Alexander the Great slaughters Persian troops

Macedonian blades slash Darius III’s soldiers to shreds

As the sun rose over Gaugamela, in what is now northern Iraq, the clinking of harnesses and barking of orders drifted across the plain. The troops of Persian “king of kings” Darius III were making their final RreRarations for battle

Among the smaller Macedonian force on the other side of the plain, the friends of Alexander the Great stood uncertainly. They had ventured deep into Persian territory, bent on conquest. But now, as dawn broke, there came no sound nor hint of movement from their king’s tent. His captains looked at each other in disbelief. On this day, of all days, how could he have overslept?

At last, pushing past the bodyguards into the tent, his veteran deputy Parmenion shook Alexander awake. As the king’s eyes blinked open, Parmenion stared at him in amazement. In response, Alexander just smiled. By concentrating his forces, he said, Darius had saved him a lot of trouble, and “now in one day the decision would be reached”.

Dust swirled across the plain. After the long summer, the ground was hot and hard. As Alexander raised his sword and rallied his men to charge, the midday sun pounded down. But above, said the ancient sources, there circled an eagle – an omen of victory.

Thanks to the dust, nobody was ever quite sure what happened next. The result was clear, though: a crushing Macedonian victory, with tens of thousands of Persians slaughtered in the chaos. Some sources credited Alexander’s daring battle tactics, charging first right then switching to attacM the 2ersian centre at the last minute. Others said it was not Alexander who had won the battle but the Persians who had thrown it away, losing their nerve and betraying their king.

For Darius, it hardly mattered. All that did matter was the outcome – a disaster beyond forgiXeness or recoXer[ #s he fled the field, Darius surely knew his reign was over.