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Siege Of The Sogdian Rock
The Sogdian Rock or Rock of Ariamazes, a fortress located north of Bactria in Sogdiana (near Samarkand), ruled by Arimazes, was captured by the forces of Alexander the Great in the early spring of 327 BC as part of his conquest of the Achaemenid Empire. Background Oxyartes of Bactria had sent his wife and daughters, one of whom was Roxane, to take refuge in the fortress, as it was thought to be impregnable, and was provisioned for a long siege. When Alexander asked the defenders to surrender, they refused, telling him that he would need "men with wings" to capture it. Siege Alexander asked for volunteers, whom he would reward if they could climb the cliffs under the fortress. There were some 300 men who from previous sieges had gained experience in rock-climbing. Using tent pegs and strong flaxen lines, they climbed the cliff face at night, losing about 30 of their number during the ascent. In accordance with Alexander's orders, they signalled their success to the troops b ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Wars Of Alexander The Great
War is an armed conflict between the armed forces of states, or between governmental forces and armed groups that are organized under a certain command structure and have the capacity to sustain military operations, or between such organized groups. It is generally characterized by widespread violence, destruction, and mortality, using regular or irregular military forces. ''Warfare'' refers to the common activities and characteristics of types of war, or of wars in general. Total war is warfare that is not restricted to purely legitimate military targets, and can result in massive civilian or other non-combatant suffering and casualties. Etymology The English word ''war'' derives from the 11th-century Old English words and , from Old French ( as in modern French), in turn from the Frankish , ultimately deriving from the Proto-Germanic language">Proto-Germanic . The word is related to the Old Saxon , Old High German , and the modern German , meaning . Histor ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Siege Of Gaza (332 BCE)
The siege of Gaza, as part of the Wars of Alexander the Great, took place in October of 332 BC. Resulting in a victory for Macedon, it ended the 31st Dynasty of Egypt, which functioned as a satrapy under the Achaemenid Persian Empire. Alexander succeeded in breaching the walls of Gaza by utilizing the engines that he had employed earlier that year, during the siege of Tyre brought by Hephaestion. Following three unsuccessful assaults, the Macedonian army was able to storm and take the Gazan stronghold. Batis, the military commander of Gaza's fortress, expected to hold the city as well as the rest of Egypt in complete subjection until the raising of another army by Persian king Darius III; confronting Alexander at Gaza was crucial to denying the Macedonians a route into the Egyptian mainland. The fortress was located on an eminence, on the edge of a desert from which the surrounding area could be easily controlled, including the main road from Assyria to Egypt. The city, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Kabul River
The Kabul River (; ), the classical Cophen , is a river that emerges in the Sanglakh Range of the Hindu Kush mountains in the northeastern part of Maidan Wardak Province, Afghanistan. It is separated from the watershed of the Helmand River by the Unai Pass. The Kabul River empties into the Indus River near Attock, Pakistan. It is the main river in eastern Afghanistan and the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan. Course The Kabul River, which measures long, rises in the Sanglākh Range at Sar Čašma, located at an elevation of 14,000 feet above sea level in the Kōh-e Bābā mountains northwest of Kabul. It passes through the cities of Kabul and Jalalabad in Afghanistan. Its large drainage basin covers the eastern provinces of Nangarhār, Kunar, Laghmān, Lōgar, Kabul, Kāpisā, Parwān, Panjshēr, and Bāmyān before it flows into Khyber Pakhtunkhwa in Pakistan some north of the Durand Line border crossing at Torkham. In Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, the river passes ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cophen Campaign
The Cophen campaign was conducted by Alexander the Great in the Kabul (Sanskrit: "Kubha") Valley between May 327 BCDodge 1890, p. 509 and March 326 BC.Dodge 1890, p. 540 It was conducted against the '' Aspasioi'', the ''Guraeans'', and the ''Assakenoi'' tribes in the Kunar valley of Afghanistan, and Panjkora ( Dir) and Swat valleys in what is now Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan. The goal of the campaign was to secure the Macedonian line of communications so that the Macedonian army could proceed into India proper. Background It had been Alexander's purpose to conquer the whole of the Persian Empire which extended as far as Gandara.Dodge 1890, p. 510 A previous king of the Persian Achaemenid Empire, Darius the Great, had sent one of his generals, Skylax, to sail down the Indus. Following this expedition, Darius was able to conquer the surrounding Indian territory and receive tribute of 350 Euboic talents per annum.Smith 1914, p. 37 Relatively little is known about t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sogdia
Sogdia () or Sogdiana was an ancient Iranian peoples, Iranian civilization between the Amu Darya and the Syr Darya, and in present-day Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Tajikistan, Kazakhstan, and Kyrgyzstan. Sogdiana was also a province of the Achaemenid Empire, and listed on the Behistun Inscription of Darius the Great. Sogdiana was first conquered by Cyrus the Great, the founder of the Achaemenid Empire, and then was annexed by the Macedonian ruler Alexander the Great in 328 BC. It would continue to change hands under the Seleucid Empire, the Greco-Bactrian Kingdom, the Kushan Empire, the Sasanian Empire, the Hephthalite Empire, the Western Turkic Khaganate, and the Muslim conquest of Transoxiana. The Sogdian city-states, although never politically united, were centered on the city of Samarkand. Sogdian language, Sogdian, an Eastern Iranian language, is no longer spoken. However, a descendant of one of its dialects, Yaghnobi language, Yaghnobi, is still spoken by the Yaghnobis of Taji ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Battle Of Jaxartes
The Battle of Jaxartes was fought in 329 BC by Alexander the Great and his Hellenic (Greek) army against the Saka at the River Jaxartes, now known as the Syr Darya River. The site of the battle straddles the modern borders of Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, and Kazakhstan, just south-west of the ancient city of Tashkent (the modern capital of Uzbekistan) and north-east of Khujand (a city in Tajikistan). Background Crossing the Hellespont in 334 BC, Alexander was determined to become the new monarch of the Achaemenid Empire. First at the Battle of the Granicus, and then at the Battle of Issus, and then finally at the Battle of Gaugamela, he struck a series of blows from which the Achaemenid royal house could not recover. During the latter two battles, Alexander had been determined to capture Darius. However, Darius had been able to escape in each of these battles. Had Alexander been able to capture Darius, it would have been extremely useful in securing the submission of the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Siege Of Cyropolis
Cyropolis was the largest of seven towns in the region that Alexander the Great targeted for conquest in 329 BC. His goal was the conquest of Sogdiana. Alexander first sent Craterus to Cyropolis, the largest of the Sogdian towns holding out against Alexander's forces. Craterus' instructions were to ''"take up a position close to the town, surround it with a ditch and stockade, and then assemble such siege engines as might suit his purpose...."''. The idea was to keep the inhabitants focused on their own defences and to prevent them from sending assistance out to the other towns. Starting from Gazza, Alexander went on to conquer the other surrounding towns. Five of the seven towns were taken in two days. Many of the inhabitants were killed. Alexander then arrived at Cyropolis, which was the best fortified of the towns and had the largest population. It also had reputedly the best fighters of the region. Alexander battered Cyropolis' defences with the siege engines. While th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Persian Gates
Persian Gate or the Susian Gate was an ancient name of the pass now known as Tang-e Meyran, connecting Yasuj with Sedeh Eghlid to the east, crossing the border of the modern Kohgiluyeh va Boyer Ahmad and Fars provinces of Iran, passing south of the Kuh-e-Dinar massif, part of the Zagros Mountains. The pass controls the link between the shore and the central part of Persia. In the early weeks of 330 BC, it was the site of the fierce Battle of the Persian Gate, in which the Macedonian king Alexander the Great faced stiff resistance by the last Achaemenid The Achaemenid Empire or Achaemenian Empire, also known as the Persian Empire or First Persian Empire (; , , ), was an Iranian empire founded by Cyrus the Great of the Achaemenid dynasty in 550 BC. Based in modern-day Iran, it was the large ... troops commanded by Ariobarzan. References Further reading *{{cite journal, first=Henry, last=Speck, title=Alexander at the Persian Gates. A Study in Historiography and Top ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Battle Of The Persian Gate
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 Gates, Persian Gate, near Persepolis, and held back the Ancient Macedonian army, Macedonian army for approximately a month. However, through captured prisoners of war or a local shepherd, Alexander the Great, 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. Background The Achaemenid Empire suffered a series of defeats against the Macedonian forces at Battle of the Granicus, Granicus (334 BC), Battle of Issus, Issus (333 BC) and Battle of Gaugamela, Gaugamela (331 BC), and by the end of 331 BC Alexander had advanced to Babylon and Susa. A Royal Road connected Susa (the first Persian capital city in Elam) with the more eastern capitals of Persepolis and Pasar ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Susa
Susa ( ) was an ancient city in the lower Zagros Mountains about east of the Tigris, between the Karkheh River, Karkheh and Dez River, Dez Rivers in Iran. One of the most important cities of the Ancient Near East, Susa served as the capital of Elam and the winter capital of the Achaemenid Empire, and remained a strategic centre during the Parthian Empire, Parthian and Sasanian Empire, Sasanian periods. The site currently consists of three archaeological mounds, covering an area of around . The city of Shush, Iran, Shush is located on the site of ancient Susa. Name The name Susa is of Elamiate origin and has appeared in many languages: *Middle *Middle and Neo- *Neo-Elamite language, Elamite and Achaemenid Empire, Achaemenid *Achaemenid Empire, Achaemenid * * * * or *New * Literary references Susa was one of the most important cities of the Ancient Near East. In Historiography, historic literature, Susa appears in the very earliest Sumerian records: for exa ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Battle Of The Uxian Defile
The Battle of Uxian Defile was fought by Alexander the Great against the Uxian tribe of the Persian Empire. The battle raged on the mountain range between the key Persian cities of Susa and Persepolis. Persepolis was the ancient capital of the Persian Empire and held a symbolic value among the native Persian population. They believed that if this city were to fall into enemy hands, then, in effect, the whole Persian Empire would fall into the hands of the enemy. Background Alexander had recently defeated Darius III Codomannus at the Battle of Gaugamela on the eastern side of the Tigris river, the result of which had been a disaster for Darius and the Persian Empire. Darius had prematurely fled the battle, and his army had dispersed. Thus Alexander had been unable to achieve his goal of capturing Darius during the course of the battle. Instead, Alexander chased Darius and, as a result, captured the important cities of the Persian Empire along the way. Immediately after the bat ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Erbil
Erbil (, ; , ), also called Hawler (, ), is the capital and most populated city in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq. The city is the capital of the Erbil Governorate. Human settlement at Erbil may be dated back to the 5th millennium BC. At the heart of the city is the ancient Citadel of Erbil and Mudhafaria Minaret. The earliest historical reference to the region dates to the Third Dynasty of Ur of Sumer, when King Shulgi mentioned the city of Urbilum. The city was later conquered by the Assyrian people, Assyrians. In the 3rd millennium BC, Erbil was an independent power in its area. It was conquered for a time by the Gutians. Beginning in the late 2nd millennium BC, it came under Assyrian control. Subsequent to this, it was part of the geopolitical province of Assyria under several empires in turn, including the Median Empire, the Achaemenid Empire (Achaemenid Assyria), Macedonian Empire, Seleucid Empire, Kingdom of Armenia (antiquity), Armenian Empire, Parthian Empire, Assyria ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
