Battle of Gaugamela
Alexander destroyed the last Persian field army at Gaugamela on 1 October 331 BC, on ground Darius had chosen and levelled. Darius had learned from Issus. He picked a broad plain in northern Mesopotamia where his numbers could deploy, had the ground cleared for his scythed chariots, and assembled forces from every satrapy including Indian and Bactrian cavalry and fifteen elephants. Modern estimates put the Persians at perhaps 100,000 against 47,000 Macedonians; the ancient figures are ten times that. Parmenion advised a night attack, and Alexander replied that he would not steal his victory, which is either a fine line or a recognition that a night battle would have wrecked his own coordination. The manoeuvre he used was oblique. He advanced his whole line at an angle to the right, drawing the Persian left outward to prevent an overlap, and kept edging further until a gap opened between the Persian centre and its cavalry. He then turned the Companions into it in a wedge, aimed directly at Darius. The gamble was on his own left, where Parmenion was hard pressed and where Persian cavalry broke through to the baggage. Darius fled again and the centre collapsed behind him. Babylon and Susa surrendered within weeks, Persepolis in January, and Darius was murdered by his own satrap the following summer. The Achaemenid empire had lasted 220 years. The scythed chariots are worth a note. They charged, the Macedonian infantry opened lanes and let them through, and the crews were dealt with from behind — the classic demonstration that a terrifying weapon is useless against troops who have been told what it does.
- Year: 331 BCE
- Category: Military
