people called the Malloi, two populous and warlike nations. The
inhabitants, he found, had mustered a force of 80,000 foot, 10,000
horse, and 700 chariots. Before Alexander’s coming they had been at feud
with each other, but on his approach had settled their differences, and
cemented an alliance by intermarriage, each nation taking and giving
in exchange 10,000 of their young women for wives.[361] They did not,
however, combine their forces and take the field, for as a dispute had
arisen about the leadership, they had drawn off into the adjoining
towns. Alexander, while approaching the city that first came in his way,
was pondering how he could lay siege to it and capture it at the very
first assault, when one of the soothsayers, named Dêmophôn, came to him
and said that he had been forewarned by certain omens that the king in
besieging the place would be very dangerously wounded, and he therefore
advised Alexander to let that city alone for the present, and meanwhile
turn his attention to other enterprises. But the king sharply rebuked
him for hampering the valour of men in the heat of action. He then made
arrangements for the conduct of the siege, and he led himself the way to
the city, which he was ambitious to reduce at once by a vigorous assault.
The battering train was, however, late in coming up, and he was himself
the first to burst open a postern, and by this side entrance get into the
city. He then cut down many of the defenders, put the rest to flight, and
pursued them into the citadel. As the Macedonians were meanwhile detained
fighting at the wall, he seized a ladder, and applying it to the rampart
of the fortress, began to mount it, holding the while his shield above
his head. He climbed up with such activity that he quickly reached the
top, and surprised the barbarians who were stationed there on guard.
The Indians did not venture to close with him, but assailed him from a
distance off with darts and arrows, so that the king was sorely galled
with the pelting storm of missiles. By this time the Macedonians had
applied to the walls two scaling ladders, up which they were mounting,
when both of them from being overcrowded broke down, precipitating every
one to the ground.
_Chapter XCIX.—Alexander left alone leaps down from the walls into the
citadel, bravely defends himself, but is dangerously wounded—He is
rescued by his friends, who capture the stronghold—The Greek colonists in
Bactria revolt_
The king being thus isolated from all help, performed a feat of
marvellous audacity, which well deserves to be put on record. For,
thinking it would be unworthy of his characteristic good fortune if he
retired from the walls to his men leaving his purpose unaccomplished, he
leaped down, arms and all, alone as he was, into the citadel. The Indians
hastened up to assail him, but with undaunted courage he sustained the
brunt of their onslaught. Protecting himself on his right hand by the
shelter of a tree rooted by the wall, and on the left by the wall itself,
he thus kept the Indians at bay, firmly fixed in his purpose to bear
himself right gallantly like a king by whom such great things had been
achieved, and ambitious to make the close of his life the most glorious
of his whole career, for numerous were the blows which he received on
his helmet, nor few were those which he caught on his shield. At last,
however, being hit by an arrow under the pap, he sank on his knee,
overcome by the force of the blow. The Indian who had shot the arrow
immediately sprang forward, thinking lightly of the danger, but while
he was fetching down a blow, Alexander smote him with his sword under
the ribs, and, as the wound was mortal, the barbarian fell. Then the
king, grasping a branch within reach of his hand, and raising himself
up with it, challenged any of the Indians who so wished to come forward
and fight him. Just at this crisis Peukestas, one of the hypaspists,
who had mounted by a different ladder, was the first who succeeded in
covering the king with his shield. After him many others appeared on
the scene, who terrified the barbarians and saved Alexander. The city
was then stormed, and the Macedonians, in their rage for what the king
had suffered, slew all whom they could anywhere find, and filled the
city with dead bodies. While the king’s attention was for many days
absorbed with the curing of his wound, the Greek colonists of Bactria
and Sogdiana, who had long felt it a great grievance to be settled among
barbarians, when they heard at that time that the king had died of a
wound, revolted from the Macedonians, and, having mustered to the number
of 3000, set out on their return home. They had many sufferings to endure
on the way, and they were subsequently put to death by the Macedonians
after Alexander’s death.
_Chapter C.—Alexander recovers from his wound—Combat between Koragos and
Dioxippos—Dioxippos becomes victor_
Alexander, on being cured of his wound, gave thank-offerings to the gods
for his recovery, and entertained his friends with great banquets.
During the revels a noteworthy incident occurred. Among the invited
guests was a Macedonian called Koragos,[362] who was remarkable for his
great bodily strength and the number of his brave exploits in war. This
man, in an access of drunken bravado, challenged to single combat the
Athenian Dioxippos, a prize-fighter, who had been crowned at the public
games for victories of the highest distinction. The guests present at the
carousal naturally were interested in the match, and Dioxippos having
accepted the challenge, the king fixed the day on which the combat should
come off. At the time appointed for the match the people thronged in
tens of thousands to witness the spectacle. The Macedonians, who were
of the same race with Koragos, and the king himself joined in showing
their eagerness for the success of their compatriot, while the Greeks
were unanimous in backing up Dioxippos. The champions advanced into the
lists, the Macedonian arrayed in costly armour, the Athenian naked,
rubbed over with oil, and wearing a close-fitting skull-cap made of
felt. As both men excited the wonder and admiration of the spectators by
the massive strength of their limbs and their superlative prowess, the
contest, it was anticipated, would be of the nature of a fight between
two gods; for the Macedonian, with his stalwart form and the dazzling
splendour of his arms, which filled the beholders with amazement, was
taken to be like Mars, while Dioxippos, by his prodigious strength, his
practice in wrestling and carrying the characteristic club, showed like
Heraklês. When they advanced to the attack the Macedonian from the proper
distance discharged his javelin, but his antagonist, swerving a little
aside, eluded the coming blow. Then the former again advanced with his
long Macedonian pike levelled for the charge, but the other on seeing him
approach sufficiently near, struck the pike with his club and shattered
it to pieces. The Macedonian, after being thus twice baffled, came on to
the next round intending now to use his sword, but when he was just on
the point of drawing it, Dioxippos unexpectedly sprang forward, and with
his left hand seized the hand that was drawing the sword, while with his
right hand he pushed Koragos from where he stood, tripped up his legs,
and hurled him to the ground. Then Dioxippos, planting his foot on his
foeman’s neck and lifting up his club, directed his eyes towards the
spectators.
_Chapter CI.—The Macedonians plot against Dioxippos, who in consequence
takes away his own life—Alexander’s regret for his loss_
The multitude having loudly applauded the victor for the supreme
courage whereby, contrary to all expectation, he had won the day, the
king ordered him to let his antagonist go, and then, dismissing the
assembly, withdrew to his tent deeply mortified by the discomfiture
of the Macedonian. Then Dioxippos, letting the fallen man go, quitted
the field with a famous victory and wearing fillets with which his
countrymen had adorned his brows in gratitude for the honour which he
had conferred on all Greeks in common. Fortune, however, did not allow
the victor any long time to enjoy his triumph, for the king became
more and more alienated from him, and all Alexander’s friends and all
the Macedonians about the court were so envious of his worth and fame,
that they laid a plot against him, and persuaded the chief steward of
the royal household to hide away one of the golden wine-cups under his
pillow. So at their next banquet when the wine was served, they charged
Dioxippos with theft on the pretence that the cup had been found in his
possession, thus subjecting him to shame and disgrace. From this he saw
clearly that the Macedonians with one consent had set themselves against
him, and he then rose from the banquet, and soon afterwards, when within
his own chamber, wrote a letter to Alexander regarding the machinations
which had been formed against him. This letter he entrusted to his
own servants to deliver into the king’s own hands. He then put an end
to his life, and thus, by having inconsiderately accepted a challenge,
terminated his career by an act of still greater folly. Many of those
accordingly who blamed him for a want of sense, sarcastically remarked
it was a misfortune to have great strength of body and but a modicum
of brain. The king on perusal of the letter took the man’s end much to
heart, and in after times often regretted the loss of a man of his noble
qualities. As he made no use of him in his lifetime, but felt the want
of him when he was gone, and when regret was unavailing, he came to know
the nobility of the man’s nature from its contrast to the baseness of his
calumniators.[363]
_Chapter CII.—The Sambastai, Sodrai, and Massanoi submit to Alexander,
who founds near the banks of the river a city called Alexandreia—He
conquers the kingdoms of Mousikanos, Portikanos, and Sambos—The last
effects his escape_
Alexander having given orders to his army to march along the river in
a line parallel with the course of the navigation, proceeded on his
voyage down stream towards the ocean, and on reaching the dominions of
the Sambastai,[364] landed to invade their country. They were a people
inferior to none in India either for numbers or for bravery. They dwelt
in cities in which the democratic form of government prevailed, and on
hearing that the Macedonians were coming to attack them collected 60,000
foot soldiers, 6000 horse, and 500 chariots. But when the fleet bore in
sight they were thrown into great alarm by the novelty of the appearance
it presented and the unexpectedness of its presence, and, as they were
at the same time disheartened by the reports which circulated about
the Macedonians, they adopted the advice of their elders not to fight,
and therefore sent on an embassy consisting of fifty of their foremost
citizens, under the belief that they would be treated with all proper
courtesy. The king having commended them for coming and expressed his
readiness to make peace with them, was presented by the inhabitants with
gifts of great magnificence, and was besides accorded heroic honours. He
then moved on towards the tribes called Sodrai[365] and Massanoi,[366]
who occupied the country on both sides of the river, and in these
parts he founded near the river the city of Alexandreia,[367] in which
he planted a colony of 10,000 men. He next reached the dominions of
King Mousikanos, seized that potentate, and, having put him to death,
subjugated his people.[368] He next invaded the territories under the
sway of Portikanos, and took two cities at the first assault, which he
permitted the soldiers to sack and then burned. Portikanos himself fled
into a part of the country which offered means of defence, but in a
battle he was defeated and slain. All the cities subject to his sceptre
Alexander captured and razed to the ground, and by these severe measures
spread consternation among the surrounding tribes.[369] He next plundered
the kingdom of Sambos, and having enslaved and destroyed most of his
cities, put upwards of 80,000 of the barbarians to the sword.[370] The
nation called the Brahmanoi were involved in like calamities, but, as the
rest sued for mercy, Alexander punished the most guilty and acquitted the
rest of the offences charged against them. King Sambos escaped the danger
with which he was menaced by taking flight with thirty elephants into the
country beyond the Indus.
_Chapter CIII.—Harmatelia holds out against Alexander—In a battle with
its inhabitants Ptolemy is wounded by a poisoned arrow, but is cured by
an antidote revealed to Alexander in a dream_
At the extremity of the country of the Brachmans there lay in the
midst of difficult ground the city called Harmatelia,[371] and as the
inhabitants presumed alike on their valour and the security of their
position, Alexander despatched against them a few light-armed troops, who
were directed to hang on the rear of the enemy, and to take to flight in
case they were attacked. These men proceeded to attack the ramparts, but
being only 500 strong were regarded with contempt. A body therefore of
3000 men under arms sallied out from the city against these troops, which
pretending to be panic-struck, took to a precipitate flight. But the king
with a few followers stood his ground against the barbarians who gave
pursuit, and after a severe conflict slew some and took others prisoners.
On the king’s side, however, not a few received wounds which all but
proved fatal, since the barbarians had anointed their steels with a
deadly tincture, and had taken the field to bring the war to an issue in
full reliance on its efficacy. This virulent tincture was prepared from
snakes of a certain kind which were hunted by the natives, who on killing
them exposed their carcases to the sun in order that the flesh might be
decomposed by the burning heat of his rays. As this process went on the
juices fell out in drops, and by this liquid the poison was secreted
from the carcases of the snakes. Accordingly, when any one was wounded,
his body at once became numb, and sharp pains soon succeeded, while the
whole frame was shaken with tremblings and convulsions. The skin became
cold and livid, and the stomach discharged bile. A foam, moreover, of
a black colour issued from the wound and putrefied. At this stage the
poison quickly spread to the vital parts of the body, and caused a death
of fearful agony. Those, therefore, who had been severely wounded and
those who had received nothing more than an accidental scratch suffered
equally. While the wounded were perishing by such a horrible death, the
king was not so much grieved for the others, but was in the deepest
distress of mind on account of Ptolemy, who afterwards became a king,
and for whom he had at that time a warm affection. Now at this crisis an
incident occurred of a strange and marvellous nature, which concerned
Ptolemy, and which some ascribed to the provident care of the gods for
his safety. For as he was loved by all the soldiers for his bravery and
his unbounded generosity, so in his hour of need he obtained the kindly
help he required. For the king in his sleep saw a vision in which he
appeared to see a serpent holding a plant in its mouth, and showing its
nature and its powers, and the place where it grew. Then Alexander, when
he awoke, had search made for the plant and discovered it. This he ground
into a powder, which he not only laid as a plaster on Ptolemy’s body, but
also administered to him as a potion, and by this means restored him to
health. When the valuable properties of the plant became known, the other
patients to whom the remedy was applied recovered in like manner.[372] He
then laid siege to the capital of the Harmatêlioi, a city both of great
size and strength. As the inhabitants, however, came to meet him with the
symbols of suppliants, and tendered their submission, he dismissed them
without enacting any retributive penalty.
_Chapter CIV.—Alexander sails down to the mouth of the Indus—Sails back
to Tauala (Patala?)—Starts on his march homewards, instructing Nearchos
to explore the way with his fleet to the head of the Persian Gulf—Ravages
the land of the Oritians and founds another Alexandreia_
He then sailed down the stream with his friends to the ocean, and when
he had there seen two islands he forthwith offered a sacrifice of great
splendour to the gods, casting at the same time many large drinking-cups
of gold, along with the libations they held, into the bosom of the deep.
Having next erected altars to Têthys and Okeanos, he assumed that he
had finished the expedition which he had undertaken. He then started
on the return voyage, and in sailing up the river came to Tauala,[373]
a city of great note, with a political constitution drawn on the same
lines as the Spartan; for in this community the command in war was
vested in two hereditary kings of two different houses, while a council
of elders ruled the whole state with paramount authority. Alexander now
burned all the vessels that were worn out, and gave the command of the
rest that were still serviceable to Nearchos and some others of his
friends, whom he instructed to coast along the shores of the ocean,
and after having carefully explored whatever lay on their route, to
rejoin him at the mouth of the river Euphrates. He himself with his army
traversed a great extent of country, overcoming those who opposed him,
and treating humanely those who offered their submission. He thus gained
over without any danger being incurred the people called the Arbitai and
the inhabitants of Kedrôsia. Then, after passing through an extensive
waterless tract, of which no inconsiderable part was desert, he reached
the borders of Oritis. Here he divided his army into three parts, giving
Ptolemy the command of the first division, and Leonnatos of the second,
Ptolemy being commissioned to ravage and plunder the seaboard, and
Leonnatos the interior, while the third division, under his own command,
devastated the plains towards the hills and the hill country itself.
While the fury of war was thus at one and the same time let loose over
the whole land, conflagration, pillage, and massacre ran riot in every
special locality. The soldiers accordingly soon appropriated a vast
amount of booty, while the number of the inhabitants cut off by the
sword amounted to many myriads. All the neighbours of these unfortunate
tribes, appalled by the destruction which had overtaken them, submitted
to the king. But Alexander, who was ambitious to found a city by the
seaside, discovered a harbour sheltered from the violence of the waves,
and which had a convenient site near it, and he built thereon the city of
Alexandreia.[374]
_Chapter CV.—How the Oritians bury their dead—The Ichthyophagoi
described—Sufferings and losses of the army in the Gedrôsian
desert—Relief sent by various satraps—Leonnatos is attacked by the
Oritians_
Alexander having stolen into the country of the Oritai by the passes,
quickly reduced the whole of it to submission. The Oritai, while in
other respects closely resembling the Indians, have one custom which is
different, and altogether staggers belief. It has reference to their
treatment of the dead. For when a man dies his relatives, naked and
holding spears, carry away his body to the oak-coppices which grow in
their country, and having there deposited it, and stripped it of the
apparel and ornaments with which it is arrayed, they leave it to be
devoured by wild beasts. When they have divided the garments which were
worn by the deceased, they sacrifice to the heroes now in the under
world, and give an entertainment to the members of his household.
Alexander next advanced towards Kedrôsia, following the route along the
sea-coast. He encountered on the way an inhospitable and utterly savage
tribe, for there the natives let their nails grow without ever cutting
them from the day they are born to old age, allow their growth of hair
to become matted, have complexions scorched with the heat of the sun,
and are dressed with the skins of wild beasts. They subsist on the flesh
of whales stranded on their shores. Their habitations they prepare by
running up walls, and forming the roofs of the ribs of the whale, these
supplying beams of a length of 18 cubits. For covering over the roofs
they use instead of tiles the scales of fish.[375] Alexander, in passing
through the country of these savages, was much distressed by the scarcity
of provisions; but in the next country he entered he fared still worse,
for it was desert and bare of everything useful to support life. As many
perished from sheer want, the stout hearts of the Macedonians yielded
to despondency, and Alexander was overwhelmed with no ordinary grief
and anxiety; for it seemed a terrible thing that his men, who surpassed
all mankind in bravery and in arms, should perish ingloriously in a
desert land and in utter destitution. He therefore despatched messengers
post-haste into Parthyaia,[376] and Drangianê,[377] and Areia,[378]
and the other states bordering on the desert, enjoining them to send
quickly to the passes of Karmania dromedaries and other beasts of burden
laden with food and other necessaries. These messengers having rapidly
performed the journey to the satraps of these provinces, caused ample
supplies of provisions to be conveyed to the appointed place. Alexander
had, however, before their arrival lost many of his soldiers from his
inability to relieve their wants; and afterwards, when he was on the
march, some of the Oritai, having attacked the troops commanded by
Leonnatos and slain a good many men, escaped scatheless into their own
country.[379]
_Chapter CVI.—Revels of Alexander and the army after escaping from
the desert—Officials who had abused their authority called to
account—Nearchos visits Alexander at Salmous, and recounts the incidents
of his voyage_
When the desert had been crossed with all these painful experiences, he
came to an inhabited region which abounded with all things useful. He
here allowed his army to recruit its exhausted powers, and then marched
forward for seven days with his soldiers splendidly dressed as at a
public assembly, while he celebrated a festival to Dionysos, heading
himself the procession of the revellers, and, as he led the way, quaffing
intoxicating draughts of wine. At the end of all this having come to
learn that many high-placed officials had transgressed all bounds of law
by an arbitrary and outrageous exercise of their authority, he decided
that not a few of his satraps and generals stood in need of punishment.
As the odium in which these leading men were held on account of their
scandalous disregard of the law was a matter of public notoriety, many
of them who held high posts of command in the army, and whose conscience
accused them of outrages and other violations of their duty, became
seriously alarmed. Some whose troops consisted of mercenaries revolted
from the king, and others who had amassed riches took to flight. The king
on hearing this wrote to all the commanders and satraps throughout Asia
that immediately after they had read his letter they should dismiss all
the mercenaries.
When the king was just at this time staying in a sea-coast town called
Salmous, and holding a dramatic exhibition, the officers of the
expedition which had been directed to navigate the ocean along its shores
put into harbour, and, proceeding straightway to the theatre, saluted
Alexander, and gave him an account of their adventures. The Macedonians,
delighted to see their old comrades once more among them, marked the
event with loud and prolonged cheering, and all the theatre was in a
transport of joy that could not be exceeded.[380] The voyagers described
how the ocean was subject to the strange vicissitude of the ebbing and
flowing of its waters, and that when it ebbed numerous islands were
unexpectedly revealed to view at the projections of land along the coast,
while at flood-tide all these lands just mentioned were again submerged,
a full gale blowing meanwhile towards shore, and whitening with foam all
the surface of the water. But the strangest part of their story was that
they had encountered a great many whales, and these of an incredible
size. They were in great dread of these monsters, and at first gave up
all hopes of life, thinking they might at any moment be consigned, boats
and all, to destruction; but when, on recovering from their panic, they
raised a simultaneous shout, which they increased by rattling their arms
and sounding the trumpets, the creatures took alarm at the strange noise,
and sank to the depths below.
_Chapter CVII.—Kalanos, the Indian philosopher, immolates
himself—Alexander marries the daughter of Darius_