Battle of Guagamela
The events depicted in this diorama are the result of an exhaustive study by Alejandro Noguera, the current director of L’Iber, the Museum of Toy Soldiers. Drawing on his doctoral dissertation, *The Macedonian Phalanx: From Its Origins to the First Successors of Alexander the Great*, Alejandro Noguera created this magnificent diorama, which is over two meters long and features 4,000 25-mm figures.
This diorama depicts the historical events that took place on October 1, 331 B.C., at Gaugamela, near what is now the city of Mosul in Iraq. In this battle, the Persian armies under King Darius III faced off against the Macedonian army under the command of Alexander the Great. Modern historians have estimated that the Persian army consisted of some 250,000 soldiers. As for Alexander’s army, it numbered 7,000 cavalry and 40,000 infantry.
One of the main differences between the two armies—and the reason victory went to the Macedonians—was their unity: most of the soldiers were professionals, and, even more importantly, they knew the king they were representing; they spoke with him, ate with him—unlike the Persians, many of whose soldiers did not know their ruler and did not even speak the same language, a fact that made communication among their troops very difficult. Furthermore, many of them had never wielded a weapon in their lives, as they were farmers. This battle marked the end of the Persian Empire and is considered a masterpiece of military tactics and Alexander the Great’s greatest victory.
If you look at the model, you can see how Alexander’s cavalry is moving diagonally toward the center of the front, where Darius is located. A devastating charge that will cause the Persian center to collapse and result in the loss of the best troops in his army.
Faced with the possibility of defeat, Darius decided to flee: “Live to fight another day.” He began his retreat, and with him, the morale of his troops crumbled; disorganized, they began to flee in all directions. The victory at Gaugamela gave Alexander the Great control of Mesopotamia and effectively marked the defeat of the Persian Empire, opening the Eastern world to Hellenization.
