of the expedition to sail up to the mouth of the Euphrates. At the head
of his army he traversed himself a great stretch of country, and arrived
on the borders of Sousiana. About that time Kalanos, the Indian who had
made great progress in philosophy, and was held in honour and esteem by
Alexander, brought his life to an end in a most singular manner; for
when he was three years over three score and ten, and up till then had
never known what illness was, he resolved to depart this life as one
who had received the full measure of happiness alike from nature and
from fortune. He was now, however, afflicted with a malady which became
daily more and more burdensome, and he therefore requested the king to
prepare for him a great funeral pyre, and to order his servants to set
fire to it as soon as he should ascend it. Alexander at first tried to
divert him from his purpose, but when he found that all his remonstrances
were unavailing, he consented to do him the service asked. Orders were
accordingly given for doing the work, and when the pyre was ready
the whole army attended to witness the extraordinary spectacle. Then
Kalanos, following the rules prescribed by his philosophy, stepped with
unflinching courage on to the summit of the pyre, and perished in the
flames which consumed it. Some of the spectators condemned the man for
his madness, others for the vanity shown in his act of hardihood, while
some admired his high spirit and contempt of death. The king honoured him
with a sumptuous funeral, and then proceeded to Sousa, where he married
Stateira, the elder of the two daughters of Darius.
PLUTARCH
PLUTARCH’S LIFE OF ALEXANDER
_Chapter LVIII.—Alexander at Nysa_
... When the Macedonians were hesitating to attack the city called Nysa,
because the river which ran past it was deep, “Unlucky man that I am,”
Alexander exclaimed, “why did I not learn to swim?” and so saying he
prepared to ford the stream. After he had withdrawn from the assault,
envoys arrived from the besieged with an offer to surrender. They were at
first surprised to find him clad in his armour, and still stained with
the dust and blood of battle. A cushion was then brought to him, which
he requested the eldest of the envoys to take and be seated. This man
was called Akouphis, and he was so much struck with the splendour and
courtesy with which he was received that he asked what his countrymen
must do to make him their friend. Alexander replied: “They must make
you their governor, and send me a hundred of their best men.” At this
Akouphis laughed, and said: “Methinks, O King! I should rule better if,
instead of the best, you took the worst.”
_Chapter LIX.—Interchange of civilities between Alexander and
Taxilês—Alexander breaks his faith with Indian mercenaries, and hangs
some Indian philosophers_
Taxilês, it is said, ruled over a part of India which was as large as
Egypt, afforded good pasturage, and had a very fertile soil. He was a
shrewd man, and after he had embraced Alexander, said to him: “Why should
we two, Alexander, fight with one another if you have come to take away
from us neither our water nor our necessary food—the only things about
which sensible men ever care to quarrel and fight. As for anything else,
call it money or call it property, if I am richer than you, what I have
is at your service; but if I have less than you, I would not object to
stand debtor to your bounty.” Alexander was delighted with what he said,
and, giving him his right hand in token of his friendship, exclaimed:
“Perhaps you think from the friendly greetings we have exchanged our
intercourse will be continued without a contest. There you are mistaken,
for I will war to the knife with you in good offices, and will see to
it that you do not overcome me in generosity.” Alexander therefore,
after having received many presents from Taxilês, and given him more in
return, at last drank to his health, and accompanied the toast with the
present of a thousand talents of coined money. This act of his greatly
vexed his friends, but made him stand higher in favour with many of the
barbarians. As the Indian mercenary troops, consisting, as they did, of
the best soldiers to be found in the country, flocked to the cities which
he attacked, and defended them with the greatest vigour, he thus incurred
serious losses, and accordingly concluded a treaty of peace with them;
but afterwards, as they were going away, set upon them while they were on
the road, and killed them all. This rests as a foul blot on his martial
fame, for on all other occasions he observed the rules of civilised
warfare as became a king.[381] The philosophers gave him no less trouble
than the mercenaries, because they reviled the princes who declared for
him and encouraged the free states to revolt from his authority. On this
account he hanged many of them.[382]
_Chapter LX.—The account of the battle with Pôros, as given by Alexander
himself—Alexander’s noble treatment of Pôros_
How the war against Pôros was conducted he has described in his own
letters. He tells us that the river Hydaspês ran between the two camps,
and that Pôros with his elephants which he had posted with their heads
towards the stream, constantly guarded the passage. Alexander himself,
day after day, caused a great noise and disturbance to be made in his
camp, in order that the barbarians might be gradually led to view his
movements without alarm. At last, upon a dark and stormy night, he
took a part of the infantry and a choice body of cavalry, marched to
a considerable distance from the enemy, and crossed over to an island
of no great size. Here he was exposed with his army to the rage of a
violent thunderstorm, amid which rain fell down in torrents, and though
he saw some of his men struck dead with the lightning, he nevertheless
advanced from the island and reached the furthermost bank of the river.
The Hydaspês was now flooded by the rains, and its raging current had
chosen a new channel of great width, down which a great body of water
was carried. In fording this new bed, he could with difficulty keep his
footing, as the bottom was very slippery and uneven. It was here that
Alexander is said to have exclaimed, “O Athenians! can you believe what
dangers I undergo to earn your applause?” This particular rests on the
authority of Onesikritos, for Alexander himself merely says that he
and his men left their rafts, and under arms waded through the second
torrent with the water up to their breasts. After crossing, he himself
rode forward about twenty stadia in advance of the infantry, concluding
that if the enemy attacked him with their cavalry only, he could easily
rout them; but if they moved forward their entire force, he could bring
his infantry into the field before fighting began. He was right in both
conclusions, for he fell in with 1000 horse and 60 war-chariots of the
enemy, and these he routed, capturing every chariot, and slaying 400 of
the horsemen. Pôros thus perceived that Alexander himself had crossed the
river, and he therefore advanced against him with all his army, except
some troops which he left to guard his camp, in case the Macedonians
should cross from the opposite bank to attack it. Alexander, dreading
the elephants and the great numbers of the enemy, did not engage with
them in front, but attacked them himself on the left wing, ordering
Koinos to fall upon them on the right. Both wings were broken, and the
enemy, driven from their position, thronged always towards the centre
where the elephants were posted. The contest, which began early in the
morning, was so obstinately maintained that it was fully the eighth
hour of the day before the Indians renounced all attempts at further
resistance. This description of the battle is given by the chief actor
in it himself in his letters. Most historians are agreed that Pôros
stood four cubits and a span high, and that his gigantic form was not
less proportioned to the elephant which carried him, and which was his
biggest, than was a rider of an ordinary size to his horse. This elephant
showed wonderful sagacity and care for its royal master, for while it
was still vigorous it defended him against his assailants and repulsed
them, but when it perceived that he was ready to sink from the number
of his wounds and bruises, fearing that he might fall off its back, it
gently lowered itself to the ground, and as it knelt quietly extracted
the darts from his body with its trunk. When Pôros was taken prisoner,
Alexander asked him how he wished to be treated. “Like a king,” answered
Pôros. When Alexander further asked if he had anything else to request,
“Every thing,” rejoined Pôros, “is comprised in the words, like a king.”
Alexander then not only reinstated Pôros in his kingdom with the title
of satrap, but added a large province to it, subduing the inhabitants
whose form of government was the republican. This country, it is said,
contained 15 tribes, 5000 considerable cities, and villages without
number.[383] He subdued besides another district three times as large,
over which he appointed Philippos, one of his friends, to be satrap.
_Chapter LXI.—Death of Boukephalas, and Alexander’s regret at his loss_
After the battle with Pôros, Boukephalas died, not immediately, but some
time afterwards, from wounds which he received in the engagement. This
is the account which most historians give, but Onesikritos says that he
died of old age and overwork, for he had reached his thirtieth year.[384]
Alexander deeply regretted his loss, taking it as much to heart as if it
had been that of a faithful friend and companion. He founded a city in
his honour on the banks of the Hydaspês, and named it Boukephalia. It is
also recorded that when he lost a pet dog called Peritas, which he had
brought up, and of which he was very fond, he founded a city and called
it by the name of this dog. Sôtiôn tells us that he had heard this from
Potamôn of Lesbos.
_Chapter LXII.—The army refuses to advance to the Ganges—Alexander,
preparing to retreat, erects altars which were afterwards held in
veneration by the Praisian kings—The opinion of Androkottos_
The battle with Pôros depressed the spirits of the Macedonians, and made
them very unwilling to advance farther into India. For as it was with the
utmost difficulty they had beaten him when the army he led amounted only
to 20,000 infantry and 2000 cavalry, they now most resolutely opposed
Alexander when he insisted that they should cross the Ganges.[385] This
river, they heard, had a breadth of two-and-thirty stadia, and a depth
of 100 fathoms, while its farther banks were covered all over with armed
men, horses, and elephants. For the kings of the Gandaritai and the
Praisiai[386] were reported to be waiting for him with an army of 80,000
horse, 200,000 foot, 8000 war chariots, and 6000 fighting elephants. Nor
was this any exaggeration, for not long afterwards Androkottos,[387]
who had by that time mounted the throne, presented Seleukos with 500
elephants, and overran and subdued the whole of India with an army of
600,000 men. Alexander at first in vexation and rage withdrew to his
tent, and shutting himself up lay there feeling no gratitude towards
those who had thwarted his purpose of crossing the Ganges; but regarding
a retreat as tantamount to a confession of defeat. But being swayed by
the persuasions of his friends, and the entreaties of his soldiers who
stood weeping and lamenting at the door of his tent, he at last relented,
and prepared to retreat. He first, however, contrived many unfair
devices to exalt his fame among the natives, as, for instance, causing
arms for men and stalls and bridles for horses to be made much beyond the
usual size, and these he left scattered about. He also erected altars for
the gods which the kings of the Praisiai even to the present day hold
in veneration, crossing the river to offer sacrifices upon them in the
Hellenic fashion.[388] Androkottos himself, who was then but a youth, saw
Alexander himself, and afterwards used to declare that Alexander could
easily have taken possession of the whole country since the king was
hated and despised by his subjects for the wickedness of his disposition
and the meanness of his origin.[389]
_Chapter LXIII.—Alexander starts on a voyage down stream, reducing
tribes by the way—He is dangerously wounded in the capital of the
Malloi—Extraction of the arrow from his wound—His recovery_
After marching thence Alexander, who wished to see the outer ocean,
ordered many rafts and vessels managed with oars to be built, and he
then fell down the rivers in a leisurely manner. But the voyage was
neither an idle one nor unattended with warlike operations, for at
times he disembarked, and attacking the cities which adjoined the banks
succeeded in subduing them all. But he very nearly lost his life when
he was amongst the people called the Malloi, who were said to be the
most warlike of all the Indians. For in besieging their city, after
he had driven the defenders from the walls by volleys of missiles, he
was the first man to ascend a scaling ladder and reach the summit of
the wall.[390] Just then the ladder broke, so that he was left almost
alone, and as the barbarians who were standing at the foot of the
wall inside shot at him from below, he was repeatedly hit with their
missiles. He therefore poised himself and leaped down into the midst of
his enemies, alighting by good chance on his feet. The flashing of his
arms as he brandished them made the barbarians think that lightning or
some supernatural splendour played round his person, and they therefore
drew back and dispersed. But when they saw that he was attended by two
followers only, some of them attacked him at close-quarters with swords
and spears, while one man, who stood a little farther off, shot an arrow
from his bow at full bent, and with such force that it pierced through
his corselet and lodged itself in the bones of his breast.[391] As he
staggered under the blow and sank upon his knees, the barbarian ran up
with his drawn scimitar to despatch him. Peukestas and Limnaios[392]
placed themselves before Alexander to protect him; both of them were
wounded, one of them mortally; but Peukestas, who survived, continued to
make some resistance, while the king slew the Indian with his own hand.
Alexander was wounded in many places; and at last received a blow on his
neck from a club, which forced him to lean for support against the wall
with his face turned towards the enemy. The Macedonians, who by this time
had come up, crowded round him, and snatching him up, now insensible
to all around him, carried him off to his tent. A rumour immediately
ran through the camp that he was dead, and his attendants having with
great difficulty sawed through the arrow, which had a wooden shaft, were
thus able after much trouble to take off his corselet. They had next to
extract the barbed head of the arrow which was firmly fixed in one of his
ribs. This arrow-head is said to have measured three fingers’ breadths in
width and four in length. Accordingly, when it was pulled out, he swooned
away and was brought very near the gates of death, but he at length
revived. When he was out of danger, but still very weak, having for a
long time to follow the mode of life most conducive to the restoration of
his health, he heard a disturbance outside his tent, and learning that
the Macedonians were longing to see him he put on his cloak and went
out to them. After sacrificing to the gods, he again moved forward and
subdued a great extent of country and many considerable cities that lay
on his route.
_Chapter LXIV.—Alexander’s interview with the Indian gymnosophists_
He captured ten of the gymnosophists who had been principally concerned
in persuading Sabbas[393] to revolt, and had done much harm otherwise
to the Macedonians. These men are thought to be great adepts in the art
of returning brief and pithy answers, and Alexander proposed for their
solution some hard questions, declaring that he would put to death first
the one who did not answer correctly and then the others in order.[394]
He demanded of the first “Which he took to be the more numerous, the
living or the dead?” He answered, “The living, for the dead are not.”
The second was asked, “Which breeds the largest animals, the sea or the
land?” He answered, “The land, for the sea is only a part of it.”
The third was asked, “Which is the cleverest of beasts?” He answered,
“That with which man is not yet acquainted.”
The fourth was asked, “For what reason he induced Sabbas to revolt?” He
answered, “Because I wished him to live with honour or die with honour.”
The fifth was asked, “Which he thought existed first, the day or the
night?” He answered, “The day was first by one day.” As the king appeared
surprised at this solution, he added, “Impossible questions require
impossible answers.”
Alexander then turning to the sixth asked him “How a man could best make
himself beloved?” He answered, “If a man being possessed of great power
did not make himself to be feared.”
Of the remaining three, one being asked “How a man could become a god?”
replied, “By doing that which is impossible for a man to do.”
The next being asked, “Which of the two was stronger, life or death?” he
replied, “Life, because it bears so many evils.”
The last being asked, “How long it was honourable for a man to live?”
answered, “As long as he does not think it better to die than to live.”
Upon this Alexander, turning to the judge, requested him to give his
decision. He said they had answered each one worse than the other. “Since
such is your judgment,” Alexander then said, “you shall be yourself the
first to be put to death.” “Not so,” said he, “O king, unless you are
false to your word, for you said that he who gave the worst answer should
be the first to die.”
_Chapter LXV.—Onesikritos confers with the Indian gymnosophists Kalanos
and Dandamis—Kalanos visits Alexander and shows him a symbol of his
empire_
The king then gave them presents and dismissed them to their homes. He
also sent Onesikritos to the most renowned of these sages, who lived by
themselves in tranquil seclusion, to request that they would come to
him.[395] This Onesikritos was a philosopher who belonged to the school
of Diogenês the Cynic. He tells us that one of these men called Kalanos
ordered him with the most overbearing insolence and rudeness to take
off his clothes, and listen naked to his discourse—otherwise he would
not enter into conversation with him even if he came from Zeus himself.
Dandamis, however, was of a milder temper, and when he had been told
about Sôkrates, Pythagoras and Diogenês, he said they appeared to him to
have been men of genius, but from an excessive deference to the laws had
subjected their lives too much to their requirements. But other writers
tell us that he said nothing more than this, “For what purpose has
Alexander come all the way hither?” Taxilês, however, persuaded Kalanos
to visit Alexander. His real name was Sphinês, but as he saluted those
whom he met with “Kale,” which is the Indian equivalent of “Chairein”
(that is, “All hail”), he was called by the Greeks Kalanos. This
philosopher, we are told, showed Alexander a symbol of his empire. He
threw down on the ground a dry and shrivelled hide and planted his foot
on the edge of it. But when it was trodden down in one place, it started
up everywhere else. He then walked all round it and showed that the same
thing took place wherever he trod, until at length he stepped into the
middle, and by doing so made it all lie flat. This symbol was intended to
show Alexander that he should control his empire from its centre, and not
wander away to its distant extremities.
_Chapter LXVI.—Alexander visits the island Skilloustis, and sailing
thence explores the sea—Sufferings of his army on the march homeward, and
extent of its losses—Relief sent by the satraps_
[Illustration: FIG. 13.—GREEK WARSHIP.]
Alexander’s voyage down the rivers to the sea occupied seven months. On
reaching the ocean he sailed to an island which he himself has called
Skilloustis, but which is generally known as Psiltoukis.[396] On landing
there he sacrificed to the gods, exploring afterwards the nature of the
sea and the coast as far as he could penetrate. This done, he turned
back, after praying to the gods that no man might ever overpass the
limits which his expedition had reached. He ordered his fleet to sail
along the coast, keeping India on the right hand; and he appointed
Nearchos to the chief command, with Onesikritos as the master pilot. He
himself, returning by land with the army, marched through the country of
the Oreitai, where he was reduced to the sorest straits from the scarcity
of provisions, and lost such numbers of men that he hardly brought back
from India the fourth part of his military force, though he entered
it with 120,000 foot and 15,000 horse. Many perished from malignant
distempers, wretched food, and scorching heat, but most from sheer
hunger, for their march lay through an uncultivated region, inhabited
only by some miserable savages, the owners of a small and inferior breed
of sheep, accustomed to feed on sea-fish, which gave to their flesh a
rank and disagreeable flavour.[397] With great difficulty, therefore, he
traversed this desert region in sixty days, and reached Gedrôsia, where
all the men were at once supplied with abundance of provisions, furnished
by the satraps and kings of the nearest provinces.
_Chapter LXVII.—Alexander and the army indulge in wild revelry on
emerging from the desert_
After he had given his forces some time to recruit, he led them in a
joyous revel for seven days through Karmania. He himself sat at table
with his companions mounted on a lofty oblong platform drawn by eight
horses, and in that conspicuous position feasted continually both by
day and by night. This carriage was followed by numberless others, some
with purple hangings and embroidered canopies, and others screened with
over-arching green boughs always fresh gathered, conveying the rest of
Alexander’s friends and officers crowned with garlands and drinking wine.
There was not a helmet, a shield, or a pike to be seen, but all along
the road the soldiers were dipping cups, horns, and earthen vessels into
great jars and flagons of wine, and drinking one another’s healths,
some as they went marching forward, and others as they sat by the way.
Wherever they passed might be heard the music of the pipe and the flute
and the voices of women singing and dancing and making merry. During this
disorderly and dissolute march the soldiers after their cups indulged in
ribald jests, as if the god Dionysos himself were present among them and
accompanying their joyous procession.[398] Alexander, on reaching the
capital of Gedrôsia, again halted to refresh his army, and entertained it
with feasting and revelry.
JUSTIN
HISTORIAE PHILIPPICAE OF JUSTINUS
TWELFTH BOOK
_Chapter VII.—Alexander visits Nysa and Mount Merus—Receives the
submission of Queen Cleophis and captures the Rock (Aornos)_