Between 334 and 331 B. C.E., Alexander won three decisive battles against the Persian Empire. The first of these was at the Granicus River (today Ko-cabas Cay in Turkey) in May of 334 B. C.E. Darius III was so disrespectful of his young foe that he did not come to the battlefield at all. Instead, he sent the local satrap, or regional governor, and a force of Persian cavalry and Greek mercenaries to turn back the invaders.
The Persian troops met Alexander’s forces at the river. The Persians held a strong position, lined up along the eastern bank of the Granicus, but Darius’s commanders made a fatal error. They had positioned their cavalry in front and their infantry in back, the standard defensive formation of the Persian army. Alexander, always shrewd in the heat of battle, quickly saw that this formation would keep the Persian cavalry boxed in and unable to maneuver easily. The Macedonian king attacked at once, even though it was late in the afternoon; he feared that if he waited, the Persians might realize their mistake and reorganize their troops. Alexander himself led the charge of the main cavalry, sending his infantry directly across the river. The Macedonians had to cross the deep, rapid river and climb the steep banks of the Granicus to attack.
There was savage fighting. Alexander was injured and lay unconscious for a short time as the battle raged around him. He regained consciousness, got back on his horse, Bucephalas, and charged into the center of the enemy troops. Soon, the Macedonians had gained the upper hand. As the frantic Persians retreated, many men were trampled by their fleeing comrades. The Macedonians butchered the Persian soldiers. They were especially brutal toward the Greek mercenaries who fought for the Persians (whom they viewed as traitors), hacking them into pieces. About 2,000 Greek mercenaries survived the battle. They were shipped back to Macedonia to work in the mines as slaves.
Alexander lost only about
Traces in Thrace
After his victory at Granicus, Alexander laid a brutal sentence on the captured Greek mercenaries who had fought against him in that battle. They were sent, disgraced and in chains, back to Thrace, the ancient territory bounded by Macedonia on the southwest and the Danube River on the north. These unfortunate mercenaries lived out the rest of their lives doing hard labor in the silver mines there. Some of their manacled (handcuffed) skeletons have been found in Thrace by modern-day archaeologists.
150 soldiers at Granicus. He buried them with military honors and promised to pay their debts back home. He also excused their families from paying taxes in the future. The victory at Granicus opened Asia Minor to Alexander and his army. As they marched south along the Aegean Sea, many cities that had previously been conquered by the Persian Empire welcomed them as liberators, turning over their treasuries without hesitation. He became even more popular as his generous treatment of those who surrendered became widely known.
After the battle at Granicus, Alexander saw the wisdom of capturing Persia’s coastal cities before driving deeper into the country. The Persians had a powerful fleet of warships, and he did not have the naval strength to defeat them at sea. As long as the Persian fleet sailed the Mediterranean, they would remain a threat. Alexander realized that by capturing key ports that supplied the Persian ships with food and water, the navy would eventually have to surrender. He also needed to control the ports in order to ship reinforcements and supplies to his army.
The coastal city of Miletus resisted, and a Persian fleet of 400 ships with 80,000 men headed there to reinforce the city. Alexander’s brilliant solution was simply to blockade the harbor, so the Persian ships could not bring their troops ashore. Miletus fell quickly. But Alexander was so impressed by the courage of the Greek mercenaries who fought there that, unlike earlier battles, he accepted them into his army.
Immortal Soldiers
Persia's King Darius III had a personal bodyguard of 10,000 soldiers. These specially chosen soldiers were called The Immortals, because when a soldier was killed, a new recruit immediately replaced him.
Alexander used the same technique along the east coast of the Aegean Sea. This kept the Persian fleet from being able to get fresh water and supplies. Despite its huge size, Persia’s mighty navy was defeated, simply because Alexander’s army managed to capture so many coastal cities. About a year and a half after Alexander’s first onslaught, the entire Persian fleet surrendered.
World History
