Which belligerents clashed in the Battle of Issus?

From the moment he launched his campaign against the vast Achaemenid Empire in 334 BC, the young king of Macedonia, Alexander, provoked a direct confrontation with the Great Persian King, Darius III, Lord of Asia. The successive and spectacular successes he achieved in the initial stages of the invasion seemed to bring him closer to his goal.

But when Alexander was preparing to advance into Syria, he received a major surprise: Darius, with an army perhaps exceeding 100,000 men, had managed to outflank him and was now in his rear, advancing to overtake him.

The inevitable clash took place in the worst possible location for both armies: a death trap on the outskirts of a small Syrian city, Issus.

The Persians, for their part, awaited their revenge. A year earlier they had suffered a humiliating defeat at the hands of Alexander at the Granicus River, and now they burned with the desire to expel the invaders from Asia.

The Macedonians fought with genuine fury, driven by a will to survive. As Alexander approached, Darius suddenly decided to turn his chariot around and flee. Without hesitation, his nobles escaped after him, leaving the army in the midst of a fierce battle.

After this important victory, Alexander had all of Syria, Phoenicia, and Palestine at his disposal, reaching Egypt, where he was received as a liberator. In his advance through Asia, the Macedonian king decisively defeated Darius at Gugamela, thus reaching India.