Alexander the Great: The Battle of Issus, 333 BC ⚔️

The Battle of Issus, fought in 333 BC, was one of the most pivotal moments in ancient history. On one side stood Alexander the Great, the young and ambitious king of Macedon, leading his army of Greeks and Macedonians against the vast forces of the Persian Empire under the rule of Darius III. The outcome of this battle would shape not only the fate of these two great empires but also change the course of world history.
The Battle of Issus was fought on the banks of the Issus River, in what is now southern Turkey. The Persian army, vastly outnumbering Alexander's forces, had the advantage of terrain and position. But Alexander, through a combination of tactical genius and sheer determination, defeated the Persians and secured a decisive victory.
The Battle of Issus was a turning point in Alexander's campaign, as it marked the beginning of his conquest of the Persian Empire. It was also a significant defeat for Darius III, who would later be captured and executed by Alexander's forces.
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🧾 Chapters:
0:00 Introduction
1:10 After the Battle of the Granicus
6:56 The Battle of Issus
13:40 Aftermath
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Written by House of History
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[@HoH]

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[@brokenbridge6316]

These video's are great. But when are you going back to do the ones on Fredrick the Great?

[@johnruddick686]

Macedonian is pronounced ma-ce-do-nion in English

[@rad7142]

the intro LOL "It is the late afternoon,November morning,333BC "

[@rubenheymans1988]

it would be nice if you could add some extra's instead of doing the exact same thing 5 others channels already did before you. Show us what the units looked like, what their strengths and weakness are. where they come from... what the battle line would look like, how the soldiers feel, you didn't even mention the mass of arrows bouncing off the phalanx making a very loud, morale breaking, sound, etc...

[@davidhughes8357]

I watch and rewatch ancient military history videos every single night and have never been disappointed in your hard work. Thank you for making an old man happy. Seriously you are the best!!!

[@panagiotisg83]

I come from and grew up in Thessaly and have often wondered how it was for those Thessalian cavalry in the left flank against the flower of the Persian nobility, the best cavalry Darius had. How did they not crack, neither in Issus nor at Gaugamela is beyond me.

[@Ferrum_Intra]

Persians were decadent after centuries of riches and opulence. That's why they lost every battle. They never had a chance to begin with.

[@hellequin.303]

War was a sport to the Greek

[@damnimbored25]

Greeks loved wars

[@chubbymoth5810]

No doubt the fact they knew they'd be dead anyway if they lost did motivate them.

[@zjeee]

Well the Thessalian cavalry were an elite unit based on their merits, experience and prowess. The Persian cavalry were elite for no other reason that they were considered of noble birth. As usual in warfare merit is king.

[@IronWarrior86]

Darius made the mistake of putting what were his best line infantrymen in the center while placing his weaker on the flanks, as the Greek Hoplite mercenaries pushed forward beating back the Macedonian Phalanx inflicting some considerable losses on them, the right flank with Alexander in charge were beating the Persian left flank driving them back, hence by pure luck, a gap opened up and this is where Alexander together with his companion cavalry seized the moment and charged through and effectively got in behind the main persian line. Of course Darius had no idea that Alexander was a dare devil initiative taker leading from the front. Darius was basically not mentally prepared to fight Alexander essentially man to man. If only he had held his nerves and kept fighting long enough for his Persian cavalry to rout the Thessalian cavalry as they were in the process of doing, a semi encirclement would have happened where the immobile phalanx would have been cut down, and then all bets were off.

[@DeadSanto123]

Love your channel bro keep up the good work

[@KHK001]

Another great video as always!

[@HoH]

Glad you enjoyed it!

[@robbabcock_]

Great video!

[@timv9126]

pretty cool video!

[@mykemorbius]

Good one! Hopefully you'll do one on the Battle of Gaugamela sometime.

[@napoleonibonaparte7198]

I guess the lesson here is to never go on work holidays with family.

[@maestro-zq8gu]

Digging these faction map colors.

[@rascalferret]

Interesting artwork.

[@wankawanka3053]

AI art

[@maxpower4436]

love it

[@mariuss1590]

Will you continue this series?

[@CptSlow89]

I like those units dancing in the water whole time lol

[@SamTheEnglishTeacher]

Alexander got that Henry Cavill in The Witcher aesthetic. Now that'd be a good idea for a movie.

[@solonsolon9496]

Are you going to continue your series on Alexander?

[@Kai.CRoleplaying]

the craziest thing is that people back then had that many fingers

[@maganechikujoin2020]

Outro got cut , but atleast u got patreon in actually funny.

[@HoH]

😅😂

[@mike941789]

Did you use chat GPT to make all those paintings?

[@mykemorbius]

How about doing Battle of Strathearn where King Ivarr ll fought Constantine, King of the Scots in 904? HUGE battle that no one covers.

[@cherub3624]

I kind of miss the old intro.

[@RLoshbough]

Love your work 1 day you will be multimillionaire youtuber

[@watch-Dominion-2018]

8:50 - did you say "cavlary" ?

[@MrJherime]

👍

[@MarbledKing]

Why does A.I. like 6 fingers instead of 5? I noticed it in Bing myself

[@beepboop204]

[@dan_mer]

Perhaps both estimates of losses were correct. The mercenaries and "vassals", using the term very loosely, ran away and in the end Darius had barely a third of the soldiers. They were not necessarily killed.

[@matthew-us9ti]

One thing that is also very common is that the losing side cannot tend to their wounded. Horrifying, stab and slash wounds would often take weeks to months to heal. Only one in ten battlefield casualties would die the day of the battle unless they were finished off. It was very common for ancient leaders to remark "oh we lost 300 men dead today" leaving out several thousand wounded of whom hundreds more would die. Sure, 300 greek dead at granicus had their armour sent back, but how many died in the wounded camp? How many died on the campaign from disease getting into those wounds?

[@BOSIE321]

Good video but he married Stateira a lot later towards the end of his life when he was consolidating his position after the campaign in India.

[@vangelisskia214]

ALEXANDER’s speech before the battle of Issus: "...We Macedonians are to fight Medes and Persians, nations long steeped in luxury, while we have long been hardened by warlike toils and dangers; and above it will be a fight among free men and slaves. And so far as GREEK will meet GREEK, WE shall not be fighting for like causes; those mercenaries with Dareius will risk their lives for pay, and poor pay too; WE on the contrary shall fight for GREECE and our hearts will be in it". Arrian, "Anabasis of Alexander" Book II, Ch.7, par.4,5 Cambridge, Massachussets, Harvard University Press

[@christermi]

The original ancient Greek passage for this translation: Arian's "Αλεξάνδρου Ανάβασις" [2.7.4] Μακεδόνας τε γὰρ Πέρσαις καὶ Μήδοις, ἐκ πάνυ πολλοῦ τρυφῶσιν, αὐτοὺς ἐν τοῖς πόνοις τοῖς πολεμικοῖς πάλαι ἤδη μετὰ κινδύνων ἀσκουμένους, ἄλλως τε καὶ δούλοις ἀνθρώποις ἐλευθέρους, εἰς χεῖρας ἥξειν· ὅσοι τε Ἕλληνες Ἕλλησιν, οὐχ ὑπὲρ τῶν αὐτῶν μαχεῖσθαι, ἀλλὰ τοὺς μὲν ξὺν Δαρείῳ ἐπὶ μισθῷ καὶ οὐδὲ τούτῳ πολλῷ κινδυνεύοντας, τοὺς δὲ ξὺν σφίσιν ὑπὲρ τῆς Ἑλλάδος ἑκόντας ἀμυνομένους

[@vangelisskia214]

@@christermi 👍

[@theodorossarafis7370]

I think he said that in granikus

[@vangelisskia214]

@@theodorossarafis7370 Nope. It was in Issus. A few lines later: "Having thus enumerated the advantages with which they would enter the coming struggle, Alexander went on to show that the rewards of victory would also be great. The victory this time would not be over mere underlings of the Persian King, or the Persian cavalry along the banks of Granicus, of the 20,000 foreign mercenaries; it would be over the fine flower of the Medes and Persians and all the Asiatic peoples which they ruled."

[@aleksk4151]

BUT wait a second . Alexander is MACEDONIAN

[@SamTheEnglishTeacher]

5:22 count the fingers lol edit: 5:58 whoooo boy I wouldn't want to catch those hands

[@Nomadicenjoyer31]

No amount of reason will shake modern Greek faith in the Hellenic ethnicity of the ancient Macedonians and their kings. It is more than a political prefer ence: many Greeks see it as a necessity, despite the inconclusive ancient evidence on the nationality of the Macedonians. But recent scholarship has begun to provide a response to old Greek arguments. There is an insufficient amount of evidence-the existence of Greek inscriptions in the kingdom of the Macedonians notwithstand ing-to know what the native language or dialect was. E.g., several dialects of Greek were used in ancient Macedonia, but what was the Macedonian dialect? The evidence of ancient writers suggests that Greek and Macedonian were mutually unintelligible languages in the court of Alexander the Great. Moreover, if contemporary or his torical opinion from antiquity means anything, the ancient world from the fourth century B.C. into the early Hellenistic period-roughly the age of Philip and Alexan der-believed that the Greeks and Macedonians were different peoples. None of which, incidentally, denies that the Macedonians, at least in their court and gentry, were quite highly hellenized, as recent archaeology has clearly shown. See E. Badian, "Greeks and Macedonians," Macedonia and Greece in Late Classical and Early Hellenis tic Times, Studies in the History of Art 10, ed. B. Barr-Sharrar and E. N. Borza (Wash ington, D.C., 1982). 33-51: Eugene N. Borza, In the Shadow of Olympus: The Emergence of Macedon, rev. ed. (Princeton, 1992), ch. 4 and pp. 305-6; id., "Athenians, Mace donians, and the Origins of the Macedonian Royal House," in Studies in Attic Epigra phy, History, and Topography Presented to Eugene Vanderpool, Hesperia suppl. 19 (1982). 713: id., "Ethnicity and Cultural Policy at Alexander's Court." AncW 23 (1992): 1999. The eye expanded. Berkeley, Calif.: University of California Press, p.263.

[@wankawanka3053]

🤓

[@Annatar]

Noooo 6-finger AI drawings everywhere 🙄

[@Jesusandbible]

I used to think this battle was the fulfilment of Daniel 8, but there was a battle after this, Gaugamela, when he stamps down the army, but his own men apparently killed Darius after that loss. I disagree about terrain. It is possible the genius of Alexander was he lured Darius there, the river and phalanx making a nonsense of the number advantage, and Alexander knew Darius would flee, thus causing a retreat and a rout (of course its just a guess). Some people say the wife and daughter of Darius eventually poisoned Alexander, some people say his own soldiers killed him, tired of his expansionism.

[@papazataklaattiranimam]

Pls make videos about Islamic rulers who were known as New/Second Alexander (Sikandar-i Sani) :)

[@scourgeofgodattila579]

Selim the Grim...

[@wankawanka3053]

Muslims used greek names too i see

[@alexanderschneider9121]

No thanks. Islamistic conquest is THE threat of the present for every civilized person. Get out of Europe with your everbreeding overpopulation NOW!

[@rocketshipevan]

A 6 fingered Darius? AI art has a tough time with hands.

[@iahima6240]

I noticed the same thing in the last video as well... good call tho'

[@alaksandutheexorkizein7634]

I find it annoying. He should stop using AI "art"

[@wankawanka3053]

Macedonia land of the Highlanders 🇬🇷

[@catthegreat4977]

Alexander = Greco Persian slayer

[@Nomadicenjoyer31]

The Macedonians were anxious to assert their Greekness (the Athenian orator Demosthenes called them barbarians), but their own language (apparently unintelligible to other Greeks) lacked the cultural prestige to match their imperial ambitions. New Testament Greek: A Reader (Reading Greek) by Joint Association of Classical Teachers (Author) pp.204 The Macedonians were a neighboring people in the northern Aegean who spoke a language that was similar to Greek yet apparently unintelligible to Greek speakers. After long existence as an Aegean backwater, Macedonia emerged in the mid-fourth century BC to become the most powerful state in the region and eventually the entire eastern Mediterranean world. Over time Greek colonization and military hegemony in the wider Aegean resulted in Hellenic cultural diffusion: the process of assimilation was slow, but by the early fourth century BC the Macedonian royal court had made several significant advances. With its dispersed rural population Macedonia also possessed a greater capacity for military manpower than any individual Greek city-state. Were these resources ever harnessed by an effective king, Macedonia's potential as an Aegean power was considerable. A Short History of the Ancient World by Nicholas K. Rauh (Author), Heidi E. Kraus (Author), John C. Hill (Contributor) p.167 The Macedonians were probably not Greek; scholars are still unsure whether the Macedonian language was an archaic dialect of Greek or an altogether separate language. The Greeks certainly viewed the Macedonians as barbarians, although the Greeks allowed them to participate as “Greeks” in the Olympic games beginning in the fifth century B.C.E. Unlike the Greeks, the Macedonians were mostly rural folk and were organized in tribes, not city-states. Western Civilization: A Brief History 9th Edition by Jackson J. Spielvogel (Author) p.74 Macedon advanced neighbors but capable of learning from them and ultimately of conquering them. Though rich in resources and manpower, Macedon lacked the relatively efficient organization of the polis. Several dialects of Greek were spoken, some unintelligible to southern Greeks, who considered Macedonians "barbarians" (from the Greek barbaros, meaning "a person who does not speak Greek"). Ordinary Macedonians lived hardy lives, while the king and the royal court inhabited a sophisticated capital city, Pella, where they sponsored visits by leading Greek artists and writers. Philip II confounded Greek stereotypes of Macedonian barbarism by turning out to be a brilliant soldier and statesman. He was tough and seemingly unstoppable. Cengage Advantage Books: Western Civilization: Beyond Boundaries, Volume II 7th Edition by Thomas F. X. Noble (Author), Barry Strauss (Author), Duane Osheim (Author), Kristen Neuschel (Author), Elinor Accampo (Author) p.91 This kind of strategic decision does not require that Macedonian should have been similar to the new "international" language. In summing up. Crossland says again that the evidence does not indicate convincingly that Macedonian was a dialect of Greek rather than a separate Indo-European language. Even Toynbee, who is persuaded in the opposite direction by the very flimsy evidence we have considered above emphasizes that the evidence is "fragmentary,... confused and self-contradictory."" In practi cal terms this suggests that modern Greeks may have to look elsewhere for convincing evidence that ancient Macedonians were Greek. Macedonia and Greece: The Struggle to Define a New Balkan Nation by John Shea (Author) p.35

[@wankawanka3053]

​@@Nomadicenjoyer31 macedonia always greek 😌

[@Nomadicenjoyer31]

@@wankawanka3053 🐙

[@anamaked]

τα νουμερα του στρατου αλληνες με περσες ποτε δεν τα ειδα λογικα δηλαδη οταν εχεις 30000 μισθοφορους ελληνες απο τη μικρη ελλαδα ποσους θα πρεπει να μαζεψε απο την αχανη περσια ?

[@xe2594]

And his greatest defeat- alcoholism

[@polishadamtv]

I highly doubt that Darius fought against Alexander 1on1. Since coward Darius ran away leaving his mother and his wife

[@TheColombiano89]

He was not a coward and fought again and again. If he fell in battle the empire would be done.

[@DesertAres]

I find it hard to believe that Darius could stab Alexander in the thigh, unless he held a long spear. But I think he probably fled before Alex had that close!

[@JasonKifner]

Love the video, but I'm I the only one who thinks the AI artwork is really weird and awful?

[@philjohnson1744]

Parminion is always getting the crummy jobs.

[@elkingoh4543]

Is SuS??? 🤔🧐🧐🤨

[@WelcomeToDERPLAND]

ehhhh maybe tone down the ai art a bit thanks.

[@scourgeofgodattila579]

Alexander the Great>Cyrus the Great

[@trixter5071]

AI - images in the video its terrible

[@maxpower4436]

I like the AI images

[@GredtheManly]

I'm sorry, but that A.I. Art was disgusting

[@mister.sinister18]

It was good wym

[@mehmetyanms1202]

WRONG !!

[@huss4783]

If only Darius III was not a coward....What a horrible way to lose an empire to barbarians

[@vangelisskia214]

As a matter of fact 'Barbarian' (βάρβαρος) was (and still is) a Greek umbrella term which actually referred mostly to the Persians (read Herotodus' 'Histories') as well as other non-Greeks. Yet you refer to the Greeks as barbarians?! lol

[@huss4783]

@@vangelisskia214 Yeah, Greeks were trully the barbarians in the sroey. specially the Macedonians. Persians were much more civil in their affairs and deplomacy. Greeks only distroyed and saw them selves superior. they were trully the menace of the ancient world. citing rebelions and commiting many gorilla and terrorist like warfare. they only knew War and their democrasy was a lie only to be ruled by the elite. No wonder it didnt take them long to rule and eventually got kicked out. Worst of all, they wrote a history full of lies fairytales and exaggerations and glorifying only them selves. lol douchebags.

[@TheColombiano89]

He was not a coward

[@wankawanka3053]

Haha the persians were the barbarians

[@RLoshbough]

@@TheColombiano89 obviously he was he fled every battle he fought