Sogdiana, ca. 300 BCE.

The Silk Road in the first century.

Sogdian Rock or Rock of Ariamazes, a fortress located north of Bactria in Sogdiana (near Samarkand on the northern Silk Road), was captured by the forces of Alexander the Great in 327 BC as part of his conquest of the Achaemenid Empire. Image File history File links Sogdiana-300BCE.png‎ File links The following pages on the English Wikipedia link to this file (pages on other projects are not listed): Sogdiana Sogdian Rock ... Image File history File links Download high resolution version (1223x794, 366 KB) // Licensing I, the creator of this work, hereby grant the permission to copy, distribute and/or modify this document under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License, Version 1. ... Image File history File links Download high resolution version (1223x794, 366 KB) // Licensing I, the creator of this work, hereby grant the permission to copy, distribute and/or modify this document under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License, Version 1. ... Bactria, about 320 BC Bactria (Bactriana, Bākhtar in Persian, also Bhalika in Arabic and Indian languages, and Ta-Hia in Chinese) was the ancient Greek name of the country between the range of the Hindu Kush and the Amu Darya (Oxus); its capital, Bactra or Balhika or Bokhdi (now... Sogdiana, ca. ... Samarkand (Tajik: Самарқанд, Persian: ‎ , Uzbek: , Russian: ), population 412,300 in 2005, is the second-largest city in Uzbekistan and the capital of Samarqand Province. ... The Silk Road Silk Route redirects here. ... Alexander the Great (Greek: ,[1][2] Megas Alexandros; July 20 356 BC – June 10 323 BC), also known as Alexander III, was an Ancient Greek king of Macedon (336–323 BC). ... Centuries: 5th century BC - 4th century BC - 3rd century BC Decades: 370s BC 360s BC 350s BC 340s BC 330s BC - 320s BC - 310s BC 300s BC 290s BC 280s BC 270s BC 332 BC 331 BC 330 BC 329 BC 328 BC - 327 BC - 326 BC 325 BC 324... The Achaemenid Empire (Persian: IPA: ) (559 BC–330 BC) was the first of the Persian Empires to rule over significant portions of Greater Iran. ...

Oxyartes of Bactria had sent his wife and daughters, one of whom was Roxana, to take refuge in the fortress, as it was thought to be impregnable, and was provisioned for a long siege. Oxyartes was a Bactrian, father of Roxana, the wife of Alexander the Great. ... Bactria, about 320 BC Bactria (Bactriana, Bākhtar in Persian, also Bhalika in Arabic and Indian languages, and Ta-Hia in Chinese) was the ancient Greek name of the country between the range of the Hindu Kush and the Amu Darya (Oxus); its capital, Bactra or Balhika or Bokhdi (now... Roxana (Bactrian: Roshanak; literally midnight soul or nightmare), was a Bactrian noble and a wife of Alexander the Great. ... A siege is a military blockade of a city or fortress with the intent of conquering by force or attrition, often accompanied by an assault. ...

When Alexander asked the defenders to surrender, they refused, telling him that he would need "men with wings" to capture it.

Alexander asked for volunteers, whom he would reward if they could climb the cliffs under the fortress. There were some 300 men who from previous sieges had gained experience in rock-climbing. Using tent-pegs and strong flaxen lines, they climbed the cliff face at night, losing about 30 of their number during the ascent. In accordance with Alexander's orders, they signalled their success to the troops below by waving bits of linen, and Alexander sent a herald to shout the news to the enemy's advanced posts that they might now surrender without further delay. The defenders were so surprised and demoralised by this that they surrendered. Binomial name Linum usitatissimum Linnaeus. ... Torn linen cloth, recovered from the Dead Sea Linen is a material made from the fibers of the flax plant. ...

Alexander fell in love with Roxana on sight and eventually married her.

The story of the siege is told by the Roman historian Arrian of Nicomedia, in Anabasis (section 4.18.4-19.6). Lucius Flavius Arrianus Xenophon (c92-c175), known in English as Arrian, was a Roman historian. ... Anabasis Alexandri, the Campaigns of Alexander by Arrian is the most important source on Alexander the Great. ...

External links

• Anabasis (section 4.18.4-19.6) translated into English by Aubrey de Sélincourt