Creative Execution: What Great Leaders Do to Unleash Bold Thinking and Innovation

The Final Showdown: Gaugamela

Here we are, then, the morning of October 1, 331 BC, three years after Alexander stepped foot on the Asian mainland. Waiting on a plain carefully chosen for its favorable terrain, Darius has control over the largest army ever assembled in the ancient world. Not to be outdone a third time, Darius cleared the plain of obstacles so that he could deploy his scythed chariots against the Macedonian infantry. He even brought elephants, imported from India, to add terror and firepower to his army. Altogether the Persian army was even more powerful than the one mustered at Issus. Its total numbers were estimated to be as high as one million by ancient scholars like Plutarch, but the most likely number was closer to 200,000, ...