On the fateful day of 1 October 331 BC, Alexander the Great, commanding a numerically inferior but highly disciplined army, faced the mighty forces of Darius III at the Battle of Gaugamela.
Despite being outnumbered, Alexander’s tactical brilliance, including his famous oblique phalanx formation, allowed him to outflank the Persian forces, neutralise their chariots, and break through their lines.
Darius, witnessing the collapse of his army, fled the battlefield, leaving his empire vulnerable.
This decisive victory not only cemented Alexander’s reputation as one of history’s greatest military strategists but also marked the beginning of the end for the Achaemenid Empire, as Persia's vast territories now lay open to Macedonian conquest.