The Ancients - Alexander the Great's Greatest Victory

Episode Date: October 10, 2021

In October 331 BC, one of the most important battles of world history occurred on the plain of Gaugamela. Alexander III of Macedon, better known as Alexander the Great, had been campaigning east of the Aegean Sea against the Persian Empire for 3 ½ years. Already he had won a series of notable victories and conquered many lands west of the Euphrates River. But it would be on 1 October 331 BC that a 25 year old Alexander came up against his biggest challenge to date. A large army, gathered by the Persian Great King Darius III aimed at stopping the young conqueror in his tracks once and for all. The clash that followed would decide the fate of the Persian Empire and mark a major moment in world history.In this, slightly different, Ancients episode Tristan gives a detailed run down of the Battle of Gaugamela: the background to this titanic clash and the battle itself.Order Tristan’s book today: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Perdiccas-Years-323-Alexanders-Successors/dp/1526775115/ref=zg_bsnr_271237_68/260-7675295-7826601?pd_rd_i=1526775115&psc=1Tristan's Twitter / Instagram - @ancientstristan

Hi, I'm Tristan Hughes, and if you would like The Ancients ad-free, get early access and bonus episodes, sign up to History Hit. With a History Hit subscription, you can also watch hundreds of hours of original documentaries, including my recent documentary all about Petra and the Nabataeans, and enjoy a new release every week. Sign up now by visiting historyhit.com slash subscribe. It's The Ancients on History Hit. I'm Tristan Hughes, your host, and in today's podcast, well, it's me. In this episode, I'm going to be giving you a detailed rundown of the Battle of Galgamela, the battle fought between the army of Alexander the Great and that of King Darius III, the great king of the Persian Empire, around this time of year in October 331 BC. Now this battle was a

titanic clash. It's been described by some as Alexander the Great's greatest victory. It was incredibly significant in Alexander's ultimate conquest of the Persian Empire. So this is new turf for the ancients in the style of this episode, as it's an explainer. We haven't done an explainer episode like this before, but I was really excited. I really wanted to give it a go. I do very much hope you enjoy. We do go into quite a bit of detail, starting with the background to the clash and ending with a look at the battle itself and how that titanic clash unfolded. So, without further ado, here's me to talk all about

the Battle of Gaugamela. So, the year is 331 BC. Alexander the Great has been campaigning east of the Aegean Sea against the Persian Empire for the past three years. He's crossed over into Asia Minor in the spring of 334 BC with an army of roughly 40,000 to 45,000 soldiers. That number is still debated, but we're going to give a rough estimate of around that. And his army includes various contingents. At its heart, he's got his Macedonian infantry and his Macedonian cavalry. His infantry are formed around this nucleus of battalions deployed in a famous formation, the Macedonian phalanx. Each soldier equipped with a six meter long pike called a sarissa and formed into battalions called phalanxes. Imagine them almost as human porcupines, as human hedgehogs with rows upon rows of sharp

pikes protruding out of this formation. It's quite a sight to see. Now, those phalanx battalions, they were the anvil of Alexander's army and the Macedonian cavalry, or they were the hammer. These were mainly these companion cavalry, this heavy shock cavalry equipped with two-metre-long lances called zistons. They were hard- hard hitting smash cavalry. Alongside this Macedonian core, Alexander had a number of allies, thousands strong, including Hellenic hoplites from

Greek city-states further south from the Kingdom of Macedonia city-states such as Athens and Corinth. He also has some prime cavalry from the fertile equine rich region of Thessaly and he also has allies from various other places in the central Mediterranean such as Agrianians, Dardanians, Illyrians, Thracians, Cretans and more. And so Alexander, he lands in Asia Minor in the spring of 334 BC with this sizable army. And not long after he reaches Asia Minor, he crosses over the Hellespont. He first of all has a sightseeing tour to Troy. He pays his respects to heroes such as Achilles, these heroes that he had revered since childhood. And not long after, in may 334 bc he comes against the persians in his first great battle and this is the battle of the river granicus the first battle against the persians and this army is led by the persian governors the persian satraps situated in the

western part of the persian empire which is in modern day anatolia in western Turkey. Alexander, this battle at the river, he defeats the Persians and the Greek mercenaries serving in the Persian army. At this battle he wins a decisive victory and he then continues further south. He captures important cities such as Sardis, Miletus and Helicarnassus. He then heads inland into inland Asia Minor. He famously slashes through the Gordian Knot according to one tradition. He continues seizing lands in Asia Minor from the Persian Empire and ultimately in the summer of 333 BC he crosses over the Tauris mountains and he reaches the fertile rich land of Cilicia. Now, the name Cilicia might be recognizable to a few of you listening to this podcast,

because a few weeks back, we did a podcast all about the megastructures that have been discovered in this area of Turkey, southeastern Turkey, near Syria, that emerge in the aftermath of Alexander the Great's death. That is Fortress Cilicia with Dr. Nick Rau. But anyways, back to the podcast at hand today. So Alexander, he reaches Cilicia in the summer of 333 BC, and he reaches the important Persian administrative center of Tarsus. There he has a rest. He stays there for quite a considerable amount of time, but it's not completely because Alexander wants to stay there for so long. According to one key story, Alexander, he reaches the city of Tarsus, where there is a river, the river Kidnes, where Alexander decides he wants to

go for a bathe. He wants to have a cooling, relaxing swim following months of marching. But this doesn't go entirely to plan because Alexander, he goes for a swim and almost immediately he develops a fever. He becomes seriously ill, he's close to death, but he ultimately does recover. And in the meantime, Darius, King Darius III, the great king of Persia, he has gathered a large army with which to confront Alexander the Great. After a bit of maneuvering and counter-maneuvering Darius eventually ends up behind Alexander after Alexander had started marching south along the eastern shoreline of the eastern Mediterranean. After a bit of this maneuvering counter-maneuvering, he marches back north. He finds Darius ready for battle

at the opposite bank of the Pinarus River near the town of Issus. In that battle, which I'll go into detail about in a different podcast to this one, I promise, Alexander, he leads from the front either with his foot companions, his royal guard, his royal hypasp passports all with his companion cavalry he leads a charge across the river he shatters the flank of Darius's army which was opposite him and then he slowly envelops the enemy army with his cavalry with his elite infantry with his phalanx battalions attacking from in front in the center and his cavalry on the left his famous Thessalians holding the line on the left remember that about the the center and his cavalry on the left his famous thessalians holding the line on the left remember that about the thessalians and holding the left because

that's going to come back in the battle which we're going to be talking about very very soon now i've really skimmed over the background up to the bas lavissus now between the bas lavissus and the bas of galgamela i'll go into a bit more detail because it's important for setting the scene for this great battle that occurred in October 331 BC. So Alexander wins the Battle of Issus in November 333 BC. Darius escapes with his life and he flees eastwards across the river Euphrates back to the Persian administrative heartlands, these cities such as Babylon, Susa, Persepolis. So Darius flees east to gather a huge new army. Alexander doesn't pursue straight away. Instead, he starts marching south towards these rich, prestigious maritime cities that dotted the eastern Mediterranean coastline

largely in what is modern day Lebanon. This is the ancient region of Phoenicia. The Phoenicians these remarkable ancient people that we'll need to do a separate podcast about in the future. One thing I should also add here is that Darius according to the tradition he flees east so quickly that Alexander captures his family, who were in the baggage train at the Battle of Vissus. And so for the rest of these next two years, before Darius and Alexander come to head again at another clash at the Battle of Gargamelum, Alexander has Darius's family in his baggage train, including Darius's wife and Darius's mother, Sisygambis, who is a remarkable woman in her own right. Now, Alexander, he now marches south to take

control of these maritime cities in the eastern Mediterranean, and also to take control of the strategically vital, the strategically important maritime island of Cyprus. Cyprus is a remarkable place in antiquity. It was home to a plethora of petty kings, of maritime petty kings. Many of these kings, if not all of these kings, submit to Alexander and they place their own squadrons, their own navies at Alexander's command. This is what Alexander was trying to do because up to that point the Persian navy in the central Aegean, in the eastern Mediterranean, had been a huge nuisance for Alexander. They had been attacking Macedonian strong points, Macedonian controlled territory in the central Aegean up to that point. But Alexander, by whistling away

the Persian maritime allies, by doing that, he would gain control of these cities and he would gain control of their navies. So these squadrons from Phoenician cities such as Aridas, Byblos, Sidon, and Tyre, as well as the Cypriot navies, would go from being in Persian control, attached to the Persian navy, to becoming attached to the Macedonian navy. So he was Persian control, attached to the Persian navy, to becoming attached to the Macedonian navy. So he was going to whittle away the Persian navy without fighting it directly. And this is what happens. The Cypriot kings, they submit to Alexander, they put their squadrons under his command. Alexander continues south. He receives a good welcome from the monarchs,

south. He receives a good welcome from the monarchs, from the rulers of cities such as Aridas, Byblos and Sidon. But this all changes when he reaches the city of Tyre. Tyre, the old city of Tyre, or the new city of Tyre, the main city of Tyre, shall we say, was situated offshore on a strongly fortified island. Alexander wants to go to the city. He wants to go to this offshore citadel to sacrifice to Melkart, to the god that resembled Heracles in Alexander's eyes. But the people of Tyre, those in command at Tyre, they refused Alexander permission to come to their city and to perform a sacrifice. In effect, they refused to submit to Alexander. They were happy to be neutral in the fight, but they wouldn't submit. For Alexander, this wasn't good enough. And what followed was one of, if not the most difficult siege for Alexander in his entire career.

It lasted many months and it needed a lot of effort by Alexander, including some ingenious siege machines, a ramp, siege towers on ramps, a lot of ships and artillery on ships. It took a lot of effort and a lot of ingenious siege machines before Alexander was eventually able to storm the city and to take control of Tyre. One person who deserves a lot of credit in this action was a man called Diades. Diades, he's an incredible engineer, created many of these siege engines that were, for the time, incredibly modern, revolutionary in their design, in their power, in the damage that they could inflict. But Diades became known as the man who took Tyre. So following the siege of Tyre, we're now still talking 332 BC.

Alexander progresses further south and this is where he gets the second big siege of this time. And this is at the very historic city of Gaza, perhaps one of the most besieged cities in world history. Alexander lays siege to the city of Gaza and he ultimately does storm this city too, thanks to many of the siege engines which he'd used to capture Tyre. They are dismantled at Tyre and they are ferried over to Gaza where they're rebuilt and they help Alexander capture this prestigious city. and they help Alexander capture this prestigious city. So by this time, Alexander in 332 BC,

he is now taking control of the eastern seaboard of the eastern Mediterranean and the Persian navy, which had been until that point wreaking havoc in the central Aegean, it's diminishing fast. From there, Alexander's goal is the also very prestigious very ancient land in the southeast mediterranean that is egypt alexander he reaches pelusium the traditional gateway to egypt from the east and one of the most eastern most branches of the river nile if not the most eastern most branch of the river nile he reaches reaches Pelusium and the Persian governor of Egypt, the previous one of whom had died in a recent clash. The Persian governor submits to Alexander. Egypt is taken over without a fight. Alexander is proclaimed pharaoh. So Alexander has

now reached Egypt. It's getting to the end of 332 BC or it's the beginning of 331 BC. So we're getting close. But before we really talk about Alexander in Egypt briefly, and before we then talk about Alexander heading further east to counter Darius at the Battle of Gargamelah, there's an interesting story that I really want to highlight here. And that's what was going on elsewhere as Alexander was heading further south, as Alexander was laying siege and conquering these

places on the eastern Mediterranean seaboard. And this is an event that is happening in modern-day Anatolia, in Asia Minor, around the area of Cappadocia, but more the area of Phrygia, right in the centre of central Turkey, of central Asia Minor. Now, in the meantime, following the Battle of Issus, the Battle of Issus is a decisive victory for Alexander the Great. But it's not a victory where many or most of the Persian soldiers or those soldiers who had been serving in Persian employ were killed. Many of these soldiers flee and many of the commanders flee, Darius, of course, Many of these soldiers flee and many of the commanders flee, Darius, of course, being one of them. But they don't all flee east with Darius.

There's a substantial amount, for instance, of Greek mercenaries that head south towards Egypt. But they ultimately meet a very sticky end when they reach Egypt before Alexander reached there. But what's interesting for us here is that there was a strong contingent of Persian soldiers and commanders that had headed north, that had fled north from the Baslavistus into a region which is now really modern day Cappadocia, but also ancient Catalonia. But this area of eastern Asia Minor had never really been conquered by Alexander the Great because you had there this powerful Iranian satrap called Ariorates. He would remain this satrap. Ultimately, he'd become king of this area of Asia Minor and he'd become a real thorn in the side of Perdiccas following Alexander the Great's death. Perdiccas being the man who really rose to prominence in the early years following Alexander the Great's death. But in 333 BC, there is a regrouping of many Persian soldiers and commanders, soldiers who had served on Darius's side at Issus, in the area around Cappadocia in 332 BC, as Alexander is campaigning further south. This is very much the story of the Persian

counter-attack which is rarely talked about. These commanders and these soldiers decide to launch an attack into Central Asia Minor, into Central Anatolia, lands which Alexander's subordinates were currently controlling, to try and sever the land route between Alexander, then around in Gaza and Tyaza entire approaching egypt and the macedonian heartlands the macedonian homelands west of the aegean sea and they launch this strong counter-attack many thousands strong we are told in quintus curtius rufus it had the potential to be an incredibly significant incredibly damaging event if the persian counter-attack succeeded but fortunately for alexander and this is a theme that will go back to which is really important for

the whole story of alexander he had left in asia minor some very very capable veteran supporters and in particular for this story is the current governor of phrygia, which is a man who had also rise to prominence, particularly after Alexander's death, a veteran general called Antigonus Monophthalmus, Antigonus the One-Eyed. He had been installed as the governor of Phrygia, centered at the ancient city of Calinai. He didn't have a large army but alongside the other governors in that region, prominent governors such as I believe Nearchus at that time but also the likes of the veteran general Balacrus in Cilicia and also perhaps the veteran general Calas in Hellespontine Phrygia which is very much in the northwest near the Dardanelles. They combine to push back this Persian counter-attack. Antigonus,

we're told, defeated the Persians in three separate battles and throws off this Persian counter-attack, seemingly saving the day for Alexander as he's heading further south to Egypt. But that's just a really interesting story which is sometimes overlooked because it's only mentioned in Quintus Curtis Rufus, and even that isn't given much detail. But it was so important for Alexander's continued success. So as Alexander's heading to Egypt, this incredibly potentially horrific Persian counterattack is quashed by Antigonus and his allies. Persian counter-attack is quashed by Antigonus and his allies. Back to the main story at hand. So Alexander reaches Egypt, he's proclaimed pharaoh, and one of the most important, if not the most important thing that he does in Egypt for a long-lasting legacy is that he goes to the Nile Delta, he goes to a place near the Mediterranean coast, and he lays the foundations,

and he says this is where you're going to found a city, which is he lays the foundations. And he says, this is where you're going to found a city, which is the city of Alexandria. And there are many foundation stories surrounding Alexandria, omens and the like. But ultimately, the fact is that Alexander, at this time, when he's in Egypt, he orders the construction of his great namesake city, He orders the construction of his great namesake city, the city that is still populated to this day. Alexandria will still take many decades to be fully constructed. It will only be following Alexander's death and maybe even following the death of Ptolemy I that Alexandria really becomes a prominent city, a prominent capital, the place where ultimately Alexander the Great's body will be

buried, as I'm sure you'll no doubt be aware from one of our most recent podcasts. But from Alexandria, Alexander goes on a little bit of a detour because he heads further west. He receives the submittance of the Hellenic city-state situated in Cyrenaica, modern-day Libya and around the area near Benghazi, places like Cyrene and Barca and New Hesperides, really prominent rich cities on the coast of the Mediterranean. He doesn't go that far though because he then heads south, heads deep into Libya to Siwa where there was the Oracle of Zeus or the Oracle of Amon. And here Alexander is proclaimed the son of Zeus, according to certain traditions, by the priests of Amon at Siwa. Alexander then returns back to Egypt. It seems as if he went

to Memphis, where he created a new administration to oversee Egypt, an administration which included Macedonians, strong Macedonian garrison and mercenary garrison was kept in Egypt but also prominent Egyptians were installed in this administration and another key figure was an Egyptian Greek shall we say, an infamous Egyptian Greek, a man called Cleomenes. Cleomenes would go on to be renowned for his corrupt nature, for his ill treatment of the Egyptians at this time over the years ahead. He would ultimately be assassinated by Ptolemy in 322 BC but Cleomenes he was instated at this time. So Alexander he stays in Egypt for a bit apparently according to one tradition there's also an expedition up the Nile river to see where the origins of this river was. Whether that's true or not is

not for me to say at this present time. But he and his army, they soon leave Memphis, they cross the River Nile and they head back northeast towards Tyre. It's here that Alexander also stays for a considerable amount of time. He receives delegations from further west, considerable amount of time. He receives delegations from further west, including from the city-state of Athens. The Athenians, notably pricky customers for Alexander the Great. The city had submitted to Alexander. It had, however, some prominent anti-Macedonian voices right at the heart of the Athenian regime during this time where actually Athens has great prosperity. It enjoys a Pax Macedonica, shall we say, because it's not fighting wars all the time.

It is, however, still very much, as mentioned, there are still people in Athens, right at the heart of the Athenian democracy, that are fervently anti-Macedonian. People such as Lycurgus, Lycurgus being the figure really right at the heart of this Athenian democracy that are fervently anti-Macedonian. People such as Lycurgus, Lycurgus being the figure really right at the heart of this Athenian revival. And of course, the legendary classical early Hellenistic, I say early Hellenistic because he does play a role after Alexander's death, figure of Demosthenes. Now the Athenians, as mentioned, they're quite

prickly customers for Alexander the Great. Many Athenian soldiers had been serving in Persian employ at the Basle of the River Granicus and perhaps also at the Basle of Issus. But following the Basle of the River Granicus back in 334 BC, many Athenians had been captured by Alexander the Great and were still captives of the Macedonians. The Athenians at Tyre, they asked Alexander if he would return these captives, if he would let them go. Now Alexander in the past had refused this request, but at that time there was growing trouble in Greece, in southern Greece, particularly around the city of Sparta. And the King Aegis III of Sparta had been raising his big mercenary force, preparing to attack the Macedonian-controlled lands north.

And Alexander, perhaps thinking he wanted to keep the Athenians on side if this was going to erupt into open war, he therefore relents and he releases the Athenian prisoners. Some good diplomacy there, perhaps, by Alexander to try and ensure the Athenians remained neutral in any future war between the Spartan King Aegis and the Macedonians back in the central Mediterranean. And that is ultimately what did happen. Once again, the revolt of Aegis III, fascinating story, but it would need to be one for its separate explainer, I think.

So Alexander has rested up in Tyre for a considerable amount of time. He's preparing to march inland. So the logistical needs for that are incredibly important. Very different to what he's been doing before, especially around the eastern Mediterranean seaboard, where you can have a fleet right next to you. But Alexander is now preparing to march inland and also towards the Persian heartlands. So a lot of preparations were needed.

But in 331 BC, really the height of 331 BC, he heads east and he reaches the river Euphrates, the place of Thapsicus. He crosses the river Euphrates and now he's faced with a choice. He must know by this time that Darius, although he's probably not sure exactly where, in the meantime Darius has been busy. He's been gathering a huge new army. He's been using the manpower, wealth, the strength of the eastern provinces that are still very much part of the Persian empire. And we're talking about places largely east of the Zagros mountains in modernday Iran, the Persian heartlands, but also places south of the Caspian Sea, such as Huracania, east of the Caspian Sea, such as Parthia, and also into modern-day Afghanistan, like lands such as Batria, Sogdia, Scythia further north,

Arakozia further south, and perhaps also some troops from across the Hindu Kush in the Indus River Valley. Darius has been gathering this new large army. He's around the area around Babylon but this time these two armies they're still not exactly sure. I don't think Adrian Goldsworthy puts this point very clearly forward. Don't know exactly where each army is. But Alexander, he crosses the river Euphrates and he's faced with a choice. Do I head south, keeping close to the river Euphrates and head towards Babylon that way? Or do I take a slightly longer route and keep north towards the ancient region of Assyria and head towards the Tigris river further east? Now, Alexander ultimately chooses the latter route for logistical reasons

shall we say that's the reason that we're largely given in the sources and that is true because that area around modern-day mosul between the euphrates and the tigris very fertile lands so to feed his army it was the more clear route for him to take This is also combined with the fact that the Euphrates River Valley in antiquity, there were a series of very rich, wealthy cities along that, but they were walled cities, they were strongholds. And Alexander, he probably knew the risks that if he went south and besieged these cities, that laying siege to these cities, it could very much affect his supplies, you know, the amount of time taken to besiege these strongholds and especially if those strongholds in advance made sure to take all the harvests in

to deprive Alexander of as many supplies as he would have hoped that combined with the fact that perhaps Darius would show up with his large army and combined with the city's defenses that could be potentially devastating for Alexander. This is all theoretical because ultimately Alexander did not go south along the Euphrates River. He headed east towards the Tigris. Once Alexander has made this decision, not long after, Darius hears word that Alexander is marching east from the Euphrates towards the Tigris River. And he starts marching north himself, keeping the Tigris River to his west. So he's on the right side of this important river and heading north for a confrontation that will ultimately happen at the Battle of Galgamela. Now, it's supposedly

around this time that Darius sent his last great offer to Alexander. Following the Basilicists, there are a number of stories in our Greco-Roman sources that survive of Darius sending Alexander offers of peace, asking him to give back his family, for instance, and saying you can have all the lands, for instance, west of the Hallis River, which is in, let's say, the western boundary of Cappadocia, ancient Cappadocia. So he's basically giving Alexander what was the ancient Lydian Empire, western Asia Minor. But Alexander says no. Right now, it seems to be at this time, as Alexander's approaching nearer Babylon, that Darius sends his last great offer before the Battle of Galgamela. And this offer is quite something. This time, Darius supposedly offered

to recognise Alexander as the ruler of all former Persian territories west of the Euphrates River. So think of that for a second. That means the whole of Asia Minor. Sorry, Ariorates, who still at that time an Iranian warlord stationed in Cappadocia, Darius was basically sacrificing Ariorates' hard-gained lands for Alexander. That included Asia Minor and Anatolia. That included ancient Syria. That included Phoenicia. That included Judea. It included Gaza.

It included Egypt. And it included all those lands such as Palmyra, etc., etc., all those lands west of the river Euphrates. It's a huge offer. And apparently, some of Alexander's subordinates were saying, man, this is a great offer. Take it. You've done enough, mate.

Enjoy this. Get an alliance with Darius. Maybe marry his daughter or marry his sister or whoever. I think it's his daughter who is offered a marriage. Let me check that now. Yes, Darius offered Alexander a marriage between Alexander and Darius's eldest daughter. He offered an alliance, a treaty of friendship alongside this huge empire west of the Euphrates River. It was enough for some of Alexander's subordinates to tell Alexander, yes, I would advise you take this offer because it's incredible.

It's an amazing offer with some of the wealthiest lands, the wealthiest lands in the eastern Mediterranean. But Alexander said no. He refused the offer. He wanted the whole of the Persian Empire. the whole of the Persian Empire. Now it was almost inevitable that Alexander and Darius would come to blows for a one final great clash and this clash would be the Battle of Galgamela. So Alexander reaches the Tigris River in September 331 BC. He'd advanced there pretty quickly because he had heard false information that Darius's great army were preparing to block his advance, to block his crossing of the river. It's a strategy you see in ancient history all the time. For instance, the Gauls tried to stop Hannibal's crossing of the river Rhône, an impressive natural barrier to stop an army in its tracks. As the ghouls would find out

with Hannibal, their plan ultimately failed quite badly. You'll also see it much later with Alexander at the Battle of the Hidaspes River and also at the Battle of the Yaxartes River in modern-day Uzbekistan. Now Alexander, he reaches the Tigris River having forced his soldiers to do a forced march to reach the river from this false intelligence. He arrives at the river and he sees that there are no Persians there occupying the far bank and so he starts to get his army to cross the river. Now Persian army or no crossing the Tigris River is still a big task for an army, even in September of 331 BC, when the river is really at its lowest. The Tigris is still a formidable barrier. But what Alexander does is he doesn't need any flotation devices really to send his army across, as he will at other rivers at other

times during his campaigns in the east east because the river is low enough. To cross this river he sends his soldiers in and they're just going to ford the river but this is still difficult for the soldiers so what he does is he places a line of cavalry up river and a line of horsemen down river of the crossing and this is to slow the speed of the current, to make it easier for his army to cross. And it's an incredibly successful maneuver. Alexander's army are able to cross relatively easily. And the Persians, not taking advantage of this opportunity, we are told that a certain cavalry commander, Misaeus, sees this crossing,

but doesn't act either because he doesn't have the soldiers or his orders were to lay waste the surrounding land. So Alexander, despite the potential vulnerability of his army during this crossing, he is not attacked and he manages to ford to cross the river Tigris thanks to his use of the cavalry to stop the fast-flowing current to slow it down. He is able to cross the river relatively easily. Why do I talk so much about this event? Well, for me, it's another one of those fascinating ones, like the Persian counterattack, because we see a comparison not long after Alexander the Great's death, when Perdiccas is in Egypt. Some of you might have heard this story before. Perdiccas is trying to cross the river Nile near Memphis he places to try and slow the current of the river

Nile at this place it's shallow enough to an extent that his soldiers can wade across without any need for buoyancy aids as it's such but he places instead of cavalry up river he places elephants and he places cavalry down river this seems like a one-up on Alexander you'd think from the outset but what Perdiccas didn't realize when doing that was the feet of the elephants, but not just the feet of the elephants, the feet of the soldiers walking through this part of the River Nile. It's very sandy underneath. The soil underneath became displaced. And after a bit of time, after part of the army had reached the island which they were heading to,

the soil is so displaced that the river gets deeper and the current once again gets stronger. So where Alexander succeeds at the River Tigris with his cavalry, Perdiccas spectacularly failed several years later at the River Nile near Memphis, an act which would ultimately end in Perdiccas's assassination at the hands of his subordinates but anyway back to the story at hand we are talking about alexander having crossed the river tigris he and his army they reach the far side of the river tigris they've now crossed the river they rest up for a few days and it's here that we get a really interesting dating reference because we hear that Alexander he and his army spot in the sky there is a lunar eclipse Alexander's seer who is with the army a

man called Aristander he looks at this sign and he says oh this is really bad news for the Persians this is really good news for the Macedonians now you might think that this is all just a bit of superstition today but for the Macedonian army, especially the army which is now deep in enemy territory, to see a sign like this and to hear from the seer, to hear from the people being pushed around that this is a really, really good sign, the morale of that, the importance of that morale-wise was incredibly significant. And people have dated this event, this lunar eclipse, these clever people, much, much cleverer than I ever could be, they've dated it to around the 20th of September 331 BC, which is really important when we get to dating the Basil of Galgamela itself.

Following this small rest up near the River Tigris, Alexander's army continue heading east. And it's over the coming days that small skirmishes start occurring between advanced forces of the Macedonians, largely light cavalry, and scouting forces of the Persians. And there's one particular skirmish that I'd love to talk about very quickly. And this is a small skirmish that occurs between some, I believe it's Paeonian cavalry, light cavalry from this region north of the Macedonian heartlands. In modern day, what is modern day Macedonia is ancient Paeonia. Actually, that's quite interesting in its own right. But that's a different political debate for another day. Basically, the head of this Paeonian cavalry is a man called Ariston.

And he's really interesting because he spots this persian force there's a clash and supposedly they chase off the persian scouts and in this skirmish ariston supposedly very homerically he manages to spear the general the leading figure in this persian scouting party he spears him runs him through, and then cuts off his head and delivers the head of this Persian commander to Alexander the Great. This idea very much of personal glory, this very, as I said, this Homeric idea of heroes fighting heroes, of leaders fighting leaders, you'll see again and again in this time. And Ariston is a good example of that in the run-up to the Battle of Galgamela.

That's just a really interesting small skirmish that occurs in the run-up to the Battle of Galgamela. Now over the next few days Alexander and his army they advance closer and closer to the battlefield where Darius and his army were waiting for them. Darius has already drawn up his forces in the formation that he wants, a very much a defensive formation, but in the battlefield terrain that he desperately desired, that he really wanted. And this is a really large plane, the plane of Galgamela. Now, Alexander, he takes his time to reach this area where Darius had decided, right, we're going to fight the battle here and you're going to find out very soon why Darius wanted to fight it at that plane in particular. Alexander he first of all he encamped several miles away from Calcumala. There he once again he lets his

men rest up for a few days. There's no rush there's no hurry for Alexander at this time. He deposits much of his baggage train at this place several miles away from where the battlefield will be. He readied his fighting soldiers, he makes sure that they take rations for a few days march so that they can march much lighter and then they head towards where they are told Darius's army is waiting for them in preparation for the upcoming battle. is waiting for them in preparation for the upcoming battle. This army, battle ready, it marched over the intervening hills and roughly four miles away from where the battlefield would be, Alexander and his army finally caught sight of Darius's huge army placed on the plain. Patrols in the coming days seem to have confirmed the large size of Darius's army,

an army that consisted of an overwhelming amount of cavalry and also some very deadly chariots called scythed chariots. I'll go into those in a bit more detail as we go on. And this was a battle line that stretched for miles. Just imagine it. You can also perhaps imagine you're a Macedonian soldier and you see this huge spectacle in the distance, but not just this huge mass of people gathered on the plane. Imagine the dust clouds that you could see on this plane at this time in what is now northern Iraq. It must have been quite a sight.

It was here that Alexander encamps and he summons his officers and they debate how they are going to tackle the upcoming big clash against Darius. So there's a famous story here that Parmenion, the veteran general of Parmenion, who will play an important role in the battle, he suggests they go for a night attack because it appears that the Persians, they were afraid of a night attack. But Alexander says, no, we're not going for a night attack. We are going to attack in the day. I do not want to steal a victory. And so they opted to launch an attack on the 1st of October of 331 BC. This is the Battle of Gaugamela. So we come to the big day at last, the 1st of October 331 BC. You might be interested that I'm currently reading this from the middle of a cupboard. It's very dark and I've got a little torch so I can read my notes that I've made for

the events that will follow. Now we're going to first talk about the terrain. Yes, we're on the day of the battle, but we need to mention the terrain first. Gaugamela, as already mentioned many times, was this huge plain. It was situated between the Gomel Sioux River and a series of hills. And this plain, Darius, over the past few days and weeks, he had deliberately flattened for the upcoming battle and the purpose of this was for his squadrons of chariots several hundred strong so they could be as effective as possible in the coming days you know chariot you want flat land if we're talking

about chariots in the eastern Mediterranean. So you've got to imagine this large deliberately flattened plain. This is where the battle, the heart of the battle, is going to take place. It's a very different battlefield to the one that was fought between Darius and Alexander a couple of years earlier at the Battle of Issus where Darius's large numbers to an extent worked against him because it was a very compact, very constrained area of land between the Pinarus river, the sea and some hills further inland. And ultimately his larger numbers did work to his disadvantage. But here on this huge plain, Darius could make the large numbers in his army work to his advantage.

The exact size of the Persian force we cannot say for certain and the reason for that is because of our sources for this battle. Our sources for this battle are predominantly, if not not all a series of greco-roman historians writing centuries later figures such as diodorus siculus the roman quintus curtius rufus writing in the first century a.d and also the greek writing during the roman empire arian of nicomedia who i believe is writing in the second century a.d orrd, one of the two. Basically, both Quintus Curtis Rufus and Arrian, two of our most detailed sources for this clash, are writing several hundred years later, during the Roman imperial period. They are using their own contemporary sources of the battle,

people who were certainly present among the Macedonian ranks at the Battle of Galgamela, figures such as Ptolemy, a figure who became a key successor following Alexander the Great's death, and also Aristobulus, a historian who accompanied Alexander the Great on his campaigns to the east. But these sources certainly have their flaws, not least because with many of Alexander's battles, if not all of the battles, Not least because with many of Alexander's battles, if not all of the battles, they tend to start with an overarching focus of the battlefield, of the deployment, but then they go and focus in on what Alexander is doing at a particular part of the line. And they disregard, they do not pay as much attention as to what is happening elsewhere in the line.

So historians have admitted, and it is true, for certain aspects of the Battle of Galgamela, reconstructions are based on conjecture. We have to think what was most likely. We do know some events, we do know part of the battle, but other bits has to be largely theory, but logical theory. We'll make it fun, I promise. What we also have to remember is because these sources are Greco-Roman historians, they are writing very much from the Macedonian perspective. The Persian version, as it was, is lacking for the battle of Galgamaela. And so you see in some aspects where certain characteristics, certain details, especially for the persian side are exaggerated to make the scale of what will be alexander's great victory even better even more extraordinary and a great example

of this is the size of the persian army i think arian says that there were perhaps as many more than a million soldiers in darius's army complete nonsense it's more likely that Darius's army was somewhere between 50 and 100,000 men. More than Alexander's, but certainly not more than a million. Now, I've talked about the ancient scholars for this battle, and I've also got to highlight some of the modern scholars. These are the real heroes, peeps. These are the people who have put in so much effort to learn more about this period in history. Figures such as the late Brian Bosworth, recent books by figures such as Adrienne Goldsworthy.

There's also the legendary scholar that is Elizabeth Carney. She's done a lot of work, particularly around the women surrounding Alexander the Great, such as Olympias and Cleopatra. There are plenty others too, and they are also the real heroes. One other interesting source for this is of course the 2004 epic movie alexander by oliver stone that battle scene of the battle of galgamela is quite something in regards to other battles shown in historical epics this battle is probably the most

accurate of them all and that's largely largely thanks, of course, to Oliver Stone, everyone who acts in it, and the great historical advisor for that movie, which was Robin Lane Fox. I believe he also partook in the cavalry charge during that battle scene. But anyway, let's go back to the battle. Alexander, he approaches the battlefield and he deployed his army as follows. On his right wing, Alexander placed his elite cavalry squadrons, his heavy-hitting Macedonian companion cavalry, armed with the two-metre-long Ziston lance. They have tunics, they have capes, they have leather cuirasses, they largely have Boeotianian style helmets, these bowl shaped helmets. They are quite a sight. Shock heavy hitting cavalry. Alexander himself was leading this royal

squadron of companion cavalry, the royal squadron, the royal Ile, the Basilica Ile, 300 strong. And he was right at the far right end of this right wing this right hand side of the Macedonian line it was the elite cavalry wing Alexander himself we're told from Plutarch he was very striking in his appearance he had a beautifully balanced sword gifted to him by the king of one of the petty kings of Cyprus he also had had amazing helmets, I believe, and also some other arms and armor. And of course, he also had his steed, Bucephalus. Although I believe Alexander says in this battle, by this time, Bucephalus, he was a bit past his prime, but he still rode his famous horse into battle. Now, alongside this heavy cavalry, Alexander was supported by a series of skirmishers, light infantry.

These included the elite light infantry from the upper Strymon River in Monde, Bulgaria. And these were the Agrianians, the Agrianians, the Agrianians, javelin men who were renowned for their ability. He also had amongst his ranks on the right wing, archers and a series of mercenaries. Now this array of light infantry was placed on the extreme right of the Macedonian line at an oblique 45 downward degree angle. So it was almost like this light infantry was covering the flank to the right of Alexander's royal squadron. to the right of Alexander's royal squadron. There was also supporting them some skirmisher cavalry from modern-day Paeonia under the command of Ariston, who had already made his mark in the run-up to the Battle of Galgamella,

as well as some more dismounted skirmishers, javelin men and archers placed in front of the cavalry to act as this light skirmishing wing really advanced guard to protect the cavalry from any initial attacks as it were these light infantry stationed in front of alexander's companion cavalry on the right so imagine the right wing as follows you have heavy cavalry and in front of them you have light infantry and to the right at a 45 degree oblique angle you have more light infantry and also some light cavalry and some other units cavalry and infantry in the center came the anvil of alexander's army and these were his battalions of macedonian infantrymen these soldiers who

wielded the six meter long pike the sarissa and were formed in battalions called phalanxes. And they were also these human porcupines, human hedgehogs that formed these incredible formations. Now these battalions were split into the geographical regions of Macedonia where these soldiers hailed from. Macedonia was split among upper and lower regions of Macedonia. For instance, one of these battalions was the Lincestis and Orestis battalion, which was commanded by a local prince there, which was the figure of Perdiccas. There was another regiment, which was the Titimphian regiment, which included Macedonians from the region of Timphia, and so on and so on and so on. Now, all of these phalanx battalions were deployed in the centre of the line from left to right.

all of these phalanx battalions were deployed in the centre of the line from left to right. Now all of these Macedonian infantrymen I personally believe at Galgamella were primarily equipped with the six metre long sarissa pike but there is debate because I said all the Macedonian infantrymen. On the far right of the central infantry line you had the elite infantry and this was a 3 000 strong set of units called the high paspists the high paspists the elite infantry guard among the macedonian army it's debated whether they fought more like hoplites with shorter spears and larger shields it is probable that they did fight that way in sieges or when they were fighting more rugged terrain but in an open pitched battle like this one it makes more sense in my opinion that they were also equipped with the pike to form these phalanx battalions and they also formed a key part of this wall of long pikes that form the center of the Macedonian army but we don't have enough information to really say

how they were equipped to this battle all you need to know is that in the centre of Alexander's Macedonian line, you had these various battalions of the Macedonian phalanx lined up one after another. Now, on the left wing, the left-hand side of Alexander's army, was more cavalry. This left wing was placed under the command of Alexander's veteran number two general, Parmenion. Parmenion had with him elite cavalry, just like Alexander had on the opposite wing. But rather than these being Macedonians, these were Thessalians. Now the Thessalians were regarded as the equal of the Macedonian heavy cavalry. They were renowned for their equine expertise, the elite of Thessaly. And in the aftermath of Alexander's death,

they would equally prove why they were more than a match for the Macedonian companions. Parmenion himself would have an elite guard surrounding him, and this was the elite Thessalian contingent, the Pharsalian contingent, 300 strong. He had more cavalry alongside the Thessalians on his left flank, including Thracian cavalry, particularly from the prominent tribe, from the prominent people in Thrace, which was really in the centre of Monde Bulgaria in the Valley of the Roses, and these were the Adrysians. And there were several thousand Adrysian horsemen. The Adrysians were renowned for their equine expertise also. So these are supreme light horsemen alongside the supreme heavy horsemen of the Thessalians.

Now, just like on the extreme end of Alexander's right wing, on the extreme end of the Macedonian left wing with Parmenion was a mixture of light infantry and light cavalry deployed at a downward 45 degree angle to protect the left flank from encirclement. So you need to imagine Alexander's formation almost like a thrown over bowl, an upside down bowl. You have the phalanx and Alexander's heavy cavalry and Parmenion's heavy cavalry forming the top line. Then you have this infantry at 45 degree oblique going downhill angles at either end. Now to protect the flanks. But you could also imagine Alexander's line like a trapezium because

there was a fourth side, the bottom longer side. And this was the reserve line, the second line of infantry that Alexander had available. And this was a contingent, several thousand strong, of Hellenic heavy infantry. These infantrymen, largely probably equipped as hoplites with two-metre-long Doru spears and large shields, heavy infantrymen, they were deployed outwards, as it were, looking behind to prevent encirclement from the Persians but also to plug any gaps that might emerge in the Macedonian line as the battle proceeded which as you're about to hear did happen. Now I'm going on for ages about this I do know but it's important and I love the detail you can skip ahead if you want but anyways back to the deployment this is Alexander's

deployment at the Battle of Galgamella, this trapezium shape. He also deployed some Thracian infantry further back to protect his baggage further back from the battlefield. But that's all for the Macedonian army. Now, Alexander's trapezium-like deployment was done to counter the Persian army already defensively positioned on the plain. We have a detailed account of how the Persians deployed thanks to the contemporary Aristobulus who says that at the end of the battle the Macedonians got hold of a sheet of paper or something which showed how the Persians were deploying their army at the battle. Now on the left wing of the Persian army, supposedly opposite what would be Alexander's elite cavalry wing, but in fact it enveloped it by quite a significant distance, on this left wing

Darius placed his elite cavalry contingents. Notable among these contingents was the Bactrian cavalry contingent. The Bactrians were renowned for their elite horsemen, for these sturdy horses, for these people who lived along the banks of the Oxus River Valley. They'd fought in Persian armies in Persian service for more than a century and now they were placed on the elite left-hand side of the Persian line. These Bactrians, alongside them, were other elite heavy-hitting cavalry such as the eastern Scythians Sakai, Sogdians, Massagetans and perhaps also some Parthians some members of the Dahe Arakozians these horse cultures from the eastern ends of Darius's empire in central Asia among this cavalry wing were also some infantry and in the centre Darius placed most

of his infantry and also some of his cavalry. He himself was in the centre surrounded by his royal companions and then his royal guards, the melliferoi, the apple bearers, so called for the stylised golden apples that supposedly decorated the spear butts of this infantry. golden apples that supposedly decorated the spear butts of this infantry. Now Darius also behind him he had a large mass of infantry in reserve but really the strength of Darius's army was his cavalry and on his right wing Darius deployed more of his cavalry including the Median horsemen something you're going to hear time and time again with all these provinces east of the Zagros mountains they had remarkable cavalry contingents and the Medians were another example of that renowned for their equine expertise so Darius with the Medians on his right with the Bactrians and others on his left and himself with a strong central core in the

center he was flanked by two strong cavalry wings and a very capable infantry phalanx and also some cavalry in the centre. Darius had gathered a formidable army with which to face Alexander and he also had two special units. The first unit we don't really hear much about in the upcoming battle but we are told they are there and this is a contingent of Indian elephants that Darius had with him from across the Hindu Kush in the Indus River Valley, where Darius also had subjects. Now, we don't know what role they played in the battle, but we do know that the other special unit did play a special, a particular, a key, an important, an interesting role in the upcoming battle. And these are his scythed chariots. These scythed chariots are a very interesting military weapon of the ancient world. Much about these scythed chariots, these ancient wagons of death,

we don't really know. We don't know really their origins, whether they are Persian in origin or they're Assyrian. And their design also is debated. whether they are Persian in origin or they're Assyrian, and their design also is debated. But we're told at Galgamela that they had scythes on the side protruding out of the carts, which were being ridden by someone, and also perhaps they had spears, they had pikes protruding out of the front as well. Whatever their design, they were deadly weapons and they were intended to cause panic, to cause disruption in the opposing

Macedonian line. That was the intention of Darius. His battle plan was very clear to see. He deployed his scythe chariots all along the length of his line, particularly opposite Alexander on his left wing. And these chariots would storm ahead, they would create disruption in the cavalry, in the infantry of the Macedonians and through these gaps the Persian cavalry would exploit these gaps cause more disruption and the Macedonian army would fall apart. That was the Persian plan. As mentioned earlier the size of Darius's army we cannot know for sure because the numbers that are given in the Greco-Roman historians that survive to this day are extremely exaggerated. It was probably more than 50,000 men in total,

but probably less than 100,000 men. But it was certainly bigger than Alexander's army. The Macedonian army was probably less than 50,000. So Darius's army was certainly bigger, had a numerical advantage, perhaps very much a sizable numerical advantage over Alexander. And this seems to be quite clear because of the fact that Alexander and his elite cavalry on his right wing, while they were almost at the start of the battle, they were facing Darius's center because the left wing of Darius intended to go opposite Alexander because the army was so big that the whole left elite wing of the Persians was basically facing no one because it extended so far out beyond the right wing of Alexander. Alexander recognizes this threat and this sparks the first movements of the

battle itself. So Alexander can see that his army is threatened by being enveloped, by being encircled by this elite cavalry wing on the left hand side of the Persian line. And so Alexander reacts by moving his army, himself and his royal squadron right at the apex of this movement towards the right. He is starting to move his army towards the right, towards the more bumpy ground eventually, so that he can try and prevent this envelopment by the elite Persian cavalry on the left flank that will be opposite him. Now spare a thought for Parmenion during the whole of this battle, but particularly at the start. He already has got a huge flank of Persians on the right wing opposing him, and at the start of the

battle his wing on the left of the Macedonian line is facing directly against the right wing of the Persians but as he sees the Macedonian army moving to the right he must thought oh no oh no oh no because he knows as that's happening he's gonna have to start moving to the right a bit and that means that now he has the huge threat of being enveloped by the right wing of the Persians because Alexander is moving the whole army to the right to prevent his wing from being encircled but Parmenion probably knew this at the battle plan beforehand he has to the whole of the Macedonian army starts moving to the right anyway back to Alexander the Persian elite cavalry that is now facing Alexander as he's moving more and more to the right,

they are watching this closely and they start shadowing Alexander's movements. Darius orders them to shadow, but then they realize that they have to act. Darius realizes that he has to act because soon enough, Alexander's wing, his right wing, Alexander's wing, his right wing, were approaching the rugged terrain which Darius's army had not deliberately flattened for the scythed chariots. So Darius, perhaps earlier than he would have wanted, he decides, right, we need to stop Alexander from moving further to the right because we want our chariots to be used on this deliberately flattened terrain. So he orders his Bactrians, his elite cavalry, he orders them to start, basically at this time, to move forward and to get to the far right-hand side of the Macedonian

line to form this barrier, as it were, to prevent the Macedonians from moving any further to the right. And so the Bactrians go storming across the plain. Imagine the dust clouds are now starting to rise amongst the soldiers and they position themselves to the right of Alexander's line, halting his movement. Alexander reacts by ordering some of his cavalry on the right, not his elite companion cavalry, but a squadron of mercenary cavalry under a commander called Menidas, to charge this elite Persian cavalry, which was now to their right.

charge this elite Persian cavalry which was now to their right. Menidas and his horsemen they obey and they charge the Persian cavalry on the right and the first battle of the day, the first clash is really underway. A fierce struggle breaks out between these Bactrians and these mercenary cavalry and the Bactrians start getting the upper hand and so Alexander starts sending more and more cavalry into this clash to try and reinforce the mercenary cavalry to try and overwhelm the Bactrians on the far right of his line. Now imagine the chaos as more and more cavalry are drawn into this clash on the far hand right side of the battlefield. Hundreds perhaps thousands of horsemen involved in this clash. But for the time being, Alexander and his elite heavy-hitting companions, they're not drawn in

to this battle on the far right of the line. Darius notices this and perhaps once again, sooner than he would have liked, he now decides that he has to send his scythe chariots forwards. This is now the big play by the Persians to try and disrupt the Macedonian line. He sends his scythe chariots on the left wing opposite Alexander to charge right at the Macedonian heavy cavalry to cause great disruption and then for his Persian cavalry to exploit any gaps created. The scythe chariots on the left, they storm forwards towards the Macedonian cavalry intending to cause havoc. But it worked to no avail because Alexander had predicted this because he put in front of his elite cavalry and they were still there. His elite light infantry, his Agrianians, some archers too.

And they shower the approaching scythed chariots with javelins, with missiles, and they cause horrific damage on these chariots. So much so that most of these chariots do not even reach the cavalry line. Their drivers or the horses are shot down or they're pulled out of their vehicles and the scythed chariot charge on the left fails completely. A similar sorry tale occurred for the scythe chariots which were attacking the centre of the Macedonian line against the Macedonian phalanx battalions themselves. Now according to Quintius Curtius Rufus these phalanx battalions they simply part ways and the chariots just storm through the central space of the phalanx they pass almost right through and then behind the phalanx light

infantry and fellows behind the phalanx they pull off the driver they destroy the scythed chariots but still the scythes were a devastating weapon we have this horrific description of what happens that survives in quintus curtis rufus i'm going to read it out to you because it's really colorful i guess you could say but it's gruesome it really highlights, even if it is just for artistic effect, what these scythed chariots did in the centre of the Macedonian line. So here is the description as mentioned in Quintus Curtis Rufus. The chariots had now charged the phalanx, and the Macedonians received the charge with a firm resolve, permitting them to penetrate

to the middle of the column. Their formation resembled a rampart. After creating an unbroken line of spears, they stabbed the flanks of the horses from both sides as they charged recklessly ahead. Then they began to surround the chariots and to throw the fighters out of them. Horses and charioteers fell in huge numbers, covering the battlefield. The charioteers could not control the terrified animals which, frequently tossing their necks, had not only thrown off their yokes, but also overturned the chariots and wounded horses were trying to drag along dead ones, unable to stay in one place in their panic and yet too weak to go forward. Even so, a few chariots escaped to the back line,

inflicting a pitiful death on those they encountered. The ground was littered with the severed limbs of soldiers and, as there was no pain while the wounds were still warm, the men did not in fact drop their weapons, despite the mutilation and their weakness, until they dropped dead from loss of blood. Darius had intended his scythed chariot's charge on the left wing in his centre to cause havoc among the Macedonian phalanx and the Macedonian heavy cavalry but both charges had failed completely. Now most of the Macedonian phalanx in the centre they kept storming forwards towards the center of darius's line i say most because at the far left end of the macedonian phalanx line they had started now lingering

behind at this point because they were trying to keep close to the left wing of parmenion which was becoming increasingly under pressure from more and more and more persians thanks to this initial movement to the right. So let's focus in on what's been happening on the left wing in the meantime. As all of this had been going on, on the left wing a mixture of cavalry and chariots and possibly some infantry there as well, certainly some infantry as well, the Persians had crashed into the left wing of the Macedonian line held by Parmenion. Sadly, because our sources tend to focus in on Alexander at this battle,

we don't know as much about the left wing, about the fighting as we would like. But what we do know is that Parmenion was holding out against much larger, overwhelming odds, which were charging the left flank from all directions. And this seems like a good time to shine a light on the importance for Alexander's leadership style of subordinates such as Parmenion. Now Alexander was a very charismatic leader in the fact that he led from the front in all of his battles, but he was only leading at a particular point in the battle line. So in Galgamela, he is right out on the far right side of the right wing he has no idea what is going on on the left side of the line at the same time or even in the center and this is why his

trust his dependence on his subordinates on his people commanding those parts of the line is so key they were discussed a battle plan beforehand but he has the trust in them to make decisions, to lead from the front when Alexander is not present, when Alexander is focusing on delivering that hammer blow, that key decisive blow in the battle. Alexander leading from the front, he's an incredibly charismatic figure. But you need to imagine his subordinates almost as mini Alexanders. They share a similar leadership style as Alexander. They are leading in the front ranks from their own parts of the line. Perdiccas is fighting amongst the ranks of his Lincestians and Orestians in the centre. Parmenion is fighting on the left wing. Craterus

is fighting among the phalanx battalions as well. Many others are fighting with Alexander among the companion cavalry on the right wing these are figures who are incredibly important to the success of Alexander as a general because Alexander trusts them to lead separate parts of his army as he is focusing in on delivering the hammer blow and this is why the importance of Perdiccas of Parmenion of Craterus and many other generals in this battle and all the rest of Alexander's battles is so key and it's no surprise that following Alexander's death the later quite a difficult historian Justin he has this very famous saying he's really interesting saying which says never in antiquity had there been such a plethora of extraordinary generals at the same

time in one place following the death of Alexander in Babylon and the years ahead. And that is why it ultimately sparks perhaps the most chaotic period in the whole of ancient history, which is the Wars of the Successors. But anyway, back to the Battle of Galgamela. On the left wing of the Macedonians with Parmenion and his Thessalians against these overwhelming number of Persians it's not easy going for the Macedonians they are being very very hard pressed and as this goes on a big gap emerged in the Macedonian line in the phalanx line itself and a lot of Persian and Indian cavalry charge right through some of these cavalrymen managed to go all the way to the Macedonian baggage train, to the

Macedonian camp. They fight against the Macedonians, against the Thracians positioned there, and they also managed to release some of the Persian prisoners. Now, at the same time, the Macedonian line seemed to be cracking. But this was where Alexander's second line of infantrymen, his hoplites, his mercenaries, this was where they came into their own. They plugged the gap and this Persian breakthrough was quickly quelled. Nevertheless, despite this, it was clear that there were cracks emerging in the left side of the Macedonian line. But as this was all going on, Alexander, on the other end of the line, he finally delivered

the breakthrough. Now, there's been fighting to the right of Alexander at this time. There's been fighting to the left of Alexander at this time. But now Alexander himself entered the fray. On the right flank, as we've mentioned before, the Bactrian elite cavalry and many other elite cavalry squadrons in the Persian service, they had marched out to stop the Macedonians marching further to the right and more and more cavalry contingents Macedonian and allied cavalry contingents and Persian and allied contingents had rushed to create a big clash at this right end of the battlefield. But as more cavalry, as more horsemen were sucked into this clash, gaps started to emerge in the Persian line, in particular between the left elite cavalry wing of the Persians and Darius at his central part of the line. And soon enough, Alexander spots a gap in the Persian line between the left wing and the center of Darius's forces

he gathers his elite companion cavalry this is his moment and they charge they charge towards the center of the Persian line towards the side of the Persian center and towards Darius Alexander's cavalry his companion, were trained to form a particular formation called the wedge. This was where you had one rider at the front, two riders behind, three behind that, four behind that, so it's almost like a wedge that you're charging into a narrow point, exploit a narrow gap, and then you have the horses behind and the riders behind following you into that gap, and you make that gap larger, you exploit the horses behind and the riders behind following you into that gap and you make that gap larger you exploit the gap one rider goes in and the rest follow it's a great way for cavalry to

exploit a gap wasn't created by the macedonians i believe it was created either by the scythians or the thracians but the macedonian companion cavalry had adopted this formation and according to our greco-roman historians Alexander spots this gap he forms his companions into wedge and they charge right into this central Persian part of the line they charge into the side of the Persian line to inflict damage they are the hammer and at the same time the Macedonian central phalanx battalions attack the center of the persian line from in front so now darius is seeing that his part of the line the heart of the persian line is under attack from two angles from alexander and his companions and from the phalanx in front the persian center is now doomed the

persian center is crumbling in front of darius's eyes and now he has a choice. Does he flee or does he fight to the end? Curtius says that he contemplated for a long time. He was very much wanting to stay and fight until the end. But he is a king. He is the leader. He wants to retain control of his empire. So ultimately he does decide to flee and to fight another day. Arian says that he flees almost straight away which does seem to be unlikely. It's this once again this picture of a cowardly Darius to really try and emphasize the strength of Alexander so it seems unlikely that he fled straight away but it also seems quite unlikely that he fled at the very last moment because Darius he ultimately does escape. What's quite interesting about Darius is that he flees and he crosses a river nearby and then his

generals are with him tell him to destroy the bridge so that Alexander can't pursue him or that Alexander will need more time to pursue him but Darius refuses to do this because otherwise it would put all his soldiers at risk of the Macedonians. It would cut off the escape route of his soldiers. So he says, no, I can't do this. And he flees to fight another day, or so he thinks. So Darius flees. And with his flight, the Persians around him, the center of the Persian line, disintegrates. It melts away. It routs. Not long after, the elite Persian cavalry, which was still fighting on the far end of the battlefield against the Macedonians and their allies, which they were clashing with, also flee. So now the Persian army has lost. The centre has routed. The left elite

flank fighting the Macedonian right elite flank has routed. But there are still elements of Persians fighting on the battlefield. And this is particularly on the Macedonian left wing where Parmenion is. Parmenion is very, very hard pressed at the moment. The Persians and their allies opposite them at this time, they probably don't know that the centre of the Persian line has disintegrated, that their colleagues, that their comrades further to the left have also fled. And so here a vicious fight was still raging. There is a story that now Parmenion sends a call for aid. He sends a herald to go and find Alexander and request assistance

in defeating these Persians that were still fighting on the left. This story supposedly stops Alexander from pursuing Darius, from capturing Darius following the battle, but it's likely not true. It's probably more to try and demote, degrade Parmenion, who ultimately he would fall to the assassins's blade from Alexander's orders. He would get on the wrong side of Alexander not long after this battle. What actually happens is that without Alexander being anywhere in sight and despite the overwhelming numbers against him, Parmenion, and this is kudos, this is credit to the elite skill of his Thessalians and also the other soldiers nearby him,

Parmenion's soldiers, they managed to repel the overwhelming Persian numbers faced against them. And then the Persian right wing, the Persians fighting Parmenion themselves flee. It was probably then that they also had heard that the rest of the army had fled and that the battle was lost. This battle has lasted much of the day. Alexander, having forced Arius to flee, had gone in pursuit and he'd gone in pursuit for most of the rest of the day. But near the end of the day, he returns to the battlefield to regroup with his army and to move forwards from there. But it's really interesting because it's at this moment,

at the end of the battle, the battle's already won, but this is where some of the most heavy fighting, according to our sources, takes place. Because as Alexander is returning to the battlefield, those Persians and Indians and other soldiers who had been fighting against Parmenion on the left, they have now just recently decided to retreat, to flee. And so Alexander, returning to the battlefield, and these Persian soldiers leaving the battlefield come into contact with each other. They clash. And it's here that we hear that Alexander's companions encounter some of the most fierce fighting from the battle. Because these Persian soldiers, they're fighting for their lives. They want to get out of this battlefield to

fight another day. And so Alexander and his his companions they come against some ferocious fighting from their opponents we hear lots of elite macedonian heavy cavalrymen lots of companions fall in this final action of the day but ultimately these persian cavalrymen they manage to flee the field the battle of galgamela is now littered. It must have been horrific, horrible sight. It's now just full of death and carnage and horrible scenes that we can barely fathom, we can barely imagine in the 21st century, an ancient battlefield. Alexander is the victor of the battle. He's won the battle of Galgamela. Casualties for the battle, once again, like the numbers for Darius's army, we can't really say. The Persian numbers given by the sources are evidently exaggerated to make the

Macedonian victory look even better. And the Macedonian losses, the Macedonians and their allies, seem definitely to have been minimalised, especially seeing how ferocious the fighting was at several areas of the line during the whole battle. Alexander, he evidently lost a substantial number of troops given the fierce fighting, but the Persian losses were probably greater and it was clear that Alexander had won the day. As mentioned, Darius fled east. He ultimately would cross the Zagros mountains with subordinates such as Bessus, planning to fight another day, to raise new army from his easternmost provinces like Bactria, like Arakosha, and to fight Alexander once more.

But that would never happen, because less than a year later, he was murdered by one of his subordinates, seeking peace with Alexander as he was fleeing further and further east. The Battle of Galgamela would be the last time that Alexander and Darius would face each other on the battlefield. As for Alexander, following the Battle of Galgamela, he was proclaimed king of Asia and his route to Babylon lay open. But there would be more fighting ahead. He was now lord of lands west of the Zagros mountains, but this wasn't enough.

Soon he would continue his campaigns east, ultimately reaching as far as the Saradaria River in modern-day Uzbekistan, the ancient Yaxartes River, and the Indus River Valley in Pakistan. Some of the hardest fighting of his career still lay ahead of him. In modern-day Afghanistan, in the Zagros Mountains himself, at a battle which is dubbed the Persian Thermopylae, the Battle of the Persian Gate, and also in the Indus River Valley. Alexander's victory at the Battle of Galgamela is arguably his greatest, it probably is, it is his greatest pitched battle which he wins. It's a huge moment in his career but it's far from the end for Alexander.

This is only roughly three years into Alexander's campaigning east of the Aegean. He has still got eight more years of campaigning in his life left before he will ultimately die in Babylon on the 11th of June 323 BC. But the Battle of Galgamela is a watershed moment. It's one of the most famous battles from the ancient world and I hope this podcast has shed more light on it. I will see you all in the next episode and until then, have a great one. Thank you.