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Short description

When used effectively, these Egyptian Skirmishers can provide a screen for the heavier infantry and harass the enemy with missile fire, using their mobility to navigate the battlefield.

Description

These Egyptian skirmishers are not the greatest of fighters, but can prove very effective under the command of a clever general. Their ranks are made up of native servants and peasants hastily armed for battle. They received no armour, wearing only their everyday chitons and tunics, lacking even helmets or shields. They have been armed with javelins and a long dagger, to be used in case they are forced into a melee. That, however, is to be avoided, as they cannot combat unbroken infantry and cavalry effectively up close and will suffer heavy losses if they try to do so. These mobile skirmishers are meant to provide heavier infantry with a protective screen. They can fight off other light infantry, harass the enemy formation in the flanks or the rear, and pursue routing troops. Off the battlefield, they are used for foraging, ambushes, as well as plundering and ravaging enemy lands.

HISTORICAL BACKGROUND

Egypt does not seem to have had a particularly strong tradition of light skirmishing infantry. The kingdom rather relied on neighbouring peoples to fulfil such roles on the battlefield. Despite regular wars with them, Libyans were often hired as mercenaries and could serve as skirmishers. Nubians could also fulfil this role, with the Medjay being a captivating example (Shaw, Egyptian Warfare and Weapons (1991), p. 30). The Ptolemies more often fielded typical Hellenistic light infantry such as peltasts and thureophoroi (Fischer-Bovet, Military organization (2014), p. 135).

There is, however, one famous example of native Egyptians serving as skirmishers. In 312 BCE, the Battle of Gaza was fought between a young Demetrios Poliorketes and the experienced Ptolemaios and Seleukos, veterans of Alexander's campaigns. Diodoros describes the Egyptian forces as follows:

"He [Ptolemy] therefore gathered together his forces from all sides and marched from Alexandria to Pelousion with eighteen thousand foot and four thousand horse. Of his army some were Macedonians and some were mercenaries, but a great number were Egyptians, of whom some carried the missiles and the other baggage but some were armed and serviceable for battle" (Diod. 19.80.4).

The lack of detail in this passage can be attributed to Diodoros using an Antigonid source for this battle. He gives a deeper breakdown of Demetrios' forces. While not explicitly mentioned, these Egyptians most likely served as light infantry, creating a protective screen for the main phalanx (Devine, Diodorus' Account of the Battle of Gaza (1984), pp. 31-35). This was crucial for defeating Demetrios, as he had something the Egyptians did not: elephants. Indeed, the young general hoped these would ensure his victory. However, his foes had witnessed Alexander the Great himself fight off these beasts in faraway India, and they would not so easily be defeated. They laid a trap. After an initial cavalry exchange, the elephants moved in. However, barbed chains laid out on the ground broke their charge. Mobile light infantry, Egyptian skirmishers among them, then closed in and pelted them with missiles, targeting their mahouts, causing the beasts to enter into a frenzy. Ptolemy swiftly secured victory following these brave acts. Demetrios was forced to flee, much of his army was captured, and Seleukos made his way to Babylon (Grainger, The Rise of the Seleukid Empire (2014), pp. 25-27).