Battle of the Persian Gate
| Battle of the Persian Gate | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Part of the Wars of Alexander the Great | |||||||||
Highway 78 through the Persian Gate in modern-day Iran, 2012 | |||||||||
| |||||||||
| Belligerents | |||||||||
|
Macedonian Empire Hellenic League | Achaemenid Empire | ||||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||||
|
Alexander the Great Craterus Ptolemy Perdiccas | Ariobarzanes of Persis | ||||||||
| Strength | |||||||||
| 17,000 picked fighters |
| ||||||||
| Casualties and losses | |||||||||
| Unknown, but moderate to heavy | Entire army | ||||||||
900km
559miles
559miles
15
Babylon
14
Malavas
13
Hydaspes
12
Cophen
11
Cyropolis
10
Persian Gate
9
Uxians
8
Gaugamela
7
Alexandria
6
Gaza
5
Tyre
4
Issus
3
Miletus
2
Granicus
1
Pella
current battle
The Battle of the Persian Gate took place as part of the Wars of Alexander the Great. In the winter of 330 BC, Ariobarzanes of Persis led a last stand with his outnumbered Persian army at the Persian Gate, near Persepolis, and held back the Macedonian army for approximately a month. However, through captured prisoners of war or a local shepherd, Alexander found a path around to flank the Persian troops from the rear, allowing him to capture half of Persia proper in another decisive victory against the Achaemenid Empire.