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A hundred and fifty years after Xerxes and his Persians gave up trying to conquer Greece, Alexander the Great was all “Payback time, motherfuckers!” That payback culminated in the Battle of Gaugamela. And while the Persians didn’t have much success with their attempts to conquer Greece, Alexander used his brilliant tactics to defeat a superior force and bring the Persian Empire to an end.
--On This Day in History, Shit Went Down: October 1, 331 BCE--
You know Aristotle? Of course you do. Dude was famous. Imagine having him as a teacher. Well, nowadays I’m sure he’d be spewing some shit we consider pretty fucked up. But back then he was the pedagogical man, and he was responsible for Alexander’s education. In 336 BCE Alex’s dad Phillip II was assassinated, and Alex ascended the throne at the age of 20.
Phil had conquered and unified Greece, and Alex inherited a powerful kingdom with a strong and professional military. So, he wanted to play with it and do some conquering. Alexander would live to be only 32, but he would spend the majority of his reign campaigning. Undefeated in battle, he is considered one of the greatest military commanders in history.
On October 1, 331 BCE, Alexander slept in. As was his habit, he ensured his soldiers were rested and well fed before battle. Conversely, the forces of the Achaemenid (Persian) Emperor Darius III had been awake throughout the night, fearing an attack that never came. Darius had chosen the battlefield (in what is now northern Iraq), and the numbers are hazy because it was a long fucking time ago, but it is certain the Persians had a vastly superior force.
One brilliant tactic Alexander employed to defeat his enemy was a flanking maneuver that was actually a feint. He ordered his cavalry far to the right, making it appear as though he intended to attack the Persian forces from the side. Darius ordered his troops to match Alexander’s cavalry to prevent them from being outflanked. Alexander moved them even further right, and the Persians matched him, and the Greeks moved even further . . . and in so doing he pulled the Persian cavalry far enough out of position to create a gap that allowed the Greek troops massed in the center, led by Alexander himself, to attack with concentrated force, creating a wedge in the Persian lines, charging straight toward Emperor Darius.
Rumor has it that Alexander spied Darius on the battlefield and hurled a spear at him, missing the Persian Emperor by inches. Frightened and seeing that his life was in personal peril, Darius fled the field and his troops quickly surrendered. The Persian Empire soon fell. To this day, Alexander’s tactics are taught in military academies throughout the world.
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