Battle of Gaugamela

Scene of the Battle of Gaugamela. Engraving from 1913.

The charge of the Persian scythed chariots at the Battle of Gaugamela, by Andre Castaigne (1898-1899).

The Battle of Gaugamela (also called The Battle of Arbela) was a battle fought between Alexander the Great and the first Persian empire. The battle was fought in 331 BC. It was in Gaugamela, a village on the banks of the river Bumodus, north of Arbela (modern-day Erbil, in Iraqi Kurdistan). It led to the fall of the Achaemenid Empire and of Darius III.

Before this Darius had lost the Battle of Issus where his wife, his mother and his two daughters were captured.

Alexander's small army, about 47,000, had marched through Mesopotamia. The Persian army was certainly bigger, though there is no agreement about how big it was. They had 15 Indian elephants and some scythed chariots - war chariots with scythe blades mounted on each side. These didn't make much difference.

After the battle Darius was murdered by Bessus, the Satrap of Bactria.

Battle Of Gaugamela Media

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  Account of Alexander's victory over the last Achaemenid king Darius III at the battle of Gaugamela on 1 October 331 BC and his triumphant entry into Babylon, in cuneiform. Babylon, Iraq. British Museum

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  The Battle of Gaugamela, Jan Brueghel the Elder, 1602

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  A decorative Neo-Attic relief of the Battle of Gaugamela, with allegories of Europe and Asia standing on the side, 2nd century BC-2nd century AD. Rome, Palazzo Chigi. 19th-century reproduction by engraving.

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  Initial dispositions and opening movements

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  The Battle of Gaugamela is illustrated in this tapestry, based on a painting by the 17th-century French artist, Charles Le Brun (1619–90). Le Brun undertook a series of paintings in the 1660s and 1670s depicting the triumphs of Alexander the Great, as homage to his wealthy patron, King Louis XIV.

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  Alexander's decisive attack

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  Darius flees (18th-century ivory relief) (National Archaeological Museum, Madrid)

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  Alexander entering Babylon