Battle of the Uxian Defile The Battle of Uxian Defile was fought by Alexander the Great against the Uxian tribe of the Persian Empire . The battle raged on the mountain range between the key Persian cities of Susa and Persepolis . Persepolis was the ancient capital of the Persian Empire and held a symbolic value among the native Persian population . They believed that if this city were to fall into enemy hands , then , in effect , the whole Persian Empire would fall into the hands of the enemy . Background . Alexander had recently defeated Darius III Codomannus at the Battle of Gaugamela on the eastern side of the Tigris river , the result of which had been a disaster for Darius and the Persian Empire . Darius had prematurely fled the battle , and his army had dispersed . Thus Alexander had been unable to achieve his goal of capturing Darius during the course of the battle . Instead , Alexander chased Darius and , as a result , captured the important cities of the Persian Empire along the way . Immediately after the battle , Alexander feared that the Persians would organize the defense of Babylon , which had thick walls . This city ' s walls covered a vast area , which included huge farm lands , and could therefore hold out almost indefinitely against a siege . However , instead of finding the city closed to him , he found that it was open to him . The Persian satrap Mazaeus decided to capitalize on Alexander ' s famed generosity and let him into the city . It was as a result of this that Mazaeus was appointed satrap of this city and surrounding region , a lucrative post . It was Alexander ' s practice to , as much as possible , leave the old governors in their positions - a practice he had learned from Cyrus the Great . Alexander rested his troops in Babylon for some days , and paid them amply with the treasures that were found there . In addition , he decided to set it up as a secondary base . From here Alexander set out for Susa , the winter capital of the Persian Empire . It took him twenty days to reach this place , from which there was 50 , 000 gold talents received ( roughly equal to $ 538 , 000 , 000 , 000 USD in today ' s money ) . It was as a result of this that Alexander was able to send Antipater , the regent of Macedon , 3 , 000 gold talents ( about $ 32 , 280 , 000 USD in today ' s money ) for the war against Sparta . From Susa , Alexander marched towards the mountain defile . Normally , the tribes in the Persian Empire would pay tribute to the Great King , but the Persians had been unable to subdue the Uxians . As a result , whenever Persian armies wanted to use the pass for logistical purposes , they were required to pay a fee . The Uxians had sent Alexander an embassy to the effect that they expected him to pay the same tribute the Persians were required to . Alexander agreed , saying that on a given day he would follow the main road and pay the agreed upon tribute . Battle . The Uxians had expected him to travel by the main road to pay the tribute before they let him pass . However , on that day , Alexander , with Craterus and his shield bearing guards , and 8 , 000 other soldiers passed by the northern road , Craterus occupying the high ground where it was assumed the Uxians would retreat as a means of last resort . He then attacked their village . After having done so , by a series of forced marches , he took the defile from the existing Uxians , who then retreated to Craterus ' position , who quickly dispatched them . Meanwhile , after having attacked the village and taken the village , the main force arrived behind the Uxians . At this point the battle was over , the Uxians were entirely surrounded by the Macedonians , who put them to the sword . Results . The leftover Uxians almost immediately sued for peace . The agreed upon terms were as follows , each year they were to give to the Macedonians : 100 horses , 500 beeves , and 30 , 000 sheep .