Battle of the Granicus

The Battle of the Granicus in May 334 BC was the first major 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 faced the Persian forces led by several local leaders who were trying to protect their lands.

In this battle, Alexander showed his clever tactics and bravery, leading his troops to victory. The win was important because it gave Alexander control over much of Asia Minor and forced the Persians to retreat to their cities. This battle set the stage for 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. Their plan was to fight against the Persian Achaemenid Empire to remember the Persians' attack on Greece long ago.

The Persian Empire was in trouble after the murder of its king, Artaxerxes III. During this time, Egypt left the empire. Philip wanted to use this chaos 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 as much land as they could or to 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 and using a strategy to run out of supplies, but the others wanted to protect their land and chose to fight.

Alexander’s general Parmenion advised waiting to cross the river safely, but Alexander decided to attack right away. The battle happened in May 334 BC, after Alexander solved a problem with religious customs by changing the calendar month.

Location

The Granicus River is now called the Biga River in Turkey. Historians have different ideas about exactly where the battle happened. Some think it was near where the river meets another smaller river, while others believe 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 description today. Even though crossing the river today seems easy, the old stories made it sound very hard, perhaps to show how great Alexander’s victory was.

Opposing forces

Macedonian army

The Macedonian army was mostly made up of 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, which are 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.

Historians have talked about some choices the Persian commanders made. One choice was to place their cavalry close to the river, which made it hard for them to charge forward. They fought by throwing javelins from a distance and then using swords in close combat. Some wonder why Memnon, who was good with the Greek mercenaries, was placed with the cavalry instead. One idea is that other Persian leaders did not trust him. Another choice was to keep their infantry far from the front, possibly because they did not want the Greek mercenaries to fight too early in the battle.

Battle

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

According to Arrian, after the armies got ready for battle, there was a quiet moment. Alexander ordered Amyntas to lead a group of cavalry to attack the Persian left side. The Persians fought back with javelins, and Amyntas's group had to retreat because they were outnumbered. 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 than the Persians' javelins. Alexander fought bravely and defeated some Persian leaders during the battle.

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, different writers gave different numbers, but the total was around 115 soldiers lost.

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

Aftermath

After the battle, Alexander treated the captured Greek soldiers harshly because he felt they had broken their promise to fight only Persia and not other Greeks. He sent them to work far away from home.

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

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