Classical Studies 2902B

Aftermath of Granicus victory: the road to Issus

In this lecture we shall follow A.’s progress across Asia Minor between the spring of 334 and the late autumn of 333 The map of Asia Minor from Peter Green’s Alexander books will enable us to see his route and we shall first examine the arrangements he made for governance as he progressed, with the Satrapies of Hellespontine Phrygia and then Lydia giving us a basic template. Of particular importance are the arrangements A. made with the Greek cities of Asia Minor, since he was officially on a sort of crusade to liberate these cities from Persian imperialistic control. (There is a good analysis of this process in Cartledge at pp. 117-122: it is based on an excellent essay by an Italian scholar, Michele Faraguna in J. Roisman, ed., The Brill Companion to Alexander the Great (Leiden, 2003) 99-130, and since I intended myself to use this essay for this course before I read Cartledge, I shall continue to do so!) It is clear that A. had no particular political ideas—except for his own supremacy—but that instinctively he preferred monarchy to oligarchy and oligarchy to democracy, unless it suited his PR goals at any particular time. It is equally clear that the constitution of the League of Corinth did not protect the freedom of Greek states, except to obey Macedonian orders: every institution, especially the Synhedrion (Council) of the League, was simply a tool of Maced. policy.

The other important element to be followed is the Persian naval counter-strike in the Aegean, led by Memnon of Rhodes; also important is A.’s decision to conquer the Persian fleet by land; that is, to capture its bases and harbours and so reduce increasingly its effectiveness. (Here A. got lucky; for Memnon took ill and died and operations in the Aegean were badly affected by his death—and then ended altogether when Darius ordered all the mercenaries who had been serving with Memnon to go to the E. end of the Mediterranean to join the forces which he was assembling for his planned land campaign against A.)

Finally, the rather skimpy account of events in 333 leading up to the Battle of Issus will be assessed: the story is, clearly, not at all straightforward. And seriously finally, the battle itself.