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Battle of Panium

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Battle of Panium
Part of the Syrian Wars
Date 200 BCE
Location Near Banias
Result Decisive Seleucid victory
Seleucids Ptolemaic Egypt
Antiochus III the Great Scopas of Aetolia

The Battle of Panium (also known as Paneion, Ancient Greek: Πάνειον}}, or Paneas, Πανειάς) was fought in 200 BCE between Seleucid and Ptolemaic Egyptian forces as part of the Syrian Wars. The Seleucids were led by Antiochus III the Great, while the Ptolemaic army was led by Scopas of Aetolia. The Seleucids won the battle. Details of this battle are not clear, but it is known today that major factor in the Seleucid victory was that the Seleucid army used the cataphract in a decisive manner. The cataphracts attacked the Egyptian cavalry on the flanks and drove the enemy cavalry off, leaving the backs of the enemy infantry to the front of the line exposed. The Seleucid cataphracts then attacked their infantry in the rear, thus leading to an Egyptian rout. The specific equipment used by these relatively early cataphracts is not clearly known.

The battle was fought near Paneas (Caesarea Philippi), and marked the end of Ptolemaic rule in Judea. Some biblical commentators see this battle as being the one referred to in Daniel 11:15, where it says, "Then the king of the North will come and build up siege ramps and will capture a fortified city."[1]


  1. Jordan, James B. (2007). The Handwriting on the Wall: A Commentary on the Book of Daniel. American Vision. p. 558. 


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This page uses content from the English Wikipedia. The original article was at Battle of Panium. The list of authors can be seen in the page history.

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