the wars of alexander the great

WALDEMAR HECKEL is
Professor of Ancient History
at the University of Calgary.
His publications include
numerous articles on the history
of Alexander the Great, The Last
Days and Testament of Alexander
the Great (Stuttgart 1988) and
The Marshals of Alexander's Empire
(London 1992). Together with
John Yardley he has produced
the Penguin edition of Quintus
Curtius Rufus: The History of
Alexander (1984), a commentary
on Justin's books on Alexander
(OUP 1997) and most recently
Livy: The Dawn of the Roman
Empire for Oxford World's
Classics (2000).

PROFESSOR ROBERT O'NEILL,
AO D. PHIL. (Oxon), Hon D.
Litt. (ANU), FASSA, Fr Hist S,
is the Series Editor of the
Essential Histories. His wealth
of knowledge and expertise
shapes the series content and
provides up-to-the-minute
research and theory. Born in
1936 an Australian citizen, he
served in the Australian army
(1955-68) and has held a number
of eminent positions in history
circles, including the Chichele
Professorship of the History of
War at All Souls College,
University of Oxford, 1987-2001,
and the Chairmanship of the
Board of the Imperial War
Museum and the Council of the
International Institute for
Strategic Studies, London.
He is the author of many books
including works on the German
Army and the Nazi party, and
the Korean and Vietnam wars.
Now based in Australia on his
retirement from Oxford he is the
Chairman of the Council of
the Australian Strategic Policy
Institute.

Essential Histories

The Wars of
Alexander the Great
336-323 BC

Essential Histories

The Wars of
Alexander the Great
336-323 BC

Waldemar Heckel

First published in Great Britain in 2002 by Osprey Publishing, For a complete list of titles available from Osprey Publishing
Elms Court, Chapel Way, Botley, Oxford OX2 9LP UK please contact:
Email: info@ospreypublishmg. com
Osprey Direct UK, PO Box 140,
© 2002 Osprey Publishing Limited Wellingborough, Northants, NN8 2FA, UK.
Email: info@ospreydirect. co. uk
All rights reserved. Apart from any fair dealing for the purpose
of private study, research, criticism or review, as permitted under Osprey Direct USA, c/o MBI Publishing,
the Copyright, Design and Patents Act, 1988, no part of this PO Box 1, 729 Prospect Ave,
publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or Osceola, WI 54020, USA.
transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, electrical, Email: info@ospreydirectusa. com
chemical, mechanical, optical, photocopying, recording or www. ospreypublishing. com
otherwise, without the prior written permission of the copyright
owner Enquiries should be made to the Publishers.

Every attempt has been made by the publisher to secure the
appropriate permissions for material reproduced in this book. If
there has been any oversight we will be happy to rectify the
situation and written submission should be made to the
Publishers.

ISBN 1 84176 473 6

Editor: Rebecca Cullen
Design: Ken Vail Graphic Design, Cambridge, UK
Cartography by The Map Studio
Index by David Worthington
Picture research by Image Select International
Origination by Grasmere Digital Imaging, Leeds, UK
Printed and bound in China by L. Rex Printing Company Ltd.

02 03 04 05 06 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 21

Contents

Introduction 7

Chronology 13

Background to war

The decline of the city-states and the rise of Macedon 14

Warring sides

The Persians, the Macedonians and allied troops 22

Outbreak

Alexander's rise to power 28

The fighting

Alexander conquers an empire 35

Portrait of a soldier

Two generals and a satrap 72

The world around war

Rome, Carthage and India 76

Portrait of a civilian

A historian, athletes and courtesans 81

How the war ended

The death of Alexander 84

Conclusion and consequences

The struggle for succession 86

Further reading 90

Glossary 92

Index 94

Introduction

The conquests of Alexander the Great form Mycenaean-Minoan 'Greeks'. Even after the
a watershed between the world of the Greek fall of Troy ended what the historian
city-state {polls) and the so-called Hellenistic Herodotus regarded as the first great struggle
world, the eastern kingdoms, where between east and west, and after the collapse
Alexander's successors applied a veneer of of the Bronze Age civilisations - under
Greek culture and administration to a circumstances that are still not clear - new
barbarian world. These ancient Near Eastern waves of Greek migrants splashed against the
territories had always been the battleground shores of Asia Minor. From there, they spread
between eastern and western civilisations, to the Black Sea coast and the Levant, and
and would continue to be so well beyond eventually to the west as well.
the chronological confines of the ancient By the sixth century BC, however, Greek
world. settlements in Asia Minor became subject to
Western contact with the Near East had the authority of the Lydians. This kingdom
begun in the Bronze Age, in Hittite Asia had allied itself with the Medes, who ruled
Minor, in the Orontes valley of Syria and in the Persians from Ecbatana (modern
the Nile delta of Egypt. The spectacular Hamadan) until they were overthrown by
frescoes and other artefacts of the prehistoric Cyrus the Great. Croesus, whose name is
civilisations of the Aegean depict contact, synonymous with fabulous wealth, was the
friendly and hostile, between foreigners and last of the Lydian rulers and, in 548/7, he
raised an army against the Persian upstart,
misled by Greek oracles into thinking that
he would acquire a greater empire. After an
indecisive battle near the Halys, the Lydian
troops disbanded, as was their practice - for
it was not customary to wage war over the
winter months - but Cyrus brought his
Persians up to the walls of Sardis, seized its
citadel and put Croesus to death. (Greek
tradition was embarrassed by the oracle's
deception and maintained that Apollo
intervened at the last minute, saving Croesus
from the flames and transporting him to an
idyllic world. )
Between 547 and 540 Cyrus's generals
subdued coastal Asia Minor, while he turned
his attention to the Elamites and Babylonians.
By the end of the century, the Achaemenids
ruled an empire that extended from the Indus
to the Aegean and from Samarkand to the
first cataracts of the Nile. The title 'King of
Kings' was thus no empty boast.

Marble head of Alexander (Greek Ministry of Culture)

8 Essential Histories • The Wars of Alexander the Great

Persian domination of Greek Asia Minor administered as the Persian satrapy of
threatened the city-states of the peninsula to Skudra, and at some point thereafter the
the west, as well as the islands that lay in Persians received the submission of
between. In 513 Darius I crossed the Macedon. Even the isolationist states to the
Hellespont (Dardanelles), the narrow strait south, in particular Sparta, were forced to
that separates the Gallipoli peninsula of take notice.
Europe from what is today Asiatic Turkey. The Athenians and the Eretrians of
Portions of Thrace were annexed and Euboea had aided a rebellion by the Ionians,

Introduction 9

The tomb of Cyrus the Great, the founder of the Persian
Empire (d. 530 BC). Alexander had Poulamachos, a
Macedonian, impaled for desecrating the tomb. (TRIP)

descendants, the Gortyae, fought Alexander
at Gaugamela. Then Datis landed on
Athenian soil at Marathon; however,
contrary to expectation, a predominantly
Athenian force defeated the Persian army.
The Athenian victory provided an
immense boost to Greek confidence, which
would be put to the test ten years later, when
Darius' son and successor, Xerxes, came
dangerously close to defeating a coalition of
Greeks and adding the lower Balkans to the
Persian Empire. Only the great naval victory
at Salamis (summer 480) prevented the
Persian juggernaut from crushing all
resistance in Greece. That victory hastened
the retreat of Xerxes with the bulk of his
army; those who remained under Mardonius
were dealt the decisive blow on the
battlefield of Plataea in 479.
The ill-fated expedition of Xerxes resulted
in strained but stable relations between Greece
and Persia, a balance of power that in some
respects resembled the Gold War of the
twentieth century. The Greek world, however,
was itself divided and polarised, with the
Spartans exercising hegemony over the
Peloponnesian League as a counterweight to
Athens, which, under the guise of liberating
the Hellenes from Persia, had converted the
Delian League - originally, a confederacy of
autonomous allies - into an empire. By the
middle of the fifth century, Athens was
reaping the financial benefits of the incoming
tribute and unashamedly extolling the virtues
of 'power politics'. The inevitable clash of

Demosthenes on Persia
a futile (as it turned out) attempt to throw 'I consider the Great King to be the
off the Persian yoke (499/498-494/493). common enemy of all the Greeks... Nor
Victorious over the rebels, Darius launched a do I see the Greeks having a common
punitive campaign against their supporters: friendship with one another, but some
in 490 his general, Datis, crossed the Aegean trust the King more than they do some
and destroyed the city of the Eretrians, many of their own [race]. '
of whom were subsequently enslaved in the Demosthenes 14. 3
heart of the Persian Empire - their

Introduction 11

Greek powers took place between 431 and had closed ranks in order to resist the
404 and was known as the Peloponnesian War common enemy, Persia. But when the threat
(see The Peloponnesian War in this series). receded, the Hellenic League dissolved and
When it was over, the Athenian Empire the political horizons of the Greeks
existed no more and the gradual decline of narrowed. Certain intellectuals nevertheless
the Greek city-states through internecine promoted the concept of Panhellenism, even
warfare set the stage for the emergence of a if it meant the forcible unification of the
great power in the north: the kingdom of city-states. When Philip achieved this, by
Macedon. means of his victory at Chaeronea and the
The struggle for hegemony amongst the creation of the League of Corinth, he
city-states of Sparta, Thebes and Athens attempted to renew Panhellenic vigour by
made it clear that Greek unity - the elusive reminding the Greeks of the 'common
concept of Panhellenism - was something enemy', the Persians.
that could not be achieved peacefully, The concept of a war of vengeance was,
through negotiation or commitment to a however, a hard sell. Although some
greater purpose; rather it was something to appealed directly to Philip to bring about the
be imposed from outside. Earlier the Greeks unification of Greece and lead it against


Persia, others, like Demosthenes, who poleis who favoured unity under the
criticised the interference of the Persian King hegemony of their own states. In the face of
in Greek affairs, espoused Panhellenism only Macedonian imperialism, Demosthenes was
if it could be accomplished under Athenian content - at least, according to his accusers -
leadership or for Athenian benefit. And there to accept Persian money to resist Philip
were like-minded politicians in the other and Alexander.

Chronology

560-550 The rise of Cyrus the Great 333 Alexander cuts the Gordian
547 Cyrus defeats Croesus of knot; defeats Darius III at Issus
Lydia 332 Capture of Phoenician coastal
513 Darius I's invasion of Europe cities; siege of Tyre and Gaza
results in near disaster north of 332/331 Alexander in Egypt; founding of
the Danube Alexandria at the mouth of the
499-493 The Ionian Revolt Nile
490 Battle of Marathon 331 Darius III defeated for the second
480-479 Xerxes' invasion of Greece time at Gaugamela in northern
478-431 The Delian League becomes an Mesopotamia
Athenian Empire 331/330 Capture of Babylon, Susa,
449 Peace of Callias Persepolis and Ecbatana
431-404 The Peloponnesian War 330 Death of Darius and end of the
401 Battle of Cunaxa; March of the official 'Panhellenic' War;
Ten Thousand Alexander moves into
396-394 Agesilaus in Asia Minor Afghanistan; execution of
394-387/386 The Corinthian War Philotas and Parmenion
371 Battle of Leuctra 329-327 War in Central Asia between the
360/359 Perdiccas killed in battle Amu-darya and Syr-darya (the
with Illyrians; accession of Oxus and Iaxartes rivers)
Philip II 328 Death of Cleitus; Alexander's
359-336 Reign of Philip II of Macedon political marriage to Roxane
356 Birth of Alexander the Great 327 Failed attempt to introduce
353 Philip II's victory over the proskynesis at the court;
Phocians in the 'Crocus Field' conspiracy of the pages;
346 Peace of Philocrates; Philip Alexander invades India
becomes master of northern 326 Battle of the Hydaspes (Jhelum)
Greece river; the Macedonian army
338 Battle of Chaeronea; Philip refuses to cross the Hyphasis
becomes undisputed military (Beas) river
leader (hegemon) of Greece 325 Alexander at the mouth of the
337 Formation of the League of Indus
Corinth 324 Alexander returns to Susa and
336 Death of Philip; accession of punishes those guilty of
Alexander the Great maladministration in his
335 Alexander campaigns in Illyria; absence
destruction of Thebes 323 Death of Alexander in Babylon
334 Beginning of the Asiatic 323-281 The Age of the Successors and
expedition; battle of Granicus formation of the Hellenistic
river; major coastal cities of Asia kingdoms
Minor fall to Alexander 323-330 The Hellenistic Period

Background to war

The decline of the city-states
and the rise of Macedon
Decline of the Greek city-states it was followed by Theban invasions of the
Peloponnese, the foundation of Megalopolis
The victory of Sparta in the Peloponnesian as a check on Spartan activities in the south,
War (431-404 BC) and the destruction of the and the liberation of Messenia, which had
Athenian Empire ended the balance of power hitherto provided Sparta's helots and its
in the Greek world. Sparta emerged as an economic underpinnings.
oppressive and unimaginative master.
Nevertheless, the price of victory had been
great and domination of Greece made The Thebans' comment on the nature of
demands on Sparta that she could not easily Spartan imperialism
meet. Sparta was notoriously short of 'Now we are all aware, men of Athens,
manpower and the needs of empire - that you would like to get back the
maintaining garrisons and fleets, and empire which you used to have. Surely
providing Spartiate officials abroad - strained this is more likely to happen if you go to
her resources and undermined the simple the help of all victims of Spartan
but effective socio-economic basis of the injustice... In the war with you [these
state and its military power. Newly states], at the urgent entreaties of Sparta,
enfranchised helots (state slaves) performed took their share in all the hardships and
garrison duty, and wealth infiltrated Spartan dangers and expense; but when the
society; personal wealth and the use of gold Spartans had achieved their object, did
and silver had been banned by the legendary they ever get any share of the power or
lawgiver Lycurgus. glory or money that was won? Far from
But the problems were not only domestic. it. The Spartans, now that things have
Hostility to Spartan power, which was gone well for them, think it perfectly
exercised in a ruthless and often corrupt proper to set up their own helots as
manner, led to a coalition of Thebes, Corinth, governors, and meanwhile treat their free
Argos and a resurgent Athens against the new allies as though they were slaves... What
masters of Greece. Although Sparta withstood they gave them was not freedom but a
this initial test, which is referred to as the double measure of servitude.
Corinthian War (394-387/386), the bitter This arrogant dominion of Sparta is
confrontations of this war were the easier to destroy:... the Spartans, few in
forerunners of a life-and-death struggle that number themselves, are greedily
would see the brief emergence of Thebes as the dominating people who are many times
dominant hoplite power. as numerous as they and also just as
The famous Theban wedge began as a well armed. '
defensive measure in 394. Soon, however, it Xenophon, Hellenica 3. 5. 10-15 (Rex
became clear that it had tremendous Warner trans., Penguin)
offensive potential and, as a result of the
successful execution of Theban tactics by the
renowned Sacred Band, Thebes replaced Greek encounters with Persia
Sparta as the leader of Greece, at least on
land. Sparta's defeat at Theban hands in the These convulsions in central and southern
battle of Leuctra (371) was catastrophic and Greece must be viewed against the

Background to war 15

Monument commemorating the Theban victory over during an unstable period known,
Sparta at Leuctra (371 BC). The victory was attributable misleadingly, as the Peace of Nicias - the
to the Theban wedge and the courage of the Sacred
Band. For Sparta the defeat was staggering, and the
Athenians had suffered a devastating defeat
Theban general Epamonidas exploited Spartan weakness in Sicily. For a state that was ringed with
by invading Peloponnesus, establishing the city of enemies, the collapse of the army in the west
Megalopolis and freeing the Messenians. Theban power had much the same effect as Napoleon's and
came to an abrupt end at Chaeronea in 338 BC, and Hitler's disastrous Russian campaigns. For the
three years later the city was destroyed by Alexander
(Photo by the author)
subject states of the empire, it was the signal
for rebellion, and defections occurred on a
grand scale.
ever-present backdrop of the Persian Empire. Economically battered and militarily
In the middle of the Peloponnesian War - shaken, Athens now resumed the war against


Sparta, which at the same time had found a opposite them, the effort was for naught,
paymaster in the Persian King. Although since Cyrus himself was killed in an attack
Athens had made peace with Artaxerxes I - on his brother in the centre of the line.
the infamous and much disputed Peace of Struck under the eye with a javelin, Cyrus
Callias (449) - this agreement needed to be fell, and with him collapsed the dream for
renewed, and there had apparently not been the fulfilment of which an army had
a formal agreement with Artaxerxes' struggled against distance and difficult
successor, Darius II (424-403). Darius at first terrain, and ultimately a vastly more
allowed his satraps to distribute funds to numerous enemy. But it was not entirely in
Sparta and her allies in the hope of vain, at least as a lesson to the Greeks: for
recovering the Greek coastal cities. the ease with which a relatively mobile and
The compact with Persia that followed, efficient army could strike at the heart of the
while militarily expedient, was politically empire exposed the weaknesses of
harmful to Sparta's reputation amongst the Achaemenid Persia. One of the Greeks who
Greeks. For, in the struggle to defeat Athens, participated in the campaign, Xenophon,
which had once espoused the liberty of the wrote a colourful account of the adventure,
Hellenes, Sparta was agreeing to hand back which made delightful reading for Greek
Greek city-states in Asia Minor to Persia. In schoolboys. It was almost certainly read by
407, Darius sent a younger son, Cyrus, to Alexander in his youth, and its lessons did
supply the Spartans with the resources to not elude him.
defeat their enemies. In the process, Cyrus In the meantime, Athens too had
developed a strong bond of friendship with attempted to revive its maritime power,
the Spartan admiral Lysander. The latter had creating the Second Athenian League. But
political ambitions at home, and the former this fell far short of the Delian League of the
was eager to bring about a Peloponnesian fifth century, for the member states were
victory in the war so that he could, in the wary of Athenian imperialistic ambitions and
near future, draw upon their soldiery, which
he regarded as the best in the ancient world.
The health of Darius II was clearly failing, Xenophon's observations on the nature of
and the heir to the throne was Cyrus's elder the Persian Empire
brother, Artaxerxes (II). He appears to have 'Generally speaking, it was obvious
been a rather lethargic man, already that Cyrus was pressing on all the way
approaching middle age. A faction at court, with no pause except when he halted for
encouraged by the efforts of the queen provisions or some other necessity. He
mother, sought to win the kingship for Cyrus. thought that the quicker he arrived the
But, in order to challenge his brother, Cyrus more unprepared would be the King
would need a military edge. And this, he when he engaged him, and the slower
believed, could be supplied by a Greek he went, the greater would be the army
mercenary army. Darius died soon after the that the King could get together. Indeed,
collapse of Athens, and in 402/401, Cyrus set an intelligent observer of the King's
in motion his scheme to overthrow empire would form the following
Artaxerxes. A force of some 11, 000 mercenaries estimate: it is strong in respect of the
- they were to become known (after some extent of territory and numbers of
defections and casualties) as the 'Ten inhabitants; but it is weak in respect of
Thousand' - accompanied a vastly greater its lengthened communications and the
barbarian force from Lydia to Mesopotamia. dispersal of its forces, that is, if one can
Not far from Babylon, at a place called attack with speed. '
Cunaxa, the armies of the feuding brothers Xenophon, Anabasis 1. 5. 9 (Rex Warner
met. Although the Greeks won an easy trans., Penguin)
victory against the barbarians stationed


the Athenians themselves incapable of constantly threatened by the Illyrians to the
asserting their domination by force. In the west and the imperialistic (or, at least,
event, it mattered little, since the debilitating hegemonic) tendencies of the Athenians and
wars of the city-states to the south had Thebans. By the queen Eurydice, Amyntas
diverted Greek attention from the growing had three sons, all destined to rule.
danger in the north. Alexander II held the throne only briefly
(369-368) before he was murdered. A
brother-in-law, Ptolemy of Alorus, then
served as regent for the under-aged
Perdiccas III, until he too was assassinated in
365. Perdiccas was now master of his own
house and throne, but the kingdom
continued to be threatened by the Illyrians
to the west, and in 360/359 these destroyed
the Macedonian army, leaving Perdiccas dead
on the battlefield and only a child (Amyntas)
as heir to the throne.
During the reign of his brothers, the
youngest son, Philip, had spent some time as
a hostage in Thebes, at that time the most
powerful military state in Greece. Here he
had witnessed the Theban infantry reforms
and had given thought to applying the
lessons to the Macedonian army. Hence,
when the emergency created by the Illyrian
disaster of 360/359 brought him to power, as
regent for Amyntas IV, Philip knew not only
what to do but how to do it. Indeed, he dealt
with the crisis so effectively - combining
military action with diplomacy, or even
duplicity - that the claims of Amyntas were
swept aside. It was Philip's reforms that made
the army invincible: little did he realise that,
while he was struggling to ensure Macedon's
survival, he was training and organising an
army of world conquerors.
Philip rapidly mastered northern Thessaly,
with its chief town of Larisa, and sealed his
political gains by marrying Philinna, a
woman of the ruling family. The Phocians

A wonderful feat of surgery
'Critobulus enjoys great celebrity for
having removed the arrow from Philip's
eye and ensuring that the loss of the eye
did not leave his face deformed. '
Pliny, Natural History 737 (J. C.
Yardley trans. )

Essential Histories • The Wars of Alexander the Great

had plundered the treasures of Delphi in For a while, Philip directed his
order to buy mercenaries, and the inability of attention to the north-east, to the
the Thessalians and the Thebans to deal with Thraceward area and Byzantium. But in
them cast Philip in the role of the god's 338, he crushed the combined armies of
champion. After his victory at the Crocus Athens and Thebes at Chaeronea, and was
Field in 353, his men wore laurel wreaths on able to impose a settlement on Greece,
their heads, symbolising their service to through the creation of the League of
Apollo. By 346, by the terms of the Peace Corinth, which recognised him as its leader
of Philocrates, Philip had made himself (hegemon). The foreign policy of the Greeks
master of northern Greece. He spoke for was securely in his hands, but Philip's
Thessaly and he held the deciding votes greatest challenges were to come from his
of the Amphictyonic Council that own kingdom; indeed, from his own
controlled Delphi. household.


Alexander relates Philip's achievements civilized you... Thessaly, so long your
'Philip found you a tribe of bugbear and your dread, he subjected to
impoverished vagabonds, most of you your rule, and by humbling the Phocians
dressed in skins, feeding a few sheep on he made the narrow and difficult path
the hills and fighting, feebly enough, to into Greece a broad and easy road. The
keep them from your neighbours - men of Athens and Thebes, who for years
Thracians, Triballians and Illyrians. He had kept watching for their moment to
gave you cloaks to wear instead of skins; strike us down, he brought so low - and
he brought you down from the hills into by this time I myself was working at my
the plains; he taught you to fight on equal father's side - that they who once exacted
terms with the enemy on your borders, from us either our money or our
till you knew that your safety lay not, as obedience, now, in their turn, looked to
once, in your mountain strongholds, but us as the means of their salvation. '
in your own valour. He made you Arrian 7. 9 (A. de Selincourt
city-dwellers; he brought you law; he trans., Penguin)

Medallion showing the head of Philip II. The fact that the left side of his face is
shown may be significant: Philip was struck by an arrow in the right eye during
the siege of Methone in 354 BC. (Archaeological Museum ofThessaloniki)


Remains of theTemple of Apollo at Delphi. The Pythia,
the priestess of the god, declared that Alexander would
be invincible. (Author's collection)


The lion of Chaeronea, a monument to the Greeks
who fell at Chaeronea in 338 BC fighting Philip II.
(Author's collection)

Warring sides

The Persians, the Macedonians
and allied troops
The Persians which in turn was subdivided into ten
groups of 100 (sataba), and these into ten
From the time of Darius I (521-486), the units of ten (dathaba). These were, in reality,
Persian Empire was divided administratively only nominal strengths, and thus we can
into 20 provinces known as satrapies, each explain, at least in part, the wildly
governed by a satrap - at least, such was the exaggerated numbers of Persians in the
Greek approximation of khshathrapavan, a Greek sources, especially in Herodotus'
word that is Median in origin and appears to account of the Persian Wars.
have meant 'protector of the realm'. These
satrapies were assessed an annual tribute
that ranged from a low of 170 talents of
Euboean silver paid by the dwellers of
the Hindu Kush region to a staggering
4, 680 talents from the neighbouring Indians.
(It is pointless to attempt a conversion of
ancient into modern values, but it is worth
noting that in the late stages of the
Peloponnesian War, i. e. about 80 years before
Alexander's invasion, 1 talent was sufficient
to maintain a trireme, with its complement
of 200 men, for a month. ) Sums collected in
excess of these amounts were presumably for
the satraps' personal use.
In addition to the satraps of these
20 provinces, there were rulers of smaller
administrative units known to the Greeks as
hyparchs (hyparchoi), but the use of
terminology is often inconsistent in Greek
sources and the titles 'satrap' and 'hyparch'
are sometimes used interchangeably. Both
can be found commanding regionally
recruited troops.
The Persian army was composed primarily
of satrapal levies, each of the Achaemenid
provinces providing troops in accordance
with wealth and population. These troops
were then divided into units based on tens.
Herodotus and Xenophon speak regularly of
myriads and chiliarchies, units of 10, 000 and
1, 000, which the Persians themselves called
baivaraba and hazaraba. Each baivarabam had
its baivarpatish ('myriarch'); and there was a
hazarapatish ('chiliarch') for every hazarabam,

Warring sides 23

One unit, however, did maintain its full When Alexander crossed to Asia, Darius III
strength of 10, 000 and hence was known as had only recently become king as a result of
the 'Immortals'. This unit formed the elite - the convulsions at the Achaemenid court.
men selected for their physical excellence The ruthless Artaxerxes III Ochus had
and their valour - and appears to have elevated to positions of great power at the
included a contingent of 1, 000 spear-bearers, court - he was hazarapatish or chiliarch - and
who followed the King's chariot. In addition in the army, a eunuch by the name of
to these came the King's special guard of Bagoas. In 338 BC, however, Bagoas
spearmen, known from the golden apples murdered first Ochus, and then his sons.
that constituted their spearbutts as Hence, the kingship devolved upon a certain
melophoroi or 'apple-bearers'. These also
numbered 1, 000 and preceded the King's
The Persian Immortals were the elite troops. Their name
chariot in the royal procession. Similarly, the derives from the fact that their numbers were never
King was accompanied by units of 1, 000 and allowed to dip below 10, 000, Nineteenth - century
10, 000 cavalry. chromolithograph of the frieze at Susa. (ARPL)


Artashata, whom Greek writers (for reasons The Macedonians
that are unclear to us) called Codomannus,
and who took the dynastic name Darius (III). Macedon, by contrast, was the product of a
Unlike the sons of Ochus, Darius was a union of Upper and Lower Macedonia,
mature individual, already in his early forties, which had been completed in the time of
and an experienced warrior - he had defeated Philip II and to which were added new cities
a Cadusian champion in single combat - who containing new - that is, naturalised -
was wise to the machinations of Bagoas and citizens. Several of Alexander's closest friends
forced him to drink his own poison. When (hetairoi) belonged to the latter group:
he turned his attention to the Macedonian Nearchus and the sons of Larichus,
invaders, he had only just returned from Laomedon and Erigyius, in particular.
suppressing a fresh uprising in Egypt. Generally speaking, the country was not
highly urbanised and most were herdsmen;
the state did not have the material for a
The Royal Procession of the Persians citizen hoplite army, since most lacked the
'... in front, on silver altars, was resources from which to supply themselves
carried the fire which the Persians called with hoplite armour. But Macedonia had a
sacred and eternal. Next came the Magi, large and robust population, which, if it
singing the traditional hymn, and they could be armed cheaply and effectively,
were followed by 365 young men in could prove too much for its neighbours.
scarlet cloaks, their number equalling Originally, the core of the Macedonian
the days of the year. Then came the military was the cavalry, particularly the
chariot consecrated to Jupiter nobility that formed the king's guard and
[Ahura-Mazda], drawn by white horses, rode into battle with him as his comitatus.
followed by a horse of extraordinary Here we first encounter the term hetairoi,
size, which the Persians called "the Sun's 'companions' (or 'friends'). Philip appears to
horse". Those driving the horses were have formed an elite battalion of infantry,
equipped with golden whips and white which he named his 'foot-companions'
robes... and these were followed by the (pezhetairoi). Later the name came to mean
cavalry of 12 nations of different the Macedonian infantry in general - that is,
cultures, variously armed. Next in line the territorial levies, many of them from the
were the soldiers whom the Persians Upper Macedonian cantons of Elimeia,
called the "Immortals", 10, 000 in Lyncus, Orestis and Tymphaea. The elite
number... After a short interval came foot-guard now became known as the
the 15, 000 men known as "the King's hypaspistai or 'shield-bearers', and even these
kinsmen"... The column next to these were separate from a group of noble guards
comprised the so-called described variously as the 'royal hypaspists'
Doryphoroe,... and these preceded the or the agema.
royal chariot on which rode the King In the army that followed Alexander to
himself... 10, 000 spearmen carrying Asia there were 9, 000 pezhetairoi, dispersed
lances chased with silver and tipped among six brigades (taxeis) - each taxis
with gold followed the King's chariot, comprised 1, 500 men - and 3, 000
and to the right and left he was attended hypaspists. Although some have regarded the
by some 200 of his most noble relatives. hypaspists as more lightly armed than the
At the end of the column came pezhetairoi, the truth is that they were
30, 000 foot-soldiers followed by 400 of identically armed and only the basis of
the King's horses. ' recruitment was different.
Quintus Curtius Rufus, The History of The weapon that distinguished the
Alexander 3. 3. 9-21 Macedonian infantryman or phalangite was
known as the sarissa, a hardwood lance

Warring sides 25

Arrowhead. This one bears the name of Philip. Allied troops
(Archaeological Museum ofThessaloniki)

Both Macedonians and Persians made
(often cornel wood) with a metal point and extensive use of Greek hoplites, while the
butt-spike. This ranged in length from 15 to Macedonians also employed Greek cavalry.
18ft (4. 5-5. 5m), though longer ones seem to But the numbers of Greeks in the Persian
have come into use, and weighed about 141b army were substantially larger - an
(6kg). Since it required two hands to wield, embarrassing statistic for Alexander, whose
the shield, about 2ft (0. 6m) in diameter, propaganda had attempted to sell his
was either suspended from the neck, thus campaign as a Panhellenic war, fought for
rendering the breastplate virtually the good and the pride of all Greeks against
superfluous, or else attached by means of a a hated enemy.
sling to the upper arm. The helmet was In Alexander's army, the Thessalian cavalry
that of the 'Phrygian' style, worn also by equalled in strength the Macedonian
cavalrymen, though the latter are often Companions (1, 800-2, 000) and fought on the
depicted sporting the so-called left wing under the general command of
Boeotian helmet. Parmenion; but since Thessaly belonged to the
The Macedonian cavalry, known as the political orbit of Macedon and Alexander was
Companion Cavalry, was subdivided into the archon of the Thessalian League, these
squadrons called ilai. The strength of an ile was troops must be regarded as distinct from those
probably about 200, though the Royal of the 'allies'. Nevertheless, it is worth noting
Squadron {He basilike) comprised 300 men. that, once the Panhellenic phase of the
Eight ile of Companions were supplemented by conquest was declared over, the Thessalians
four ilai of scouts (prodromoi) or sarissa-bearers were allowed to return home, though they
(sarissophoroi) and one of Paeonians. Whereas sold their horses and returned on foot.
the Companions were generally armed with Other allied horsemen are attested,
the cavalryman's spear (xyston), the including Peloponnesian horse, Thracians
sarissophoroi, as their name implies, wielded the and mercenary cavalry. An inscription from
cavalry sarissa, a shorter version of the Orchomenus records the names of local
infantryman's lance, probably in the 12—14ft cavalrymen who served with Alexander. In
(3. 5-4. 25m) range, weighing about 41/2lb (2kg). 334, Alexander led 7, 000 allies and


Surrender of the Greek mercenaries leaving it to him to do what he would
'To the envoys of the Greeks, -who with them; if not, they must take what
begged him to grant them terms for the steps they could for their own safety.
whole mercenary force, Alexander They replied that they placed
replied that he would make no compact themselves and the rest in Alexander's
with them whatever; men who fought hands, and urged him to send an officer
with the barbarians against Greece to lead them under safe conduct to his
against the decrees of the Greeks were camp. '
guilty of grave wrongs. He ordered them Arrian 3. 23. 8-9 (P. A. Brunt trans., Loeb
to come in a body and surrender, Classical Library)

Warring sides 27

Bronze greaves from Tomb II at Vergina, believed by many The Persians, of course, employed large
scholars to have belonged to Philip II, the father of numbers of Greek mercenaries: 20, 000 are
Alexander the Great. Note the mismatched pair
attested at the Granicus, and 30, 000 at Issus.
(Archaeological Museum ofThessaloniki)
Captured Greeks were, however, sent by
Alexander to hard-labour camps, and it was
5, 000 mercenary infantry to Asia, and there only with difficulty that their countrymen
was a steady flow of reinforcements secured their release. Even when Darius was
throughout the campaign, but also large fleeing south of the Caspian, shortly before
numbers of Greeks deposited throughout the his murder at the hands of Nabarzanes and
empire as garrison troops. At the time of Bessus, significant numbers of Greek
Alexander's death, some 10, 000 in the Upper mercenaries remained with him, commanded
Satrapies were planning to abandon their by Patron the Phocian and Glaucus of
posts and return to Greece, something they Aetolia. Eventually these orphaned mercenaries
had previously attempted upon hearing the were forced to place themselves at
false news of the King's death in 325. Alexander's mercy.

Outbreak

Alexander's rise to power

The assassination of Philip crisis', and the attractions of the young
Cleopatra were a pleasant diversion from
The outbreak of the Macedonian war of the affairs of state and the demands of his
conquest was in fact a two-part process, the shrewish queen, Olympias, the mother of
first arrested by the assassination of its Alexander the Great. Philip's infatuation
initiator, Philip II. Once he had crushed blinded him to both the political
Greek resistance at Chaeronea in late expectations of his new wife's family and
summer 338, Philip forged an alliance of the resentment of his son and heir.
city-states, known, after the place where its At the wedding-feast, Cleopatra's uncle,
council met, as the League of Corinth. This Attalus, had toasted the marriage with the
convened for the first time in spring 337, tactless prayer that it should produce
elected Philip as its military leader (hegemon) 'legitimate' heirs to the Macedonian throne.
and laid the foundations for a Panhellenic Alexander (understandably) took issue with
expedition against Persia. this remark, and hurled his drinking cup at
What Philip's exact aims were, in terms of Attalus. Philip, in turn, besotted with love
territorial acquisition, are not clear. Many and wine, drew his sword and lunged at his
suppose that he would have contented son. But he stumbled and fell amid the
himself, initially at least, with the liberation couches of the banquet, impaired by drink
of Asia Minor. This would certainly have and an old war injury.
been in keeping with Philip's practices in the When the groom awoke the next morning
past. From the time that he overcame to the sobering reality, Alexander was already
internal opposition and secured his borders on his way to Epirus, the ancestral home of
against barbarian incursions, Philip his mother, who accompanied him. From
expanded slowly and cautiously over a there he meant to journey to the kingdom of
period of almost 20 years. Unlike Alexander, the Illyrians, the traditional enemy of
whose practice it was to conquer first and Macedon, intending to reassert his birthright
consolidate later - and, indeed, 'later' never with their aid. But this right had never really
came in some cases - Philip was content to been challenged by Philip, at least not
acquire territory systematically, without intentionally, and diplomacy served
overextending Macedonian power. eventually to bring about the son's return
But Philip's conquests were pre-empted by and a reconciliation.
assassination, and the stability of the The abrasive Attalus had, in the interval,
kingdom was disrupted by an ill-advised been sent with Parmenion and an army to
marriage. Macedonian kings, at least from establish a beachhead in Asia Minor. But
the time of Persian influence in the region there were nevertheless in Macedonia those
(after 513), were polygamous, and Philip who resented Attalus and feared the
married for the seventh time in October 337. fulfilment of his prayer. Many looked to
The bride was a teenager of aristocratic Philip's nephew, Amyntas son of Perdiccas,
Macedonian background - most of Philip's who had ruled briefly as a minor, but had
brides had, in fact, been foreigners - but been forced to yield the kingship to his
the union was the result of a love affair uncle. Instead of eliminating him as a
rather than politics. Indeed, Philip was potential rival, Philip allowed him to live as a
experiencing what we would call a 'mid-life private citizen and married him to one of his

Outbreak 29

Cleopatra Philip's marriages
The name Cleopatra is commonly 'In the twenty years of his rule Philip
associated with Egypt: virtually everyone married the Illyrian Audata, by whom he
is familiar with Cleopatra VII, the had a daughter, Cynnane, and he also
mistress of Julius Caesar and Mark married Phila, sister of Derdas and
Antony, who died in 30 BC. But the Machatas. Then, since he wished to
name occurs already in Homer's Iliad extend his realm to include the
and was popular in ancient Macedonia. Thessalian nation, he had children by
Archelaus I's queen, Philip's seventh wife two Thessalian women, Nicesipolis of
and Alexander the Great's sister were all Pherae, who bore him Thessalonice, and
Cleopatras. It was actually the daughter Philinna of Larissa, by whom he
of the Seleucid king Antiochus III who produced Arrhidaeus. In addition, he
became the first Cleopatra to rule Egypt, took possession of the Molossian
when in 194/3 she married the young kingdom by marrying Olympias, by
king Ptolemy V Epiphanes. whom he had Alexander and Cleopatra,
and when he took Thrace the Thracian
king Cothelas came to him with his
daughters, Cynnane. Now in 337/336 he daughter Meda and many gifts. After
became the focus of a dissident group, an marrying Meda, Philip also took her
unwilling candidate for the throne, supported home to be a second wife along with
by a faction from Upper Macedonia that Olympias. In addition to all these wives
planned the assassination of Philip. he also married Cleopatra, with whom
This at least was the official version that he was in love; she was the daughter of
followed the deed; the version promulgated Hippostratus and niece of Attalus. By
by Alexander, perhaps with the aim of bringing her home as another wife
diverting attention from the true culprits - for alongside Olympias he made a total
shambles of his life. For straightaway,
Medallion with the head of Alexander's mother
right at the wedding ceremony, Attalus
Olympias, from a series of medallions commissioned by made the remark "Well, now we shall
the Roman Emperor Caracalla (AD 212-17). This queen, certainly see royalty born who are
one of Philip's seven wives, had a profound influence on legitimate and not bastards". Hearing
her son's character and also created considerable
this, Alexander hurled the cup he had in
political mischief in Macedonia during Alexander's
absence in Asia. (ISI) his hands at Attalus, who in turn hurled
his goblet at Alexander.
After that Olympias took refuge with
the Molossians and Alexander with the
Illyrians, and Cleopatra presented Philip
with a daughter who was called Europa. '
Athenaeus 13. 557 (J. C. Yardley trans. )

there were many who held Alexander himself
responsible, or, failing that, the jilted queen,
his mother. It was an act in keeping with her
character, and certainly she voiced no public
disapproval, though we may doubt that she
crowned the assassin, Pausanias of Orestis,
who had been killed as he tried to escape and
whose body was subsequently impaled.


The assassination of Philip II under the name Myrtale, which was the
'In the meantime, as the auxiliary name that Olympias bore as a little girl.
troops from Greece were assembling, All this was done so openly that she
Philip celebrated the marriage of his appears to have been afraid that the
daughter Cleopatra to that Alexander crime might not be clearly demonstrated
whom he had made King of Epirus. The as her work. '
day was remarkable for its sumptuous Justin 9. 6. 1-4, 7. 8-14 (J. C. Yardley, trans. )
preparations, which befitted the
greatness of the two kings, the one
giving away a daughter and the other
taking a wife. There were also splendid
games. Philip was hurrying to see these,
flanked by the two Alexanders, his son
and his son-in-law, without bodyguards,
when Pausanias, a young Macedonian
nobleman whom nobody suspected,
took up a position in a narrow alleyway
and cut Philip down as he went by, thus
polluting with funereal sorrow a day set
aside for rejoicing... It is thought that
Olympias and her son... incited
Pausanias to proceed to so heinous a
crime... At all events, Olympias had
horses ready for the assassin's getaway.
Afterwards, when she heard of the King's
murder, she came quickly to the funeral,
ostensibly doing her duty; and on the
night of her arrival she set a golden
crown on Pausanias' head while he still
hung on the cross, something which no
one else but she could have done while
Philip's son was still alive. A few days
later, she had the murderer's body taken
down and cremated it over the remains
of her husband; she then erected a tomb
for him in the same place and, by
inspiring superstition in the people, saw Marble bust believed to be Aristotle. As a boy, Alexander
to it that funerary offerings were made had been educated by Leonidas and Lysimachus, tutors
to him every year. After this she forced selected by his mother In 343 BC, Aristotle, whose father
Cleopatra, for whom Philip had divorced Nicomachus had been a physician at the court of Philip's
father Amyntas III, was summoned to Macedonia from
her, to hang herself, having first
Asia Minor and taught Alexander at Mieza. His attitudes
murdered her daughter in the mother's towards barbarians (non-Greeks) whom he regarded as
arms, and it was from the sight of her inferior and worthy of being slaves of the Greeks, did not
rival hanging there that Olympias rub off on his pupil. (Ann Ronan Picture Library)
gained the vengeance she had
accelerated by murder. Finally she Alexander was quick to mete out
consecrated to Apollo the sword with punishment, freeing himself at the same
which the King was stabbed, doing so time of rivals for the throne. Antipater, who
had in the past served as regent of Macedon

Outbreak 31

in Philip's absence, supported Alexander's
claims, and it was an easy matter to round
up and execute rivals on charges of
conspiracy. Attalus too was found to have
been corresponding with the Athenians - an
unlikely scenario - and executed on the new
king's orders by his colleague, Parmenion. A
bloody purge masqueraded as filial piety, and
those who could saved themselves by
accommodation with the new king or by
flight. Both types would resurface during the
campaign, having delayed rather than
averted the extreme penalty.

Alexander, the worthy heir
Philip's abortive expedition thus represented
a false start. But Alexander acceded to more
than just the throne of Macedon; he also
inherited his father's Persian campaign. He
was doubtless eager to depart, for we are
told that as an adolescent he complained to
his father that he was leaving little for him
to conquer.
Things did not, however, proceed as
planned. The accession of Alexander incited Bust of Demosthenes. The Athenian orator was a bitter
rebellion amongst the subject states and the opponent of Macedon and of Philip II in particular At the
time of Alexander's accession he mocked him as 'a child'
barbarian kingdoms that bordered on
and compared him with the simpleton, Margites. But
Macedonia. And the new king was forced to Demosthenes soon discovered his mistake. Copy of the
prove himself, especially in the south, where original by Polyeuktos produced c. 280 BC, Copenhagen.
the Athenian orator Demosthenes, the (Ann Ronan Picture Library)
implacable enemy of Philip II, was deriding
Alexander as a child and a fool. Sparta, however, refused to join the
Resistance to the new king in Thessaly was League or make public recognition of
crushed by speed and daring, as steps (known Macedonian suzerainty, for they claimed that
as 'Alexander's Ladder') cut into the side of they could not follow another, since it was
Mt Ossa allowed the Macedonians to turn the their prerogative to lead. Spartan
Thessalians' position. They responded with intransigence was to flare into open rebellion
gestures of contrition and recognised in 331, when Agis III attacked Macedonian
Alexander as archon of the Thessalian League, troops in the Peloponnese, only to be
a position previously held by his father. An defeated and killed at Megalopolis. For the
initial uprising by Thebans, Athenians and time being, however, Alexander was content
Spartans was stifled by Alexander's timely to ignore them, as they bore their military
arrival in Greece, where he summoned a impotence with ill grace.
meeting of the League of Corinth, the very Nevertheless, the Greek city-states were
existence of which was symbolic of not yet ready to renounce all claims to
Macedonian power. The meeting elected him independence and leadership. Alexander
hegemon and Philip's successor as strategos clearly thought that he had cowed them into
('general') of the Panhellenic crusade. submission with the mere show of force, and


The remains of Pella, birthplace of Alexander the Great. left to his son, and Macedonian dominion in
(Greek Ministry of Culture) the east was built on the foundations of
Philip's military reforms.
he now turned to deal with the border tribes But Alexander's activities in the north
of the Illyrians and Triballians before turning gave rise to rumours - false, but deliberately
his attentions to Asia. Both were subdued in spread - that the King had been killed in
short order, though in each case the training Illyria. In spring 335 the Thebans threw off
and discipline of the Macedonian troops the Macedonian yoke, besieging the garrison
made the task seem easier than it was. It was that Philip had planted on their acropolis
an efficient fighting machine that Philip had (the Cadmea) after Chaeronea and claiming

Outbreak 33

Alexander's response was quick and
brutal: within two weeks he was before the
gates of Thebes. Athens and Demosthenes
proved that they were more capable of
inciting others to mischief than of
supporting the causes they had so nobly
espoused. Through their inaction, they
saved themselves and stood by as Alexander
dealt most harshly with Thebes, which
would now become an example to the
other Greek poleis: Alexander would
tolerate no rebellion in his absence, and
he would regard those who preferred the
barbarian cause to that of their fellow
Greeks as Medisers and traitors to the
common cause. Indeed, the city had a
long history of Medism, and there was a

Panhellenism and anti-Persian sentiment
'I maintain that you [Philip] should
be the benefactor of Greece, and King of
Macedon, and gain to the greatest
possible extent the empire of the
non-Greek world. If you accomplish this,
you will win universal gratitude: from
the Greeks for the benefits they gain,
from Macedonia if your rule is kingly
and not tyrannical, and from the rest of
the world if it is through you that they
are liberated from Persian despotism and
exchange it for Greek protection. '
Isocrates, Philip 153 (A. N. W. Saunders
trans., Penguin).

A contrary view
'For, personally, I am not in agreement
with the Corinthian Demaratus who
claimed that the Greeks missed a very
pleasurable experience in not seeing
to champion the Hellenic cause. The Alexander seated on Darius' throne.
cornerstone of Macedonian propaganda had Actually, I think they might have had
been the claim that Philip had unified the more reason to shed tears at the realisation
Greeks for the purpose of attacking Persia, that the men who left this honour to
the 'common enemy of Greece', and Alexander were those who sacrificed the
avenging past wrongs. In this he was merely armies of the Greeks at Leuctra, Coronea,
borrowing the sentiments of Isocrates and and Corinth and in Arcadia. '
other Panhellenists. But the Thebans now Plutarch, Agesilaus 15. 3-4 (J. C.
proposed to use Persian funds to liberate Yardley trans. )
Greece from the true oppressor, Macedon.


tradition that the allied Greeks, at the time
of Xerxes' invasion, had sworn the 'Oath
of Plataea', which called for the destruction
of the city.
Officially, the razing of Thebes could be
presented as the initial act of the war of
vengeance. (Gryneum in Asia Minor would
suffer a similar fate, with the same ..
justification. ) Terror would prove more
effective than any garrison. To avert the
charge of senseless brutality, Alexander
portrayed the decision to destroy the city
and enslave its population as the work of the
Phocians and disaffected Boeotians, for even
in those days, inveterate hatred knew no
respect for human life.
Persuaded by Demades, the Athenians
sent an embassy to congratulate Alexander
on his victories in the north and to beg
forgiveness for their own recent
indiscretions. The King demanded that they
surrender the worst trouble-makers, ten
prominent orators and generals, including
Demosthenes, Lycurgus and Hyperides, but
in the event only one, Charidemus, was
Ivory portrait head of Alexander (Archaeological offered up, and he promptly fled to the court
Museum ofThessaloniki) of Darius III.

The fighting

Alexander conquers an empire

Asia Minor against them. Some sources, and possibly
Alexander himself (for official purposes),
The Macedonian advance forces under charged the Persian King with trying to
Parmenion and Attalus encountered stubborn pre-empt the expedition by engineering
resistance in Asia Minor after landing there in Philip's assassination. If there was any truth
spring 336. Although they captured Cyzicus, to the charge, the act itself had little effect.
and thus threatened Dascylium, the capital of Indeed, it replaced a more cautious
Hellespontine Phrygia, their push southward commander with a daring and ambitious
was thwarted by Memnon the Rhodian, a one. The reality of Alexander's presence on
son-in-law of the Persian Artabazus and brother Asian soil demanded immediate and
of the mercenary captain who had helped concerted action.
Artaxerxes III recapture Egypt in the 340s. The Persians continued to hire large
Memnon's successes were followed by the numbers of Greek mercenaries, who for once
arrest and execution of Attalus, which probably were fighting for more than pay. Like many
did nothing to raise the morale of the army.
Parmenion did, however, take Gryneum,
sacking the town and enslaving its inhabitants, The composition of Alexander's army
for the city had a history of 'Medism'. 'It was found that, of infantry, there
Elsewhere, another colleague of Parmenion, were 12, 000 Macedonians, 7, 000 allies
Callas son of Harpalus, who had perhaps come and 5, 000 mercenaries. These were all
out as Attalus's replacement, was confined to under the command of Parmenion. The
the coastline. All in all, the expeditionary force Odrysians, Triballians and Illyrians
had not made a good beginning. accompanying him numbered 7, 000,
The advent of Alexander, with an army and there were a thousand archers and
of about 40, 000, altered the situation so-called Agrianes, so that the infantry
dramatically. The satraps of Asia Minor led totalled 32, 000. Cavalry numbers were
their territorial levies into Hellespontine as follows: 1, 800 Macedonians,
Phrygia and held a council of war at Zeleia. commanded by Parmenion's son
Here they rejected Memnon's proposal that Philotas; 1, 800 Thessalians, commanded
they adopt a 'scorched earth' policy, opting by Callas, the son of Harpalus; from
instead to challenge the Macedonian army the rest of Greece a total of 600,
at the nearby Granicus river. commanded by Erigyius; and
Asia Minor was no stranger to Greek 900 Thracian guides and Paeonians,
invasion. In the 390s, Tissaphernes and with Cassander as their commander.
Pharnabazus, the satraps of Sardis and This made a total of 4, 500 cavalry.
Dascylium, proved adequate to deal with Such was the strength of the army
forces dispatched by Sparta and, in fact, that crossed to Asia with Alexander. The
played each other false for the sake of minor number of soldiers left behind in
gains. The Macedonian invasion was on a Europe, who were under Antipater's
different scale, with much greater avowed command, totalled 12, 000 infantry and
intentions, for the Persians were not 15, 000 cavalry. '
ignorant of the creation of the League of Diodorus 17. 17. 3-5 (J. C. Yardley trans. )
Corinth, or of its mandate to wage war


of their compatriots at home, they doubtless when slain. Most of the prominent Persian
regarded Persia as the lesser evil, and leaders were among the dead; Arsites escaped
Alexander for his part treated captured the battlefield, only to die by his own hand;
mercenaries harshly, as traitors rather than Arsames fled to Cilicia, to fight again at Issus.
defeated enemies. The Persian commanders, Upon receiving the news of the Persian
however, failed to appreciate the personal disaster at the Granicus, Mithrenes, the
motivations of the Greek mercenaries and commandant of Sardis, chose to surrender to
their leaders: distrustful of the very men who Alexander despite the city's strong natural
had nothing to gain by surrendering, they defences. His judgement proved sound, for
viewed Memnon with suspicion and negated Alexander kept him in his entourage and
the effectiveness of the mercenary infantry. treated him with respect, eventually
At any rate, they stationed their cavalry on entrusting him with the governorship of
the eastern bank of the Granicus river and Armenia. But the Greek cities of the coast
kept the Greek infantry in reserve. Before continued to resist, in part because history
these saw action, the battle had been lost. had taught them that the Persian yoke was
The Persian cavalry proved to be no lighter than that of previous 'liberators', but
match, in tactics or hand-to-hand combat, also because Memnon's army and the Persian
for the European horsemen. Two would-be fleet limited their options.
champions were felled by Alexander's sarissa, The cities of Miletus and Halicarnassus
a third was in the act of striking the King both offered fierce resistance. The former

Alexander at the Granicus which there was plume striking for its
'Alexander plunged into the river whiteness and its size. Alexander received
with 13 cavalry squadrons. He was now a spear in the joint of his cuirass, but was
driving into enemy projectiles towards not wounded. Then the Persian generals
an area that was sheer and protected by Rhoesaces and Spithridates came at him
armed men and cavalry, and negotiating together. Sidestepping the latter,
a current that swept his men off their Alexander managed to strike Rhoesaces,
feet and pulled them under. His who was wearing a cuirass, with his
leadership seemed madcap and senseless spear, but when he shattered this he
rather than prudent. Even so, he resorted to his sword. While the two
persisted with the crossing and, after were engaged hand-to-hand, Spithridates
great effort and hardship, made it to the brought his horse to a halt beside them
targeted area, which was wet and and, swiftly pulling himself up from the
slippery with mud. He was immediately animal, dealt the King a blow with the
forced into a disorganised battle and to barbarian battle-axe. He broke off
engage, man against man, the enemies Alexander's crest, along with one of the
who came bearing down on them, plumes, and the helmet only just held
before the troops making the crossing out against the blow, the blade of the axe
could get into some sort of formation. actually touching the top of the King's
The Persians came charging at these hair. Spithridates then began to raise the
with a shout. They lined up their horses axe for a second blow but Cleitus (the
against those of their enemy and fought Black) got there first, running him
with their lances and then, when the through with his spear. At the same
lances were shattered, with their swords. moment Rhosaeces also fell, struck down
A large number closed in on the King, by a sword-blow from Alexander.
who stood out because of his shield and Plutarch, Alexander 16. 3-11 (J. C.
the crest on his helmet, on each side of Yardley trans. )

The fighting 37

could count on support from the Persian
fleet until the occupation of Mycale by Harpalus, the Imperial Treasurer
Philotas deprived it of a base. At Harpalus, son of Machatas, belonged
Halicarnassus, daring sallies were made to one of the royal houses of Upper
against Alexander's siege equipment, but Macedonia, that of Elimea. Afflicted by a
eventually the city was betrayed by the physical ailment that left him unfit for
commanders of the army, Orontopates and military service, he nevertheless served
Memnon, who abandoned it to the Alexander in other ways. In the 330s he
Macedonians. Alexander restored to the served as one of Alexander's hetairoi, in
throne Ada, the widow of the previous ruler, this case, probably one of the Crown
who had been supplanted by Orontopates, Prince's advisers; he was exiled by Philip
and allowed her to become his adoptive for encouraging Alexander to offer
mother - in effect, reserving for himself the himself as a prospective husband of the
hereditary claim to Caria. (Philip had taught Carian princess Ada, whom Philip had
his son that not all power was gained by the planned to marry off to his half-witted
sword.) By winter 334/333, Alexander had son, Arrhidaeus. Harpalus was appointed
made considerable headway in the conquest treasurer early in the campaign, but he
of Asia Minor, but he had yet to face Darius became involved with an unscrupulous
III and the weight of the Persian army. individual named Tauriscus, who
For Darius, the necessity of taking the persuaded him to flee from Alexander's
field in person was less than welcome, since camp - no doubt he absconded with a
the Great King had had only a brief respite sum of the King's money. Alexander,
from the chaos that attended his accession. however, forgave and recalled him,
In spite of the debacle at the Granicus, the reinstating him as treasurer.
Persian situation was far from critical: a Later in the campaign, when the King
counter-offensive in the Aegean was had gone to India and Harpalus
beginning to enjoy some success, with the remained in Babylon, the latter enjoyed a
anti-Macedonian forces regaining ground on life of extravagance and debauchery,
Lesbos and at Halicarnassus. But Memnon importing delicacies for his table and
died suddenly from illness. To replace him courtesans for his bed. When news
Darius appointed Pharnabazus, who arrived that Alexander was returning
assigned the naval command to Datames from the east, he fled to Athens, taking
and met with the Spartan King, Agis, near with him vast sums of money, and
Siphnos in the hope of encouraging an attempted to induce the Athenians to go
uprising in the Peloponnese. to war. Rebuffed by the Athenians - at
At Gordium Alexander had fulfilled - or, least, on an official level - he sailed away
perhaps, cheated - the prophecy that gave to Crete, where he was murdered by one
dominion over Asia to anyone who could of his followers, a certain Pausanias.
undo the Gordian knot. Frustrated by the
intricacies of the knot, he cut it with his
sword. Some of the Macedonians were far been struck down by fever - probably a bout
from convinced that a venture deeper into of malaria - after bathing in the Cydnus
the heart of the empire would be successful: river, and it was not at all certain that he
Harpalus, his personal friend and treasurer, would survive.
fled shortly before the battle of Issus. The Darius, for his part, had attracted to his
official story was that he had been up to cause the largest force of Greek mercenaries
some mischief with a scoundrel named employed by a Persian king in the history of
Tauriscus, but Harpalus may have had Achaemenid rule - 30,000 Greeks, according
serious misgivings about his king's chances. to the official historian, Callisthenes.
To complicate matters further, Alexander had Amongst these was Amyntas, son of


Antiochus, who had been a supporter of
Alexander's cousin and rival, Amyntas IV,
and who fled Macedonia soon after Philip's
assassination. Another leader of mercenaries
was Charidemus, a longstanding enemy of
Macedon. Charidemus, as it turned out, fell
victim to court intrigue, but Amyntas gave
a good account of himself before escaping
from the battlefield with some
4,000 mercenaries, only to find adventure
and death in Egypt.
Darius's army, which the Alexander
historians (Curtius, Justin, Diodorus and
Arrian) estimated at between 312,000 and
600,000, moved from Babylon to Sochi,
where it encamped at the beginning of
autumn 333. Alexander, meanwhile, reached
the coastal plain of Cilicia and the Pillar of
Jonah - the so-called 'Syrian' or 'Assyrian'
Gates - south of modern Iskenderun, which
gave access to Syria. In fact, it was in order to
avoid the Belen Pass that the Persians entered
Cilicia via the Amanic Gates (the Bahçe Pass)
and reached Issus through Toprakkale. To
Alexander's surprise, the positions of the two
armies were now reversed, with Darius
situated north of the Pinarus river and
astride the Macedonian lines of
communication. By the same token, there
was nothing to prevent Alexander from
marching into Syria except the danger to
his rear.
But if the protagonists were to meet, it
was advantageous for Alexander to fight in
the restricted terrain of Cilicia, where the
mountains and sea reduced the mobility of
the enemy's troops and negated his
numerical superiority. Even Alexander, who
seized the narrows to the south on the night
before the engagement, had to march his
smaller army considerably forward into the
widening coastal plain before he could
deploy his infantry in a line and leave
sufficient room for the cavalry to protect the
flanks. He positioned himself with the
Companion Cavalry on the right wing, hard Macedonians would not be overawed by
against the hills that restricted movement. Persian numbers, he took a defensive
Darius sent a force south of the Pinarus in position, using the banks of the Pinarus as
order to buy time for the deployment of his
own troops. Now that it was clear that the Relief of Persian guards from Persepolis. (TRIP)


an added impediment; where the riverbanks Kardakes, half on each side. Against these
gave insufficient protection, he erected troops the vaunted Macedonian pezhetairoi
palisades. A bid to move forces behind the found it difficult to advance, and here they
Macedonian position, in the hills, proved suffered the majority of their casualties,
ineffective, and Alexander drove them to including the taxiarch Ptolemy, son of
seek refuge in higher ground by using the Seleucus.
Agrianes and the archers; in the event, they Having put the Persian left to flight,
were not a factor in the battle of Issus. Alexander now wheeled to his own left,
That Alexander, in imitation of the younger slamming into the Greek mercenaries and
Cyrus at Cunaxa, charged directly at the destroying their formation. Before he could
Persian centre, where Darius himself was come to grips with the Great King, the
positioned, may be more than mere fiction. Persian ranks broke and Darius fled in his
There was something in the mentality of the chariot. Hampered in his flight by the rough
age that required leaders to seek each other terrain, he abandoned his chariot and
out. (One is reminded of Alexander's mounted a horse to make good his escape; as
apocryphal remark that he would participate an added precaution he removed his royal
in the Olympic games but only if he competed insignia and eluded the enemy under the
with princes!) But, if the story is true, this cover of darkness.
must have occurred in the second phase of the Some 100,000 Persian infantry were
battle, when Alexander turned to deal with the either killed or captured at Issus, along with
Greek infantry that were exploiting a breach 10,000 horsemen, for the armoured horse,
in the Macedonian phalanx. which had fought gallantly, dispersed when
The Greek infantry occupied the centre of it learned of Darius's flight, only to suffer
the line and were most encumbered by the more grievously in their bid for safety.
terrain. While Alexander routed the Persian Among the captives were found the mother,
left, which shattered on the initial assault,
the heavy infantry in the centre surged Detail from the Alexander Mosaic at Pompeii. Darius III
forward, losing its cohesiveness. (The pattern prepares to flee the battlefield. (Ann Ronan
would repeat itself at Gaugamela, with more Picture Library)
dangerous results.) Here, opposite them,
Darius had stationed his 30,000 Greek
infantry, supported by 60,000 picked
infantrymen whom the Persians called

Alexander's alleged encounter with Darius
'In this action he received a sword
wound in the thigh: according to Chares
this was given him by Darius, with
whom he engaged in hand-to-hand
combat. Alexander sent a letter to
Antipater describing the battle, but made
no mention in it of who had given him
the wound: he said no more than that
he had been stabbed in the thigh with a
dagger and that the wound was not a
dangerous one.'
Plutarch, Alexander 20 (I. Scott-Kilvert
trans., Penguin)

The fighting 41

wife and children of Darius himself. By The Alexander Mosaic. Darius and the Persians under
contrast, Alexander's losses were slight. But attack by Alexander (Ann Ronan Picture Library)

we have only Macedonian propaganda to go
by and figures, like the sensational stories of of the individuals captured there reveal that
Alexander struggling with Darius in person, the city was not merely a convenient place
must be treated with caution. to deposit the treasures and non-combatants,
After the staggering defeat at Issus, but that Darius had intended to move his
Damascus fell into the hands of Parmenion. base of operations forward. He clearly did
The amount of treasure and the importance not expect to be routed in a single


Antigonus the One-Eyed Besieger'). After Alexander's death,
An officer of Philip II's generation, Antigonus emerged as one of the leading
Antigonus was already approaching 60 Successors and, together with his son,
when he accompanied Alexander to Asia. made a bid for supreme power. He died,
In the spring of 333 he was left behind as however, on the battlefield of Ipsus in 301,
the governor (satrap) of Phrygia, which and Demetrius, who experienced his share
had its administrative centre at Celaenae. of victories and defeats, proved to possess
There he remained for the duration of the more showmanship than generalship. But
war, attended by his wife Stratonice and ultimately his son, named after his
his sons, one of whom, Demetrius, was to paternal grandfather, was to establish the
become the famous Poliorcetes ('the Antigonid dynasty in Macedonia.

Detail of Alexander from the Alexander Mosaic, now at Pompeii. Alexander
is intent upon attacking Darius in person. (Ann Ronan Picture Library)

The fighting 43

Sisygambis, mother of Darius III, mistakes Hephaestion for satraps to deal with the continued resistance in
Alexander the Great after the Persian defeat at Issus in Asia Minor. Antigonus the One-Eyed, a certain
333 BC. Painting by Francisco de Mura (1696-1782).
Ptolemy (perhaps even a kinsman of
(Ann Ronan Picture Library)
Antigonus) and Balacrus dealt effectively with
what Persian forces remained behind.
engagement and forced to seek refuge in the
centre of the empire.
For Alexander the victory - particularly in Phoenicia and Egypt
the aftermath of Memnon's death - provided
the opportunity of pushing ahead himself with In Phoenicia, meanwhile, the news of Issus led
the conquest and leaving his newly appointed to defection on a large scale. Representatives of

the wars of alexander the great

the wars of alexander the great

Empfohlen

Empfohlen

Weitere ähnliche Inhalte

Was ist angesagt?

Was ist angesagt? (19)

Ähnlich wie the wars of alexander the great

Ähnlich wie the wars of alexander the great (18)

Mehr von jim ripall prod

Mehr von jim ripall prod (20)

Kürzlich hochgeladen

Kürzlich hochgeladen (20)

the wars of alexander the great