The Greatest General in History? Alexander the Great (All Parts)

**Alexander the Great (All Parts)**

In 334 BC, Alexander, King of Macedonia, began one of the greatest military campaigns in history against the Persian Empire. Just 20 years old, his brilliant and fearless leadership won him battle after battle. In an astonishing 10-year campaign that took him to the edge of the known world, he carved out one of the largest empires ever known. Few men have had such a massive impact on the course of history. To the Persians, he was known as Alexander the Accursed, but to the west, he was immortalized as Alexander the Great.

**Ancient Greece**

From around 500 BC, this rugged land was the scene of remarkable developments in art, philosophy, and warfare. Its two greatest city-states were Athens, a naval power where democracy, art, drama, and philosophy flourished, and Sparta, an austere, militaristic society famed for its formidable army. In 480 BC, these two city-states joined forces to fight an invasion by the mighty Persian Empire. At the narrow pass of Thermopylae, a small Greek force, led by 300 Spartans, held up the enormous Persian army for three days before they were finally encircled. Then, in the straits of Salamis, the Greek fleet defeated the Persian navy, but they couldn’t prevent the Persians from burning the sacred temples of the Athenian acropolis. The next year, at Plataea, the Greeks won a decisive land battle against the Persians and forced them to abandon their invasion. The next fifty years were the golden age of classical Greece. However, rising tension between Athens and Sparta eventually led to war, dragging the Greek world into decades of destructive fighting. Wars between the Greek city-states continued for almost a century, leaving them exhausted and vulnerable to a new rising power to the north.

For centuries, sophisticated Greeks had viewed the mountainous kingdom of Macedonia as a backwater. But under King Philip II, Macedonia emerged as a formidable military force. His most famous reform was the introduction of the sarissa, an 18-foot pike, twice the length of a normal Greek spear, wielded by trained infantry fighting in close formation, known as a phalanx. In 338 BC, at the Battle of Chaeronea, Philip’s army crushed the joint forces of Thebes and Athens. Through alliance and conquest, Philip had already gained control over most of his neighbors. Following this victory, he united all Greece in an alliance known as the Hellenic League, with Philip as hegemon – or supreme commander. Only Sparta stood aside. Philip began to plan a great campaign – a Panhellenic war against the Persian Empire. Their old foe was now an ailing superpower, its great riches ripe for the taking. But on the eve of launching his war, Philip was assassinated by his own bodyguard. He was succeeded by his 20-year-old son Alexander: brilliant, restless, tutored by the great philosopher Aristotle, and already an experienced military commander.

Alexander inherited his father’s grand plan to invade Persia, but first, he had to secure his own position as king. At home, he had potential rivals executed and crushed rebellions in Illyria, Thessaly, and central Greece. He made a special example of Thebes, completely destroying the ancient city and selling its people into slavery. In the spring of 334 BC, now ready to launch his war against the Persian Empire, Alexander led his army across the Hellespont into Asia Minor. It was the start of one of the greatest military campaigns in history.

**The Macedonian Army**

Alexander’s army was about 40,000 strong, drawn from all parts of Greece. The infantry were commanded by the veteran Macedonian general Parmenion. In the front rank were 9,000 Macedonian phalangites, armed with the 18-foot sarissa. These were professional soldiers, well-trained and drilled, who formed up for battle in the phalanx, 16 ranks deep. This packed formation presented a solid wall of iron spear-tips and was virtually unstoppable. However, it was also difficult to maneuver and highly vulnerable to attacks on its flanks or rear. So, 3,000 elite infantry, the hypaspists, or ‘shield-bearers’, armed with shorter spears, guarded its flanks. They were commanded by Parmenion’s son, Nikanor. The second line of Alexander’s army was made up of 7,000 Greek allies and 5,000 mercenaries, armed as hoplites. They took their name from the hoplon, their large round shield, and carried shorter, 8-foot spears. A hoplite phalanx was not as effective as the Macedonian phalangites, but still well-armed and heavily armored for the time. The Agrianes were the army’s elite skirmishers, expert javelin-throwers from what is now southern Bulgaria. Other skirmishers from Thrace and Illyria were armed with javelins, slings, and bows. The shock troops of Alexander’s army were the Companion Cavalry, 1,800 elite horsemen armed with spear and sword, commanded by Philotas, another son of Parmenion. Alexander led the royal squadron in person. There were also 1,800 cavalry from Thessaly, commanded by Kallas, 600 from other parts of Greece, led by Erigyius, and 900 mounted scouts from Thrace and Paeonia, under Kassander.

**The Granicus**

The great Persian Empire was divided into provinces called satrapies. Each satrapy was ruled by a governor, or satrap. Those in Asia Minor now threatened by Alexander’s invasion met to discuss strategy. Memnon of Rhodes, a skilled Greek general in Persian service, urged them to avoid battle with Alexander. Instead, he advised them to use a ‘scorched earth’ strategy – to burn villages and crops and withdraw to the interior. Alexander’s army, he promised, would quickly starve. It was good advice. But the satraps were unwilling to lay waste to their own provinces without a fight. So they decided to face Alexander’s army at the River Granicus.

The Persian army formed up behind the river, which was shallow but 60 feet wide with steep banks. Their front line was a wall of cavalry, about 10,000 horsemen from across the empire – Medes and Hyrcanians from modern Iran, Bactrians from Afghanistan, and Paphlagonians from Turkey’s Black Sea coast. Behind, in reserve, were the infantry – several thousand Greek mercenaries, a common sight in Persian armies at this time. These men fought for Persian gold and were armed with the round shield and short spear of hoplites. The Persians may have been unsure if they could trust these men in combat against fellow Greeks, and so placed them at the rear. Alexander, determined to attack and destroy this Persian force before it could retreat, raced to the Granicus with his best troops. On his left wing, he posted Thessalian, Greek, and Thracian cavalry under Parmenion’s command. In the center were the massed spears of the phalanx, its six divisions commanded by Perdikkas, Koinos, Amyntas, Philip, Meleager, and Krateros. On the right, Alexander himself, with the Companion Cavalry under Philotas, as well as the elite hypaspists, the Agrianes javelin-throwers, and the archers.

Alexander, with 13,000 infantry and 5,000 cavalry in all, was probably slightly outnumbered. But ignoring advice to wait until dawn to cross the river, he ordered an immediate assault. He sent a squadron of Companion cavalry to ford the river, followed by a regiment of hypaspists and the Paeonian light cavalry. Alexander, calling on his men to show their courage, then led his right wing across the river. As they reached the middle of the river, the Greeks came under a hail of javelins, darts, and arrows from the Persian line. Those that made it to the far bank were immediately charged by the Persian cavalry.

Alexander was in the thick of the fighting. He attacked where the whole mass of their cavalry and leaders were stationed. Around him, a desperate conflict raged. The Macedonians strove to drive the Persians away from the riverbank, while the Persians were determined to prevent them from crossing and to push them back into the river. Alexander’s attack seemed reckless, but he was buying time for the rest of his army to cross the river, including the irresistible Macedonian phalanx. Then suddenly, Alexander was fighting for his life, charged by two Persian nobles. Rhoesaces rode up to Alexander and struck him on the head with his sword, breaking off a piece of his helmet. But the helmet broke the force of the blow, and Alexander struck him down with his lance. Then, from behind, Spithridates raised his sword against the king, but Black Cleitus, son of Dropidas, anticipated his blow, struck his arm, and cut it off, sword and all. Now the Greek army was across the river, and the Persian cavalry faced a wall of Macedonian spears. Most turned and fled.

The speed and shock of Alexander’s attack meant Persia’s Greek mercenaries hadn’t even had time to join the battle. Alexander, in a blood-rage, or possibly regarding these Greeks as traitors, ignored their appeals for mercy. The mercenaries were surrounded on all sides and massacred. Alexander had won a great victory. Asia Minor now lay at his mercy. But the Persian Empire was still a land of immense wealth and power. Already it was mobilizing its vast resources to face him. If Alexander was to conquer this empire and take his place in history, he’d next have to face Darius, King of Kings, himself.

Now, as Alexander approached Sardis, capital of the Persian province of Lydia, its commander surrendered without a fight. But before Alexander could advance further, he needed to neutralize Persian naval power. Persia had a powerful fleet, with major naval bases around the eastern Mediterranean that could potentially cut his lines of communication back to Greece. Rather than challenge the Persians at sea, Alexander decided to attack their nearest bases: the Greek coastal cities of Miletus and Halicarnassus. Both put up determined resistance but were taken by winter. The following spring of 333 BC, Alexander continued his advance into Lycia and Phrygia. At Gordium, he was shown the legendary ‘Gordian Knot’ – a prophecy said that whoever could unpick it would rule all Asia. Alexander simply took his sword and sliced it in half.

Meanwhile, Memnon of Rhodes, a skilled Greek general in Persian service, led Persian warships into the Aegean and captured the islands of Chios and Lesbos. But after Memnon’s sudden death from illness, the offensive was abandoned.

**The Battle of Issus**

Eighteen months had passed since Alexander’s army crossed the Hellespont and invaded the Persian Empire. Now Alexander led his men into Cilicia and was soon poised to cross the Nur Mountains into Syria. But then the main Persian army, led by King Darius III himself, emerged behind the Greek army to the north. Darius was determined to trap and destroy Alexander’s army, which he outnumbered almost 2 to 1. So he blocked Alexander’s only escape route by moving his army to the coastal plain near Issus, just 6 miles wide from mountains to sea. The narrow battlefield would force Alexander to fight, but it also prevented Darius from exploiting his huge numerical advantage. His army, by some estimates, was up to 100,000 strong and contained some of the finest soldiers in his vast empire, including 10,000 of his own household troops, known as the Immortals. His best cavalry were massed on his right, towards the sea, where the ground was better for horses. His best infantry, his Greek mercenary hoplites, formed the center. Persian infantry formed his left wing.

Alexander deployed his own army for battle, once again entrusting his left wing, nearest the sea, to Parmenion, with the Greek cavalry and infantry. In the center, as always, was the Macedonian phalanx. Alexander positioned himself and his best troops on the right wing, toward the mountain slopes – his elite Agrianes javelin-throwers, his archers, and behind them, the Hypaspists and the Companion cavalry. When Alexander saw the strength of the Persian cavalry facing Parmenion on the left, he moved across his Thessalian cavalry to reinforce him. Despite his overwhelming numbers, Darius held his position behind a small river, the Pinarus, and waited for Alexander to attack. He didn’t have to wait long. Alexander called out to his men, urging them to fight bravely, picking out some by name. Then, at the head of his army’s right wing, he charged. Once again, the speed and shock of the Macedonian advance sent the enemy reeling back.

But in the center of the battlefield, the Macedonian phalanx was in trouble. In its effort to keep up with Alexander, its formation had become disordered. Now, in fierce fighting, with Darius’s Greek mercenaries, the phalanx was slowly being driven back. Alexander, seeing the danger, regrouped and led the Companions in a headlong charge straight at the Persian center. The Greek mercenaries, threatened on their flank, were soon in disarray, and the Macedonian phalanx was able to resume its advance. Alexander fought his way towards the Great King, Darius himself. Rather than face this apparently mad and fearless Macedonian king, Darius fled the battlefield in his royal chariot. Meanwhile, the Macedonian left wing, under Parmenion, was in a desperate fight against the best of the Persian cavalry. If the Persians could break through here, they could envelop Alexander’s army and snatch victory from the jaws of defeat. But Parmenion and his troops fought doggedly and continued to hold the Persians at bay. As the news that Darius had fled spread among his troops, they abandoned the fight and tried to save themselves. The battle turned into a massacre.

The Battle of Issus was a stunning victory for Alexander. Amongst the spoils of victory were Darius’s wife, mother, and three children, all taken alive and well treated by Alexander. With the Persian field army in retreat, Alexander now turned to subduing the western territories of the Persian empire. The next year, 332, the coastal cities of Phoenicia submitted to Alexander, ending Persian naval power in the Mediterranean. But the island-city of Tyre resisted. Tyre’s defenders fought bravely and skillfully, even when Alexander began building a causeway to the island, protected by two giant siege towers, which they counter-attacked with fire ships. But after seven months, the city walls were breached, and Tyre fell. Most of its citizens were killed or enslaved. Gaza too was taken by siege. Alexander continued to Pelusium, on the Nile Delta, where the Persian governor of Egypt surrendered the entire province to Alexander, along with the royal treasury. At Memphis, priests of this ancient land welcomed Alexander as their liberator from Persian rule and crowned him Pharaoh. At the mouth of the Nile, he founded a new city, Alexandria, and then traveled to the desert oracle of Siwah, where, according to some accounts, the priests welcomed him as son of Amun, king of the gods.

Alexander returned east to Tyre, where in 331 BC, he received news of trouble back home. Despite his great victories over the Persians, many Greeks regarded Alexander as a tyrant. King Agis of Sparta, with Persian support, launched a revolt against Macedonia. Antipater, Alexander’s commander in Greece, was already dealing with rebellion in Thrace. But he quickly marched south and met Agis in battle near the city of Megalopolis. Even the legendary Spartans were now no match for Macedonian military power. The Spartan army was crushed, and King Agis himself was among the fallen. With his base in Greece secure once more, Alexander advanced towards the Persian heartlands, seeking a final showdown with Darius. He received a letter from the Persian king offering him a fortune in gold, his daughter in marriage, and half his empire in exchange for peace. But Alexander’s stunning victories had now convinced him that his destiny was to rule the world. He rejected the Persian king’s offer. He didn’t want half the empire – he was coming to take it all.

In 334 BC, Alexander, 21-year-old ruler of the small Greek kingdom of Macedonia, led an invasion of the vast Persian Empire. It seemed impossible odds, but thanks to Greek military dominance and Alexander’s fearless leadership, he won two great battles against the Persians at the River Granicus and at Issus. Having subdued Persian lands west of the Euphrates River, he now headed east into the empire’s heartlands, seeking a final showdown with the Persian King, Darius III. Receiving news that a great Persian army, led by Darius, had assembled at Gaugamela, near modern Mosul in Iraq, he made straight for it. This was Darius’s last chance to stop Alexander – and Alexander’s chance to smash Persian power once and for all.

**The Battle of Gaugamela**

Darius had chosen to fight on open ground, where his advantage in numbers would be more telling. His soldiers had also worked hard to clear and flatten the terrain to make it suitable for Persian war chariots. By modern estimates, the Persian Army was between 50,000 and 80,000 strong and made up of contingents from across the empire: infantry from Syria and Babylonia, cavalry from Armenia, India, and Central Asia, up to 200 scythed chariots, and even a handful of war elephants. Alexander’s army was smaller and may have been outnumbered by as much as two to one. He deployed his units in their usual formation: on the left flank, Thracian and Thessalian cavalry, commanded by Parmenion. In the center, the Macedonian veterans of the phalanx – each armed with their 18-foot sarissa pike. On the right flank, Alexander with his elite cavalry, the Companions, and his best infantry, the hypaspists. These were the units with which Alexander planned to launch his main attack. Greek hoplites formed a second line and supported both wings, which were angled back to guard against encirclement by the Persians.

The battle began when Alexander led his wing out to the right – a move that took the Persians by surprise. Could Alexander really be trying to encircle their huge army? The Persians mirrored his movement, taking troops away from their center to outflank Alexander and prevent him from leaving the area they’d cleared for the Persian chariots. But Alexander’s unusual maneuver was a trap – to entice the Persians to weaken their center. When he saw that it had worked, he ordered his Greek cavalry to charge to keep the Persians fixed in position. A