333 BC e.) In 334-333 BC. e. The Macedonian army completely subjugated the Persian possessions in Asia Minor. But, despite significant strategic successes, the political and military position of the Macedonian conquerors was still not strong enough. In the spring of 333 BC. e. The Macedonians received information that large Persian forces were concentrated in the northern part of Syria. Two mountain passes led to the place of concentration of the Persian army, 50 km apart from each other. Alexander decided to take advantage of the southern passage and moved his army along the coastal road through the Gulf of Issky to the location of the Persians. It soon became known that the Persian army took advantage of the northern mountain pass, went behind enemy lines and occupied Iss, interrupting the communications of the Macedonians. But Alexander realized the advantage of his position. Close mountain country all the benefits were on his side. He turned his warriors back to attack the enemy, who was in an awkward position at Issus. The Persians stopped behind the river. Pinar, which flows into the Issky Gulf. They occupied a position with a length of 4 km. The Persian army was located in two lines. In the first line in the center were Greek mercenaries and a detachment of the Persian king, heavily armed infantry and Asian mercenaries from different tribes were placed on the flanks. On the left side, in the mountains, there were 20 thousand armed barbarians under the command of Aristomedes of Thessaly: their task was to disturb Alexander's right flank. On the extreme right flank stood the cavalry led by Nabarzan. The battle order of the Macedonian army consisted of three main parts: the right wing - the heavy cavalry under the command of Alexander, the center - the hoplite phalanx, and the left wing - the allied cavalry under the command of Parmenion. Half a turn to the right with a front to the height occupied by the Persians stood a strong Macedonian detachment. Due to the strengthening of the right wing at the expense of the center, the front of the Macedonian army turned out to be longer than the front of the Persian. Because of this, the Macedonian battle line cut off enemy detachments sent to the mountains from the Persian line. The first stage of the battle at Issa brought some success to both the Persians and the Macedonians. Alexander, at the head of the Macedonian horsemen, rushed into the waters of Pinar and, accompanied by the nearest cavalry detachments, broke into the center of the enemy line with such swiftness that it soon began to succumb and retreat. The hottest fight took place near Darius. Alexander with his horsemen rushed to the Persian king. The retinue of the king fought with desperate courage. Saving his life, Darius finally turned back the chariot and fled; the nearest ranks rushed after him, and soon a retreat began in the Persian center and on the left flank. Meanwhile, Alexander's left flank was attacked by the enemy. The Persian horsemen crossed the Pinar and defeated one of the Thessalian cavalry. It seemed that it was no longer possible to resist the superior forces of the enemy. But it was at this time that the Persian left flank and Darius himself took to flight. Not pursuing the fleeing king, Alexander hurried to the aid of his left wing and hit the flank of the Greek mercenaries. They were soon driven back and defeated. A disorderly flight of the entire army began. In the narrow passages, the huge Persian army mingled. Those who fled died both from the pressure of their compatriots and from the weapons of the pursuing enemies. The losses of the Persians were enormous, the battlefield was littered with corpses and dying. One hundred thousand people, including 10 thousand horsemen, fell on the battlefield. The Macedonian army lost 450 men. The battle of Issus destroyed the entire huge army of the Persian king, and now the path to all the lands of inner Asia has opened before the happy winner. The Persian fleet, which Alexander might still have feared in Greek waters, also dispersed at the news of the battle of Issus. Darius with small detachment he made his way through Syria and only beyond the Euphrates did he feel safe. Soon he sent a letter to Alexander, in which he offered alliance and friendship. But Alexander looked at himself already as the ruler of Asia And demanded that Darius personally come to him with humility. Otherwise, Alexander will look for a meeting with him, wherever he is. List of recommended literature and sources 1. Arrian F. Campaign of Alexander. - M.-L., 1962. 2. Military Encyclopedia: In 8 volumes / Ch. ed. comis. P. S. Grachev (prev.). - M., 1995. - T.Z. - P. 400. 3. Military encyclopedic lexicon, published by the society of military men and writers. - Ed. 2nd. - In 14 volumes - St. Petersburg, 1854. - V.6. - S. 237–239. 4. Geriberg G. F. History of Greece and Rome. - St. Petersburg, 1881. - Vol. 1 - S. 532–534. 5. Delbrück G. History of military art within political history. - T.1. Antique world. - SPb., 1994. S. 146–158. 6. Zeddeler L. I. Review of the history of military art: In 2 hours - 4.1. History of military art of ancient peoples. - SPb., 1836. 7. Martynov EI Historical sketch of the development of ancient Greek tactics (according to ancient authors). - SPb., 1900. 8. Marine atlas / Ed. ed. G. I. Levchenko. - M., 1958. -V.3, part 1. -L.1. 9. Plutarch. Selected biographies: In 2 volumes - V.2. - M., 1990. 10. Razin E. A. History of military art. - SPb., 1994. - T.1. - S. 227–229. 11. Fischer-Fabian S. Alexander the Great. - Smolensk, 1997. 12. Shachermayer F. Alexander the Great. - 2nd ed., corrected. - M., 1986. 13. Shifman I. Sh. Alexander the Great. - M.-L., 1988. S. 68–106. 14. Encyclopedia of military and marine sciences: In 8 tons / Under the general. ed. GA. Leer. - St. Petersburg, 1888 - T.Z - C 404–405.

(Asia Minor).

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    At first, the enemy armies dispersed. Alexander, moving along the coast, overcame narrow passages in the mountains. Darius was waiting for the Macedonians on a wide plain near the town of Sohi. However, Alexander was in no hurry to reach the plain, where the Persians could use their numerical superiority. Then Darius, not being able to keep a huge army in one place for a long time, rushed after Alexander. Having captured the town of Iss (modern Iskenderun in Turkey), abandoned by Alexander the day before, the Persian army ended up in the rear of the Macedonians. Alexander deployed the army and returned back. The armies met on the shores of the Issky Gulf, in the valley of the small river Pinar (modern Payas). The valley was squeezed by the Aman mountains; the coastal strip where the battle unfolded was only 2.5 km wide.

    Opponent Forces

    Macedonians

    The course of the battle

    The army of Darius stood motionless on the banks of the river Pinar, not deep, but steep. In some places, where the coast seemed gentle, the Persians set up barriers. Alexander brought his army in full order of battle at the distance of an arrow, then rushed to the attack at the head of the cavalry on the left flank of the Persians, where the Persian infantry and cavalry detachments of the Persian nobles held the defense. Getairs entered like a knife into the barbarian system; the Persians on foot immediately ran, exposing the front.

    In the center, the Macedonian phalanx crossed a shallow river and encountered the most combat-ready part of the Persian army, Greek mercenary hoplites. The hoplites tried to throw the phalanxes off the coast, the phalanx battalions stubbornly bit forward. Hoplite detachments wedged into the gaps between the Macedonian units; this was facilitated by the fact that Alexander's right flank pulled ahead. In this sector the Macedonians suffered the heaviest losses of the battle.

    On the left flank of the Macedonian army, adjacent to the sea, the Persian heavy cavalry, having crossed the Pinar, attacked the Macedonian cavalry. As in the center, the Persians were relatively successful here, the Thessalian cavalry leaned back, but again counterattacked.

    Alexander, overturning the Persians standing in front of him, turned the squadrons and hit the Greek hoplites in the flank. They were forced to retreat in relative order, seeing the start of the flight of the Persians and not expecting support. With the collapse of the entire left wing of the Persian army, King Darius decided to leave the battlefield, especially since Alexander approached his chariot, destroying his personal guards. As Diodorus figuratively writes:
    "[Macedonians] piled a pile of bodies [Persians] as high as the chariot [of the Persian king]".
    Before the eyes of Darius, his associates and relatives perished, unable to stop the forward impulse of Alexander with the hetairoi, directed towards the person of Darius. In the fight, Alexander was slightly wounded in the thigh with a sword.

    With the flight of the Persian king, a general stampede of the entire Persian army began, in which it suffered from the crush and pursuing the Macedonians more than directly in battle. Most of the Persian army, called up from subject peoples, fled without engaging in battle with the enemy.

    Results of the battle

    In this battle the Macedonians lost 150 horsemen and 300 infantry. The Greeks estimate the losses of the Persians at more than 100 thousand people, however, from a comparison of numbers with opposite sides it is known that the winners usually exaggerated the losses of the vanquished by 5-20 times. Eyewitnesses simply noted that the entire battlefield was strewn with the bodies of the Persians, and through small crevices they climbed over the corpses like over bridges.

    Darius, after fleeing, managed to gather only 4 thousand soldiers, with whom he crossed the Euphrates on his way to the central regions of Asia. Alexander did not pursue him. Greek hoplite mercenaries in the amount of 8 thousand organizedly retreated to the mountains, after which they crossed to Cyprus. Many of the Persian army managed to escape, because Alexander's soldiers rushed to rob the rich convoy. The mother, wife and children of Darius fell into the hands of Alexander, as well as many golden utensils and luxury items not seen before by the Macedonians. Darius' wife later died in the convoy of the Macedonian army, and Alexander took his daughter, Darius, as his wife after returning from the Indian campaign. Large booty was also captured in

    King Darius III Side forces Losses

    At first, the enemy armies dispersed. Alexander, moving along the coast, overcame narrow passages in the mountains. Darius was waiting for the Macedonians on a wide plain near the town of Sohi. However, Alexander was in no hurry to reach the plain, where the Persians could use their numerical superiority. Then Darius, not being able to keep a huge army in one place for a long time, rushed after Alexander. Having captured the town of Iss (modern Iskenderun in Turkey), abandoned by Alexander the day before, the Persian army ended up in the rear of the Macedonians. Alexander deployed the army and returned back. The armies met on the shores of the Issky Gulf, in the valley of the small river Pinar (modern Payas). The valley was squeezed by the Aman mountains; the coastal strip where the battle unfolded was only 2.5 km wide.

    Opponent Forces

    Macedonians

    According to Callisthenes, Diodorus, Ptolemy, taking into account the reinforcements and the left garrisons, Alexander by the time of the battle could have about 35 thousand infantry and 5 thousand cavalry. In the center of its construction were regiments of the phalanx (9 thousand Macedonians and about 10 thousand Greeks) with a depth of 8 people.

    Right flank (near the mountains): three regiments, incl. regiment of Perdiccas. Under his command, Alexander concentrated the cavalry of the Hetairoi under the command of Philotas (about 2 thousand). Also, light cavalry, Cretan archers and barbarian infantry (about 2 thousand in total) were located here.

    Left flank (near the sea): three regiments, incl. the regiments of Ptolemy and Meleager. The general command of the left flank was exercised by Parmenion, with Cratera commanding the infantry. On the left flank, Alexander placed the Thessalian heavy cavalry (about 1800) and the cavalry of the Greek allies (about 600), followed by infantry detachments of the Thracians (Sitalk) and Illyrians (7-10 thousand).

    Persians

    The forces of the Persians are unknown, Greek sources repeat the incredible figure of 250-600 thousand, of which 30 thousand are only Greek hoplite mercenaries. Modern historians tend to estimate the Persian army at 100,000, but on rather shaky logistics. The number of Greek hoplites is estimated at 10-12 thousand soldiers. The Persian king Darius placed his Greek hoplites in the center against the Macedonian phalanx, placed armored Persian infantry on both flanks from the Greeks, filling with it the strip along the river from the sea to the mountains. Darius sent the heavily armed cavalry under the command of Nabarzan to his right flank, closest to the sea, where there was some room for cavalry maneuvers. Persian cavalry detachments were also located along the entire front line and near Darius himself, whose chariot occupied a place in the center of the battle formation.

    The main heterogeneous army of the Persians was built by tribes in a uselessly deep formation behind the backs of the Greek and Persian hoplites. As Curtius writes: Darius, the ruler of such a huge army, due to the tightness of the battlefield, reduced it to the very small number for which he despised the enemy» .

    The course of the battle

    The course of the battle is described by Diodorus, Curtius, and in most detail by Arrian.

    The army of Darius stood motionless on the banks of the river Pinar, not deep, but steep. In some places, where the coast seemed gentle, the Persians set up barriers. Alexander brought his army in full order of battle to the distance of an arrow, then rushed to the attack at the head of the cavalry on the left flank of the Persians, where the Persian infantry and cavalry detachments of the Persian nobles held the defense. Getairs entered like a knife into the barbarian system; the Persians on foot immediately ran, exposing the front.

    « The Macedonians then for the first time learned to appreciate gold, silver, women, tasted the charm of the barbarian way of life and, like dogs that smelled the trail, hurried to find and seize all the wealth of the Persians. .»

    After the victory at Issus, Alexander conquered everything East Coast mediterranean sea, including Phoenicia, Palestine and Egypt. The next big battle with King Darius took place at Gaugamela 2 years later, in 331 BC. e.

    In art

    • "Battle of Alexander" - painting by Albrecht Altdorfer

    see also

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    Notes

    Literature

    • Arrian./ Per. from Latin M. E. Sergeenko , foreword by O. O. Kruger . - M .: MIF, 1993. Book 2.
    • Nefedkin A. K. (St. Petersburg). Re-reading the sources again: the Battle of Issus (November 333 BC) // Parabellum novum: Military Historical Journal. - 2015. - No. 3(36) .

    Links

    • , Book XVII, from the Perseus project website
    • from Livius on ancient history by Jona Lendering

    An excerpt characterizing the Battle of Issus

    - Well, come on, dear count, c "est la fable de tout Moscou. Je vous admire, ma parole d" honneur. [All Moscow knows this. Really, I'm surprised at you.]
    - Fine! Fine! the militiaman said.
    - OK then. You can't say how boring!
    - Qu "est ce qui est la fable de tout Moscou? [What does all of Moscow know?] - Pierre said angrily, getting up.
    - Come on, Count. You know!
    “I don’t know anything,” said Pierre.
    - I know that you were friendly with Natalie, and therefore ... No, I am always friendly with Vera. Cette chere Vera! [That sweet Vera!]
    - Non, madame, [No, madam.] - Pierre continued in an unhappy tone. - I did not take on the role of the knight of Rostov at all, and I have not been with them for almost a month. But I don't understand cruelty...
    - Qui s "excuse - s" accuse, [Whoever apologizes, he blames himself.] - smiling and waving lint, Julie said and so that she left the last word, now changed the conversation. - What is it like, I found out today: poor Marie Volkonskaya arrived in Moscow yesterday. Did you hear she lost her father?
    - Really! Where is she? I would very much like to see her,” said Pierre.
    “I spent the evening with her last night. Today or tomorrow morning she is going to the suburbs with her nephew.
    - Well, how is she? Pierre said.
    Nothing, sad. But do you know who saved her? It's a whole novel. Nicholas Rostov. She was surrounded, they wanted to kill her, her people were wounded. He rushed and saved her...
    “Another novel,” said the militiaman. - Decisively, this general flight is made so that all the old brides get married. Catiche is one, Princess Bolkonskaya is another.
    “You know that I really think she is un petit peu amoureuse du jeune homme. [slightly in love with the young man.]
    - Fine! Fine! Fine!
    - But how can I say it in Russian? ..

    When Pierre returned home, he was served two posters of Rostopchin brought that day.
    The first said that the rumor that Count Rastopchin was forbidden to leave Moscow was unfair and that, on the contrary, Count Rostopchin was glad that ladies and merchant wives were leaving Moscow. “Less fear, less news,” the poster said, “but I answer with my life that there will be no villain in Moscow.” These words for the first time clearly showed Pierre that the French would be in Moscow. The second poster said that our main apartment is in Vyazma, that Count Wittgsstein defeated the French, but that since many residents want to arm themselves, there are weapons prepared in the arsenal for them: sabers, pistols, guns, which residents can get at a cheap price. The tone of the posters was no longer as playful as in Chigirin's previous conversations. Pierre thought about these posters. Obviously that's terrible. thundercloud, which he called with all the forces of his soul and which at the same time aroused involuntary horror in him - obviously, this cloud was approaching.
    "Enroll in military service and go to the army or wait? - Pierre asked himself this question for the hundredth time. He took a deck of cards lying on his table and began to play solitaire.
    “If this solitaire comes out,” he said to himself, mixing the deck, holding it in his hand and looking up, “if it comes out, then it means ... what does it mean? .. - He did not have time to decide what it means, when a voice the eldest princess, asking if it is possible to enter.
    “Then it will mean that I have to go to the army,” Pierre finished to himself. “Come in, come in,” he added, turning to the princes.
    (One older princess, with a long waist and a petrified lead, continued to live in Pierre's house; two younger ones got married.)
    “Forgive me, mon cousin, that I came to you,” she said in a reproachfully agitated voice. “After all, we must finally decide on something!” What will it be? Everyone has left Moscow, and the people are rioting. What are we left with?
    “On the contrary, everything seems to be going well, ma cousine,” said Pierre with that habit of playfulness that Pierre, who always embarrassedly endured his role as a benefactor in front of the princess, learned to himself in relation to her.
    - Yes, it's safe ... good well-being! Today Varvara Ivanovna told me how different our troops are. Certainly an honor to ascribe. Yes, and the people completely rebelled, they stop listening; my girl and she became rude. So soon they will beat us. You can't walk on the streets. And most importantly, today the French will be here tomorrow, what can we expect! I ask one thing, mon cousin, - said the princess, - order me to be taken to Petersburg: whatever I am, but I cannot live under Bonaparte power.
    “Come on, ma cousine, where do you get your information from?” Against…
    “I will not submit to your Napoleon. Others, as they wish ... If you do not want to do this ...
    - Yes, I will, I will order now.
    The princess, apparently, was annoyed that there was no one to be angry with. She, whispering something, sat down on a chair.
    “But you are being misreported,” said Pierre. Everything is quiet in the city, and there is no danger. So I was reading now ... - Pierre showed the posters to the princess. - The count writes that he answers with his life that the enemy will not be in Moscow.
    “Ah, this count of yours,” the princess spoke with malice, “this is a hypocrite, a villain who himself set the people to rebel. Didn't he write in these stupid posters that whatever it was, drag him by the crest to the exit (and how stupid)! Whoever takes, he says, honor and glory. That's where he messed up. Varvara Ivanovna said that she almost killed her people because she spoke French ...
    “But it’s so ... You take everything to heart very much,” said Pierre and began to play solitaire.
    Despite the fact that the solitaire converged, Pierre did not go to the army, but remained in deserted Moscow, still in the same anxiety, indecision, in fear and together in joy, expecting something terrible.
    The next day, the princess left in the evening, and his commander-in-chief came to Pierre with the news that the money he required for uniforming the regiment could not be obtained unless one estate was sold. The commander-in-chief generally represented to Pierre that all these undertakings of the regiment were supposed to ruin him. Pierre could hardly hide his smile, listening to the manager's words.
    “Well, sell it,” he said. “What can I do, I can’t refuse now!”
    The worse the state of all affairs, and especially his affairs, the more pleasant it was for Pierre, the more obvious it was that the catastrophe for which he was waiting was approaching. Already almost none of Pierre's acquaintances was in the city. Julie has gone, Princess Mary has gone. Of close acquaintances, only the Rostovs remained; but Pierre did not go to them.
    On this day, Pierre, in order to have fun, went to the village of Vorontsovo to watch a big balloon, which was built by Leppich to destroy the enemy, and a trial balloon, which was supposed to be launched tomorrow. This ball was not yet ready; but, as Pierre learned, it was built at the request of the sovereign. The sovereign wrote to Count Rostopchin about this ball as follows:
    "Aussitot que Leppich sera pret, composez lui un equipage pour sa nacelle d" hommes surs et intelligents et depechez un courrier au general Koutousoff pour l "en prevenir. Je l "ai instruit de la chose.
    Recommandez, je vous prie, a Leppich d "etre bien attentif sur l" endroit ou il descendra la premiere fois, pour ne pas se tromper et ne pas tomber dans les mains de l "ennemi. Il est indispensable qu" il combine ses mouvements avec le general en chef.
    [As soon as Leppich is ready, make up a crew for his boat from the faithful and smart people and send a courier to General Kutuzov to warn him.
    I informed him about it. Please inspire Leppich to pay careful attention to the place where he will descend for the first time, so as not to make a mistake and fall into the hands of the enemy. It is necessary that he consider his movements with the movements of the commander-in-chief.]
    Returning home from Vorontsovo and driving along Bolotnaya Square, Pierre saw a crowd at the Execution Ground, stopped and got off the droshky. It was the execution of a French chef accused of espionage. The execution had just ended, and the executioner was untying a pitifully groaning fat man with red whiskers, blue stockings and a green jacket from the mare. Another criminal, thin and pale, was standing right there. Both, judging by their faces, were French. With a frightened, painful look, similar to that of a thin Frenchman, Pierre pushed his way through the crowd.
    - What is this? Who? For what? he asked. But the attention of the crowd - officials, bourgeois, merchants, peasants, women in coats and fur coats - was so eagerly focused on what was happening at the Execution Ground that no one answered him. The fat man got up, frowning, shrugged his shoulders and, obviously wanting to express firmness, began to put on his doublet without looking around him; but suddenly his lips trembled, and he wept, angry with himself, as adult sanguine people weep. The crowd spoke loudly, as it seemed to Pierre, in order to drown out the feeling of pity in itself.
    - Someone's cook is princely ...
    “What, Monsieur, it’s clear that the Russian sauce was sour for the Frenchman ... he set his mouth on edge,” said the wrinkled clerk, who was standing next to Pierre, while the Frenchman began to cry. The clerk looked around him, apparently expecting an assessment of his joke. Some laughed, some fearfully continued to look at the executioner, who was undressing another.
    Pierre sniffled through his nose, grimaced and, quickly turning around, went back to the droshky, without ceasing to mutter something to himself while he walked and sat down. As the journey progressed, he shuddered several times and cried out so loudly that the coachman asked him:
    - What do you order?
    – Where are you going? - Pierre shouted at the coachman, who was leaving for the Lubyanka.
    “They ordered to the commander-in-chief,” answered the coachman.
    - Fool! beast! Pierre shouted, which rarely happened to him, scolding his coachman. - I ordered home; and hurry up, fool. We still have to leave today, Pierre said to himself.
    Pierre, at the sight of the punished Frenchman and the crowd surrounding Lobnoye Mesto, decided so completely that he could no longer stay in Moscow and was going to the army today that it seemed to him that he either told the coachman about it, or that the coachman himself should have known this. .
    Arriving home, Pierre gave an order to his coachman Yevstafyevich, who knew everything, knew everything, known throughout Moscow, that he was going to Mozhaisk at night to the army and that his riding horses were sent there. All this could not be done on the same day, and therefore, according to Yevstafyevich's idea, Pierre had to postpone his departure until another day in order to give time for the set-ups to leave for the road.
    On the 24th it cleared up after bad weather, and on that day after dinner Pierre left Moscow. At night, changing horses in Perkhushkovo, Pierre learned that there had been a big battle that evening. It was said that here, in Perkhushkovo, the ground trembled from the shots. To Pierre's questions about who won, no one could give him an answer. (It was a battle on the 24th at Shevardin.) At dawn, Pierre drove up to Mozhaisk.
    All the houses of Mozhaisk were occupied by troops, and at the inn, where Pierre was met by his coachman and coachman, there was no room in the upper rooms: everything was full of officers.
    In Mozhaisk and beyond Mozhaisk, troops stood and marched everywhere. Cossacks, foot soldiers, mounted soldiers, wagons, boxes, cannons could be seen from all sides. Pierre was in a hurry to move forward as soon as possible, and the farther he drove away from Moscow and the deeper he plunged into this sea of ​​​​troops, the more he was seized by the anxiety of anxiety and the new he had not yet experienced. joyful feeling. It was a feeling similar to the one he experienced in the Sloboda Palace during the arrival of the sovereign - a feeling of the need to do something and sacrifice something. He now experienced a pleasant feeling of consciousness that everything that makes up the happiness of people, the conveniences of life, wealth, even life itself, is nonsense, which is pleasant to cast aside in comparison with something ... With what, Pierre could not give himself an account, and indeed he tried to make clear to himself for whom and for what he finds a special charm to sacrifice everything. He was not interested in what he wanted to sacrifice for, but the very sacrifice constituted for him a new joyful feeling.

    He comes against him with a huge army from the Euphrates and has already encamped at the Syrian city of Sokh, east of the Amani mountains. Darius wanted to destroy the Macedonian force with one blow; his army is said to have consisted of 600,000 men, of which 100,000 well-armed, disciplined Asiatics, and 30,000 Greek mercenaries. Upon receipt of this news, Alexander immediately set out to meet the enemy. From the town of Issa, two roads opened for him from Asia Minor to Syria: one led to the east through the Amani mountain passes, the other to the south, towards the sea, through the so-called coastal defiles, to the city of Miriandra, from where it was possible to go to the plains of Syria, holding on east, through the mountains and through the main Syrian gorges. Alexander chose last way. Having reached Miriandra and about to cross the mountains, he received news that Darius, with all his strength, went behind his lines at Issus. Contrary to the advice of the Macedonian Amyntas, the enemy of Alexander in the Persian camp, Darius, relying on his strength, from the Syrian plain, where it would be especially convenient to deploy him combat means, entered through the Aman Gorges to Cilicia to meet with Alexander. In his blindness, he thought that his enemy would not dare to approach him with a handful of people and would hasten to evade the meeting. In Issus, the Persians found the sick people left there by Alexander and killed them, subjecting them to cruel torment. The Greek army and its leaders were seized with fear at the news that the enemy had come to their rear, but Alexander understood the favorableness of his position. In a cramped mountainous country, all the benefits were on his side. Having encouraged his soldiers and inspiring them to battle, he immediately turned them back to attack the enemy in his close position at Issus.

    The field of battle, on which the two kings were to contend for the dominion of Asia, stretched from Issus south to the coastal gorges, for a distance of about two miles between the sea and the eastern mountains, partly jutting out high cliffs. In the middle, where a flat place stretched about half a mile wide, the river Inar flowed, heading southwest to the sea. Its northern shores were part of the slope; along south coast there was a significant mountain hill, expanding to the plain. Darius deployed his troops in a dense mass on the northern bank of the Inar, strengthening the less sloping places on the coast. On the right wing, towards the sea, stood a Greek mercenary army of 30,000 men, under the command of Thimond; on the left wing are the so-called cardaks, heavily armed infantry, Asian mercenaries from different tribes - a wild and brave army. In the center, according to Persian custom, was the king himself, surrounded by an equestrian detachment of the most noble Persians, led by the king's brother, Oksafros. On the left side, on the mountains, were 20,000 heavily armed barbarians, sent from Thera under the command of Aristomedes of Thessaly, to harass Alexander's right flank, while the whole cavalry, under the leadership of Nabarzanes, was placed on the extreme right wing. The rest of the infantry, which no longer had a place in the front battle ranks, settled in columns behind the line so that constantly fresh troops could take part in the battle.

    Approaching the enemy, Alexander built his hoplites in separate detachments in battle formation, 16 people deep, and on both sides he placed light troops and cavalry. Commander Parmenion, who commanded the left wing, Alexander was ordered to stay as close as possible to the sea, so that the right flank of the Persians, which was much stronger, because it was made up of a dense mass of cavalry, could not break through the Macedonian line in this place; Alexander sent another part of his cavalry from the right flank in the same direction. Since on the right wing his enemy detachments, located in the mountains, far outnumbered his battle line and could go around it to the rear during the offensive, he sent two more detachments of Macedonian horsemen from his center to the extreme right wing. Thus, on this side, his fighting line was ahead of the enemy and cut off from the Persian line, the enemy detachments sent into the mountains, which were already pushed back by the strong pressure of the Macedonians. A small number of horsemen stationed along the hills were enough to ensure the movement of the battle front against these detachments thrown into the mountains. The two Macedonian cavalry detachments, with light infantry and the rest of the cavalry, were to occupy and disturb the left wing of the enemy, while Alexander himself intended to lead the main attack on the center of the Persian line.

    Alexander the Great at the Battle of Issus. Mosaic from Pompeii

    Alexander moved forward slowly, making halts from time to time, in order to make the first attack with greater force and in greater order. With the joyful cries of the troops, eager to join the battle, they circled their front, talking first with one, then with another, until they approached the enemy at a distance of an arrow flight. Then the soldiers burst out their battle song, and Alexander, at the head of the Macedonian horsemen and his bodyguards, rushed at a gallop into the waters of Pinar and, accompanied by the nearest cavalry detachments, burst into the center of the enemy line with such swiftness and force that it soon began to move and yield. The hottest fight took place near Darius. Alexander, seeing him in a war chariot, rushed at him with his horsemen; the noble Persians who made up his retinue fought with desperate courage to protect their king; the Macedonians madly attacked them, seeing their king wounded in the leg. Darius, taking care to save his life, finally turned back his chariot and fled; the nearest ranks rushed after him, and soon in the Persian center and on the left wing, where the Macedonian cavalry detachments and light infantry were sent, everything turned to flight.

    But meanwhile the left wing of Alexander was exposed to the greatest danger. The Macedonian phalanx on this side quickly moved forward, at the same time as the king, who rushed at the enemy; but in the heat of the attack, the heavily armed warriors parted and gaps formed between them. At these intervals, the Greek mercenaries rushed swiftly; already the outcome of the battle was doubtful, already the Persian horsemen crossed the Inar and defeated one of the Thessalian cavalry detachments; it seemed that it was no longer possible to resist the prolonged onslaught of an enemy superior in number. At that very moment the Persian left flank and Darius himself took flight before Alexander. Without pursuing the fleeing king, Alexander hurried to the aid of his oppressed left wing and hit the flank of the Greek mercenaries. IN a short time they were driven back and defeated. Here began the disorder of the whole army. "The king is running!" came from all directions, and everyone tried to save themselves as soon as possible.

    In the narrow passages, with the huge masses of the Persian army, terrible crowding and confusion occurred. The Persian horsemen, now only emerging from the very heat of battle, rushed in fear through the fleeing crowds of the Persian infantry and trampled on everything that came across their path. Whole crowds perished fleeing from the pressure of their compatriots and from the weapons of their enemies pursuing them. The loss of the Persians was enormous; the battlefield was littered with corpses and dying; the mountain hollows were filled with fallen Persians. One hundred thousand people, including 10,000 horsemen, were killed. The Macedonians lost 450 men. Darius, in his chariot drawn by four horses, was pursued to the very mountains; there he dismounted from his chariot and mounted a horse, which carried him away from the field of battle. Alexander pursued him until it was dark; he found his chariot, shield, mantle and bow thrown by the fleeing king, but he himself failed to be captured.

    Alexander, returning back, found his soldiers busy robbing the enemy camp. He himself took the luxurious rate of Darius. “Come in here,” he exclaimed, “taking off our weapons, we will wash ourselves from the dust of battle in the bath of Darius.” Seeing various vessels, golden buckets and baths, flasks with ointments, etc., in a bathhouse filled with oriental incense, he entered a large, high stakes, which amazed at the luxury of sofas, tables and cutlery, he, smiling, said to his friends: “This is what it means to be a king!”

    While he was sitting at a table with friends, he heard crying and complaints near female voices and learned that the mother of Darius, Sizygambia, and his wife, Stateira, beautiful woman Asia, with two adult daughters and a young son, were among the prisoners and now indulged in weeping, assuming that the king was killed because his chariot, mantle and weapons were delivered to the camp. Alexander immediately sent Leonnatus to them and ordered them to tell them that Darius was alive and that they had nothing to fear, that neither they nor Darius should consider him a personal enemy, that he wanted to gain dominion over Asia by an honest fight and that they would continue to be rewarded with belonging to them royal honors. The next day, accompanied by only one friend of his Hephaestion, Alexander visited the ill-fated royal family. Since both of them wore exactly the same clothes and Hephaestion was even taller than Alexander, Sizygambia mistook him for a king and threw herself on her knees in front of him in order, according to Persian custom, to ask him for mercy. Gefestion retreated, and she, realizing her mistake, was horrified, thinking that she would pay for it with her life. But Alexander said to her with a smile: "Don't worry, mother, because he is Alexander." six year old son He took Darius in his arms, caressed and kissed him. Alexander faithfully kept his word given to the royal family: all his members remained prisoners of war with him, and he treated them in the most friendly manner and in accordance with their dignity. Sisygambia was so attracted to the noble, knightly conqueror that she fell in love with him like a son, and later, at the news of Alexander's death, as they say, voluntarily starved herself to death.

    The battle of Issus, which took place in November 333 BC, destroyed the entire huge army of the Persian king, and now the path to all the lands of inner Asia has opened before the happy winner. The Persian fleet, which could still be dangerous to him in Greek waters, from the rear, also dispersed at the news of the battle of Issus. Darius with a small detachment made his way through Syria and only beyond the Euphrates considered himself safe. Syria, Palestine and Egypt soon passed into the possession of Alexander.

    The Battle of Issus, or the Battle of Alexander with the Persians - Albrecht Altdorfer. 1529


    The Bavarian artist Albrecht Altdorfer lived in Regensburg. In 1511 he traveled down the Danube south to the Alps. The beauty of those places made a deep impression on him, and he became one of the first painters to depict landscapes emotionally and expressively, and not just as a convenient background for the picture.

    The pinnacle of the painter's art was the painting The Battle of Issus (1529), painted for William IV, Duke of Bavaria. In it, heaven, sea and earth play the same role, and only a tablet in the sky indicates that this is the same battle in which Alexander the Great defeated the Persians on the Issus River in 333 BC. e. From the armor of the warriors and the architecture of the distant city in the background, this scene might seem to belong to the 16th century.

    To create a sense of the grandeur of what is happening, Altdorfer painted the battle as if from a bird's eye view. Before the viewer opens a seething whirlpool of tiny silhouettes of soldiers, merging into a single mass, against the backdrop of a mountain landscape, where the sun dramatically breaks through the clouds, driving away the moon. Alexander fights in the front ranks of the warriors in the thick of the battle, pursuing the Persian king Darius in his chariot.

    ALEXANDER THE GREAT. Alexander, the king of Macedonia (356-323 BC), - the most famous of all the conquerors of antiquity - was a student of Aristotle, already at the age of 18 commanded the cavalry; defeated the Persians, conquered Egypt and founded Alexandria. In the temple of Apollo, the Delphic Sibyl predicted to him that he was invincible. Alexander the Great is often depicted riding his horse Bucephalus, a white stallion who obeyed only his sensitive hand.

    According to legend, when the Macedonian army captured the Greek city of Thebes, one of the commanders subordinate to him raped the noble woman Timoclea, demanding that she give him her money. Timoclea led him to the well in which she supposedly hid her jewels, and when he bent down to look down, she pushed him into the well. For what she had done, the woman was brought to trial by Alexander, and he acquitted her. This legend was embodied in the painting by Pietro della Vecchia (1602-1678) of Timoclea brought to Alexander, which captures the moment of the release of Timoclea by Alexander for her greatness of spirit and self-esteem.

    After the Battle of Issus, Alexander showed the same nobility and generosity to the defeated Darius and his family. When his army captured and sacked the Persian camp, Alexander treated Darius' mother, wife, and two daughters with respect. Veronese depicted Alexander and his friend Hefastion visiting royal family, in the painting The Family of Darius before Alexander (c. 1550). Darius' mother mistakenly mistook the taller Gefastion for her conqueror, but Alexander did not attach any importance to the mistake and, laughing it off, reassured her, saying that Hefastion was another Alexander. While pursuing Darius, Alexander found the king of the Persians dying from a mortal wound inflicted by his own subjects. When Darius died, Alexander honored his enemy by covering his body with his own cloak.

    The illustrious Alexander was convinced that it was better to rule through goodwill than through violence, trying to combine different customs. He married Roxana, who, according to some sources, was the daughter of Darius, and according to others, the daughter of the ruler of the Asian lands he conquered.