Interpreters in ancient armies

Armies throughout the ancient world were often composed of troops from various regions, speaking numerous languages and dialects, such as the Persian army at the Battle of Plataea in 479 BC or the various contingents in both the Roman and Hunnic armies at the Battle of the Catalaunian Plains. However, explicit mentions of interpreters are few and far between. Yet they appear with enough frequency to suggest they were a relatively common feature of ancient armies. Hannibal, for example, used interpreters to communicate with his Gallic and Italic allies (Polybius, 3.44.5; Livy, 21.42.1, 22.13.6). At the Battle of Raphia (217 BC), the exhortations of Ptolemy IV and Antiochus III to polyglot armies were delivered by interpreters (Polybius, 5.83.7). The Persian prince Cyrus used a translator to transmit his orders to…

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Ancient Warfare (Digital) - 1 Issue, AW XVII.6

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