Battle of Jaxartes The Battle of Jaxartes was a battle fought in 329 BC by Alexander the Great and his Macedonian army against the Scythians at the Syr Darya River - the modern name for the River Jaxartes . Today the site of the battle straddles the borders of Uzbekistan , Tajikistan , Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan – just south west of the ancient city of Tashkent ( the modern capital of Uzbekistan ) and north east Khujand ( a city in Tajikistan ) . Background . Crossing the Hellespont in 334 B . C . E . Alexander was set on himself as the new monarch of the Achaemenid Empire . First at the Battle of the Granicus , and then at the Battle of Issus and then finally at Gaugemela he struck a series of blows from which the Achaemenid royal house could not recover its fortunes . During the latter two battles Alexander had been determined to capture Darius ( Dar - rye - us ) . However , Darius had been able to secure his escape in each of these battles . Had he been able to secure his capture , Darius would have been extremely useful in securing the submission of the majority of the empire . Many of the Achaemenid provinces beyond Mesopotamia were fruitful and well populated - in both comparative terms and absolutely . In the climate of Bactria and Sogdianna as materially different then it is today . After Gaugamela , the Macedonians were obliged to leave the battle field that had just conquered almost immediately . The pestilence that the corpses would have wrought on his army could have destroyed it . Alexander marched on Babylon to secure his communications . His intention was to make this the administrative capital of his empire . Disposition of the Armies . The Saccae had occupied the northern bank of the Jaxartes , confident that they could beat Alexander ’ s men as they disembarked , but underestimating the harmony with which the Macedonian artillery , fleet , cavalry , and infantry collaborated . Firstly Alexander ordered that the crossing would take place , so that the mounted enemy archers would be faced with more targets than they could strike at ; and he ordered his artillery to cover the soldiers in the ships . ( Catapults have a longer range than bows . ) This is the first recorded incident of such a thing occurring . The battle . The Saccae were thus forced from the banks by the powerful catapult and siege bows . For the Macedonians , it was now easy to cross the Jaxartes . In all likelihood the Scythians would normally have withdrawn at this point . However Alexander wanted to neutralise the threat to his borders from the nomad armies once and for all and was not about to let the enemy get away so easily . Therefore as a second part of his strategy he ordered a battalion of mounted spearman to advance and provoke an attack from the horse - lords . The nomads did not recognize this sacrifice for what it was . In their society , in which blood feuds were common , no commander would have sacrificed troops to obtain a better position for the main force . The families of those who had been killed would immediately start a vendetta . Alexander , on the other hand , could send his mounted spearmen on this dangerous mission because his men were well trained and understood that they were not really left alone . Alexander ’ s vanguard was immediately surrounded and attacked by the Scythian mounted archer s . Once they were engaged , their position was fixed and they were vulnerable to an approach by the Macedonian infantry and Alexander ’ s cohorts of Cretan archers . The nomads now found themselves caught between the Macedonian mounted spearmen and the rest of Alexander ’ s army . The Saccae tried to escape to the wings of the Macedonian lines , but there they were met by Alexander ’ s infantry . Aftermath and Consequences . This was the end for the Scythian army - about 1200 Saccae were surrounded and killed , including their commander Satraces . Over 150 prisoners were taken and 1800 horses were captured . As far as the Macedonians and Greeks knew , no commander had ever been able to pin down and destroy a nomad army – including Darius the Great . This was a boost for morale , and a psychological blow for the nomads north of the Jaxartes . Alexander ’ s main aim , however , had never been to subdue the nomads ; he wanted to go to the south , where a far more serious crisis demanded his attention . He could do so now without loss of face ; and in order to make the outcome acceptable to the Saccae , he released the prisoners of war without ransom . This policy was successful : the northern frontier of Alexander ’ s empire was never seriously threatened again .