The Battle of Gaugamela is also called
the Battle of Arbela. It was the final blow to the Persian Empire.
Gaugamela means "Camel's House" and was a small village or settlement on a broad plain, the Plain of Gaugamela.
The nearest major city (approx. 100 kilometers / 62 miles away) was Arbela, which is today's Irbil (Erbil) in Iraq.
The plain itself was deliberately chosen as the battlefield by Darius III because it provided ideal terrain for his larger
army and cavalry. However, that advantage was not enough for him to win the battle.
Their previous major battle was the Battle of Issus (333 BC), where Alexander
achieved a decisive victory and captured Darius' family, including his wife (Stateira I), mother (Sisygambis), and
daughters, though Darius himself managed to escape.
How Many Troops Engaged in the Battle of Gaugamela?
Alexander had about 40,000 infantry and 7,000 cavalry.
Darius had employed an army of about 250,000 men plus elephants**, which he hoped would neutralize Alexander's phalanxes.
**= See also the paragraph "About the Elephants at Gaugamela" at the end of this page.
Battle starts,
Darius' chariots charge, Alexander orders his army to shape some gaps
in their formation, horses instinctively prefer to zoom through gaps
rather than running into sharp objects,
Alexander's army leaves chariots behind, Macedonian phalanxes charge as usual, Alexander exploids a gap in the Persian line,
Darius flees, Alexander
wins the battle of Gaugamela.
Killed were approx 40,000 Persians, and 1,000 Macedonians.
But as usual, a word of caution about these numbers:
The army sizes (250,000 Persians vs 47,000 Macedonians) vary significantly across ancient sources, and the casualty figures
(40,000 Persian, 1,000 Macedonian) are disputed among historians. Furthermore, the exact composition of specialized units,
particularly the number of elephants and chariots, isn't definitively known.
The main battle lasted several hours, likely beginning in the morning and concluding by mid-afternoon,
but this is based on interpretation of battle accounts rather than explicit ancient records. However,
all ancient sources confirm it was a single-day battle, though some skirmishing and pursuit of retreating
Persian forces continued into the following day.
When Exactly Did the Battle of Gaugamela Commence?
The October 1, 331 BC date is relatively well-established based on ancient sources and astronomical data.
Ancient historians recorded a lunar eclipse shortly before the battle, which modern astronomers can date to
September 20, 331 BC. Combined with ancient accounts of troop movements after this eclipse, October 1 is
considered a reliable date for this one-day battle.
What Was the Significance of the Battle of Gaugamela?
The battle of Gaugamela marked the end of the
Persian empire.
Alexander went on to capture Babylon, Susa, and Persepolis, effectively ending the Achaemenid Empire.
Darius was later murdered by his own nobles, thus establishing Alexander as the ruler of the largest empire of the ancient world to that date.
About the Elephants at Gaugamela
The following is an excerpt from "Alexander, Elephants and Gaugamela" by Michael B. Charles,
who has written several articles on elephants in history:
The battle of Gaugamela, waged in 331 BC between Alexander the Great and Darius III, the last of the
Achaemenid kings of Persia, is generally regarded as the first time that Alexander's men encountered
an elephant-equipped enemy, mainly on the basis of Arrian's testimony (An. 3.8.6, 3.11.6).
This, however, is not entirely beyond question, especially in view of the unsatisfactory nature of
the extant source material. Indeed, the so-called vulgate tradition, as preserved by sources such as
Curtius Rufus, Diodorus Siculus and Plutarch, does not mention elephants at all, while Arrian, who
relied to some degree on eyewitness sources, including Alexander's general Ptolemy and the Greek
technician Aristobulus of Cassandreia, fails to tell us what role (if any) the beasts performed.
