Not long ago we dedicated an article to the three wives of Alexander the Great and explained that he married the Persian princesses Statira II and her cousin Parisatide to fulfill the local tradition of marrying the daughter or widow of the overthrown ruler and, above all, to bond with the Achaemenid dynasty. But, at the same time, we made it clear that he always placed above the lower-ranking one, Roxana, daughter of a Bactrian nobleman, whom he considered his true love. How did she meet her? it was in the context of one of his most curious and literary victories:that of the Sogdian Rock, which he obtained without even the need for a fight.
After the Gaugamela disaster, Darius III fled northeast to the Medean mountains, assuming - correctly - that Alexander would not immediately follow him because he would prefer to occupy the great cities of his empire:Babylon, Susa and Persepolis. This was indeed the case, and while the Macedonian was in charge of organizing the administration of his new empire, the Persian army dispersed, following its custom, to continue the war in another way. And it is that, despite everything, the conqueror did not stop and was going to continue the campaign through Central Asia.
Darius only kept one of the four great capitals, Ecbatana (the current Iranian Hamadan), where he prepared to face his enemy again, ignoring the advice of his generals to do better in more favorable terrain, such as the Bactrian mountains, in the northwest of what is now Afghanistan. In fact, the Shahanshah (King of Kings) no longer aroused trust among his people and, being in the town of Tara, he was betrayed by his chiliarch, Nabarzanes, and the satrap of Bactria, Bessos, who along with other nobles seized him with the idea of offering him to Alexander. in exchange for keeping their satrapies.
But the news of the imminent arrival of the Macedonian, who was going there at forced marches, frightened them and after attacking his lord they escaped without initiating any negotiation. Darius had time to be attended to by a Macedonian advance guard but died soon after, much to Alexander's chagrin. The death of the Persian monarch did not stop him because Bessos had proclaimed himself emperor with the name of Artaxerxes V, so he sent the body of Darius to Ecbatana to give it to his mother, Sisigambis, and give him a funeral according to the condition of the; then he continued the chase, this time to the new adversary.
He was the only one left, because Nabarzanes, reached and initially forgiven, ended up paying with his life, like the others involved. Bessos was believed to be safe for a time, because Alexander had internal problems that would later lead to tragedies:the conspiracy of Philotas, the son of his general Parmenion, which ended with the execution of both according to Macedonian law and the death of Clito at the hands of the Macedonian himself in an alcoholic brawl; the discontent, in short, that would begin to spread among his ranks due to his progressively arrogant behavior. However, for the time being, he still had the unwavering adherence of the army, so in 329 B.C. he entered Bactria.
Bessos received his own medicine from him:betrayed by his own, who left him in chains, he was executed for having killed Darius and for defying the new king. He then needed to subdue the eastern satrapies, so jealous of their autonomy that they had already caused headaches for all the predecessors of the Macedonian on the Persian throne. The pacification process alternated war and diplomacy, forcing garrisons to control the wild territories in exchange for leaving their governments to the satraps.
Completed a profound reorganization of the army with important innovations, Alexander was touring Central Asia, submitting those territories with a combination of Macedonian and Persian troops, founding cities with his name. Media, Parthia, Aria, Drangiana, Arachosia, Bactria, Scythia... It was a difficult campaign due to the enormous extension of land, but everything seemed to be solving itself when, having reached the Jaxartes river to fight the Scythians, the news was known that Spitamenes he had taken up arms.
It was the satrap of Sogdiana who had given him Bessos, who was apparently unhappy because he hoped the Macedonian had granted him independence for it. He now had the alliance of Bactria and numerous nomadic tribes that provided him with a fearsome cavalry, made up of archer horsemen. Alexander crossed the Jaxartes taking the Scythians by surprise and defeating them, then personally led a column that set out in search of the rebel, who was reportedly besieging Maracanda, the capital of Samarkand (present-day Uzbekistan).
He couldn't help her immediately because his rear guard was attacked by the nomads and he had to stop to face them. Meanwhile, he sent a body of Greek mercenaries as an advance party towards the city, but did not hear from him again until much later, when he found that he had been completely eliminated. Now, once he managed to defeat the nomads he set out again and covered three hundred kilometers in only three days, hoping to surprise Spitamenes. It did not, as the Sogdian had lifted the siege, retreating to the west.
Alexander, who had suffered heavy casualties, stayed at Maracanda awaiting reinforcements, giving his enemy courage to attack Bactria later in the year. However, he was repelled by her satrap, the Persian Artabazus II. He was the father of Barsine, Alexander's mistress, and was also imbued with Greek culture having lived for a decade at the court of Philip after having to leave his satrapy of Phrygia Hellespontica for failing his rebellion against Artaxerxes III; consequently, he enjoyed the full confidence of the Macedonian.
When spring came, General Craterus (who had married a sister of Darius III) was sent to the oasis of Margiana to establish a series of fortified posts, in what turned out to be a tactical masterpiece by Alexander, in the end decisive. By securing that point and other surrounding water points, he nullified the possibility of an attack by Spitamenes from Aria, since he would no longer have access to the liquid element necessary for his troops and mounts to drink.
That forced the rebel to definitively abandon or to force a battle in which everything was at stake; he chose the latter and lost, defeated at Gabai by one of the best Macedonian commanders, Coenus, who for a reason used to lead the right wing of the infantry (the most prestigious). As he had happened with Bessos, upon learning of the result and before the next arrival of Alexander, the Massagetae allies finished off Spitamenes. One of his daughters, Apama, would marry Seleucus, together with whom he would found the future Seleucid dynasty.
Alexandró avenged the heavy casualties he suffered, destroying cities and burning fields, causing many nobles to seek refuge in the mountains. One of them was the Bactrian Oxiartes, who had accompanied Bessos on his adventure and who, when he died, chose to retire. Before doing so, fearing that the Macedonians would relentlessly persecute him, he left his wife and daughters in a fortress known as Ariamaces Rock or Sogdian Rock, after the cliff of the homonymous region where it was located. Q>
They were supposed to be safe there, since the site was considered impregnable. A challenge that, obviously, did not scare the man who had just conquered one of the most powerful empires of Antiquity and counted his interventions for victories. That yes, the panorama appeared difficult, because the defenders not only had in favor the abrupt orogeny but also the cold and the snow -which would hinder the siege work-, apart from the fact of having abundant provisions and water. When Alexander offered them immunity if they surrendered, he only got laughs and the mocking question of whether his men could fly, since he would need winged soldiers to even get close to the walls.
The Macedonian picked up the glove and offered the lavish sum of twelve talents to the first to scale that wall. He would also pay handsomely to the following, so that until the last one to step on the top he would receive three hundred darics (Achaemenid gold coins). Although it seemed like an impossible mission, the bounty attracted three hundred volunteers who had gained climbing experience during previous sieges. Aided by material used to pitch the tents, such as flax ropes, wooden stakes, and iron nails, they began to climb up the rock.
They did it at night and through the steepest part, which was supposed to have less surveillance, as it did. Thirty died in the operation, but the rest managed to successfully crown the cliff and, as had been agreed, they reported waving some linen rags as flags. The visual effect was of soldiers flapping their wings overhead and Alexander himself drew the defenders' attention to that, returning their thrust. Despite the few who had climbed, the psychological blow was such that the fortress surrendered without the need for a fight; or, at least that is how Flavio Arriano told it in his Anábasis .
The Macedonian had obtained what was probably the most unheard-of triumph of his career and the best thing was the loot; this time they were not great riches but a young woman who subjugated him at first sight and whom he married shortly after, according to what they say, in love with her (although it was also a convenient marriage to pacify the region once and have their backs covered with views the next). target, India). She was one of the daughters that Oxiartes had left there and her name was Roxana.