Alexander the Great's Greatest Victory

The Ancients

History Hit

History

4.7 • 3.5K Ratings

🗓️ 10 October 2021

⏱️ 81 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

In October 331 BC, one of the most important battles of world history occurred on the plain of Gaugamela. Alexander III of Macedon, better known as Alexander the Great, had been campaigning east of the Aegean Sea against the Persian Empire for 3 ½ years. Already he had won a series of notable victories and conquered many lands west of the Euphrates River. But it would be on 1 October 331 BC that a 25 year old Alexander came up against his biggest challenge to date. A large army, gathered by the Persian Great King Darius III aimed at stopping the young conqueror in his tracks once and for all. The clash that followed would decide the fate of the Persian Empire and mark a major moment in world history.

In this, slightly different, Ancients episode Tristan gives a detailed run down of the Battle of Gaugamela: the background to this titanic clash and the battle itself.

Order Tristan’s book today: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Perdiccas-Years-323-Alexanders-Successors/dp/1526775115/ref=zg_bsnr_271237_68/260-7675295-7826601?pd_rd_i=1526775115&psc=1

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Transcript

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0:00.0	It's the Entrance on History Hit.
0:05.6	I'm Tristan Hughes, your host.
0:08.0	And in today's podcast, well, it's me.
0:10.8	In this episode, I'm going to be giving you a detailed rundown of the Battle of Galgamela.
0:17.3	The battle fought between the army of Alexander the Great and that of King Darius III, the great
0:22.9	King of the Persian Empire, around this time of year in October 331 BC.
0:29.2	Now this battle was a tight, hammock clash.
0:32.4	It's been described by some as Alexander the Great's greatest victory.
0:37.0	It was incredibly significant in Alexander's ultimate conquest of the Persian Empire.
0:43.5	So this is new turf for the ancients in the style of this episode as it's an explainer.
0:49.2	We haven't done an explainer episode like this before but I was really excited and
0:52.6	really wanted to give it a go.
0:54.1	I do very much hope you enjoy.
0:56.2	We do go into quite a bit of detail.
0:59.2	Starting with the background to the clash and ending with a look at the battle itself
1:04.5	and how that Titanic clash unfolded.
1:08.8	So without further ado, here's me to talk all about the Battle of Galgamela.
1:16.5	So the year is 331 BC.
1:21.5	Alexander the Great has been campaigning east of the Aegean Sea against the Persian Empire
1:27.6	for the past three years.
1:30.5	He's crossed over into Asia Minor in the spring of 334 BC with an army of roughly 40 to
1:38.1	45,000 soldiers.
	...

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