The Campaigns of Alexander (Classics) (18 page)

So much for Alexander’s right; on his left, forming an angle with the main body, were the Thracians under Sitalces supported, first, by the allied cavalry under Coeranus and, secondly, by the Odrysian cavalry under Agathon son of Tyrimmas. Right in the van of this sector was the foreign mercenary cavalry commanded by Andromachus son of Hieron. The Thracian infantry had orders to stand guard over the pack-animals. The total strength of Alexander’s army was 7,000 cavalry and about 40,000 foot.

The two armies were now close together. Darius and his picked troops were in full view. There stood the Persian Royal Guard, the golden apples on their spear-butts, the Indians and Albanians, the Carians and the Mardian bowmen – the cream of the Persian force, full in face of Alexander as he moved with his Royal Squadron to the attack. Alexander, however, inclined slightly to his right, a move which the Persians at once countered, their left outflanking the Macedonians by a considerable distance. Meanwhile in spite of the fact that Darius’ Scythian cavalry, moving along the Macedonian front, had already made contact with their forward units, Alexander continued his advance towards the right until he was almost clear of the area which the Persians had levelled during the previous days. Darius knew that once the Macedonians reached rough ground his chariots would be useless, so he ordered the mounted troops in advance of his left to encircle the Macedonian right under Alexander and thus check any further extension in that direction. Alexander promptly ordered Menidas and his mercenary cavalry to attack them. A counter-attack by the Scythian cavalry and
their supporting Bactrians drove them back by weight of numbers, whereupon Alexander sent in against the Scythians Ariston’s Paeonian contingent and the merceraries. This stroke had its effect, and the enemy gave ground; but the remaining Bactrian units engaged the Paeonians and the mercenaries and succeeded in rallying the fugitives. A close cavalry action ensued, in which the Macedonians suffered the more severely, outnumbered as they were and less adequately provided with defensive armour than the Scythians were – both horses and men. None the less the Macedonians held their attacks, and by repeated counter-charges, squadron by squadron, succeeded in breaking the enemy formation.

Meanwhile as Alexander moved forward the Persians sent their scythe-chariots into action against him, in the hope of throwing his line into confusion. But in this they were disappointed; for the chariots were no sooner off the mark than they were met by the missile weapons of the Agrianes and Balacrus’ javelin-throwers, who were stationed in advance of the Companions; again, they seized the reins and dragged the drivers to the ground, then surrounded the horses and cut them down. Some few of the vehicles succeeded in passing through, but to no purpose, for the Macedonians had orders, wherever they attacked, to break formation and let them through deliberately: this they did, with the result that neither the vehicles themselves nor their drivers suffered any damage whatever. Such as got through were, however, subsequently dealt with by the Royal Guard and the army grooms.
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Darius now brought into action the main body of his infantry, and an order was sent to Aretes to attack the
Persian cavalry which was trying to outflank and surround the Macedonian right. For a time Alexander continued to advance in column; presently, however, the movement of the Persian cavalry, sent to the support of their comrades who were attempting to encircle the Macedonian right, left a gap in the Persian front – and this was Alexander’s opportunity. He promptly made for the gap, and, with his Companions and all the heavy infantry in this sector of the line, drove in his wedge and raising the battle-cry pressed forward at the double straight for the point where Darius stood. A close struggle ensued, but it was soon over; for when the Macedonian horse, with Alexander himself at the head of them, vigorously pressed the assault, fighting hand to hand and thrusting at the Persian’s faces with their spears, and the infantry phalanx in close order and bristling with pikes added its irresistible weight, Darius, who had been on edge since the battle began and now saw nothing but terrors all around him, was the first to turn tail and ride for safety. The outflanking party on the Macedonian right was also broken up by the powerful assault of Aretes and his men.

On this part of the field the Persian rout was complete, and the Macedonians pressed the pursuit, cutting down the fugitives as they rode. But the formation under Simmias, unable to link up with Alexander to join in the pursuit, was forced to stand its ground and continue the struggle on the spot, a report having come in that the Macedonian left was in trouble. At this point the Macedonian line was broken, and some of the Indian and Persian cavalry burst through the gap and penetrated right to the rear where the Macedonian pack-animals were. There was some hard fighting; the Persians set about it with spirit, most of their adversaries being unarmed men who had never expected a break-through – at any rate
here, where the phalanx was of double strength; moreover, the prisoners joined in the attack. However, the officers in command of the reserves on this sector, the moment the situation was clear, faced about according to orders and appeared in the Persian rear. Many of the Persians, as they swarmed round the baggage-trains, were killed; others did not stay to fight, but made off.

Meanwhile the Persian right, not yet knowing that Darius had fled, made a move to envelop Alexander’s left and delivered a flank attack on Parmenio. The Macedonians being caught, as it were, between two fires, Parmenio sent an urgent message to Alexander that his position was desperate and that he needed help. Alexander at once broke off the pursuit, wheeled about with his Companions and charged the Persian right at the gallop.
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Coming first into contact with those of the enemy cavalry who were trying to get away, he was soon heavily engaged with the Parthians, some of the Indians, and the strongest and finest cavalry units of Persia.
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The ensuing struggle was the fiercest of the whole action; one after another the Persian squadrons wheeled in file to the charge; breast to breast they hurled themselves on the enemy. Conventional cavalry tactics – manœuvring, javelin-throwing – were forgotten; it was every man for himself, struggling
to break through as if in that alone lay his hope of life. Desperately and without quarter, blows were given and received, each man fighting for mere survival without any further thought of victory or defeat. About sixty of Alexander’s Companions were killed; among the wounded were Coenus, Menidas, and Hephaestion himself.

In this struggle Alexander was once again victorious. Such Persians as managed to fight their way through galloped off the field to save their skins.

Alexander was now on the point of engaging the Persian right; but his help was not needed, as in this sector the Thessalian cavalry had fought hardly less magnificently than Alexander himself. The Persians were already in retreat by the time he made contact with them, so he turned back and started once more in pursuit of Darius, continuing as long as daylight served. Parmenio, in chase of his own quarry, was not far behind him. Once across the Lycus, Alexander halted for a brief rest for men and horses, and Parmenio went on to take possession of the Persian camp and all its contents; baggage, elephants, and camels.

Allowing his troops to rest till midnight, Alexander then pressed onto Arbela in the hope that he might catch Darius there and seize his treasure and all the other stuff with which a King of Persia takes the field. But though he reached this place on the following day, after a chase since the battle of some seventy-five miles, he failed to find Darius, who in his efforts to escape had kept going without a single break; his treasure, however, and all his valuables fell into Alexander’s hands, including his chariot, shield, and bow – all captured for the second time.
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Alexander’s losses in this battle amounted to about 100
men killed;
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over 1,000 horses – nearly half of them belonging to the Companions – perished either from wounds or from exhaustion in the pursuit. The Persian losses were reckoned at about 300,000 dead, a figure greatly exceeded by the number of prisoners.
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The elephants and such war-chariots as escaped destruction were also captured. Such was the end of the battle of Gaugamela, fought in the month of October during the archonship at Athens of Aristophanes. Aristander had foretold that before the month which saw the moon’s eclipse was over, the battle would be fought and Alexander would win it. He was a true prophet.
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Upon leaving the field, Darius made straight for Media by way of the Armenian mountains; with him was the Bactrian cavalry, which had been posted at his side during the fight, and certain Persians – his kinsmen and a small number of the Royal Guard. He was joined on the way by about 2,000 foreign mercenary troops under the command of Paron of Phocis and Glaucus of Aetolia. The reason why he made for Media was his belief that Alexander, once the battle was over, would take the road to Susa and Babylon, which was a fairly easy one for his transport; moreover, all that part of the country was inhabited, and, which was more important, Babylon and Susa were obvious prizes for a victorious army. The route to Media, on the other hand, was an awkward one for a large force.
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Darius’ guess was right, for Alexander did, in point of fact, make straight from Arbela to Babylon. Not far from the city, which he took the precaution of approaching in battle order, he was met by the people of the place who with their priests and magistrates came flocking out to bring him various gifts and to offer to put the city, with the citadel and all its treasures, into his hands. He marched in accordingly, and instructed the people to restore the temples which had been destroyed by Xerxes, in particular the temple of Bel, the god held by the Babylonians in the greatest awe.
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He appointed Mazaeus to the governorship of the city, Apollodorus of Amphipolis was put in command of the troops to be left there, and Asclepiodorus, son of Philo, was entrusted with the collection of tribute. Mithrines, the man who had surrendered to Alexander the inner defences of Sardis, was sent as governor to Armenia.
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It was here in Babylon that Alexander came into contact with the Chaldaeans;
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in all matters of religious ceremonial he took their advice, offering sacrifice to Bel in particular, according to their instructions.

His next objective was Susa. He was met on the way there by the governor’s son and a messenger with a letter from Philoxenus, whom he had sent to Susa immediately after the battle; the letter stated that the people of Susa had opened their gates and that all the treasure was secured. The march from Babylon took twenty days, and the treasure which Alexander took over upon entering the
city amounted to 50,000 talents of silver in addition to other valuables formerly in possession of the King; nor was this by any means all that Susa yielded, for there also fell into Alexander’s hands all the treasures which Xerxes had brought there from Greece, among them bronze statues of Harmodius and Aristogeiton. These statues Alexander sent back to Athens, where they now stand in the Cerameicus, on the way to the Acropolis opposite the Metröon and not far from the altar of the Eudanemi.
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This altar stands on the level ground, as everyone knows who has been initiated into the mysteries of the Two Goddesses at Eleusis.
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Here in Susa, Alexander offered the traditional sacrifices and celebrated games and a torch race; before leaving he appointed a Persian named Abulites as governor of the province,
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made Mazarus, one of the Companions, garrison commandant of the city, and promoted Archelaus, son of Theodorus, general of the forces. Before setting out for the province of Persia, he sent Menes to the coast as governor of Syria, Phoenicia, and Cilicia,
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giving him 3,000 talents of silver with instructions to pay over to Antipater as much of that sum as he should need for the expenses of the Lacedaemonian war. Here too he was joined by Amyntas, son of Andromenes, with the fresh
troops from Macedonia, both horse and foot,
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the former he attached to the Companion cavalry and distributed the latter according to nationality among the various infantry units. He also – this was an innovation – formed two companies in each cavalry squadron and put them under the command of such officers of the Companions who had distinguished themselves.

He then set out for the province of Persia, and after crossing the Pasitigris entered the territory of the Uxians, a part of whom – those, namely, who occupied the plains and owed allegiance to the Persian satrap – surrendered to Alexander. The hill tribes, on the contrary, who had never recognized Persian dominion, sent a message to Alexander to the effect that they would not allow him or his army to pass through into Persia unless they first received what they always used to receive from the Persian King, whenever he chanced to come that way.
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Alexander dismissed the messengers with an invitation to meet him at the pass, the control of which also gave them – or so they supposed – the control of the route into Persia. At the pass, he declared, he would give them what they asked for. Then with a force consisting of his personal guard, the remainder of the Guards, and about 8,000 other troops, and with a party of guides from Susa, he set out under cover of darkness by a route no one would be likely to expect him to take; the going was rough and difficult, and within a single day he swooped down on the villages, carried off a great deal of plunder, and killed a number of the villagers before they could rise from their
beds – the rest escaped to the hills. He then hurried on to the pass, where the Uxians counted upon meeting him with all the force they could muster, to receive payment of the customary dues. Craterus, meanwhile, had been sent in advance to seize the high ground to which the Uxians would in all probability try to make their escape, when they found themselves hard pressed.