Issus (town)

Issus is an ancient settlement on the strategic coastal plain straddling the small Pinarus river (a fast melt-water stream several meters wide) below the navigationally difficult inland mountains towering above to the east in the Turkish Province of Hatay, near the border with Syria. It is most notable for being the place of no less than three decisive ancient or medieval battles each called in their own era the Battle of Issus where:

*# The Battle of Issus, Alexander the Great of Macedonia defeated Darius III of Persia. This battle is occasionally called the" 'First battle of Issus', "but is more generally known as the battle of Issus, owing to the importance of Alexander's defeat of the First Persian Empire's impact on subsequent history of the region, including all the successor polities.
*# Battle of Issus (194), or" 'Second Battle of Issus' —" between the forces of Emperor Septimus Severus and his rival, Pescennius Niger.
*# Battle of Issus (622), or" 'Third Battle of Issus' —" between the 'Byzantine Empire' and the Sassanid Persian Empire. That the Byzantines would triumph in this battle was allegedly prophesized by Mohammed.

Whether Issus is still present within a modern settlement is hotly debated among researchers. Regardless of which mountain brook was the locus of the battles, the old town was situated close to present-day İskenderun, Turkey, in the Gulf of İskenderun. Today, no town exists on both sides of the Pinarus river, which may or may not have been called Issus.