Battles That Changed History, Second Period, Friday 1/22
"Alexandros aniketos," Steve said to open today's class. "Alexander the undefeatable. It's okay if you haven't heard of him, even if you’re from around here. He's known by a slightly different epithet now: Alexander the Great. I refer, of course, to Alexander III of Macedon, son of Philip II and his principal wife, Olympias, though he would later claim to be the son of Zeus, king of the gods, and I'm not ruling it out. Born prince of Greece's northern backwater, in and out of favor, educated by one of the greatest philosophers in history, king at twenty, and died short of his thirty-third birthday of grief over the death of his lover and lifelong best friend, fever, poison, or drink, depending on who you ask, having conquered the largest empire the world had ever seen. His tactics are still studied and he is still the measure against which leaders of men hold themselves. Pay attention, people.
"We start at Charonea. 338 BC. Alexander is eighteen. Philip has brought Macedon a long way. They have superior training and technology: their infantry fights with sarissas, which are six feet longer than a spear, making them even more deadly and effective. And now Philip is going to show Greece just what Macedon is made of." Steve rolled down the projector screen and turned on the projector to show a battle diagram. "Philip's forces are here. The Companion cavalry is to the rear. And here, on the opposite side of the battle, is the Sacred Band of Thebes, facing the unproven Alexander. The Sacred Band was the special forces unit of the ancient world, composed of one hundred and fifty pairs of lovers, the concept being that each man would fight more fiercely in order to not dishonor himself before his partner. It worked until they went up against Alexander. While Philip's forces splinter the undisciplined Athenians, Alexander and his men are defeating the Sacred Band, who just will not quit. Forty-six of the three hundred survive, all wounded.
"Charonea is important for two reasons. First, Alexander proved himself in battle against the best of the best, cementing himself as the best choice of heir in the eyes of many. Second, Philip united Greece--except the Spartans--under Macedonian rule, which was necessary for what he had planned next. Not that he got to carry out those plans; he was assassinated two years later at his daughter's wedding, making Alexander king of Macedon and hegemon of the Hellenic League, and leaving it to him to fulfill the next step in the plan: invading Persia." Steve grinned at the classroom. "Remember, I told you that the next time they met would be going the other way.
"We start with a string of victories, because--well, they're all victories. Alexandros aniketos, remember? Never once defeated in battle. The Issus, the Granicus, Tyre. All still studied by tacticians, even if Tyre is mostly notable for sheer stubbornness. And then we get to Gaugamela." He switched to a new diagram. "Alexander deliberately presented weakened flanks to the Persians, here and here," he said, pointing them out. Then he switched diagrams again. "As the Persians moved forward to pursue these weak points, they broke their own line, and Alexander and his men swept through like it was a gate held open for them. The Persian king, Darius, panicked, broke, and fled, all was chaos, and from that point on the Persian campaign was pretty much mop-up work. Alexander wasn't satisfied, though. He wanted more. So he kept going." Steve switched slides. "This is Macedon." Then again. "And this was the Macedonian empire at the time of Alexander's death. It didn't last. He had no clear heir, though one of his wives was pregnant at the time of his death, and it did turn out to be a boy. The various claimants to the throne splintered the empire. The Ptolemys in Egypt did the best out of the successors. But in thirteen years Alexander built a legacy we still feel the effects of. As he moved east, further and further from Greece, he built cities, Alexandrias, some of which still stand--Alexandria in Egypt and Kandahar in Afghanistan being the most well-known--and left behind people to colonize them, spreading Greek culture. And he sent back things and ideas from the lands he conquered. Alexander took the west east and the east west, and nothing would have been the same without him. Before Alexander, Greece was just--Greece. After Alexander, Greek culture was spread across most of the known world.
"So," Steve said, and clapped his hands. "Let’s play devil's advocate. Pair up. Figure out what Darius could have done differently at Gaugamela. Go. And again I have to say it--I don't want to hear one word about that terrible movie."
"We start at Charonea. 338 BC. Alexander is eighteen. Philip has brought Macedon a long way. They have superior training and technology: their infantry fights with sarissas, which are six feet longer than a spear, making them even more deadly and effective. And now Philip is going to show Greece just what Macedon is made of." Steve rolled down the projector screen and turned on the projector to show a battle diagram. "Philip's forces are here. The Companion cavalry is to the rear. And here, on the opposite side of the battle, is the Sacred Band of Thebes, facing the unproven Alexander. The Sacred Band was the special forces unit of the ancient world, composed of one hundred and fifty pairs of lovers, the concept being that each man would fight more fiercely in order to not dishonor himself before his partner. It worked until they went up against Alexander. While Philip's forces splinter the undisciplined Athenians, Alexander and his men are defeating the Sacred Band, who just will not quit. Forty-six of the three hundred survive, all wounded.
"Charonea is important for two reasons. First, Alexander proved himself in battle against the best of the best, cementing himself as the best choice of heir in the eyes of many. Second, Philip united Greece--except the Spartans--under Macedonian rule, which was necessary for what he had planned next. Not that he got to carry out those plans; he was assassinated two years later at his daughter's wedding, making Alexander king of Macedon and hegemon of the Hellenic League, and leaving it to him to fulfill the next step in the plan: invading Persia." Steve grinned at the classroom. "Remember, I told you that the next time they met would be going the other way.
"We start with a string of victories, because--well, they're all victories. Alexandros aniketos, remember? Never once defeated in battle. The Issus, the Granicus, Tyre. All still studied by tacticians, even if Tyre is mostly notable for sheer stubbornness. And then we get to Gaugamela." He switched to a new diagram. "Alexander deliberately presented weakened flanks to the Persians, here and here," he said, pointing them out. Then he switched diagrams again. "As the Persians moved forward to pursue these weak points, they broke their own line, and Alexander and his men swept through like it was a gate held open for them. The Persian king, Darius, panicked, broke, and fled, all was chaos, and from that point on the Persian campaign was pretty much mop-up work. Alexander wasn't satisfied, though. He wanted more. So he kept going." Steve switched slides. "This is Macedon." Then again. "And this was the Macedonian empire at the time of Alexander's death. It didn't last. He had no clear heir, though one of his wives was pregnant at the time of his death, and it did turn out to be a boy. The various claimants to the throne splintered the empire. The Ptolemys in Egypt did the best out of the successors. But in thirteen years Alexander built a legacy we still feel the effects of. As he moved east, further and further from Greece, he built cities, Alexandrias, some of which still stand--Alexandria in Egypt and Kandahar in Afghanistan being the most well-known--and left behind people to colonize them, spreading Greek culture. And he sent back things and ideas from the lands he conquered. Alexander took the west east and the east west, and nothing would have been the same without him. Before Alexander, Greece was just--Greece. After Alexander, Greek culture was spread across most of the known world.
"So," Steve said, and clapped his hands. "Let’s play devil's advocate. Pair up. Figure out what Darius could have done differently at Gaugamela. Go. And again I have to say it--I don't want to hear one word about that terrible movie."