elephants
elephantsAlthough ivory was known to the prehistoric Greeks and is mentioned in Homer, they first encountered war-elephants at the battle of Gaugamela in 331 BC. The ivory probably came originally from Africa, but the first war-elephants were Indian (Elephas maximus). Although not used by Alexander the Great, war-elephants were used by his successors, particularly the Seleucids and Ptolemies.
When the Seleucids gained control of the Indian sources, the Ptolemies managed to capture and train African ‘forest’ elephants (Loxodonta africana cyclotis), then found in the hinterland of the Red Sea. Smaller than Indian elephants, they are not to be confused with East African ‘bush’ elephants (Loxodonta africana), the latter being larger than the Indian and unknown to the ancients. The ‘forest’ elephant is now almost extinct, but until comparatively...
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