Spitamenes has meanwhile raised all Sogdia in…

Spitamenes has meanwhile raised all Sogdia in revolt behind him, bringing in the Massagetai, a people of the Saka confederacy, and besieging the Macedonian garrison in Maracanda.

Alexander sends an army under the command of Pharnuches of Lycia that is promptly annihilated with a loss of more than two thousand infantry and three hundred cavalry.

Understanding now the danger represented by his enemy, Alexander moves personally to relieve Maracanda, only to learn that Spitamenes has left Sogdiana.

It takes Alexander until the autumn of 328 to crush the most determined opponent he encounters in his campaigns.

An incident that occurs at Maracanda widens the breach between Alexander and many of his Macedonians.

He murders Cleitus, one of his most trusted commanders, with his own hands in a drunken quarrel; but his excessive display of remorse leads the army to pass a decree convicting Cleitus posthumously of treason.

The event marks a step in Alexander's progress toward Eastern absolutism, and this growing attitude finds its outward expression in his use of Persian royal dress.

Spitamenes is badly defeated in December by Alexander's general Coenus at the Battle of Gaba, at which point Spitamenes' allies, feeling the situation desperate, kill their leader and send his head as a gift to Alexander.