Was Alexander the Great's reading on the Battle of Cunaxa likely to have guided his plans for Gaugamela?

Question

Battle of Cunaxa, 401 BC - the only previous Greek example of taking on the Persian Grand Army on a level Mesopotamian plain.

Answer 1

Probably.

Answer 2

In a word, no. In contrast to popular understanding, Artaxerxes, with the help of Tissaphernes, won at Cunaxa by deliberately isolating and neutralizing the Greek hoplites and forcing Cyrus into a desperate suicidal attack on the King. Unfortunately the stubborness of the Greeks to accept defeat, and the inability of both sides to overcome ethnic and cultural biases, led to the unneccessary loss of many lives in the Greek's courageous, but wasted retreat. The Persian army won.The Greek element of Cyrus's army, 10,000 Spartan mercenaries, never really got properly engaged in the battle.