The Conflict Archaeologist

We watch the silver moonlight slide across the bay towards the rocky jetty where we sit. A strong northerly wind keeps the dark clouds crowding the horizon from obscuring the full moon above, instead shepherding them over the distant Kurd Mountains. Before us stretches the ancient battlefield of Issus. Here, where the Pinarus river meets the Mediterranean Sea, is where the Macedonian king Alexander the Great first defeated the Persian king of kings, Darius III.

My eyes follow the river carving its way through the foreboding landscape. Close to the shore, the cavalry on the Macedonian left had been forced to give ground early in the fight, pushed back by the superior numbers of the Persians. In the Macedonion center, the armored phalanx had also struggled to make headway against a steep and staunchly defended river bank. At the edges of my vision, I can almost see armored lines colliding and hooves flailing in the shallows.

Alexander had already shown his military prowess on campaigns in Thrace, Illyria, Greece, and the Ionian Coast. But Issus would mark the first battle between the young Macedonian king and a Persian army led directly by his nemesis, Darius. At Issus, he again proved his aptitude for command. Alexander had led his companion cavalry against the Persian battle line at the pivotal moment, placing Darius within reach of his sword. Yet in his crowning moment, he received word that his left and center were faltering and he was forced to ride to their aid. The Persian army was crushed, but Darius escaped to fight another day.

I lean back against the rocks and let my gaze drift upward into the darkening sky, sharing a quiet word with my companion. Across a battlefield where once war cries echoed from the throats of thousands, now only our hushed voices drift through the silent landscape, lifted by the wind towards the distant high ground. It was in the plains of Gaugamela beyond that Alexander would eventually have another opportunity to face Darius on the field of battle. He would not let his rival escape unscathed again.