Philip II and Alexander the Great: Father and Son ... - Historia Antigua

10
Scythed Chariots at Gaugamela
A Case Study
Waldemar Heckel , Carolyn Willekes , Graham Wrightson
Much has been written about Alexander’s victory over Darius III at
Gaugamela. One episode, however, has not received suffi cient
attention: the attack of the Persian scythed chariots. This lack of
attention is not surprising, since the attack formed only a small part
of the battle and had virtually no impact on its outcome. Nevertheless,
this brief and confused episode is instructive and sheds some
light on both the strengths and the limitations of the Macedonian
phalanx. Hence, a closer look at the deployment of the chariots and
the Macedonian countermeasures is in order, making use of our recent
experiments with the Macedonian sarissa used in formation. 1
When Darius deployed his troops at Gaugamela, he placed the fearsome
scythed chariots in three different positions in front of his battle
line. According to Arrian, one hundred scythed chariots were positioned
in front of the Persian left, facing Alexander’s right, where the
main force of Alexander’s cavalry was preparing to strike the Persian
army (3.11.6). Fifty more chariots were placed in front of Darius himself
in the center of the line—although it is not clear whether these
were scythed—and an additional fi fty scythed chariots were stationed
on the Persian right (3.11.7). Arrian says little, however, about
Alexander’s strategy for dealing with this threat, except that he placed
half the Agrianians and the archers, along with the javelin-men of
Balacrus, opposite the chariots on the Persian left (3.12.3), and that, at
one point, some of these (almost certainly light infantry) parted ranks
to let some chariots pass between them, “as they had been instructed
to do” ( ὥσπερ παρήγγελτο αὐτοῖς ). As the Macedonians began to slant
to the right, to counter the attempted encirclement by the Bactrians
and the Dahae, Darius launched the scythed chariot a ttack in the hope
of catching his enemy before he moved away from the level ground
(Arr. 3.13.2). Arrian (3.13.5–6) says:
At this point, the Persians launched their scythe-carrying chariots
directly against Alexander, to throw his line out of formation;
but in this they were signally disappointed. For fi rst, as
they approached, the Agrianians and the javelin-men under
103