07-12-2012, 08:47 PM
Prisoners would have been gathered in a matter of days, even weeks, not hours. Many, in small or pretty large groups, would willingly surrender to escape death, others (probably many more) would be handed over by the numerous local communities to which thousands of survivors would have sought safety, provisions etc. Many groups, some thousands strong, would resort to razing the formerly friendly country in their effort to escape, which would greatly enhance the Greek position in the area and win over many allies to herd up even more prisoners. The problem only arises if one tries to defend a position that these prisoners were taken overnight. The taking of (hundreds of) thousands of defeated enemies that lack the will, the means and the supplies to escape is and was nothing new.
