Alexander and the Scythians: The Great Hammer and Anvil of the Battle of Jaxartes, 329 BC
In what is said to be Alexander the Great’s most spectacular battle, the Macedonian master and his army tested their most daring tactics against the fierce Central-Asian mounted Scythian nomads on the banks of the Jaxartes River.
Before charging into the battle, a little geography would not hurt. The Jaxartes River, what is known today as the Syr Darya, originates in the Tian Shan Mountains in Kyrgyzstan and eastern Uzbekistan, and flows for 2,212 kilometers (1,374 miles) west and north-west through Uzbekistan and southern Kazakhstan to the remains of the Aral Sea....Read more