Revolt of Agis III of
Sparta
While Alex is away the spartans play
King Agis
Revolts back in Greece
III of Sparta was
determined to free the Greek
States from Macedonian rule.
He allied himself with the
Persians to do this.
1)
Agis revolted near Corinth, in 333 BC and defeated a Macedonian General.
2)
Memnon revolted in Thrace, in 331 BC. Antipater had to leave Macedon
(where Alexander had left him as H_____, with a big army)\
3)
While Antipater was distracted in Thrace, Agis revolted. He wanted Greece to
become Anti-Macedonia. He got money & boats from the Persians & Greek
mercenaries. Agis captured cities in Crete (island off Greece) and forced
them to join Persian side. He gathered support of many Greek states, (army
of 30, 000 men) However Athens refused to support Agis and Persia. (when
had Athens previously seen punishment for when a state misbehaves?)
Alexander left Antipater to sort this situation out
The revolts ended when Antipater and Memnon agreed on a settlement. Antipater
encouraged Memnon and the Thracians to oppose Agis, (gathered a force of
40, 000) and they destroyed Agis’ army, and killed Agis in battle.
The League of Corinth, under Alexander’s influence, decided to punish Sparta by
taking 50 Spartan nobles as hostages and forcing them to join the League of
Corinth
Gaugamela, a battle
 331 BC
 Find it on your maps
 Alexander’s army moved to confront Darius. Again
his army was largely outnumbered by the Persian
army (who was made up of many nationalities)
 Darius had prepared the battle ground by removing
shrubs &filling in potholes
 Parmenio advised Alexander to not fight straight
away. Alexander took this advice. He was worried
about th3 Persian Cavalry being so good.
 Alexander commanded his men to have a meal and
rest. Darius kept his on standby all night. Arrian sees
this as a major error in judgement.
Deployment of Troops
Darius’ Army
Alexander’s army
(built up in numbers from Mercenaries –
from which battle?)
On the Persian left: A mixture of cavalry
and infantry. Cavalry under command of
Bessus (satrap of Sogdiana)
In the centre: Darius himself, flanked by
Greek Mercenaries, his bodyguard, royal
horse guard & indian cavalry.
In front of them were scythe-chariots
(chariots with knives forked in the
wheels) & elephants
On the right:
Cavalry in 2 groups under command of
Mazeus, Satrap of Bactria
On the right: Opposite Bessus, the
companions led by Philotas, with Cleitus
in command of the Royal squadron.
Alexander lead the Hypaspists.
in the centre: The Phalanx and the
greek cavalry. A second line of infantry
behind.
On the left: Opposite Mazaeus,
Parmenio and the Thessalian Cavalry.
Events in the battle…
1.
Darius launched a cavalry attack on Alexander’s right flank, to break
through and get behind.
2.
Darius launched the elephants and scythe-chariots against the
Phalanx. The attack largely failed. Many chariots and elephans were
stopped by a group of lancers placed there. The rest of the Elephants
an Scythe-chariots put terror into the Phalanx but because of their
training and discipline thy were able to open their ranks to create
‘corridors’ for the charging elephants to go through.
3.
After the failure of the elephants, Darius ordered a general attack,
Mazaeus launched against Parmenio’s wing.
4.
The rest of the cavalry were sent to help Bessus on Alexander’s right.
This caused a gap to open in the Persian line, to the left of the centre.
Events in the battle
1.
Alexander was waiting for the opportunity for a gap to appear
and advanced towards Darius. But he was held up by Dairus’
bodyguards and Greek Mercenaries.
2.
Darius, standing on his chariot decided the battle was lost and
fled (which other battle did he do this in?) Bessus and the
Bactrian cavalry followed Darius.
Parmenio was hard pressed by Mazaeus so he called for help.
Instead of chasing Darius, Alexander went to help him.
On the way to Parmenio Alexander encountered the Persian
royal guard and other troops trying to excape. There was a
fierce battle . Many companions were killed.
By the time Alexander got to Parmenio he was no longer
needed. Mazaeus had heard about Darius’ flight and followed
also.
Paul Artus
 P.57-59
 Read over and take additional notes on the
detail that this powerpoint missed out
 Workbooks, ‘Gaugamela’ worksheet
After the battle
 How was Alexander’s victory significant?
What did it illustrate about him as a military
leader?
 Alexander chased Darius through the night
but failed to capture or kill him. Darius
headed for Media. Alexander decided on
Babylon, to capture the main cities in the
Persian Empire – Babylon, Susa and
Persepolis.