BCE, two titans of the Hellenistic world clashed in one of the ancient world’s largest battles to decide the fate of Coele-Syria (modern Syria and Lebanon). The Battle of Raphia saw the Seleucid king ...

Nabataean wealth awoke the envy and greed of their neighbors, especially the Seleucids, whose founder had inherited the eastern tranche of the empire of Alexander the Great. The Nabataeans held ...

That alone generated great resentment among his generals. Seeing foreigners trained to wield the sarissa in the phalanx formation, in the Macedonian style of warfare, made them angry with their king.