ANIMALS IN ANCIENT GREEK WARFARE: A STUDY OF THE ELEPHANT, CAMEL, AND DOG _______________________________________ A Dissertation presented to the Faculty of the Graduate School at the University of Missouri-Columbia _______________________________________________________ In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Doctor of Philosophy _____________________________________________________ by JENNA RAE RICE Dr. Ian Worthington, dissertation supervisor MAY 2020 © Copyright by Jenna Rice 2020 All Rights Reserved The undersigned, appointed by the dean of the Graduate School, have examined the [thesis or dissertation] entitled: ANIMALS IN ANCIENT GREEK WARFARE: A STUDY OF THE ELEPHANT, CAMEL, AND DOG Presented by Jenna Rae Rice, a candidate for the degree of doctorate of philosophy, and hereby certify that, in their opinion, it is worthy of acceptance. __________________________ Professor Ian Worthington __________________________ Professor Theodore Tarkow __________________________ Professor Susan Langdon __________________________ Professor Dennis Trout __________________________ Professor Lois Huneycutt __________________________ Professor John Frymire To Mom and Dad, who supported me and cheered me on, who made this possible. Thank you. ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like to thank Ian Worthington, for guiding and supporting my research, encouraging my zoological curiosity, and reading and commenting on drafts of dissertation chapters as well as related conference papers and articles. Thank you to my dissertation committee members, Professors Ian Worthington, John Frymire, Lois Huneycutt, Susan Langdon, Theodore Tarkow, and Dennis Trout, for their willingness to serve on the committee and consider my dissertation for acceptance. My thanks especially to Professor Langdon for teaching me how to navigate CARC’s Beazley Archive and “read” the scenes of Attic pottery, and to Professor Tarkow for our helpful discussions of the Hippaemon epigram. I was fortunate enough to have several chapters evaluated by historians of animal culture, and I am grateful to Professor Emeritus Ken Kitchell for reading and commenting on Part III of the dissertation as well as for sharing his Arts article with me before publication. Thank you to Professor Linda Evans for reading and providing many helpful notes on the camels of Part II and for pointing me in the direction of further human-animal studies. I am greatly appreciative of the many conversations which impacted, stimulated, and helped organize my dissertation research. Thank you to Professor Emerita Barbara Wallach for her patience and advice, and to Profs. Larry Tritle and Tom Palaima, whose conference talks on the ancient combat experience informed my methodology below. Thank you also to Dr. Katia Margariti for our chats on Molossian hounds and for sharing her specialized knowledge. iii Finally, thank you to the University of Missouri’s Department of History, which provided me with the Dissertation Fellowship that enabled me to complete my research in the spring of 2020. iv Table of Contents ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ............................................................................................................. ii Abbreviations of Ancient Authors ................................................................................................... v ABSTRACT .................................................................................................................................... vi Introduction ...................................................................................................................................... 1 Part I: Elephants ............................................................................................................................. 15 Chapter 1: Indian Elephants & the Greeks ..................................................................................... 23 Chapter 2: “A Friendly Wall:”The Limitations of War Elephants ................................................ 51 Chapter 3: Alexander’s Elephants & the Diadochs ....................................................................... 91 Chapter 4: Elephants & the Epigonoi .......................................................................................... 140 Part II: Camels ............................................................................................................................. 211 Chapter 5: Camels: The Context .................................................................................................. 217 Chapter 6: Alexander’s Camels ................................................................................................... 244 Part III: Dogs ............................................................................................................................... 282 Chapter 7: Domestication & Perception of the Dog in Ancient Greece ...................................... 290 Chapter 8: Συστρατιώτης Κύων: The Dog in the Ancient Greek Military .................................. 313 Part IV: Horses ............................................................................................................................. 385 Chapter 9: The Early Warhorse ................................................................................................... 391 Chapter 10: Evolved Cavalry in The Classical & Hellenistic Ages ............................................. 412 Summing Up: Final Conclusions ................................................................................................. 456 Appendix 1: Images ..................................................................................................................... 463 Appendix 2: A Note on the Camel Use of the Diadochs ............................................................. 470 Appendix 3: Summary of Beazley Archive Dog and Warrior Scenes ......................................... 472 Bibliography ................................................................................................................................ 489 VITA ............................................................................................................................................ 508 v Abbreviations of Ancient Authors Ael. Aelian Aen.Tact. Aeneas Tacticus Aes. Aeschylus App. Appian Ar. Aristophanes Arist. Aristotle Arr. Arrian Curt. Curtius DH Dionysius of Halicarnassus Diod. Diodorus Siculus Eur. Euripides Hdt. Herodotus Jos. Josephus Just. Justin Lib. Libanius Nep. Cornelius Nepos Paus. Pausanias Plut. Plutarch Poll. Julius Pollux Polyaen. Polyaenus Polyb. Polybius Thuc. Thucydides Xen. Xenophon vi ANIMALS IN ANCIENT GREEK WARFARE: A STUDY OF THE ELEPHANT, CAMEL, AND DOG Jenna Rae Rice Professor Ian Worthington, Dissertation Supervisor ABSTRACT My dissertation asserts that the study of animals is integral to the thorough understanding of the ancient military landscape, and three animals in particular warrant particular attention: the elephant, camel, and dog. I place these animals into the broader context of ancient warfare through the use of human-animal studies, zoological research, archaeological studies, and careful historical analysis, proving their impact in the Greco- Macedonian military. I contend that the war elephant’s tactical significance is overstated by modern scholarship and requires a re-evaluation, concluding that due to a combination of physiological and behavioral reasons, elephants were not compatible with Greek military practices. They were, however, compatible with Diadoch politics, and were used by generations of Seleucids and Ptolemies as an emblem of legitimacy, martial strength, and royalty. I consider the military value of the camel within the Greek realm, arguing that it has been largely ignored and requires analysis from a fresh perspective. I use recent zoological studies to argue against scholarship that dismisses the camel’s abilities to tolerate extreme environments, and I assess the its value within the army of Alexander the Great through a series of specific case studies. Subsequently, I investigate the use of dogs in the ancient military sphere through a study of literary and archaeological sources. I show how dogs participated both directly in battle (Ionia) and in a more auxiliary fashion as guards, hunters, and companions. Finally, I present a survey of scientific vii archaeological, and historical studies of the ancient warhorse, considering its status within the scholarly community as a goal and model for future studies of other animals that functioned in the ancient military sphere. 1 Introduction Photo 1 Right Wall of Memorial; Photo: Jeanne R. Rice, used with permission. In 2004, London’s Hyde Park unveiled the Animals in War Memorial, the first British war memorial dedicated not to a specific military animal, but to all animals incorporated into human conflict throughout time. Designed by David Backhouse, the memorial is comprised of two curving walls of Portland stone with bas-relief carvings of participating animals and a series of bronze sculptures, including two pack mules, a horse, and a dog. The wall depicts a menagerie, including elephants, dromedaries, Bactrian camels, cows, bison, horses in gas masks, a mule, dog, ram, cat, and three carrier pigeons. The monument reads: "This monument is dedicated to all the animals that served and died alongside British and Allied forces in wars and campaigns throughout time." Below this, in smaller, starker font: “They had no choice.” 2 The memorial was neither managed