic) and had 5.000.000 participants.Chengis has died while besieging the last mountain city of Tocharians.On left is a Tocharian on right is an East-Asian Buddist monk 9-10th century AC.Unfortunately most of Tocharian frescoes have been vandalised for their white appearence.

That would put at most about 100,000 men on one side and 4.9 million on the other. An army of that size would require a population of close to a billion people(at least, even accounting for levying large parts of the non-militarised population) to support. Considering the estimate of the population of the ENTIRE PLANET at the time was less than half a billion I don't see how that number could ever even be considered.

[Lebron James]

I want to say that the Battle of Carthage deserves a look. It was afterall, the complete and utter destruction of the largest city and population of the ancient world (after Rome?). You'll be hardpress to find land battles that are more epic in scale than sieges.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_...age_(c.149_BC)

[Astaroth]

I want to say that the Battle of Carthage deserves a look. It was afterall, the complete and utter destruction of the largest city and population of the ancient world (after Rome?). You'll be hardpress to find land battles that are more epic in scale than sieges.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Carthage_(c.149_BC)

Yes, but less than a third of the inhabitants of the city were proper combatants. I think that falls under the category "one of the biggest slaughters of the ancient world" more than anything.

[conon394]

I want to say that the Battle of Carthage deserves a look.

Population estimates for late Carthage are really very windy as well and to the extent they are based on size alone, you have to wonder how many slaves and resident foreigners got out before an Roman siege, or how many actual Carthaginians had friends in Utica.. oh sure Hanno yep he is my cousin's sister's nephew's something or other he been staying with me for days... I mean years.

[HannibalB]

Cannae actually was surprisingly not very large, maybe about 60000 men max at the battle, although I'm no expert

After much analysis in Daly's book Cannae, looking at Brunt, Dorey and Dudley and the ancient sources - Daly concludes - for the Romans who took to the field consisted slightly under 70,000 infantry and slightly over 6000 cavalry.

Obviously, this is working upon theoretical unit-strengths and the figures are far from certain.

[Silverheart]

Has anyone mentioned the Battle of Gaugemala/Gaugamela?
Last thing I heard about it was that there were at least 500 000 persian troops present + Alexanders 70 000 men.
And I remember hearing before that, that there were even twice as many persians...

[Blatta Optima Maxima]

Has anyone mentioned the Battle of Gaugemala/Gaugamela?
Last thing I heard about it was that there were at least 500 000 persian troops present + Alexanders 70 000 men.
And I remember hearing before that, that there were even twice as many persians...

Total BS, alresy discussed.

[torda]

Defeat of Attilla's Hunnes by Goths in Catalaune (France) with it's million participants was the biggest battle in ancient Europe.

Do you think Goths won the battle of Catalaune?

[Lebron James]

I think it does comes down to either Phillipi or the Battle of Carthage for the largest ancient landbattle.

Phillipi easily had over a 100,000 soldiers on each side... no question, the largest troop formations and deployment.

The Siege of Carthage is interesting however beacuse your talking about a large 80,000 Roman force against the 2nd largest urban city of the known world. How many of the maybe 300,000 to 500,000 population who participated in defending the city will always be a matter of debate...who classifies as a combatant? Is it only a professional soldier, or can we also include anyone who resorted to violence as a means to try and protect thier home?

We do know that the Romans were hellbent on the utter destruction of the city and its population -the population, not just the soldiers, were targets. Thus the bloodbath and carnage was enormous... bigger than anything else in the ancient world. Plus its a seige battle.. the siege of carthage no less, the logistical demands don't get any bigger than that.. and its my pick for biggest battle.

[conon394]

Roman force against the 2nd largest urban city of the known world

Again likely not, Alexandria was no doubt bigger, as might have be a city or two under the Seleucids. There is almost no good basis for estimating the population of Carthage, city size is certainly not one of them.