 Fierce Celtic mercenaries served in armies of Egyptian pharaohs in the 3rd century BC. During times of peace, however, they became sleeper mercenaries. They were known as clerics, meaning sleepers. When their fighting services were not needed, they were given a plot of land, or cleros, to cultivate and work, usually in the Fahyum region of Egypt, near Cairo. The size of the land reflected their military status. With immigrant cavalry households usually richer in land and livestock than Egyptian natives. In Middle Egypt, clerics often lived rent-free, and in Upper Egypt, they were free of the harvest tax. They were expected to maintain their military skills when in sleeper capacity, immediately available to take up arms when called upon. When war broke out, these Celtic sleeper mercenaries would put down their sickles and pick up their swords, ready for war. For instance, when Egypt was threatened by the solicited king Antiochus III in 217 BC, Ptolemy IV, the pharaoh of Egypt at the time, as part of Ptolemyic Egypt, activated these sleeper mercenaries to serve of the 50,000 troops that fought for Egypt. 6,000 of them were Gauls or Thracians. Some of these sleeper mercenaries were the children of clerics that had settled in Egypt years prior, or decades prior, under the exact same scheme. These Celtic mercenaries helped Egypt win a resounding victory over the solicited king at the Battle of Raphia in 217 BC, located in modern-day Gaza Strip in Palestine. Celts went on to live in and fight for Egypt well into the 2nd century BC. Thanks for watching. If you would like to support this work, through Patreon, buy me a coffee dot com, or make a donation through PayPal. Please do so via the links in the description below. Please remember to subscribe and hit the bell, and I'll speak to you soon.