Background
Following the assassination of Alexander's father, Philip II of Macedon, and the subsequent consolidation of Alexander's Macedonian positions, he set out into Asia in 334 BC.
He crossed the Hellespont from Sestos to Abydos, and advanced up the road to Dascylium, which was the capital of the Satrapy of Hellespontine Phrygia. The various satraps of the western Persian empire gathered with their forces at the town of Zelea and offered battle on the banks of the Granicus River. Memnon suggested a scorched-earth policy of burning the grain and supplies and retreating in front of Alexander, but his suggestion was rejected by the commanding satraps.
Read more about this topic: Battle Of The Granicus
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