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I was reading about the battle at Issus, and I was curious.
What if Alexander had killed Darius?
In the book, it stated Darius had a valid reason to flee, to preserve his empire.
If he was killed, would the empire have split and various nobles taken their men, and become warlords, petty rulers to slowly be absorbed by Alexander, or would the nobles bend to Alexander's sword?
I think that Bessus, his commander of the Bactrian heavy cavalry at Guagamela would have made a bid for the eastern provinces. He was, as history proved, his greatest rival and he commanded the respect of the army. I'm not sure what might have happened in the west. He might have ceded the western provinces in order to delay any battle with Alexander until he could sort things out.Quote:
Originally Posted by Marshal Murat
As far as Darius's great Achmenanid flight goes, I think that if he had shown more fortitude at Issus, he could have won the day. His cavalry had Alexander's left flank under severe pressure, and the dread phalanx was in disarray after fighting across the river, indeed was almost in danger of collapse at one point. Darius had sufficient reserves to throw in the path of Alexander's charge. It all called for the courage to stand and fight, which Darius lacked IMO. I believe his troops would have rallied if they saw "Lord of Lords" standing his ground against the userper.
What I've read of it, though, suggested Alexander and his hetairoi were doing quite a number on Darius's bodyguards and getting way too close to him for comfort. It's not like he was decked out in actual combat gear either, AFAIK - more like dressed from controlling the army the smart way, ie. from the back where you can actually try to keep track on what's going on. And I'm pretty sure that's not an outfit you want to start getting personal with elite heavy cavalry in.
I've also read he nailed a few Macs with javelins during the fight, though.