AWA394 - War Pigs

Ancient sources claim that pigs were sometimes used as weapons against war elephants. Murray examines the origins of this idea, whether it ever occurred, and the famous story associated with Antigonus II Gonatas at the siege of Megara. Did armies really set pigs on fire to panic war elephants? What evidence do we have for this practice? Was it a routine tactic, or does the story survive primarily because of a single account by Antigonus II Gonatas of the siege of Megara? Murray examines the sources behind these claims, what ancient writers say about animals used against elephants, and the reliability of these accounts. Join us on Patreon patreon.com/ancientwarfarepodcast

You can listen to AWA394 - War Pigs online on Radio and Podcast. Open the player on this page to stream the available audio.

AWA394 - War Pigs is an episode from Ancient Warfare Podcast by The History Network.

This episode is 12:14 long.

This episode was published on Jan 30, 2026.

Yes. Use the heart button on the episode page to add it to your favorite episodes list.

Yes. This page shows related episodes from Ancient Warfare Podcast when more episodes are available from the podcast feed.