The Battle of the Granicus

Strangely enough, the Persian army had made no effort to stop Alexander and his army when crossing the Hellespont, a missed opportunity, no doubt. Still, they now awaited the Macedonian king near the Granicus River in Hellespontine Phrygia, a satrapy that stood under the control of Persia.

With my traveling companions from Peter Sommer's In the Footsteps of Alexander the Great, we head in that direction. The landscape is monotonous and uninspiring. After parking the minivan, we walk a short distance over a local asphalted road to the wooden railing of a bridge. Here, I lay eyes on the Granicus River for the first time, a river like so many, a good 25 meters wide and probably not deeper than one meter. I find it hard to believe such a decisive battle was fought on this lazy rivulet. I am itching to go down to the water's edge with an urge to get as close as possible to the thick of the fight.

Meanwhile, locals have stopped by to investigate what we are doing here. I wonder where they all come from so suddenly out of nowhere. They disagree about the location of the fight [proof that even today Alexander is still being remembered!] and point us further upstream near the remains of a Roman bridge. Still, Peter has done his research and proven his right based on ancient descriptions of the terrain. At the horizon, I can see the wedge in the mountain range through which the Persians had marched to their position.

Alexander arrived at the Granicus late in the spring afternoon of 334 BC. Still, it is unclear whether he attacked the Persians immediately or waited till the following day as Parmenion cautioned him. Alexander's reply that he would not be stopped by this trickle of water after crossing the Hellespont does not explain either decision. I personally like to think that Alexander attacked immediately as the afternoon sun would shine in the faces of the Persians and might hamper their perception of the enemy – but that is only a personal opinion, of course.

[YouTube with thanks to Jim Cleary]

Both riverbanks are very steep, and we scramble down about four meters to the water level. The grass stands high and is very slippery. It's easier to slide down that to get a good foothold, and I wonder how the hypaspists managed with their leather sandals or boots to keep on their feet, let alone in formation! To actually stand here, however, is absolutely thrilling! Peter opens Arrian's Campaigns of Alexander and starts reading how the fight evolved out loud. It's a story we all know, but hearing it here on the very spot where both armies clashed is quite unique. Many frogs are jumping around the river's edge, and for some reason, they all join in as a loud croaking audience. More frogs have heard the signal and move in, drowning Peter's voice. The louder he speaks, the louder the croaking. When he stops, they stop. It is great fun but a very unusual deafening chorus. Spirits from the past, I wonder?

Anyway, here I am, facing the entire Persian army lined up along the opposite river bank, and it takes my breath away. They are about 20,000 cavalry, having taken a position on a vast front. At the same time, the infantry (probably not as many as 20,000 as reported by Arrian) behind them – a strange and incomprehensible strategy for the cavalry had no space to charge, and the infantry didn't have the opportunity to fight until it was too late. Peter's reading is so lively that I can almost feel the Persian presence. With Alexander and most of the Companion cavalry, I am standing at the head of the right wing alongside the phalanx that is flanked on the left by the Thessalian and Thracian cavalry under Parmenion's command.

Arrian writes that there was "a profound hush as both armies stood for a while motionless on the brink of the river." Everybody's adrenaline must have risen to an unbearable level! Who was going to shout the battle cry first? Right, the Macedonians, of course, and hell broke loose! Alexander first sent a small battalion across a new stratagem known as the pawn sacrifice, whereby a small detachment was used as a pawn to split up the enemy ranks. This distraction maneuver kept the Persians occupied while Alexander and the right wing set out to cross the river. I look up and down the bank where I am standing. Surely not here? It is too steep! But Alexander's front spread out over one mile, meaning that he was positioned further upstream where the slope of the riverbank was gentler. The crossing was done diagonally, expanding the Macedonian frontline and enabling them to ride up the opposite riverbank in a continuous formation once again. Parmenion, at the other end, had moved in much the same way. The Persians defended their precious position, and in a hand-to-hand struggle, Alexander's troops ferociously forced their way out of the water while the Persians did all they could to prevent them from getting there. It is impossible to put this clash in a time frame. Still, once Alexander himself was on the Persian bank, he was immediately taken in the thick of the fight and charged straight for the spot where the Persian commanders stood surrounded by serried ranks of their cavalry.

Meanwhile, the Macedonian infantry was making steady progress, and company after company made their way across the river. A fierce fight developed, man against man, horse against horse, each side determined to take the upper hand. Alexander's men had been well trained by his father, and most had years of experience. Armed with their long sarissas, they had a clear advantage over the light lances of the Persians.

In the heat of the fight, Alexander's spear broke, and he called one of his grooms for another, but the groom had only a stub of his own spear left, which he showed to Alexander. He then had to call for one of his bodyguards, who, luckily, could help out his king. At the same time, Alexander caught a glance of Mithridates, Darius' son-in-law riding ahead of a squadron of horses in his direction. He did not hesitate and instantly galloped forward, hitting his opponent in the face with his freshly acquired spear. At this point, Rhoesaces (satrap of Ionia) rode up to revenge Mithridates and hit Alexander on the head with his scimitar, seriously damaging his helmet; but that did not stop Alexander from killing him. Then Spithridates (satrap of Lydia) rode up to him with raised scimitar but was intercepted by Cleitus (the Black), who chopped off his arm with scimitar and all. Nearly all the troops had come across and were fighting fiercely by now. The Persians were pinned down between the push of the Macedonians and their own infantry that was mingling among their horses. Their rout was complete.

The foreign mercenaries fighting for the Persians under the command of Memnon of Rhodes had been kept aside. They were still holding their original position, apparently struck by the suddenness of the Macedonian attack. Instead of pursuing the fleeing Persian army, Alexander focused on these mercenaries instead, ordering a combined attack of cavalry and infantry to butcher them all. He deeply resented that men from Greece were chosen to side with the Persian king and against him!

Persian losses evidently were high. As for the Macedonians, Arrian mentions that no more than 25 Companion cavalry were killed during the first assault, for which Lysippos was ordered to make bronze statues. The group stood in Dion (Greece), the Macedonian religious center at the foothills of Mount Olympus, till it was moved to Rome in 148 BC by Metellus Macedonicus, having made Macedonia a Roman Province. All in all, about sixty cavalry and thirty infantry are said to have fallen at the Granicus. These figures are subject to debate as logically, they must have been much higher, but the dead were buried in style with their arms and equipment, and their direct family was exempted from taxes. No records of the wounded were kept; I guess that they must have run in the thousands. It is, however, recorded that Alexander visited them all, talking to them about their fight and their injuries and even examining their wounds.

Alexander then made an offering to Athena and, to let the Greeks participate in the honors of his victory, he sent 300 full suits of Persian armor to Athens. The inscription accompanying his gift read as follows: Alexander, son of Philip, and the Greeks (except the Lacedaemonians) dedicate these spoils, taken from the Persians who dwell in Asia. The other spoils, including purple garments, were sent as a present to his mother, except for a few items he kept for himself.

This was Alexander's first victory over the Persians, but he must have realized that although he had won the battle, he had yet to defeat the King of Persia. Another confrontation with Darius was inevitable, but the gods only knew when or where. For now, he had to take advantage of his momentary supremacy and move on to deliver the Ionian cities from their Persian oppressors.