War elephants: Did you mean...?

Elephants were thought of as fierce and frightful monsters in antiquity, very real though rarely seen until the Hellenistic period. They were deployed on the battlefield to strike terror into the enemy, however, since fear was considered...

Elephants were used in the ancient Indian army, irrespective of regions, dynasties, or points in time; their importance was never denied and continued well into the medieval period as well. The ready availability in the subcontinent of the...

In the search for ever more impressive and lethal weapons to shock the enemy and bring total victory the armies of ancient Greece, Carthage, and even sometimes Rome turned to the elephant. Huge, exotic, and frightening the life out of an...

This war scene shown in a temple frieze in the Kailashanatha Temple depicts the use of chariots and elephants in warfare during the period of the imperial Rashtrakutas (eighth to tenth centuries CE). Location: Ellora Caves, Aurangabad, Maharashtra...

This is a contemporary depiction of the Battle of Takkolam (949 CE) as it is shown on a pillar of a temple built by Butuga II (939-960 CE) of the Western Ganga dynasty (a Rashtrakuta empire vassal) as a fitting finale to his victory over...

An artist's impression of what an attack by Carthaginian war elephants may have looked like during the Punic Wars of the 3rd century BCE.

A section of the mural at Ajanta in Cave No. 17. depicts the 'coming of Sinhala'. The prince (Prince Vijaya) is seen in both of groups of elephants and riders. This mural also depicts the soldiers of the Gupta/Vakataka period (4th to 6th...

The Second Punic War (The Hannibalic War) was fought between Carthage and Rome between 218 and 201 BCE. The war involved confrontations in Spain, Italy, Sicily, Sardinia, and North Africa. Hannibal led the Carthaginians, one of the most gifted...

War was the chief means by which territory was annexed or rulers defeated in ancient India, which was divided into multiple kingdoms, republics and empires. Often one empire predominated or different empires co-existed. The Vedic literature...

Semiramis is the semi-divine Warrior-Queen of Assyria, whose reign is most clearly documented by the Greek historian Diodorus Siculus (l. 90-30 BCE) in his great work Bibliotheca Historica ("Historical Library") written over thirty years...