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Battle of Issus
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LocationThe battle took place south of the ancient town Issus, which is close to present-day Turkish town of Iskenderun (the Turkish equivalent of "Alexandria", founded by Alexander to commemorate his victory), on either side of a small river called Pinarus. At that location the distance from the gulf of Issus to the surrounding mountains is only , a place where Darius could not take advantage of his superiority in numbers.
Speculation on the location of the Pinarus has taken place for over 80 years. Older historians believed it to be the Deli Tchai river, but historians N.G.L. Hammond and A.M. Devine have made convincing claims that the Pinarus is actually the Payas River, the latter using eye-witness examination of the river, which may not have drastically changed since antiquity.
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LocationThe battle took place south of the ancient town Issus, which is close to present-day Turkish town of Iskenderun (the Turkish equivalent of "Alexandria", founded by Alexander to commemorate his victory), on either side of a small river called Pinarus. At that location the distance from the gulf of Issus to the surrounding mountains is only , a place where Darius could not take advantage of his superiority in numbers.
Speculation on the location of the Pinarus has taken place for over 80 years. Older historians believed it to be the Deli Tchai river, but historians N.G.L. Hammond and A.M. Devine have made convincing claims that the Pinarus is actually the Payas River, the latter using eye-witness examination of the river, which may not have drastically changed since antiquity. Their evidence is based on Callisthenes' accounts of the measurements of the battlefield and distances marched by both armies in the prelude to the battle and distance given by Diodorus after the battle.
BackgroundAlexander set out into Asia in 334 BC and defeated the local Persian satraps at the Battle of the Granicus. He then proceeded to occupy all of Asia Minor.
While Alexander was in Tarsus he heard of Darius massing a great army in Babylon.
If Darius were to reach the Gulf of Issus he could use the support from the Persian fleet under Pharnabazus still operating in the Mediterranean Sea, thus easing his supply and possibly landing troops behind the enemy. Alexander kept his main army at Tarsus but sent Parmenion ahead to occupy the coast around Issus. In November, Alexander received reports that the great Persian army had advanced into Syria, to a town named Sochi. Alexander decided to mass his scattered army and advance south from Issus through the Pass of Jonah.
Darius knew that Parmenion held the Pass of Jonah and thus chose a northern route of advance. The Persians captured Issus without opposition, and cut off the hands of all the sick and wounded that Alexander had left behind. Now Darius found out he had placed his army behind the Macedonians and had cut their supply lines. He then advanced to the south and got no further than the river Pinarus before his Scouts spotted Alexander marching North. Darius had to set up camp on this narrow coastal plain.
The motivesThere is much debate as to the motives of Alexander and Darius preluding Issus. A strong and convincing modern perspective, based on Curtius, is that Darius was forced to move camp to terrain that favored Alexander because Alexander was fighting defensively due to a recommendation by his war council and Parmenion. Darius' large army could not be supported in the field during winter and his cities in Phoenicia were already in unrest at the arrival of Alexander. Darius was forced to move his large army to a small battlefield, which overwhelmingly favored Alexander's smaller force.
Alexander was waiting for Darius to come south around the Amanus Mountain range because the pass Darius would have used, the Belen Pass, was much closer to Sochi and offered the quickest access to the area Alexander defended. Alexander was waiting 10 miles to the west of the Belen Pass at Myriandrus to spring a trap on Darius as he crossed through the Belen Pass or through the Pillar of Jonah if he moved north, where Darius' army would be disorganized and disjointed in the narrow crossing. Darius instead moved north from Sochi and around the mountains, emerging behind Alexander's position and on his supply and communication lines. Thus Alexander was forced to march to Darius, who had caught him off guard in a large flanking maneuver. This gives the illusion that Darius was the one acting defensively, since Alexander was forced to march to him.
CombatantsPersian Army
Modern Historians find Arrian's count of six hundred thousand men highly unlikely, and estimate Persian numbers under Darius III at around 100,000, including 11,000 cavalry, 10,000 Persian Immortals, and 10,000 Greek mercenaries.
In ancient sources, Arrian and Plutarch, who based their accounts on earlier Greek sources, estimated 600,000 Persian soldiers in total, while Diodorus and Justin estimated 400,000, and Curtius Rufus estimated 250,000.
Macedonian ArmyThe size of the Macedonian army may not have exceeded 40,000 men including their Greek allies led by Alexander. Alexander's army may have consisted of about 22,000 phalangites and hoplites, 13,000 peltasts, and 5,850 cavalry.
AftermathThe Battle of Issus was a decisive Macedonian victory and it marked the beginning of the end of Persian power. It was the first time the Persian army had been defeated with the King present.
Depictions of the battle- German Renaissance painter and printmaker Albrecht Altdorfer (c1480-1538) also dramatically depicted the battle in his 1529 painting 'The Battle of Issus'.
- The 2004 Oliver Stone film Alexander was expected to depict the Battle, but did not. It did, however feature the Battle of Gaugamela and the Battle of the Hydaspes River
- Contemporary fine-artist Rossi d'Providence has created a 9 foot by 4 foot oil painting of the Battle at Issus for the Classics Department at Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island. View the painting on the artist's web site at http://home.earthlink.net/~artistmaximus/.
SourcesAncient
Modern- Delbrück, Hans (1920). History of the Art of War. University of Nebraska Press. Reprint edition, 1990. Translated by Walter, J. Renfroe. 4 Volumes.
- Engels, Donald W. (1978). Alexander the Great and the Logistics of the Macedonian Army. Berkeley/Los Angeles/London.
- Fuller, John F. C. (1960). The Generalship of Alexander the Great. New Jersey: De Capo Press.
- Green, Peter (1974). Alexander of Macedon: A Historical Biography.
- Moerbeek, Martijn (1997). Universiteit Twente.
- Rogers, Guy (2004). Alexander: The Ambiguity of Greatness. New York: Random House.
- Warry, J. (1998), Warfare in the Classical World. ISBN 1-84065-004-4.
- Welman, Nick. . Fontys University.
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