མེ་ཕོ་ཁྱི་ལོ་ (male Fire-Dog) −207 or −588 or −1360 — to — མེ་མོ་ཕག་ལོ་ (female Fire-Boar) −206 or −587 or −1359
The Battle of the Granicus
Year334 BC was a year of thepre-Julian Roman calendar. At the time, it was known as theYear of the Consulship of Caudinus and Calvinus (or, less frequently,year 420Ab urbe condita). The denomination 334 BC for this year has been used since the early medieval period, when theAnno Dominicalendar era became the prevalent method in Europe for naming years.
As the Persiansatraps have gathered for a war council atZeleia, Memnon argues that it is preferable for the Persians to avoid a pitched battle and adopt ascorched earth tactic.Arsites, the satrap of HellespontinePhrygia, will not allow his land to be burned and agrees with other satraps to reject this cautious advice.
KingAlexander III ofMacedonia crosses theDardanelles, leavingAntipater, who has already faithfully served his father,Philip II, as his deputy in Greece with over 13,000 men. Alexander himself commands about 30,000 foot soldiers and over 5,000 cavalry, of whom nearly 14,000 are Macedonians and about 7,000 are allies sent by the Greek League.[1]
May – Alexander wins a major victory against thePersians commanded by the Greek mercenaryMemnon of Rhodes, in theBattle of the Granicus near theSea of Marmara. A large number of KingDarius III's Greek mercenaries are massacred, but 2,000 survivors are sent back to Macedonia in chains.
Alexander accepts the surrender of the Persian provincial capital ofSardis (and its treasury) and proceeds down theIonian coast.
AtHalicarnassus, Alexander successfully undertakes the first of many sieges, eventually forcing his opponents, the mercenary captainMemnon of Rhodes and the Persiansatrap ofCaria,Orontobates, to withdraw by sea. Alexander leaves Caria in the hands ofAda, who was the ruler of Caria before being deposed by her brother-in-law,Pixodarus.
Alexander's victory exposes westernAsia Minor to the Macedonians, and most of the cities in the region hasten to open their gates. The Ionian city ofMiletus defies Alexander and he has to subdue it through asiege.
The rulers ofWei andQi agree to recognize each other as kings, formalizing the independence of theWarring States and the powerlessness of theZhou dynasty.
