a rest. He deposed Apollophanes from the viceroyalty,[803] because
he discovered that he had paid no heed to his instructions. Thoas
was appointed viceroy over the people of this district; but as he
fell ill and died, Sibyrtius succeeded to the office. The same man
had also lately been appointed by Alexander viceroy of Carmania; but
now the rule over the Arachotians and Gadrosians was given to him,
and Tlepolemus, son of Pythophanes, received Carmania. The king was
already advancing into Carmania, when news was brought to him that
Philip, the viceroy of the country of the Indians, had been plotted
against by the mercenaries and treacherously killed; but that Philip’s
Macedonian body-guards had caught some of the murderers in the very
act and others afterwards, and had put them to death. When he had
ascertained this, he sent a letter into India to Eudemus and Taxiles,
ordering them to administer the affairs of the land which had
previously been subordinated to Philip until he could send a viceroy
for it. When he arrived in Carmania, Craterus effected a junction with
him, bringing with him the rest of the army and the elephants. He
also brought Ordanes, whom he had arrested for revolting and trying
to effect a revolution.[804] Thither also came Stasanor, the viceroy
of the Areians[805] and Zarangians, accompanied by Pharismanes, son
of Phrataphernes, the viceroy of the Parthians and Hyrcanians. There
came also the generals who had been left with Parmenio over the army in
Media, Cleander, Sitalces, and Heracon, bringing with them the greater
part of their army. Both the natives and the soldiers themselves
brought many accusations against Cleander and Sitalces, as for example,
that the temples had been pillaged by them, old tombs rifled, and other
acts of injustice, recklessness, and tyranny perpetrated against their
subjects. As these charges were proved,[806] he put them to death,
in order to inspire others who might be left as viceroys, governors,
or prefects of provinces with the fear of suffering equal penalties
with them if they swerved from the path of duty.[807] This was one of
the chief means by which Alexander kept in subordination the nations
which he had conquered in war or which had voluntarily submitted to
him, though they were so many in number and so far distant from each
other; because under his regal sway it was not allowed that those who
were ruled should be unjustly treated by those who ruled. At that time
Heracon was acquitted of the charge, but soon after, being convicted
by the men of Susa of having pillaged the temple in that city, he also
suffered punishment. Stasanor and Phrataphernes came to Alexander
bringing a multitude of beasts of burden and many camels, when they
learnt that he was marching by the route to Gadrosia, conjecturing that
his army would suffer the very hardships which it did suffer. Therefore
these men arrived just at the very time they were required, as also did
their camels and beasts of burden. For Alexander distributed all these
animals to the officers man by man, to all the various squadrons and
centuries of the cavalry, and to the various companies of the infantry,
as their number allowed him.
CHAPTER XXVIII.
ALEXANDER IN CARMANIA.
Certain authors have said (though to me the statement seems incredible)
that Alexander led his forces through Carmania lying extended with
his Companions upon two covered waggons joined together, the flute
being played to him; and that the soldiers followed him wearing
garlands and sporting. Food was provided for them, as well as all
kinds of dainties which had been brought together along the roads by
the Carmanians. They say that he did this in imitation of the Bacchic
revelry of Dionysus, because a story was told about that deity, that
after subduing the Indians he traversed the greater part of Asia in
this manner and received the appellation of Thriambus.[808] For the
same reason the processions in honour of victories after war were
called _thriambi_. This has been recorded neither by Ptolemy, son of
Lagus, nor by Aristobulus, son of Aristobulus, nor by any other writer
whose testimony on such points any one would feel to be worthy of
credit. It is sufficient therefore for me to record it as unworthy of
belief.[809] But as to what I am now going to describe I follow the
account of Aristobulus. In Carmania Alexander offered sacrifices to the
gods as thank-offerings for his victory over the Indians, and because
his army had been brought in safety out of Gadrosia. He also celebrated
a musical and gymnastic contest. He then appointed Peucestas one of his
confidential body-guards, having already resolved to make him viceroy
of Persis. He wished him, before being appointed to the viceroyalty,
to experience this honour and evidence of confidence, as a reward for
his exploit among the Mallians. Up to this time the number of his
confidential body-guards had been seven:—Leonnatus, son of Anteas,
Hephaestion, son of Amyntor, Lysimachus, son of Agathocles, Aristonoüs,
son of Pisaeus, these four being Pellaeans; Perdiccas, son of Orontes,
from Orestis, Ptolemy, son of Lagus, and Peithon, son of Crateas, the
Heordaeans. Peucestas, who had held the shield over Alexander, was now
added to them as an eighth. At this time Nearchus, having sailed round
the coast of Ora and Gadrosia and that of the Ichthyophagi, put into
port in the inhabited part of the coastland of Carmania,[810] and going
up thence into the interior with a few men he reported to Alexander
the particulars of the voyage which he had made along the coasts of
the external sea. Nearchus was then sent down to the sea again to
sail round as far as the country of Susiana, and the outlets of the
river Tigres.[811] How he sailed from the river Indus to the Persian
Sea and the mouth of the Tigres, I shall describe in a separate book,
following the account of Nearchus himself.[812] For he also wrote a
history of Alexander in Greek. Perhaps I shall be able to compose this
narrative in the future, if inclination and the divine influence urge
me to it. Alexander now ordered Hephaestion to march into Persis[813]
from Carmania along the seashore with the larger division of the army
and the beasts of burden, taking with him also the elephants; because,
as he was making the expedition in the season of winter,[814] the part
of Persis near the sea was warm and possessed abundant supplies of
provisions.
CHAPTER XXIX.
ALEXANDER IN PERSIS.—TOMB OF CYRUS REPAIRED.
He himself then marched to Pasargadae in Persis, with the lightest of
his infantry, the Companion cavalry and a part of the archers; but
he sent Stasanor down to his own land.[815] When he arrived at the
confines of Persis, he found that Phrasaortes was no longer viceroy,
for he happened to have died of disease while Alexander was still in
India. Orxines was managing the affairs of the country, not because he
had been appointed ruler by Alexander, but because he thought it his
duty to keep Persia in order for him, as there was no other ruler.[816]
Atropates, the viceroy of Media, also came to Pasargadae, bringing
Baryaxes, a Mede, under arrest, because he had assumed the upright
head-dress and called himself king of the Persians and Medes.[817]
With Baryaxes he also brought those who had taken part with him in the
attempted revolution and revolt. Alexander put these men to death.
He was grieved by the outrage committed upon the tomb of Cyrus, son
of Cambyses; for according to Aristobulus, he found it dug through
and pillaged. The tomb of the famous Cyrus was in the royal park at
Pasargadae, and around it a grove of all kinds of trees had been
planted. It was also watered by a stream, and high grass grew in the
meadow. The base of the tomb itself had been made of squared stone in
the form of a rectangle. Above there was a stone building surmounted
by a roof, with a door leading within, so narrow that even a small man
could with difficulty enter, after suffering much discomfort.[818] In
the building lay a golden coffin, in which the body of Cyrus had been
buried, and by the side of the coffin was a couch, the feet of which
were of gold wrought with the hammer. A carpet of Babylonian tapestry
with purple rugs formed the bedding; upon it were also a Median coat
with sleeves and other tunics of Babylonian manufacture. Aristobulus
adds that Median trousers and robes dyed the colour of hyacinth were
also lying upon it, as well as others of purple and various other
colours; moreover there were collars, sabres, and earrings of gold and
precious stones soldered together, and near them stood a table. On
the middle of the couch lay the coffin[819] which contained the body
of Cyrus. Within the enclosure, near the ascent leading to the tomb,
there was a small house built for the Magians who guarded the tomb; a
duty which they had discharged ever since the time of Cambyses, son
of Cyrus, son succeeding father as guard. To these men a sheep and
specified quantities of wheaten flour and wine were given daily by
the king; and a horse once a month as a sacrifice to Cyrus. Upon the
tomb an inscription in Persian letters had been placed, which bore the
following meaning in the Persian language: “O man, I am Cyrus, son of
Cambyses, who founded the empire of the Persians, and was king of Asia.
Do not therefore grudge me this monument.” As soon as Alexander had
conquered Persia, he was very desirous of entering the tomb of Cyrus;
but he found that everything else had been carried off except the
coffin and couch. They had even maltreated the king’s body; for they
had torn off the lid of the coffin and cast out the corpse. They had
tried to make the coffin itself of smaller bulk and thus more portable,
by cutting part of it off and crushing part of it up; but as their
efforts did not succeed, they departed, leaving the coffin in that
state. Aristobulus says that he was himself commissioned by Alexander
to restore the tomb for Cyrus, to put in the coffin the parts of the
body still preserved, to put the lid on, and to restore the parts
of the coffin which had been defaced. Moreover he was instructed to
stretch the couch tight with bands, and to deposit all the other things
which used to lie there for ornament, both resembling the former ones
and of the same number. He was ordered also to do away with the door,
building part of it up with stone and plastering part of it over with
cement; and finally to put the royal seal upon the cement. Alexander
arrested the Magians who were the guards of the tomb, and put them to
the torture to make them confess who had done the deed; but in spite of
the torture they confessed nothing either about themselves or any other
person. In no other way were they proved to have been privy to the
deed; they were therefore released by Alexander.[820]
CHAPTER XXX.
PEUCESTAS APPOINTED VICEROY OF PERSIS.
Thence he proceeded to the royal palace of the Persians, which he
had on a former occasion himself burnt down, as I have previously
related, expressing my disapprobation of the act[821]; and on his
return Alexander himself did not commend it. Many charges were brought
by the Persians against Orxines, who ruled them after the death of
Phrasaortes. He was convicted of having pillaged temples and royal
tombs, and of having unjustly put many of the Persians to death. He
was therefore hanged by men acting under Alexander’s orders[822]; and
Peucestas the confidential body-guard was appointed viceroy of Persis.
The king placed special confidence in him both for other reasons,
and especially on account of his exploit among the Mallians, where
he braved the greatest dangers and helped to save Alexander’s life.
Besides this, he did not refuse to accommodate himself to the Asiatic
mode of living; and as soon as he was appointed to the position of
viceroy of Persis, he openly assumed the native garb, being the only
man among the Macedonians who adopted the Median dress in preference
to the Grecian.[823] He also learnt to speak the Persian language
correctly, and comported himself in all other respects like a Persian.
For this conduct he was not only commended by Alexander, but the
Persians also were highly delighted with him, for preferring their
national customs to those of his own forefathers.
BOOK VII.
CHAPTER I.
ALEXANDER’S PLANS.—THE INDIAN PHILOSOPHERS.
When Alexander arrived at Pasargadae and Persepolis,[824] he was seized
with an ardent desire to sail down the Euphrates and Tigres[825] to the
Persian Sea, and to see the mouths of those rivers as he had already
seen those of the Indus as well as the sea into which it flows. Some
authors[826] also have stated that he was meditating a voyage round the
larger portion of Arabia, the country of the Ethiopians, Libya (_i.e._
Africa), and Numidia beyond Mount Atlas to Gadeira (_i.e._ Cadiz),[827]
inward into our sea (_i.e._ the Mediterranean); thinking that after he
had subdued both Libya and Carchedon (_i.e._ Carthage), he might with
justice be called king of all Asia.[828] For he said that the kings
of the Persians and Medes called themselves Great Kings without any
right, since they did not rule the larger part of Asia. Some say that
he was meditating a voyage thence into the Euxine Sea, to Scythia and
the Lake Maeotis (_i.e._ the Sea of Azov); while others assert that
he intended to go to Sicily and the Iapygian Cape,[829] for the fame
of the Romans spreading far and wide was now exciting his jealousy.
For my own part I cannot conjecture with any certainty what were his
plans; and I do not care to guess. But this I think I can confidently
affirm, that he meditated nothing small or mean; and that he would
never have remained satisfied with any of the acquisitions he had made,
even if he had added Europe to Asia, or the islands of the Britons to
Europe; but would still have gone on seeking for unknown lands beyond
those mentioned. I verily believe that if he had found no one else to
strive with, he would have striven with himself. And on this account
I commend some of the Indian philosophers, who are said to have been
caught by Alexander as they were walking in the open meadow where they
were accustomed to spend their time.[830] At the sight of him and his
army they did nothing else but stamp with their feet on the earth, upon
which they were stepping. When he asked them by means of interpreters
what was the meaning of their action, they replied as follows: “O
king Alexander, every man possesses as much of the earth as this upon
which we have stepped; but thou being only a man like the rest of us,
except in being meddlesome and arrogant, art come over so great a part
of the earth from thy own land, giving trouble both to thyself and
others.[831] And yet thou also wilt soon die, and possess only as much
of the earth as is sufficient for thy body to be buried in.”
CHAPTER II.
ALEXANDER’S DEALINGS WITH THE INDIAN SAGES.
On this occasion Alexander commended both the words and the men who
spoke them; but nevertheless he did just the opposite to that which he
commended. When also in the Isthmus he met Diogenes of Sinope, lying
in the sun, standing near him with his shield-bearing guards and foot
Companions, he asked if he wanted anything. But Diogenes said that he
wanted nothing else, except that he and his attendants would stand out
of the sunlight. Alexander is said to have expressed his admiration
of Diogenes’s conduct.[832] Thus it is evident that Alexander was
not entirely destitute of better feelings; but he was the slave of
his insatiable ambition. Again, when he arrived at Taxila and saw
the naked sect of Indian philosophers, he was exceedingly desirous
that one of these men should live with him; because he admired their
power of endurance.[833] But the oldest of the philosophers, Dandamis
by name, of whom the others were disciples, refused to come himself
to Alexander, and would not allow the others to do so.[834] He is
said to have replied that he was himself a son of Zeus, if Alexander
was[835]; and that he wanted nothing from him, because he was quite
contented with what he had. And besides he said that he saw his
attendants wandering over so much of the land and sea to no advantage,
and that there was no end to their many wanderings. Therefore he had
no desire that Alexander should give him anything which was in his
own possession, nor on the other hand was he afraid that he should
be excluded from anything which Alexander ruled over. For while he
lived the country of India, which produces the fruits in their season,
was sufficient for him; and when he died he should be released from
the body, an unsuitable associate. Alexander then did not attempt
to force him to come with him, considering that the man was free to
do as he pleased. But Megasthenes has recorded that Calanus, one of
the philosophers of this region, who had very little power over his
desires, was induced to do so; and that the philosophers themselves
reproached him, for having deserted the happiness existing among them,
and serving another lord instead of the God.[836]
CHAPTER III.
SELF-SACRIFICE OF THE INDIAN CALANUS.
This I have recorded, because in a history of Alexander it is necessary
also to speak of Calanus; for when he was in the country of Persis
his health became delicate, though he had never before been subject
to illness.[837] Accordingly, not being willing to lead the life of a
man in infirm health, he told Alexander that in such circumstances
he thought it best for him to put an end to his existence, before he
came into experience of any disease which might compel him to change
his former mode of living. For a long time the king tried to dissuade
him; however, when he saw that he was not to be overcome, but would
find some other way of release, if this were not yielded to him, he
ordered a funeral pyre to be heaped up for him, in the place where the
man himself directed, and gave instructions that Ptolemy, son of Lagus,
the confidential body-guard, should have the charge of it. They say
that a solemn procession, consisting both of horses and men, advanced
before him, some of the latter being armed and others carrying all
kinds of incense for the pyre. They also say that they were carrying
gold and silver goblets and royal apparel; and because he was unable to
walk through illness, a horse was prepared for him. However, not being
able to mount the horse, he was conveyed stretched out upon a litter,
crowned with a garland after the custom of the Indians, and singing in
the Indian language. The Indians say that he sang hymns to the gods and
eulogiums on his countrymen.[838] Before he ascended the funeral-pyre
he presented the horse which he should himself have mounted, being a
royal steed of the Nisaean breed,[839] to Lysimachus, one of those who
attended him to learn his philosophy. He distributed among his other
disciples the goblets and rugs which Alexander had ordered to be cast
into the pyre as an honour to him. Then mounting the pyre he lay down
upon it in a becoming manner, and was visible to the whole army. To
Alexander the spectacle appeared unseemly, as it was being exhibited at
the cost of a friend; but to the rest it was a cause of wonder that he
did not move any part of his body in the fire.[840] As soon as the men
to whom the duty had been assigned set fire to the pyre, Nearchus says
the trumpets sounded, in accordance with Alexander’s order, and the
whole army raised the war-cry as it was in the habit of shouting when
advancing to battle. The elephants also chimed in with their shrill and
warlike cry, in honour of Calanus. Authors upon whom reliance may be
placed, have recorded these and such-like things, facts of great import
to those who are desirous of learning how steadfast and immovable a
thing the human mind is in regard to what it wishes to accomplish.
CHAPTER IV.
MARRIAGES BETWEEN MACEDONIANS AND PERSIANS.
At this time Alexander sent Atropates away to his own viceroyalty,[841]
after advancing to Susa; where he arrested Abulites and his son
Oxathres, and put them to death on the ground that they were governing
the Susians badly.[842] Many outrages upon temples, tombs, and the
subjects themselves had been committed by those who were ruling the
countries conquered by Alexander in war; because the king’s expedition
into India had taken a long time, and it was not thought credible that
he would ever return in safety from so many nations possessing so
many elephants, going to his destruction beyond the Indus, Hydaspes,
Acesines, and Hyphasis.[843] The calamities that befell him among the
Gadrosians were still greater inducements to those acting as viceroys
in this region to be free from apprehension of his return to his
dominions. Not only so, but Alexander himself is said to have become
more inclined at that time to believe accusations which were plausible
in every way, as well as to inflict very severe punishment upon those
who were convicted even of small offences, because with the same
disposition he thought they would be likely to perform great ones.[844]
In Susa also he celebrated both his own wedding and those of his
companions. He himself married Barsine, the eldest daughter of
Darius,[845] and according to Aristobulus, besides her another,
Parysatis, the youngest daughter of Ochus.[846] He had already married
Roxana, daughter of Oxyartes the Bactrian.[847] To Hephaestion he
gave Drypetis, another daughter of Darius, and his own wife’s sister;
for he wished Hephaestion’s children to be first cousins to his own.
To Craterus he gave Amastrine, daughter of Oxyartes the brother of
Darius; to Perdiccas, the daughter of Atropates, viceroy of Media; to
Ptolemy the confidential body-guard, and Eumenes the royal secretary,
the daughters of Artabazus, to the former Artacama, and to the latter
Artonis. To Nearchus he gave the daughter of Barsine and Mentor; to
Seleucus the daughter of Spitamenes the Bactrian. Likewise to the rest
of his Companions he gave the choicest daughters of the Persians and
Medes, to the number of eighty. The weddings were celebrated after
the Persian manner, seats being placed in a row for the bridegrooms;
and after the banquet the brides came in and seated themselves, each
one near her own husband. The bridegrooms took them by the right hand
and kissed them; the king being the first to begin, for the weddings
of all were conducted in the same way. This appeared the most popular
thing which Alexander ever did; and it proved his affection for his
Companions. Each man took his own bride and led her away; and on all
without exception Alexander bestowed dowries.[848] He also ordered
that the names of all the other Macedonians who had married any of the
Asiatic women should be registered. They were over 10,000 in number;
and to these Alexander made presents on account of their weddings.
CHAPTER V.
THE SOLDIERS REWARDED.
He now thought it a favourable opportunity to liquidate the debts of
all the soldiers who had incurred them[849]; and for this purpose he
ordered that a register should be made of how much each man owed,
in order that they might receive the money. At first only a few
registered their names, fearing that this was being instituted as a
test by Alexander, to discover which of the soldiers found their pay
insufficient for their expenses, and which of them were extravagant
in their mode of living. When he was informed that most of them were
not registering their names, but that those who had borrowed money on
bonds were concealing the fact, he reproached them for their distrust
of him. For he said that it was not right either that the king should
deal otherwise than sincerely with his subjects, or that any of those
ruled by him should think that he would deal otherwise than sincerely
with them. Accordingly, he had tables placed in the camp with money
upon them; and he appointed men to manage the distribution of it. He
ordered the debts of all who showed a money-bond to be liquidated
without the debtors’ names being any longer registered. Consequently,
the men believed that Alexander was dealing sincerely with them; and
the fact that they were not known was a greater pleasure to them than
the fact that they ceased to be in debt. This presentation to the army
is said to have amounted to 20,000 talents.[850] He also gave presents
to particular individuals, according as each man was held in honour
for his merit or valour, if he had become conspicuous in crises of
danger. Those who were distinguished for their personal gallantry he
crowned with golden chaplets:—first, Peucestas, the man who had held
the shield over him; second, Leonnatus, who also had held his shield
over him, and moreover had incurred dangers in India and won a victory
in Ora.[851] For he had posted himself with the forces left with him
against the Oritians and the tribes living near them, who were trying
to effect a revolution, and had conquered them in battle. He also
seemed to have managed other affairs in Ora with great success. In
addition to these, he crowned Nearchus for his successful voyage round
the coast from the land of the Indians through the Great Sea; for
this officer had now arrived at Susa. Besides these three, he crowned
Onesicritus, the pilot of the royal ship; as well as Hephaestion and
the rest of the confidential body-guards.
CHAPTER VI.
AN ARMY OF ASIATICS TRAINED UNDER THE MACEDONIAN DISCIPLINE.
The viceroys from the newly-built cities and the rest of the territory
subdued in war came to him, bringing with them youths just growing into
manhood to the number of 30,000, all of the same age, whom Alexander
called Epigoni (successors).[852] They were accoutred with Macedonian
arms, and exercised in military discipline after the Macedonian system.
The arrival of these is said to have vexed the Macedonians, who thought
that Alexander was contriving every means in his power to free himself
from his previous need of their services. For the same reason also
the sight of his Median dress was no small cause of dissatisfaction
to them; and the weddings celebrated in the Persian fashion were
displeasing to most of them, even including some of those who married,
although they had been greatly honoured by the king putting himself on
the same level with them in the marriage ceremony. They were offended
at Peucestas, the viceroy of Persis, on account of his Persianizing
both in dress and in speech, because the king was delighted by his
adopting the Asiatic customs. They were disgusted that the Bactrian,
Sogdianian, Arachotian, Zarangian, Arian, and Parthian horsemen, as
well as the Persian horsemen called the Evacae, were distributed
among the squadrons of the Companion cavalry; as many of them at
least as were seen to excel in reputation, fineness of stature, or
any other good quality; and that a fifth cavalry division was added
to these troops, not composed entirely of foreigners; but the whole
body of cavalry was increased in number, and men were picked from
the foreigners and put into it. Cophen, son of Artabazus, Hydarnes
and Artiboles, sons of Mazaeus, Sisines and Phradasmenes, sons of
Phrataphernes, viceroy of Parthia and Hyrcania, Histanes, son of
Oxyartes and brother of Alexander’s wife, Roxane, as well as Autobares
and his brother Mithrobaeus were picked out and enrolled among the
foot-guard in addition to the Macedonian officers. Over these Hystaspes
the Bactrian was placed as commander; and Macedonian spears were given
to them instead of the barbarian javelins which had thongs attached
to them.[853] All this offended the Macedonians, who thought that
Alexander was becoming altogether Asiatic in his ideas, and was holding
the Macedonians themselves as well as their customs in a position of
contempt.[854]
CHAPTER VII.
NAVIGATION OF THE TIGRES.
Alexander now ordered Hephaestion to lead the main body of the infantry
as far as the Persian Sea, while he himself, his fleet having sailed up
into the land of Susiana, embarked with the shield-bearing guards and
the body-guard of infantry; and having also put on board a few of the
cavalry Companions, he sailed down the river Eulaeus to the sea.[855]
When he was near the place where the river discharges itself into the
deep, he left there most of his ships, including those which were in
need of repair, and with those especially adapted for fast sailing he
coasted along out of the river Eulaeus through the sea to the mouth of
the Tigres. The rest of the ships were conveyed down the Eulaeus as
far as the canal which has been cut from the Tigres into the Eulaeus,
and by this means they were brought into the Tigres. Of the rivers
Euphrates and Tigres which enclose Syria between them, whence also
its name is called by the natives Mesopotamia,[856] the Tigres flows
in a much lower channel than the Euphrates, from which it receives
many canals; and after taking up many tributaries and its waters being
swelled by them, it falls into the Persian Sea.[857] It is a large
river and can be crossed on foot nowhere as far as its mouth,[858]
inasmuch as none of its water is used up by irrigation of the country.
For the land through which it flows is more elevated than its water,
and it is not drawn off into canals or into another river, but rather
receives them into itself. It is nowhere possible to irrigate the
land from it. But the Euphrates flows in an elevated channel, and is
everywhere on a level with the land through which it passes. Many
canals have been made from it, some of which are always kept flowing,
and from which the inhabitants on both banks supply themselves with
water; others the people make only when requisite to irrigate the land,
when they are in need of water from drought.[859] For this country is
usually free from rain. The consequence is, that the Euphrates at
last has only a small volume of water, which disappears into a marsh.
Alexander sailed over the sea round the shore of the Persian Gulf lying
between the rivers Eulaeus and Tigres; and thence he sailed up the
latter river as far as the camp where Hephaestion had settled with all
his forces. Thence he sailed again to Opis, a city situated on that
river.[860] In his voyage up he destroyed the weirs which existed in
the river, and thus made the stream quite level. These weirs had been
constructed by the Persians, to prevent any enemy having a superior
naval force from sailing up from the sea into their country. The
Persians had had recourse to these contrivances because they were not
a nautical people; and thus by making an unbroken succession of weirs
they had rendered the voyage up the Tigres a matter of impossibility.
But Alexander said that such devices were unbecoming to men who are
victorious in battle; and therefore he considered this means of safety
unsuitable for him; and by easily demolishing the laborious work of the
Persians, he proved in fact that what they thought a protection was
unworthy of the name.
CHAPTER VIII.
THE MACEDONIANS OFFENDED AT ALEXANDER.
When he arrived at Opis, he collected the Macedonians and announced
that he intended to discharge from the army those who were useless for
military service either from age or from being maimed in the limbs;
and he said he would send them back to their own abodes. He also
promised to give those who went back as much as would make them special
objects of envy to those at home and arouse in the other Macedonians
the wish to share similar dangers and labours. Alexander said this,
no doubt, for the purpose of pleasing the Macedonians; but on the
contrary they were, not without reason, offended by the speech which
he delivered, thinking that now they were despised by him and deemed
to be quite useless for military service. Indeed, throughout the whole
of this expedition they had been offended at many other things; for
his adoption of the Persian dress, thereby exhibiting his contempt
for their opinion, caused them grief, as did also his accoutring the
foreign soldiers called Epigoni in the Macedonian style, and the mixing
of the alien horsemen among the ranks of the Companions. Therefore
they could not remain silent and control themselves, but urged him to
dismiss all of them from his army; and they advised him to prosecute
the war in company with his father, deriding Ammon by this remark. When
Alexander heard this (for at that time he was more hasty in temper than
heretofore, and no longer, as of old, indulgent to the Macedonians from
having a retinue of foreign attendants), leaping down from the platform
with his officers around him, he ordered the most conspicuous of the
men who had tried to stir up the multitude to sedition to be arrested.
He himself pointed out with his hand to the shield-bearing guards those
whom they were to arrest, to the number of thirteen; and he ordered
these to be led away to execution.[861] When the rest, stricken with
terror, became silent, he mounted the platform and spoke as follows:—
CHAPTER IX.
ALEXANDER’S SPEECH.
“The speech which I am about to deliver will not be for the purpose
of checking your start homeward, for, so far as I am concerned, you
may depart wherever you wish; but because I wish you to know what
kind of men you were originally and how you have been transformed
since you came into our service. In the first place, as is reasonable,
I shall begin my speech from my father Philip. For he found you
vagabonds and destitute of means, most of you clad in hides, feeding
a few sheep up the mountain sides, for the protection of which you
had to fight with small success against Illyrians, Triballians, and
the border Thracians.[862] Instead of the hides he gave you cloaks
to wear, and from the mountains he led you down into the plains, and
made you capable of fighting the neighbouring barbarians, so that you
were no longer compelled to preserve yourselves by trusting rather
to the inaccessible strongholds than to your own valour. He made you
colonists of cities, which he adorned with useful laws and customs;
and from being slaves and subjects, he made you rulers over those
very barbarians by whom you yourselves, as well as your property,
were previously liable to be plundered and ravaged. He also added
the greater part of Thrace to Macedonia, and by seizing the most
conveniently situated places on the sea-coast, he spread abundance
over the land from commerce, and made the working of the mines a
secure employment.[863] He made you rulers over the Thessalians,
of whom you had formerly been in mortal fear[864]; and by humbling
the nation of the Phocians, he rendered the avenue into Greece
broad and easy for you, instead of being narrow and difficult.[865]
The Athenians and Thebans, who were always lying in wait to attack
Macedonia, he humbled to such a degree,—I also then rendering him my
personal aid in the campaign,[866]—that instead of paying tribute to
the former[867] and being vassals to the latter,[868] those States
in their turn procure security to themselves by our assistance. He
penetrated into the Peloponnese, and after regulating its affairs,
was publicly declared commander-in-chief of all the rest of Greece
in the expedition against the Persian, adding this glory not more to
himself than to the commonwealth of the Macedonians. These were the
advantages which accrued to you from my father Philip; great indeed
if looked at by themselves, but small if compared with those you
have obtained from me. For though I inherited from my father only a
few gold and silver goblets, and there were not even sixty talents
in the treasury, and though I found myself charged with a debt of
500 talents owing by Philip,[869] and I was obliged myself to borrow
800 talents in addition to these, I started from the country which
could not decently support you, and forthwith laid open to you the
passage of the Hellespont, though at that time the Persians held the
sovereignty of the sea. Having overpowered the viceroys of Darius
with my cavalry, I added to your empire the whole of Ionia,[870] the
whole of Aeolis, both Phrygias[871] and Lydia, and I took Miletus by
siege. All the other places I gained by voluntary surrender, and I
granted you the privilege of appropriating the wealth found in them.
The riches of Egypt and Cyrene, which I acquired without fighting a
battle, have come to you. Coele-Syria, Palestine, and Mesopotamia are
your property. Babylon, Bactra, and Susa are yours. The wealth of the
Lydians, the treasures of the Persians, and the riches of the Indians
are yours; and so is the External Sea. You are viceroys, you are
generals, you are captains. What then have I reserved to myself after
all these labours, except this purple robe and this diadem?[872] I have
appropriated nothing myself, nor can any one point out my treasures,
except these possessions of yours or the things which I am guarding
on your behalf.[873] Individually, however, I have no motive to guard
them, since I feed on the same fare as you do, and I take only the same
amount of sleep. Nay, I do not think that my fare is as good as that of
those among you who live luxuriously; and I know that I often sit up at
night to watch for you, that you may be able to sleep.
CHAPTER X.
ALEXANDER’S SPEECH (_continued_).
“But some one may say, that while you endured toil and fatigue, I have
acquired these things as your leader without myself sharing the toil
and fatigue. But who is there of you who knows that he has endured
greater toil for me than I have for him? Come now! whoever of you has
wounds, let him strip and show them, and I will show mine in turn;
for there is no part of my body, in front at any rate, remaining free
from wounds; nor is there any kind of weapon used either for close
combat or for hurling at the enemy, the traces of which I do not bear
on my person. For I have been wounded with the sword in close fight,
I have been shot with arrows, and I have been struck with missiles
projected from engines of war; and though oftentimes I have been hit
with stones and bolts of wood for the sake of your lives, your glory,
and your wealth, I am still leading you as conquerors over all the
land and sea, all rivers, mountains, and plains. I have celebrated
your weddings with my own, and the children of many of you will be
akin to my children. Moreover I have liquidated the debts of all those
who had incurred them, without inquiring too closely for what purpose
they were contracted, though you receive such high pay, and carry off
so much booty whenever there is booty to be got after a siege. Most
of you have golden crowns, the eternal memorials of your valour and
of the honour you receive from me. Whoever has been killed, has met
with a glorious end and has been honoured with a splendid burial.
Brazen statues of most of the slain have been erected at home,[874]
and their parents are held in honour, being released from all public
service and from taxation. But no one of you has ever been killed
in flight under my leadership. And now I was intending to send back
those of you who are unfit for service, objects of envy to those at
home; but since you all wish to depart, depart all of you! Go back and
report at home that your king Alexander, the conqueror of the Persians,
Medes, Bactrians, and Sacians[875]; the man who has subjugated the
Uxians, Arachotians, and Drangians; who has also acquired the rule
of the Parthians, Chorasmians, and Hyrcanians, as far as the Caspian
Sea; who has marched over the Caucasus, through the Caspian Gates; who
has crossed the rivers Oxus and Tanais, and the Indus besides, which
has never been crossed by any one else except Dionysus; who has also
crossed the Hydaspes, Acesines, and Hydraotes, and who would have
crossed the Hyphasis, if you had not shrunk back with alarm; who has
penetrated into the Great Sea by both the mouths of the Indus; who
has marched through the desert of Gadrosia, where no one ever before
marched with an army; who on his route acquired possession of Carmania
and the land of the Oritians, in addition to his other conquests, his
fleet having in the meantime already sailed round the coast of the sea
which extends from India to Persia—report that when you returned to
Susa you deserted him and went away, handing him over to the protection
of conquered foreigners. Perhaps this report of yours will be both
glorious to you in the eyes of men and devout forsooth in the eyes of
the gods. Depart!”
CHAPTER XI.
RECONCILIATION BETWEEN ALEXANDER AND HIS ARMY.
Having thus spoken, he leaped down quickly from the platform, and
entered the palace, where he paid no attention to the decoration of
his person, nor was any of his Companions admitted to see him. Not
even on the morrow was any one of them admitted to an audience; but
on the third day he summoned the select Persians within, and among
them he distributed the commands of the brigades, and made the rule
that only those whom he had proclaimed his kinsmen,[876] should have
the honour of saluting him with a kiss.[877] But the Macedonians
who heard the speech were thoroughly astonished at the moment, and
remained there in silence near the platform; nor when he retired did
any of them accompany the king, except his personal Companions and
the confidential body-guards. Though they remained, most of them had
nothing to do or say; and yet they were unwilling to retire. But when
the news was reported to them about the Persians and Medes, that the
military commands were being given to Persians, that the foreign
soldiers were being selected and divided into companies, that a Persian
foot-guard, Persian foot Companions, a Persian regiment of men with
silver shields,[878] as well as the cavalry Companions, and another
royal regiment of cavalry distinct from these, were being called by
Macedonian names, they were no longer able to restrain themselves;
but running in a body to the palace, they cast their weapons there in
front of the gates as a sign of supplication to the king. Standing in
front of the gates, they shouted, beseeching to be allowed to enter,
and saying that they were willing to surrender the men who had been
the instigators of the disturbance on that occasion, and those who
had begun the clamour. They also declared they would not retire from
the gates either day or night, unless Alexander would take some pity
upon them. When he was informed of this, he came out without delay;
and seeing them lying on the ground in humble guise, and hearing most
of them lamenting with loud voice, tears began to flow also from
his own eyes. He made an effort to say something to them, but they
continued their importunate entreaties.[879] At length one of them,
Callines by name, a man conspicuous both for his age and because he
was captain of the Companion cavalry, spoke as follows:—“O king, what
grieves the Macedonians is, that thou hast already made some of the
Persians kinsmen to thyself, and that Persians are called Alexander’s
kinsmen, and have the honour of saluting thee with a kiss; whereas none
of the Macedonians have as yet enjoyed this honour.” Then Alexander
interrupting him, said:—“But all of you without exception I consider
my kinsmen, and so from this time I shall call you.” When he had said
this, Callines advanced and saluted him with a kiss, and so did all
those who wished to salute him. Then they took up their weapons and
returned to the camp, shouting and singing a song of thanksgiving to
Apollo. After this Alexander offered sacrifice to the gods to whom it
was his custom to sacrifice, and gave a public banquet, over which he
himself presided, with the Macedonians sitting around him; and next
to them the Persians; after whom came the men of the other nations,
honoured for their personal rank or for some meritorious action. The
king and his guests drew wine from the same bowl and poured out the
same libations, both the Grecian prophets and the Magians commencing
the ceremony. He prayed for other blessings, and especially that
harmony and community of rule might exist between the Macedonians and
Persians. The common account is, that those who took part in this
banquet were 9,000 in number, that all of them poured out one libation,
and after it sang a song of thanksgiving to Apollo.[880]
CHAPTER XII.
TEN THOUSAND MACEDONIANS SENT HOME WITH CRATERUS.—DISPUTES BETWEEN
ANTIPATER AND OLYMPIAS.
Then those of the Macedonians who were unfit for service on account
of age or any other misfortune, went back of their own accord, to the
number of about 10,000. To these Alexander gave the pay not only for
the time which had already elapsed, but also for that which they would
spend in returning home. He also gave to each man a talent in addition
to his pay.[881] If any of them had children by Asiatic wives, he
ordered them to leave them behind with him, lest they should introduce
into Macedonia a cause of discord, taking with them children by foreign
women who were of a different race from the children whom they had left
behind at home born of Macedonian mothers. He promised to take care
that they should be brought up as Macedonians, educating them not only
in general matters but also in the art of war. He also undertook to
lead them into Macedonia when they arrived at manhood, and hand them
over to their fathers. These uncertain and obscure promises were made
to them as they were departing; and he thought he was giving a most
indubitable proof of the friendship and affection he had for them by
sending with them, as their guardian and the leader of the expedition,
Craterus, the man most faithful to him, and whom he valued equally with
himself.[882] Then, having saluted them all, he with tears dismissed
them likewise weeping from his presence. He ordered Craterus[883] to
lead these men back, and when he had done so, to take upon himself the
government of Macedonia, Thrace, and Thessaly, and to preside over the
freedom of the Greeks. He also ordered Antipater to bring to him the
Macedonians of manly age as successors to those who were being sent
back. He despatched Polysperchon also with Craterus, as his second in
command, so that if any mishap befell Craterus on the march (for he
was sending him back on account of the weakness of his health), those
who were going might not be in need of a general.[884] A secret report
was also going about that Alexander was now overcome by his mother’s
accusations of Antipater, and that he wished to remove him from
Macedonia.[885] This report was current among those who thought that
royal actions are more worthy of honour in proportion to their secrecy,
and who were inclined to impute what is worthy of belief to a bad
motive rather than to attribute it to the real one; a course to which
they were led by appearances and their own depravity. But probably this
sending for Antipater was not designed for his dishonour, but rather
to prevent any unpleasant consequences to Antipater and Olympias from
their quarrel which he might not himself be able to rectify. For they
were incessantly writing to Alexander, the former saying that the
arrogance, acerbity, and meddlesomeness of Olympias was exceedingly
unbecoming to the king’s mother; insomuch that Alexander was related
to have used the following remark in reference to the reports which
he received about his mother:—that she was exacting from him a heavy
house-rent for the ten months.[886] The queen wrote that Antipater
was overweeningly insolent in his pretensions and in the service of
his court, no longer remembering the one who had appointed him, but
claiming to win and hold the first rank[887] among the Macedonians and
Greeks. These slanderous reports about Antipater appeared to have more
weight with Alexander, since they were more formidable in regard to the
regal dignity. However no overt act or word of the king was reported,
from which any one could infer that Antipater was in any way less in
favour with him than before.[888]
CHAPTER XIII.
THE NISAEAN PLAIN.—THE AMAZONS.
It is said that Hephaestion much against his will yielded to this
argument and was reconciled to Eumenes, who on his part wished to
settle the dispute.[889] In this journey[890] Alexander is said to
have seen the plain which was devoted to the royal mares. Herodotus
says that the plain itself was named Nisaean, and that the mares were
called Nisaean[891]; adding that in olden times there were 150,000
of these horses. But at this time Alexander found not many above
50,000; for most of them had been carried off by robbers. They say
that Atropates, the viceroy of Media, gave him a hundred women, saying
that they were of the race of Amazons.[892] These had been equipped
with the arms of male horsemen, except that they carried axes instead
of spears and targets instead of shields. They also say that they had
the right breast smaller than the left, and that they exposed it in
battle. Alexander dismissed them from the army, that no attempt to
violate them might be made by the Macedonians or barbarians; and he
ordered them to carry word to their queen that he was coming to her
in order to procreate children by her.[893] But this story has been
recorded neither by Aristobulus nor Ptolemy, nor any other writer who
is a trustworthy authority on such matters. I do not even think that
the race of Amazons was surviving at that time; for before Alexander’s
time they were not mentioned even by Xenophon,[894] who mentions the
Phasians, Colchians, and all the other barbaric races which the Greeks
came upon, when they started from Trapezus or before they marched down
to Trapezus. They would certainly have fallen in with the Amazons if
they were still in existence. However it does not seem to me credible
that this race of women was altogether fictitious, because it has been
celebrated by so many famous poets. For the general account is, that
Heracles marched against them and brought the girdle of their queen
Hippolyte into Greece.[895] The Athenians also under Theseus were the
first to conquer and repulse these women as they were advancing into
Europe[896]; and the battle of the Athenians and Amazons has been
painted by Micon,[897] no less than that of the Athenians and Persians.
Herodotus also has frequently written about these women[898]; and so
have the Athenian writers who have honoured the men who perished in
war with funeral orations. They have mentioned the exploit of the
Athenians against the Amazons as one of their special glories.[899]
If therefore Atropates showed any equestrian women to Alexander, I
think he must have shown him some other foreign women trained in
horsemanship, and equipped with the arms which were said to be those of
the Amazons.[900]
CHAPTER XIV.
DEATH OF HEPHAESTION.
In Ecbatana Alexander offered sacrifice according to his custom, for
good fortune; and he celebrated a gymnastic and musical contest.
He also held drinking parties with his Companions. At this time
Hephaestion fell sick; and they say that the stadium was full of people
on the seventh day of his fever, for on that day there was a gymnastic
contest for boys. When Alexander was informed that Hephaestion was
in a critical state, he went to him without delay, but found him no
longer alive.[901] Different authors have given different accounts
of Alexander’s grief on this occasion; but they agree in this, that
his grief was great. As to what was done in honour of Hephaestion,
they make diverse statements, just as each writer was actuated by
good-will or envy towards him, or even towards Alexander himself. Of
the authors who have made these reckless statements, some seem to
me to have thought that whatever Alexander said or did to show his
excessive grief for the man who was the dearest to him in the world,
redounds to his own honour; whereas others seem to have thought that
it rather tended to his disgrace, as being conduct unbecoming to any
king and especially to Alexander. Some say that he lay prostrate on his
companion’s body for the greater part of that day, bewailing him and
refusing to depart from him, until he was forcibly carried away by his
Companions. Others that he lay upon the body the whole day and night.
Others again say that he hanged the physician Glaucias, for having
indiscreetly given the medicine[902]; while others affirm that he,
being a spectator of the games, neglected Hephaestion, who was filled
with wine. That Alexander should have cut off his hair in honour of
the dead man, I do not think improbable, both for other reasons and
especially from a desire to imitate Achilles, whom from his boyhood he
had an ambition to rival.[903] Others also say that Alexander himself
at one time drove the chariot on which the body was borne; but this
statement I by no means believe. Others again affirm that he ordered
the shrine of Asclepius in Ecbatana to be razed to the ground; which
was an act of barbarism, and by no means in harmony with Alexander’s
general behaviour, but rather in accordance with the arrogance of
Xerxes in his dealings with the deity, who is said to have let fetters
down into the Hellespont, in order to punish it forsooth.[904] But
the following statement, which has been recorded, does not seem to me
entirely beyond the range of probability:—that when Alexander was
marching to Babylon, he was met on the road by many embassies from
Greece, among which were some Epidaurian envoys, who obtained from him
their requests.[905] He also gave them an offering to be conveyed to
Asclepius, adding this remark:—“Although Asclepius has not treated me
fairly, in not saving the life of my Companion, whom I valued equally
with my own head.”[906] It has been stated by most writers that he
ordered honours to be always paid to Hephaestion as a hero; and some
say that he even sent men to Ammon’s temple to ask the god if it were
allowable to offer sacrifice to Hephaestion as a god; but Ammon replied
that it was not allowable. All the authorities, however, agree as to
the following facts:—that until the third day after Hephaestion’s
death, Alexander neither tasted food nor paid any attention to his
personal appearance, but lay on the ground either bewailing or silently
mourning; that he also ordered a funeral pyre to be prepared for him
in Babylon at the expense of 10,000 talents; some say at a still
greater cost[907]; that a decree was published throughout all the
barbarian territory for the observance of a public mourning.[908] Many
of Alexander’s Companions dedicated themselves and their arms to the
dead Hephaestion in order to show their respect to him; and the first
to begin the artifice was Eumenes, whom we a short time ago mentioned
as having been at variance with him.[909] This he did that Alexander
might not think he was pleased at Hephaestion’s death. Alexander did
not appoint any one else to be commander of the Companion cavalry in
the place of Hephaestion, so that the name of that general might not
perish from the brigade; but that division of cavalry was still called
Hephaestion’s and the figure made from Hephaestion went in front of
it. He also resolved to celebrate a gymnastic and musical contest,
much more magnificent than any of the preceding, both in the multitude
of competitors and in the amount of money expended upon it. For he
provided 3,000 competitors in all; and it is said that these men a
short time after also competed in the games held at Alexander’s own
funeral.
CHAPTER XV.
SUBJUGATION OF THE COSSAEANS.—EMBASSIES FROM DISTANT NATIONS.
The mourning was prolonged for many days; and as he was now beginning
to recall himself from it, under such circumstances his Companions
had less difficulty in rousing him to action. Then at length he made
an expedition against the Cossaeans,[910] a warlike race bordering on
the territory of the Uxians. They are mountaineers, inhabiting strong
positions in separate villages. Whenever a force approached them,
they were in the habit of retiring to the summits of their mountains,
either in a body or separately as each man found it practicable; and
thus they escaped, making it difficult for those who attacked them
with their forces to come near them. After the enemy’s departure,
they used to turn themselves again to marauding, by which occupation
they supported themselves. But Alexander subdued this race, though he
marched against them in the winter; for neither winter nor ruggedness
of ground was any impediment either to him or to Ptolemy, son of
Lagus, who led a part of the army in the campaign against them. Thus no
military enterprise which Alexander undertook was ever unsuccessful.
As he was marching back to Babylon, he was met by embassies from the
Libyans, who congratulated him and crowned him as conqueror of the
kingdom of Asia.[911] From Italy also came Bruttians, Lucanians, and
Tyrrhenians[912] as envoys, for the same purpose. The Carthaginians
are said to have sent an embassy to him at this time[913]; and it is
also asserted that envoys came to request his friendship from the
Ethiopians, the Scythians of Europe, the Gauls, and Iberians—nations
whose names were heard and their accoutrements seen then for the first
time by Greeks and Macedonians. They are also said to have entrusted
to Alexander the duty of settling their disputes with each other. Then
indeed it was especially evident both to himself and to those about
him that he was lord of all the land and sea.[914] Of the men who have
written the history of Alexander, Aristus and Asclepiades[915] alone
say that the Romans also sent an embassy to him, and that when he met
their embassy, he predicted something of the future power of Rome,
observing both the attire of the men, their love of labour, and their
devotion to freedom. At the same time he made urgent inquiries about
their political constitution. This incident I have recorded neither
as certainly authentic nor as altogether incredible; but none of the
Roman writers have made any mention of this embassy having been
despatched to Alexander; nor of those who have written an account of
Alexander’s actions, has either Ptolemy, son of Lagus, or Aristobulus
mentioned it. With these authors I am generally inclined to agree. Nor
does it seem likely that the Roman republic, which was at that time
remarkable for its love of liberty, would send an embassy to a foreign
king, especially to a place so far away from their own land, when they
were not compelled to do so by fear or any hope of advantage, being
possessed as they were beyond any other people by hatred to the very
name and race of despots.[916]
CHAPTER XVI.
EXPLORATION OF THE CASPIAN.—THE CHALDAEAN SOOTHSAYERS.
After this, Alexander sent Heraclides, son of Argaeus, into Hyrcania
in command of a company of shipwrights, with orders to cut timber from
the Hyrcanian mountains and with it to construct a number of ships of
war, some without decks and others with decks after the Grecian fashion
of ship-building.[917] For he was very desirous of discovering with
what sea the one called the Hyrcanian or Caspian unites; whether it
communicates with the water of the Euxine Sea, or whether the Great
Sea comes right round from the Eastern Sea, which is near India and
flows up into the Hyrcanian Gulf; just as he had discovered that the
Persian Sea, which was called the Red Sea, is really a gulf of the
Great Sea.[918] For the sources of the Caspian Sea had not yet been
discovered, although many nations dwell around it, and navigable rivers
discharge their waters into it. From Bactria, the Oxus, the largest of
Asiatic rivers, those of India excepted, discharges itself into this
sea[919]; and through Scythia flows the Jaxartes.[920] The general
account is, that the Araxes also, which flows from Armenia, falls into
the same sea.[921] These are the largest; but many others flow into
these, while others again discharge themselves directly into this
sea. Some of these were known to those who visited these nations with
Alexander; others are situated towards the farther side of the gulf, as
it seems, in the country of the Nomadic Scythians, a district which is
quite unknown.
When Alexander had crossed the river Tigres with his army and was
marching to Babylon, he was met by the Chaldaean philosophers[922];
who, having led him away from his Companions, besought him to suspend
his march to that city. For they said that an oracular declaration had
been made to them by the god Belus, that his entrance into Babylon at
that time would not be for his good. But he answered their speech with
a line from the poet Euripides to this effect: “He the best prophet
is that guesses well.”[923] But said the Chaldaeans:—“O king, do not
at any rate enter the city looking towards the west, nor leading the
army advancing in that direction; but rather go right round towards the
east.” But this did not turn out to be easy for him, on account of the
difficulty of the ground; for the deity was leading him to the place
where entering he was doomed soon to die. And perhaps it was better for
him to be taken off in the very acme of his glory as well as of the
affection entertained for him by men, before any of the vicissitudes
natural to man befell him. Probably this was the reason Solon advised
Croesus to look at the end of a long life, and not before pronounce
any man happy.[924] Yea indeed, Hephaestion’s death had been no small
misfortune to Alexander; and I think he would rather have departed
before it occurred than have been alive to experience it; no less than
Achilles, as it seems to me, would rather have died before Patroclus
than have been the avenger of his death.
CHAPTER XVII.
THE ADVICE OF THE CHALDEES REJECTED.
But he had a suspicion that the Chaldaeans were trying to prevent his
entrance into Babylon at that time with reference rather to their own
advantage than to the declaration of the oracle. For in the middle of
the city of the Babylonians was the temple of Belus,[925] an edifice
very great in size, constructed of baked bricks which were cemented
together with bitumen. This temple had been razed to the ground by
Xerxes, when he returned from Greece; as were also all the other sacred
buildings of the Babylonians. Some say that Alexander had formed the
resolution to rebuild it upon the former foundations; and for this
reason he ordered the Babylonians to carry away the mound. Others say
that he intended to build a still larger one than that which formerly
existed.[926] But after his departure, the men who had been entrusted
with the work prosecuted it without any vigour, so that he determined
to employ the whole of his army in completing it. A great quantity
of land as well as gold had been dedicated to the god Belus by the
Assyrian kings; and in olden times the temple was kept in repair and
sacrifices were offered to the god. But at that time the Chaldaeans
were appropriating the property of the god, since nothing existed upon
which the revenues could be expended. Alexander suspected that they did
not wish him to enter Babylon for this reason, for fear that in a short
time the temple would be finished, and they should be deprived of the
gains accruing from the money. And yet, according to Aristobulus, he
was willing to yield to their persuasions so far at least as to change
the direction of his entry into the city. For this purpose, on the
first day he encamped near the river Euphrates; and on the next day he
marched along the bank, keeping the river on his right hand, with the
intention of passing beyond the part of the city turned towards the
west, and there wheeling round to lead his army towards the east. But
on account of the difficulty of the ground he could not march with his
army in this direction; because if a man who is entering the city from
the west, here changes his direction eastward, he comes upon ground
covered with marshes and shoals. Thus, partly by his own will and
partly against his will, he disobeyed the god.
CHAPTER XVIII.
PREDICTIONS OF ALEXANDER’S DEATH.
Moreover Aristobulus has recorded the following story. Apollodorus
the Amphipolitan, one of Alexander’s Companions, was general of the
army which the king left with Mazaeus, the viceroy of Babylon.[927]
When he joined his forces with the king’s on the return of the
latter from India, and observed that he was severely punishing the
viceroys who had been placed over the several countries, he sent to
his brother Peithagoras and asked him to divine about his safety. For
Peithagoras was a diviner who derived his knowledge of the future from
the inspection of the inward parts of animals. This man sent back to
Apollodorus, inquiring of whom he was so especially afraid, as to
wish to consult divination. The latter wrote back: “The king himself
and Hephaestion.” Peithagoras therefore in the first place offered
sacrifice with reference to Hephaestion. But as there was no lobe
visible upon the liver of the sacrificial victim,[928] he stated this
fact in a letter, which he sealed and sent to his brother from Babylon
to Ecbatana, explaining that there was no reason at all to be afraid
of Hephaestion, for in a short time he would be out of their way. And
Aristobulus says that Apollodorus received this epistle only one day
before Hephaestion died. Then Peithagoras again offered sacrifice in
respect to Alexander, and the liver of the victim consulted in respect
to him was also destitute of a lobe. He therefore wrote to Apollodorus
to the same purport about Alexander as about Hephaestion. Apollodorus
did not conceal the information sent to him, but told Alexander, in
order the more to show his good-will to the king, if he urged him to
be on his guard lest some danger might befall him at that time. And
Aristobulus says that the king commended Apollodorus, and when he
entered Babylon, he asked Peithagoras what sign he had met with, to
induce him to write thus to his brother. He said that the liver of the
victim sacrificed for him was without a lobe. When Alexander asked what
the sign portended, he said that it was a very disastrous one. The
king was so far from being angry with him, that he even treated him
with greater respect, for telling him the truth without any disguise.
Aristobulus says that he himself heard this story from Peithagoras; and
adds that the same man acted as diviner for Perdiccas and afterwards
for Antigonus, and that the same sign occurred for both. It was
verified by fact; for Perdiccas lost his life leading an army against
Ptolemy,[929] and Antigonus was killed in the battle fought by him at
Ipsus against Seleucus and Lysimachus.[930] Also concerning Calanus,
the Indian philosopher, the following story has been recorded. When he
was going to the funeral pyre to die, he gave the parting salutation
to all his other companions; but he refused to approach Alexander to
give him the salutation, saying he would meet him at Babylon and there
salute him. At the time indeed this remark was treated with neglect;
but afterwards, when Alexander had died at Babylon, it came to the
recollection of those who had heard it, and they thought forsooth that
it was a divine intimation of Alexander’s approaching end.
CHAPTER XIX.
EMBASSIES FROM GREECE.—FLEET PREPARED FOR INVADING ARABIA.
As he was entering Babylon, he was met by embassies from the Greeks;
but for what purpose each embassy was sent has not been recorded.[931]
To me indeed it seems probable that most of them came to crown and
eulogize him on account of his victories, especially the Indian ones,
as well as to say that the Greeks rejoiced at his safe return from
India. It is said that he greeted these men with the right hand, and
after paying them suitable honour sent them back. He also gave the
ambassadors permission to take with them all the statues of men and
images of gods and the other votive offerings which Xerxes had carried
off from Greece to Babylon, Pasargadae, Susa, or any other place in
Asia. In this way it is said that the brazen statues of Harmodius and
Aristogeiton,[932] as well as the monument of the Celcaean Artemis,
were carried back to Athens.[933]
Aristobulus says that he found at Babylon the fleet with Nearchus,
which had sailed from the Persian Sea up the river Euphrates; and
another which had been conveyed from Phoenicia, consisting of two
Phoenician quinqueremes, three quadriremes, twelve triremes, and thirty
triacontors. These had been taken to pieces and conveyed to the river
Euphrates from Phoenicia to the city of Thapsacus. There they were
joined together again and sailed down to Babylon. The same writer
says that he cut down the cypresses in Babylonia and with them built
another fleet; for in the land of the Assyrians these trees alone are
abundant, but of the other things necessary for ship-building this
country affords no supply. A multitude of purple-fishers and other
sea-faring men came to him from Phoenicia and the rest of the seaboard
to serve as crews for the ships and perform the other services on
board. Near Babylon he made a harbour by excavation large enough to
afford anchorage to 1,000 ships of war; and adjoining the harbour
he made dockyards. Miccalus the Clazomenian[934] was despatched to
Phoenicia and Syria with 500 talents[935] to enlist some men and to
purchase others who were experienced in nautical affairs. For Alexander
designed to colonize the seaboard near the Persian Gulf, as well as
the islands in that sea. For he thought that this land would become no
less prosperous than Phoenicia. He made these preparations of the fleet
to attack the main body of the Arabs,[936] under the pretext that they
were the only barbarians of this region who had not sent an embassy to
him or done anything else becoming their position and showing respect
to him. But the truth was, as it seems to me, that Alexander was
insatiably ambitious of acquiring fresh territory.[937]
CHAPTER XX.
DESCRIPTION OF ARABIA.—VOYAGE OF NEARCHUS.
The common report is, that he heard that the Arabs venerated only
two gods, Uranus and Dionysus[938]; the former because he is visible
and contains in himself the heavenly luminaries, especially the sun,
from which emanates the greatest and most evident benefit to all
things human; and the latter on account of the fame he acquired by his
expedition into India. Therefore he thought himself quite worthy to be
considered by the Arabs as a third god, since he had performed deeds
by no means inferior to those of Dionysus. If then he could conquer
the Arabs, he intended to grant them the privilege of conducting their
government according to their own customs, as he had already done to
the Indians. The fertility of the land was a secret inducement to him
to invade it; because he heard that the people obtained cassia from the
lakes, and myrrh and frankincense from the trees; that cinnamon was
cut from the shrubs, and that the meadows produce spikenard without
any cultivation.[939] As to the size of the country, he was informed
that the seaboard of Arabia was not less in extent than that of India;
that near it lie many islands; that in all parts of the country there
were harbours sufficiently commodious to provide anchorage for his
fleet, and that it supplied sites for founding cities, which would
become flourishing. He was also informed that there were two islands
in the sea facing the mouth of the Euphrates, the first of which was
not far from the place where the waters of that river are discharged
into the sea, being about 120 stades[940] distant from the shore and
the river’s mouth. This is the smaller of the two, and was densely
covered with every kind of timber. In it was also a temple of Artemis,
around which the inhabitants themselves spent their lives. The island
was devoted to the use of wild goats and stags, which were allowed
to range at large as being dedicated to Artemis. It was unlawful to
chase them unless any one wished to offer sacrifice to the goddess;
and for this purpose alone it was lawful to chase them. Aristobulus
says that Alexander ordered this island to be called Icarus, after the
island so named in the Aegean Sea,[941] on which, as the report goes,
Icarus, son of Daedalus fell, when the wax, by which the wings had been
fastened to him, melted. For he did not fly near the earth, according
to his father’s injunctions, but senselessly flying far aloft, he
allowed the sun to soften and loosen the wax. Icarus left his name to
the island and the sea, the former being called Icarus and the latter
the Icarian. The other island was said to be distant from the mouth
of the Euphrates about a day and night’s voyage for a ship running
before the breeze. Its name was Tylus[942]; it was large and most of
it neither rugged nor woody, but suitable for producing cultivated
fruits and all things in due season. Some of this information was
imparted to Alexander by Archias, who was sent with a triacontor to
investigate the course of the coasting voyage to Arabia, and who went
as far as the island of Tylus, but durst not pass beyond that point.
Androsthenes[943] was despatched with another triacontor and sailed
to a part of the peninsula of Arabia. Hieron of Soli the pilot also
received a triacontor from Alexander and advanced farthest of those
whom he despatched to this region; for he had received instructions
to sail round the whole Arabian peninsula as far as the Arabian Gulf
near Egypt over against Heroöpolis.[944] Although he coasted along
the country of the Arabs to a great distance, he durst not go as far
as he was ordered; but returning to Alexander he reported that the
size of the peninsula was marvellous, being only a little smaller than
the country of the Indians, and its extremity projected far into the
Great Sea.[945] Nearchus indeed in his voyage from India had seen this
stretching out a little, before he turned aside into the Persian Gulf,
and he was almost induced to cross over to it. The pilot Onesicritus
thought they ought to have gone thither; but Nearchus says that he
himself prevented it, so that after sailing right round the Persian
Gulf he might be able to give a report to Alexander that he had
accomplished the voyage on which he had sent him. For Nearchus said he
had not been despatched to navigate the Great Sea, but to explore the
land bordering on the sea, to find out what men inhabit it, to discover
the harbours and rivers in it, to ascertain the customs of the people,
and to see if any of the country was fertile and if any was sterile.
This was the reason why Alexander’s naval expedition returned in
safety; for if it had sailed beyond the deserts of Arabia, it would not
have returned in safety. This is said also to have been the reason why
Hieron turned back.[946]
CHAPTER XXI.
DESCRIPTION OF THE EUPHRATES AND THE PALLACOPAS.
While the triremes were being built for him, and the harbour near
Babylon was being excavated, Alexander sailed from Babylon down the
Euphrates to what was called the river Pallacopas, which is distant
from Babylon about 800 stades.[947] This Pallacopas is not a river
rising from springs, but a canal cut from the Euphrates. For that river
flowing from the Armenian mountains,[948] proceeds within its banks in
the season of winter, because its water is scanty; but when the spring
begins to make its appearance, and especially just before the summer
solstice, it pours along with mighty stream and overflows its banks
into the Assyrian country.[949] For at that season the snow upon the
Armenian mountains melts and swells its water to a great degree; and
as its stream flows high above the level of the country, it would flow
over the land if some one had not furnished it with an outlet along
the Pallacopas and turned it aside into the marshes and pools, which,
beginning from this canal, extend as far as the country contiguous
to Arabia. Thence it spreads out far and wide into a shallow lake,
from which it falls into the sea by many invisible mouths. After the
snow has melted, about the time of the setting of the Pleiades, the
Euphrates flows with a small stream; but none the less the greater part
of it discharges itself into the pools along the Pallacopas. Unless,
therefore, some one had dammed up the Pallacopas again, so that the
water might be turned back within the banks and carried down the
channel of the river, it would have drained the Euphrates into itself,
and consequently the Assyrian country would not be watered by it. But
the outlet of the Euphrates into the Pallacopas was dammed up by the
viceroy of Babylonia with great labour (although it was an easy matter
to construct the outlet), because the ground in this region is slimy
and most of it mud, so that when it has once received the water of the
river it is not easy to turn it back. But more than 10,000 Assyrians
were engaged in this labour even until the third month. When Alexander
was informed of this, he was induced to confer a benefit upon the land
of Assyria. He determined to shut up the outlet where the stream of
the Euphrates was turned into the Pallacopas. When he had advanced
about thirty stades, the earth appeared to be somewhat rocky, so that
if it were cut through and a junction made with the old canal along
the Pallacopas, on account of the hardness of the soil, it would not
allow the water to percolate, and there would be no difficulty in
turning it back at the appointed season. For this purpose he sailed
to the Pallacopas, and then continued his voyage down that canal into
the pools towards the country of the Arabs. There seeing a certain
admirable site, he founded a city upon it and fortified it. In it he
settled as many of the Grecian mercenaries as volunteered to remain,
and such as were unfit for military service by reason of age or wounds.
CHAPTER XXII.
AN OMEN OF ALEXANDER’S APPROACHING DEATH.
Having thus proved the falsity of the prophecy of the Chaldaeans, by
not having experienced any unpleasant fortune in Babylon,[950] as they
had predicted, but having marched out of that city without suffering
any mishap, he grew confident in spirit and sailed again through the
marshes, having Babylon on his left hand. Here a part of his fleet lost
its way in the narrow branches of the river through want of a pilot,
until he sent a man to pilot it and lead it back into the channel
of the river. The following story is told. Most of the tombs of the
Assyrian kings had been built among the pools and marshes.[951] When
Alexander was sailing through these marshes, and, as the story goes,
was himself steering the trireme, a strong gust of wind fell upon his
broad-brimmed Macedonian hat, and the fillet which encircled it. The
hat, being heavy, fell into the water; but the fillet, being carried
along by the wind, was caught by one of the reeds growing near the
tomb of one of the ancient kings.[952] This incident itself was an
omen of what was about to occur, and so was the fact that one of the
sailors[953] swam off towards the fillet and snatched it from the reed.
But he did not carry it in his hands, because it would have been wetted
while he was swimming; he therefore put it round his own head and thus
conveyed it to the king. Most of the biographers of Alexander say
that the king presented him with a talent as a reward for his zeal,
and then ordered his head to be cut off; as the prophets had directed
him not to permit that head to be safe which had worn the royal
fillet. However, Aristobulus says that the man received a talent; but
afterwards also received a scourging for placing the fillet round his
head. The same author says that it was one of the Phoenician sailors
who fetched the fillet for Alexander; but there are some who say it
was Seleucus, and that this was an omen to Alexander of his death and
to Seleucus of his great kingdom. For that of all those who succeeded
to the sovereignty after Alexander, Seleucus became the greatest king,
was the most kingly in mind, and ruled over the greatest extent of land
after Alexander himself, does not seem to me to admit of question.[954]
CHAPTER XXIII.
THE ARMY RECRUITED FROM THE PERSIANS.—HEPHAESTION’S MEMORY HONOURED.
When he returned to Babylon he found that Peucestas had arrived from
Persis, bringing with him 20,000 Persians, as well as many Cossaeans
and Tapurians, because these races were reported to be the most warlike
of those bordering on Persis. Philoxenus also came to him, bringing an
army from Caria; Menander, with another from Lydia, and Menidas with
the cavalry which had been put under his command.[955] At the same
time arrived embassies from Greece, the members of which, with crowns
upon their own heads, approached Alexander and crowned him with golden
crowns, as if forsooth they came to him as special envoys deputed to
pay him divine honours; and his end was not far off. Then he commended
the Persians for their great zeal towards him, which was shown by their
obedience to Peucestas in all things, and Peucestas himself for the
prudence which he had displayed in ruling them. He distributed these
foreign soldiers among the Macedonian ranks in the following way.
Each company was led by a Macedonian decurion, and next to him was a
Macedonian receiving double pay for distinguished valour; and then
came one who received ten staters,[956] who was so named from the pay
he received, being less than that received by the man with double pay,
but more than that of the men who were serving as soldiers without
holding a position of honour. Next to these came twelve Persians, and
last in the company another Macedonian, who also received the pay of
ten staters; so that in each company there were twelve Persians and
four Macedonians, three of whom received higher pay, and the fourth was
in command of the company.[957] The Macedonians were armed in their
hereditary manner; but of the Persians some were archers, while others
had javelins furnished with straps, by which they were held.[958] At
this time Alexander often reviewed his fleet, had many sham-fights with
his triremes and quadriremes in the river, and contests both for rowers
and pilots, the winners receiving crowns.
Now arrived the special envoys whom he had despatched to Ammon to
inquire how it was lawful for him to honour Hephaestion. They told him
that Ammon said it was lawful to offer sacrifice to him as to a hero.
Rejoicing at the response of the oracle, he paid respect to him as a
hero from that time. He also despatched a letter to Cleomenes, who was
a bad man and had committed many acts of injustice in Egypt.[959] For
my own part I do not blame him for his friendship to Hephaestion and
for his recollection of him even when dead; but I do blame him for many
other acts. For the letter commanded Cleomenes to prepare chapels for
the hero Hephaestion in the Egyptian Alexandria, one in the city itself
and another in the island of Pharos, where the tower is situated.[960]
The chapels were to be exceedingly large and to be built at lavish
expense. The letter also directed that Cleomenes should take care
that Hephaestion’s name should be attached to them; and moreover that
his name should be engraved on all the legal documents with which the
merchants entered into bargains with each other.[961] These things I
cannot blame, except that he made so much ado about matters of trifling
moment. But the following I must blame severely: “If I find,” said the
letter, “the temples and chapels of the hero Hephaestion in Egypt well
completed, I will not only pardon you any crimes you may have committed
in the past, but in the future you shall suffer no unpleasant treatment
from me, however great may be the crimes you have committed.” I cannot
commend this message sent from a great king to a man who was ruling
a large country and many people, especially as the man was a wicked
one.[962]
CHAPTER XXIV.
ANOTHER OMEN OF ALEXANDER’S DEATH.
But Alexander’s own end was now near. Aristobulus says that the
following occurrence was a prognostication of what was about to happen.
He was distributing the army which came with Peucestas from Persia,
and that which came with Philoxenus and Menander from the sea,[963]
among the Macedonian lines, and becoming thirsty he retired from his
seat and thus left the royal throne empty. On each side of the throne
were couches with silver feet, upon which his personal Companions were
sitting. A certain man of obscure condition (some say that he was even
one of the men kept under guard without being in chains), seeing the
throne and the couches empty, and the eunuchs standing round the throne
(for the Companions also rose up from their seats with the king when
he retired), walked through the line of eunuchs, ascended the throne,
and sat down upon it.[964] According to a Persian law, they did not
make him rise from the throne; but rent their garments and beat their
breasts and faces as if on account of a great evil.
When Alexander was informed of this, he ordered the man who had sat
upon his throne to be put to the torture, with the view of discovering
whether he had done this according to a plan concerted by a conspiracy.
But the man confessed nothing, except that it came into his mind at
the time to act thus. Even more for this reason the diviners explained
that this occurrence boded no good to him. A few days after this, after
offering to the gods the customary sacrifices for good success, and
certain others also for the purpose of divination, he was feasting with
his friends, and was drinking far into the night.[965] He is also said
to have distributed the sacrificial victims as well as a quantity of
wine to the army throughout the companies and centuries. There are some
who have recorded that he wished to retire after the drinking party to
his bed-chamber; but Medius, at that time the most influential of the
Companions, met him and begged him to join a party of revellers at his
residence, saying that the revel would be a pleasant one.
CHAPTER XXV.
ALEXANDER SEIZED WITH FEVER.
The Royal Diary gives the following account,[966] to the effect that
he revelled and drank at the dwelling of Medius; then rose up, took a
bath, and slept; then again supped at the house of Medius and again
drank till far into the night. After retiring from the drinking party
he took a bath; after which he took a little food and slept there,
because he already felt feverish. He was carried out upon a couch to
the sacrifices, in order that he might offer them according to his
daily custom. After performing the sacred rites he lay down in the
banqueting hall until dusk. In the meantime he gave instructions to
the officers about the expedition and voyage, ordering those who were
going on foot to be ready on the fourth day, and those who were going
to sail with him to be ready to sail on the fifth day. From this place
he was carried upon the couch to the river, where he embarked in a boat
and sailed across the river to the park. There he again took a bath and
went to rest.
On the following day he took another bath and offered the customary
sacrifices. He then entered a tester bed, lay down, and chatted with
Medius. He also ordered his officers to meet him at daybreak. Having
done this he ate a little supper and was again conveyed into the tester
bed. The fever now raged the whole night without intermission. The next
day he took a bath; after which he offered sacrifice, and gave orders
to Nearchus and the other officers that the voyage should begin on the
third day. The next day he bathed again and offered the prescribed
sacrifices. After performing the sacred rites, he did not yet cease to
suffer from the fever. Notwithstanding this, he summoned the officers
and gave them instructions to have all things ready for the starting of
the fleet. In the evening he took a bath, after which he was very ill.
The next day he was transferred to the house near the swimming-bath,
where he offered the prescribed sacrifices. Though he was now very
dangerously ill, he summoned the most responsible of his officers and
gave them fresh instructions about the voyage. On the following day he
was with difficulty carried out to the sacrifices, which he offered;
and none the less gave other orders to the officers about the voyage.
The next day, though he was now very ill, he offered the prescribed
sacrifices. He now gave orders that the generals should remain in
attendance in the hall,[967] and that the colonels and captains should
remain before the gates. But being now altogether in a dangerous state,
he was conveyed from the park into the palace. When his officers
entered the room, he knew them indeed, but could no longer utter a
word, being speechless. During the ensuing night and day and the next
night and day he was in a very high fever.
CHAPTER XXVI.
ALEXANDER’S DEATH.
Such is the account given in the Royal Diary. In addition to this, it
states that the soldiers were very desirous of seeing him; some, in
order to see him once more while still alive; others, because there was
a report that he was already dead, imagined that his death was being
concealed by the confidential body-guards, as I for my part suppose.
Most of them through grief and affection for their king forced their
way in to see him. It is said that when his soldiers passed by him he
was unable to speak; yet he greeted each of them with his right hand,
raising his head with difficulty and making a sign with his eyes. The
Royal Diary also says that Peithon, Attalus, Demophon, and Peucestas,
as well as Cleomenes, Menidas, and Seleucus, slept in the temple of
Serapis,[968] and asked the god whether it would be better and more
desirable for Alexander to be carried into his temple, in order as
a suppliant to be cured by him. A voice issued from the god saying
that he was not to be carried into the temple, but that it would be
better for him to remain where he was. This answer was reported by the
Companions; and soon after Alexander died, as if forsooth this were now
the better thing. Neither Aristobulus nor Ptolemy has given an account
differing much from the preceding. Some authors, however, have related
that his Companions asked him to whom he left his kingdom; and that
he replied: “To the best.”[969] Others say, that in addition to this
remark, he told them that he saw there would be a great funeral contest
held in his honour.[970]
CHAPTER XXVII.
RUMOUR THAT ALEXANDER WAS POISONED.
I am aware that many other particulars have been related by historians
concerning Alexander’s death, and especially that poison was sent for
him by Antipater, from the effects of which he died.[971] It is also
asserted that the poison was procured for Antipater by Aristotle, who
was now afraid of Alexander on account of Callisthenes.[972] It is
said to have been conveyed by Cassander, the son of Antipater,[973]
some recording that he conveyed it in the hoof of a mule, and that
his younger brother Iollas gave it to the king.[974] For this man was
the royal cup-bearer, and he happened to have received some affront
from Alexander a short time before his death. Others have stated that
Medius, being a lover of Iollas, took part in the deed; for he it was
who induced the king to hold the revel. They say that Alexander was
seized with an acute paroxysm of pain over the wine-cup, on feeling
which he retired from the drinking bout.[975] One writer has not even
been ashamed to record that when Alexander perceived he was unlikely to
survive, he was going out to throw himself into the river Euphrates, so
that he might disappear from men’s sight, and leave among the men of
after-times a more firmly-rooted opinion that he owed his birth to a
god, and had departed to the gods. But as he was going out he did not
escape the notice of his wife Roxana, who restrained him from carrying
out his design. Whereupon he uttered lamentations, saying that she
forsooth envied him the complete glory of being thought the offspring
of the god. These statements I have recorded rather that I may not seem
to be ignorant that they have been made, than because I consider them
worthy of credence or even of narration.
CHAPTER XXVIII.
CHARACTER OF ALEXANDER.
Alexander died in the hundred and fourteenth Olympiad, in the
archonship of Hegesias at Athens.[976] According to the statement of
Aristobulus, he lived thirty-two years, and had reached the eighth
month of his thirty-third year. He had reigned twelve years and these
eight months.[977] He was very handsome in person, and much devoted to
exertion, very active in mind, very heroic in courage, very tenacious
of honour, exceedingly fond of incurring danger, and strictly observant
of his duty to the gods. In regard to the pleasures of the body, he had
perfect self-control; and of those of the mind, praise was the only
one of which he was insatiable. He was very clever in recognising what
was necessary to be done, even when it was still a matter unnoticed
by others; and very successful in conjecturing from the observation
of facts what was likely to occur. In marshalling, arming, and ruling
an army, he was exceedingly skilful; and very renowned for rousing
the courage of his soldiers, filling them with hopes of success,
and dispelling their fear in the midst of danger by his own freedom
from fear. Therefore even what he had to do in secret he did with
the greatest boldness. He was also very clever in getting the start
of his enemies, and snatching from them their advantages by secretly
forestalling them, before any one even feared what was about to
happen. He was likewise very steadfast in keeping the agreements and
settlements which he made, as well as very secure from being entrapped
by deceivers. Finally, he was very sparing in the expenditure of money
for the gratification of his own pleasures; but he was exceedingly
bountiful in spending it for the benefit of his associates.
CHAPTER XXIX.
APOLOGY FOR ALEXANDER’S ERRORS.
That Alexander should have committed errors in his conduct from
quickness of temper or from wrath,[978] and that he should have been
induced to comport himself like the Persian monarchs to an immoderate
degree, I do not think remarkable if we fairly consider both his
youth[979] and his uninterrupted career of good fortune; likewise that
kings have no associates in pleasure who aim at their best interests,
but that they will always have associates urging them to do wrong.
However, I am certain that Alexander was the only one of the ancient
kings who, from nobility of character, repented of the errors which he
had committed. The majority of men, even if they have become conscious
that they have committed an error, make the mistake of thinking that
they can conceal their sin by defending their error as if it had been
a just action. But it seems to me that the only cure for sin is for
the sinner to confess it, and to be visibly repentant in regard to it.
Thus the suffering will not appear altogether intolerable to those who
have undergone unpleasant treatment, if the person who inflicted it
confesses that he has acted dishonourably; and this good hope for the
future is left to the man himself, that he will never again commit a
similar sin, if he is seen to be vexed at his former errors. I do not
think that even his tracing his origin to a god was a great error on
Alexander’s part, if it was not perhaps merely a device to induce his
subjects to show him reverence.[980] Nor does he seem to me to have
been a less renowned king than Minos, Aeacus, or Rhadamanthus, to whom
no insolence is attributed by the men of old, because they traced their
origin to Zeus. Nor does he seem at all inferior to Theseus or Ion, the
former being the reputed son of Poseidon, and the latter of Apollo. His
adoption of the Persian mode of dressing also seems to me to have been
a political device in regard to the foreigners, that the king might not
appear altogether an alien to them; and in regard to the Macedonians,
to show them that he had a refuge from their rashness of temper and
insolence. For this reason I think, he mixed the Persian royal guards,
who carried golden apples at the end of their spears,[981] among
the ranks of the Macedonians, and the Persian peers[982] with the
Macedonian body-guards. Aristobulus also asserts that Alexander used
to have long drinking parties, not for the purpose of enjoying the
wine, as he was not a great wine-drinker, but in order to exhibit his
sociality and friendly feeling to his Companions.[983]
CHAPTER XXX.
EULOGY OF ALEXANDER.
Whoever therefore reproaches Alexander as a bad man, let him do so;
but let him first not only bring before his mind all his actions
deserving reproach, but also gather into one view all his deeds of
every kind. Then, indeed, let him reflect who he is himself, and what
kind of fortune he has experienced; and then consider who that man was
whom he reproaches as bad, and to what a height of human success he
attained, becoming without any dispute king of both continents,[984]
and reaching every place by his fame; while he himself who reproaches
him is of smaller account, spending his labour on petty objects, which,
however, he does not succeed in effecting, petty as they are. For my
own part, I think there was at that time no race of men, no city, nor
even a single individual to whom Alexander’s name and fame had not
penetrated. For this reason it seems to me that a hero totally unlike
any other human being could not have been born without the agency of
the deity. And this is said to have been revealed after Alexander’s
death by the oracular responses, by the visions which presented
themselves to various people, and by the dreams which were seen by
different individuals. It is also shown by the honour paid to him by
men up to the present time, and by the recollection which is still held
of him as more than human. Even at the present time, after so long an
interval, other oracular responses in his honour have been received by
the nation of the Macedonians. In relating the history of Alexander’s
achievements, there are some things which I have been compelled to
censure; but I am not ashamed to admire Alexander himself. Those
actions I have branded as bad, both from a regard to my own veracity,
and at the same time for the benefit of mankind.[985] For this reason
I think that I undertook the task of writing this history not without
the divine inspiration.
THE END OF THE HISTORY OF ALEXANDER’S DEEDS.
FOOTNOTES:
[1] Cf. Arrian (_Cynegeticus_, i. 4).
[2] See _Dio Cassius_, lxix. 15.
[3] Cf. Josephus (_Vita ipsius_, 76).
[4] Cf. Lucian (_Alexander_, 2).
[5] See _Dio Cassius_, lxix. 15.
[6] See _Anabasis_, i. 10, 4; ii. 14, 4; ii. 25, 3; vi. 1, 4; vii. 23,
7.
[7] _Anab._, vii. 25.
[8] _Life of Alexander_, chap. 76.
[9] See _Anab._, v. 5, 1; 6, 8; vi. 28, 6; _Indica_, 19, 21, 23, 32, 40
cc.
[10] See _Photius_ (codex 58); _Dio Cassius_, lxix. 15.
[11] Ptolemaeus, surnamed Soter, the Preserver, but more commonly known
as the Son of Lagus, a Macedonian of low birth. Ptolemy’s mother,
Arsinoe, had been a concubine of Philip of Macedon, for which reason
it was generally believed that Ptolemy was the offspring of that
king. Ptolemy was one of the earliest friends of Alexander before his
accession to the throne, and accompanied him throughout his campaigns,
being one of his most skilful generals and most intimate friends. On
the division of the empire after Alexander’s death, Ptolemy obtained
the kingdom of Egypt, which he transmitted to his descendants. After
a distinguished reign of thirty-eight years, he abdicated the throne
to his youngest son, Ptolemy Philadelphus. He survived this event two
years, and died B.C. 283. He was a liberal patron of literature and the
arts, and wrote a history of the wars of Alexander, which is one of
the chief authorities on which Arrian composed his narrative. For his
beneficence, see Aelian (_Varia Historia_, xiii. 12). Not only Arrian,
but Plutarch and Strabo, derived much information from Ptolemy’s work,
which is highly commended by Athenæus.
[12] Aristobulus of Potidaea, a town in Macedonia, which was afterwards
called Cassandrea, served under Alexander, and wrote a history of his
wars, which, like that of Ptolemy, was sometimes more panegyrical
than the facts warranted. Neither of these histories has survived,
but they served Arrian as the groundwork for the composition of
his own narrative. Lucian in his treatise, _Quomodo historia sit
conscribenda_, ch. 12, accuses Aristobulus of inventing marvellous
tales of Alexander’s valour for the sake of flattery. Plutarch based
his _Life of Alexander_ chiefly on the work of this writer. We learn
from Lucian (_Macrobioi_, c. 22), that Aristobulus wrote his history
at the advanced age of eighty-four. He was employed by Alexander to
superintend the restoration of Cyrus’s tomb (_Arrian_, vi. 30).
[13] ἀναλέγομαι in the sense of reading through = ἀναγιγνώσκειν, is
found only in the later writers, Arrian, Plutarch, Dion, Callimachus,
etc.
[14] B.C. 336. He was murdered by a young noble named Pausanias,
who stabbed him at the festival which he was holding to celebrate
the marriage of his daughter with Alexander, king of Epirus. It was
suspected that both Olympias and her son Alexander were implicated in
the plot. At the time of his assassination Philip was just about to
start on an expedition against Persia, which his son afterwards so
successfully carried out. See Plutarch (_Alex._, 10); _Diod._, xix. 93,
94; Aristotle (_Polit._, v. 8, 10).
[15] It was the custom of the Athenians to name the years from the
president of the college of nine archons at Athens, who were elected
annually. The Attic writers adopted this method of determining dates.
See Smith’s _Dictionary of Antiquities_.
[16] Alexander the Great was the son of Philip II. and Olympias, and
was born at Pella B.C. 356. In his youth he was placed under the
tuition of Aristotle, who acquired very great influence over his
mind and character, and retained it until his pupil was spoiled by
his unparalleled successes. See Aelian (_Varia Historia_, xii. 54).
Such was his ability, that at the age of 16 he was entrusted with
the government of Macedonia by his father, when he marched against
Byzantium. At the age of 18 by his skill and courage he greatly
assisted Philip in gaining the battle of Chaeronea. When Philip was
murdered, Alexander ascended the throne, and after putting down
rebellion at home, he advanced into Greece to secure the power which
his father had acquired. See _Diod._, xvi. 85; _Arrian_, vii. 9.
[17] See _Justin_, xi. 2.
[18] “Arrian speaks as if this request had been addressed only to the
Greeks _within_ Peloponnesus; moreover he mentions no assembly at
Corinth, which is noticed, though with some confusion, by Diodorus,
Justin, and Plutarch. Cities out of Peloponnesus, as well as within
it, must have been included; unless we suppose that the resolution
of the Amphictyonic assembly, which had been previously passed, was
held to comprehend all the extra-Peloponnesian cities, which seems not
probable.”—_Grote._
[19] Justin (ix. 5) says: “Soli Lacedaemonii et legem et regem
contempserunt.” The king here referred to was Philip.
[20] See _Justin_, xi. 3; Aeschines, _Contra Ctesiphontem_, p. 564.
[21] The Triballians were a tribe inhabiting the part of Servia
bordering on Bulgaria. The Illyrians inhabited the eastern coast of the
Adriatic Sea, the districts now called North Albania, Bosnia, Dalmatia
and Croatia.
[22] We learn from _Thucydides_, ii. 96, that these people were called
Dii.
[23] The Nessus, or Nestus, is now called Mesto by the Greeks, and
Karasu by the Turks.
[24] Now known as the Balkan. The defiles mentioned by Arrian are
probably what was afterwards called Porta Trajani. Cf. Vergil
(_Georg._, ii. 488); Horace (_Carm._, i. 12, 6).
[25] πεποίηντο:—Arrian often forms the pluperfect tense without the
augment. διασκεδάσουσι:—The Attic future of this verb is διασκεδῶ. Cf.
Aristoph. (_Birds_, 1053).
[26] The Agrianes were a tribe of Eastern Paeonia who lived near the
Triballians. They served in the Macedonian army chiefly as cavalry and
light infantry.
[27] Perhaps Neapolis and Eion, which were the harbours of Philippi and
Amphipolis.
[28] This officer was commander of the royal body-guard. His father was
Parmenio, the most experienced of Alexander’s generals.
[29] Thucydides says (Bk. ii. 96): “On the side of the Triballians,
who were also independent, the border tribes were the Trerians and the
Tilatæans, who live to the north of mount Scombrus, and stretch towards
the west as far as the river Oscius. This river flows from the same
mountains as the Nestus and the Hebrus, an uninhabited and extensive
range, joining on to Rhodope.” The Oscius is now called Isker. It is
uncertain which river is the Lyginus; but perhaps it was another name
for the Oscius.
[30] Also named _Danube_. Cf. Hesiod (_Theog._, 339); Ovid (_Met._, ii.
249); Pindar (_Olym._ iii. 24).
[31] It is uncertain in what part of the Danube this island was. It
cannot be the Peuce of Strabo (vii, 3). Cf. _Apollonius Rhodius_ (iv.
309); _Martialis_ (vii. 84); _Valerius Flaccus_ (viii. 217).
[32] These two generals are mentioned (iii. 11 infra) as being present
at the battle of Arbela. Sopolis is also mentioned (iv. 13 and 18
infra).
[33] Bottiaea was a district of Macedonia on the right bank of the
Axius.
[34] The classical writers have three names to denote this
race:—Celts, Galatians, and Gauls. These names were originally given
to all the people of the North and West of Europe; and it was not till
Cæsar’s time that the Romans made any distinction between Celts and
Germans. The name of Celts was then confined to the people north of the
Pyrenees and west of the Rhine. Cf. _Ammianus_ (xv. 9); _Herodotus_
(iv. 49); _Livy_ (v. 33, 34); _Polybius_ (iii. 39).
[35] Arrian is here speaking, not of Alexander’s time, but of his own,
the second century of the Christian era. The Quadi were a race dwelling
in the south-east of Germany. They are generally mentioned with the
Marcomanni, and were formidable enemies of the Romans, especially in
the reign of Marcus Aurelius, when Arrian wrote. This nation disappears
from history about the end of the fourth century.
[36] The Marcomanni, like the Quadi, were a powerful branch of the
Suevic race, originally dwelling in the south-west of Germany; but
in the reign of Tiberius they dispossessed the Boii of the country
now called Bohemia. In conjunction with the Quadi, they were very
formidable to the Romans until Commodus purchased peace from them. The
name denotes “border men.” Cf. Cæsar (_Bel. Gal._, i. 51).
[37] The Iazygians were a tribe of Sarmatians, who migrated from the
coast of the Black Sea, between the Dnieper and the Sea of Azov, in the
reign of Claudius, and settled in Dacia, near the Quadi, with whom they
formed a close alliance. They were conquered by the Goths in the fifth
century. Cf. Ovid (_Tristia_, ii. 191).
[38] Called also Sarmatians. Herodotus (iv. 21) says that these people
lived east of the Don, and were allied to the Scythians. Subsequent
writers understood by Sarmatia the east part of Poland, the south of
Russia, and the country southward as far as the Danube.
[39] These people were called Dacians by the Romans. They were
Thracians, and are said by Herodotus and Thucydides to have lived south
of the Danube, near its mouths. They subsequently migrated north of
this river, and were driven further west by the Sarmatians. They were
very formidable to the Romans in the reigns of Augustus and Domitian.
Dacia was conquered by Trajan; but ultimately abandoned by Aurelian,
who made the Danube the boundary of the Roman Empire. About the Getae
holding the doctrine of immortality, see _Herodotus_ (iv. 94). Cf.
Horace (_Carm._, iii. 6, 13; _Sat._, ii. 6, 53).
[40] The Scythians are said by Herodotus to have inhabited the south of
Russia. His supposition that they came from Asia is doubtless correct.
He gives ample information about this race in the fourth book of his
History.
[41] Herodotus (iv. 47) says the Danube had five mouths; but Strabo
(vii. 3) says there were seven. At the present time it has only three
mouths. The Greeks called the Black Sea πόντος εὔξεινος,
_the sea kind to strangers_. Cf. Ovid (_Tristia_, iv. 4,
55):—“Frigida me cohibent Euxini litora Ponti, Dictus ab antiquis
Axenus ille fuit.”
[42] The _sarissa_, or more correctly _sarisa_, was a spear peculiar to
the Macedonians. It was from fourteen to sixteen feet long. See Grote’s
_Greece_, vol. xi. ch. 92, Appendix.
[43] Son of Parmenio and brother of Philotas.
[44] The parasang was a Persian measure, containing thirty stades,
nearly three and three-quarter English miles. It is still used by the
Persians, who call it _ferseng_. See _Herodotus_ (vi. 42) and Grote’s
_History of Greece_, vol. viii. p. 316.
[45] Son of Neoptolemus. After Alexander’s death Meleager resisted the
claim of Perdiccas to the regency, and was associated with him in the
office. He was, however, soon afterwards put to death by the order of
his rival.
[46] Son of Machatas, was an eminent general, slain in India. See vi.
27 infra.
[47] The Macedonian kings believed they were sprung from Hercules. See
_Curtius_, iv. 7.
[48] The Adriatic Sea.
[49] Cf. Aelian (_Varia Historia_, xii. 23); _Strabo_, vii. p. 293;
Aristotle (_Nicom. Ethics_, iii. 7; _Eudem. Eth._, iii. 1):—οἷον οἱ
Κελτοὶ πρὸς τὰ κύματα ὅπλα ἀπαντῶσι λαβόντες; _Ammianus_, xv. 12.
[50] The Paeonians were a powerful Thracian people, who in early times
spread over a great part of Thrace and Macedonia. In historical times
they inhabited the country on the northern border of Macedonia. They
were long troublesome to Macedonia, but were subdued by Philip the
father of Alexander, who, however, allowed them to retain their own
chiefs. The Agrianians were the chief tribe of Paeonians, from whom
Philip and Alexander formed a valuable body of light-armed troops.
[51] Bardylis was a chieftain of Illyria who carried on frequent wars
with the Macedonians, but was at last defeated and slain by Philip,
B.C. 359. Clitus had been subdued by Philip in 349 B.C.
[52] This Glaucias subsequently afforded asylum to the celebrated
Pyrrhus, King of Epirus, when an infant of two years of age. He took
the child into his own family and brought him up with his own children.
He not only refused to surrender Pyrrhus to Cassander, but marched into
Epirus and placed the boy, when twelve years of age, upon the throne,
leaving him under the care of guardians, B.C. 307.
[53] The Taulantians were a people of Illyria in the neighbourhood of
Epidamnus, now called Durazzo.
[54] These were an Illyrian people in the Dalmatian mountains.
[55] Cyna was the daughter of Philip, by Audata, an Illyrian woman. See
_Athenæus_, p. 557 D. She was given in marriage to her cousin Amyntas,
who had a preferable claim to the Macedonian throne as the son of
Philip’s elder brother, Perdiccas. This Amyntas was put to death by
Alexander soon after his accession. Cyna was put to death by Alcetas,
at the order of Perdiccas, the regent after Alexander’s death. See
_Diodorus_, xix. 52.
[56] The capital of Macedonia. On its site stands the modern village of
Neokhori, or Yenikiuy. Philip and Alexander were born here.
[57] A tributary of the Axius, called Agrianus by Herodotus. It is now
called Tscherna.
[58] This city was situated south of lake Lychnitis, on the west side
of the chain of Scardus and Pindus. The locality is described in
_Livy_, xxxi. 39, 40.
[59] Now called Devol.
[60] The use of καίτοι with a participle instead of the Attic καίπερ is
frequent in Arrian and the later writers.
[61] The Hypaspists—shield-bearers, or guards—were a body of infantry
organized by Philip, originally few in number, and employed as personal
defenders of the king, but afterwards enlarged into several distinct
brigades. They were hoplites intended for close combat, but more
lightly armed and more fit for rapid evolutions than the phalanx. Like
the Greeks, they fought with the one-handed pike and shield. They
occupied an intermediate position between the heavy infantry of the
phalanx, and the peltasts and other light troops. See Grote’s _Greece_,
vol. xi. ch. 92.
[62] The heavy cavalry, wholly or chiefly composed of Macedonians by
birth, was known by the honourable name of ἑταίροι,
Companions, or Brothers in Arms. It was divided, as it seems, into 15
ἴλαι, which were named after the States or districts from
which they came. Their strength varied from 150 to 250 men. A separate
one, the 16th Ilē formed the so-called _agema_, or royal horse-guard,
at the head of which Alexander himself generally charged. See _Arrian_,
iii. 11, 13, 18.
[63] In addition to his other military improvements, Philip had
organized an effective siege-train with projectile and battering
engines superior to anything of the kind existing before. This
artillery was at once made use of by Alexander in this campaign against
the Illyrians.
[64] Perdiccas, son of Orontes, a Macedonian, was one of Alexander’s
most distinguished generals. The king is said on his death-bed to
have taken the royal signet from his finger and to have given it to
Perdiccas. After Alexander’s death he was appointed regent; but an
alliance was formed against him by Antipater, Craterus, and Ptolemy. He
marched into Egypt against Ptolemy. Being defeated in his attempts to
force the passage of the Nile, his own troops mutinied against him and
slew him (B.C. 321). See _Diodorus_, xviii. 36. For his personal valour
see Aelian (_Varia Historia_, xii. 39).
[65] Coenus, son of Polemocrates, was a son-in-law of Parmenio, and one
of Alexander’s best generals. He violently accused his brother-in-law
Philotas of treason, and personally superintended the torturing of that
famous officer previous to his execution (_Curtius_, vi. 36, 42). He
was put forward by the army to dissuade Alexander from advancing beyond
the Hyphasis (_Arrian_, v. 27). Soon after this he died and was buried
with all possible magnificence near that river, B.C. 327 (_Arrian_, vi.
2).
[66] The Cadmea was the Acropolis of Thebes, an oval eminence of no
great height, named after Cadmus, the leader of a Phoenician colony,
who is said to have founded it. Since the battle of Chaeronea, this
citadel had been held by a Macedonian garrison.
[67] Amyntas was a Macedonian officer, and Timolaüs a leading Theban of
the Macedonian faction.
[68] Cf. Aelian (_Varia Historia_, xii. 57).
[69] These were two provinces in the west of Macedonia.
[70] Two divisions of Epirus.
[71] A town on the Penēus in Hestiaeotis.
[72] A town in Boeotia, on the lake Copais, distant 50 stades
north-west of Thebes.
[73] It seems from Plutarch, that Alexander was really wounded in the
head by a stone, in a battle with the Illyrians.
[74] This Alexander was also called Lyncestes, from being a native of
Lyncestis, a district of Macedonia. He was an accomplice in Philip’s
murder, but was pardoned by his successor. He accompanied Alexander the
Great into Asia, but was put to death in B.C. 330, for having carried
on a treasonable correspondence with Darius. See _Arrian_, i. 25.
[75] The friend and charioteer of Hercules.
[76] He sent to demand the surrender of the anti-Macedonian leaders,
Phoenix and Prothytes, but offering any other Thebans who came out to
him the terms agreed upon in the preceding year. See Plutarch (_Life of
Alexander_, 11); and _Diodorus_, xvii. 9.
[77] The Boeotarchs were the chief magistrates of the Boeotian
confederacy, chosen annually by the different States. The number
varied from ten to twelve. At the time of the battle of Delium, in
the Peloponnesian war, they were eleven in number, two of them being
Thebans. See Grote, _History of Greece_, vol. ii. p. 296.
[78] Arrian says that the attack of the Macedonians upon Thebes
was made by Perdiccas, without orders from Alexander; and that the
capture was effected in a short time and with no labour on the part
of the captors (ch. ix.). But Diodorus says that Alexander ordered
and arranged the assault, that the Thebans made a brave and desperate
resistance for a long time, and that not only the Boeotian allies, but
the Macedonians themselves committed great slaughter of the besieged
(_Diod._ xvii. 11-14). It is probable that Ptolemy, who was Arrian’s
authority, wished to exonerate Alexander from the guilt of destroying
Thebes.
[79] Amyntas was one of Alexander’s leading officers. He and his
brothers were accused of being accomplices in the plot of Philotas, but
were acquitted. He was however soon afterwards killed in a skirmish
(_Arrian_, iii. 27).
[80] The mythical founder of the walls of Thebes. See _Pausanias_ (ix.
17).
[81] The Thebans had incurred the enmity of the other Boeotians by
treating them as subjects instead of allies. They had destroyed the
restored Plataea, and had been the chief enemies of the Phocians in the
Sacred War, which ended in the subjugation of that people by Philip.
See Smith’s _History of Greece_, pp. 467, 473, 506.
[82] More than 500 Macedonians were killed, while 6,000 Thebans were
slain, and 30,000 sold into slavery. See Aelian (_Varia Historia_,
xiii. 7); _Diodorus_ (xvii. 14); _Pausanias_ (viii. 30); Plutarch
(_Life of Alexander_, 11). The sale of the captives realized 440
talents, or about £107,000; and Justin (xi. 4) says that large sums
were offered from feelings of hostility towards Thebes on the part of
the bidders.
[83] B.C. 415-413. See Grote’s _Greece_, vol. vii.
[84] B.C. 405. See _Thucydides_ (ii. 13); Xenophon (_Hellenics_, ii. 2).
[85] By Conon’s victory at Cnidus, B.C. 394.
[86] At Leuctra they lost 400 Spartans and 1,000 other Lacedaemonians.
See Xen. (_Hellen._, vi. 4).
[87] The Achaeans, Eleans, Athenians, and some of the Arcadians, were
allies of Sparta at this crisis, B.C. 369. See Xen. (_Hellen._, vii.
5); _Diodorus_ (xv. 85).
[88] B.C. 426. See _Thuc._, iii. 52, etc.
[89] B.C. 416 and 421. See _Thuc._, v. 32, 84, etc.
[90] These persons must have forgotten that Alexander’s predecessor and
namesake had served in the army of Xerxes along with the Thebans. See
_Herodotus_ vii. 173.
[91] Plutarch (_Lysander_, 15) says that the Theban Erianthus moved
that Athens should be destroyed.
[92] See Aelian (_Varia Historia_, xii. 57).
[93] Plutarch (_Alexander_, 13) tells us that Alexander was afterwards
sorry for his cruelty to the Thebans. He believed that he had incurred
the wrath of Dionysus, the tutelary deity of Thebes, who incited him to
kill his friend Clitus, and induced his soldiers to refuse to follow
him into the interior of India.
[94] Orchomenus was destroyed by the Thebans B.C. 364. See _Diod._, xv.
79; Demosthenes (_Contra Leptinem_, p. 489). It was restored by Philip,
according to _Pausanias_, iv. 27.
[95] The Great Mysteries of Demeter were celebrated at Eleusis, from
the 15th to the 23rd of the month Boedromion, our September.
[96] All these nine men were orators except Chares, Charidemus, and
Ephialtes, who were military men. Plutarch (_Life of Demosthenes_, 23)
does not mention Chares, Diotimus, and Hyperides, but puts the names of
Callisthenes and Damon in the list.
[97] See Aeschines (_Adversus Ctesiphontem_, pp. 469, 547, 551, 603,
633); Plutarch (_Demosthenes_, 22; _Phocion_, 16); _Diodorus_, xvii. 5.
[98] At the head of this embassy was Phocion.
[99] He was put to death by Darius shortly before the battle of Issus,
for advising him not to rely on his Asiatic troops in the contest
with Alexander, but to subsidize an army of Grecian mercenaries. See
_Curtius_, iii. 5; _Diodorus_, xvii. 30.
[100] Archelaüs was king of Macedonia from B.C. 413-399. He improved
the internal arrangements of his kingdom, and patronised art and
literature. He induced the tragic poets, Euripides and Agathon, as
well as the epic poet Choerilus, to visit him; and treated Euripides
especially with favour. He also invited Socrates, who declined the
invitation.
[101] Aegae, or Edessa, was the earlier capital of Macedonia, and the
burial place of its kings. Philip was murdered here, B.C. 336.
[102] A narrow strip of land in Macedonia, between the mouths of the
Haliacmon and Penēus, the reputed home of Orpheus and the Muses.
[103] Cf. _Apollonius Rhodius_, iv. 1284; _Livy_, xxii. i.
[104] This man was the most noted soothsayer of his time. Telmissus
was a city of Caria, celebrated for the skill of its inhabitants in
divination. Cf. Arrian (_Anab._ i. 25, ii. 18, iii. 2, iii. 7, iii. 15,
iv. 4, iv. 15); _Herodotus_, i. 78; and Cicero (_De Divinatione_, i.
41).
[105] _Diodorus_ (xvii. 17) says that there were 30,000 infantry and
4,500 cavalry. He gives the numbers in the different brigades as well
as the names of the commanders. Plutarch (_Life of Alexander_, 15)
says that the lowest numbers recorded were 30,000 infantry and 5,000
cavalry; and the highest, 34,000 infantry and 4,000 cavalry.
[106] This lake is near the mouth of the Strymon. It is called Prasias
by _Herodotus_ (v. 16). Its present name is Tak-hyno.
[107] This mountain is now called Pirnari. Xerxes took the same route
when marching into Greece. See _Herodotus_, v. 16, vii. 112; Aeschўlus
(_Persae_, 494); Euripides (_Rhesus_, 922, 972).
[108] Now called Maritza. See _Theocritus_, vii. 110.
[109] Cf. Homer (_Iliad_, ii. 701); Ovid (_Epistolae Heroidum_, xiii.
93); _Herodotus_ (ix. 116).
[110] The Athenians supplied twenty ships of war. See _Diodorus_, xvii.
22.
[111] A landing-place in the north-west of Troas, near Cape Sigaeum.
[112] Cf. _Diodorus_, xvii. 17; _Justin_, xi. 5.
[113] The celebrated general, mentioned already in chap. 10.
[114] Son of Amyntas, a Macedonian of Pella. He was the most intimate
friend of Alexander, with whom he had been brought up. Cf. Aelian
(_Varia Historia_, xii. 7).
[115] Plutarch (_Life of Alex._, 15), says that Alexander also went
through the ceremony, still customary in his own day, of anointing
himself with oil and running up to the tomb naked. Cf. Aelian (_Varia
Historia_, x. 4) Cicero (_Pro Archia_, ch. 10).
[116] By Pindar and Bacchylides.
[117] See Xenophon’s _Anabasis_, Book ii.
[118] A town in the Macedonia district of Mygdonia, south of Lake
Bolbe. It is now called Polina.
[119] We find from _Diodorus_ (xvii. 7), that the Persian king had
subsidized this great general and 5,000 Greek mercenaries to protect
his seaboard from the Macedonians. Before the arrival of Alexander, he
had succeeded in checking the advance of Parmenio and Callas. If Memnon
had lived and his advice been adopted by Darius, the fate of Persia
might have been very different. Cf. Plutarch (_Life of Alex._, 18).
[120] _Diodorus_ (xvii. 18) says that Memnon, while advising the
Persian generals to lay waste the country, and to prevent the
Macedonians from advancing through scarcity of provisions, also urged
them to carry a large force into Greece and Macedonia, and thus
transfer the war into Europe.
[121] The Granicus rises in Mount Ida, and falls into the Propontis
near Cyzicus. Ovid (_Metam._, xi. 763) calls it _Granicus bicornis_.
[122] This was a brigade of about 1,000 men. See _Livy_, xxxvii. 42.
[123] ὑποφθάσομεν. This future is used by the later writers for the
Attic ὑποφθήσομαι. It is found however in Xenophon.
[124] Craterus was one of Alexander’s best generals. On the death
of the king he received the government of Macedonia and Greece in
conjunction with Antipater, whose daughter he married. He fell in
battle against Eumenes (B.C. 321).
[125] Calas was appointed viceroy of Phrygia. He consequently took no
further part in Alexander’s campaigns after this.
[126] Alexander had three generals named Philip, two of whom are
mentioned here as sons of Amyntas and Menelaüs. The third was son of
Machatas, and was left in India as viceroy.
[127] Son of Tyrimmas, was commander of the Odrysian cavalry. See iii.
12 infra.
[128] _Diodorus_ (xvii. 19) says that the Persian cavalry numbered
10,000, and their infantry 100,000. Both these numbers are inaccurate.
We know from _Arrian_ (chaps. 12 and 13) that the Persian infantry was
inferior in number to that of Alexander.
[129] This is an Homeric name for Mars the war-god. In _Homer_ Ares is
the Trojan and Enyalius the Grecian war-god. Hence they are mentioned
as different in Aristophanes (_Pax_, 457). See Paley’s note on _Homer_
(vii. 166). As to the practice of shouting the war-cry to Mars before
battle, see Xenophon (_Anab._, i. 8, 18; v. 2, 14). The Scholiast on
_Thucydides_ (i. 50) says that the Greeks used to sing two paeans, one
to Mars before battle, another to Apollo after it.
[130] ὡς ἀνυστόν = ὡς δυνατόν. Cf. _Arrian_, iv. 12, 6; Xenophon
(_Anab._, i. 8, 11; _Res. Laced._, i. 3).
[131] ξυνειστήκει μάχη. This is a common expression with Arrian, copied
from _Herodotus_ (i. 74, _et passim_).
[132] Plutarch (_Alex._, 16); _Diodorus_ (xvii. 20).
[133] _Diodorus_ (xvii. 21) says that more than 10,000 of the Persian
infantry were killed, and 2,000 cavalry; and that more than 20,000 were
made prisoners.
[134] Her name was Statira.
[135] An important city in Macedonia on the Thermaic gulf, named after
a temple of Zeus.
[136] Lysippus of Sicyon was one of the most famous of Greek
statuaries. None of his works remain, inasmuch as they were all
executed in bronze. Alexander published an edict that no one should
paint his portrait but Apelles, and that no one should make a statue of
him but Lysippus. When Metellus conquered Macedonia, he removed this
group of bronze statues to Rome, to decorate his own portico. See Pliny
(_Nat. Hist._, xxxiv. 19); _Velleius Paterculus_ (i. 11).
[137] As most of the infantry on the Persian side were Grecian
mercenaries, who, according to _Plutarch_, fought with desperate
valour, and, according to _Arrian_ himself, all the infantry were
killed except 2,000, the number of Alexander’s slain must have been
larger than Arrian here states.
[138] At Corinth, B.C. 336.
[139] For the fact that the Acropolis of Athens was often called simply
_polis_, see _Thucydides_, ii. 15; Xenophon (_Anab._ vii. 1, 27);
_Antiphon_ (146, 2); Aristophanes (_Equites_, 1093; _Lysistrata_, 758).
[140] A city at the foot of Mount Ida.
[141] A city of Bithynia, on the Propontis.
[142] About eight miles.
[143] This river flows through Phrygia and Lydia, and falls into the
gulf of Smyrna. Its present name is Kodus-Çhai. See Vergil (_Georg._,
ii. 137); _Silius_, i. 159; Claudian (_Raptus Proserpinae_, ii. 67).
[144] Nearly two-and-a-half miles.
[145] For a description of this fortress, see _Herodotus_, i. 84.
[146] Memnon had succeeded his brother Mentor as governor for the
Persian king of the territory near the Hellespont. See _Diodorus_,
xvii. 7.
[147] This man took refuge with Darius, and distinguished himself at
the battle of Issus. See Plutarch (_Alex._, 20); _Curtius_, iii. 28.
He met with his death soon after in Egypt. See _Arrian_, ii. 6 and 13;
_Diod._, xvii. 48.
[148] The temple of Artemis at Ephesus had been burnt down by
Herostratus in the night on which Alexander was born (Oct. 13-14, B.C.
356), and at this time was being restored by the joint efforts of the
Ionian cities. See _Strabo_, xiv. 1. Heropythus and Syrphax are not
mentioned by any other writers.
[149] This was the Carian Magnesia, situated on the Lethaeus, a
tributary of the Maeander. Tralles was on the Eudon, another tributary
of the Maeander. See _Juvenal_, iii. 70.
[150] Lysimachus was of mean origin, his father having been a serf
in Sicily. He was one of Alexander’s confidential body-guards, and
on the death of the great king obtained Thrace as his portion of the
dismembered empire. In conjunction with Seleucus he won the battle of
Ipsus, by which he obtained a great part of Asia Minor. He ultimately
acquired all the European dominions of Alexander in addition to Asia
Minor; but in his eightieth year he was defeated and slain by Seleucus
at the battle of Corus, B.C. 281. Sintenis was the first to substitute
_Lysimachus_ for _Antimachus_, the reading of the MSS. Cf. vi. 28 infra.
[151] Eleven in number. See _Herodotus_, i. 149-151.
[152] Thirteen in number, of which Miletus and Ephesus were the chief
in importance.
[153] For the celebrated interview of Alexander with Apelles at
Ephesus, see Aelian (_Varia Historia_, ii. 3).
[154] Cf. _Herodotus_, vi. 7. Here the Persians destroyed the Ionic
fleet, B.C. 497.
[155] Famous for the victory won near it by Leotychides and Xanthippus
over the Persians, B.C. 479.
[156] Cf. Vergil (_Aeneid_, vi. 3). _Obvertunt pelago proras._ See
Conington’s note.
[157] _Strabo_ (xiv. 1) says that Miletus had four harbours.
[158] ἐφομαρτούντων. This word is rare in
prose. See Homer (_Iliad_, viii. 191); _Apollonius Rhodius_, i. 201.
[159] Miletus lay nearly ten miles south of the mouth of the Maeander.
[160] A similar stratagem was used by Lysander at Aegospotami, B.C.
405. See Xenophon (_Hellenics_, ii. 1).
[161] Iassus was a city in Caria on the Iassian Gulf, founded by the
Argives and further colonized by the Milesians.
[162] Caria formed the south-west angle of Asia Minor. The Greeks
asserted that the Carians were emigrants from Crete. We learn from
Thucydides and Herodotus that they entered the service of foreign
rulers. They formed the body-guard of queen Athaliah, who had usurped
the throne and stood in need of foreign mercenaries. The word
translated in our Bible in 2 Kings xi. 4, 19 as _captains_, ought to be
rendered _Carians_. See Fuerst’s _Hebrew Lexicon_, _sub voce_ כָּרִֽי
[163] Now called Budrum. It was the birthplace of the historians
Herodotus and Dionysius.
[164] Little more than half a mile.
[165] Now called Melasso, a city of Caria, about ten miles from the
Gulf of Iassus.
[166] A colony of Troezen, on the western extremity of the same
peninsula on which stood Halicarnassus.
[167] _Diodorus_ (xvii. 25) says that this incident occurred in the
night, which is scarcely probable. Compare the conduct of the two
centurions Pulfio and Varenus in the country of the Nervii. Cæsar
(_Gallic War_, v. 44).
[168] Compare the sieges of Avaricum, Gergovia, and Alesia by Cæsar
(_Gallic War_, lib. vii.); and that of Saguntum by Hannibal. See
_Livy_, xxi. 7-15.
[169] This use of ἀμφί with the Dative, is poetical. The Attic writers
use περί with the Accusative. Cf. ii. 3, 8; iii. 30, 1.
[170] There were at least four generals in Alexander’s army of this
name. The one here mentioned was probably not the famous son of Lagus.
[171] _Diodorus_ (xvii. 25-27) gives a very different account of the
last struggle of the besieged in Halicarnassus. When the leaders saw
that they must eventually succumb, they made a last desperate effort to
destroy Alexander’s military engines. Ephialtes, the eminent Athenian
exile, headed the sally, which was effected by troops simultaneously
issuing from all the gates at daybreak. The advanced guard of the
Macedonians, consisting of young troops, were put to rout; but the
veterans of Philip restored the battle under a man named Atharrias.
Ephialtes was slain, and his men driven back into the city.
[172] Hecatomnus, king of Caria, left three sons, Mausolus, Hidrieus,
and Pixodarus; and two daughters, Artemisia and Ada. Artemisia married
Mausolus, and Ada married Hidrieus. All these children succeeded their
father in the sovereignty, Pixodarus being the last surviving son.
[173] Amyntas, king of Macedonia, grandfather of Alexander the Great,
adopted the celebrated Athenian general Iphicrates, in gratitude to him
as the preserver of Macedonia. See Aeschines (_De Falsa Legatione_, pp.
249, 250).
[174] See _Arrian_, ii. 20 infra.
[175] The Marmarians alone defended their city with desperate valour.
They finally set fire to it, and escaped through the Macedonian camp to
the mountains. See _Diodorus_ (xvii. 28). As to Xanthus the river, see
Homer (_Iliad_, ii. 877; vi. 172); Horace (_Carm._, iv. 6, 26).
[176] Lycia was originally called Milyas; but the name was afterwards
applied to the high table in the north of Lycia, extending into
Pisidia. See _Herodotus_, i. 173.
[177] Phaselis was a seaport of Lycia on the Gulf of Pamphylia. It is
now called Tekrova.
[178] He also crowned with garlands the statue of Theodectes the
rhetorician, which the people of Phaselis, his native city, had erected
to his memory. This man was a friend and pupil of Aristotle, the tutor
of Alexander. See Plutarch (_Life of Alex._, 17); Aristotle (_Nicom.
Ethics_, vii. 7).
[179] Philip was murdered by Pausanias. Three only of his reputed
accomplices are known by name, and they were Alexander, Heromenes, and
Arrhabaeus, sons of Aëropus. The two latter were put to death; but the
first named was not only spared, but advanced to high military command
for being the first to salute Alexander as king. Compare _Curtius_
(vii. 1); _Justin_ (xi. 2). Alexander was accused by some of forgiving
his father’s murderers. Probably the reference was to his kind
treatment of Olympias and this Alexander. See _Curtius_, vi. 43.
[180] That of the Hellespontine Phrygia. See chap. xvii. supra.
[181] See chap. xvii. supra.
[182] Nearly £250,000.
[183] See chap. xi. supra.
[184] Compare Plutarch (_Alex._, 17). Just as the historians of
Alexander affirmed that the sea near Pamphylia providentially made
way for him, so the people of Thapsacus, when they saw the army of
Cyrus cross the Euphrates on foot, said that the river made way for
him to come and take the sceptre (Xen., _Anab._, i. 4). So also the
inhabitants prostrated themselves before Lucullus when the same
river subsided and allowed his army to cross (Plutarch, _Lucullus_,
chap. xxiv.). There was the same omen in the reign of Tiberius,
when Vitellius, with a Roman army, crossed the Euphrates to restore
Tiridates to the throne of Parthia (Tacitus, _Annals_, vi. 37). Cf.
_Strabo_, xiv. 3.
[185] Aspendus was on the Eurymedon.
[186] About £12,000.
[187] Sidē was on the coast of Pamphylia, a little west of the river
Melas.
[188] Syllium was about five miles from the coast, between Aspendus and
Side.
[189] This river is celebrated for the double victory of Cimon the
Athenian over the Persians, in B.C. 466. See Smith’s _Greece_, p. 252;
_Grote_, vol. v. p. 163.
[190] This lake is mentioned by _Herodotus_ (vii. 30), as being near
the city of Anava. It is now called Burdur.
[191] Here Cyrus the Younger reviewed his Grecian forces and found them
to be 11,000 hoplites and 2,000 peltasts. Here that prince had a palace
and park, in which rose the river Maeander, close to the source of the
Marsyas. See Xenophon (_Anab._, i. 2); compare _Curtius_ (iii. 1).
[192] _Curtius_ (iii. 1) says they made a truce with Alexander for
sixty days.
[193] Antigonus, called the One-eyed, was father of Demetrius
Poliorcetes. On the division of Alexander’s empire he received Phrygia,
Lycia, and Pamphylia. He eventually acquired the whole of Asia Minor;
but was defeated and slain at the battle of Ipsus by the allied forces
of Cassander, Lysimachus, Ptolemy, and Seleucus (B.C. 301). When he was
slain he was in his eighty-first year.
[194] Balacrus was left by Alexander to command in Egypt. See _Arrian_
(iii. 5).
[195] The capital of the old Phrygian kings. It was rebuilt in the time
of Augustus, and called Juliopolis.
[196] This Ptolemy was killed at the battle of Issus (_Arrian_, ii.
110).
[197] We learn from _Curtius_ (iv. 34) that Alexander released these
prisoners at the request of ambassadors from Athens, who met him in
Syria after his return from Egypt.
[198] The other cities of Lesbos were Methymna, Antissa, Eresus, and
Pyrrha.
[199] Now called Cape Sigri, the west point of the island.
[200] The southern point of Euboea, now called Cape Mandili. Cf. Homer
(_Odyss._, iii. 177).
[201] The south-eastern point of Laconia, now called Cape Malia di St.
Angelo. It was dreaded by ancient mariners; see Homer (_Odyssey_, ix.
80); Ovid (_Amores_, ii. 16, 24); Vergil (_Aeneid_, v. 193). There was
a saying:—Μαλέας δὲ κάμψας ἐπιλάθου τῶν οἴκαδε (_Strabo_, viii. p. 250).
[202] In accordance with the convention of Corinth. Compare next
chapter. For the pillars compare _Herodotus_ (ii. 102, 106);
_Thucydides_ (v. 18, 47, 56); Aristophanes (_Acharnians_, 727;
_Lysistrata_, 513).
[203] This treaty was concluded by the Spartans with the king of
Persia, B.C. 387. It was designed to break up the Athenian supremacy.
It stipulated that all the Grecian colonies in Asia were to be given
to the Persian king; the Athenians were to retain only Imbros, Lesbos,
and Scyros; and all the other Grecian cities were to be autonomous. See
Xenophon (_Hellenics_, iv. 8; v. 1).
[204] Cf. ii. 13 infra.
[205] “Cyclades ideo sic appellatae, quod omnes ambiunt Delon partu
deorum insignem.”—_Ammianus_, xxii. 8, 2. Cf. Horace (_Carm._, i. 14,
19; iii. 28, 14).
[206] Cf. Vergil (_Aeneid_, ii. 21).
[207] The regent of Macedonia and Greece during Alexander’s absence.
[208] One of the Cyclades, a little to the north-east of Melos. It
was noted for the low morality of its inhabitants. See Aristophanes
(_Fragment_, 558; on the authority of Suidas).
[209] Euripus properly means any narrow sea, where the ebb and flow
of the tide is violent. The name was especially applied to the strait
between Boeotia and Euboea, where the ancients asserted the sea ebbed
and flowed seven times in the day (_Strabo_, ix. 1). Modern observers
have noticed these extraordinary tides. The present name of the
island, Negropont, is the Italian name formed from Egripo, the modern
corruption of Euripus. Cf. Cicero, _pro Muraena_, xvii.:—Quod fretum,
quem Euripum tot motus, tantas, tam varias habere putatis agitationes
fluctuum, quantas perturbationes et quantos aestus habet ratio
comitiorum. Aristotle, _Ethica Nicomachea_, ix. 6:—τῶν τοιούτων γὰρ
μένει τὰ βουλήματα, καὶ οὐ μεταῤῥεῖ ὥσπερ Εὔριπος.
[210] One of the Cyclades, about half-way between Attica and Siphnus.
[211] ἐπιπτῆναι, a poetical form for ἐπιπτέσθαι.
[212] Cf. _Justin_, xi. 7.
[213] Cf. _Curtius_, iii. 2 (Zumpt’s edition); Plutarch (_Alexander_,
18).
[214] Now called Angora. In the time of Alexander the country was named
Great Phrygia, the term Galatia being afterwards applied to it, from
the fact that it was conquered by the Gauls in the 3rd century B.C.
[215] Now called Kizil-Irmak, _i.e._ the Red River. It is the largest
river in Asia Minor, and separated the empires of Persia and Lydia,
until the conquest of the latter by Cyrus.
[216] The chief pass over the Taurus between Cappadocia and Cilicia.
It is more than 3,600 feet above the sea-level. Its modern name is
Golek-Boghaz. Cf. _Curtius_, iii. 9-11. It is called Tauri Pylae by
Cicero (_Epistolae ad Atticum_, v. 20, 2).
[217] See Xenophon (_Anabasis_, i. 2, 20, 21).
[218] _Curtius_ (iii. 11) says, that Alexander wondered at his own
good fortune, when he observed how easily Arsames might have blocked
up the pass. Cyrus the Younger was equally fortunate in finding this
impregnable pass abandoned by Syennesis, king of Cilicia. See Xenophon
(_Anabasis_, i. 2, 21).
[219] Now called Tersoos-Chai. See _Curtius_, iii. 12; _Justin_, xi. 8;
and Lucian (_De Domo_, i.). At Tarsus the emperor Julian was buried.
See _Ammianus_, xxv. 10, 5.
[220] Probably none of the physicians would venture to prescribe, for
fear of being held responsible for his death, which seemed likely to
ensue. Nine years after, when Hephaestion died of fever at Ecbatana,
Alexander caused the physician who had attended him to be crucified.
See _Arrian_, vii. 14; Plutarch (_Alexander_, 72).
[221] Cf. _Curtius_, iii. 14-16; _Diodorus_, xvii. 31; _Justin_, xi.
8; Plutarch (_Alex._, 19). The barbarous conduct of Alexander towards
Philotas four years after, when contrasted with his noble confidence
in Philip, shows the bad effect of his unparalleled success, upon his
moral character.
[222] This pass was called the _Syrian Gates_, lying between the shore
of the Gulf of Issus and Mount Amanus. Cyrus the Younger was six days
marching from Tarsus through this pass. See Xenophon (_Anab._, i. 4).
The Greeks often gave the name of Assyria to the country usually called
by them Syria. The Hebrew name for it is Aram (highland). Cf. Cicero
(_ad Diversos_, xv. 4, 4); _Diod._, xiv. 21.
[223] A city of Cilicia on the coast, a little west of the mouth of the
Cydnus.
[224] Said to have been the last of the Assyrian kings.
[225] Cf. _Strabo_ (xiv. 5) for a description of this statue.
[226] This was, doubtless, the arrow-headed writing which has
been deciphered by Sir Henry Rawlinson. Cf. _Herodotus_, iv. 87;
_Thucydides_, iv. 50.
[227] Now called Mezetlu. It was a Rhodian colony on the coast of
Cilicia, between the rivers Cydnus and Lamus. It was afterwards
re-named Pompeiopolis. The birthplace of Philemon, Aratus, and
Chrysippus.
[228] About £49,000.
[229] Asander was a nephew of Parmenio. He afterwards brought a
reinforcement to Alexander from Greece (_Arrian_, iv. 7). After the
king’s death he obtained the rule of Caria, but joining the party of
Ptolemy and Cassander, he was defeated by Antigonus, b.c. 313.
[230] These were Carian cities.
[231] Cos, the birthplace of Apelles and Hippocrates, is one of the
group of islands called Sporades, off the coast of Caria. Triopium is
the promontory terminating the peninsula of Cnidus, the south-west
headland of Asia Minor. Cf. _Tibullus_, ii. 3, 57; _Propertius_, i. 2,
1; ii. 1, 5; _Herodotus_, i. 174.
[232] Called by the Romans, Aesculapius. He was the god of the medical
art, and no doubt Alexander sacrificed to him, and celebrated the
games, in gratitude for his recovery from the fever he had had at
Tarsus.
[233] This plain is mentioned in _Homer_, vi. 201; _Herodotus_, vi.
95. The large river Pyramus, now called Jihan, falls into the sea near
Mallus.
[234] Mallus was said to have been founded by Amphilochus after the
fall of Troy. This hero was the son of Amphiaraüs, the great prophet of
Argos, whom Zeus is said to have made immortal. Magarsus, of Megarsa,
was the port of Mallus. The difference of meaning between θύειν
and ἐναγίζειν is seen from _Herodotus_, ii. 44; Plutarch (_Moralia_,
ii. p. 857 D).
[235] Usually called the Syrian Gates. See chap. v. note^1 supra.
[236] A city on the Gulf of Issus, being a settlement of the
Phoenicians. _Herodotus_ (iv. 38) calls the gulf the Myriandric Gulf.
Cf. Xenophon (_Anab._, 4).
[237] Cf. _Arrian_, vii. 29; _Curtius_, viii. 17.
[238] Aeschines tells us in his speech against Ctesiphon (p. 552), that
the anti-Macedonian statesmen at Athens at this time received letters
from their friends, stating that Alexander was caught and pinned up
in Cilicia. He says Demosthenes went about showing these letters and
boasting of the news. Josephus (_Antiquities of the Jews_, xi. 7, 3)
says that “not only Sanballat at Samaria but all those that were in
Asia also were persuaded that the Macedonians would not so much as come
to a battle with the Persians, on account of their multitude.”
[239] There are two passes by which the eastern countries are entered
from Cilicia; one on the south, near the sea, leads into Syria. The
other pass lies more to the north, and leads to the country near the
Euphrates. The latter was called the Amanic, and the former the Syrian
gate. Alexander had just passed through the Syrian gate in order to
march against Darius, at the very time that Darius was descending
into Cilicia by the Amanic gate, and occupying Issus with his
advanced guard. Alexander, who had reached Myriandrus in Syria, made
a countermarch to meet Darius. Plutarch (_Alex._, 20) says that they
missed each other in the night, which is quite a mistake.
[240] Cf. Sallust (_Catilina_, 59); Cæsar (_Bell. Gall._, ii. 25).
[241] See Xenophon (_Anab._, iii. 3).
[242] At Cunaxa. _Xenophon_ (ii. 2, 6) does not mention the name of the
place where the battle was fought, but says that he was informed it was
only 360 stadia (about 40 miles) from Babylon. We get the name Cunaxa
from Plutarch (_Life of Artaxerxes_, c. 8), who says it was 500 stadia
(about 58 miles) from Babylon.
[243] Callisthenes the historian, who accompanied Alexander into Asia,
states that the breadth of the plain between the mountain and the sea
was not more than fourteen stadia, or a little more than one English
mile and a half. See _Polybius_, xii. 17.
[244] These seem to have been foreign mercenaries. See _Polybius_, v.
79, 82; _Strabo_, xv. 3. Hesychius says that they were not a nation,
but foreigners serving for pay.
[245] Callisthenes—as quoted in _Polybius_, xii. 18—reckoned the
Grecian mercenaries of Darius at 30,000, and the cavalry at 30,000.
Arrian enumerates 90,000 heavy-armed, not including the cavalry. Yet
Polybius tries to prove that there was not room even for the 60,000
troops mentioned by Callisthenes.
[246] “The depth of this single phalanx is not given, nor do we know
the exact width of the ground which it occupied. Assuming a depth of
sixteen, and one pace in breadth to each soldier, 4,000 men would stand
in the breadth of a stadium of 250 paces; and therefore 80,000 men in
a breadth of twenty stadia. Assuming a depth of twenty-six, 6,500 men
would stand in the breadth of the stadium, and therefore 90,000 in a
total breadth of 14 stadia, which is that given by Kallisthenes. Mr.
Kinneir states that the breadth between Mount Amanus and the sea varies
between one and a half mile and three miles.”—_Grote._
[247] _Diodorus_ (xvii. 31), and Plutarch (_Alex._, 18), give the
same number; but _Justin_ (xi. 9) says the Persians numbered 400,000
infantry and 100,000 cavalry. It took five days for them to cross the
Euphrates, over bridges of boats (_Curtius_, iii. 17). The money alone
of the king required 600 mules and 300 camels to convey it (_Curtius_,
iii. 8).
[248] Cf. _Arrian_, iii. 11; and Xenophon (_Anab._, i. 8, 21, 22).
[249] See Donaldson’s _New Cratylus_, sect. 178.
[250] Cf. Xenophon (_Cyropaedia_, vii. 1, 6).
[251] In describing the battle of Arbela, Arrian mentions eight
distinct squadrons of Macedonian heavy cavalry, which was known by
the name of the Companions. Among the squadrons several, if not all,
were named after particular towns or districts of Macedonia, as here,
Anthemus, and Leuge. We also find mention of the squadrons of Bottiaea,
Amphipolis, and Apollonia. See also _Arrian_, i. 2; i. 12; iii. 11.
[252] τῇ γνώμῃ δεδουλωμένος. An expression imitated from _Thucydides_,
iv. 34; compare _Arrian_, iii. 11; v. 19; vi. 16, where the same words
are used of Porus and the Indians.
[253] κυμῆναν τῆς φάλαγγος. An expression imitated from Xenophon
(_Anab._, i. 8,18). It is praised by Demetrius (_De Elocutione_, 84).
Krüger reads ἐκκυμῆναν. Cf. Plutarch (_Pompey_, 69).
[254] _Curtius_ (iii. 29) says that on Alexander’s side 504 were
wounded, and 182 killed. _Diodorus_ (xvii. 36) says, that 450
Macedonians were killed. _Justin_ (xi. 9) states that 280 were slain.
[255] Polybius, who lived nearly three centuries before Arrian,
censures Callisthenes for asserting that the Persian cavalry
crossed the river Pinarus and attacked the Thessalians. No doubt
Arrian received this information from the lost works of Ptolemy and
Aristobulus (_Poly._, xii. 18).
[256] ἀμβάτης is the poetical form of ἀναβάτης,
the word used by Xenophon, Plato, and other Attic writers.
The latter is found only once in Arrian (III. xiii. 5).
[257] ἢ τῶν πεζῶν is Martin’s emendation for ἢ ὡς πεζῶν.