For a full and interesting account of the battle go to...The Battle of Gaugamela took place in331 BC between Alexander the Great and Darius III of Persia. The battle, which is also called the Battle of Arbela, resulted in a massive victory for the Ancient Macedonians and led to the fall of the Achaemenid Empire.
Date October 1, 331 BC
Location Probably Tel Gomel (Gaugamela) near Mosul ,not far from Irbil (Arbela), which also is a name of the battle (Battle of Arbela).
Result Decisive Macedonian victory.
Territorial.changes Alexander wins half of Persia.
Belligerents
Alexander the Great, Macedon, & Southern Greek allies (47000 men)
Vs
Darius III, Achaemenid Empire, & Greek mercenaries (53000 to 100,000 men)
Darius, fearing a night attack, kept his army awake and on alert for the whole night, while Alexander's was more rested.
While Darius had a significant advantage in numbers, most of his troops were of a lower quality than Alexander's. Alexander's pezhetairoi were armed with a six-meter spear, the sarissa.
The main Persian infantry was poorly trained and equipped in comparison to Alexander's pezhetairoi and hoplites. The only respectable infantry Darius had were his 10,000 Greek hoplites[5] and his personal bodyguard, the 10,000 Persian Immortals.[11] The Greek mercenaries fought in a phalanx, armed with a heavy shield but with spears no longer than three meters, while the spears of the Immortals were 2 meters long.
Among the other Persian troops, the most heavily armed were the Armenians who were armed the Greek way, and probably fought as a phalanx. The rest of Darius's contingents were much more lightly armed; the main weapon of the Achaemenid army historically was the bow and arrow, and javelin.
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopaedia
Wikipedia ...Battle of Gaugamela
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