Battle of Arbela
| Battle of Gaugamela | |||||||||
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| Part of the Wars of Alexander the Great | |||||||||
_between_Alexander_and_Darius,_who_is_in_flight_(1696).jpg) Battle of Gaugamela, Flemish tapestry, first half of 18th century |
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| Belligerents | |||||||||
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Macedon Hellenic League |
Achaemenid Empire | ||||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||||
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Alexander the Great Hephaestion Craterus Parmenion Ptolemy Perdiccas Antigonus Cleitus Nearchus Seleucus Ariston Simmias Coenus Ariston Glaucias Sopolis |
Darius III Bessus Mazaeus Orontes II † Atropates |
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| Strength | |||||||||
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47,000 (See Size of Macedonian army) |
52,000–120,000 (modern estimates) |
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| Casualties and losses | |||||||||
| 100 infantry and 1,000 cavalry (according to Arrian); 300 infantry (according to Curtius Rufus); 500 infantry (according to Diodorus Siculus) |
40,000 (according to Curtius Rufus) 47,000 (according to Welman) 90,000 (according to Diodorus Siculus) 300,000+ captured (according to Arrian) |
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Coordinates: 36°33′36″N 43°26′38″E / 36.56°N 43.444°E
47,000
52,000–120,000 (modern estimates)
250,000–1,000,000 (ancient sources)
The Battle of Gaugamela (/ˌɡɔːɡəˈmiːlə/; Greek: Γαυγάμηλα), also called the Battle of Arbela (Greek: Ἄρβηλα), was the decisive battle of Alexander the Great's invasion of the Persian Achaemenid Empire. In 331 BC Alexander's army of the Hellenic League met the Persian army of Darius III near Gaugamela, close to the modern city of Dohuk (Iraqi Kurdistan). Even though heavily outnumbered, Alexander emerged victorious due to his army's superior tactics and his deft employment of light infantry. It was a decisive victory for the Hellenic League and led to the fall of the Achaemenid Empire.
In November 333 BC Darius III had lost the Battle of Issus, resulting in the capture of his wife, his mother and his two daughters, Stateira II and Drypetis. Darius had retreated to Babylon, where he regrouped the remaining army from the previous battle. The victory at Issus had given Alexander control of southern Asia Minor. Following a victory at the Siege of Tyre (332 BC), which lasted from January to July, Alexander controlled the Levant. After his victory at Gaza Persian troop counts were low and the Persian satrap of Egypt, Mazaeus, peacefully surrendered to Alexander.
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