I. End as of 4/4/95
II. A. The Battle Lines In ASCII:
III. Gaugamela:
D1 C B A B C D2 A Darius in his Chariots
SSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS B The Immortals
E E E E E E E E E E E E E E E E E C Greek Mercenaries
E Elephants S Scythed Chariots
G(1700) F F F F F D1 Cavalry under Bessus
H(3000) F F F F D2 Cavalry under Mazaeus
I(9000) F Mac. Flank Guards
J(1600) G Al. and Companion Cavalry
F F F F F H Hypaspists
F F F F I The Phalanx
J The Thessalian Cavalry
K K K K K The Reserve Phalanx
IV. Alexander's Plan--Oblique advance with the collapsing box
A. Chariots mass against his advance, wiped out by archers and javelin throwers
B. Mazaeus's Indian and Persian cavalry get past Thessalians and pierce reserve phalanx but plunder camp instead of attacking from the rear
C. Admits divinity to the Thessalians before battle, not a bad time for it.
D. Alexander aims for the Persian weak spot: Darius
E. Parmenio does two things: Calls for Help, attacks camp-plunderers in the rear
F. Nasty cavalry battle and Darius escapes, again pursued until darkness, War chest and baggage captured at Arbela
G. Historiographical Note:
1. WWI and large frontal assaults vs. the Blitzkrieg,
a) Concentration of force at weak spot in enemy line
b) Penetration by most mobile units to attack from rear and spread havoc in the enemy's rear
c) Remaining enemy frontal resistance crushed out by infantry
2. Invented by two British officers after Cambrai, Cols. Liddell-Hart and J.F.C. Fuller, but not adopted by British Army
3. Fuller, in the Generalship of Alexander the Great gave the credit for the invention to Alexander at Gaugamela.
4. H. Al's subsequent plan:
1. Occupy the Persian heartland, proclaim himself official king of Asia: Army or his publicists?
2. NOT the same title as the still-living Darius, "Great KIng"
3. Continues to play up the hegemon bit
4. As EAF put it, Al is trying to wear as many crowns as he can comfortably get on his head.
5. Occupation of Babylon:
a) Mazaeus surrenders the city intact and switches sides, ends up with civil administration, maybe even gets to mint own coins
b) Babylonians proclaim Al their new king, more d & c.
c) Al accepts everything and follows his standard policy of leaving a Macedonian garrison among the happy natives. If Rhodes is any proof, the natives don't stay happy for long.
(1) Alexander approves, supposedly, a Rhodian democratic constitution
(2) Arrests Damaratus and another Rhodian on "some charges"
(3) Damaratus, note, is later a leader (admiral) in Rhodes' fight to maintain its independence
(4) Rhodians evict Alexander's garrison in 322
6. Conquest of Susa, main Persian Imperial capital,
a) Propaganda
b) Main treasure depot: Alexander can henceforth afford anything he wants.
c) Curtius tells how Alexander's entire army became debilitated by a month in Persian luxury at Babylon
7. Persepolis
a) Ariobarzanes tries to hold the road in a stiff fight
b) Al spends four months in the city, then loots and burns it
c) The best explanation for Ptolemy's mistress Thais getting to burn the place comes from the idea that Alexander was letting her pull off a planned burn, with the looting done
d) On the other hand, there is the order to fight the flames--Argead alcoholism or the danger of it spreading?
e) EAF argued that Alexander was burning the cult center of Ahura Mazda as a way of signalling the fall of the Argead dynasty.
f) Sources do not allow a certain statement that Al was out to suppress Agis' revolt (The
g) City definitely was burned and ruined.
I. Strategy consistent: Once again Al lets Darius collect reinforcements, resumes advance in Spring, 330
1. Now at Ecbatana planning (at last) to implement Memnon's scorched earth policy and retreat into Afghanistan
2. Expecting reinforcements from Scythia and Cadusia, which don't show
3. Darius runs again but this time does not get far
a) Bessus, satrap of Bactria, imprisons Darius
b) Darius killed as Alexander's cavalry draws near
J. Al has Harpalus, treasurer, collect the assorted Persian hoards and deposit them in Ecbatana
K. Parmenio left as garrison commander and ditched: Pragmatism, again
V. Alexander now Darius's successor, and out to avenge him!
A. Or is he forestalling organized resistance under a more competent leader?
1. Bessus he does NOT allow time to gather an army!
a) He's one of those home-grown satraps, hence dangerous
b) At least he's enterprising
2. Greek mercenaries (the last 1,500) unconditionally surrender
a) Those enlisted before League of Corinth go home (oldest)
b) Those after must serve with him (Reinforcements!)
3. Persian nobles see no point in getting killed so that somebody else can rule over them, except for Satibarzanes of Areia
B. Off the map, but he'd planned for that, the damnable bematistae again
C. How do you suppress a Guerilla War?
1. Rule 101 again--let the enemy control nothing
a) Hippoaknotistai, hippotoxotai
b) Rapid movement thanks to his cavalry
(1) Al picks the battlefields
(2) Does not allow the enemy to prepare ambushes
c) Blitzkrieg-style use of Persian Royal Road system for rapid movement
d) Crashes through scorched areas before they're large enough to stop him
e) Rivers on skin, horses, tents
2. Grant the enemy no safe areas
a) Flying columns maximizing the threat of a powerful response
b) Outposts: Founded cities and garrisons,
(1) Offering targets that lure guerrilas
(2) Offering areas to support flying columns and other outposts
3. Bessus can't run fast enough or far enough and gets pulled down by Ptolemy
4. Cf. Kitchener in South Africa, vs. Westmoreland in Vietnam, Napoleon in Spain vs. Sheridan in the Shenandoah valley
D. Spitamenes tries the ethnic bit, we vs. them, Al counters
1. Savagery to match savagery in rear areas
2. Spitamenes made the mistake of attacking Maracanda, which Al could relieve
3. Spitamenes raided successfully, but the Massagetae betrayed him when they realized that Al was going to subject them to the same treatment! 328
4. Tyre again: No fortress untakeable, Sogdian rock, 327, Schrechlichkeit and "flyers."
5. Chorienes, artillery, ladders
6. Roxane there, marries her,
a) Is it love or
b) Becomes Afghani, ends the ethnic hate line (G. Bush's grandchildren), cf. Philip and Olympias
c) Worked! Iskander Bey, the Man Who Would be King
VI. To Follow Wilcken (and everybody else!)--What was happening in the HQ during all this horribly hard Warfare?
A. While it's fresh in memory, think of what these people are going through
1. Living in tents for months at a time, each time in a new location
2. Those around the King continuously on horseback, at risk of attack in hostile territory ever since Asia Minor
3. Alexander in sole control
4. Same faces at dinner every night, same conditions, but Alexander is the sun at the center of the Solar System
B. What motivated Alexander?
1. Fredricksmeyer: His pursuit of arete, the Homeric virtue urging one to be the best at whatever one does
a) Even as a child: "Won't you run?" "If I have kings to run against me."
b) Competed with Philip in Greece and as Ruler of Macedonia
c) Competed with Darius as a general--won that one!
d) Competed with Cyrus the Great when he conquered the Persian Empire, so possibly his break with Cyrus's family and tradition by burning Persepolis in Spring, 330
e) I mentioned his Diogenes line.
2. Physically
a) Not terribly tall or imposing--Hephaestion once mistaken for him
b) He did have a terribly penetrating stare, probably a function of that powerful intellect: Cassander broke into a cold sweat upon seeing a statue of Alexander at Delphi
3. The Pothos and Curiosity
a) Legacy from Aristotle and Aristotle's philosophy
b) "To boldly go"
c) Experiments with naptha: Stephanus
d) Interest in the Brahmans
4. What about his sexual orientation? See your Wilcken, p. 329, the 4th note.
a) The original source is one Dicearchus, a contemporary, quoted in a 2nd A.D. writer named Athenaeus, Dicearchus being a pupil of Aristotle
b) Most of the modern damage done by Mary Renault, who took a break from writing historical fiction (The Mask of Apollo, The Persian Boy) to write other material suggesting that Alexander and Hephaestion were lovers, parallel to Patroclus and Achilles--which isn't actually made explicit in the Iliad
c) Fredricksmeyer always believed that Alexander wasn't gay
(1) Episode with the Persian boy, Bagoas, a favorite, at a singing festival, the audience vs. Al's inclination.
(2) EAF's theory that Olympias used Philip's activities to turn Al against the idea
(3) The two catamites bought for him and Al's violent reaction
d) The affairs with Barsine (half Greek, half Persian, Memnon's late mistress) and Roxane do have sources saying that they were romantic
e) Cf. the "No time," line--Al subordinated EVERYTHING to the campaign
5. Rice: My pragmatism line
a) Doesn't provide the motivation, but Philip had done that by announcing the trans- Hellespontine Campaign: Put up, or shut up
C. If you believe in military success, power, and conquest at all, then the Iliad, be the best, explains the rest of it. Al kept conquering as long as he had the means to do so.
VII. End as of 4/11/95