but when the Greek mercenaries among whom he had placed
himself began to give way before the irresistible phalanx and the
impetuous charges of Alexander. Darius, not unwisely, accepted the
defeat of his best troops as the loss of the battle, and hastily retired
across Amanus by the pass which had brought him to Issus, whence
he hurried on through Sochi to the Euphrates, anxious to place that
obstacle between himself and his victorious enemy. His multitudinous
host, entangled in the defiles of the mountains, suffered by its own
weight and size, the stronger fugitives treading down the weaker, while
at the same time it was ruthlessly slaughtered by the pursuing enemy,
so long as the waning light allowed. As many as 100,000--90,000 foot and
10,000 horse--are said to have fallen. The ravines were in places choked
with the dead bodies, and Ptolemy the son of Lagus related that in one
instance he and Alexander crossed a gully on a bridge of this kind.
Among the slain were Sabaces, satrap of Egypt, Bubaces, a noble of high
rank, and Arsames, Rheomithres, and Atizyes, three of the commanders
at the Granicus. Forty thousand prisoners were made. The whole of the
Persian camp and camp-equipage fell into the enemy's hands, who found in
the royal pavilion the mother, wife, and sister of the king, an
infant son, two daughters, and a number of female attendants, wives of
noblemen. The treasure captured amounted to 3000 silver talents. Among
the trophies of victory were the chariot, bow, shield, and robe of the
king, which he had abandoned in his hurried flight.

The loss on the side of the Macedonians was trivial. The highest
estimate places it at 450 killed, the lowest at 182. Besides these,
504 were wounded. Thus Alexander had less than 1000 men placed hors de
combat. He himself received a slight wound in the thigh from a sword,
which, used a little more resolutely, might have changed the fortunes of
the world.

The defeat of the Persians at Issus seems to have been due simply to the
fact that, practically, the two adversaries engaged with almost equal
numbers, and that the troops of Alexander were of vastly superior
quality to those of Darhis. The Asiatic infantry--notwithstanding their
proud title of "braves"--proved to be worthless; the Greek mercenaries
were personally courageous, but their inferior arms and training
rendered them incapable of coping with the Macedonian phalanx. The
cavalry was the only arm in which the Persian