On reaching Mount Amanus, scouts found the Persians advancing through the plains of Issus. Realizing that the terrain at this point favored his smaller army, Alexander attacked the Persians, who were effectively squeezed by the Macedonians. Although Darius escaped, back across the Euphrates river, leaving the rest of his family in Alexander's hands, the battle marked the end of Persian hegemony in Anatolia. Alexander then turned his attention to Syria, the eastern Mediterranean coast and Egypt.