The Cloud: Alexander the Great’s Missing Key to Total Guagamelan Domination

Written by Saskia Higgins

Reviewed by Oscar O’Neill & Callum McDonnell

In 15 years of fighting, Alexander the Great never lost a battle, conquering everyone and everything in his path. Alexander was considered a fearless leader, leading his men to battle with military strategies that allowed for his smaller-than-average army to destroy anyone who took him on (History Stories, 2018). On occasion, these wins came with a price. Hundreds of Alexander’s loyal Macedonians died in every battle, significantly hurting his forces. Despite the many fatalities, Alexander’s war tactics proved successful and are still used by military leaders today (History Stories, 2018). If militaries today are using ancient battle strategies, what would history look like if Alexander the Great had access to modern tools? Could 21st-century cloud-based technologies such as communication and knowledge sharing tools have made Alexander’s victories swifter and more devastating?

Take the Battle of Gaugamela. On October 1st, 331BC, Alexander successfully defeated the Persians in a small village beside the river Bumodus, present-day Iraq. Outnumbered by nearly 2:1, He led his army of 47,000 into battle against Darius’ Persian army of greater than 90,000 and emerged victorious. However, this victory was not perfect and came with 500 fatalities and 5000 more wounded (Grant, 2012).

Now, enter cloud computing. Cloud technologies allow for the sharing of on-demand information through the internet (What Is Cloud Computing?, 2020). Cloud computing is the backbone of “knowledge bases” — centralised repositories where information is stored, organised and shared (Brown, 2019). Internal knowledge bases allow employees in organisations to collaborate and share knowledge easily. Let’s explore how knowledge bases would have appealed to Alexander the Great over 2000 years ago.

Military Knowledge Base

With Access to the cloud, Alexander could have created a Military Knowledge Base where his generals and soldiers could share information, instantaneously. Take what we know of the Battle of Gaugamela (Grant, 2012):

• Darius’ army drastically outnumbered Alexanders’ by 2:1.
• Darius strategically chose the battleground and flattened it to allow his army of horsemen and chariots to navigate it effectively.
• Darius also laid traps for the Macedonians to fall into.
• Darius’ army was armed, waiting for the ATG to attack at night.
• Darius fled his last battle and might do so again.

Putting all of this information into an online knowledge base would have significantly helped Alexander the Great. For example, he could have sent messengers to scope out the competition prior to battle. They would have seen Darius’ battleground, traps, and set up and could have input this information into the database, cutting down message transmission time. This would allow Alexander to better prepare his army for battle and potentially save many Macedonian lives. Consultants and lawyers use knowledge bases to store information on their clients and opponents to ensure success — A useful tactic ancient strategic leaders could have used to devastating effect.

Knowing and accessing this information alone would have greatly helped Alexander plan and perfect his strategy prior to the Battle of Gaugamela. The full benefits of cloud computing in battle can not be known, but it is possible it could be used as a platform to share educational videos to train soldiers to execute Alexander’s strategy to great effect.

Informational Video Sharing

Alexander took an unusual approach to this Battle. He commanded his troops to the right flank, drawing Persian troops away from the centre of battle (Grant, 2012). He then brought his troops from the right edge back into the centre flooding into the gap the Persians created (Grant, 2012). Such a unique approach could have been much more easily communicated to troops through informational videos — a tactic modern-day militias use in training (Akhgar and Arabnia, 2014), which could then be added to knowledge bases and shared via the cloud.

Similarly, the Macedonians had weapons, unlike other armies. Their primary weapon, the sarissa was an 18-foot long pike which allowed them to kill their enemies before they could even get their weapons out (Grant, 2012). The soldiers on the ground had traditional swords and were equipped with helmets, body armour, and shields. Soldiers had to quickly learn how to use their weapons and wear their armour or else suffer a gruesome death. Perhaps, informational training videos shared internally online could have potentially reduced the 500 Macedonian fatalities, or at the very least spared the 5000 wounded some harm.

Mobile Communication

As we’ve seen, with cloud technologies, Alexander and his troops could have access to information on their enemies’ strengths and weaknesses, instantly. As well as improved training for battle, the technology could have set them up for success before the fight had even begun. But how could cloud technology help them during battle?

We all take our mobile phone for granted. We don’t think twice about the fact that we can communicate with virtually anyone anywhere in the world at the touch of a button. Mobile devices in battle would have a profound impact on communication. In the Battle of Gaugamela, Parmenion (a Macedonian General) was cornered by Persia. He sent a messenger to find Alexander and bring back help (Grant, 2012). The messenger succeeded and ATG retreated back to help Parmenion, but imagine how much faster and safer this could be if Parmenion could have simply picked up the phone and messaged Alexander. Cloud computing allows for instant transmission and could help in battle by enabling the rapid and constant communication of updates on troop status, fatalities, location and more, saving lives in moments where every second counts.

Alexander won the Battle of Gaugamela, and every other battle for that matter; but would these victories have been easier with the use of modern-day cloud technologies? The answer is a resounding, yes.

References

Akhgar, B. and Arabnia, H., 2014. Emerging Trends In ICT Security. Elsevier Science.

Azure.microsoft.com. 2020. What Is Cloud Computing?. [online] Available at: <https://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/overview/what-is-cloud-computing/> [Accessed 15 December 2020].

Brown, J., 2019. Knowledge Base 101: What Is It And Why Should You Care?. [online] Helpjuice.com. Available at: <https://helpjuice.com/blog/knowledge-base> [Accessed 15 December 2020].

Grant, 2012. The Battle Of Gaugamela, 331 BCE. [online] Ancient History Encyclopedia. Available at: <https://www.ancient.eu/article/108/the-battle-of-gaugamela-331-bce/> [Accessed 15 December 2020].

HISTORY. 2018. History Stories. [online] Available at: <https://www.history.com/news/eight-surprising-facts-about-alexander-the-great#:~:text=In%2015%20years%20of%20conquest%20Alexander%20never%20lost%20a%20battle.&text=After%20securing%20his%20kingdom%20in,the%20Persians%20under%20Darius%20III.> [Accessed 17 December 2020].