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1:59

Hello

2:02

everyone,

2:17

welcome to the history of Persia.

2:21

I'm Trevor Cully and this is episode 110,

2:23

Hercules in New Work. Last

2:30

time we covered King Alexander III

2:33

of Macedon, Lord of all Asia,

2:35

as he moved through the southern

2:37

Levant and into Egypt, facing

2:40

no resistance to speak of outside

2:42

of a single siege at Gaza. Egypt

2:46

surrendered outright, allowing

2:49

Alexander to spend the last few months

2:51

of 332 and early 331 consolidating

2:55

power, reorganizing Egypt

2:57

as he saw fit, and traveling

3:00

around. He went to

3:02

the northeast to confer with the often

3:05

rebellious leaders of the Egyptian marshland,

3:08

where he chose the site for his first

3:10

great city, Alexandria,

3:13

as both a monument to his own conquests,

3:17

and a project that would extend

3:19

imperial authority into the far

3:21

western Nile Delta. He

3:24

also took an extended sojourn

3:26

to the Siwa Oasis, where

3:29

he consulted with the oracle of the Egyptian

3:32

god Amun, and was

3:34

proclaimed that god's own son.

3:37

So now styling himself the son

3:40

of the great god Zeus Ammon,

3:42

Alexander began the trek eastward

3:45

to confront Darius III once again. We

3:49

left off with the Macedonian army crossing

3:51

the Euphrates River and the Persians

3:54

preparing a battlefield of their choosing

3:56

near the city of Arbela. known

4:00

to history as Galcamella.

4:04

It took time to move out of Egypt

4:07

and rearrange the army for the Eastern

4:09

Campaign, and perhaps cautiously

4:12

remembering the drought that plagued Cyrus

4:14

the Younger's campaign through the same region,

4:18

Alexander chose to march all

4:20

the way across northern Mesopotamia

4:22

and proceed down the Tigris

4:24

side of the Fertile Crescent. So

4:28

by the time Alexander approached the battlefield,

4:31

it was early autumn 331 BCE. Shortly

4:36

before the battle, tragedy

4:38

struck. Satera the

4:40

Elder had fallen ill and collapsed.

4:43

Her breathing quickly ran shallow, and

4:46

she died shortly afterward

4:48

reached Alexander at the front of the column.

4:52

The king of Macedon did his due

4:54

diligence and summoned some of the

4:56

Persians, or at least Iranians,

4:59

in the camp. They provided

5:01

information on performing a traditional

5:04

Persian funeral for their former queen.

5:07

In the stress and grandeur of a

5:09

royal funeral, one of Satera's

5:11

eunuch servants slipped out of the camp,

5:14

presumably stealing a horse because

5:16

he made his way south with speed,

5:19

catching up to Darius, where

5:22

this eunuch, Therotis, delivered

5:24

the bad news. Darius

5:28

was understandably distraught

5:30

by the news, but when he collected

5:33

himself, he decided to make one

5:35

last attempt at ending this war

5:38

diplomatically. He

5:40

held out hope that if Alexander could

5:42

treat his family with so much respect,

5:44

that he could be made to see reason.

5:48

Ten ambassadors were sent, all

5:50

selected from the remaining ranks of Yekaminted

5:53

House, as well as the other six

5:55

families of Darius the Great's

5:57

conspirators. They

6:00

went to Alexander, who

6:03

in turn summoned a council of

6:05

his own officers and advisors

6:07

for the meeting. This

6:10

time, the Emissaries paid Alexander

6:13

all the respect of a monarch equal

6:15

to their own. They

6:18

offered an even greater ransom

6:20

than Darius's previous letter, this

6:24

time asking to free Queen Mother

6:26

Sisigambus and the young Princess

6:28

Drupetis. Allowing Alexander

6:31

to keep Stataera the Younger for an

6:33

eventual marriage pact and retain

6:36

Prince Okus as a hostage. Which

6:39

was good because Okus was

6:41

almost certainly dead at this point.

6:45

The ambassador also offered words

6:48

of wisdom, deeply rooted

6:50

in a caimanid history. This

6:52

is how courteous puts it. Reflect

6:56

on how much land you have left behind

6:59

you and consider how much you have

7:01

ahead. An oversized

7:04

empire is fraught with danger

7:06

because it is difficult to keep secure

7:08

that which one cannot control. Can

7:11

you see how ships of excessive

7:14

weight are unmanageable? I

7:17

rather think the reason why Darius

7:19

has lost so much is

7:21

that an excess of possessions invites

7:24

great losses. Some

7:27

things are easier to win than

7:29

to protect. How

7:31

much easier indeed our

7:34

hands find grasping things than

7:36

holding them. Whether

7:40

or not this little speech has

7:43

any basis in actual history,

7:45

or is just courteous projecting

7:48

the benefit of hindsight into his

7:50

writing, we can't really know. But

7:54

it would have been sound and

7:56

likely sincere advice from

7:59

the Persian representatives. representatives. Their

8:02

history was riddled with the difficulties

8:04

of dominating the lands that Alexander

8:06

had conquered and sought to

8:09

continue conquering. But

8:11

their ancestors had built that empire

8:14

over generations. Cyrus

8:17

had conquered much of it, sure, but

8:20

he had taken decades and

8:23

accepted many whole kingdoms willing

8:25

surrenders. Alexander

8:28

had taken almost as much territory

8:31

by force in just three years that

8:34

Cyrus had in 14

8:37

through a series of protracted campaigns

8:39

and complex negotiations. Many

8:43

of those were the most rebellious

8:45

provinces in the Persian Empire. The

8:49

Persian ambassadors were beseeching

8:52

Alexander to end the bloodshed

8:54

and consolidate his gains. They

8:57

didn't think they were going to take something

8:59

back right now. If

9:02

there had ever been a chance that Alexander

9:04

would have taken the deal, Darius

9:07

made one fatal error

9:09

in his proposal. The

9:11

deal brought to the Macedonians

9:14

in Assyria was

9:17

ultimately the same territorial

9:19

arrangement offered last time,

9:22

a new border at the Euphrates. Whether

9:25

he needed the wealthy province to rebuild

9:28

or not, this

9:30

was a terrible plan by the King of Kings.

9:34

Alexander ordered the ambassadors out

9:36

of the meeting tent and sat in silence

9:39

for a long time. Nobody wanting

9:41

to speak until the Macedonian

9:44

monarch had expressed his

9:46

own opinion. Finally,

9:49

Parmenion spoke up. The

9:52

old general told his king to take

9:54

the deal, consolidate their gains,

9:56

and build up Macedonia for a while.

10:00

Alexander spat the words

10:02

back at him, saying

10:05

according to Curdius, Yeah,

10:08

I too would prefer money

10:11

to military glory if

10:13

I were Parmenion. But

10:16

as it is, I am

10:18

Alexander. I

10:21

am not worried about a lack of money,

10:24

and I am aware that I am

10:26

not a merchant, but a king.

10:29

Alexander's mind was, in all

10:32

reality, already

10:34

made up. He had already crossed

10:36

the Euphrates, and he was at

10:39

the edge of still further conquest.

10:42

With Darius and his main force

10:44

so far north, the Persian heartland,

10:47

Susa, and beyond that, all of Parsa

10:50

itself, was undefended.

10:54

He would not stop. He

10:56

sent the emissaries packing, with

10:58

the message that battle was imminent.

11:02

It was now October 1st,

11:05

based on converting dates from Babylonian

11:08

astronomical diaries, which note

11:10

that Alexander waited to cross the

11:12

Tigris until a lunar eclipse,

11:15

likely with his advisors and seers

11:18

interpreting that astronomical event

11:21

as a good omen for their war.

11:25

So if you're listening at the time

11:27

of release, happy

11:29

belated anniversary. There

11:32

is a certain poetic nature to

11:34

the location here as well. Over 200

11:38

years earlier, Cyrus

11:41

the Great made his first foray beyond

11:43

the old Median Empire when

11:45

he quote, Well,

11:47

now, a new conqueror was making his first move toward

11:50

Babylon from the west, rather

12:00

than the east, likely

12:02

marching through the same ford

12:04

in the river. This route

12:07

is actually the subject of a surprising

12:09

amount of academic debate. It

12:13

is a weird road to take.

12:16

Babylon, the primary target of

12:18

this campaign, is on the Euphrates.

12:22

Crossing the northern plain to the Tigris

12:24

would mean doubling back further south

12:27

and encountering several additional, potentially

12:29

defended cities along the way. There

12:33

are two basic interpretations

12:35

of this based on the same information.

12:39

In preparation for Alexander's arrival,

12:41

Darius ordered his army to scour

12:44

the eastern bank of the Euphrates, embracing

12:47

the scorched earth tactics hinted

12:49

at in the Greek stories about Memnon

12:52

of Rhodes before the Battle of the

12:54

Granicus. One

12:56

interpretation of this is that it

12:58

was meant to weaken Alexander

13:01

en route to Kunaksa, where

13:03

Darius intended to recreate

13:06

Artaxerxes II's victory over

13:08

Cyrus the Younger by artificially

13:10

creating similar drought conditions to

13:12

those faced by Cyrus. Under

13:16

that view of things, Alexander caught

13:18

wind of the plan ahead of time and circumvented

13:21

the Persian defenses, forcing

13:23

Darius to rush to a less preferable

13:26

location near Arbela. The

13:28

other interpretation, as suggested

13:31

by the historian Peter Green, and

13:34

the one that I think makes more sense,

13:36

is that this scorched earth strategy

13:39

along the Euphrates was always

13:41

intended to dissuade the Macedonians

13:43

from taking that route. Darius

13:47

would buy slightly more time for

13:50

the Persians to prepare and secure

13:52

the resources plundered from the western

13:54

side of Mesopotamia for

13:57

use by the Persian army as they prepared

13:59

their chosen battlefield, meaning

14:01

that Darius successfully lured

14:04

Alexander to Gaugamela. Arbela

14:07

was significantly further north

14:09

than Kunaksa, which

14:12

would make it an odd location for a

14:14

last minute change of plans if

14:16

the army was coming from Babylon. It

14:19

would also create an opportunity for

14:21

redundancy if things went belly

14:24

up for the Persians. Kunaksa

14:26

was immediately north of Babylon, with

14:29

no significant cities blocking the path

14:31

of the victorious army. Arbela,

14:34

on the other hand, created the opportunity

14:36

for Darius to fall back to any

14:38

number of cities and form

14:41

a new defensive line if the Macedonians

14:43

gained the upper hand. Essentially

14:46

recreating the strategy used by Nabonidus 200

14:50

years earlier when Cyrus the Great conquered

14:53

Babylon for Persia in the first

14:55

place. To my mind,

14:58

Alexander's arrival on the plain of Gaugamela

15:01

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So, it's

17:07

October 1st, 331

17:09

BCE, and two

17:12

great armies are gathered on the plains

17:14

with the road to Arbella stretching

17:16

into the distance. And

17:18

it must have truly been a sight to behold.

17:22

It was shaping up to be one of the largest

17:24

battles ever fought up to that point

17:27

in history. As

17:29

always, the ancient sources report

17:32

grossly exaggerated numbers for the

17:34

Persian army, numbering north of half

17:36

a million men. Modern

17:39

estimates based on descriptions of the battlefield,

17:41

the Persian camp, and realistic population

17:44

estimates range anywhere from 50

17:46

to 150,000. Personally,

17:50

I think 50,000 is too

17:53

low given the stakes and

17:55

how much time Darius had to prepare.

17:58

But how much higher is Harkon? hard to

18:00

say, given how poorly documented

18:03

the population of the Eastern Empire

18:05

was. Alexander

18:08

had already taken the most densely

18:10

populated regions, meaning there

18:12

might not have been enough people left

18:15

in the Empire to realistically

18:17

muster 150,000 soldiers at once.

18:22

Most historians who do the math seem

18:25

to guess between 80,000 and 100,000. As

18:29

usual, the Macedonian side is

18:31

more reliably documented,

18:33

which

18:34

means the ancient sources uniformly

18:36

give them about 47,000 fighting

18:39

men, and a long tale of

18:41

camp followers and supply lines

18:43

stretching back to the Mediterranean. Even

18:47

with all these conquests, Alexander

18:49

hadn't quite turned to conscripting

18:52

the victims of his Asiatic campaign

18:54

just yet. There were some,

18:57

but by and large these are still Greco-Macedonian

19:00

and Thracian troops. Following

19:03

what should be by now a familiar

19:06

script, the Macedonians split

19:08

their command structure in two, with

19:10

Parmenion taking command of the left

19:12

flank and the main infantry phalanx

19:15

in the center, as well

19:17

as a block of Heteroi cavalry

19:19

to their left, with a screen of

19:21

infantry and archers guarding the horsemen.

19:25

Alexander thus took command of the right. First

19:29

with the Hypospists immediately

19:32

to the right of the main phalanx,

19:34

and then Alexander's personal cavalry

19:37

unit followed by additional horsemen

19:40

and a similar component of

19:42

light infantry and archers, including

19:45

the so-called Old Guard of Mercenaries

19:48

who had been serving since Philip's time,

19:50

commanded by the veteran officer Cleander.

19:54

It must have been difficult for the

19:56

Macedonians to even comprehend

19:59

what they were looking cheap,

22:00

quality, or quantity. You

22:02

only get to choose two, and

22:05

the Persians needed cheap and

22:07

quantity, which certainly

22:09

wasn't going to aid them in this

22:12

fight. After hours

22:14

of preparation, formation, seeking

22:17

omens and posturing all morning,

22:19

the Battle of Galchamele commenced

22:22

when the Macedonian infantry began

22:24

marching forward, with the outer

22:27

wings moving at a 45 degree

22:29

angle to the main block as lures

22:32

for the Persian cavalry. Masyas

22:36

took the bait, deploying his cavalry

22:38

quickly, only for Parmenion's

22:40

conscript horsemen to charge forward

22:43

and intercept them. With

22:45

the Persian cavalry seen in action,

22:48

the Macedonian army could do what

22:50

they did best and engaged the

22:52

Persian infantry. Meanwhile,

22:56

Alexander himself went into motion,

22:59

leading his Heteroi out, not

23:01

straight ahead, but all the way

23:03

to the right edge of the battlefield,

23:06

trying to draw the Persian left side

23:08

cavalry away from the center and create

23:10

an opening, exposing Darius

23:13

himself. Darius had

23:15

a choice to make, as Alexander

23:17

got further and further away. If

23:20

the Macedonian got too far,

23:23

they'd be outside the area that Darius's

23:25

troops had prepared and scouted,

23:28

and thus far enough that they could swing

23:30

around and hit the Persian rear, or

23:33

even their camp. Darius

23:36

made the call and ordered Vessus

23:38

to pursue. The Saka

23:40

charged ahead, out from behind the

23:42

scythe chariots, firing arrows

23:44

at speed, trying to outflank

23:47

the Heteroi and force

23:49

Alexander to turn back. The

23:52

Macedonians wouldn't do it, but they

23:54

were forced to turn to the left

23:56

and engage the Persian countercharge

23:59

directly. The Macedonians

24:01

were outnumbered and on the ropes

24:03

as they clashed repeatedly, even

24:06

calling in reserve cavalry from

24:08

behind their main line. They

24:10

were forced into a strategy of containment,

24:14

trying to hold Bessus' forces in

24:16

place by charging any

24:18

attempted movement. Wave

24:21

after wave of Macedonian cavalry

24:24

finally forced an opening in

24:26

the Persian line when a squadron

24:28

of reserve poudre-moi, possibly

24:31

the very last of the Macedonian

24:33

reserves, arrived fresh

24:36

on the field. This opening

24:38

allowed the Macedonians to push into

24:41

the Persian lines and force them to

24:43

retreat. As the cavalry

24:45

line broke up, Darius ordered the

24:47

scythe chariots to rush forward,

24:50

aiming directly at Alexander's personal

24:52

heteroi. The

24:54

light infantry from the Macedonian

24:57

right opened with a barrage of javelins

24:59

and arrows to disrupt the cavalry

25:02

charge, picking off the drivers

25:04

and horses, causing chariots

25:06

to careen into one another and greatly

25:09

damaging their numbers. With

25:11

the number of chariots thinned out, the

25:13

Macedonian horses were able to part

25:15

ranks and ride around the

25:18

remaining forces. The

25:21

hippospists and cavalrymen's

25:23

servants armed with spears of their own

25:26

marched in to pick off any survivors

25:28

from the crashed chariots and

25:31

horsemen fallen from their saddles. While

25:35

all of this was happening, Alexander

25:37

himself had slowly been disseminating

25:40

orders for his personal

25:42

companions to slip out of formation

25:45

as the reservists arrived, moving

25:48

to the rear and reforming under

25:50

the king's personal command. Along

25:53

with the phalanx of infantry under

25:56

Alexander's direct control, these

25:58

forces formed a war. Wedge, and

26:01

as the Persian cavalry started to

26:03

retreat, Alexander's Wedge

26:06

seized on the opening and charged directly

26:08

at the Persian center. They

26:11

smashed into the Immortals, the Greek mercenaries

26:13

and the Carians fighting as a phalanx,

26:16

and ultimately into Darius's cavalry

26:18

guard. Much like the Battle

26:21

of Kynoxus seventy years earlier,

26:23

the Persians' desperation to protect

26:25

their king led to a brutal and confusing

26:28

melee as different units

26:30

broke or parted under the pressure of

26:33

the Macedonian advance. Of

26:36

course, with Parmenion engaging

26:38

the Persians on the left and Alexander

26:40

leading the Macedonian right

26:43

in a series of wide-ranging maneuvers,

26:46

a gap opened in the Macedonian

26:48

center, allowing a contingent

26:50

of Persian and Indian cavalry to

26:53

charge right through, making straight

26:55

for the Macedonian camp, where

26:58

only a small contingent of Pezhatayrhoi

27:01

served as defenders. It

27:04

was a prudent move by

27:06

the Persians, attempting to rescue

27:08

the royal family still being held captive,

27:12

and they even made it into the camp. Yet

27:16

Queen Mother Sisigambis refused

27:19

to go, either not trusting

27:21

the minor officers that had penetrated

27:23

the Macedonian line, or fearing

27:26

for herself and her family if they tried

27:28

to escape through a battlefield. Ultimately

27:32

this raid in force was forced to withdraw

27:35

without the royal women when they

27:37

saw their own forces beginning to retreat.

27:40

Much like what happened at Issus the previous

27:43

year, Darius turned the

27:45

royal chariot around when Alexander

27:47

got too close, taking his closest

27:50

guards and fleeing from the battlefield,

27:53

presumably with many of the same motivations

27:56

as he had before. Once

27:59

again, with the great King in flight, the

28:01

rest of the Persian army followed suit,

28:03

following Darius in retreat. By

28:06

now, the battlefield was chaotic,

28:08

and Darius was moving slowly. Alexander

28:12

had the ability to pursue. He

28:14

might even have caught up. But

28:16

Parmenion's forces were at risk of being

28:19

overwhelmed, almost entirely

28:21

encircled by the Persian cavalry on the

28:23

other side of the field. So

28:26

Alexander wheeled his horses around and

28:28

charged in to reinforce his left flank

28:31

rather than continuing the hunt for Darius.

28:35

They quickly clashed with the elite

28:37

Persian cavalry in what Arian describes

28:40

as the most fiercest combat in the

28:42

whole battle. Ironically,

28:44

once they realized that the rest of the army

28:47

was retreating, the Persian cavalry

28:49

that had nearly overwhelmed Parmenion

28:51

tried to retreat as well, only

28:54

to be pinned down by Alexander,

28:57

fighting desperately to escape as they were

28:59

hunted down by the Thessalian cavalry

29:02

unit sent by Parmenion. With

29:06

all Persian units in full retreat,

29:09

headed east toward the Zagros Mountains,

29:11

Gaugamela fell to Alexander

29:14

along with Arbela, the Persian camp,

29:16

the war elephants, the royal chariot,

29:18

and bow abandoned by Darius, and

29:21

some 4,000 talents or 52 tons of gold. It

29:26

wasn't a flawless victory. Between 11

29:31

and 1,500 Macedonians were

29:33

killed or injured, including

29:36

Hephaestion, much to Alexander's

29:39

personal ire. Of

29:42

course, by comparison, Curtius

29:45

reports 40,000 Persian

29:47

killed or captured, and Diodorus

29:49

reports 90,000. Neither

29:52

of which is an impossible figure,

29:55

but both would represent a devastating

29:58

blow to the Persian force. or

30:00

more of their overall strength. But

30:03

more importantly, and potentially

30:06

a crucial reason for Darius choosing

30:08

Arbela in the first place, the

30:11

Persians had now ceded the road

30:13

south to Alexander, and

30:15

with it, effective control of

30:17

Babylon and all of Mesopotamia.

30:21

Instead of retreating south, Darius

30:23

had taken the eastern road toward the

30:26

mountains, heading into media

30:28

to regroup in Ekbatina.

30:31

While Darius fled, Masyas raced

30:33

back toward his capital in hopes of resisting

30:36

Alexander, burning fields and villages

30:38

as he went to slow the Macedonians

30:41

down. Even as he did

30:43

this, the Macedonian scouts were hot

30:45

on his heels, putting out the flames as soon

30:47

as they went up. Plundering the

30:49

supplies, Masyas had attempted to

30:51

burn. As they

30:54

traveled south, Macedonian

30:56

scouts reported a large Persian army

30:58

coming up behind them. Thinking

31:01

Darius had feigned his retreat, Alexander

31:04

ordered the men into battle formation, only

31:06

to discover that it was only around a

31:08

thousand Persian stragglers coming to

31:10

surrender. However,

31:13

the day after that, they did intercept

31:16

a Persian messenger carrying a letter from

31:18

Darius, who was attempting

31:20

to convince some of the subjugated Greeks

31:22

to mutiny. Of

31:25

course, the messenger was caught, so

31:27

this did not happen. Off

31:30

in Ekbatina, Darius was

31:32

making it clear to his surviving satraps

31:35

and officers that this war was not

31:37

over. He would raise a third

31:40

army from any province he could still control,

31:42

and they would face Alexander again

31:45

and again until either the Persian Empire

31:47

was destroyed in full, or

31:50

the Macedonian would accept Persian

31:52

terms. Alexander

31:55

declared that anyone found conspiring

31:57

with the Persians would be executed as a

31:59

traitor.

31:59

later,

32:01

even if only accepting an acamated

32:03

bribe. The Macedonians

32:06

arrived at Babylon before

32:08

Mazios could do anything. The

32:10

city surrendered with all the fanfare

32:13

due to a triumphant conqueror,

32:16

and the soldiers were under strict orders

32:18

not to plunder the town. This

32:21

was the grandest city any

32:23

of them had ever seen, and quite

32:25

frankly, the grandest city

32:27

in the world in 331 BCE. Alexander

32:32

made his intentions clear. This

32:35

was to be the new capital of

32:37

the great, continent-spanning

32:40

Macedonian Empire. Immediately

32:45

after arriving, Alexander

32:48

followed in the footsteps of Cyrus the

32:50

Great, meeting with the priesthood

32:52

of Marduk and preparing to undergo

32:54

the traditional rites of a Babylonian

32:57

king. As

32:59

many great conquerors had before him,

33:01

Alexander rode in procession through

33:04

the main thoroughfare of Babylon,

33:07

from the shining blue stones of the Ishtar

33:09

date to the Esagila, the

33:12

grand temple of Bel Marduk.

33:15

There he ascended the steps of the pyramid-like

33:18

ziggurat, and entered the

33:20

sanctuary to take the hands of the

33:23

idol inside, now

33:25

made of wood, since Xerxes

33:27

had long since destroyed its golden

33:29

predecessor. Any

33:32

pretension to the contrary was now truly

33:35

dispelled. Alexander

33:37

was the Lord of all Asia, and

33:40

he could take his place in the lineage

33:42

of empire-builders stretching all the

33:44

way back to Sumer and

33:46

Akkad. Plutarch

33:49

describes how, as Alexander

33:51

returned to the palace, the priests

33:53

blotted the sides of the road with a strange

33:56

liquid, all the way to the palace

33:58

itself, and then how

34:00

they touched their torches to the

34:03

end of the line of fluid closest

34:05

to Alexander. Suddenly

34:08

flames shot up along the trail of

34:10

liquid stretching into the distance, lighting

34:13

the way in the blink of an eye. Of

34:16

course, this is a description of

34:18

crude oil, which occasionally bubbled

34:21

up to the surface of what are now the

34:23

Iraqi oil fields. Industrialization

34:27

was innumerable other developments

34:29

away, but the ancients were aware

34:31

that they had some sort of resource

34:33

flowing under the earth. Unfortunately,

34:36

one of Alexander's servants,

34:39

a boy named Stephanos, was

34:42

employed to sing for the king's entertainment

34:45

and ignorantly asked to

34:47

be put through a quote, trial

34:49

of liquid, to gain

34:52

a divine omen for the king by

34:54

not being set alight while smothered

34:56

in crude. Alexander

34:59

accented, and

35:01

in the least surprising twist in history,

35:04

Stephanos burned to death. They

35:07

stayed for over a month recuperating,

35:10

tending the wounded, dispersing the

35:12

captured wealth, and reveling in the luxury

35:14

of the greatest city on earth. But

35:17

eventually, Alexander

35:19

determined that it was time

35:21

to depart. He confirmed

35:24

Masyos' satrap and allowed

35:26

him to remain in control of Babylon in

35:28

exchange for his

35:30

surrender with a sizable Macedonian

35:33

garrison and several officers

35:35

stationed in the city as supervisors.

35:38

With Babylonia settled, the army gathered

35:41

outside the city in marching formation,

35:44

facing northeast, back up the

35:46

Tigris, and then along the Diyala

35:49

River, northeast into

35:51

the Zagros Mountains, along

35:53

the road towards Susa. Next

35:56

time, Alexander invades the Persian

35:58

heartland and Darius's land.

35:59

the third, will

36:01

be powerless to stop it. Until

36:05

then. If you want more

36:07

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36:09

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36:14

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