On this day, we commemorate the Battle of Issus.
On November 5, 333 B.C., near the Pinarus River's mouth, the Hellenic League led by Alexander the Great defeated the armies of the Achaemenid Empire led by Darius III in the second great battle of Alexander's campaign against the Persians.
The Battle of Issus was a decisive Hellenic victory and marked the beginning of the end of Persian power. It was the first time the Persian army had been defeated with the King (Darius III) present.
After the battle, the Hellenes captured Darius' wife, Stateira I, his daughters, Stateira II and Drypetis, and his mother, Sisygambis, who had accompanied Darius on his campaign. Alexander, who later married Stateira II, treated the captured women with great respect.
