5 November in military history: Battle of Issus, 333 BC

Quick answer

On or about 5 November 333 BC Alexander the Great defeated the Persian king Darius III on the Pinarus River near Issus, in what is now southern Turkey: his cavalry broke the Persian left, Darius fled and his family was captured. On 5 November 1757 Frederick the Great routed a French and Imperial army at Rossbach.

The Battle of Issus 333 BC: Why It Mattered and Where It Was

5 November 333 BC · 2357 years ago

In 334 BC Alexander the Great of Macedon crossed into Asia to bring down the Persian Empire, the superpower of the age. After his first victory at the Granicus he swept through Anatolia, and in late 333 the Persian king Darius III came in person at the head of a huge royal army to crush the invader.

Read the full story of The Battle of Issus 333 BC: Why It Mattered and Where It Was ›

Second Battle of Panipat, 1556: Akbar, Hemu and the arrow

5 November 1556 · 469 years ago

The Mughal army of the young emperor Akbar, led in his name by the regent Bairam Khan, defeated Hemu on the plain of Panipat. Hemu, who had seized Delhi a month earlier, was hit in the eye by an arrow, his army fled, and he was captured and put to death.

Read the full story of Second Battle of Panipat, 1556: Akbar, Hemu and the arrow ›

Battle of Rossbach, 1757: Frederick the Great's ninety-minute victory

5 November 1757 · 268 years ago

Frederick the Great's Prussians met a combined force of French troops and the Holy Roman Empire's Reichsarmee near Rossbach in Saxony in the Seven Years' War. In about ninety minutes they routed a much larger enemy, a victory counted among Frederick's finest.

Read the full story of Battle of Rossbach, 1757: Frederick the Great's ninety-minute victory ›

Also on this day

In 1854, in the Crimean War, Russian troops came out of the mist before dawn to attack the British on the Inkerman heights above besieged Sevastopol. Brad Manera writes that fog and terrain left commanders unable to lead, and the fight is remembered as "the soldiers' battle". The attack was beaten off at heavy cost, and Lieutenant General Sir George Cathcart was among the dead. For the first Russian attempt to break the siege, see our article on Balaclava.¹

Frequently asked questions

When and where was the Battle of Issus?

In November 333 BC, on the Pinarus River near Issus, on a narrow plain between the mountains and the sea in what is now southern Turkey. No ancient writer gives the day: Jona Lendering reconstructs 5 or 6 November.

Why did Darius lose at Issus despite his numbers?

The ground was too narrow for his army. Alexander's Companion cavalry crossed the river at a run and broke the Persian left, Darius fled, and once the king was gone the whole Persian army broke.

Was Alexander wounded at Issus?

Yes, in the thigh. The writer Chares claimed Darius struck the blow himself, but in a letter to Antipater Alexander did not say who wounded him, only that it was a dagger and that no serious harm came of it.

What happened to Darius's family after Issus?

His mother, wife, young son and two daughters were captured in the Persian camp. Alexander told them Darius was alive and let them keep their royal rank. He rejected the terms of Darius's letter asking for them back.

How many men died at Issus?

Arrian gives about 100,000 Persian dead, Diodorus and Plutarch more than 110,000, against a few hundred Macedonians in Diodorus's count. These are the ancient writers' figures, not modern estimates.

Sources

Royal Collection Trust, “Valley of Inkerman”, photograph by James Robertson

Alexander William Kinglake, The Invasion of the Crimea, vol. 5, Battle of Inkerman (Edinburgh: Blackwood, 1875), on the Internet Archive, “Inkerman”

Brad Manera, Anzac Memorial, Sydney, “Echoes of the Crimean War, 1853-56”