Conquest! The Battles of Alexander the Great Quiz

Answer: Granicus River

Alexander's forces consisted of the Macedonian army and the League of Corinth, totaling over 90,000 troops. The Persian army consisted of Persian troops and a great many Greek mercenaries, numbering slightly under 30,000. Instead of waiting as his second-in-command suggested, Alexander attacked immediately.

This threw the Persians off guard, overwhelming them. Although a victory for Alexander and the Macedonians, he was very nearly killed!

Answer: Parmenio

Parmenio (or Parmenion) was first a general and adviser to Philip of Macedon, Alexander's father. After the ascension of Alexander (336 BCE), he served him faithfully until an assassination plot by Philotas, his son, was uncovered some time in 330 BCE. Alexander immediately assumed Parmenio had some knowledge of the plot, the conspirator being his son, so he had him murdered... I mean executed.

Answer: Darius III

Darius III, king of the Achaemenid (Persian) Empire, enraged by the defeat of his troops at the Granicus River, took control of the army himself. However, his presence didn't make much odifference. Alexander founded the city of Alexandria (Iskenderun) to commemorate his victory here.

Answer: Mounted shock troops

Alexander commanded the Companion cavalry personally, many of whom were themselves aristocrats and nobles. They were also Alexander's Royal Guard. A Companion wore heavy armor, carried a double-pointed spear ("xyston"), and used a curved sword ("kopis") for close combat. They often rode with Alexander from the right side of his formations.

Answer: It was situated on an island half a mile from shore.

Tyre was located on a small island a half-mile from the shore. Alexander, not having had much use for a navy before then, did not have a large enough fleet to besiege the city. Instead, meeting with his engineers, he decided to build a 200 ft. wide causeway, guarded by two large towers out to the city. Even this was not enough, however.

The city finally fell when Persian navy defectors and Cyprian reinforcements arrived in about 200 ships. Alexander finally had his navy!

Answer: Sold them into slavery

Utterly frustrated with Tyre for the whopping 400 men he lost and the length of time which they were able to resist, Alexander and his army killed nearly 8,000 citizens of Tyre upon gaining the city. The remaining 30,000 or so citizens were sold into slavery. The only ones to escape slaughter and slavery were the king and his family. What a nice guy!

Answer: A long spear

A "sarissa" was an extremely long spear, or pike, ranging anywhere from 13 to 17 feet in length. It was used to great effect originally by Philip II and later by Alexander. It is practically useless when used individually, so was therefore used by infantry in phalanx formation. Marching in a straight line is relatively easy, but trying to turn around quickly with spears of that length is difficult.

Therefore it was essential that these units did not get flanked in battle. Good thing Alexander was such an effective tactician.

Answer: Several members of the royal family

Darius' forces fled so far and so fast, that many of the accompanying caravans were left in their wake. The van carrying Darius' family, including his wife and daughters, was one of those left behind!

Answer: Buried him with full honors

That's right! By the time Alexander had caught up with the fleeing Persian king, Darius had already been assassinated by one of his generals (and next in line to the throne), Bessus (later Artaxerxes). Alexander, having wanted to capture Darius alive, sent his body back to Persepolis to be buried with full Persian honors. Alexander punished Bessus when he later caught up with him in Bactria.

The murderer's nose and ears were cut off and he was then executed. Ancient sources vary in the way in which he was killed, varying from decapitation to crucifixion to being torn apart. Fun times...

Answer: It was situated on a large plain

The PLAIN of Gaugamela was chosen by Darius because it allowed him to arrange his forces effectively and make use of his far superior numbers, with a high estimate at about 90,000. Alexander commanded only about half as many. For the record, I don't think the Persians were too keen on the idea of forcing ANY opposing army into a bottleneck...Remember Thermopylae?