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Hello everyone!

2:55

Welcome to the History of Persia,

2:59

episode 107. Hetairoi

3:03

Monster. Last

3:05

time we watched as Alexander

3:07

III of Macedon invaded

3:09

Anatolia at the head of the largest

3:12

Greek army to ever breach the

3:14

Persian Empire. He

3:16

led his troops to the Battle of the Granicus,

3:19

where the new Macedonian army faced

3:21

off with the assembled forces of

3:24

most of the regional satraps, and not

3:26

only won, but utterly shattered

3:28

their capacity to resist the invasion.

3:32

Of the major Persian commanders, only

3:34

Memnon of Rhodes managed to

3:36

retain any semblance of command

3:38

in the west, and the majority

3:41

of major Persian leaders on the battlefield

3:43

didn't even escape with their lives.

3:47

The Macedonians proceeded to divide

3:49

and conquer, with the veteran

3:51

general Parmenion heading east

3:53

to subdue inland Phrygia, and

3:56

Alexander himself sweeping through

3:58

the Ionian cities all alone. but unopposed,

4:01

routing Memnon out of Miletus

4:04

and pursuing him on to the Carrion

4:06

capital of Halicarnassus. While

4:10

en route to Halicarnassus, Alexander

4:14

and a small contingent diverted

4:16

to visit with Queen Ada, the

4:18

disputed satrap queen of the province

4:22

who had been besieged in the city of

4:24

Alinda for the better part of a decade

4:26

before Alexander's arrival. Her

4:29

nephew, Orontabates, had

4:32

recalled his troops to defend

4:34

Halicarnassus, which allowed

4:37

Ada to meet with Alexander uncontested

4:40

and come to a favorable agreement for

4:42

both of them. Realistically,

4:45

Halicarnassus was going to fall.

4:48

There simply wasn't time for Darius

4:50

III and the Royal Army to assemble

4:53

and travel all the way to Caria

4:55

before Orontabates and Memnon

4:58

ran out of supplies. So

5:00

the elderly and childless

5:02

Queen in exile formally

5:05

adopted Alexander himself

5:07

on the condition that once Halicarnassus

5:10

fell, she would resume

5:12

her position as Queen of Caria,

5:15

as a Macedonian vassal rather

5:17

than a Persian one. Then

5:20

at the end of her natural life, formal

5:22

direct rule of the province would

5:25

pass to Alexander. The

5:27

King agreed, and he took some

5:30

of Ada's loyalists with him. They

5:33

rendezvoused with the rest of the Macedonian

5:35

army outside of Halicarnassus.

5:39

By the time he reached the city, Alexander

5:41

had siege engines prepared and reinforcements

5:44

from Europe. The Carian

5:46

capital had a deep, wide,

5:49

dry moat running around its walls.

5:53

In principle, this prevented any

5:55

siege engines like towers or

5:58

battering rams from approaching the city. city,

6:01

and it forced an attacking army to climb

6:03

in and out to reach the walls,

6:06

with arrows raining down on them the whole

6:08

time. So Alexander

6:11

ordered his men to fill it in. Sure,

6:14

they'd be under fire doing that too,

6:17

but once it was filled, the siege towers

6:20

could turn the tables. Gargantuan

6:23

rolling buildings allowed the Macedonians

6:26

to fire down on the Halicarnassian

6:28

walls with more new toys.

6:32

The Gastrofates, an early

6:34

form of the crossbow that was

6:36

supposed to be mounted on a stand

6:39

and used from these sorts of towers. And

6:42

the Oxubeles, an

6:44

oversized version of the Gastrofates

6:47

that functioned as a sort of proto-ballista,

6:50

hurling massive bolts that could do serious

6:53

damage to whole buildings, let alone

6:55

people. Fists

6:57

and arrows now rained down

7:00

on Halicarnassus, and the catapults

7:03

began pounding away at the walls.

7:06

On the first night after this assault

7:08

began, a small force of Halicarnassians

7:11

crept out under cover of dark and

7:14

set fire to the towers, but

7:17

were intercepted by a Macedonian

7:19

garrison. 174 Halicarnassians

7:23

died in the attempt, including a

7:25

Macedonian noble and brother of

7:28

Alexander's general, Amentus, who

7:30

had joined Memnon's mercenary company.

7:34

And so it went. For three

7:36

days. Alexander

7:38

deployed towers, Memnon set them

7:40

alight. The Macedonians

7:43

breached the walls, the Halicarnassians

7:45

had already stationed a force large enough

7:47

to defend from the other side. In

7:50

the midst of all this, a conspiracy

7:53

was unfolding in the Macedonian camp.

7:57

You'll notice a pattern in the coming

7:59

episodes. that while Alexander

8:02

was extremely popular with his men,

8:04

there were constantly elements of the Macedonian

8:07

nobility who really wanted

8:10

to oust him or rein him in. In

8:13

this case, it was actually another

8:15

man named Alexander, as

8:18

if the names aren't confusing enough

8:20

in this period. This

8:22

is Alexander Lunchestios,

8:25

whose brother had briefly been implicated

8:28

in the plot to murder Philip II,

8:30

but was pardoned by King Alexander.

8:34

Well, in the course of the initial

8:36

invasion of Anatolia a few years

8:38

earlier, one of Alexander's

8:41

officers called Amentus, because

8:43

the Macedonians only have like seven

8:45

names, had been persuaded

8:49

to turncoat and join the Persians

8:51

as a military advisor, providing

8:54

insight into Macedonian tactics

8:57

and which other officers might betray

9:00

their king. He identified

9:03

Alexander Lunchestios, now

9:05

commander of the companion cavalry

9:08

with King Alexander's army, as

9:10

a potential asset for the Persians.

9:14

Darius III dispatched

9:16

one of his king's eyes, the

9:18

semi-independent spies and

9:21

viceroys who monitored the provinces,

9:23

out to Anatolia on the basis

9:26

of meeting with Satrap Atazuys

9:29

in Greater Phrygia in order to coordinate

9:31

the Persian response, a

9:34

relatively banal military matter

9:36

given the circumstances. In

9:39

reality, this king's eye, Sassines,

9:43

was going to meet with Lunchestios

9:46

to arrange three things, a

9:49

plot to assassinate the Macedonian

9:51

king, a payment of 1,000 talents or 33

9:53

tons of gold, and plans to

9:59

install Alexander Lincestios

10:02

as the new King of Macedon following

10:05

his success. It

10:07

was an ambitious plan,

10:09

one that would have potentially made

10:12

the Persian Empire larger than it had

10:14

ever been before,

10:16

with the entire Macedonian Empire

10:19

as its vassal. Unfortunately

10:22

for Sesines, he was traveling

10:25

through central Anatolia, where

10:27

Parmenion was rapidly conquering territory

10:30

in the highlands, and the King's eye

10:33

was captured by Macedonian scouts,

10:36

brought before Parmenion, and

10:38

forced to confess his plans. This

10:42

was far too sensitive a matter

10:44

to entrust to a large group of common

10:46

soldiers, or put into writing and

10:48

risk being captured.

10:51

Parmenion assigned his most trusted messenger

10:53

to the task of memorizing and delivering

10:56

a warning to King Alexander Verbatim.

11:00

The exact message is not documented

11:02

of course, but we can assume it went something

11:04

like,

11:06

I may only tell this to the King himself.

11:09

Alexander Lincestios is a traitor

11:11

and an assassin. According

11:14

to legend, on the same morning that

11:16

this messenger set off to Halicarnassus,

11:19

King Alexander was woken up

11:21

and spent his early morning being harassed

11:24

by a swallow that kept flying

11:26

around his tent and landing on his

11:29

head. Taking this

11:31

as an omen, the King asked one of his

11:33

soothsayers about it, who

11:35

interpreted the little bird as a warning

11:38

that Alexander was about to be betrayed

11:40

by a friend. Sure

11:42

enough, Parmenion's messenger arrived,

11:45

and King Alexander was forced to

11:47

detain Alexander Lincestios.

11:51

However,

11:52

the traitor was not executed.

11:55

Clearly an execution was actually

11:57

the worst option. Linkestios'

12:00

sister was married to Antipater,

12:04

the nobleman currently ruling as

12:06

Alexander's regent back in Macedon.

12:10

Killing the brother-in-law of the man actually

12:12

ruling the kingdom was a bad move.

12:16

So Alexander Linkestios was bound

12:18

and imprisoned for the remainder of the campaign.

12:22

On the third day outside Halicarnassus,

12:25

the Macedonians forced their way through

12:28

the outer walls and Memnon ordered

12:30

his troops to retreat to the older

12:33

inner city. They repeated

12:35

the process and about one week

12:38

into the siege Alexander was making

12:40

progress there as well.

12:43

He personally commanded a section

12:45

of the army assaulting a portion of

12:47

the walls that had started to collapse.

12:51

There were already gaps but too small

12:53

for a full army to attack the city.

12:56

But not too small for

12:58

them to attack out of

13:01

the city. Simultaneously

13:04

three things began to happen. Halicarnassus'

13:08

defenders began hurling

13:10

torches down from the walls and

13:13

onto the Macedonian siege engines,

13:16

igniting them. Soldiers

13:18

began rushing out of the gaps

13:20

in the wall where Alexander was in

13:23

command, and the city's

13:25

most heavily defended gate,

13:27

under siege by Alexander's close

13:30

friend and bodyguard Ptolemy,

13:33

was flung open

13:35

so another sortie emerged

13:37

to attack the Macedonians.

13:40

How's that for a movie?

13:42

Siege towers burning and collapsing

13:45

in the background, a sudden

13:47

and unexpected melee at the gates,

13:49

and desperate men charging

13:51

out from the holes in their own defenses

13:54

to attack the enemy king. Alexander

13:57

whirled around and began shouting orders

13:59

and directing his artillery to concentrate

14:02

fire on the particularly collapsed

14:05

sections of wall.

14:07

Huge rocks soaring,

14:09

oxabay lace bolts cracking

14:11

through the bricks and mortar. Swords

14:14

and spears clashed and men screamed

14:17

and the world shook and the wall

14:19

came down.

14:21

The defenders,

14:23

in one last attempt to throw

14:25

back the Macedonian invader, were

14:28

largely crushed under their

14:30

own fortifications.

14:33

Meanwhile, Arian reports that

14:35

Ptolemy's battle at the gate was

14:38

the most gruesome event of the whole

14:40

siege. To facilitate

14:43

their offensive, the Halicarnassians

14:45

had laid wooden planks across

14:48

an unfilled section of moat.

14:51

Ptolemy forced them to rout

14:53

so quickly that so many

14:56

men were on the planks at

14:58

once that they just collapsed.

15:02

This ditch was mercifully shallower

15:04

than the one at the outer wall,

15:07

but Arian tells us that the men who

15:09

fell through the boards were trampled

15:11

by their comrades.

15:14

In the moat,

15:15

not crushed by others following

15:18

on them,

15:19

trampled under foot at

15:22

ground level in a trench,

15:25

filled with bodies. Once

15:27

they were trampled by their comrades, Ptolemy

15:31

led the Macedonians across

15:33

the new-formed bridge of corpses,

15:36

hoping to storm the gates before

15:38

they swung shut.

15:40

Instead,

15:42

they swung shut before all of the Halicarnassians

15:44

could even get through, leaving

15:47

them pinned up against the doors of their city

15:49

as the Macedonian infantry bore

15:51

down on them. Stabbing

15:54

like fish in a barrel, they were massacred.

15:56

Memnon and Orontobotis,

15:59

the looked out of the city and

16:02

saw Alexander's forces starting

16:04

to move through the collapsed wall and

16:07

seeing cracks forming in other sections.

16:10

Halicarnassus was lost and

16:13

they had no way to run far enough. The

16:16

city's Persian garrison and Greek mercenaries

16:18

were ordered to fall back to the citadel

16:21

in the center of town, but not

16:23

before igniting the inner city

16:26

themselves. It was

16:28

a little late for the scorched earth

16:30

tactic, but that was Memnon's

16:32

best idea. The district

16:35

closest to the walls were burned along

16:37

with all the Persian armories and

16:40

counter-seige engines as

16:42

a means to rob the Macedonians of

16:44

plundered equipment and slow their

16:46

advance through the city streets. The

16:49

inhabitants be damned the commanders

16:51

needed to escape. In

16:53

the morning, Alexander surveyed

16:55

the situation, ordered

16:57

additional sections of the city that contained

17:00

worthwhile loot or could resist

17:02

to be burned as well, and

17:05

arranged for the dead to be buried.

17:08

He then left

17:09

Ptolemy and Queen Ada in

17:11

command of the ruins to rout out

17:13

Memnon and Orontabates. Stone

17:16

construction had mostly spared

17:19

the public buildings like her brother's

17:21

tomb,

17:22

and you have to imagine that Ada relished

17:25

the opportunity to besiege her traitorous

17:27

nephew.

17:29

But her city was in ashes.

17:32

Alexander just took the bulk of the army

17:35

and headed inland.

17:37

Despite another siege,

17:40

Memnon and Orontabates actually

17:42

managed to slip through the blockade once

17:44

again and fled out to

17:47

sea. With Memnon taking

17:49

command of the remaining Persian navy,

17:52

and Orontabates finding a ship

17:54

to go south to Phoenicia, where

17:56

he would eventually head back to the royal

17:59

court and war Darius III

18:01

of further, unprecedented Macedonian

18:04

success. Memnon

18:06

assembled his forces, pulling

18:09

ships from Egypt, Phoenicia, and Cyprus

18:11

to launch the Counter-Strike. He

18:14

made contact with King Agis III

18:17

of Sparta and Athens'

18:20

current demagogue of the day, Demosthenes.

18:24

A new alliance of Athens and Sparta

18:26

began making plans to revolt

18:28

against Macedonian hegemony in

18:30

Greece, while Memnon set

18:32

out to pick his way through Macedon's

18:35

supply lines to aid the

18:37

Greek rebels. This

18:39

plot had the potential

18:41

to utterly destroy Alexander's plans

18:44

for advancing further south. He

18:46

was still reliant on ever-extending

18:49

supply lines that reached all the way

18:51

back to Macedon via the Hellespont,

18:54

and the Greek subjects in the Macedonian

18:56

army would almost certainly mutiny

18:59

if their homelands went into rebellion.

19:02

Memnon, though, didn't

19:04

make it past the island of Lesbos.

19:08

He was able to retake Chios

19:10

for the empire by supporting an oligarchic

19:13

coup there, but Lesbos

19:15

put up more resistance. Memnon

19:18

managed to capture most of the island

19:21

himself, but fell ill and

19:23

died due to some infection

19:25

or camp plague during the siege

19:28

of the Macedonian-held city of

19:30

Mitilene. Darius

19:33

III appointed Memnon's brother-in-law

19:35

Pharnabazis III, last

19:38

of the Pharnachid satraps to take

19:40

command of the navy and harass

19:42

the Macedonian supply lines. This

19:46

oversaw the conquest of Mitilene,

19:49

expelling the Macedonian garrison there

19:52

and installing a Persian-allied

19:54

Greek tyrant to govern Lesbos

19:57

before setting out toward the Hellespont.

20:00

And we will make it back to

20:02

the Persian fleet, but for

20:04

now, we're

20:05

going to take a quick break and

20:08

then get back to the ongoing

20:10

conquest.

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21:14

Back on dry land, spring

21:17

turned to summer of 334,

21:20

and the Macedonian storm in

21:22

Anatolia had become a flood.

21:24

Alexander, Parmenion,

21:27

and Lysimachus may each nominally

21:30

have commanded their own sections of the army

21:32

in southern, central, and western Anatolia,

21:35

respectively.

21:37

But Parmenion and

21:38

Alexander's forces rapidly

21:40

split apart as they entered the

21:43

more sparsely populated interior,

21:46

dealing with villages, towns, and tribes,

21:48

rather than cities and ports. Unlike

21:52

the large cities that had already fallen,

21:54

these places were not Greek. They

21:56

didn't see their own cultural

21:59

cousins coming. to free them,

22:01

or a change in ruler without much

22:04

change in the system. The

22:06

Phrygians just saw a foreign

22:09

invader come to raid and pillage.

22:12

However, they were also not as wealthy,

22:15

prepared, or experienced as

22:17

the coastal defenders, and

22:20

one by one those that resisted

22:22

were crushed by the Macedonians. Alexander

22:26

himself took the southmost route,

22:29

the one with the most true cities,

22:31

leading his troops out of Caria and

22:34

into Lycia. I've

22:36

mentioned before that over the centuries

22:39

this small coastal region of

22:41

southern Anatolia had grown more

22:43

and more Greek-like. A

22:46

phenomenon that after this time will be

22:48

known as Hellenization.

22:52

Alexander personally negotiated a surrender

22:55

from one of them, and then used

22:57

that agreement as the template for all

22:59

of Lycia, taking the region

23:01

largely unopposed. Undoubtedly

23:05

many small towns that couldn't hope

23:07

to stand against the Macedonians

23:09

in eastern Caria and Greater Phrygia

23:11

did the same. He stopped

23:14

briefly to make arrangements in some notable

23:16

cities throughout the region, names

23:18

you might remember like Xanthos. But

23:22

nothing eventful happened until

23:24

Alexander reached the northeastern

23:26

edge of Lycia, where it intersected

23:29

with Pisidia, that ever-rebellious

23:32

region that gave Darius II and

23:34

Artaxerxes II on and off

23:37

trouble. Here Alexander

23:39

found the Lycian city of Phacelis,

23:43

which was locked in a low-grade war

23:45

of raids and skirmishes with the Pisidians

23:48

just over the border. Remember,

23:51

even within the Persian Empire, small

23:53

local disputes were often handled

23:56

with arms. Alexander

23:58

led the Lycians alongside his

24:01

own troops to assault a Pisidian

24:03

fort overlooking Phacelis, capturing

24:07

it and beginning to plan for a

24:09

campaign into Pisidia and

24:11

neighboring Pamphylia. We've

24:14

encountered these regions before on

24:16

the podcast. They were sparsely

24:19

inhabited by largely tribal

24:21

herding cultures, and

24:24

Alexander unsurprisingly had

24:26

very little trouble with his conquests

24:28

here. It's a litany

24:30

of individual tribes and villages

24:33

punctuated by the occasional raid

24:35

on the Macedonian camp or javelin-herling

24:38

skirmish. If you

24:40

want to hear about what that looked like, go

24:42

back and listen to the episodes about Xenophon

24:45

and the 10,000 Greek mercenaries. It's

24:48

basically that, but on the offensive.

24:51

The only hiccup Alexander encountered

24:54

in this phase of his advance actually

24:57

came in the rear. The

24:59

city of Aspendos, on

25:01

the border between Lycia and Pamphylia,

25:04

had surrendered willingly,

25:06

but suddenly refused to pay

25:08

the tribute or provide the horses

25:11

to the Macedonian army, which they

25:13

had initially agreed to do. So

25:16

presumably groaning and swearing

25:19

and a bit baffled that this one little

25:21

city thought it could resist, Alexander

25:24

briefly turned his men around, marched

25:26

back, besieged and sacked Aspendos,

25:29

and forced them to comply. After

25:33

Aspendos, it was getting closer

25:35

to autumn and before long

25:38

winter. So Alexander

25:40

made a beeline for Greater Phrygia,

25:43

where he would rendezvous with Parmenion

25:45

and make plans to establish winter

25:47

quarters for the army. The

25:50

next phase of the campaign involved

25:52

too many mountain passes to realistically

25:55

plan for a winter war. Alexander

25:58

pressed through Pacific with some more skirmishes

26:01

that may as well not have happened for all

26:03

they accomplished, and then

26:06

into the southern portion of Greater

26:08

Frigia.

26:09

Of course,

26:10

Alexander did not know this, but

26:13

he was entering some very old

26:16

lands now. A

26:18

thousand years earlier, this region

26:20

had been a stronghold of the Hittite

26:23

Empire, and some of the

26:25

cities there had been fortified

26:27

against invaders, successfully

26:29

or not, for longer than Alexander's

26:32

people could accurately describe their

26:34

own history. So

26:37

naturally, he had to have it. Soon

26:40

after reaching the region, Alexander

26:43

besieged Kelenai, a city

26:46

centered on a steep hillside that was

26:48

a little more than a heavily

26:50

fortified boulder.

26:52

It was great for defense, but

26:55

bad for long-term siege.

26:57

The Macedonian king

26:59

had no compunction against waiting,

27:02

and his siege engines far outmatched

27:04

the defenses of the Frigian citadel.

27:08

Kelenai fell,

27:10

opening the path for Alexander to

27:12

march almost all the way back to

27:14

the Hellespont, to the provincial

27:16

capital of Gordian, a

27:19

city whose citadel had stood

27:21

for 2,000 years already by

27:24

the time the Macedonians got there.

27:27

Antigonus, up until now

27:30

a commander of the Greek subjects

27:32

in Alexander's army, was

27:34

appointed as the Macedonian satrap

27:37

of Frigia and left to solidify

27:39

their role in the surrounding area

27:41

from a base in Kelenai while Alexander

27:44

moved on to Gordian.

27:47

This was Antigonus Monophthalmos,

27:50

meaning the one-eyed, who

27:53

had lost his left eye while serving

27:55

under Philip II. Once

27:58

again, Alexander does his very best. best

28:00

to leave the older generation

28:02

behind in positions of regional

28:05

command and move on without

28:07

them. However, he

28:09

was still reuniting with Parmenion,

28:11

who returned to Alexander's side

28:14

just outside Gordian, reuniting

28:16

the full offensive force of the Macedonian

28:19

army, and the city promptly

28:22

surrendered, allowing the Macedonians in

28:24

and giving them ease of access to the

28:26

neighboring ports. Alexander

28:29

declared that all his men who

28:32

had recently been married, meaning

28:34

those younger men who had left home

28:36

to serve in the Macedonian army but

28:38

had no sons, would go

28:40

home for some leave and to make

28:42

some heirs so this war wouldn't

28:45

end their family lines or to populate

28:47

their country. Honestly,

28:50

it was kind of a sound policy.

28:53

He also received a letter from Athens

28:56

asking Alexander to release the Athenian

28:58

mercenaries in Persian service who

29:00

had been taken captive. Alexander

29:04

wrote a letter back that basically said,

29:06

no, I'm still at war,

29:09

they are not trustworthy, they are prisoners

29:11

until I have won. Meanwhile,

29:14

the Persian navy in the Aegean

29:17

was experiencing some extreme

29:19

whiplash. They

29:21

had just captured Lesbos, basically

29:24

on the doorstep to the Hellespont, when

29:27

Pharnabazis III got word that

29:30

Alexander had swept through southern Anatolia

29:33

and was basically tracing the outline

29:35

of the Taurus Mountains. That

29:37

meant he was within striking distance of

29:39

Cilicia, the Persian navy's

29:42

primary port in the region, and

29:45

the Cilician gates. One

29:47

of the easily fortified passes that

29:50

Darius III was planning

29:52

to use when he launched the counter

29:54

offensive the next spring. So

29:57

Pharnabazis split the fleet and

29:59

personally turned south all the way

30:01

back to Lycia to try and

30:03

break up some of Alexander's control

30:06

there. Arian doesn't

30:08

specify, but this may explain

30:10

why Aspendos rebelled against

30:12

Alexander. Farnabosus'

30:15

co-commander, Atofredates,

30:18

likely grandson of the earlier Satrap

30:20

by the same name, continued

30:23

on toward the Hellespont to sever the

30:25

Macedonian supply lines with an attack

30:27

in the city of Tenidos. He

30:30

seized the city with relative ease, as

30:33

the Macedonians had minimal naval

30:35

defenses this far in their rear,

30:38

and destroyed two stelae in the city.

30:41

One was a stone pillar inscribed

30:43

with a copy of the Treaty of Surrender

30:46

Tenidos had just signed with Alexander.

30:49

Okay,

30:50

that one makes sense, obviously you'd

30:53

symbolically abolish that. But

30:55

then Atofredates noticed another treaty

30:58

inscribed on a pillar, older

31:01

and weathered, a copy

31:03

of the king's piece that had been erected 53

31:05

years earlier.

31:09

That too was pulled down, a

31:11

message that there would be no peaceful

31:14

compromise this time around. Realizing

31:18

the growing threat of renewed Persian

31:20

naval activity, Antipater,

31:23

the Macedonian regent, made

31:25

an executive decision. He

31:28

reassembled their own fleet, scrambled

31:30

the ships back into the Aegean, with

31:33

directions to hunt down any

31:35

major Persian detachments as quickly as

31:37

possible.

31:39

Bear in mind that we are not talking about

31:41

the full 300 strong

31:43

Persian navy anymore.

31:46

They were down to maybe a hundred

31:48

ships, if that.

31:50

The Macedonians began hunting at

31:52

sea, picking off groups of 10 to 15

31:55

ships across the northeastern

31:58

Aegean.

31:59

loss was a devastating blow. Before

32:03

long, Atofredates and Farnabazis

32:06

simply did not have enough triremes

32:09

to stand against their enemies, and

32:11

had to retire to Phoenicia for the

32:13

winter. Back north,

32:16

Alexander settled into winter quarters

32:19

at Gordian. Planning to

32:21

sit by the fire, drink copious

32:23

amounts of wine as was his custom,

32:26

plan new and greater victories

32:28

for the spring, and work on

32:30

some puzzles.

32:32

Now,

32:33

some historians cast doubt

32:36

on this part of the story because it involves

32:38

some particularly convenient prophecy.

32:42

But I like it, and honestly, 99%

32:44

of the story is totally plausible.

32:49

Some people try to cast additional

32:51

aspersions on this because the

32:53

traditional telling in our sources

32:56

talk a lot about Greek gods

32:58

in a Phrygian story, but come

33:01

on people.

33:02

If they can call

33:03

Onahita Aphrodite, they

33:05

can call some Phrygian storm god

33:08

Zeus. It's fine.

33:10

According to myth, the city

33:13

of Gordian was founded by a man

33:15

named Gordius, which

33:17

sounds silly on its face, but

33:19

uh, get used to

33:21

smug rulers naming places

33:24

after themselves. It's

33:26

gonna be a whole thing for the next,

33:29

well actually for the rest of the series. Anyway,

33:34

Gordius was actually a

33:36

poor farmer, out plowing

33:39

his fields with an ox yoked

33:41

to the plow, when an eagle

33:43

landed on the rope holding the

33:45

ox to the cart.

33:48

A good omen from Zeus, but

33:50

indicating what,

33:52

Gordius did not know. Well,

33:55

time went by, Gordius

33:58

had a son named Midas. and

34:00

the country was gripped by strife.

34:03

But an oracle of Phrygian Zeus

34:05

told the people that their savior

34:08

would come on a wagon.

34:10

Well sure enough,

34:12

Midas came in with his mother and father

34:15

on that old wagon drawn by the

34:17

old ox and the old rope. This

34:20

Midas was declared king, and

34:23

though he was also famous for his love

34:25

of gold in mythology, that

34:28

is not the important detail here.

34:31

Instead, Midas dedicated

34:33

that old wagon and yoke to

34:35

the temple, where an oracle

34:37

proclaimed that

34:39

whoever could unwind the

34:41

knot holding the yoke and the wagon

34:43

together would be destined

34:46

to become king of all Asia.

34:49

This is the only really dubious

34:51

part of the story.

34:53

That is a very Greek idea,

34:56

king of all Asia.

34:58

People living in inland

35:00

Anatolia and further east had

35:02

a better understanding that all

35:04

Asia wasn't really a single thing

35:07

that had ever been united before the Achaemenids

35:10

forced it all together. If

35:12

this was really a myth before

35:14

Alexander, I'd guess

35:17

that it was something like king of all Phrygia,

35:20

or perhaps it was an older story

35:22

and a sort of king Arthur legend.

35:25

Whoever can pull the knot apart

35:28

is the true heir to the Hittites or

35:31

something like that and it morphed over time.

35:34

Whatever the case, Alexander

35:37

and his advisors puzzled over this

35:39

knot that winter and one

35:42

of two stories played out. Arian

35:45

tells us the boring version, in

35:48

which one of the Macedonian nobles

35:51

notices, apparently the first

35:53

person to ever do so, that

35:56

the knotted rope was not actually

35:58

the thing holding the wagon. and the yoke

36:01

together, but a reinforced

36:04

wrapping around an iron bolt.

36:07

So he pulled out the bolt and all

36:09

Alexander had to do was give a little

36:12

tug for the whole setup to come apart.

36:14

Lame. Curtius,

36:18

Justin, and Ilean all report

36:21

the more fun version, which

36:24

though more dramatic, is way more

36:26

in keeping with Alexander's overall

36:29

personality anyway.

36:31

After days of puzzling over this

36:34

knot, he realized

36:36

there was only

36:37

one way to become King of all

36:39

Asia.

36:41

He drew his sword and

36:43

brought it down on the centuries-old

36:45

wood and rope of the Gordian knot,

36:48

slicing it clean through the

36:50

ropes, and thus untangling

36:53

the yoke from the cart.

36:55

When spring came, Alexander

36:58

roused his forces from the winter

37:00

quarters around Gordian, the

37:02

recently married men returned from

37:04

their shore leave along with several

37:07

thousand reinforcements from Greece,

37:10

and as the campaign

37:11

season approached, Alexander

37:14

and his generals took stock of the situation.

37:17

They had held

37:18

most of the prestigious and

37:20

powerful parts of Anatolia for

37:23

almost a full year without incident.

37:26

The Persian Navy in the Aegean

37:28

had been utterly crushed. Now

37:32

was the time to strike further into

37:34

Persian territory,

37:36

and this is the point where Alexander III

37:39

of Macedon really earns

37:41

his epithet and secured his

37:43

place in history as Alexandros

37:46

Megas,

37:48

Alexander Magnus,

37:51

Alexander the Great. Like

37:54

Cyrus Sordarius before

37:56

him,

37:57

he was now among the great conquerors.

37:59

conquerors of the ancient world.

38:03

In fact, Alexander could have stopped there,

38:05

established a firm border on the Halas

38:08

River and the Taurus Mountains, and

38:10

essentially

38:11

merged the long-forgotten Lydian

38:13

Kingdom from before Cyrus the Great's

38:16

time with his father's empire. Alexander

38:19

would still have been the most successful

38:21

conqueror the Greek world ever produced.

38:25

But there was absolutely nothing

38:27

holding him back in Spring of 333.

38:31

So the Macedonian army departed in

38:34

full force from Gordian and

38:36

made for Ancyra, the

38:38

modern Turkish capital of Ancara,

38:41

and crossed the Halas River.

38:44

For the Greco-Macedonian perspective,

38:46

this was a monumental

38:49

step, pushing back

38:51

against the borders established by Cyrus 200

38:53

years earlier.

38:57

Alexander made the reasonable, but ultimately

39:00

very consequential decision to

39:02

ignore Bithynia and Armenia

39:05

for the time being. There

39:07

was little either satrapy could do on

39:09

their own, and rather than getting bogged

39:12

down in rugged terrain for minimal

39:14

return, Alexander

39:16

took his army south through Paphlagonia

39:20

and Cappadocia.

39:22

In theory, large parts of both

39:24

regions remained unconquered. However,

39:27

none of our sources describe any

39:30

conflict there in detail. At

39:33

most, courteous says they were subdued

39:36

and leaves it at that. These

39:39

were sparsely populated and poor

39:41

regions, they just couldn't hope to

39:43

stand against the invaders for long

39:45

and many towns would just have surrendered.

39:49

Moving south through the Taurus Mountains,

39:52

the Macedonian army came to a fork

39:54

in the road. The eastern

39:57

path wound through the

39:59

hills and highlands. mountains as they descended

40:01

into highlands and eventually the plains

40:04

of northern Mesopotamia. The

40:06

western path would take them to the

40:09

eastern side of the Cilician gates,

40:12

the easily defended pass between

40:14

the small coastal satrapy in

40:16

southern Anatolia and northwestern

40:19

Syria.

40:20

Ambitious though he may have been,

40:23

Alexander was no fool.

40:25

Left unattended, Cilicia

40:27

would become a rallying point

40:30

for Persian loyalists.

40:32

So they turned southwest and followed

40:34

the road not deeper into a caimanid

40:37

territory, but westward

40:39

through the gates and into the Cilician

40:42

plain. They were surprised

40:44

to find the pass undefended. But

40:47

first Macedonian scouts and

40:49

then Cilician envoys quickly

40:51

explained the situation. Cap

40:55

Arcemes,

40:56

only recently appointed to his position,

40:59

had intended to stand and fight against

41:02

Alexander himself, but the Cilician

41:04

militia was plagued with deserters

41:07

after each new tale of Alexander's

41:09

rapidly growing list of victories.

41:13

Ultimately, Arcemes and the

41:15

Persian administrators loaded up

41:17

as much wealth as they could and sailed

41:20

out to Phoenicia to begin their trip

41:22

back toward Babylon, where

41:24

they would rendezvous with Darius III. As

41:28

a result, Alexander took the

41:31

Cilician capital of Tarsus unopposed

41:34

and added yet another province to

41:36

his empire. Despite

41:39

accomplishing very little so far

41:42

in the campaign season, the Macedonians

41:45

took an extended break in Cilicia.

41:49

It was a good opportunity to redistribute

41:52

officers and resources or solidify

41:54

their defenses for Anatolia, now

41:57

that the whole region was under unbroken

41:59

Macedonian rule.

42:02

Their stay in Tarsus was further extended

42:05

by the first of Alexander's many

42:07

near-death experiences. Depending

42:10

on the source cited by the Alexandrian

42:13

authors, he may have fallen from

42:15

a horse, taken ill, simply

42:18

become exhausted from the relentless

42:20

progress, or in the

42:22

most popular telling,

42:24

taken an ill-advised bath

42:27

in the Kidnos River which ran

42:29

right through Tarsus.

42:32

Regardless of exactly which

42:34

scenario it was, the Macedonian

42:36

monarch became violently ill,

42:39

wracked with muscle cramps, a high fever,

42:42

and insomnia. The

42:44

story of Alexander bathing

42:46

in the Kidnos does seem

42:48

likely. The water would have been

42:50

chilled with snow melt from the surrounding

42:53

mountains, and his symptoms

42:55

sound a lot like acute pneumonia.

42:58

Only one of the

43:00

physicians in his entourage dared

43:02

to treat him, as they all feared

43:05

that failure would result in their own

43:07

executions. No

43:10

source specifies what

43:12

exactly the treatment was, but

43:15

Arian describes it as a fast-acting

43:17

medicine that induced instant relief,

43:21

but also violent seizures.

43:24

Whatever it was, it worked, and

43:26

Alexander recovered.

43:28

However, the

43:30

Macedonians

43:31

were finally not the

43:34

only army on the move.

43:36

The Akitu festival in Babylon

43:39

that year would have occurred alongside

43:41

another grand event, Darius

43:44

III finally setting out at the

43:46

head of a massive royal army that

43:49

had slowly grown outside

43:51

the city for the past year.

43:54

Curdius and Arian actually

43:56

swap places in terms of reliability

43:59

when describing Darius's forces.

44:03

Usually the most fantastical of the Alexandrian

44:05

histories, Curtius puts

44:08

the Persian host at 250,000 men, while

44:12

Arian, normally considered most reliable,

44:16

describes a gargantuan 600,000.

44:20

Modern scholars consider both exaggerated,

44:24

but can't really agree on what

44:26

an accurate estimate would be. The

44:30

methods, including calculations based

44:32

on the descriptions of the camp, the

44:35

battle lines, the units, and the places

44:37

the Persian army was drawn from, range

44:40

from as small as 25,000 to as many as 100,000.

44:46

The more reliable figure for the Macedonians

44:49

typically places them around 37,000 strong

44:51

at this point. As

44:54

with the Battle of Plataea, when Xerxes

44:57

invasion force was forced out of Greece,

45:00

it is possible, based on modern estimates,

45:03

that Darius III's army was

45:05

actually smaller than Alexander's.

45:08

In November of 334, Darius

45:11

encamped at a town in

45:13

western Syria called Sokhoi.

45:16

Situated on an open plain, the

45:20

ideal sort of place to take advantage

45:22

of Persian archers, slingers, and cavalry,

45:25

and a place where

45:27

the infantry-heavy Macedonians

45:29

would be at a disadvantage.

45:32

However,

45:33

Alexander had absolutely no intention

45:36

of giving his opponent the pleasure of choosing

45:38

his own battlefield.

45:40

Instead, after recovering from his illness,

45:43

Alexander sent contingents of the Macedonian

45:46

army all over Cilicia to

45:48

secure their position. Some

45:51

cities tried to put up a little resistance

45:54

to occupation, but were quickly

45:56

defeated and most simply surrendered.

46:00

Macedonian garrisons were installed

46:02

at key defensive positions, including

46:05

a force under Parmenion sent to occupy

46:07

the Cilician gates and hold

46:10

them against a potential Persian attack.

46:13

Alexander wanted to lure Darius

46:15

III through the mountains and fight

46:17

him on the narrower lowlands of

46:20

Cilicia, where Persian maneuverability

46:23

would be limited. And

46:25

Darius took the bait. As

46:28

he prepared to lead the army north

46:30

from Socoy into Cilicia,

46:33

Greco-Macedonian exiles in

46:35

the Persian camp offered words

46:37

of warning that none of the Persian satraps

46:40

and nobles were willing to say. The

46:43

Greeks had been fighting the Macedonian

46:45

army for decades. Some

46:47

of them were even Macedonian veterans

46:50

themselves who opposed Alexander

46:52

personally. The exact

46:54

warnings and who exactly delivered

46:57

them change from telling to telling, but

46:59

they all amount to don't underestimate

47:03

him.

47:04

These people might seem uncivilized,

47:07

but they are in fact some of the best,

47:09

most experienced warriors in the world

47:12

with an extremely intelligent officer

47:15

corps. If you do not plan

47:17

carefully, they will win.

47:20

Deodorus and Curtius both attribute

47:22

this to an Athenian named Caridimus.

47:26

Arian and Plutarch give the speech

47:28

to the Macedonian turncoat Amentus.

47:32

On one hand, this plays into the trope

47:34

of the Greek advisor giving great advice,

47:37

as written by an author

47:39

with the benefit of hindsight. On

47:42

the other hand, this would have been a

47:44

totally realistic warning from the

47:46

many Greek exiles in the Persian

47:48

camp, and may have been voiced

47:51

to Deodarius or his officers on multiple

47:53

occasions. Curtius

47:56

provides two explanations for why

47:58

the Greeks' advice may have been ignored

48:00

by the Great King. One

48:03

is ridiculous. Curdius

48:05

says that Darius III refused

48:07

to break with Persian tradition, which had always

48:09

been to fight en masse as one huge

48:12

horde. This

48:14

is simply not true. We've seen many

48:16

examples of the Persian army breaking

48:19

up for a tactical advantage. Most

48:22

recently in Artaxerxes III's Reconquest

48:24

of Egypt and most famously in

48:27

the Battle of Thermopylae, the

48:29

second and much more likely explanation

48:33

is simply that Darius III was getting

48:35

desperate. He needed

48:37

to beat this invasion. The

48:40

Cilician gates were just the largest

48:43

of a few passes into the mountains

48:45

that lined Cilicia. The

48:48

Ciriyan gates, also known

48:50

as the Bellin Pass, provided access

48:53

from the south, and they were closest

48:55

to Sokhoi. Alexander

48:58

personally occupied a town nearby

49:01

with the bulk of his army, likely

49:03

planning to ambush the Persians as

49:06

they traveled through the narrow passage. He

49:09

was also within striking distance

49:11

of the so-called Pillars of Jonah, named

49:14

for the biblical prophet, which

49:17

are an even narrower and more

49:19

treacherous road than the other passes.

49:22

Darius had solid intelligence

49:24

though, and wouldn't be lured

49:27

into any of the well-defended routes

49:30

into Cilicia, even if they were

49:32

more convenient. Instead

49:34

he went to the Ammonian gates,

49:38

also known as the Basse Pass,

49:40

much further north, allowing the

49:42

Persian army to sweep up around

49:45

the mountain fortresses Alexander had already

49:47

garrisoned, and enter the province

49:50

behind the Macedonian line. When

49:53

news of this maneuver reached Alexander,

49:55

he couldn't believe it. Thinking

49:58

it must be some kind of trick, he did. dispatched

50:00

a group of his companion cavalry to

50:02

board a ship and sail along the southern

50:05

coast of Cilicia until

50:07

they reached Issus, a

50:10

port city that was acting as their

50:12

mass field hospital for the sick

50:14

and wounded Macedonian soldiers. These

50:18

scouts never even made it into the

50:20

harbor. Issus was

50:22

situated on a deep inlet,

50:25

and as their ship approached, the Heteroi

50:28

saw Persian soldiers in banners

50:30

in the city, and the mass graves

50:32

of the Macedonian soldiers who had been

50:34

left there. Before

50:37

Alexander could even react, the Persians

50:39

had swept through the eastern side

50:41

of Cilicia and reached the coast.

50:45

When his scouts returned, Alexander ordered

50:47

his forces to prepare to move out and

50:49

meet Darius on the road, recalling

50:52

as many garrisons as he could muster

50:55

to bolster his numbers now that he

50:57

was being forced to face the full

50:59

might of a Persian royal army on

51:01

open ground. They

51:04

got surprisingly close to Issus

51:06

before the Macedonian scouts reported

51:09

that, as night fell, it looked

51:12

like the whole plain burst into flames,

51:15

with a wide and dispersed Persian encampment

51:18

along the river Pinaros, just

51:21

outside the city. Alexander

51:24

commanded his forces to halt where

51:26

they were and pitched their own camp for the

51:28

night as well, giving him time to

51:30

consult his officers in a war council.

51:34

Parmenion correctly noted that the

51:36

current location was just about as good

51:38

a position as they were likely to find. Bridges

51:42

and hills from the Cilician highlands

51:44

hemmed in the area north of the Gulf

51:46

of Issus, meaning it

51:48

would be difficult for Darius to field

51:51

his army to its full potential, at

51:54

least partially nullifying the Persian

51:56

numerical advantage. Both

51:58

sides went to bed for the night. that night with the

52:01

smoke of enemy campfires wafting

52:03

over the horizon, and when they woke

52:06

up, both kings ordered

52:08

their soldiers into battle formation. And

52:11

both thought this might

52:13

be the end. Not because

52:15

either expected to lose, but

52:18

because both were hoping they'd be able to

52:20

kill the other and end this

52:22

whole war right there in Cilicia.

52:26

The Penaris is a relatively

52:28

short river,

52:29

running from the surrounding hills into

52:32

the Gulf of Issus.

52:34

The Persians formed up in their standard

52:36

battle array on the northwestern bank.

52:40

Darius rode in the royal war chariot,

52:42

as was tradition, surrounded by a

52:44

small coterie of noble cavalry.

52:48

To his left was first a block

52:50

of Greek mercenaries and other hoplite-style

52:53

heavy infantry, and then lightly

52:55

armed skirmishers recruited from around

52:58

the Empire's central provinces. They

53:01

were well suited to that position as

53:03

the terrain became more uneven

53:06

at the edge of the surrounding hills.

53:09

The Persian right was a mere image,

53:12

another block of heavy infantry, closest

53:15

to the king, flanked by lightly

53:17

armed archers and skirmishers. But

53:20

the addition of the Persian cavalry

53:22

concentrated to the left of

53:24

the light infantry, closest

53:26

to the coastline under the command of

53:29

Rheomythres, the only

53:31

survivor of the Battle of

53:33

the Granicus who had made it back to

53:35

court. Various

53:38

infantry units were arranged

53:40

into both a front and rear

53:42

line, pulled from far and

53:45

wide, but notably some

53:47

were refugee soldiers who had retreated

53:50

from the Macedonian conquest of Greater

53:52

Phrygia alongside their satrap

53:55

at Azuace, and others, likely

53:58

among the heavy infantry, were

54:01

Egyptian pikemen,

54:02

who had come with

54:03

their satrap sabakis. Another

54:07

unit of hoplites were returning salician

54:09

loyalists under the command of the recently

54:12

exiled satrap arsames,

54:14

and a further detachment of light infantry

54:17

was sent up into the hills to

54:19

circumvent the Macedonian lines. As

54:23

we've seen in the past, this was

54:25

a pretty typical and effective

54:27

formation for two Persian, or

54:30

generally West Asian armies, facing

54:33

one another. However, the

54:35

Macedonians were working from an entirely

54:38

different manual. Instead

54:40

of positioning himself directly opposite

54:42

Darius, Alexander and

54:44

his Hitti-roi, and the Poldromoi,

54:48

took a position on the Macedonian

54:50

right. To their

54:52

right, a contingent of Macedonian archers

54:55

guarded the flank, while the Macedonian

54:57

center was held by Alexander's royal

55:00

guard, the hoplite-style

55:02

hippospeists. With

55:05

a bristling wall of Pez Hitti-roi

55:07

forming their Macedonian phalanx on

55:09

the left, under the command

55:12

of Craterus, followed

55:14

by more archers while Parmenion took

55:16

command of the left flank with their

55:19

Greek subject cavalry. Another

55:22

small collection of light infantry and

55:24

Pez Hitti-roi stood back as

55:26

a reserve unit. Overall,

55:28

it was a similar setup to the Battle of the

55:30

Granicus.

55:32

And

55:33

so it began. The

55:36

Persian cavalry struck first, charging

55:38

across the shallow river to immediately

55:40

disrupt Parmenion and the

55:42

Macedonian subject cavalry from

55:45

the outset. In a counter

55:47

move, the leftmost section of the Macedonian

55:49

phalanx charged as well, fording

55:52

the river and clambering up the steep western

55:54

bank only to encounter both minor

55:57

fortifications and obstacles

55:59

as they went. followed by the

56:01

spears of the Persian heavy infantry.

56:04

Craterus ultimately had to recall

56:06

his infantry and give up this assault,

56:09

as Parmenion and his subject cavalry

56:12

were forced back away from the river

56:15

and into a retreat as the

56:17

Persian cavalry pushed behind

56:19

the Macedonian lines. Had

56:22

this arm of the Macedonian cavalry

56:24

lost cohesion, it might

56:26

have destroyed their whole army. But

56:29

Parmenion's forces managed to keep themselves

56:32

together and lured their Persian

56:34

counterparts further away from the Macedonian

56:37

rear with some light counter

56:39

charges followed by further retreats.

56:43

Even so, it

56:44

was not looking good for Macedon.

56:47

Watching

56:47

all of this from their right, Alexander

56:50

himself took drastic action.

56:53

He grabbed a spear and shield

56:55

and rushed over to the Hippospists.

56:59

Having the leader himself

57:01

in the soldiers' midst is always

57:03

good for morale, and

57:06

the Macedonian king led his guardsmen

57:08

in a last-ditch effort to cross the

57:10

Pidaras and punch a hole

57:12

in the Persian left. Quite

57:15

probably to the shock of all, including

57:18

Alexander, this actually worked. The

57:21

Hippospists made it up onto

57:23

level ground to lock in a deathmatch

57:26

with their Persian counterparts, which

57:28

they won. This branch

57:31

of the Persian heavy infantry began to

57:33

break apart and retreat, while

57:36

the Hippospists pressed their advantage.

57:39

Alexander slipped out of the lines, ran

57:42

back across the river, and

57:44

mounted his horse. He

57:46

climbed up onto Bicephalus,

57:49

a huge black stallion that

57:51

was supposedly untameable

57:54

until at 13 years old, Alexander

57:57

had won the horse over.

57:59

Now,

58:00

a decade later, King

58:02

Alexander prepared to ride

58:05

his trusty steed into the battle

58:07

of their lives.

58:09

And I do want you to have a clear picture

58:11

of this.

58:13

Because I think some of the portrayals that lean

58:15

more toward glorifying Alexander

58:18

the Great brush off some

58:20

of the weirder details of this

58:22

image in favor of the gallant

58:24

23-year-old monarch and his

58:27

great black warhorse.

58:30

Not only was Bucephalus a Thessalian

58:32

horse, noted for being a

58:35

smaller breed than the Niseyan

58:37

horses preferred by the Persians, but

58:40

at this moment in the battle of Issus,

58:43

Alexander is probably halfway

58:45

between infantry and cavalry dress,

58:48

gods only know which spear he's actually

58:51

holding, sopping wet from wading

58:53

through a river twice, and

58:55

already exhausted from leading an infantry

58:58

charge.

58:59

But he was their king and he hadn't

59:01

failed them yet, so the Hitti-Roy

59:04

rallied around Alexander and followed

59:06

him across the Pidaras in yet another

59:08

assault on the Persian lines, while

59:11

the Podramoi and the Macedonian

59:13

reserve infantry swung in an

59:16

about face to counter the Persian

59:18

archers that had just arrived on the hillside

59:21

overlooking the Macedonian rear.

59:24

This was the death blow. With

59:26

the Hippospists and then a further

59:29

contingent of the main phalanx already

59:32

fighting their way through the Persian heavy infantry,

59:36

Alexander's heavy cavalry charge

59:38

shattered the lines, allowing

59:41

horsemen to ride through the resulting

59:43

carnage, as Alexander

59:45

and his closest advisors went on

59:47

the hunt. The Macedonian

59:50

king was looking for his only equal

59:52

on the battlefield, Darius

59:54

III himself.

59:56

Alexander caught sight of the King of Kings

59:59

trying to reduce the battle.

59:59

gain command of his fracturing army

1:00:02

from the royal chariot and charged

1:00:05

in a diagonal swath through the

1:00:07

Persian infantry. Darius

1:00:09

and his mounted bodyguard saw the

1:00:12

Macedonians before they hit and

1:00:14

turned to flee, with

1:00:16

the outer ranks of the Persian guard acting

1:00:19

as a screen to cover their own king's

1:00:21

retreat. Alexander

1:00:23

wanted to pursue and capture or kill

1:00:26

Darius before he could get away. But

1:00:29

now, seeing the battlefield from

1:00:31

Darius's perspective, he realized

1:00:34

just how much trouble Parmenion was still

1:00:36

in over on the Macedonian left.

1:00:39

So Alexander gave up the chase

1:00:42

and turned his own cavalry back

1:00:44

across the river to assist the subject

1:00:46

cavalry against the Persian horse,

1:00:49

forcing them to turn and follow their monarch

1:00:52

back toward the Ammonic Gate

1:00:54

and out of Cilicia.

1:00:57

With their cavalry and great king

1:00:59

gone, and much of their central

1:01:02

infantry already fleeing, the

1:01:04

Persian army dissolved. It

1:01:06

was another victory for Alexander

1:01:09

and another catastrophic defeat

1:01:11

for Darius III. Half

1:01:14

or more of the Persian army was

1:01:17

dead,

1:01:17

wounded, or captured.

1:01:20

While Macedon only suffered about 5,000

1:01:22

casualties of their 37,000 total soldiers. On

1:01:28

top of that, now

1:01:30

functionally deep within Macedonian

1:01:32

territory, Darius

1:01:35

and his army were forced to abandon their

1:01:37

encampment, leaving the plunder

1:01:39

and trophies of war to the Macedonian

1:01:41

invaders.

1:01:43

Adding grievous insult to massive

1:01:46

injury,

1:01:47

many Persian notables were killed

1:01:50

in action,

1:01:51

including all three satraps noted

1:01:54

to participate in the battle.

1:01:57

Arcemes of Cilicia and Adizuace

1:01:59

of Phrygia fell,

1:02:01

which sounded the death knell for hopes

1:02:03

of a Caimanid restoration and resistance

1:02:06

in either of their provinces. And

1:02:09

the death of Sabacis of Egypt,

1:02:12

along with many of his troops, threatened

1:02:15

the stability of the already fragile

1:02:17

Nile Valley once again. Priomethres

1:02:21

II, potentially a veteran of every

1:02:23

major conflict in the last thirty years,

1:02:26

was killed when Alexander brought his forces

1:02:29

back around to assist Parmenion.

1:02:32

Unfortunately for the King of Kings,

1:02:35

he had taken the northern pass,

1:02:37

but

1:02:37

Alexander still held the Syrian

1:02:40

gates, and now had

1:02:42

a direct, undefended path

1:02:45

toward the Persian rear camp at

1:02:47

Sokhoi. A Macedonian

1:02:49

force was dispatched immediately to

1:02:51

occupy the city, seize the Persian

1:02:54

war treasury and capture the royal

1:02:56

family.

1:02:57

Prince Ocus, Princess Drapetis,

1:03:00

Princess Tetera,

1:03:02

the Younger, Queen Tetera the

1:03:04

Elder, and Queen Mother Sisigambis

1:03:07

were all captured. Meanwhile,

1:03:11

Darius III was forced to flee

1:03:13

east with the shattered remains

1:03:15

of his army. He simply

1:03:17

couldn't stop Alexander, and

1:03:20

Darius's departure gave Macedon

1:03:23

free reign over Syria and the Levant,

1:03:26

and the road to Egypt. So

1:03:28

next time, we will pick up with Alexander

1:03:31

Triumphant, and the beginning

1:03:33

of his southward campaign.

1:03:35

Until then, if you want more information

1:03:38

about this podcast, go to historyofpersiapodcast.com.

1:03:43

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