Alexander’s march into Asia

In his conquest of Asia, Alexander and his Macedonians covered a total distance of more than 35,000 km – almost a trip around the world. So much for the statistics, but trying to imagine what it meant to cover such a distance on foot over a period of 12 years is absolutely mind-blowing.  

A unique reference in this matter is Donald Engels’ book about the logistics of the Macedonian Army. He has carefully analyzed the march rates of the army, reaching an overall average varying between 20 and 24 km/day. Many factors have to be considered, such as the landscape (flat or mountainous), numerous river crossings, the climate (desert, plains, or snowy mountain tops), the political situation of the area (a warlike zone or a peaceful and subdued region), and the inevitable logistics inherent to all the previous elements.  

Most people believe that Alexander and his companions sat on their horses all day and moved much faster than the bulk of the army. Nothing is further away from the truth. A daily march could last 8-12 hours. Just try to ride a horse bareback for such a duration, feeling every single bone of the horse moving underneath you. Besides, the horse also needed his breaks. Hence any cavalryman would be happy to dismount and walk for a while. Also, an army could not march more than five to seven days in a row as both horses, and the pack animals could not withstand the pressure on their backs without a break.  

Now about the march proper, our modern vision of a file of troops stringing through the landscape looks good on a movie set but is not realistic at all. Engels gives a striking example of 65,000 personnel (I assume the army proper plus the bulky baggage train) and 6,000 cavalry moving over flat terrain, allowing them to line up ten abreast and the cavalry five abreast. He calculated that by the time the head of the column reached the next campsite, those in the rear would arrive five hours later. Such logistics implies careful planning ahead to allow all the men to enter camp before nightfall.  

It also appears that the army needed several short breaks throughout the day. A first brief halt would be made after two or three kilometers to adjust the harnesses and loads on the pack animals. Another five or ten minutes stops would occur every hour, and a longer rest period every two or three hours to feed the horses and the pack animals. If men can go on and on, animals require dire care and attention. They only eat during day time as they need the nights to sleep and regain their strength.

Engels, in his book, has calculated the time required for 65,000 to move and arrive at their destination. With ten soldiers abreast, the file of men would be 6,500 individuals long. However, the entire file would not begin marching immediately. Instead, the first man would start, and in the best of circumstances, the second man would move one second later, and so forth. Making the math, it would take more than two hours for the last man to get underway. The logic of this scenario is to prove that, whenever possible, the army would spread over as broad a front as possible.  

With only a small force of light units, Alexander could ride at high speed covering 60 or 75 km/day. This happened, for instance, during the last leg of his pursuit to catch Darius in the desert of northeast Iran. It was a neck-breaking race, most of it at night, with a select group of cavalry and the fittest of his infantry. He covered 200 km in three days! 

In today’s world, we find it hard to imagine what travelling meant in antiquity. There were no cars and no planes to cover long distances in just a few hours. Time had an entirely different dimension. Assuming that Alexander moved at a rate of 20 km/day, he spent 1750 days on the road to accomplish the total 35,000 km during the twelve years of his reign!  In other words he spent 4,8 years of his short life on the move! 

Surely something to think about!