Imperial Roman Campaign, Battle of Tripolitania - 205 BC
An interesting battle between Decius Galarius's Roman columns and an Egyptian army under the Pharohs first-born son, Miwsher. Location just outside Lepis Magna, in 205 BC. Sandy and rocks, small hills.
Roman expansion into Africa had its roots now in Carthage, and the Marian reforms had arrived just a few years previously. Decius Galarius, a 4 star general, took the main Roman army toward Lepis Magna, hoping to catch the Egyptians off-guard. Waiting for him, however, was ther main Egyptian force under the Pharohs field general and eldest son, Miwsher, a three star general.
The Roman army, composed mainly of Principes, archer auxila and equites, was supplemented by seveal new Imperial cohorts and a mercenary force, including a unit of War Elephants. Both columns contained aprox~2600 men apiece, totalling around 5200.
The Egyptian army had a full array of phalanx infantry, archers, both light and heavy cavalry, and 2 units of armored elephants. It arrayed itself into 3 columns, containing total aprox ~6200 men. The had the advantage of a small hill formation on which they made their lines. The Romans took the initiative and launched the assault.
The Roman armies started on opposite cornors of the battlefield, and the Egyptians quickly moved forces to fill the gap between them. Despite heroic efforts by the Libyan mercenaries, several large infantry units and some light cav made into the area. With the Egyptians in command of the high ground, Decius made the decision to attack with his War Elephants. This resulted in an immediate halt to the Egyptian advance, and Roman Principes and archers made it into the area and formed lines. The battle began in earnest now with the 2 main Egyptian colums meeting the Roman armies near the center of the field, while Egyptian archers on the high grounds rained arrows down into the battle.
At this point, Mwsher used his Armored elephants on each Roman flank, ....
..this resulted in very high infantry losses for the Roman's and after a prolonged clash, the anihilation of the Egyptian elephants, mainly due to Roman fire arrows at close range.
As the battle winded down, a scene of carnage was created in the sand, as units literally fought to the death with each other, leaving few or no survivors.
Scattered units now fought each other around the battlefield, as the haze created by the wind and smoke revealed the insane units in the dying light of the day. Noticed the lone Egyptian elephant in the top on the hill mauling a squad of Roman soldiers....
Eventually, a collection of Roman archers formed and drove away the remaining Egyptian units......
Results...a close Roman victory. Decuis Galarius was killed on the left-flank during the Egyptian Armored elephant attack, and 4200 Roman soldiers were
lost, including almost all the infantry, all the cavalry, and mercenaries, including the elephants. The 1200 or so survivors were mostly mobile archer units, and a few units that routed early in the battle. Composing no usable formation, the single Roman column headed back to Hadrumentum.
The Egyptians lost only after a severe struggle, and remnants of the force entered Lepis Magna for shelter. Less than 700 remained of the largest Egyptian force in the west. The Pharohs son was dead, killed during a Roman cavalry attack during the closing moments of the battle. The Egyptians were, however, safe behind the massive walls of the city.
Why was this battle significant? It virtually destroyed the main military formations of both countries in the region for decades to come. It also occured during a change in Roman military formations produced by the Marian reforms. It was the high water mark for Egypt, as the combined pressure from Selucia and Rome began to wear her down.
It also showed what the battle AI could produce under the proper conditions, a desperate fight to the bitter end. Hopefully there will be more to report in the near future.
Pillaging and Plundering since 2006
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Originally Posted by Emperador Carlos
