The Battle of Eucratideia was a major battle fought between the Achaemenid Persians and the nomadic Massagetae tribe in present-day Afghanistan in 552 BC. Two Persian armies trapped and destroyed a Massagetae horde which had captured the town of Eucratideia (Ai-Khanoum) from them, reclaiming their lost territory and weakening their barbarian enemies.
Background[]
The Massagetae of Central Asia were an Iranian Saka people who, from the 8th to 7th centuries BC, expelled the Scythians to the Caucasian and Pontic steppes and established themselves at Maracanda (present-day Samarkand, Uzbekistan). The Massagetae were an expansionist people, and their king Ininthimeus assembled a large army at Maracanda in preparation for an invasion of the Median Empire's under-defended eastern regions during the mid-6th century BC. The Achaemenid Persians' emergence during the Persian Revolt resulted in the Achaemenid satrap Otanes' takeover of Bactria from the Medians. Ininthimeus decided to crush the Persians before they could replace the Medians and strengthen the empire's eastern defenses, and he led his horde south and captured the town of Eucratideia (Ai-Khanoum, Afghanistan) from its small Persian garrison. At the same time, however, the Median noble Tukulti-ninurta joined the Persian cause, and his and Otanes' armies marched on Eucratideia with the objective of destroying the Massagetae horde and recapturing the town.
Battle[]
The two Persian armies consisted of a mixture of Median and Bactrian cavalry, Mardian archers, Median and Persian spearmen, and mercenary hillmen, while the Massagetae army consisted primarily of cavalry (especially horse archers and lancers) and of young axemen. The Persian armies positioned themselves to the south and west of the city, and the battle began when Otanes' archers and Assyrian chariots on his right flank began to skirmish with the Massagetae axemen and horse archers in the city. The Persians proceeded to launch an assault on the town from all sides, with the Persian cavalry breaking through on both fronts, and their infantry pushing the Massagetae into the town center. There, the Massagetae made their last stand, and they were slaughtered as they attempted to take as many Persians with them as possible. The Persians took the town with just 417 losses, while 2,400 Massagetae warriors were killed and 311 captured.
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