The Battle of Issus: The History of Alexander the Great’s Most Famous Victory against the Achaemenid Persian Empire
Written by Charles River Editors
Narrated by Daniel Houle
()
About this audiobook
At one point in antiquity, the Achaemenid Persian Empire was the largest empire the world had ever seen, but aside from its role in the Greco-Persian Wars and its collapse at the hands of Alexander the Great, it has been mostly overlooked. When it has been studied, the historical sources have mostly been Greek, the very people the Persians sought to conquer. Needless to say, their versions were biased, and attitudes about the Persians were only exacerbated by Alexander the Great and his biographers, who maintained a fiery hatred toward Xerxes I of Persia due to his burning of Athens.
Ever since the famous Persian invasions that had been repelled by the Athenians at Marathon and then by the Spartans at Thermopylae and Plataea, Greece and Persia had been at odds. For the past few years they had enjoyed an uneasy peace, but that peace was shattered when, in 334 BCE, Alexander crossed the Hellespont into Persia. He brought with him an army of 50,000 infantry, 6,000 cavalry and a navy of over 100 ships, a mixed force of Macedonians, Greeks, Thracians and Illyrians, all chosen for their specific strengths (the Thessalians, for example, were famous cavalrymen). He was still just 22.
Darius III, king of Persia at the time of Alexander’s invasion, was no tactical genius, but he was an intelligent and persistent enemy who had been handed the throne just before the arrival of the indomitable Alexander. His misfortune was to face an enemy at the forefront of military innovation and flexibility, a fighting force that he was not equipped to handle, and the unconquerable will of the Macedonian army, fueled by devotion to their daring and charismatic king. He would personally face Alexander twice, once at the Battle of Issus and again at the Battle of Gaugamela, and the battles would decide the fate of his empire and the fate of the Western world.
More audiobooks from Charles River Editors
Gnosticism: The History and Legacy of the Mysterious Ancient Religion Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The East India Company: The History of the British Empire's Most Famous Mercantile Company Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Rape of Nanking: The History and Legacy of the Notorious Massacre during the Second Sino-Japanese War Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Ur: The History and Legacy of the Ancient Sumerian Capital Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Project MK-Ultra: The History of the CIA’s Controversial Human Experimentation Program Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Nineveh: The History and Legacy of the Ancient Assyrian Capital Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Legends of the West: Deadwood, South Dakota Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Arnold Rothstein and Meyer Lansky: The Lives and Legacies of the Gangsters Who Reformed Organized Crime in America Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsMysteries of the South: Ghosts, Legends, and Unexplained Phenomena in Dixie Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Mossad: The History and Legacy of Israel’s National Intelligence Agency Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5J. Robert Oppenheimer: The Life and Legacy of the Father of the Atomic Bomb Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Life and Trial of Lizzie Borden: The History of 19th Century America's Most Famous Murder Case Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Sigmund Freud and Carl Jung: The Pioneering Lives and Works of History’s Most Influential Psychologists Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Battle of Hamburger Hill: The History and Legacy of One of the Vietnam War's Most Controversial Battles Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Mysterious Midwest: Mysteries, Legends, and Unexplained Phenomena in America's Heartland Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Denisovans: The History of the Extinct Archaic Humans Who Spread Across Asia during the Paleolithic Era Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5
Related to The Battle of Issus
Related audiobooks
The Battle of the Persian Gate: The History of the Achaemenid Persian Empire’s Last Stand against Alexander the Great Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Battle of the Granicus River: The History of Alexander the Great’s First Major Battle against the Achaemenid Persian Empire Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsDarius the Great and Xerxes I: The History of the Achaemenid Persian Emperors Who Invaded Ancient Greece Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Rome and Germania: The History of the Roman Empire’s Conflicts and Interactions with Germanic Tribes Rating: 1 out of 5 stars1/5In the Path of Conquest: Resistance to Alexander the Great Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Greece Against Rome: The Fall of the Hellenistic Kingdoms 250–31 BC Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5King Xerxes I: The Life and Legacy of the Achaemenid Persian Empire’s Most Notorious Ruler Rating: 2 out of 5 stars2/5The Byzantine Army: The History and Legacy of the Byzantine Empire’s Military during the Middle Ages Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Pertinax: The Son of a Slave Who Became Roman Emperor Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Persian Expedition: The March of the Ten Thousand, or Anabasis Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Cyrus the Great: The Life and Legacy of the King Who Founded the Achaemenid Persian Empire Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Emperor Charlemagne Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Diadochi: The History of Alexander the Great’s Successors and the Wars that Divided His Empire Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Alexander the Great and the Achaemenid Persian Empire: The History and Legacy of the Macedonian King’s Campaign against the Persians Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Great Betrayal: The Great Siege of Constantinople Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Annals of Tacitus: Excerpts Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Ghost on the Throne: The Death of Alexander the Great and the Bloody Fight for His Empire Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Megiddo: The History of the Famous Archaeological Site and Prophesized Battle of Armageddon Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5What if Alexander the Great Had Lived? An Alternative History of the Macedonian King and His Empire Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Restoration of Rome: The History of the Roman Empire during the Reigns of Diocletian and Constantine Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The History of Herodotus - Book 8: Urania (Unabridged) Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Battle of Gaugamela: The History of Alexander the Great's Decisive Victory and the Destruction of the Achaemenid Persian Empire Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe History of Herodotus - Book 9: Calliope (Unabridged) Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Ancient Athenian Navy: The History and Legacy of Greece’s Dominant Naval Force in Antiquity Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Knights Hospitaller: The History and Legacy of the Medieval Catholic Military Order Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5
Ancient History For You
Ancient Rome: The Rise and Fall of An Empire Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Underworld: The Mysterious Origins of Civilization Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Meditations Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Emperor's Handbook: A New Translation of The Meditations Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Iliad by Homer Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Ten Caesars: Roman Emperors from Augustus to Constantine Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Greek Mythology: An Elaborate Guide to the Gods, Heroes, Harems, Sagas, Rituals and Beliefs of Greek Myths Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Mary Magdalene: Women, the Church, and the Great Deception Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Caesar: Life of a Colossus Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/51177 B.C.: The Year Civilization Collapsed: Revised and Updated Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire - Volume I Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5History Is Wrong Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Our Occulted History: Do the Global Elite Conceal Ancient Aliens? Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Killing Jesus: A History Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Roman History 101: From Republic to Empire Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Epic of Gilgamesh Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Pandora's Jar: Women in the Greek Myths Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Histories Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Alexander the Great Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Egyptian Mythology: A Concise Guide to the Gods, Heroes, Sagas, Rituals and Beliefs of Egyptian Myths Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Persian Fire: The First World Empire and the Battle for the West Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5When God Had a Wife: The Fall and Rise of the Sacred Feminine in the Judeo-Christian Tradition Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Book of the Dead: The History and Legacy of Ancient Egypt’s Famous Funerary Texts Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Babylon: Mesopotamia and the Birth of Civilization Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Chariots of the Gods Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Hathor: The History of the Ancient Egyptian Sky Goddess and Symbolic Mother of the Pharaohs Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Quetzalcoatl: The History and Legacy of the Feathered Serpent God in Mesoamerican Mythology Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5
Related categories
Reviews for The Battle of Issus
0 ratings0 reviews