330-327 BC. Alexander’s conquest of Afghanistan.

Winter 330, the Philotas Conspiracy occurred in Areia.

The Central range (Hindu Kush Mts.) and northern and southern plateaus, Lake Seistan (Cyrus and the people of Drangiana, supplied him with 30000 wagons of provisions), crossing the Oxus River

The Main Road went along the south – Herat => Kandahar (Helmund river) => Kabul => Samarkand

Northern route led into Iran from the Oxus River.

Revolts by Satibarzanes spread to Medeia, forcing Alexander to remain at Alexandria Areia (Heart).

329 Alexander left Erygeius in charge of Areia. Alexander decided to take the southern route to secure his supply lines, over the passes of the Hindu Kush near Alexandria Kapisa (near Kabul). Bessus engaged in scorched earth policy on the northern side of the Hindu Kush. But he was unable to mobilize Bacrian nobility with only 7000 cavalry, so he withdrew into Sogdiana using Sacae and Scythians. Alexander used the Kawak (13500 ft) or the Kushan pass (10000) He marched to the Oxus (75 km waterless track). His men were parched, so they consumed pack animals and made leather skin rafts to ford river. Spitamenes and Dataphernes surrendered Bessus at Maracanda, capital of Sogdiana, Alexander had him mutilated at Bactria then sent back to Media for execution. Alexander then pushed on into Sogdiana and beyond to the Jaxartes River, founded a colony at Alexandria Eschata, furthest extent northward of his empire, in the traditional homeland of the Sacae (Turkmen tribes). At this point Alexander received a large group of reinforcements.

Winter 328 began with numerous revolts in Sogdiana. Alexander divided army into 3 (Alexander, Hephaestion, Coenus) to deal with revolts in 3 directions, Spitamenes to the east raided from the desert reinforced by the Dahae tribesmen, the Sacae attacked from the north, the Satibarzanes and Bactrians raided from the south. Alexander had no choice but to seize bases such as the Sogdian Rock and to deny the enemy their bases, massacring men, enslaving women and children, and leaving garrisions site by site. Alexander divided his army into 5 separate units for winter quarters. It was during this isolated, dreary winter that Alexander killed Cleitus the Black in a fit of drunken rage.

327: Alexander divided his army into 5 separate units: Alexander’s, Hephaistion, Ptolemy, Perdiccas, and Coenus. It took two years to suppress Bactrian and Sogdian revolts, but he ended up recruiting Sacae, Bactrian, Sogdian, and Scythian cavalry for his invasion of India.

Ultimately Alexander suppressed the incessant rebellions; he received 20,000 reinforcements from the Mediterranean and recruited 30000 native Persian youths to form his eventual phalanx. He decided to marry the Bactrian princess Roxane in full Macedonian ritual (Spring 327), his first legitimate marriage. His increasingly “Persian” behavior prompted the Page Conspiracy.