The map depicts the very start of the battle of the Granicus River (334 BCE). The map shows Alexander the Great massing his elite cavalry (marker A) for a daring, direct ford while the bulk of his infantry presses at several points. The Persian army, mostly comprised of Greek mercenaries under Memnon of Rhodes, confident in their cavalry’s river-edge position, have stacked their horsemen along the water with infantry further back, expecting to cut down the Macedonians as they scramble up the bank.
Overall layout
- Colour code:
- Blue blocks = Alexander the Great’s Macedonian army.
- Red blocks = Persian satrapal army under Arsites, with allied Greek mercenaries.
- The winding Granicus River snakes across the centre of the map from south-west (bottom left) toward north-east (upper right).
- Terrain is shown in muted greens and greys; the Macedonians occupy the left/west bank, the Persians the right/east bank.
Tactical picture conveyed by the map
- Blue arrows show intended Macedonian crossings and pressure points along the river line.
- Red dashed arrows behind the Persian line suggest potential counter-moves or the ability of cavalry to redeploy.
- The clustering of red cavalry directly opposite the Macedonian Companion cavalry highlights the Persians’ plan to break the attack in the water before the phalanx can form on the east bank.
