James Baquet

Once again, we find that the battles of Alexander the Great continue to resound down through the centuries.

Today, the site of the Battle of Gaugamela is unknown, though scholars have made some educated guesses. However, three centuries or so before the Common Era, it was — according to records — a flat, open plain most likely somewhere to the east of Mosul in modern-day northern Iraq.

The incident is also called the Battle of Arbela — inaccurately, as it turns out, since it took place somewhere around 100 kilometers west of Arbela, which is today called Erbil, the capital of Iraqi Kurdistan.

Wherever it was, the army of Darius III, the last king of Persia’s Achaemenid Empire, faced Alexander III of Macedon, known as “the Great.” Two years earlier, at the Battle of Issus in southern Turkey, the Greeks under Alexander had captured Darius’s wife, mother, and two daughters and held them hostage. As Darius retreated to Babylon to regroup, Alexander went on to further victories at Tyre and Gaza, gaining Egypt in the process.

After negotiations between the Persians and Greeks broke down, Darius began to prepare for battle. Alexander marched his army boldly from Egypt across the Levant into Mesopotamia. Just after they crossed the Tigris there was a lunar eclipse, fixing the date at Oct. 1, 331 B.C. by modern calculations.

Darius erred, however, in expecting Alexander to take a southerly route, which would have severely taxed his supply line. Instead, Alexander traveled across the north, surprising Darius and ensuring adequate supplies for his underfed and exhausted troops.

The Persians may have had as many as 120,000 troops, infantry, cavalry, archers, chariots, and war elephants; the Greeks, fewer than 50,000 infantry and cavalry. However, Alexander’s superior tactics, especially his effective use of light cavalry, saved the day.

After a series of complex maneuvers, Darius took flight, and his army followed. Alexander took Darius’s titles of King of Persia and Pharaoh of Egypt. He was now “Master of Asia” — that is, of the Middle East.

Vocabulary:

Which word above means:

1. failed

2. be repeated because important

3. soldiers on foot

4. planned movements of troops

5. made a mistake

6. incorrectly

7. placed a burden on

8. informed deductions

9. soldiers on horses

10. kept someone as a negotiating position