Battle of Issus
In 333 BCE Alexander marched through Anatolia and into Cilicia, fell dangerously ill after swimming in a cold river, recovered, and then learned that Darius III had personally taken the field and maneuvered behind the Macedonian advance, cutting off Alexander's supply line at Issus. Alexander turned back. The two armies met on the narrow coastal plain at the Pinarus River, where the mountains pressed close to the sea — terrain that again nullified Persian numerical advantage. Alexander commanded his right; Parmenion held the left. Alexander led the Companion Cavalry on the right in a diagonal charge seeking the gap between Darius and his mercenaries. When Alexander's cavalry broke through and threatened Darius personally, the Great King fled in his chariot, then on horseback. The sight of their king fleeing triggered a Persian collapse. Darius abandoned not just the battlefield but his royal tent, his war chest, and his entire family: his mother Sisygambis, his wife Stateira, and his daughters. Alexander visited them the next day with Hephaestion. Sisygambis mistakenly prostrated herself to Hephaestion who was taller; Alexander said simply, 'He too is Alexander.' He treated the Persian royal family with elaborate courtesy. Issus opened Syria and the Levantine coast. Darius twice offered generous peace terms; Alexander refused both times, demanding unconditional submission.
- Year: 333 BCE
- Category: Military
