Battle of the Granicus

Battle of the Granicus

The Battle of the Granicus in May 334 BC was the first big fight between Alexander the Great of Macedon and the Persian Achaemenid Empire. It happened on the road from Abydus to Dascylium, near the Granicus River in the Troad region, which is now the Biga River in Turkey. Alexander’s army fought against Persian forces led by local leaders protecting their lands.

In this battle, Alexander showed clever tactics and bravery, leading his troops to victory. The win was important because it gave Alexander control over much of Asia Minor. After this battle, the Persians had to retreat to their cities. This battle helped set up Alexander’s later campaigns across the Persian Empire.

Background

After winning the Battle of Chaeronea in 338 BC, King Philip II of Macedon brought most Greek states together into a group called the Hellenic League. They wanted to fight the Persian Achaemenid Empire to remember when the Persians attacked Greece long ago.

The Persian Empire was having problems after the murder of its king, Artaxerxes III. During this time, Egypt left the empire. Philip wanted to use this trouble but couldn’t send his whole army yet. So, in 336 BC, he sent a smaller group of soldiers to land on the western coast of Asia Minor. Their job was to take land or build a strong base for the rest of the army to cross later.

This smaller group, led by Parmenion, started well as many cities joined them. But then Philip was murdered, and his son, Alexander III, took over. Alexander had to deal with uprisings in the Balkans and Greece before he could focus on Asia Minor. Meanwhile, a new Persian king, Darius III, took charge and sent forces to push back against the Macedonians. By the end of 335 BC, the Persians had taken back most of the cities, leaving the Macedonians holding only Abydus and maybe Rhoeteum.

Prelude

After defeating rebellions in the Balkans and Greece, Alexander the Great led his army to the Hellespont in early spring 334 BC. His army had around 32,000 foot soldiers and 5,000 horse soldiers. He arrived at Sestus and split his army to cross the Hellespont. The main part went to Abydus in Asia Minor, while Alexander led the rest to land near Cape Sigeum. He then visited several places along the way.

The Persian leaders in the area learned of Alexander’s movements but did not worry at first. They left the defense to local leaders called satraps. When they finally heard Alexander had crossed, they gathered their army near Zeleia. One leader, Memnon, suggested avoiding a direct fight, but the others wanted to protect their land and chose to fight.

Alexander’s general Parmenion advised waiting, but Alexander decided to attack right away. The battle happened in May 334 BC, after Alexander solved a problem with religious customs.

Location

The Granicus River is now called the Biga River in Turkey. Historians are not sure exactly where the battle happened. Some think it was near where the river meets a smaller river. Others think it was a bit further east. Today, we can still see signs of an old river path in that area. The ancient writers talked about a long ridge where soldiers stood, and there is only one place that matches this today. Even though crossing the river today seems easy, the old stories made it sound hard, perhaps to show how great Alexander’s victory was.

Opposing forces

Macedonian army

The Macedonian army was mostly foot soldiers. There were about 12,000 heavy infantry soldiers, including groups called the Foot Companions and hypaspists. There were also about 1,000 light infantry soldiers, such as archers and javelin-men. The cavalry, soldiers who fight on horseback, included 1,800 elite Companion cavalry, 1,800 Thessalian cavalry, and 600 Greek allied cavalry. There were also 900 light cavalry soldiers. In total, Alexander’s army had around 18,100 soldiers.

Alexander arranged his soldiers carefully. On the right side, he placed most of his Companion cavalry, along with archers and javelin-men, under the command of Philotas. Next to them were other cavalry units led by Socrates and Amyntas. The hypaspists were placed to protect the right side of the Foot Companions. There were several units of Foot Companions led by different commanders. On the left side were Thracian cavalry and allied Greek cavalry, with Thessalian cavalry at the far left. Alexander led the right wing, while Parmenion commanded the left.

Persian army

The Persian army included around 20,000 infantry soldiers, mostly Greek mercenaries, and about 20,000 cavalry soldiers, though some historians think the numbers might be smaller. The Persian soldiers were led by several commanders. Their cavalry was placed along the riverbank, with different groups on each side. Memnon and Arsames led the left wing, while other commanders led units on the right. The Greek mercenaries were placed behind the cavalry.

Battle

There are three different stories about the battle from ancient historians Arrian, Plutarch, and Diodorus Siculus. Arrian wrote the longest and most detailed story. Plutarch's story is shorter but mostly matches Arrian's, with just a few small differences. Diodorus told a story that is quite different from the other two.

According to Arrian, after the armies got ready, there was a quiet moment. Alexander ordered Amyntas to lead some soldiers to attack the Persian left side. The Persians fought back, and Amyntas's soldiers had to retreat because there were too many Persians. Alexander then led another group to attack. The Macedonian soldiers were able to defeat the Persians because their longer lances worked better in close combat. Alexander fought bravely and defeated some Persian leaders.

Plutarch's story focuses more on Alexander's personal fighting against Persian leaders. His story mostly matches Arrian's but has a few small differences.

Diodorus tells a different story, saying the armies stayed on opposite sides of the river for the rest of the day. Alexander crossed the river the next morning without being stopped, and then the battle began. Many historians think Diodorus's story is not correct and prefer the stories of Arrian and Plutarch.

Casualties

The Battle of the Granicus had losses on both sides.

For the Macedonians, writers gave different numbers, but about 115 soldiers were lost.

For the Persians, many leaders were killed. The number of Persian soldiers lost is not certain. One writer says about 1,000 cavalry were killed and 2,000 Greek soldiers were captured. Other writers give larger numbers, but these may be too high.

Aftermath

After the battle, Alexander was strict with the captured Greek soldiers. He felt they had broken their promise and sent them far from home to work.

Alexander sent special gifts to a holy place in Athens. This showed that some Greek cities, like the Spartans, had not joined his army. He built a memorial to honor his friends who had fought bravely.

The cities that had been under Persian control began to surrender to Alexander. Some cities resisted, so Alexander had to surround and capture them. Even though the Persian army still had many soldiers, the loss was a big problem for them as their strongholds fell.