Robert Holmes

Alexander the Great’s final campaign culminated in the siege of Mallia. He won the battle, secured vast swathes of territory, and almost lost his life.

When Alexander marched into the Indian subcontinent, he planned to extend his empire. At the Battle of Hydaspes, Indian King Porus had other ideas.

Alexander’s conquest of Sogdiana and Bactria was met with dogged resistance. Unable to face him on the battlefield, many locals retreated to the Sogdian Rock.

Marching deep into Asia, Alexander decided on the Jaxartes River as the border of his empire. His choice was contested at the Battle of Jaxartes.

Having suffered a series of defeats, Darius III gathered a vast army in the hope of destroying the Macedonians at the Battle of Gaugamela.

Following the assassination of Philip, many Macedonian vassal states rose in revolt. The Battle of Thebes resulted from one such rebellion.

Alexander the Great first crossed swords with the Persians at the Battle of the Granicus, earning the first of many victories of his Persian campaign.

Developed in 10th-century China, gunpowder changed how we live, even though it was sometimes considered demonic. But modern guns don’t use gunpowder.