Hi everyone and welcome to another episode of ancient warfare answers with me, Murray.

Your 10 minutes, 10 minutes, I've said that for a long time now.

Your weekly fix of ancient warfare related material, which will generally go longer than 10 minutes.

I've come to realize that.

What I do here, of course, is I attempt to answer a question by you, the reader, listener, or viewer, and you can ask me

a question via postcard by email. You can ask me a question via commenting on a previous video or

podcast, however you like. I do actually have one that was shouted into the street. My ears burned

and I heard it, but that's not for today. Today, the question comes from Argentina. Hello,

Argentina. And it's, hi, Murray, big fan of the ancient warfare podcast. Lovely. I'm writing from

Argentina. I had a quick question. I was hoping you might shed some light on. How reliable is Polyinus'

account of the Persians using cats or images of cats against the Egyptians at the Battle of

Pelusium? Is there any way to tell whether there's some truth to the story or is it more likely a legend?

Thanks in advance, Augusto. Thanks, Augusto. Always happy to talk

about Polyinus of Macedon at any time, anywhere. So this is Polyinus's Stratyms of War. I wrote

my first master's thesis on that, so I'm very happy to talk about it. This is book seven, chapter nine,

when Cambysi, this is quoting the translation. When Cambyses attacked Pelusium, which guided the entrance into Egypt, the Egyptians defended

it with great resolution. They advanced formidable engines against the besiegers and hurled missiles,

stones, and fire at them from their catapults.

To counter this destructive barrage, Cambyses ranged before his front line,

dogs, sheep, cats, ibises, and whatever other animals the Egyptians hold sacred.

The Egyptians immediately stopped their operations out of fear of hurting the animals,

which they hold in great veneration.

...