Bret Devereaux

So BadAncient's stuff is generally excellent, but I actually have more than a quibble with this one - the question being if elephants were given wine before battle. The main point, that the source testimony on this in Greek is very thin is fair...https://twitter.com/AncientWorldMag/status/1389938010440015876 …

I didn't write or edit this article, and it's well beyond my specialty, but a few thoughts: 1. The article references actual Indian training manuals that make no reference to the intoxication of elephants. Is there any evidence to explain why they would make no mention of this?

2. With regard to the ratings - it can be tricky to settle on one, but the problem is that you can give up a lot by suggesting that there is a possibility that something happened even if there is no real evidence for it. Perhaps less so in this case, but generally.

Lots of things are plausible, and I guess I just don't see anything in the argument you present here to suggest that wine would have the effect you suggest and that we should believe it happened when the Greek evidence for it is weak.

So, the Arthashastra is a manual on statecraft and strategy, not on the control of elephants. It has more in common with the Book of Lord Shang than with Xenophon's On Horsemanship. Elephant handling was done by trained specialists, not by kings.

It discusses the handling of elephants from the position of a battlefield commander, not a mahout. Like chariots, kings rode *on* elephants, they did not drive them. It's been a while, but as I recall, the Arthasatra doesn't include detailed information on even basic things...