The Unfortunate Loser Who Lost an Empire
Alexander the Great’s deployment of his troops at Gaugamela resulted in three parallel lines. Moving towards the right were the Persian cavalry, Alexander’s cavalry, whom the Persians could see, and his light infantry, whom the Persians could not see. The Persian cavalry eventually outflanked what they assumed was Alexander’s attempt to outflank them, then charged. It was what Alexander had hoped they would do. As the Persian cavalry shadowed the Macedonian monarch while he rode to the right of the field, a gap opened in the Persian line. Alexander had wanted to draw the Persian cavalry out of position in order to create that gap.
With the Persian cavalry juked out of position, Alexander left the bulk of his cavalry, and the accompanying light infantry, to engage the Persian horsemen and keep them occupied. He disengaged his elite Companion Cavalry from the fray and rode off at their head, in a wedge formation, for the gap where the Persian cavalry had been at the start of the battle. A gap where Darius was stationed. It was a surgical strike that decided the battle. Seeing Alexander leading a furious cavalry charge straight at him, Darius twice a loser against Alexander, panicked and fled. Darius’ flight effectively ceded the Persian Empire to Alexander.