Darius III chose a wide plain east of the Tigris, levelled it for his scythed chariots, and drew up an army that overlapped the Macedonian line by more than a mile. Alexander answered with an oblique march to his right that dragged the Persian left wing after him, beat off the chariots with javelin-men and open files, and waited for a gap to open in the Persian line. When it did, he led his Companion cavalry and the guard infantry into it in a wedge aimed at Darius himself. The king fled, his centre collapsed, and Alexander turned back to rescue Parmenion's hard-pressed left. The victory gave him Babylon and the heart of the Achaemenid empire.
Battle plan · Wars of Alexander the Great
Battle of Gaugamela
- 1 October 331 BCE
- Gaugamela, Nineveh plains
- Decisive Macedonian victory
The armies
Macedonians and the Hellenic League
Alexander the Great · Parmenion · Hephaestion · Coenus
| Unit | Arm | Men |
|---|---|---|
| Archers and javelin-men | Skirmishers | 4,000 |
| Agrianian javelin-men and archers | Light infantry | 1,500 |
| Mercenary and Paeonian cavalryMenidas, Ariston and Aretes | Light cavalry | 1,600 |
| Companion cavalryAlexander | Heavy cavalry | 2,000 |
| Alexander | Commander | — |
| Hypaspists (guard infantry)Nicanor | Heavy infantry | 3,000 |
| Phalanx, right brigadesCoenus, Perdiccas and Meleager | Pikemen | 4,500 |
| Phalanx, left brigadesPolyperchon, Simmias and Craterus | Pikemen | 4,500 |
| Thessalian and allied Greek cavalryParmenion | Heavy cavalry | 2,800 |
| Thracian and mercenary cavalryAndromachus and Sitalces | Cavalry | 1,500 |
| Second line of allied and mercenary hoplites | Infantry | 12,000 |
| Thracian infantry guarding the camp | Light infantry | 7,000 |
| In this plan | 44,400 |
Achaemenid Persian army
Darius III · Bessus · Mazaeus
| Unit | Arm | Men |
|---|---|---|
| Scythian and Bactrian horseBessus | Horse archers | 3,000 |
| Bactrian, Dahae and Arachosian cavalryBessus | Cavalry | 9,000 |
| Scythed chariots of the left | Chariots | 200 |
| Infantry levies of the left centre | Infantry | 15,000 |
| Greek mercenary hoplites | Heavy infantry | 6,000 |
| Royal guard (the Apple-bearers) and KinsmenDarius III | Heavy infantry | 4,000 |
| Darius III | Commander | — |
| Scythed chariots of the centre | Chariots | 200 |
| Indian and Persian cavalry | Cavalry | 2,500 |
| Infantry levies and Mardian archers of the right centre | Infantry | 15,000 |
| Median, Parthian, Saca and Syrian cavalryMazaeus | Cavalry | 9,000 |
| Armenian and Cappadocian cavalry | Cavalry | 3,000 |
| In this plan | 66,900 |
What the sources report
| Macedon | Persia | |
|---|---|---|
| Strength, this plan | 47,000Arrian: 7,000 horse and 40,000 foot | 90,000 (50,000–250,000)Modern estimates; the ancient sources give 250,000 to 1,000,000 |
| Losses, this plan | 1,300 (1,100–1,500)Arrian: 100 foot and about 1,000 horse; Curtius and Diodorus give more infantry | 40,000 (40,000–90,000)Curtius: 40,000; Diodorus: 90,000 |
| Strength, Wikipedia | 47,000(see Size of Macedonian army) | 50,000–250,000 (modern estimates)250,000–1,000,000 (ancient sources)(see Size of Persian army) |
| Casualties, Wikipedia | 1,100–1,5001,000 cavalry100–500 infantry | 40,000–90,000300,000+ captured (according to Arrian) |
Infobox figures from “Battle of Gaugamela” on Wikipedia (revision 1373255873), CC BY-SA 4.0.
Plans and pictures
PlanBattle gaugamela decisiveFrank Martini. Cartographer, Department of books, United States Military Academy · CC BY-SA 3.0Commons ↗
PlanBattle of Gaugamela, 331 BC - Opening movementsPublic domainCommons ↗_02.jpg)
PictureBatalla de Gaugamela (M.A.N. Inv.1980-60-1) 02anonymous · CC BY-SA 3.0Commons ↗
PictureBattle of GaugamelaJan Brueghel the Elder · Public domainCommons ↗.jpg)
PictureBattle of Gaugamela (1 October 331 BCE)Charles Le Brun (1619-1690) · CC BY-SA 4.0Commons ↗
PictureClay tablet. Rev. Alexander's defeat of the last Achaemenid King Darius III at the battle of Gaugamela on Oct. 1, 331 BCE and its triumphant entry into Babylon. From Babylon, Iraq. British MuseumOsama Shukir Muhammed Amin FRCP(Glasg) · CC BY-SA 4.0Commons ↗
PictureIndian war elephants at GaugamelaAndré Castaigne (1861-1929, Public Domain) · Public domainCommons ↗
PicturePietro da Cortona - Battle of Alexander versus Darius - Google Art ProjectPietro da Cortona · Public domainCommons ↗Notes
On this reconstruction
The site is not known for certain (Tel Gomel, near Mount Alfaf, is the most cited). Arrian's figures for Alexander's army are widely accepted; those for the Persian army are not, and the Persian strengths here follow modern estimates of about 70,000 to 90,000 men. Unit frontages and the hours are reconstructed from Arrian. The sources give no hours; the timing is conjectural.
Sources
- Arrian, Anabasis of Alexander, book III, 8–15 · public domainThe main account, from the memoirs of Ptolemy and Aristobulus.
- Quintus Curtius Rufus, Histories of Alexander the Great, book IV, 12–16 · public domain
- Diodorus Siculus, Library of History, book XVII, 57–61 · public domain
- Wikipedia contributors, Battle of Gaugamela · CC-BY-SA-4.0Dispositions and sequence as summarised in the article.
Facts gathered from Wikidata (CC0), Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0) and Wikimedia Commons (licence per file); the plan and its text are timeastra’s own.