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1 Diodorus is confused as to Dareius's movements after the battle, perhaps from a confusion of the Greater and the Lesser Zab. He placed the battle at Arbela (chap. 53.4), which lies between the two rivers. If Dareius made his escape up the valley of the Greater Zab, to the north, he would have moved into the Macedonian rear. Actually, of course, the battle took place at Gaugamela, in the plain north of the Greater Zab, and Dareius fled to the south to Arbela, escaping up the valley of the Lesser Zab (Curtius 4.16.8; Arrian. 3.15.4-5). Diodorus's repeated reference to the dust cloud may be an attempt to cover what he felt to be an inherent improbability. It is true that, accidentally or intentionally, dust played a part in many ancient battles (cp. E. Echols, Classical Journal, 47 (1952), 285-288).
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