Battle of the Uxian Defile

Uxian Defile
Part of Wars of Alexander the Great
Date December, 331 BC Location East of Susa Result Macedonian victory, conquest of the Uxians
Belligerents
Macedon, Greek allies	Uxians
Commanders and leaders
Alexander the Great	Madates
Strength
8,000 infantry	Unknown
Casualties and losses
Minimal	Exact numbers unknown, total destruction of Uxian military capabilities

The Battle of Uxian Defile was fought by Alexander the Great against the Uxian tribe of the Persian Empire. The battle raged on the mountain range between the key Persian cities of Susa and Persepolis. Persepolis was the ancient capital of the Persian Empire and held a symbolic value among the native Persian population. They believed that if this city were to fall into enemy hands, then, in effect, the whole Persian Empire would fall into the hands of the enemy.

Alexander had recently defeated Darius III Codomannus at the Battle of Gaugamela on the eastern side of the Tigris river, the result of which had been a disaster for Darius and the Persian Empire. Darius had prematurely fled the battle, and his army had dispersed. Thus Alexander had been unable to achieve his goal of capturing Darius during the course of the battle. Instead, Alexander chased Darius and, as a result, captured the important cities of the Persian Empire along the way.

Immediately after the battle, Alexander feared that the Persians would organize the defense of Babylon, which had thick walls. This city's walls covered a vast area, which included huge farm lands, and could therefore hold out almost indefinitely against a siege. However, instead of finding the city closed to him, he found that it was open to him. The Persian satrap Mazaeus decided to capitalize on Alexander's famed generosity and let him into the city. It was as a result of this that Mazaeus was appointed satrap of this city and surrounding region, a lucrative post. It was Alexander's practice to, as much as possible, leave the old governors in their positions - a practice he had learned from Cyrus the Great.

Alexander rested his troops in Babylon for some days, and paid them amply with the treasures that were found there. In addition, he decided to set it up as a secondary base. From here Alexander set out for Susa, the winter capital of the Persian Empire. It took him twenty days to reach this place, from which there was 50,000 gold talents received (roughly equal to $538,000,000,000 USD in today's money). It was as a result of this that Alexander was able to send Antipater, the regent of Macedon, 3,000 gold talents (about $32,280,000,000 USD in today's money) for the war against Sparta. From Susa, Alexander marched towards the mountain defile.

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