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The Battle of the Persian Gate was a military
conflict between a Persian force, commanded by the satrap of Persis,
Ariobarzanes, and the invading Hellenic League, commanded by Alexander the
Great. In the winter of 330, Ariobarzanes led a last stand of the outnumbered
Persian forces at the Persian Gates near Persepolis, holding back the
Macedonian army for a month. Alexander eventually found a path to the rear of
the Persians from the captured prisoners of war or a local shepherd, defeating
the Persians and capturing Persepolis.
Opponents: Kingdom of Macedon and Hellenic League versus the Persian Empire
Commanders and leaders:
Macedon - Alexander III Craterus Ptolemy
Persia - Ariobarzanes †
Strength:
Macedon - 17,000 picked fighters
Persians - More than 14,000 700
Casualties and losses:
Macedon - Moderate - Heavy
Persia - Entire force
Background:
The Persian Empire suffered a series of defeats against the Macedonian forces
at Granicus (334), Issus (333) and
Gaugamela (331), and by the end of 331 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 Pasargadae in Persis, and was
the natural venue for Alexander's continued campaign. Meanwhile, King Darius
III was building a new army at Ecbatana. Ariobarzanes was charged with
preventing the Macedonian advance into Persis, and to this effect he relied
heavily on the terrain Alexander needed to pass through. There were only a few
possible routes through the Zagros Mountains, all of which were made more
hazardous by winter's onset. After the conquest of Susa, Alexander split the
Macedonian army into two parts. Alexander's general, Parmenion, took one half
along the Royal Road, and Alexander himself took the route towards Persis.
Passing into Persis required traversing the Persian Gates, a narrow mountain
pass that lent itself easily to ambush. During his advance, Alexander subdued
the Uxians, a local hill-tribe which had demanded the same tribute from him
they used to receive from the Persian kings for safe passage.
As he passed into the Persian Gates he met with no resistance. Believing that
he would not encounter any more enemy forces during his march, Alexander
neglected to send scouts ahead of his vanguard, and thus walked into
Ariobarzanes' ambush. The valley preceding the Persian Gate, called the Tang'e
Meyran, is initially very wide, allowing the Macedonian army to enter the
mountains at full march. Ariobarzanes occupied a position near the modern-day
village of Cheshmeh Chenar. The road curves to the southeast (to face the
rising sun) and narrows considerably at that point, making the terrain
particularly treacherous. (And thus well suited for Ariobarzanes's purposes.)
According to historian Arrian, Ariobarzanes had a force of 40,000 infantry and
700 cavalry who faced a Macedonian force of over 10,000. However, some modern
historians have claimed these figures for the Achaemenid force to be grossly
exaggerated and implausible. Encyclopædia Iranica suggests a number of
defenders of just 700 (or no more than 2,000) men based on the maximum number
of troops likely at Ariobarzanes' disposal, but it notes that most modern
historians follow Arrian, Curtius, and Diodorus unreservedly.
Battle:
Map of the Persian Gate
The Persian Gate was only a couple of meters wide at the point of ambush. Once
the Macedonian army had advanced sufficiently into the narrow pass, the
Persians rained down boulders on them from the northern slopes. From the
southern slope, Persian archers launched their projectiles. Alexander's army
initially suffered heavy casualties, losing entire platoons at a time. The
Macedonians attempted to withdraw, but the terrain and their still-advancing
rear guard made an orderly retreat impossible. Alexander was forced to leave
his dead behind to save the rest of his army—a great mark of disgrace to
the Macedonians and to other Greeks who valued highly the recovery and proper
burial of their fallen.
Ariobarzanes had some reason to believe that success here could change the
course of the war. Preventing Alexander's passage through the Persian Gates
would force the Macedonian army to use other routes to invade Persia proper,
all of which would allow Darius more time to field another army, and possibly
stop the Macedonian invasion altogether. Ariobarzanes held the pass for a
month, but Alexander succeeded in encircling the Persians in a pincer attack
with Philotas and broke through the Persian defenses. Alexander and his elite
contingent then attacked the force of Ariobarzanes from above in a surprise
attack until the Persians could no longer block the pass.
Accounts of how he did so vary widely. Curtius and Arrian both report that
prisoners of war led Alexander through the mountains to the rear of the Persian
position, while a token force remained in the Macedonian camp under the command
of Craterus. "[The Persians]...Fought a memorable fight... Unarmed as they
were, they seized the armed men in their embrace, and dragging them down to the
ground... Stabbed most of them with their own weapons."
Diodorus and Plutarch generally concur with this assessment, although their
numbers vary widely. Modern historians W. Heckel and Stein also lend credence
to this argument. Although precise figures are unavailable, some historians say
that this engagement cost Alexander his greatest losses during his campaign to
conquer Persia. Youtab, the sister of Ariobarzanes, fought alongside her
brother in the battle. According to some accounts, Ariobarzanes, and his
surviving companions were trapped, but rather than surrender, they charged
straight into the Macedonian lines. One account states that Ariobarzanes was
killed in the last charge while another version by Arrian reports that
Ariobarzanes escaped to the north where he finally surrendered to Alexander
with his companions.
Modern Historian J. Prevas maintains that Ariobarzanes and his forces retreated
to Persepolis, where they found the city gates closed by Tiridates, a Persian
noble and guardian of the royal treasury under Darius III, who had been in
secret contact with Alexander the Great. Tiridates considered resisting
Alexander's forces to be futile, and so allowed Alexander to massacre
Ariobarzanes and his troops right outside the city walls of Persepolis rather
than fight against Alexander.
This is in agreement with Curtius' account which states that the Persian force,
after both inflicting and suffering heavy casualties in the ensuing battle,
broke through the Macedonian forces and retreated to Persepolis, but were
denied entrance into the capital at which point they returned to fight
Alexander's army to the death. A few historians regard the Battle of the
Persian Gate as the most serious challenge to Alexander's conquest of Persia.
Michael Wood has called the battle decisive and A. B. Bosworth refers to it as
a "complete and decisive victory for Alexander".
Aftermath:
Similarities between the battle fought at Thermopylae and the Persian Gates
have been recognized by ancient and modern authors. The Persian Gates played
the role "of a Persian Thermopylae and like Thermopylae it fell."
The Battle of the Persian Gates served as a kind of reversal of the Battle of
Thermopylae, fought in Greece in 480 in an attempt to hold off the invading
Persian forces. Here, on Alexander's campaign to exact revenge for the Persian
invasion of Greece, he faced the same situation from the Persians. There are
also accounts that an Iranian shepherd led Alexander's forces around the
Persian defenses, just as a local Greek showed the Persian forces a secret path
around the pass at Thermopylae. The defeat of Ariobarzanes' forces at the
Persian Gate removed the last military obstacle between Alexander and
Persepolis. Upon his arrival at the city of Persepolis, Alexander appointed a
general named Phrasaortes as successor of Ariobarzanes.
Alexander seized the treasury of Persepolis, which at the time held the largest
concentration of wealth in the world, and guaranteed himself financial
independence from the Greek states. Four months later, Alexander allowed the
troops to loot Persepolis, kill all its men and enslave all its women, perhaps
as a way to fulfill the expectations of his army and the Greek citizens, or
perhaps as a final act of vengeance towards the Persians. This destruction of
the city can be viewed as unusual as its inhabitants surrendered without a
fight and Alexander had earlier left Persian cities he conquered, such as Susa,
relatively untouched. In May 330, Alexander ordered the terrace of Persepolis,
including its palaces and royal audience halls, to be burned before he left to
find Darius III.
Sources disagree as to why he ordered the destruction: it could have been a
deliberate act of revenge for the burning of the Acropolis of Athens during the
second Persian invasion of Greece, an impulsive, drunken act, or it could have
been out of Alexander's supposed anger over not being recognized as the
legitimate successor to Darius III.
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