Greek and Macedonian Land Battles of the 4th Century BC

by Fred Eugene Ray Jr

  Reunited with his army at Persepolis, Alexander added more treasure to his coffers and was ready to resume his pursuit of Darius. This sent him back north toward Ecbatana in Media, which lay just below the Hyrkanian (Caspian) Sea. It was rumored that the Persian king was gathering an army there. However, unable to find sufficient strength, Darius fled before his foe could arrive. Giving chase once more, Alexander followed with the Macedonian infantry, the Agrianians and archers, his companion cavalry, the prodromoi and a contingent of mercenary horsemen. But the Persian ruler was not destined for capture. Even as Alexander drew near, Darius fell to assassination, victim of a conspiracy of his followers led by Bessos, satrap of Bactria (modern Afghanistan). Most of Alexander's men now considered the war over; still, the monarch's ambitions remained unsatisfied. Though he duly noted the end of the original campaign and excused his Greek allied troops from further obligation, he enrolled many of them for further service on a voluntary basis. He then exerted both his popularity and authority as king to persuade the Macedonians to stay aboard as well.

  Aria (330 B.c.)

  Alexander began consolidating his Persian conquest by moving east into Hyrkania and then Mardia in 330. The Mardians put up some resistance. Alexander found them attempting to hold a pass with 8,000 men, but yet again executed a successful maneuver, marching to get above the defenders and drive them from their position with heavy loss. Bessos, meanwhile, had proclaimed himself Great King and was trying to assemble an army back in his home province of Bactria. Alexander had to deal briefly with an uprising in Aria to the south, using a flying column of cavalry and light infantry to scatter rebels under his traitorous governor, Satibarzanes (Curtius gives the fullest account of this action [6.6.20-26]). He then moved against Bessos that winter, marching across Bactria and into the Indian Caucasus (today's Hindu Kush range). He founded a city (another Alexandria) in that gateway to India and crossed the mountains into modern Pakistan before turning back upon learning that Bessos had now fled northward. It would take until the spring of 329 to finally run the faux monarch down west of the Caspian Sea in Sogdiana. It was there where Persians seeking Alexander's favor betrayed and turned Bessos over to Ptolemy. He would eventually be tortured and put to death for his part in the murder of Darius.

  As these events were playing out in the farther eastern regions of Persia, things had turned ugly once more back in Aria. Satibarzanes had returned to foster another revolt bringing 2,000 horsemen (who had joined in his earlier flight from Alexander) and having added a few more back in his old satrapy (he'd escaped with only "the most he could muster on short notice" [Curtius 6.6.22]). He also must have regained some of the light-armed foot soldiers that had remained behind. Curtius claimed that these originally numbered at least 13,000 (6.6.24), but this seems exaggerated and we might suspect that the renegade leader probably had just a couple of thousand footmen. At any rate, Alexander thought another modest column should be adequate to address the renewed threat and dispatched the Macedonian Erigyius, commander of 600 allied Greek horsemen, along with Stasenor, another of his inner circle. The latter likely led a contingent of Thracian peltasts. Also on the expedition was Arsaces, the replacement for Satibarzanes as satrap of Aria, and Phrataphernes, Alexander's Parthian governor. The latter would have brought sufficient Asian levies to provide a garrison and more than match the insurgent cavalry and infantry.

  There were several small engagements and skirmishes before a major battle was finally fought. This settled into an inconclusive, cavalry-dominated action in which the rebels "were holding their own" (Diodorus 17.83.5). Seeking to break the impasse, Satibarzanes, a rather courageous character it seems, rode out to make an astounding offer if we are to believe Diodorus and Curtius. This was to settle the issue by single combat in a throwback to heroic times past. Erigyius accepted the challenge, though being an older man with white hair. The two champions removed their helmets and went at it on horseback, one wielding a javelin and the other with his Macedonian xyston. Dodging the rebel leader's cast, Erigyius took him through the throat with his lance then dismounted to pull the weapon free and finish his kill. He thus ended the rebellion with minimal losses on either side as Satibarzanes' men surrendered. Arrian had a different take on this affair, describing a "fierce battle" in which the aforementioned duelists just happened to meet, with the rebel chief's death then causing his troops to flee "pell-mell" (3.28.3). If this were the case, casualties on the losing side would have been much higher, probably in the 25-35 percent range.

  This was a period in which Alexander became increasingly concerned about plots against his life. In October of 330, he discovered that his cavalry commander Philotas had been aware of an assassination scheme yet hadn't taken action against it. The king not only had Philotas executed, but went on to order the murder of his father Parmenio as well. The latter had been Philip's best general and, as second in command to Alexander, a key figure in the conquest of Persia.

  Jaxartes, Alexandria Escalate and Polytimetos River (329 B.C.)

  Alexander rested his forces a while in Sogdiana and then set out that summer to push his travels to the very edge of the Persian realm. This took him northeast to the Jaxartes River, considered in that era to mark the western boundary of Asia. One of his foraging parties was attacked there by sling and bow-armed tribesmen that were said to number 20,000 (Curtius 7.6.2) or 30,000 (Arrian 3.30.10). The barbarians withdrew to take up a defensive stance on high ground surrounded by steep cliffs and Alexander went after them with a select column. His contingent was highly mobile, probably consisting of his hypaspists, the Agrianians and attached archers and the companion cavalry, possibly with the lighter Macedonian lancers as well. Given the relatively small size of this command (less than 6,000 men), we might question whether the barbarians were really as numerous as claimed, though their position on high ground was to prove more critical than any manpower advantage they might have held.

  Both of our sources agree that Alexander was repulsed attempting an uphill assault on the enemy, who showered his troops with missiles until they had to retreat. Alexander himself took a shaft in the lower leg that fractured his fibula, and it was probably the sight of their commander being carried from the field with arrowhead still imbedded that finally prompted the Macedonians to retire. What happened next is unclear. Curtius said that the tribesmen met with Alexander and surrendered. Arrian, on the other hand, claimed that the king returned to capture the barbarian stronghold in some unknown manner and slay all but 8,000 of its defenders. To be frank, Curtius' version seems much the more likely, with that of Arrian probably a contrivance meant to keep Alexander's undefeated combat record intact. If so, the 8,000 citation for surviving tribesmen is better seen as a full count of how many were actually present, nearly all of them living to tell the tale.

  Alexander spent the next few weeks building and fortifying a city, Alexandria Eschate (the "furthermost"), which he intended to mark the northeastern frontier of his empire. There were also talks at this time with the people thereabout, who were ethnic Scythians. However, rightly disturbed by the ongoing Macedonian construction project as a sign of long term occupation, these rose up in a revolt that rapidly spread until it included most of Sogdiana. Alexander attacked and took down the nearby rebel strongholds. He also dispatched a relief expedition to the Sogdian capital, where a garrison he'd left was reported to have come under attack. This effort contained 60 hetairoi (an under-strength company) and an allotment of mercenaries including 800 horsemen (former Greek allies now serving for hire) and nearly 1,500 infantry (perhaps 300 of them light-armed and the rest hoplites). Meanwhile, a large group of mounted Scythians appeared on the Jaxartes' eastern bank. Having heard that their kinsmen were in action, these men had come to join (and profit from) the fray and took to firing both insults and arrows across the stream.

  Determined to put the Scythians in their place, Alexander brought up his bolt-throwing catapults and laid down a barrage to drive the enemy horsemen back from the r
iverside. He then crossed with his archers and slingers, who set up a perimeter, their missiles keeping the barbarians at a distance while the phalanx came over followed by cavalry. Alexander next sent one squadron of mercenary horsemen and four of lance-armed riders (prodromoi, maybe 500 men in all) against the Scythians. But the tribal fighters proceeded to encircle these mostly shock-oriented troopers, riding around them while loosing arrows. Moving to rescue his vanguard, Alexander mixed archers and peltasts with his remaining cavalry and charged. The mounted javelinmen (perhaps over 4,000 strong) split out to attack off either flank in company with four squadrons of the hetairoi. Meanwhile, the king himself led out the royal unit of companions, taking them straight up the middle at the enemy.

  Caught between the prodromoi landward and Alexander's advance, the Scythians nearest the river broke right and left, barging into their compatriots in either direction to then be driven before the galloping wings of javelineers and hetairoi. As their entire complement now joined in a state of panic, the barbarians fled under hot pursuit. This turned into a long and grueling run in the summer heat that saw thirsty men and horses drinking whatever they could find in their haste. And when Alexander fell ill from bad water, the action was finally called off. The Scythians had left 1,000 dead alongside the river and lost many more during the extended chase, with their fallen perhaps totaling 10-20 percent of a 15,000-20,000 strong gathering. This sound beating brought the Scythian chief to terms, Alexander acquiescing if for no other reason than it would be too difficult for him to effectively sustain further hostilities.

  The mounted circling tactics that had so bedeviled Alexander's advance units on the Jaxartes soon brought the Macedonian even greater grief along another river, the Polytimetos. This waterway flowed on the north side of the Sogdian capital of Marakanda, which rebel forces had attacked under Spitamenes, a Bactrian or Sogdian who had led the betrayers of Bessos. The insurgents went after the Macedonian garrison in the citadel, but a sortie had driven them back. They then withdrew east along the Polytimetos upon learning of the approach of the troops that Alexander had sent to relieve the city. This column pursued Spitamenes all the way to the Sogdian border and caught him on level ground at the edge of desert country.

  Spitamenes had allied with the nomadic Scythian tribesmen in this region to add 600 mounted archers and bring his horsemen up to around 2,000. Taking advantage of greater numbers and open terrain, he waited while his foes set up in phalanx. Their array was probably composed of 1,200 Greek spearmen filed eight-deep across a 150m front. The cavalry and light footmen would have split off either flank, perhaps with the small band of hetairoi beside their heavy infantry on the right. But before the hoplite formation could advance, Spitamenes charged and, rather than closing directly against the phalanx, his bowmen began to circle it on the broad plain. The Scythians rode round and round as they pelted the closely ordered spearmen and their light-armed comrades with clouds of shafts and the other Asian riders added in more arrows and javelins for good measure. This was the same sort of thing that Philip had come up against years before on the Dobruja Plain and that his son had faced just days earlier. Unfortunately for the men now confronting Spitamenes, there was no one of Philip's or Alexander's caliber among their leaders to devise an adequate countermeasure this time. Thus, the phalanx and its auxiliaries found themselves in a hopeless trap, with swift moving enemies easily skipping back from each slow sally by Greek horsemen on march-weary mounts and then closing back to lethal effect on the befuddled heavy infantry formation regardless of whether it chose to advance or retreat.

  Unable to stand such pummeling, the Greeks formed a square and retreated toward the river in a desperate effort to gain relief. Once at the water's edge, the cavalry plunged in and made its way to the far side while the infantry tried to follow, wading in as a disorderly mob. The barbarians closed about from all directions to chase those who had already gotten across and pin the rest mid-passage. Firing missiles from up and down stream as well as from both banks, the attackers drove the men still in the flow onto a small island and shot them down, going on to kill even those few who lived long enough to surrender. In the end, only 40 horsemen (less than 5 percent) and 300 foot soldiers (20 percent, probably almost exclusively light-armed) managed to escape the slaughter. (This is per Arrian [4.6.1]. Curtius [7.7.39] claimed that infantry losses were greater [2,000, this maybe being more men than were actually present], but cut cavalry deaths to only 300.) Arrian noted that there was a variant on this tale, which he attributed to Aristobulus. Here, the Scythians launched a surprise attack from wooded cover after the battle was already joined (and following an argument among the Greek officers in which none was willing to assume overall command). Curtius likewise proposed an ambush (7.7.31-38), though with different details.

  Learning what had happened on the Polytimetos, Alexander went there with a strong armament to get revenge. However, he was unable to catch Spitamenes and had to settle for ravaging the countryside along the river to punish locals said to have joined in the action. He then retired into Bactria to set up winter quarters and receive some reinforcements. Among the new troops was a group of Greek mercenaries having 4,000 infantry and 1,000 cavalry. Another 4,000 foot soldiers and 500 riders came from the Lycian coast and a force of equal size arrived from Syria. Finally, Antipater sent 8,000 Greeks that included 600 cavalry.

  Xenippa (328 B.c.), Gabai (328/327 B.c.) and Pareitakene (327 B.c.)

  Over the course of the winter and into the next year, Alexander pacified Sogdiana and Bactria. This included campaigning against the still defiant Spitamenes and his band of Bactrian exile horsemen. Operating as bandits, these outcasts had allied with the Massagetae (a tribe from beyond the Jaxartes similar in their habits to the Scythians). These provided 800 bowarmed riders. Combining the tribesmen with 2,500 of his own cavalry, Spitamenes managed in the summer of 328 to wipe out 300 Macedonian and mercenary riders under Attinas. This came either in a sneak attack near a wooded area (Curtius 8.1.3-5) or by overwhelming most of them in a fortified position (Arrian 4.16.4-5). He killed a few hetairoi and mercenary horsemen in an ambush shortly thereafter. Amyntas, who was serving as Alexander's satrap of Bactria, came up against the rebels that fall (the Massagetae having gone home at the end of the summer campaigning season) and fought them in a major engagement.

  Amyntas had two regiments of pikemen (3,000), two squadrons of hetairoi (400) and all the mounted javelinmen (hippakontistai, perhaps 3,000-4,000 strong). He also fielded some loyal Bactrians (probably several thousand light footmen). Sallying with this force, he was caught by surprise and compelled to accept combat on open ground near the Sogdian city of Xenippa. A sharp cavalry action followed in which the Macedonian phalanx played only a small role as a rearward bulwark. The Bactrians managed to hold their own for some time (Curtius 8.2.1617), but gave way at the last, losing 700 killed in the fight and flight (nearly 30 percent with another 300 captured). Macedonian damage came to 80 dead and 350 wounded (around 10 percent casualties; but, if all horsemen, only 2 percent killed from the cavalry force). This indicates a fierce engagement in which most of the fatalities came, as usual, among the losers during pursuit.

  Another action between Alexander's forces and the Bactrians followed near Gabai, a location otherwise unknown. Once more reinforced by the Massagetae, who brought 3,000 riders, Spitamenes attacked a detachment under Coenus that was holding Sogdiana for the winter. The Macedonian had essentially the same force that Amyntas had fielded and he led this against the enemy's advance. Spitamenes had 4,000-4,500 horsemen including 1,000-1,500 survivors from Xenippa. The barbarians lost 700 men (above 15 percent) in a fight that must have followed along much the same lines as the one against Amyntas. Probably retiring more quickly this time, Spitamenes and his allies did less than half as much harm to the Macedonians as they had in that earlier action, killing just twelve foot soldiers and 25 horsemen (Arrian 4.17.6). (It's notable both here and in the preceding clash at Xenippa that the Macedonian hea
vy infantry consisted solely of phalangite taxeis. If those units carried their usual pikes, then these combats record the first instances of Macedonian phalanxes that had no hoplites in their ranks. Alternatively, Anson [20101 has made the interesting proposal that under Alexander at least one taxis initially and up to half of all phalangites eventually may have adopted hoplite gear, the latter expansion coming as part of improvements made after the battle of Gaugemela in 331 [Arrian 3.18.5; 4.25.1,51. He suggests that these men might have carried the title of asthetairoi from their aspides bearing the symbol of a six-sided star or aster, hence "ast-hetairoi" or "star-companions.")

  Spitamenes would take refugee after Gabai with his Massagetae friends. This proved fatal when the tribesmen elected to give him up in return for a peace accord. With his capture and execution, Alexander was finally clear to begin considering new conquests and began preparations over the winter and into the spring of 327 to tackle the most distant Persian territory of them all - India.

  One major reform that Alexander might have instituted at this time was outfitting his hypaspists with sarissai. He had plenty of hoplites, having taken on massive numbers of mercenary and allied spearmen in the last year, thus his current priority was to boost available strength in pikemen. This arm was limited to men he'd brought over in 334 and from home in a couple of reinforcements since, and these had suffered a fair amount of attrition. Planning now to leave a portion of his remaining phalangites behind to help secure Persia while campaigning in India, Alexander may have decided that the best way to create replacements was to cross-train his other Macedonian heavy footmen, the hypaspists, in use of the pike. This would allow him to employ them as hoplites in the sort of mobile "flying" columns used in the past, yet also field an additional 3,000 pikemen if needed in the main line of battle. In fact, the light armed nature of Indian warriors must have had him contemplating an increased role for such troops in the near future. Sarissai would clearly fare well against the poorly protected javelineers and swordsmen of India, whose short weapons made penetrating into a pike array very difficult. And having captured some elephants, it must also have been obvious that those mainstays of Indian warfare could better be handled by sarissai in conjunction with missile fire rather than by using traditional hoplite spears.