Today in Military History: May 3, 334 BCToday's journey in military glory takes us back to the fourth century before the Christian Era. The most successful military commander of his time was Alexander the Great. This was the first step in his conquest of Persia, and it nearly was his last.
Background
Alexander, son of Philip of Macedon, had been king of Macedon for 2 years since the assassination of his father in 336 BC. His father had conquered most of the Greek peninsula in 338; Philip then announced that he was going to lead the newly-consolidated domain in a war of vengeance and conquest against the Persian Empire, then the largest political unit in western Asia. After his father's demise, Alexander spent nearly two years consolidating his position, putting down various revolts, and scouting the opposition.
Alexander the Great (356 BC – 323 BC)
The combined army of Greek states – dominated by his own Macedonian soldiers – crossed the Hellespont from the town of Sestos to the Persian town of Abydos. [This was the site nearly 150 years earlier in 480 BC where the Persians built a mile-long pontoon bridge to cross into Europe to launch their invasion of Greece.] Nearby was the site of the ancient city of Troy, which Alexander briefly visited. Afterwards, the Greco-Macedonian army headed inland.
The army's first objective was the city of Dascylium, capital of the Persian satrapy (province) of Phrygia. It is nearly certain that Alexander's first major objective was to proceed southward down the coast of Asia Minor (modern Turkey) to liberate the Greek-settled cities of Ionia – Miletus and Ephesus were the best known – who had revolted against the Persians around 500 BC, and were brutally put down. With these cities as a firm beachhead, the Macedonians could proceed with their conquest.
The road to Dascylium crossed the nearby Granicus River (known today as the Biga Çayi). According to the several historians chronicling the campaign, the Granicus was approximately 60-90 feet wide, with a strong current, varying depth, and steep irregular banks, especially on the eastern side of the river. While not sounding like a particularly formidable barrier, the river nonetheless gave the local Persian forces "good ground" to defend.
The Two Armies: Greco-Macedonians vs. Persians
The Greco-Macedonian army (I'll just call them "Macedonians" for clarity) was dominated by the armored, spear-armed phalanxes that were the basis of Greek armies for at least 500 years. The main difference is that the Macedonian phalangists were not as heavily armored as the classic Greek hoplite, wearing either leather or even linen armor. However, the Macedonian pikemen carried a longer spear, called a sarissa. This weapon was about 18 feet long, was wielded with two hands, and did a marvelous job of keeping one's opponent at more than arm's length. [see below] Each phalangist also had a shortsword as a secondary weapon.
The smallest unit of the phalanx was the syntagma of 256 men. The unit was usually either 8 or 16 men deep, with a usual frontage of 32 men, thought sometimes to make an extended line a frontage of only 16 men was used. Each file of 8 or 16 men had three junior officers: one in the front, one in the back, and one in the middle. The overall commander of each syntagma was stationed at right-most file of each unit. They were constantly drilling and perfecting their precision. While the largest portion of the Macedonian army, Alexander did not actually use the phalanx as the decisive arm of his battles, but instead used it to pin and demoralize the enemy.
The truly decisive arm of the Macedonians was the Companion Cavalry. They were made up of highly-trained landed nobility. The Companions were divided into 8 squadrons of 200 men – each from a particular province of Macedon – with the exception of the Royal Squadron, the hand-picked bodyguards which totaled 400 men. Companion cavalry would ride the best horses, and receive the best weaponry available. In Alexander's day, each carried a xyston, a 12-13 foot long spear, and wore a bronze breastplate, shoulder guards and Boeotian helmets, but bore no shield. A kopis (a curved slashing sword) was also carried for close combat, should the xyston break. Their horses had a large amount of thick felt draped over their sides, while they probably had partial breast and head plating for protection against spears, missiles and the like. The Companions main function was to charge selected opponents or exposed flanks of enemy unit, most usually after driving the enemy horse they engaged from the field. They were always positioned on the right wing, considered the position of greatest honor.
[NOTE: Hypaspists, labeled above as "elite heavy cavalry," were actually elite heavy infantry]
The next most elite unit – stationed next to the Companions – was the Hypaspists, heavy infantrymen equipped and armored like the classic hoplites. Their main job was to guard the right flank of the phalanx. The Hypaspists were also from higher-class families (similar to the Companions). In addition, they were used for special battlefield missions with the Agrianians (who were elite javelinmen or peltasts) and light cavalry wearing linen or leather armor and carrying swords or even xyston.
On the left flank of the Macedonian army were more light infantry peltasts (see below), light cavalrymen and the Thessalians, the only other heavy cavalry used by Alexander. The Thessalians remained allies of Macedon until the conquest of that nation by Rome in 146 BC (though it seems they were basically mercenaries). These horsemen were equipped similar to the Companions, but used shorter spears or even javelins and shields. These men were usually given the mission of guarding the left flank of Alexander's army, so that the right flank could deliver the decisive blow.
The Macedonians also used a number of irregular skirmishers, who lined up in front of the army, providing harassing fire on the enemy's formations. Mercenary archers from the island of Crete were used, as well as other hired mercenary heavy infantry – these last often used as a reserve, or placed wherever in the main battle line they might be needed. Historians believe that Alexander's army consisted of:
+ 22,000 heavy infantry, both Macedonian phalangists and mercenary hoplites;
+ 20,000 peltasts and skirmishers, mainly Thracians as well as the Cretan archers; and,
+ 5000 cavalry, including the Thessalian mercenary horse and the Companion heavies.
The Persian army that faced Alexander at the Granicus River was not your typical Achaemenid royal army. Since the King was not present, command of this force has been ascribed to one of the Persian provincial governors (called satraps). In addition, by this time most of the heavy infantry of the Persian army consisted of Greek mercenary hoplites, men who sought the spoils of war, as well as earning the gold that the Persian king could offer. The Persian force is described as comprising:
* 10,000-15,000 cavalrymen, most of whom wore linen or leather armor, used spears and were armed with composite longbows, but apparently also included some mercenary Greek horsemen, possibly Thessalians;
* 9500-12,000 peltasts, skirmishers similar to Alexander's Thracian skirmishers, but the Persians were probably Mysians, Pisidians or even Kurds, who in addition to javelins used a large axe as a sidearm. There are also indications that many of these men used bows rather than javelins; and,
* 5000 mercenary Greek hoplites, armed and armored similarly to the traditional Greek soldiers who fought at Marathon in 490 and at Thermopylae in 480. They were likely wearing bronze armor and armed with the traditional 7-9 foot long spear, called a dory (see illustration below).
Traditional Greek hoplite
The Persian figures given above are modern historians' conjectures, because – as usual – most of the ancient historians hyper-inflated the enemy's totals to give more glory to the boy-king of Macedon. In particular, Diodorus Siculus claimed that the Persian infantry alone totaled more than 100,000 men – surely a gross exaggeration!
Dispositions of the Armies
The Persians sent their cavalry to block the Macedonians' passage over the Granicus, strengthening their position with most of their peltasts. The river is described as being fast-moving – probably from spring rains – with very steep banks on the eastern side. Apparently, the Persians hoped to use their advantage in horsemen – perhaps outnumbering the invading Macedonians by as much as 3 to 1 – to strike quickly, surrounding the Companion cavalry and slaughtering them to a man, killing Alexander and stopping the invasion before it could get fully underway. The Persians' heavy infantry, Greek mercenaries, were initially stationed on a hill about a quarter mile behind the river. The rest of the Persian peltasts and bowmen were probably with the Greeks, being used as a strategic reserve.
The commander of the Persians' Greek mercenary contingent, a man named Memnon of Rhodes, had suggested to the Persian satraps a scorched earth policy. This tactic would have the Persians burn any crops in the vicinity, possibly poison water wells also, and have the Persian host fall back until the Macedonians were hungry, thirsty, and demoralized. Then, once the invaders were far enough away from their base of operations in Europe, the Persians would attack and destroy them. The governors, however, rejected Memnon's advice, and sought to meet the Macedonians as quickly as possible.
The generally accepted accounts of Alexander's Persian campaign are found in the Roman historians Plutarch (who wrote in the 1st century AD) and Arrian of Nicomedia (who wrote in the 2nd century AD). Both of these historians say that the Macedonians arrived at the river, possibly in the early to mid-afternoon, and found their crossing being contested by the Persian cavalry and peltasts. Alexander's chief military advisor Parmenion recommended they wait until dawn of the next day, find another river crossing and outflank the Persians. According to Plutarch and Arrian, Alexander rejected this advice and opted for an immediate attack.
River Granicus (Biga Çayi) today
[I should indicate that there is a divergent account of this battle. Diodorus Siculus, a Greek historian who lived in the 1st century BC, claimed that Alexander actually listened to Parmenion's advice and commenced operations the next day. There is something to recommend Diodorus, because in the early part of his Persian campaign Alexander heeded much of Parmenion's counsel, but not always. However, Alexander was also a very head-strong young man, convinced of his own invincibility, so the accounts of Arrian and Plutarch seem to carry much more weight with modern historians.]
Alexander drew his army up in the formation that had served the Macedonians well under his father Philip (see yesterday's post for the diagram). As usual, the young king was with his Companion heavy cavalrymen on the right flank. Parmenion commanded the left flank, and was given an important job to start the battle.
The Battle Begins
If we believe the accounts of Arrian and Plutarch, the Macedonians quickly deployed from march column into battle formation. Then, Parmenion led the Thessalian and allied heavy horse and their light infantry contingent forward against the Persian right flank. They were initially met with a hail of javelins and arrows, probably taking heavy casualties. However, this demonstration worked, and the Persians reacted to the feint by heavily reinforced their right flank, weakening its center and left. The Persian right wing then pressed their attack on Parmenion.
Once the Persian line began to thin before him, Alexander launched his main attack. As his center, consisting of the phalanxes, advanced to keep the Persian center in its place, he took his Companion cavalry, the Hypaspists, and about half of the light infantry of his right wing, broke quickly across the stream, and angled across the front of the Persian left wing. With the Companions formed in wedge formation – with Alexander naturally at the point of the wedge – the Macedonians then struck the left side of the Persian center.
The Persians countercharged with a squadron of nobles on horse, and accounts show that in the melee, several high-ranking Persian nobles were killed by Alexander himself or his bodyguards. During the desperate hand-to-hand melee, Alexander was stunned by an axe-blow from a Persian nobleman named Spithridates, which chopped off one of the two large white plumes on the boy-king's helmet. Before the noble could deal a death-blow, however, he was himself killed by a Macedonian named Cleitus the Black. Alexander recovered and continued the attack.
Macedonian Companion Cavalryman
The force of the Companion hammer blow threw the Persian center into mass confusion. Alexander then proceeded to roll up the Achaemenid center from right to left, opening a huge hole in the Persian line. Seeing the opportunity, the Macedonian center charged forward into the gap. The phalanx then maneuvered to surround the disintegrating center and threaten the near-to-breaking Persian left.
With the charge of the Macedonian phalangists, the Persian wings lost all cohesion. The right and left began to break up, especially as the Macedonian right and left wings charged forward themselves, adding to the pressure. Before too long, the entire Persian army broke and routed from the field...
...with one exception. Seeing the Persian army routing about them, the Greek mercenary hoplites stood firm on the hill where they were originally deployed. Despite the fact that their leader Memnon of Rhodes had already fled the battle, the Greeks hoped that they could arrange an honorable surrender with the Macedonian commander. The Greeks sent a deputation to him, offering their capitulation. Alexander, however, would have none of it. He regarded these mercenaries as traitors to his cause, so he ordered his phalangists and other infantrymen to continue fighting the mercenaries. By the end of the day, nearly all of the Greeks were slaughtered, with the exception of about 2000 of them, whom Alexander ordered to be captured and sent back to Macedon to be used as slave laborers.
Aftermath
Again, if we believe the accounts of Arrian, Diodorus, and Plutarch, the Macedonian casualties were relatively light – about 300-400 dead, with 1200-4200 wounded. The Persian casualties totaled about 3000 infantry killed, 1000 cavalry killed, and 2000 captured. The rest of the Achaemenid army routed back to their home provinces.
As a result, Alexander took the first step in his conquest of the Persian Empire. He spent the rest of the years 334 and 333 besieging several of the major seaports on the Aegean coast, securing his rear and his supply lines back to Greece. It was not until November of 333 that the Persian king Darius, fed up with the incompetence of his satraps, took the field himself to stop Alexander.
Footnote: Memnon of Rhodes tried to disrupt Alexander's supply lines, even proposed an invasion of Greece to distract the boy-king from his mission. He used the Persian navy to capture two Greek islands, which fanned the flames of Athenian rebellion temporarily. Unfortunately, Memnon died of illness in 333, and his schemes fell apart.
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