Book Series Subartu, vol. 53

Alexander the Great and the Campaign of Gaugamela

New Research on Topography and Chronology. IAMNI 1 (Italian Archaeological Mission to Northern Iraq)

Michał Marciak

  • Pages: approx. 180 p.
  • Size:216 x 280 mm
  • Illustrations:12 b/w, 30 col., 3 tables b/w., 21 maps color
  • Language(s):English
  • Publication Year:2025


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  • ISBN: 978-2-503-61626-1
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A completely new reconstruction of Alexander the Great’s Campaign of Gaugamela in 331 BCE, with a special focus on the much-understudied aspects of its topography and chronology.

BIO

Michał Marciak, PhD from Leiden University in 2012, holds the title of Associate Professor at the Jagiellonian University in Kraków (Poland). He has published extensively on northern Mesopotamia, including the two single-author monographs ‘Izates, Helena, and Monobazos of Adiabene’ (Harrassowitz, 2014) and ‘Sophene, Gordyene, and Adiabene: Three Regna Minora of Northern Mesopotamia Between East and West’ (Brill, 2017). He was also the Principal Investigator of the Gaugamela Project in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq (in cooperation with the Land of Nineveh Archaeological Project of the University of Udine in Italy) in 2016-2022.

Summary

The Battle of Gaugamela, in which Alexander the Great’s army faced the Persian army of King Darius III in 331 BCE, remains a famous date in history, the last battle that led to Alexander’s conquest of the Achaemenid Empire. However, the topography and chronology of the campaign have, up to now, remained little studied. Taking these two elements as its starting point, this volume draws both on the latest archaeological research in the region and on recent advances in science (in particular GIS) to offer a completely new reconstruction of the Gaugamela campaign, arguing for a much shorter campaign than has hitherto been understood. By turning the spotlight for the first time onto the geographical and topological context of the campaign, the author here also provides a new understanding of both the scale of Alexander’s military achievement and the long-term effects of the military reforms introduced by his father, Philip II.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

List of Illustrations

Acknowledgments

List of Abbreviations

Introduction

Chapter 1. From the Euphrates to the Tigris and Babylonia to Arbela

Chapter 2. From the Tigris to Gaugamela

Chapter 3. The Battlefield and the Engagement

Chapter 4. From Gaugamela to Arbela

Summary and Conclusions

Works Cited