Issus : Alexander's Second Major Victory in Persia

Battle of Issus (333 BC) was the second major victory of Alexander in his Persian campaign. Battle of Gaugamela (331 BC) was famous because it was the last battle between Darius III and Alexander the great where later won a stunning victory but Issus was the first battle where Alexander first time faced Darius and a big Persian army. So, we can say it was the true beginning of his conquest of Persian empire.

Battle of Issus

Prelude : After invading the Persian empire in 334 BC, Alexander won one major victory in Battle of the Granicus (334 BC) against Persian satraps. He subdued the local satraps of west Asia Minor but didn't meet Darius yet. He knew before meeting the main Persian army under Darius, he must neutralize the strong Persian navy. So, he started conquering the coastal cities one by one. This way the Persian navy had to withdraw from that area. On the other hand Darius was started assembling a big army to drive away the Macedonian invaders. After receiving that news Alexander sent his general Parmenion with a portion of his army to block the mountain passage to the Issus (A small city in southern Anatolia ) to prevent Darius from taking it. Alexander followed with his army and took Issus. Now he moved towards Parmenion and joined their forces. Darius knew about the Macedonian presence in western passage so he took the northern route and retook Issus. Here he killed the wounded and sick Macedonian soldiers who were left by Alexander. Alexander was expecting Darius from east so after hearing the news he turned north to meet him. Darius didn't aware that Alexander and Permenion already joined so he also marched towards Alexander believing that he would face the divided Macedonian force. When he realized that he was going to face the main Macedonian army, it was too late to maneuver for the big army he had. So, he occupied the western side of the Pinarus River and started deploying his forces. Alexander soon reached the eastern side of the river and saw Darius was already deployed his forces and was waiting for him. So he also deployed his forces and the battle began.

Armies : Alexander had nearly 40000 men. Around 22000 were Macedonian phalangites and Greek hoplites, 13000 peltasts and nearly 6000 of his Companion cavalry and Greek Thessalian cavalry. On the other hand Darius had nearly 100000 men including 10000 Greek mercenary hoplites, 10000 Persian immortals and nearly 11000 cavalry. The rest were Persian spearmen and archers.

Macedonian Phalangites

The Battle : Because of the narrowness of the terrain, Darius couldn't deploy his army properly. He deployed all his cavalry on his right flank (The beach side) for charge. In the center he deployed his infantry in two lines including himself. Alexander deployed his troops with cavalry on two flanks. On his left flank was Parmenion with his Thessalian cavalry. The Macedonian phalangites and Greek hoplites were placed in center. On his right flank he placed himself with his Companion cavalry. The battle began with Persian cavalry charge on Parmenion's line. Alexander ordered his infantry to cross the river and attack the Persian center and he charged on Persian left flank. The Macedonian center started advancing in rain of arrows and attacked the Persian center. Parmenion's line was holding but started taking losses because he was heavily outnumbered. Alexander succeeded on breaking the Persian left and routed them. Form there he saw that his center and Parmenion's line were taking heavy losses. He needed to act quickly otherwise his army would route. He turned west and attacked the Persian center from behind and left. The panic broke out in Persian line and Darius himself fled the battlefield. Soon, the Persian center broke and routed. The Persain cavalry was in better position against Parmenion but when they saw Darius fled, they also fled the battlefield. Alexander chased Darius but stopped and called off the pursuit. 

The Battle

Aftermath : Alexander executed all the captured Greek mercenaries who were fighting on the Persian side. He started advancing towards Persian capital after this victory. Darius was defeated first time in his life but he didn't give up. He soon started assembling a massive force to crush the Macedonians. Both armies met each other again in Gaugamela, the last battle of Darius. 

Alexander the Great