Therapeia Infantry
Heavy Infantry(0.6.7)Side / Back
Short description
The Therapeia were the Household troops of the Ptolemaic Empire, forming a guard that protected the Pharaoh-King in Alexandria and, if needed, on campaign.
Description
The Therapeia regiment is the elite household guard of the Ptolemaic kings. They are well protected by their Thureos shields, plumed Thracian helmets, Linothorakes or chainmail shirts, and greaves. Armed with the double edged, straight Xiphos sword and javelins, they can perform a variety of tasks on the battlefield. Though they usually stay in Alexandria, they also accompany the monarch when he travels through his kingdom or on his military campaigns.
HISTORICAL BACKGROUND
The Therapeia were the Household troops of the Ptolemaic Empire, forming a guard that protected the Pharaoh-King in Alexandria and, if needed, on campaign. Papyri describe regiments "at the court" (περὶ τὴν αὐλὴν), which might have included bodyguards and ceremonial troops (Fischer-Bovet, Army and Society (2014), p. 150). The Hellenistic historian Polybios of Megalopolis (ca. 200-118 BC) mentions the θεραπεία and the troops περὶ τὴν αὐλὴν (“around the court”) together (Polyb. XV, 25a, 17) and they are thus represented in a single unit. The household regiments seem to have consisted of both infantry and cavalry, forming a reliable elite force. They were arguably not as battle hardened as the Basilikon Agema or, respectively, the Agema of the Hippeis, but equipped with the best weapons and armour available, and trained under the supervision of the king himself. As the Basilikon Agema numbered 3,000 men, the same size seems plausible for the Therapeia, as Fischer-Bovet (2014, p. 150) has shown.
No information survives on the armament of the Therapeia, but a papyrus helped the RIS historians to find a solution. This papyrus, dated to roughly 200 BC (P. Mich. inv. 6947), mentions a Cretan who served in a unit called the Thorakitai Epilektoi, i.e. a picked unit of armoured infantrymen. The Thorakitai will be familiar to most RTW players, and though their exact equipment is also not described by the ancient sources, they were an evolved version of the Thureophoroi and therefore carried the oval Thureos shield originally used by the Celts, the straight, double edged Xiphos sword, and javelins (see the Thorakitai descriptions). The ‘thorax’ in Thorakitai refers to either a linen cuirass (Linothorax) or a chainmail shirt, also inspired by the Celtic role model. Finally, greaves give the soldiers extra protection and plumed Thracian helmets appear on the Mustafa Pasha tomb painting in Alexandria which depicts the Therapeia horsemen. Since the Thorakitai Epilektoi are not known from any other source, we may assume that these are identical with the Therapeia. The description as ,,epilektoi” marks them as an elite, and the inclusion of a Cretan soldier proves they have nothing to do with the native Egyptian Epilektoi, who fought as phalangites (see the Ptolemaic Epilektoi Phalangites’ description).
These professional soldiers are able to guard the flanks of the royal army in battle as well as to protect the life of the Ptolemaic king. Armed as an elite version of the Thorakitai and made up of the sons of the most noble houses of Greek Egypt, they are one of the most renowned regiments in the vast empire of the Lagid kings.