28. The Celtic Mercenaries
Celtic mercenaries were also a bulwark of ancient Egypt’s Ptolemaic Dynasty in the third century BC, and were included in the Egyptian army’s order of battle. For example, King Ptolemy II Philadelphus hired 4000 Celtic mercenaries, recruited from the Balkans with help from the Anigonids of Macedon. They played a decisive role in beating back a challenge from a half-brother who made a bid for Ptolemy’s throne.
However, the Celt mercenaries then made a bid of their own to dethrone Ptolemy and seize Egypt for themselves. After crushing their rebellion, Ptolemy dumped them into a small island in the Nile, to die of starvation. Notwithstanding, the Ptolemies continued to hire Celts mercenaries – their lack of local roots made them particularly useful in putting down uprisings by native Egyptians. They remained in Ptolemaic service until the end, and the dynasty’s final ruler, Cleopatra, employed Celtic mercenaries.
