"Which presumably means," Gaius countered, "that the air should rise to the heavens and disappear. Eventually we won't be able to breathe!"
Timothy stared at him, and then laughed. "According to the great Aristotle, you have a correct premise, but you've failed to draw the correct conclusion. Look at the logic! Air rises yet we still breathe. Therefore?"
"I don't know!" Gaius said irritably.
"The obvious conclusion is that we shall not run out of air because the heavens are filled with air already! As the great Aristotle noted, nature abhors a void. There can be no permanent void, otherwise air would rush in and fill it!"
"Oh!" Gaius said. "I hadn't thought of that."
"Whether or not there's a void is unimportant. What matters is whether you consider every possibility, then by sheer logic, arrive at the correct conclusion. That's what I'm trying to teach you. I can help you expand your thinking, to give you exercises in logic, but you have to do your part. If you are just going to sit there, then you might as well do what you will with me now, because this will just be a complete waste of time!"
"Two responses," Gaius said firmly, as he stood to take a position of authority. "Whatever the outcome of this, you need not fear. Any failings on my part are not your problem, that I promise."
"Thank you," Timothy said, in a voice of slight surprise.
"Secondly," Gaius continued, "it is not my intention to fail. But that doesn't mean I intend to agree with your theories about. ."
"Gaius!" Timothy interrupted, "that's good. I don't want your agreement! I want you to think! Rome will stand, even if no Roman has the first clue about the elements!" He paused, then added, "If you wish me not to say such things about Rome. ."
"You may say what you wish about Rome, short of inciting a revolt," Gaius said. "Many Romans have been highly critical, so say what you wish! On the other hand, be prepared for some fairly caustic Greek comments!"
"I've noted some already," Timothy said. "Now, as I was saying, if you are to be successful, you have to be able to filter out that which is important from that which is not, and physics is as good as anything to practise on. So, to make things more difficult, soon we shall discuss further the elements, but tomorrow we discuss the Battle of Issus."
Chapter 11
"Battles can be won before they're fought," Timothy started, "through supply, morale, belief in the cause, reason to fight, but assume for this discussion there was only one major difference: Alexander's army was professional, Darius' was far bigger.
"Before the battle, Darius had lost the western seaboard to Alexander, at least down to the Gulf of Iskanderun. Darius had sent a small force forward to hold Tarsus, but Alexander had already taken it. Alexander then fell ill with fever, and Darius, who was now camped on the plain of Sochi, thought that Alexander's apparent immobility signified that he was afraid of his large army. Comment."
Gaius paused. The answer was obvious, so why ask? Eventually he said, "Darius jumped to the conclusion he wanted to, but he still should have sent out spies."
"Suppose he learns that Alexander is ill? To win, you must take the initiative. Your men mustn't see you as indecisive. Even if you're defensive, building fortifications helps them to feel that the commander has a plan and knows what he's doing. However, Darius remained at Sochi for some time, seemingly doing nothing. Comment?"
"There's no need for Darius to build fortifications, but he should have used all the available time and been busy carrying out exercises, drilling his troops."
"You would be quite happy for Darius to remain at Sochi?"
"If you significantly outnumber the enemy, why not force the battle on flat terrain? And with soldiers of poorer quality, why not use the time to drill them and make them better?"
"So with numerical superiority, you sit back and let this Greek wander around your country, sacking it?"
"What I said does not preclude sending small squads into the more hilly coastland as scouts, to raid supplies, and be a general irritant to your opponent," Gaius offered.
"Great strategy! Be a prick!" Timothy admonished, and before Gaius could respond, he continued, "Anyway, Darius heard that Alexander had advanced south, leaving part of his forces at Issus. Darius crossed the mountains and killed the small contingent of wounded he found at Issus, then on hearing that Alexander and Parmenio were commanding separate armies, he marched south. Alexander heard that Darius, with an army five times bigger, is marching towards him. Instead of recalling Parmenio and heading south to take shelter behind fortifications, Alexander marched rapidly to meet Darius. Comment?"
"Blood-thirsty Greek!" Gaius shrugged.
"And that's your assessment?"
"Alexander's outnumbered five to one! Common sense says, get fortified."
"Which is the difference between a great commander and an ordinary one. The ordinary commander follows common sense. The great commander recognizes the opponent's mistakes, and Alexander saw a heaven-sent opportunity to defeat Darius. And, young Gaius, to win a war, you have to remove the enemy's army from the field, not merely irritate him. Now, why was Alexander's strategic position so good?"
"Presumably with the hills and sea Darius didn't have enough room to deploy his larger army," Gaius offered.
"They met on opposite sides of the Pinarus River," Timothy continued. "There was not much flat land; the sea was on Darius' right and hills were on his left. Apart from near the beach, the river had a bank about a metre high. The river bottom was stony, but the river, apart from the odd hole, was about knee deep. Darius sent 20,000 infantry and 30,000 cavalry to act as a screen while he built up his line. He deployed his cavalry to his right, his Greek infantry in the centre, his Asiatic infantry behind and on either side of them, then himself, and even more further behind, more infantry. On the right, his cavalry was extremely deep, owing to the narrowness of the beach, and on his left, because of the hills, he defended with weaker troops, supported by archers. His attack plan was to deploy his cavalry on his right, to take advantage of the flatter terrain. Alexander took about a quarter of his cavalry with him to his right. Both infantries formed lines that readily covered all the flat land. Comment on the Persian deployment."
"Alexander will probably attack Darius' left flank with cavalry."
"Which I presume you knew?" Timothy remarked caustically.
"Yes, but Darius could have worked that out," Gaius shrugged. "That was what he did at the Granicus, and this situation was very similar."
"He doesn't have to repeat himself," Timothy chided.
"No, but Alexander was probably the last commander to lead from the front. The critical point would be where Alexander was. See him go to the right, he will attack from the right. He should have had scouts to see where Alexander was."
"So, Darius planned to attack with cavalry on Alexander's left, and he sent all his cavalry there. Grossly outnumbered, the Greeks still did not lose. Why?"
"You're going to tell me the Greeks fought better," Gaius smiled.
"Far from it," Timothy admonished him, then added with a smile, "Of course, they probably did. No, the problem was geometry. Parmenio could defend a line with depth, so Darius' cavalry, outnumbering the opposition over twelve to one now, could not use the numerical advantage. Comment!"
"They couldn't use it straight away," Gaius replied. "Given time, they must have prevailed. So the trick, using this strategy, is not to lose the battle before you win it." He paused, then added, "In my view, Darius' tactics were somewhat ill-conceived here."