Alexander the Great and the Macedonian Empire | The Campaign of Gaugamela (Lecture 16)

Lecture 16: In early spring 331 B.C., Alexander marched from Pelusium across Sinai to Gaza, and on the Upper Euphrates. Alexander had allowed Darius III two years to raise and drill a new army, perhaps numbering 200,000–250,000 combatants, in Babylonia. For Alexander, this campaign was to decide the war, because he calculated another decisive victory would deliver the eastern satrapies of the Persian Empire. Darius III, hoped to battle on the plains of Mesopotamia where he could deploy his Iranian cavalry and chariots. By a series of feints that misled Darius’ reconnaissance, Alexander advanced swiftly across northern Mesopotamia, and crossed the Tigris and Great Zab rivers. At the village of Gaugamela, Darius III deployed his huge army. On October 1, 331 B.C., Alexander won his most inspired victory.

Alexander drew his army up into a strategic square, countering the flanking attacks by the superior Persian cavalry. From the start, Alexander seized the initiative, advancing to the right on an oblique angle so that Darius committed his chariots and cavalry to premature attacks and opened gaps in his line. Alexander charged into the gap, and put Darius to flight once again. Alexander won the battle, but the fighting raged across the field for hours. Darius fled east over the Zagros Mountains and Alexander was received in triumph at Babylon, and then occupied the Persian capitals of Susa and Persepolis. The ritual capital Persepolis was burned in retaliation for Xerxes’ sack of Athens in 480 B.C., and so marked the conclusion of the Panhellenic war.

Suggested Reading:
Bosworth, Conquest and Empire.
Engels, Alexander the Great and the Logistics of the Macedonian Army.
Fuller, The Generalship of Alexander the Great.
Marsden, The Campaign of Gaugamela.

Lecture 17: https://www.bitchute.com/video/fmU7Wf0pRgHa/