Everything about The Battle Of Gaugamela totally explained
The
Battle of Gaugamela took place in
331 BC between
Alexander the Great of
Macedonia and
Darius III of
Achaemenid Persia. The battle, which is also inaccurately called the
Battle of Arbela, resulted in a massive victory for the Macedonians.
Location
Darius chose (or smoothed out, depending on accounts) a flat plain where he could deploy his numerically superior forces, however the location of the battle, for example, that of Gaugamela, can't be established definitively. Supposedly, the battle was held near a hill in the form of a
camel's hump, hence the name etymology:
Tel Gomel or
Tel Gahmal, which translates as "Mount Camel" in
Hebrew. Others translate the name as "camel's stall" (
Plutarch: "camel's house", in his
Life of Alexander), and associate the place with a settlement. The most commonly accepted opinion about the location is, east of
Mosul in modern-day northern
Iraq – suggested by Sir
Aurel Stein in 1938 (see his
Limes Report, pp. 127-1).
Prelude
During the two years after the
Battle of Issus, Alexander proceeded to occupy the
Mediterranean coast and
Egypt. He then advanced from
Syria against the heart of the Persian empire. Alexander crossed both the
Euphrates and the
Tigris rivers without any opposition. Darius was building up a massive army, drawing men from the far reaches of his empire. He planned to use numbers to crush Alexander, and according to some contemporary historians he gathered around 100,000 men. Darius also picked a flat plain for a battlefield so Alexander would have no advantages in terrain, and allowing Darius to use his vast horde more effectively.
On the eve of battle Alexanders generals were of the view that to counter the overwhelming advantage in numbers of the Persians a night attack should be launched. Alexander is said to have dismissed the notion explaining that as he was no ordinary general he wouldn't act like one. As it turned out Alexanders timing of battle was right. Darius, fearing a night attack, kept his army awake and on alert for the whole night, a decision that fatigued and tired his troops for the battle ahead, while Alexanders were more rested.
Size of Persian army
Modern estimates
Further Information
Get more info on 'Battle Of Gaugamela'.
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