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Battles of Miletus and Halicarnassus 334 - Coggle Diagram
Battles of Miletus and Halicarnassus 334
Prelude to Miletus
before the battle, Hegesistratus who was the King's appointee as commander of the Milesian garrison, had sent a letter to Alexander surrendering the city
but, with the Persian forces now not far away, he had changed his mind and was ambitious to save Miletus for the Persians
But, Nicanor brought up the Greek fleet of 160 ships at the island of Lade, three days before the Persian could even arrive
when the Persians realised they had arrived too late, they anchored under Mount Mycale
Parmenion gets involved again...
despite the fact that the barbarians had 400 ships, Parmenion encouraged Alexander to pursue a sea-battle
he cited a divine sign: an eagle was seen perching on the astern on one of Alexander's ships
he also said a victory would be a huge boost to the overall campaign
Alexander disagreed - he said that Parmenion's analysis was faulty as it made no sense to engage a large force with a smaller number of ships, when they could not guarantee success
Alexander perceived the eagle differently - it was perched on land, and he viewed this as a sign he would defeat the Persians by land, not sea
aftermath of Miletus
the Persians failed
Alexander now took the decision to disband his navy, because he lacked funds, and realised his fleet was no match for the Persians
events of Halicarnassus
lots of complicated fighting detailed by Arrian
this is a siege
the gates of the city were shut too soon by those in Halicarnassus, so many of their own men were left outside and killed by the Macedonians
Alexander could have captured the city at this point, according to Arrian, but decided to call off his army as he wanted to save the city if the inhabitants made some move to surrender
the dead numbered 1000 on the city side, and about 40 of Alexander's men
The Persian leaders now decided to set fire to the city, and at midnight Alexander led out his army to kill those setting the fires
he ordered that any Halicarnassans found in their homes be spared, and he buried those killed in the night
Aftermath of Halicarnassus
he gave the satrapy of Caria to Ada, daughter of Hecatomnos
certain Macedonian men who had been married before the campaign, Alexander allowed them to return to Macedonia to spend the winter with their wives
he was thus popular amongst the Macedonians