The battle of Issus took place more than 2 thousand years ago and was one of the most significant during the conquest of Asia by Alexander the Great.
Despite the limitation of what happened, various facts about this significant day have reached our days. The reason is that this battle gave a new breath to the Macedonian empire, which, in turn, had a serious impact on the development of civilization and the settlement of ethnic groups in southern Europe and Asia.
Causes
The king of Macedonia Philip carried out a number of significant reforms, centralized the country, and also increased the number of regular troops. He increased the territory of the country, conquering lands in the south and east. After defeating the city-cities, Philip finally declared himself as a decisive commander and ruler, and of Macedonia - as a powerful regional power. After the death of the king, Alexander took his place, who from a young age participated in his father’s campaigns. Immediately after the coronation, he began active conquest. The kingdom has been continuously expanding. And in the early 30s, Alexander invaded Persia. He was resisted by local satraps, who were easily subdued by the Macedonian army. Alexander quickly moved forward, almost without resistance.
Conquest of Persia
The king of the Persians Darius at that time gathered a huge army to give a decisive rebuff to the Macedonians. At this time, the fleet made regular raids on the coast near the Hellespont Strait. The Macedonians could not resist them, because they did not control a number of cities in Asia Minor.
For this reason, fearing a strike from the rear, Alexander decides to first protect himself. Instead of deepening in the territory of Persia, he turns around and goes in the opposite direction to subjugate all the Persian cities. The priority goal is port settlements, since the enemy fleet is based in them. In order to deprive the Persians of this power and to allow forage and reinforcements from Macedonia to arrive without problems, Alexander captures the entire coast.
Forces: Persians
Darius gathered a fairly powerful army. To do this, he traveled throughout his empire and personally controlled the recruitment of soldiers. In addition to the Persians themselves, troops were also recruited from the peoples they conquered. Persia of that time was extremely rich, in comparison with neighboring countries. The concept of luxury there was many times higher than anywhere else. Gold and silver allowed Darius to hire Greek hoplites. This heavy Greek infantry was famous for its stamina on the battlefield. The hoplites were armed with long spears, 8-pound shields and one and a half straight swords (less often the blades were bent).
Strong armor and heavy helmets were used as armor. The battle of Issus, according to the Persians, was supposed to bring victory to those who could push the enemy to the mountains. Therefore, about 10 thousand hired Greeks who wanted to take revenge on Alexander for the defeat at Hirenei, Darius placed in the center of his army. On the flanks were the Persian infantry, built in the phalanx, and cavalry. There was also a huge number of warriors from the conquered peoples. They stood behind the front line in units created according to the tribal principle, without taking into account age or quality categories. Taking into account the reinforcements, when the battle of Issus began, 100 thousand people stood under the banners of Darius.
Forces: Macedonians
Alexander brought with him thirty-five thousand infantry and five thousand cavalry. They were mostly battle-hardened hoplites. The heavy infantry worked perfectly in one formation and attacked with a single organism.
The battle of Issus called for many mercenaries.
Alexander the Great brought with him about two thousand barbarians, most likely recruited from the Sarmatians or Scythians. As well as several thousand Cretan archers.
Battle
What year was the battle of Issus is known only from the memoirs of Diodorus and Curtius. The most common version is 333 BC. The Persian army became in order, hiding behind the bay. Darius hoped that a small river would impede the advance of the Macedonians, and numerical superiority would play a decisive role. However, the venue was in the hands of Alexander. He specially maneuvered through the mountains, imposing precisely the narrow coast on the Persians.
The Macedonians were the first to attack. The phalanx moved in the center to link the most dangerous part of the Persian army. Having reached a small river, they wade through it and began to climb ashore. There, hired hoplites tried to throw the phalanx back. However, having a numerical superiority, she slowly moved forward. At this time, the Thessaly cavalry attacked on the left flank with the support of the Greek and Thracian infantry. The cavalry of the Persians immediately began to retreat.
The decisive blow was inflicted by the Getarans led by Alexander and his personal guard, the shield-bearer corps.
The heavy cavalry crushed the entire left flank of the Persians extremely quickly and surrounded the Greek hoplites. The battle of Issus seemed won. However, the Persians decided to advance. At this time, Alexander personally made his way to the king of the Persians and he fled in fear. This put the entire Persian army to flight. The Macedonians drove the barbarians, the battle of Issus ended. The date of the defeat of Darius did not reach our times.