334 BC · Asia Minor Theater
334 BC
Miletus, the greatest Greek city of Ionia, was held by a Persian garrison supported by the Achaemenid fleet. Alexander's admiral Nicanor seized the harbor entrance before the Persian fleet could land reinforcements, then Alexander stormed the walls. Most defenders were killed; the Greek citizen population was spared. Alexander made a consequential strategic decision here: he disbanded most of his own fleet, judging that Persian naval power could be neutralized by seizing every Persian port on land. He was right.
Commanders