Therefore, as a second part of his strategy, he ordered a battalion of mounted spear-men to advance and provoke an attack from the horse-lords.

In their society, in which blood feuds were common, no commander would have sacrificed troops to obtain a better position for the main force.

Alexander, on the other hand, could send his mounted spear-men on this dangerous mission because his men were well trained and understood that they were not really left alone.

Once they were engaged, their position was fixed and they were vulnerable to an approach by the Macedonian infantry and Alexander's cohorts of Cretan archers.

As far as the Macedonians[6] knew, no commander had ever been able to pin down and destroy a nomad army besides Alexander's father, Philip II.

He could do so now without loss of face; and in order to make the outcome acceptable to the Saka, he released the prisoners of war without ransom.

This policy was successful: the northern frontier of Alexander's empire no longer faced an immediate threat from the Eurasian nomads.