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 unprepared enemy they seemed the perfect weapon in an age where developments in warfare were very limited. Unfortunately, impressive though they must have seemed on the battlefield, the cost of acquiring, training, and transporting these creatures, along with their wild unpredictability in the heat of battle, meant that they were used only briefly and not particularly effectively in Mediterranean warfare.

? ? ? ? ? 為了尋找更加令人印象深刻和致命的武器來威懾?cái)橙耍②A得全面勝利，古希臘、迦太基，甚至有時(shí)羅馬的軍隊(duì)都將注意力轉(zhuǎn)向了大象。巨大的、有異國情調(diào)的、能使沒有準(zhǔn)備的敵人感到恐懼的大象，在那個(gè)戰(zhàn)爭(zhēng)發(fā)展非常有限的時(shí)代，似乎是最完美的武器。不幸的是，盡管它們?cè)趹?zhàn)場(chǎng)上看起來令人印象深刻，但獲取、訓(xùn)練和運(yùn)輸這些生物的成本，以及它們?cè)趹?zhàn)斗中的狂野不可預(yù)測(cè)性，意味著在地中海戰(zhàn)爭(zhēng)中只被短暫使用，并不是特別有效。

兩種大象的種類

In antiquity, two elephants were known – the Asian elephant (Elephas maximus) and the African Forest elephant (Loxodonta cyclotis). The latter is now almost extinct and only found in the Gambia; it was smaller than the, at the time unknown, African elephant of central and southern Africa (Loxodonta africana), which explains why ancient writers all claimed the Indian elephant was larger than the African. The Asian elephant became known in Europe following the conquests of Alexander the Great in the 4th century BCE and contact with the Mauryan Empire of India. So impressed was Alexander with the war elephants of Porus, who was said to have had a corps of 200 when he fought the Battle of Hydaspes in 326 BCE, that he formed his own ceremonial elephant corps. Many of Alexander's successors went one step further and employed them in battle proper. Indeed, the Seleucid Empire made sure to exclusively control the traffic in Asian elephants.

? ? ? ? ? 在古代，有兩種大象——亞洲象（Elephas maximus）和非洲森林象（Loxodonta cyclotis）。后者現(xiàn)在為極度瀕危物種，在岡比亞有少許現(xiàn)存；它比當(dāng)時(shí)未知的非洲中部和南部的非洲象（Loxodonta africana）小，這解釋了為什么古代作家都聲稱印度象比非洲象大。亞洲象在公元前4世紀(jì)亞歷山大大帝的征服和與印度毛利人帝國的接觸后，在歐洲開始為人所知。亞歷山大對(duì)波魯斯的戰(zhàn)象印象深刻，據(jù)說波魯斯在公元前326年的海達(dá)斯佩斯戰(zhàn)役中擁有一支包含200頭大象的軍團(tuán)，因此他組建了自己的禮賓象隊(duì)。亞歷山大的許多繼任者都在戰(zhàn)斗中使用大象。事實(shí)上，塞琉古帝國確保專門控制亞洲大象的運(yùn)輸。

獲取和部署

Elephants, being only available from Africa or Asia, were expensive commodities to acquire for Mediterranean powers. Added to this was the cost of maintaining them and training both the wild elephant and its rider to form some sort of battle order on the field of combat. Then there was the problem of transporting them to where they were needed, although famously, the Carthaginian general Hannibal managed to get at least some of his 37 elephants across the Alps and into Italy in 218 BCE.

? ? ? ? ? 大象只能從非洲或亞洲獲得，對(duì)地中海國家來說是昂貴的商品。此外，馴養(yǎng)野象及其培訓(xùn)騎手以便在戰(zhàn)場(chǎng)上形成某種戰(zhàn)斗秩序的費(fèi)用也很高。然后是它們的運(yùn)輸問題，盡管迦太基將軍漢尼拔在公元前218年成功地將他的37頭大象中的至少一部分大象運(yùn)輸穿過阿爾卑斯山并進(jìn)入意大利。

Despite the cost and difficulties, and because in antiquity the evolution in weaponry was extremely slow, the attraction of such large animals trampling all over the enemy remained. This meant that military commanders went out of their way to supplement their armies with elephants. Seleukos I Nikator famously swapped parts of his eastern empire to gain 500 elephants from Indian emperor Chandragupta in 305 BCE. The armies of the Antigonids and Ptolemies also fielded Asian elephants, although generally in much smaller numbers. In the 270's BCE, for example, Ptolemy II trained African elephants for use in his army and even appointed a high official to be responsible for them, the elephantarchos. According to Plutarch, 475 elephants took part in the Battle of Ipsus in 301 BCE during the Successor Wars. In 275 BCE, in a battle known as the 'Elephant Victory', Antigonus Gonatas, although outnumbered, used 16 elephants to terrify an army of Gauls into retreat.

? ? ? ? ? 盡管成本高昂，困難重重，而且在古代，武器裝備的進(jìn)化極其緩慢，但這種大型動(dòng)物踐踏敵人的吸引力依然存在。這意味著軍事指揮官們不遺余力地用大象來補(bǔ)充他們的軍隊(duì)。塞琉古一世在公元前305年用他的東部帝國的一部分與印度皇帝旃陀羅笈多交換了500頭大象。安提戈尼德王朝和托勒密王朝的軍隊(duì)也使用了亞洲大象，盡管數(shù)量要少得多。例如，在公元前270年，托勒密二世訓(xùn)練非洲大象部署于軍隊(duì)，甚至任命了一個(gè)高級(jí)官員來負(fù)責(zé)這些大象，即大象長(zhǎng)。根據(jù)普魯塔克的說法，475頭大象參加了公元前301年繼承人戰(zhàn)爭(zhēng)期間的伊普蘇斯之戰(zhàn)。公元前275年，在一場(chǎng)被稱為"大象勝利"的戰(zhàn)役中，安提柯二世雖然人數(shù)不多，但卻用16頭大象嚇退了一支高盧人的軍隊(duì)。

Pyrrhus of Epirus was the first commander to employ elephants in Europe when he used 20 Asian ones in his campaigns in Italy and Sicily from 280 to 275 BCE. There Pyrrhus gained notable victories against the Romans in the battles of Heraclea (280 BCE) and Asculum (279 BCE).

? ? ? ? ? 皮洛士是第一個(gè)在歐洲使用大象的指揮官，他在公元前280年至275年于意大利和西西里島的戰(zhàn)役中使用了20頭亞洲大象。在那里，皮洛士在赫拉克利亞（公元前280年）和阿斯庫魯姆（公元前279年）戰(zhàn)役中取得了對(duì)羅馬人的大勝。

The Carthaginians were the next major users. Able to readily acquire African elephants from the Atlas Forest region they formed an elephant corps from the 260's BCE. These were used in the First and Second Punic Wars against Rome in the mid and late 3rd century BCE, notably in the Battle at the river Tagus in Spain in 220 BCE and at the Battle of Trebia in northern Italy in 218 BCE. Elephants even appeared on Carthaginian coins of the period. After his initial corps died in the winter of 218/217 BCE Hannibal acquired fresh replacements and used elephants again at the siege of Capua in 211 BCE.

? ? ? ? ? 迦太基人也是大象主要使用者。他們能夠很容易地從阿特拉斯森林地區(qū)獲得非洲大象，迦太基人在公元前260年組建了一支大象軍團(tuán)。這些大象被用于公元前3世紀(jì)中葉和晚期對(duì)羅馬的第一次和第二次布匿戰(zhàn)爭(zhēng)，特別是公元前220年在西班牙塔古斯河的戰(zhàn)斗和公元前218年在意大利北部的特雷比亞的戰(zhàn)斗。大象的形象甚至出現(xiàn)在這一時(shí)期的迦太基貨幣上。公元前218/217年冬天，漢尼拔補(bǔ)充了原先戰(zhàn)損的人馬，并在公元前211年圍攻卡普亞時(shí)再次使用大象。

The Romans seem to have been largely unimpressed with the use of elephants and employed them only rarely and in small numbers, usually supplied via Numidia. They were said to have cunningly released pigs to disrupt Pyrrhus' elephants at the Battle of Maleventum in 275 BCE. Even more famously, at the Battle of Zuma in 202 BCE, the Roman general Scipio Africanus allowed Hannibal's 80 elephants to run through gaps purposely made in his infantry lines and then turned the animals around using drums and trumpets to let them cause havoc with the enemy. Nor were elephants any help to the senatorial armies of Scipio and Cato that faced Julius Caesar in North Africa at the Battle of Thapsus in 46 BCE. Elephants were, perhaps strangely, not used by the Romans as transportation of heavy goods either.

? ? ? ? ? 羅馬人似乎對(duì)大象的使用不感興趣，有時(shí)只是很少使用，而且數(shù)量不多，這些大象通常來自努米底亞。據(jù)說，在公元前275年的馬勒文圖姆戰(zhàn)役中，羅馬人狡猾地放出豬來擾亂皮魯斯的大象。更為著名的是，在公元前202年的祖瑪之戰(zhàn)中，羅馬將軍大西庇阿讓漢尼拔的80頭大象跑過他在步兵線上特意設(shè)計(jì)的缺口，然后用鼓聲和號(hào)聲讓這些動(dòng)物掉頭，讓它們對(duì)敵人造成破壞。在公元前46年的塔普蘇斯戰(zhàn)役中，大西庇阿和卡托的元老院軍隊(duì)在北非面對(duì)凱撒大帝，大象也沒有發(fā)揮任何作用。也許很奇怪，大象也沒有被羅馬人用作重型貨物的運(yùn)輸。

There is a curious instance when two elephant corps met where each side was composed of different types. This was at the Battle of Raphia (on the Sinai Peninsula) in 217 BCE between Ptolemy IV and Antiochus III. The former had 73 African elephants against the latter's 102 Asian elephants. The two-elephant corps clashed directly and the smaller-sized African elephants gave way, even if Ptolemy won the battle overall. After a few centuries when elephants were out of vogue, the Sasanians in Persia revived the use of war elephants, fielding the Indian species from the 3rd century CE onwards, albeit, largely for logistics and during sieges.

? ? ? ? ? 有一個(gè)奇怪的例子，當(dāng)兩支大象軍團(tuán)相遇時(shí)，每一方都是由不同的大象類型組成。這是在公元前217年托勒密四世和安提阿克三世之間的拉斐亞之戰(zhàn)（在西奈半島）。前者有73頭非洲大象，而后者有102頭亞洲大象。兩支大象軍團(tuán)直接發(fā)生沖突，體型較小的非洲象退縮了，即使托勒密在戰(zhàn)斗中總體獲勝。在大象不再流行的幾個(gè)世紀(jì)后，波斯的薩珊人恢復(fù)了對(duì)戰(zhàn)象的使用，他們從公元3世紀(jì)起就開始使用印度象，盡管主要是用于后勤和圍攻期間。

裝甲與戰(zhàn)場(chǎng)策略

Elephants were dressed for battle in armour which protected their heads and sometimes front. A thick sacking or leather cover could also be hung over the elephant's back to protect its sides. Sword blades or iron points were added to the tusks and bells hung from the body to create as much noise as possible. Early use of elephants in battle by Alexander's successors involved only a rider (mahout) and perhaps a spearman. The rider was crucial as he had trained the animal for years and it would obey only his commands. He controlled the direction the elephant took by applying pressure behinds the animal's ears with his toes. He also had an ankush or hooked stick for this purpose.

? ? ? ? ? 大象在戰(zhàn)斗中穿上盔甲，保護(hù)它們的頭部，有時(shí)也保護(hù)它們的前胸。厚厚的麻袋或皮套也可以掛在大象的背上，以保護(hù)它的側(cè)面。劍刃或鐵尖被加在象牙上，鈴鐺掛在象身上，以制造盡可能多的噪音。亞歷山大的繼任者早期在戰(zhàn)斗中使用大象時(shí)，只有一個(gè)騎手（mahout）和一個(gè)矛手。騎士是至關(guān)重要的，因?yàn)樗呀?jīng)訓(xùn)練了多年的動(dòng)物，大象只服從他的命令。他通過用腳趾在動(dòng)物的耳朵后面施加壓力來控制大象的行動(dòng)方向。騎手也有一根鉤狀的棍子，用于這一目的。

From the 270's a light-weight tower (howdah or thorakia) of wood and leather was strapped to the larger Asian elephant using chains, and protected with shields hanging down its sides. It was typically occupied by up to four javelin or missile throwers. However, it was the elephant itself that was the principal weapon, employed as a sort of mobile wrecking ball. At an average height of 2.5 metres, weighing around 5 tonnes, and trotting up to 16 km/h (10mph), they could be tremendously effective wrecking machines. As the ancient historian Ammianus Marcellinus put it, "the human mind can conceive nothing more terrible than their noise and huge bodies" (Anglim, 132).

? ? ? ? ? 從270年代開始，人們用木頭和皮革制成輕型塔（howdah或thorakia），將其用鏈條綁在較大的亞洲象上，并用懸掛在其兩側(cè)的盾牌保護(hù)。輕型塔通常由多達(dá)四個(gè)標(biāo)槍或石彈投擲者據(jù)守。然而，大象本身才是主要武器，它被當(dāng)作一種移動(dòng)的破壞球。大象的平均高度為2.5米，重量約為5噸，時(shí)速可達(dá)16公里（10英里），它們可以成為戰(zhàn)場(chǎng)上非常有效的破壞機(jī)器。正如古代歷史學(xué)家阿米阿努斯·馬爾切利努斯（Ammianus Marcellinus）所說，"人類的大腦無法想象有什么比它們的噪音和巨大的身體更可怕"（Anglim, 132）。

The most important effect of elephants in the field was probably, then, a psychological one. These huge beasts would have terrified men and horses both visually and orally with their trumpeting. Even the smell of elephants could drive unprepared horses into a stampede. Starting the battle in a simple line in front of their own troops they could cause undisciplined and poorly trained cavalry lines to scatter in panic. They were also used to combat any elephants in the opposition's ranks. Tossing, ripping, and crushing the enemy, elephants were used to cause havoc with any defensive fieldworks and fortifications too, where they knocked down walls with their foreheads or pulled them down with their trunks.

? ? ? ? ? 那么，大象在戰(zhàn)場(chǎng)上最重要的影響可能是心理上的。這些巨大的野獸會(huì)用它們的號(hào)角聲干擾人和馬的視覺與聽覺。即使是大象的氣味也會(huì)使毫無準(zhǔn)備的馬匹陷入混亂。大象在自己的部隊(duì)前面排成簡(jiǎn)單的隊(duì)列開始戰(zhàn)斗，它們可以使沒有紀(jì)律和訓(xùn)練有素的騎兵隊(duì)伍驚慌失措地散開。他們還被用來打擊對(duì)手隊(duì)伍中的大象。大象可以折騰、撕扯和碾壓敵人，也被用來對(duì)任何防御性的野戰(zhàn)工程和防御工事造成破壞，它們用額頭撞倒墻壁或用樹干拉倒它們。

Elephant corps did not have everything their own way, of course. Firstly, both soldiers and cavalry horses were trained to get used to the sight, smell, and sounds of elephants. Then they obviously provided large targets for artillery fire. Pits and spikes were prepared to entrap them and, if they could get close enough, men were charged with hamstringing the beasts or hacking at their trunks. This latter eventuality was, in part, avoided by the stationing of a small team of infantry to protect the elephant's legs. If the elephant were wounded then all hell might break lose as, unpredictable at the best of times, wounded elephants could literally go mad and cause tremendous damage to both sides. If this happened the rider used a metal spike and hammer to pierce the elephant's brain and kill it immediately.

? ? ? ? ? 當(dāng)然，大象軍團(tuán)并不是事事都按自己的方式進(jìn)行。首先，士兵和騎兵馬匹都要接受訓(xùn)練，以適應(yīng)大象的視覺、嗅覺和聲音。然后，它們顯然為敵人炮兵的射擊提供了巨大的目標(biāo)。敵人的坑和釘子都準(zhǔn)備好了，以困住大象；如果大象能夠足夠接近，人們就會(huì)負(fù)責(zé)束縛這些野獸或砍斷它們的腳。大象一方在一定程度上會(huì)派駐一小隊(duì)步兵保護(hù)大象的腿。如果大象受傷了，那么一切都可能發(fā)生，因?yàn)樵谧詈玫那闆r下是不可預(yù)測(cè)的，受傷的大象真的會(huì)發(fā)瘋，會(huì)對(duì)雙方造成巨大的傷害。如果發(fā)生這種情況，騎手會(huì)用金屬釘和錘子刺穿大象的大腦，立即將其殺死。

總? ? ?結(jié)

Once the devastating sight of war elephants became a more common one on the ancient battlefield so their effectiveness diminished as the enemy became more prepared and better equipped to deal with them. In reality, perhaps only a handful of ancient battles had been decided because of the intervention of elephants. This was especially so as Roman warfare developed. Troops became more mobiIe, siege-craft became just as common as open battles, and artillery came to the fore. In later times, the use of elephants was restricted to peace-time activities such as spectacles in the Roman arenas and circuses for public entertainment or as an impressive addition to public processions. Indeed, such was the demand that at Latium and Constantinople permanent herds were kept and the insatiable desire for wild elephants practically wiped out the forest elephant of North Africa. During the late Roman Empire elephants were also given and received as gifts to improve diplomatic relations with neighbouring states.

? ? ? ? ? 一旦戰(zhàn)象的破壞性在古代戰(zhàn)場(chǎng)上變得更加普遍，那么它們的效力就會(huì)減弱，因?yàn)閿橙藭?huì)提前準(zhǔn)備對(duì)付它們。在現(xiàn)實(shí)中，也許只有少數(shù)古代戰(zhàn)役是由于大象的介入而決定的。隨著羅馬戰(zhàn)爭(zhēng)的發(fā)展，情況逐漸改變。部隊(duì)變得更加機(jī)動(dòng)化，攻城術(shù)逐漸普及，大炮也開始嶄露頭角。在后來，大象的使用僅限于和平時(shí)期的活動(dòng)，如在羅馬競(jìng)技場(chǎng)和馬戲團(tuán)進(jìn)行公共娛樂的表演，或作為公共游行的一個(gè)令人印象深刻的“裝飾品”。事實(shí)上，這樣的需求使拉蒂姆和君士坦丁堡始終保持著一支象群，人們對(duì)野象的貪婪幾乎使北非的森林大象絕跡。在羅馬帝國后期，大象還被作為互贈(zèng)的禮物，以改善與鄰國的外交關(guān)系。

參考書目：

Anglim, S. Fighting Techniques of the Ancient World 3000 BCE-500CE. Amber Books, 2013.

Bagnall, R. et al. The Encyclopedia of Ancient History. Wiley-Blackwell, 2012

Campbell, B. et al. The Oxford Handbook of Warfare in the Classical World. Oxford University Press, 2013.

Chaniotis, A. War in the Hellenistic World. Wiley-Blackwell, 2016.

Hornblower, S. The Oxford Classical Dictionary. Oxford University Press, 2012.

Plutarch. The Age of Alexander. Penguin Classics, 2012.

原文作者：Mark Cartwright

????????? 駐意大利的歷史作家。他的主要興趣包括陶瓷、建筑、世界神話和發(fā)現(xiàn)所有文明的共同思想。他擁有政治哲學(xué)碩士學(xué)位，是《世界歷史百科全書》的出版總監(jiān)。

原文網(wǎng)址：https://www.worldhistory.org/article/876/elephants-in-greek--roman-warfare/