The Strand Study Bible

BETWEEN THE TESTAMENTS extremely dangerous opponent, and decided to play it safe by playing hide and seek with Alexander’s army until he had the upper hand militarily. Thus, the two armies passed each other during the night in parallel mountain passes. As a result, when they finally met, Alexander discovered that the king of Persia was behind him, cutting off his own path to the sea. Being at a disadvantage, however, didn’t seem to bother Alexander. The odds had been stacked against him from the start, so what’s new? The only thing that bothered Alexander was the troops that he had left behind near the Pinarus River due to their sicknesses. He knew Darius would butcher them without mercy when he discovered them. He did. After slaughtering Alexander’s sick and wounded beside the Pinarus River, Darius III then marched his armies toward Alexander at Issus. Had Alexander decided to take the day off and stay behind, he too would have been butchered. However, he had work to do and nothing, not even a fever, was going to keep him from a day of work. * Good leadership learns to find a way to work (II Thess 3:6-12) Darius III had mustered an enormous army of well over 200,000 men to try and stop the ever-ensuing Alexander. With the odds stacked up against him, Alexander and his troops set out to face Darius head on. The battle was over before it started. Knowing that sheep scatter whenever the shepherd is smitten, Alexander’s goal was to use his Macedonian phalanx to get to Darius as quickly as possible. Alexander knew that if he focused his attention on the king instead of the king’s army, he had a good chance of winning the battle. * Good leadership learns to concentrate it’s efforts on the enemy’s leadership (Mt 12:29 and Jms 4:7) Leaving virtually everything behind at Issus, including his wife, Statira, and their daughters, Darius III barely escaped with his life as he fled for the safety of the Euphrates River. After the battle of Issus, Alexander began to drink heavily for the first time. For the first time in his life, conquering his enemies became more important than conquering himself. And although he would end up destroying the Persian Empire, because he failed to conquer his temper (Prov 14:29 & 16:32 & 19:11 & 25:28), his vanity (he named over twenty cities after himself), and his love for honor (Prov 25:27 and Lk 14:11), in the end, he would destroy himself as well. * Good leadership learns to conquer self before conquering anything else (Prov 16:32 & 23:1-5 & 25:28 & 31:1-5) After a period of rest Alexander marched his men down the Phoenician coastline toward Sidon. From Sidon, he sent his general, Parmenio, to Damascus to collect the booty that Darius had left behind in his effort to flee. Alexander would use the spoils to pay off his father’s debt to Greece and to continue to finance his army. According to Plutarch, Alexander cared nothing for wealth or pleasure, but only for war and honor. The year was still 333 BC.

CASPIAN SEA

BLACK SEA

Pella •

• Issus

Tigris River

• Thepsacus

• Gaucamela • Arbela

Crete

Cyprus

Damascus

• Babylon

• Sidon

MEDITERRANEAN SEA

• Jerusalem

Alexandria •

Memphis •

Alexander took every city he came to along the Phoenician coastline until he arrived at Tyre. The mother city of Carthage was not about to yield to Alexander. Because of its unique location (Tyre was located one half mile off the

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