Elephants in Warfare in Late Antiquity

The presence of war elephants in the Near East between the late third and early seventh centuries, and especially in Romano-Sasanian conflicts, is frequently reported in a wide variety of contemporary sources. The purpose of this paper is to examine the evidence for the military use of elephants over this period. This study gives particular attention to the literary concerns of individual authors, whether writing in Latin, Greek, Armenian, or Arabic, which might have influenced their inclusion of vivid depictions of war elephants. Informed by comparative evidence from Indian sources, this assessment also identifies a more diverse range of military applications and capabilities of elephants than in the 'classic' age of elephant warfare in the Hellenistic period.