In the spring B.C.334 Alexander crossed the Hellespont into Asia.

His army consisted of thirty-four thousand foot and four thousand horse.

He had with him only seventy talents in money.
He marched directly on the Persian army, which, vastly exceeding him in strength, was holding the line of the Granicus.

He forced the passage of the river, routed the enemy, and the possession of all Asia Minor, with its treasures, was the fruit of the victory.

The remainder of that year he spent in the military organization of the conquered provinces.
Meantime Darius, the Persian king, had advanced an army of six hundred thousand men to prevent the passage of the Macedonians into Syria.