In 334 BC, Alexander, the 21 year old king of Macedonia, led a coalition of Greek forces
against the greatest power of the age - the Persian Empire.
He led an army of skilled veterans – at its heart, men of the Macedonian phalanx,
armed with the 18 foot sarissa pike, and the elite horsemen of his Companion Cavalry.
Together, at the Battle of the River Granicus, they'd won a first decisive victory over the
Persian army.
Now, as Alexander approached Sardis, capital of the Persian province of Lydia, its commander
surrendered without a fight.
But before Alexander could advance further, he needed to neutralise Persian naval power
–
Persia had a powerful fleet, with major naval bases around the eastern Mediterranean - that
could potentially cut his lines of communication back to Greece.
Rather than challenge the Persians at sea, Alexander decided to attack their nearest
bases: the Greek coastal cities of Miletus and Halicarnassus.
Both put up determined resistance, but were taken by winter.
The following spring of 333 BC, Alexander continued his advance into Lycia... and Phrygia.
At Gordium, he was shown the legendary 'Gordian Knot' – a prophesy said that whoever could
unpick it would rule all Asia.
Alexander simply took his sword, and sliced it in half.
Meanwhile Memnon of Rhodes, a skilled Greek general in Persian service, led Persian warships
into the Aegean, and captured the islands of Chios and Lesbos.
But after Memnon's sudden death from illness, the offensive was abandoned.
18 months had passed since Alexander's army crossed the Hellespont and invaded the Persian
Empire.
Now Alexander led his men into Cilicia... and was soon poised to cross the Nur Mountains
into Syria.
But then the main Persian army, led by King Darius III himself, emerged behind the Greek
army, to the north.
Darius was determined to trap and destroy Alexander's army, which he outnumbered almost
2 to 1.
So he blocked Alexander's only escape route, by moving his army to the coastal plain near
Issus, just 6 miles wide from mountains to sea.
The narrow battlefield would force Alexander to fight, but it also prevented Darius exploiting
his huge numerical advantage.
His army, by some estimates, was up to 100,000 strong, and contained some of the finest soldiers
in his vast empire - including 10,000 of his own household troops, known as the Immortals.
His best cavalry were massed on his right, towards the sea, where the ground was better
for horses.
His best infantry, his Greek mercenary hoplites, formed the centre.
Persian infantry formed his left wing.
Alexander deployed his own army for battle, once again entrusting his left wing, nearest
the sea, to Parmenion, with the Greek cavalry and infantry.
In the centre, as always, was the Macedonian phalanx.
Alexander positioned himself and his best troops on the right wing, toward the mountain
slopes – his elite Agriane javelin-throwers, his archers, and behind them, the Hypaspists
and the Companion cavalry.
When Alexander saw the strength of the Persian cavalry facing Parmenion on the left, he moved
across his Thessalian cavalry to reinforce him.
Despite his overwhelming numbers, Darius held his position behind a small river, the Pinarus,
and waited for Alexander to attack.
He didn't have to wait long.
Alexander called out to his men, urging them to fight bravely, picking out some by name.
Then, at the head of his army's right wing, he charged.
Once again, the speed and shock of the Macedonian advance sent the enemy reeling back.
But in the centre of the battlefield, the Macedonian phalanx was in trouble.
In its effort to keep up with Alexander, its formation had become disordered.
Now, in fierce fighting, with Darius's Greek mercenaries, the phalanx was slowly being
driven back.
Alexander, seeing the danger, regrouped, and led the Companions in a headlong charge straight
at the Persian centre.
The Greek mercenaries, threatened on their flank, were soon in disarray, and the Macedonian
phalanx was able to resume its advance.
Alexander fought his way towards the Great King, Darius himself.
Rather than face this apparently mad and fearless Macedonian king, Darius fled the battlefield
in his royal chariot.
Meanwhile the Macedonian left wing, under Parmenion, was in a desperate fight against
the best of the Persian cavalry.
If the Persians could break through here, they could envelop Alexander's army, and snatch
victory from the jaws of defeat.
But Parmenion and his troops fought doggedly, and continued to hold the Persians at bay.
As the news that Darius had fled spread among his troops, they abandoned the fight, and
tried to save themselves.
The battle turned into a massacre.
Ptolemy, one of the Macedonian commanders, told Alexander there were so many Persian
dead, his men had used them to fill a deep ravine, so they could cross over it.
The Battle of Issus was a stunning victory for Alexander.
And amongst the spoils of victory, were Darius's wife, mother, and three children, all taken
alive, and well treated by Alexander.
With the Persian field army in retreat, Alexander now turned to subduing the western territories
of the Persian empire.
The next year, 332, the coastal cities of Phoenicia submitted to Alexander – ending
Persian naval power in the Mediterranean.
But the island-city of Tyre resisted.
Tyre's defenders fought bravely and skilfully – even when Alexander began building a causeway
to the island, protected by two giant siege towers... which they counter-attacked with
fire ships.
But after seven months, the city walls were breached, and Tyre fell.
Most of its citizens were killed or enslaved.
Gaza too was taken by siege.
Alexander continued to Pelusium, on the Nile Delta, where the Persian governor of Egypt
surrendered the entire province to Alexander, along with the royal treasury.
At Memphis, priests of this ancient land welcomed Alexander as their liberator from Persian
rule, and crowned him Pharaoh.
At the mouth of the Nile, he founded a new city, Alexandria... then travelled to the
desert oracle of Siwah, where, according to some accounts, the priests welcomed him as
son of Amun, king of the gods.
Alexander returned east to Tyre... where in 331 BC, he received news of trouble back home.
Despite his great victories over the Persians, many Greeks regarded Alexander as a tyrant.
King Agis of Sparta, with Persian support, now launched a revolt against Macedonia.
Antipater, Alexander's commander in Greece, was already dealing with rebellion in Thrace.
But he quickly marched south... and met Agis in battle near the city of Megalopolis.
Even the legendary Spartans were now no match for Macedonian military power.
The Spartan army was crushed.
King Agis himself was among the fallen.
With his base in Greece secure once more, Alexander advanced towards the Persian heartlands,
seeking a final showdown with Darius.
He received a letter from the Persian king, offering him a fortune in gold, his daughter
in marriage, and half his empire in exchange for peace.
But Alexander's stunning victories, all the oracles and acclamations, had now convinced
him that his destiny was to rule the world...
He rejected the Persian king's offer.
He didn't want half the empire - he was coming to take it all...
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