Persian army under Darius III

The Persian armed with Darius III was opposed to the Armée Macedonian with Alexandre Large the of 334 with 330 av. J. - C.. It is an army with “Eastern”, the very many one and variegated, of which best the units decorate luxurious ornaments which impress much their adversaries. The chivalrous courage of the Persian riders is certain but it proves to be insufficient to face the power of shock Macedonian.

Manpower

The manpower delivered by the old authors are very divergent, and sometimes not very probable. Some, like Arrien for example, go until affirming that Darius III aligns in Gaugamèles nearly a million infantrymen, 40 000 forgery riders and 200 tanks. Modern criticism decreased much these figures, 200 with 300 000 seems a maximum, undoubtedly less. With Issos to the 25 with 30 000 men of Alexandre, Darius opposes 100 of it; 000 a half hardly takes share with the battle. The Persian army remains nevertheless more numerous than the army Macedonian. It is however about an army much less homogeneous than the army Macedonian and which has only one weak experience of the combat.

Cavalry

Heavy cavalry

The bodies of cavalry are very numerous in the Persian army. There are of course the Perse S themselves with which the riders are equipped with a fleece-lined fabric or leather armor, on which one fixes metal scales in order to protect the chest, the abdomen, the back and the shoulders. It was often carried under a tunic generally of bright colors. Each rider carries two poltons , a small swath of approximately 1,5 meter, sometimes 1,8 meter whose point is out of iron where out of bronze. Out of weapons of contact these riders use either a short sword (enough similar to the Greek kopis ) or a long scraping-knife (the akenakes ) or various types of axes.

Certain riders are equipped more heavily than the majority and assemble horses partly protected by an armor made up of a leather cover covered with bronze scale and attached to the base of the neck of the horse and the belt of the rider. This protection, which names parameridia protects and the sides from the horse and the legs of the rider. On the head of the horse one also fixes a leather bonnet covered him with bronze scales which protect it from the ears to the nasal ones. When with the breast piece of the animal it is sheltered an armor of leather covered with bronze plates. The riders have a steel helmet, either of Greek type or of conical form, and a bronze armor. They are especially the Massagètes and the Bactriens, placed at the left wing at the time of the Bataille of Arbèles, as well as the Cappadocien S of the right wing which are thus equipped.

Light cavalry

The Scythes are archers with horse who use a short and curved arc, often manufactured starting from very diverse materials the such nerves of animals (for the cord), of horn, wood… The arrows, light and painted in red or white have an iron or bronze point and are laid out in a gorytos , case hung with the belt of the left side and which contains more than 200 arrows. Their second weapon is either a scraping-knife or an axe, seldom the javelin. They are easily identifiable with their fabrics out of wool, silk, baize or leather of bright colors (blue, white, yellow, crimson…). Certain Scythians fight with foot primarily and then use an axe and their shield characteristics: oval, out of wood and covered with skin.

The Sakas, also called Massagètes by Hérodote, people close to the Scythians, adopt, in addition to the Scythian arc, an axe with head of pickaxe balanced on the side opposed by a head of hammer, as well as a long sword. It is necessary to finally note the presence of rider of Arachosie (current area of Kandahar in the south of the Afghanistan) armed with javelins and short axes and the first mentions of assembled archers Parthian S which generally fight with the Mède S the two people easily mixing.

Tanks and elephants

Darius III aligns 200 tanks with forgery in Gaugamèles and makes remove the stones of the plain to facilitate their movements. It places them in the center of its device in order to attack make the phalange Macedonian. The first shock of the forgery tanks is fatal for the phalangites, but quickly those point their sarisses on the drivers of tanks and break their attack. Darius is even held perched to him on its tank in the middle of the battalion of the Parents of the King. By twice, in Issos and Gaugamèles, it must flee vis-a-vis the attack frontal of the riders Macedonians, which tends to assemble the inadaptability of this weapon of war, prestigious, but not very effective with the stop.

Darius has in Gaugamèles of a troop of 15 elephants war, originating in the Indian satrapies, that it places in the center of its dispostif in support of the tanks for forgery. Their contribution to the battle is not crucial. It is necessary to await the Bataille of Hydaspe to see the Macedonians facing for the first time a true army of elephants.

The infantry

The light infantry

Although it is numerically very numerous, the infantry does not have for the sovereigns Achéménide S the importance of people of horse. She is primarily made up of a light infantry including/understanding of the javeliniers, the slingers and the archers, of which the famous archers Perse S and critical rhodiens. Persians distinguish the Kardake S (or Cardaces) which are infantrymen not carrying an armor, equipped with javelins, arcs or then of a kopis and a shield. At Issos, one estimates that Darius has at least: 20000 Kardakes, recruited especially in Babylonia. They must by an armament similar to the Peltaste S make counterweight with the superiority of the infantry Macedonian. It is advisable to notice that the Persian arc has a big size for the guns of the time, approximately 1,20 meter. Xénophon note that the Persian archers further draw than the Crétois to add then than it is undoubtedly the consequence of lighter arrows. For as much, during confrontations with the army of Alexandre, the Persian light infantry was swept by the phalange Macedonian.

The heavy infantry and Mélophores

The Persian heavy infantry is made up Greek mercenaries armed in Hoplite S. They come primarily from Athens and Sparte, quoted traditionally hostile in Macedonia. With the Granique, the hoplitic infantry mercenary, private of the support of the Persian cavalry, is taken out of vice, and systematically massacred. On: 10000 Greek mercenaries only: 2000 survive and are sent to the forced labors.

The Persian army counts since Cyrus I {{er}} a battalion of: 10000 Mélophores, called also Immortal by Xénophon, recruited among the Persian nobility. It is lancers and archers about elite, decorated luxurious ornaments, which form the guard with foot of the king. Darius aligns them in the center of its device to the battles of Issos and Gaugamèles. Their courage and their fidelity with Darius are certain but their contribution was not decisive.

Military tactics

The tactics privileged by Darius are that of envelopment by the two wings thanks to its cavalry, whereas Alexandre prefers the opening in the center while benefitting from the breaches created on the unfavourable wings by his heavy cavalry. Darius thus bets on its cavalry, in clear numerical superiority. However at Issos, not listening to its Greek advisers, it places his army on a site which is not favorable to the operations of cavalry: its right wing, opposed to the cavalry thessalienne, is blocked along the shore and cannot of this fact of making a success of surrounding. With Gaugamèles, Darius chooses this time a favorable ground, but the force of impact of the Macedonians and the abrupt change of management of Alexandre who sinks on the center of the Persian army prevent any attempt at envelopment. As for the defeat of the Granique (and with the massacre of the Greek mercenaries placed at the rear without true orders), it is not only ascribable in Darius, even if this one ordered to the satraps to face Alexandre without sufficient preparations. At the time of the unloading of the army hellespontic Macedonian in Phrygie, it does not appoint indeed a commander-in-chief, letting develop the strategic divergences between the satraps and the generals of which Memnon of Rhodos, the chief of the Greek mercenaries, who advises to practice the burned ground and to force the Macedonians to fight inside the country.

With final, one can consider that throughout the conquests of Alexandre the strategy Macedonian, partly founded on the easy way and the surprise (without evoking the power of shock of the cavalry and the phalange), prevailed on the chivalrous spirit of Persians.

Sources

Arrien, Anabase ;
, XVII;
, Alexandre .

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