November 333 BC · Syria / Asia Minor border Theater
November 333 BC
Darius III personally led an army of perhaps 100,000 into a narrow coastal plain that negated his numerical advantage — a catastrophic strategic error. The battle opened with Alexander's right wing Companion Cavalry smashing the Persian left. Seeing Alexander driving toward him personally, Darius turned his chariot and fled. His flight triggered a general Persian rout. The Persian camp was captured intact: Darius's mother Sisygambis, his wife Stateira, and his daughters fell into Alexander's hands. He treated them with conspicuous courtesy — a deliberate political statement that he intended to rule as a Persian king, not merely conquer and plunder.
Commanders