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199 BC/ The formation of Melas aspis.
199 BC
Although Rome raised an army to crush the Samnite rebellion, the League council decided not intervene. The expansion in West Africa continued to be the main focus.
Macedonia
Although Ptolemy III knew that native Egyptians were needed for his army, the recent rebellions of the native population made him skeptical about this practice and kind of alienate him from the local population. The solution to this issue came from the Spartan mercenary general Cleobrotus who proposed a rather radical idea.
The formation of the Melas aspis( black shields).
The formation of the Melas aspis established in the reign of Ptolemy III in 199 BC. Ptolemy III instituted the Melas foros. Melas foros also know as aima foros(blood tax or tribute in blood), was chiefly the annual practice whereby the Ptolemaic Empire sent military officers to take boys, ages 7 to 10, from their families in order that they be raised to serve the state.This tax of sons was imposed only on the local Egyptian subjects of the empire, in the villages of the upper Egypt. The boys were then forcibly converted to a sect of the Serapis religion with the primary objective of selecting and training the ablest children and teenagers for the military or civil service of the empire, notably into the melas aspis(black shields).
The melas aspis were, neither freemen nor slaves. They were subjected to strict discipline, but were paid salaries and pensions upon retirement and formed their own distinctive social class.
Melas aspis agoge
The training involved learning about hellenistic culture, cultivating loyalty to the Ptolemaic king, military training, hunting and social/religion affairs. The aim of the system was to produce a loyal,strong and capable warrior to serve in the melas aspis/Ptolemaic army. Discipline was strict and the males were encouraged to fight amongst themselves to determine the strongest member of the group. At the age of seven, the male child was enrolled in the melas aspis agoge under the authority of the paidonómos , or "boy-herder", a magistrate charged with supervising education. This began the first of the three stages of the melas aspic agoge: the paídes ( ages 7–17), the paidískoi (ages 16–19), and the hēbōntes (ages 20–29).
At the stage of paidiskoi, around the age of 18, the students became members of the melas aspis army. Also, some youths were allowed to become part of the crypteia, a type of 'Secret Police', where the members were instructed to spy on the upper Egypt native population and even kill natives who were out at night or spoke seditiously, to help keep the population submissive.
Between 199-197 BC ten thousands kids were transferred in the melas aspis camp near Alexandria.
Black shield, city patrol troop 160 BC.
Although Rome raised an army to crush the Samnite rebellion, the League council decided not intervene. The expansion in West Africa continued to be the main focus.
Macedonia
- King Dimitrios of Macedon made Thessaloniki his new capital and establish a new alliance with Pergamon and Bosporus kingdoms.
Although Ptolemy III knew that native Egyptians were needed for his army, the recent rebellions of the native population made him skeptical about this practice and kind of alienate him from the local population. The solution to this issue came from the Spartan mercenary general Cleobrotus who proposed a rather radical idea.
The formation of the Melas aspis( black shields).
The formation of the Melas aspis established in the reign of Ptolemy III in 199 BC. Ptolemy III instituted the Melas foros. Melas foros also know as aima foros(blood tax or tribute in blood), was chiefly the annual practice whereby the Ptolemaic Empire sent military officers to take boys, ages 7 to 10, from their families in order that they be raised to serve the state.This tax of sons was imposed only on the local Egyptian subjects of the empire, in the villages of the upper Egypt. The boys were then forcibly converted to a sect of the Serapis religion with the primary objective of selecting and training the ablest children and teenagers for the military or civil service of the empire, notably into the melas aspis(black shields).
The melas aspis were, neither freemen nor slaves. They were subjected to strict discipline, but were paid salaries and pensions upon retirement and formed their own distinctive social class.
Melas aspis agoge
The training involved learning about hellenistic culture, cultivating loyalty to the Ptolemaic king, military training, hunting and social/religion affairs. The aim of the system was to produce a loyal,strong and capable warrior to serve in the melas aspis/Ptolemaic army. Discipline was strict and the males were encouraged to fight amongst themselves to determine the strongest member of the group. At the age of seven, the male child was enrolled in the melas aspis agoge under the authority of the paidonómos , or "boy-herder", a magistrate charged with supervising education. This began the first of the three stages of the melas aspic agoge: the paídes ( ages 7–17), the paidískoi (ages 16–19), and the hēbōntes (ages 20–29).
At the stage of paidiskoi, around the age of 18, the students became members of the melas aspis army. Also, some youths were allowed to become part of the crypteia, a type of 'Secret Police', where the members were instructed to spy on the upper Egypt native population and even kill natives who were out at night or spoke seditiously, to help keep the population submissive.
Between 199-197 BC ten thousands kids were transferred in the melas aspis camp near Alexandria.
Black shield, city patrol troop 160 BC.
- Sersor
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