Wonders _
Alexander enters Babylon
In early 331, Alexander returned to his pursuit of Darius. He marched with his army toward Babylon, where Darius had been organizing a force for a showdown against him, a force that included Indian elephants and chariots armed with scythes. Along the way, during the early summer, Alexander conducted a campaign against a rebellion in Samaria. There a group of Jews had captured and burned alive their governor. Samarians surrendered those responsible for the killing, and Alexander had the murderers executed on the spot. Then, as a further lesson against such rebellions, he expelled Samaria's inhabitants, and in their place he invited Macedonians to populate the city.
Moving eastward across Mesopotamia, Alexander came again to the Royal Road, and he turned south toward Susa. On October 1, Darius and his army of a million men arrived on a wide plain along the Royal Road, by a town called Gaugamela, and the two armies clashed. Commanding his army from his chariot, Darius was slow in correcting weaknesses that developed in troop positions, and he was slow in taking advantages of weaknesses that had developed in the position of Alexander's army. Darius had failed to delegate enough command to subordinates. When he thought he saw Alexander's army over-powering his army, he fled with his retinue - the second time that he deserted men who were dying for him. And Darius' poorly led army was massacred.
Leaving behind his chariot, bow and a substantial hoard of coins as a prize for Alexander, Darius fled to Arbela, without destroying river bridges behind him. There he was joined by Bactrian cavalrymen, 2,000 loyal Greek mercenaries and a few of his surviving Royal Guards. From Arbela they pushed east through the Zagros Mountains and then south, dropping down to Ecbatana. Darius' nerve had been broken by his last defeat, but he hoped to gather and re-organize his army. He expressed hope that Alexander and his army would weaken themselves in luxury, idleness and the women they would find in Babylon, and he wrote nervously to his governors in Bactria and elsewhere in the east, urging them to remain loyal.
Alexander marched southward unimpeded, leaving the Royal Road and traveling along the Tigris River, past great fertile fields of barley and millet, past rows of date palms, man made canals and huge estates, to Babylon. The Persian governor of Babylon surrendered the city to him, and with his army Alexander entered the city in triumph.
The local priesthood made a show of welcoming Alexander, and Alexander in turn displayed his respects. He consulted the local priesthood on the correct worship of the Babylonian god, Marduk, and he made animal sacrifices to Marduk. He pleased the priesthood by ordering the restoration of Marduk's statue and the temples that the Persians had long before destroyed as punishment for a revolt. Men of wealth in the area, wishing to make peace with Alexander, gave him great sums of money. For Alexander's soldiers it was time for another rest, and they spent their pay on Babylon's women.
Alexander enters Babylon
In early 331, Alexander returned to his pursuit of Darius. He marched with his army toward Babylon, where Darius had been organizing a force for a showdown against him, a force that included Indian elephants and chariots armed with scythes. Along the way, during the early summer, Alexander conducted a campaign against a rebellion in Samaria. There a group of Jews had captured and burned alive their governor. Samarians surrendered those responsible for the killing, and Alexander had the murderers executed on the spot. Then, as a further lesson against such rebellions, he expelled Samaria's inhabitants, and in their place he invited Macedonians to populate the city.
Moving eastward across Mesopotamia, Alexander came again to the Royal Road, and he turned south toward Susa. On October 1, Darius and his army of a million men arrived on a wide plain along the Royal Road, by a town called Gaugamela, and the two armies clashed. Commanding his army from his chariot, Darius was slow in correcting weaknesses that developed in troop positions, and he was slow in taking advantages of weaknesses that had developed in the position of Alexander's army. Darius had failed to delegate enough command to subordinates. When he thought he saw Alexander's army over-powering his army, he fled with his retinue - the second time that he deserted men who were dying for him. And Darius' poorly led army was massacred.
Leaving behind his chariot, bow and a substantial hoard of coins as a prize for Alexander, Darius fled to Arbela, without destroying river bridges behind him. There he was joined by Bactrian cavalrymen, 2,000 loyal Greek mercenaries and a few of his surviving Royal Guards. From Arbela they pushed east through the Zagros Mountains and then south, dropping down to Ecbatana. Darius' nerve had been broken by his last defeat, but he hoped to gather and re-organize his army. He expressed hope that Alexander and his army would weaken themselves in luxury, idleness and the women they would find in Babylon, and he wrote nervously to his governors in Bactria and elsewhere in the east, urging them to remain loyal.
Alexander marched southward unimpeded, leaving the Royal Road and traveling along the Tigris River, past great fertile fields of barley and millet, past rows of date palms, man made canals and huge estates, to Babylon. The Persian governor of Babylon surrendered the city to him, and with his army Alexander entered the city in triumph.
The local priesthood made a show of welcoming Alexander, and Alexander in turn displayed his respects. He consulted the local priesthood on the correct worship of the Babylonian god, Marduk, and he made animal sacrifices to Marduk. He pleased the priesthood by ordering the restoration of Marduk's statue and the temples that the Persians had long before destroyed as punishment for a revolt. Men of wealth in the area, wishing to make peace with Alexander, gave him great sums of money. For Alexander's soldiers it was time for another rest, and they spent their pay on Babylon's women.