The Battle of Gaugamela took place on October 1, 331 BC. e. - the decisive battle between the armies of Alexander the Great and the Persian king Darius III, after which the Achaemenid empire ceased to exist.
336 BC e. - the son of Philip II, 20-year-old Alexander, became the king of the Macedonian state. No less talented and even more ambitious than his father, he continued to prepare for the great war with Persia. Having suppressed timid attempts to resist the Macedonian power, 2 years after his accession, Alexander began an unprecedented campaign in ancient history, which forever immortalized his name.
334 BC BC, spring - Alexander the Great invaded Asia through the Hellespont Strait. In his army, according to Diodorus, there were 32,000 infantry and about 5,000 cavalry. The first battle with the army of the Persian satraps took place on the Granik River, not far from Troy. In the battle of Granicus, the troops of the satraps, mostly cavalry (up to 20,000), were scattered, the Persian infantry fled, and the Greek mercenary hoplites were surrounded and destroyed.
Soon after this, Alexander captured all of Asia Minor, and then, a year later, in the battle of Issus, inflicted a crushing defeat on the army led by the Persian king Darius III himself. Darius fled deep into his vast empire, and while he was gathering a new army from the peoples subject to him, Alexander captured Phenicia, Syria and Egypt. Especially difficult was the siege of Tire, which dragged on for 7 months. Finally, Tire was taken, the population was partly killed, partly sold into slavery.
By the beginning of 331 BC. e. the entire Mediterranean part of the Persian Empire recognized the power of Alexander the Great. The Persian king himself twice offered him peace, according to the terms of which he recognized all the Macedonian conquests. Darius promised a huge amount of gold and silver as compensation, but Alexander categorically refused peace negotiations. “All or nothing” - this motto suited the young Tsar Alexander as well as possible.
331 BC e., spring - the Macedonian king began a campaign with the aim of completely destroying the Persian state. Alexander's army marched from Memphis to the Euphrates and crossed it. After she headed in a northeastern direction to the Tigris, she safely crossed it, despite the rapid current, never meeting the enemy. From here Alexander headed south and on September 24 stumbled upon the forward cavalry of the Persians. By that time, the Persians had again collected a large army and camped on the plain near the village of Gaugamela, 75 km away. from the city of Arbela (because this battle is sometimes called the Battle of Arbela).
The balance of forces of opponents
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For this most important battle, the Macedonian king gathered huge, by the standards of the European armies of that time, forces. By this time, Alexander's army had more than 50,000 men: two large phalanxes of heavy infantry (about 30,000), two half-phalanxes of hypaspists (about 10 - 12,000), cavalry (4 to 7,000), and several thousand lightly armed slingers and archers.
But the Persian king, in the 2 years that have passed since the battle of Issus, was able to gather a truly grandiose army. Of course, the ancient sources also allow a strong exaggeration here, numbering in it 300 and 500,000, and even a million soldiers. But there can hardly be any doubt that the army of Darius in quantitative terms was significantly superior to the Macedonian-Greek army.
Modern historians estimate its number at 100 - 150,000, but here it must be borne in mind that most of this army was actually militia. So the quality of the Macedonian army was head and shoulders above. And yet, nevertheless … The Battle of Gaugamela was undoubtedly the largest clash between West and East, and it was in it that Alexander the Great first found himself on the verge of defeat, and hence death.
The beginning of the Battle of Gaugamela
On the eve of the battle, the two armies were located at a distance of about 6 km. apart. The Macedonian king gave the troops a rest in a fortified camp. The Persians, fearing a surprise attack from the Macedonians, stood tensely day and night in full armor in an open field, so that by the morning battle they were morally broken by fatigue and fear of the Macedonians.
The battle began with an attack on the serpentine chariots, on which the Persian king pinned special hopes. However, the Macedonians were well prepared to meet them. From the scream and noise raised by the phalangits, some of the horses went mad, the chariots turned back and crashed into their own troops. The other part of the horses and chariot drivers were interrupted by the light infantry of the Macedonians on the way to the main formation.
The few horses that were able to break into the ranks of the phalanx were struck by the soldiers with long spears in the sides, or they parted and let them into the rear, where they were later caught. Only a few chariots were able to sow death in the ranks of the Macedonians, when, according to the figurative description of Diodorus, "sickles often cut the necks, sending their heads galloping on the ground with their eyes still open."
The commander of the right Persian flank, Mazei, was able to bypass the left flank of the Macedonians and press their cavalry. Alexander's friend Parmenion had a chance to fight almost surrounded by superior enemy forces. About 3,000 horsemen of Mazeya were able to break through to the Macedonian wagon train, where a heated battle broke out in isolation from the main battle. The Persians plundered the train, the Macedonian hypaspists, with limited forces, organized sorties from their battle formation to repulse the train.
On the right flank, the Macedonian king made a tactical maneuver that is a mystery to historians. According to Arrian, Alexander moved his right wing further to the right during the battle. According to Polienus, Alexander forced this maneuver in order to bypass the area, which the Persians had mined with iron spikes against the horses. We do not know whether he led the units in a compact manner, exposing the right flank of the infantry, or spread the troops along the front. At least the gaiters headed by him did not enter into a clash. The Persians stubbornly tried to bypass Alexander on the right, sent the Bactrians and Scythians to squeeze the Macedonian cavalry onto the spikes.
The Persian cavalry was tied in battle by cavalry from the second line of the Macedonian army. According to the Roman historian Curtius Rufus, the Persian king sent part of the Bactrian cavalry from the wing opposing Alexander to his aid in battle for the baggage train. As a result of the concentration of the Persian horsemen on the right flank of Alexander and the withdrawal of the Bactrians to the wagon train, a gap formed in the front line of the Persian troops, where Alexander directed the main blow of his getayrs with part of the supporting infantry. This blow was aimed directly at the Persian king.
The defeat of the troops of Darius III
In the battle, the charioteer Darius was killed with a javelin, but the Persians took his death for the death of King Darius, and panic engulfed their ranks. The left flank of the Persians began to fall apart and retreat. Seeing this, the Persian king fled, after which his troops who were nearby also fled.
Due to the cloud of dust and the large territory covered by the battle, the Persians of the right wing did not see the flight of their king and continued to pressurize Parmenion. At this time, the Macedonian king turned the Getayrs and with a flanking blow to the center of the Persians tried to alleviate the position of his commander. But the news that Darius fled turned this blow into a real defeat for the Persians. Soon Mazey also began to retreat, albeit in relative order, and Tsar Alexander resumed the pursuit of Darius towards Arbel.
The Macedonian king made every effort to overtake Darius. But the Persian king was no longer in Arbeli; captured only his chariot, shield, bow, treasures (4,000 talents, or about 120 tons of silver) and the train. The vanguard of the Macedonian army was 75 km away. from the battlefield.
The Persian army suffered a final defeat. And the fate of the Persian king Darius was deplorable. After several months of wandering, he was killed by his own satrap Bess. And in the eyes of millions of the Persian empire, it was Alexander the Great who was now becoming the true king of kings. Thus, after the Battle of Gaugamela, the two-hundred-year-old Persian Empire - the most powerful state of the ancient world - ceased to exist.
A. Domanin