Diodorus Siculus, Library

The Seventeenth Book of Diodorus: in Two Parts

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LVII. On the right wing Alexander stationed the royal squadron under the command of Cleitus the Black (as he was called), and next to this the other Friends¹ under the command of Parmenion's son Philotas, then in succession the other seven squadrons under the same commander. [2] Behind these was stationed the infantry battalion of the Silver Shields,² distinguished for the brilliance of their armour and the valour of the men; they were led by Nicanor, the son of Parmenion. Next to them was the battalion from Elimiotis,³ as it was called, under the command of Coenus; next he stationed the battalion of the Orestae and the Lyncestae, of which Perdiccas held the command. Meleager commanded the next battalion and Polyperchon the one after that, the people called Stymphaeans being under him. [3] Philip the son of Balacrus held the next command and, after him, Craterus. As for the cavalry, the line of the squadrons which I have mentioned was continued with the combined Peloponnesian and Achaean horse, then cavalry from Phthiotis and Malis, then Locrians and Phocians, all under the command of Erigyius of Mitylene. [4] Next were posted the Thessalians who had Philip as commander; they were far superior to the rest in their fighting qualities and in their horsemanship. And next to these he stationed the Cretan archers and the mercenaries from Achaia.

[5] On both flanks he kept his wings back so that the enemy with their superior numbers could not envelop the shorter line of the Macedonians. [6] Against the threat of the scythed chariots, he ordered the infantry of the phalanx to join shields as soon as these went into action against them and to beat the shields with their spears, creating such a din as to frighten the horses into bolting to the rear, or, if they persevered, to open gaps in the ranks such that they might ride through harmlessly. He himself took personal command of the right wing and advancing obliquely planned to settle the issue of the battle by his own actions.⁴

¹ This term is somewhat unexpectedly used instead of the usual term "Companions" (Arrian 3.11.8). The full accounts of the Battle of Gaugemela are those of Curtius 4.12-16 and Arrian 3.11-15; cp. also Justin 11.13-14.3; Plut. Alexander 32-33.

² These were the infantry of the guard, the hypaspistae, called by the name which came into use only in the period of the Successors (Tarn, Alexander the Great, 2, p. 116. Curtius 8.5.4 writes of the introduction of silver and gold trappings in 327.

³ The battalions of the Macedonian phalanx were organized on a territorial basis and known by the names of their component elements.

⁴ Diodorus's account of Alexander's dispositions agrees generally with those of Curtius 4.13.26-35 and Arrian 3.11.8-12.5, with the exceptions that Arrian gives only six squadrons of the Companions in addition to that of Cleitus, and names Simmas as battalion commander instead of Philip (who is named also by Curtius 4.13.28; a Philip appears in 327 as a battalion commander with Alexander in operations north of the Kabul River, Arrian 4.24.10).

This text is based on the following book(s):
Diodorus Siculus. Diodorus of Sicily in Twelve Volumes with an English Translation by C. H. Oldfather. Vol. 4-8. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press; London: William Heinemann, Ltd. 1989.
OCLC: 24758311
ISBN: 0674994132, 0674994221, 0674994396, 0674994280, 0674994647

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