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In the Battle of Gaugamela in 331 BC Alexander the Great of Macedonia defeated Darius III of Persia. The battle is also sometimes called the battle of Arbela.

1 Combatants

• Macedonians under Alexander, 7,000 cavalry and 40,000 infantry. (According to Arrian)
• Persians under Darius, with maybe 40,000 cavalry, 200,000 infantry and 6,000 Greek mercenaries. (Arrian gives an exaggerated number of 1,000,000 infantry)

2 Location

Darius chose (or smoothed out, depending on accounts) a flat plain where he could deploy his numerically superior cavalry forces. The exact location of the battle is debated, but is known to be in northern modern-day Iraq somewhere. One of the most often suggested sites is Tel Gomel, east of Mosul. In any case, historical descriptions have the site just east of the Tigris River, and Darius fled to Arbela (modern-day Arbil) 120 km to the east. The distance from Arbil to Mosul is roughly 80 km, so considerable room for discussion remains.

3 Prelude

During the two years after the Battle of Issus Alexander proceeded to occupy the Mediterranean coast and EgyptJumhuriyat Misr al-Arabiyah ( In Detail) Official language Arabic Capital Cairo Largest City Cairo President Hosni Mubarak Prime Minister Ahmed Nazif Area Total % water Ranked 29th 1,001,450 km² 0. 6% Population Total (2003) Density Ranked 15th 74,718,797. He then advanced from Syria against the heart of the Persian empire. Alexander crossed both the EuphratesThe Euphrates (the traditional Greek name for the river, which is in Aramaic Frot/Frat Old Persian Ufrat in Arabic , in Turkish Firat and in ancient Assyrian language Pu-rat-tu is the westernmost of the two great rivers that define Mesopotamia ( Bethnahri and the Tigris rivers without any opposition.

4 The battle

The battle began with the Persians already present at the battlefield.

Darius had recruited the finest cavalry from his satrapies and from an allied Scythian tribe. Darius also deployed scythed chariots for which he had prepared cleared terrain in front of his troops. He also had 50 Indian elephants supported by Indian chariots.

Before the battle, Darius ordered bushes and vegetation removed from the battlefield, to maximize the chariots' effectiveness.

Darius placed himself in the center with his best infantry (the Greek mercenaries and his guard infantry the "Apple Bearers"). On both flanks were the cavalry.

Alexander commanded the Macedonian right flank himself, with the Companion cavalry and the Hypaspist s, and Parmenio the left flank, with the Thessalian and greek allied cavalry. Both flanks were protected by lightly armed troops, such as the Agrianians on the right. In the middle stood the phalanx infantry in two lines, forming a "double phalanx". The second line was to turn around if out-flanked by the Persians.

The Macedonians advanced, as if entering the trap laid before them. Suddenly the whole army changed direction and started to move to the right, taking them away from the prepared ground. Darius now launched his chariots, some of which were intercepted by the Agrianians.

Darius ordered his left wing cavalry to encircle the Macedonian right and stop their rightward movement. This was countered by Alexander's Greek mercenary cavalry. As more Persian cavalry tried to encircle the Macedonian right flank, Alexander committed his last cavalry reserves to charge the point where the main Persian line joined the flanking cavalry. This caused a gap in the Persian line. Alexander turned his line and charged this gap with a wedge consisting of the Companion cavalry and the Hypaspists. It then advanced directly at Darius himself.

Darius now saw his left flank crumbling and the Macedonians advancing, in order to kill or capture him. He turned around his chariot and fled from the battlefield. The cavalry on the left followed him in his flight.