Alexander's Battles

• The reasons for Alexander's success in the battles of Granicus


  -Longer, lighter weaponsthat were easier to use and didn't require close proximity to the enemy like the Persian's weapons did-Alexander rode ahead and killed Mithridates,the man leading the Persian wedge formation which meant the formation dispersed, making it easier for the Macedonians to kill them- Alexander wasdetermined to cross the River Granicusignoring Parmenio's advice. Alexander wanted the Persians to know from the start of the campaign that he is serious and not afraid- Alexander isn't afraid to fight and that he will make decisive decisions - he immersed himself into the middle of danger
• Problems at the Battle of Granicus


  - fast flowing river

  - getting late + getting dark

  - soft + steep bank on the other (Persian) side of the river

  - massively outnumbered by Persian troops
• Solutions at the Battle of Granicus


  - Zig zagged across the river

  - Ignored Parmenio's advice to wait until morning "fortune favours the bold"

  - Charged straight up the bank directly at Memnon and Memnon's sons, thus breaking the Persian centre and causing chaos
• Problems at the Battle of Issus


  - Outnumbered and they had to thin out their troops across 2 mile gap between sea and mountains

  - Darius manoeuvred his cavalry to right flank next to the sea ready for a decisive attack
• Solutions at the Battle of Issus


  - Al. thinned out his troops between sea + mountains

  - Al. spotted the attack that Darius' phalanx were preparing to make at the right wing and sent the cavalry and rear phalanx to defend

  - Al. led companion cavalry through Persians in narrow mountain pass
• The reasons for Alexander's success in the battles of Issus


  - Alexander's courage and moral courage- Alexander wasdetermined to defeat Dariusand he was great atproblem solvingin order to increase the likelihood of success- They made use of thephalanx, they had an aggressive formation and they used 20ft long pikes that stick out of the front of the phalanx. This meant that the Persians had to fight through 15 feet of pikes before reaching the Macedonian soldiers-Strengthened his left hand side, where Darius was hoping to attack, instead of using the spare soldiers in other areas that wouldn't be under such an intense attack
• Problems at the Siege of Tyre

  - Island surrounded by a tall wall that was incredibly thick and strong

  - Tyrian archers kept firing at the Macedonians building the "mole" + rammed a flaming boat into it and set it on fire

  - Tyrian divers cut the anchor ropes of the siege towers
• Solutions at the Siege of Tyre


  - Acquired a small navy

  - Built a land bridge ("mole")

  - Built a second "mole" at an angle to deflect tides

  - ropes replaced with chains

  - Used torsion catapults to smash through the walls
• The reasons for Alexander's success in the battles of Tyre

  - Alexander createdartillerythat utilised tension to fire projectiles at the Tyrians on the walls that were trying to disrupt the construction of the causeway Alexander was building to Tyre-Alexander's engineers built a causeway220ft wide extending to the fortress using the trees and rocks in the area. This gave him easy access to Tyre
• Problems at Gaugamela


  - Outnumbered

  - Darius chose a flat open plane to give his huge land troops and scythed chariots the advantage

  - Al. made for Darius and the Persians had him and the companion cavalry surrounded
• Solutions at Gaugamela


  - Phalanx held firm and stepped to the side when the scythed chariots were close

  - Al's main cavalry came to aid of him and the companion cavalry and surround the Persians

  - Al. went for Darius who fled, which caused chaos amongst the Persians as some fled and others were still engaged in battle
• Problems at the Persian Gate

  - Narrow mountain pass vulnerable to ambush

  - Al. had no choice but to pass through to get to the Persian capital

  - Darius had entrusted Ariobarzanes to protect the Persian gate and stop Al. getting through
• Solutions at the Persian Gate


  - Al. gets advice from a shepherd of another way around

  - Al. sends troops through the Persian Gate to engage in battle with Ariobarzanes and sends half his troops the route shown by the shepherd so they can attack the Persian camp
• What happened at the Siege of Aornos Rock

  - Alexander was trying to conquer a certain group of indigenous (native) people who were refusing to surrender.

  - It took place at Aornos, a giant rock fortress near the Indus.

  - built an earthwork mound to mitigate the problem of a deep valley

  - siege engines could get closer and within close proximity to fire

  - Indians decided to surrender at the sight of the earthwork mound
• The successes of Alexander by Arrian

  1. The siege of Tyre:

  - Alexander was successful because about 8,000 Tyrians were killed and enslaved everyone else.

  - This shows Alexander being good at oppressing resistance to his regime.

  - However those numbers could have been exaggerated by Arrian because he would have wanted the victory to seem like a landslide due to the face that he admired Alexander

  2. How victorious he was in all his battles with minimal deaths in his army, and larger death tolls in the persian army

  - e.g at Granicus 1,000 Persians died and the Macedonian death total was 115 Macedonians.

  - We might question the reliability of these numbers considering the Macedonians at first were at a disadvantage due to the Macedonians were greatly outnumbered and they were defending themselves from the river on ground that was not firm and from a lower position, as the Persians held the high bank.
• The successes of Alexander by the Mosaic from the house of the Faun, Pompeii


  1. This source tells us that the battle was chaotic and there was a lot going on between Alexander and Darius.

  2. The imagery evokes the power of Alexander the Great and his focus on taking the crown to be King of Asia and how people viewed Alexander.

  3. The mosaic shows an exact representation of what the battle would look like.

  4. It depicts Darius was more cowardly than Alexander. From his facial expression, it seems that Darius was terrified of Alexander.

  - We are encouraged to admire Alexander
• Reliable: The Alexander Mosaic


  - both cavalry and infantry

  - weapons and armour

  - the Persians are seen as running away which agrees with the written sources
• Unreliable: The Alexander Mosaic


  - Darius and Alexander are in close proximity

  - Shows the Persians using the Phalanx which is unreliable because the Macedonians used that formation