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Battle of the Persian Gate
Part of the Wars of Alexander the Great
Date January 330 BC Location Persian Gate, near Persepolis Result Macedonian victory
Belligerents
Macedonian Empire	Persia
Commanders and leaders
Alexander the Great	Ariobarzan †
Strength
17,000	700-40,000
Casualties and losses
Thousands	700

The Battle of the Persian Gate was fought at the Persian Gate northeast of today's Yasuj in Iran between a group of Persians led by Ariobarzan in a last stand against the large invading Macedonian army of Alexander the Great. Ariobarzan fought to the death against Alexander in the winter of 330 BC but couldn't stop him from invading, burning and destroying Persepolis, the capital of Persia at the time. Although heavily outnumbered and facing insurmountabe odds, Ariobarzan managed to hold Alexander back for 30 days and killed a very disproportionate number of Alexander's troops.

Battle

As many historians documented, Persians fought bravely at Issus and Gaugamela, but were unable to prevent Macedonian victories, and Alexander proceeded to Babylon and Susa in 331 BC. A Royal Road connected Susa (the first Iranian federal capital city in Elam) with the more eastern capitals of Persepolis and Pasargadae in Persis, and that was the road for Alexander to take. Meanwhile, King Darius was building a new army at Ecbatana (western province of Hamadan in present-day Iran). It was obvious that Alexander wanted to reach the treasures of Persepolis before Darius could defend them. Ario Barzan had to prevent the Macedonian attack on Persis, and had two advantages: Firstly, he commanded fighters who were defending their homes and thus highly motivated; furthermore, he knew the terrain and the topography of the location. There were only a few possible roads through the Zagros Mountains, which were at the time, in January 330, covered with snow and ice. And Ario Barzan knew how to exploit this.

When Alexander invaded an unknown country, he usually divided his forces to diminish the risks and facilitate the food supply. Ario Barzan must have learned from his spies that in the area of Masjed Soleyman, the Macedonian army had been split into two parts. Alexander's general, Parmenion, took one half along the Royal Road, and Alexander himself took the route towards Persis. Ario Barzan knew where he could trap his main opponent: in the Persian Gate (in Persian: Darvaazeh Fars), northeast of modern Yasuj (the capital of Kohkiluyeh and Buyer Ahmad Province in present-day Iran). And if Ario Barzan could have defeated Alexander in that Gate, he could turn to the south and attack Parmenion as well.

Alexander first massacred a mountain tribe named Uxians, and believed that after this deed, everyone would flee.Indeed, at the so-called Susian Gate, west of Yasuj, no one appeared to block the road. Believing that he would not encounter any further problems in the Persian Gate, Alexander forgot to send scouts into the pass and as a result, walked into Ario Barzan's trap with his eyes wide open.

The satrap had occupied a position near the little village that is now known as Cheshmeh Chenar. When one approaches this place from the west, the valley, called Tang'e Meyran, is initially very wide, so the Macedonians marched at some speed. But Ariobarzan knew what he was doing. After an hour's walk, the valley becomes narrower, and curves to the east-southeast, where the Macedonians were blinded by the morning sun. Immediately after they had crossed an icy brook, they would had to turn to the left, where Ario Barzan was ready to strike against an army that was standing on slippery ground, pushed forward by its rearguard, and under attack from all hilltops.

Some sources mention that Ario Barzan had built a wall across the canyon, but he probably did not have to. The Persian Gate was only a couple of meters wide. However this may be, at some point, the first group of Macedonian invaders must have realized that they could no longer advance, understood that they were ambushed, and hesitated. This was the moment Ario Barzan had been waiting for. One signal was sufficient to convert the valley into a killing zone. From the northern slope, the Iranians rained down boulders and stones on the Macedonians, who were smashed away not individually, but (as Quintus Curtius Rufus says) by entire platoons. From the southern slope, Persian archers and catapults launched their projectiles. The Macedonians panicked, tried to return, but were unable to do so, because their rear guard was still advancing. It must have taken some time before Alexander's men were in full retreat.

Ario Barzan knew that the battle was not over yet. It was likely that Alexander would try again next day, or would try to take another road. This, however, would be dangerous. From Yasuj, the Macedonians could go to the north, to Gabae (which is now called Isfahan or Espahan, a central province in present-day Iran), where they would trap themselves between the army of Darius in Ecbatana and that of Ario Barzan in Persis. Alternatively, they could go to the south and join Parmenion, trapping themselves between Ario Barzan's army and another Iranian army existed there. Given these facts, the Persians had some reason to believe that their success could change the course of the war. Alexander could not move to the north or south, but would have to retreat or try for a second time. It is documented that Alexander considered all options and finally he decided to send a message to Ario Barzan offering him a position as a Field Marshal of the Greek army if Ario Barzan would surrender. Ario Barzan refused and declared that he would fight to death to protect Persia and his countrymen.

"...and now by this reverse, “the most serious challenge” to his conquest in Iran (Berve, Das Alexanderreich II, p. 61; see also A. B. Bosworth, A Historical Commentary on Arrian's History of Alexander I, Oxford, 1980, p. 326). But for rich rewards, his prisoners, led him at night through unobserved roundabouts to the rear of the Persian position while Craterus remained with a force in the camp (Arrian 3.18.5-6; Curtius 5.4.29; see also W. Heckel, 1980, p. 168; attempted reconstruction of the route in Stein, p. 23) "At dawn Alexander fell on the Persian outposts, destroyed them and attacked Ariobarzanes while Craterus assaulted the gate from the front. Surrounded, the Persians “fought a memorable fight . . . Unarmed as they were, they seized the armed men in their embrace, and dragging them down to the ground . . . stabbed most of them with their own weapons” (Curtius 5.3.31-2; see also Arrian 3.18.3-8; Diodorus 17.68-9; Plutarch, Alexander 35.1).

Death

An Iranian tribal chief betrayed his homeland and guided Alexander through the mountains to the rear of Ario Barzan's lines. The defenders were overwhelmed by outnumbering Macedonians and were mostly cut down. According to the Greek historian (Arrian 3.18.3-8 confirmed by 3.23.7), Ariobarzan escaped with a few men to the hills, but according to the Roman historian Curtius he burst through the Macedonians' line hoping to reach and hold Persepolis, but was barred by its garrison, so he returned and fought to the end. On the 20th of January 330 BC, Ariobarzan was killed in combat along with his 80 companions after weeks of fighting. The similarity between the battles fought at Thermopylae and the Persian Gates has been recognized by ancient and modern authors (Heckel, p. 171 ). The Persian Gates played the role “of a Persian Thermopylae and like Thermopylae it fell” (Burn, 1973, p. 121).

Alexander then reached the Palaces of Persepolis, and appointed a man named Phrasaortes as successor of Ario barzan. Four months later, the Macedonians burned the historical Palaces of Persepolis down. It is suggested that Alexander burned Persepolis in revenge of high casualties inflicted by Ariobarzan on his troops.

See also

• Ariobarzan

Notes

1. ^ Aryo Barzan, Encyclopaedia Iranica.
2. D. W. Engles, Alexander the Great and the Logistics of the Macedonian Army, Berkeley and London, 1978, p. 70.
3. prosopography of Alexander's empire - p. 45, Waldemar Heckel
4. Irannica claims that Ario's army was only 700 horsemen on the grounds that "Greek estimates of infantry are generally valueless" - a view with no support or mentions in mainstream scholarship.
5. N. G. L. Hammond (1992). "The Archaeological and Literary Evidence for the Burning of the Persepolis Palace", The Classical Quarterly 42 (2), p. 358-364.
6. For the identification, see Henry Speck, "Alexander at the Persian Gates. A Study in Historiography and Topography" in: American Journal of Ancient History n.s. 1.1 (2002) 15-234; more....
7. As the Encyclopedia Britannica notes, people of the western province of Khuzistan in present-day Iran, came from a region where Uxians lived, and Khuzi could have been derived from the term Uxi.

Bibliography

• A. R. Burn, Alexander the Great and the Middle East, Harmondsworth, 1973.
• W. Heckel, “Alexander at the Persian Gates”, Athenaeum 58, 1980.
• A. Stein, Old Routes of Western Iran, London, 1940.
• Aryo Barzan, Encyclopaedia Iranica.
• Livius Picture Archive, Persian gate (Yasuj).

External links

• Ariobarzanes: An Article by Jona Lendering.
• Pharnabazus, The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition 2006.
• King Darius III: A Research Article on Darius-III Codomannus
• Gabae: The name of two places in Persia and Sogdiana.
• Persian Gates: Photos of the battlefield.
• : RIOBARZANES, Greek form of an Old Iranian proper name AÚrya-bráza

• Articles with unsourced statements from April 17
• Persian history
• Alexander the Great