CAMPAIGN IN ASIA MINOR.
B.C. 334-333
Alexander hemmed in by Mount Ida and the Granicus.--The
Granicus.--Prodromi.--Alexander stopped at the Granicus.--Council
called.--Alexander resolves to advance.--His motives.--The Macedonian
phalanx.--Its organization.--Formidable character of the phalanx.--Is
irresistible.--Divisions of the phalanx.--Its position in
battle.--Battle of the Granicus.--Defeat of the Persians.--Alexander's
prowess.--His imminent danger.--Results of the battle.--Spoils sent to
Greece.--Memnon overruled.--Alexander visits the wounded.--Alexander
resumes his march.--The country surrenders.--Incidents.--Alexander's
generosity.--Omens.--The eagle on the mast.--Interpretations.--Approach
of winter.--The newly married permitted to go home.--A detachment of
bridegrooms.--Taurus.--Passage through the sea.--Hardships.--The
Meander.--Gordium.--Story of the Gordian knot.--Midas.--Gordius made
king.--Alexander cuts the knot.--He resumes his march.--Alexander's bath
in the Cydnus.--His sickness.--Alexander's physician Philip.--Suspicions
of poison.--Asia subdued.--The plain of Issus.
Although Alexander had landed safely on the Asiatic shore, the way was
not yet fairly open for him to advance into the interior of the
country. He was upon a sort of plain, which was separated from the
territory beyond by natural barriers. On the south was the range of
lofty land called Mount Ida. From the northeastern slopes of this
mountain there descended a stream which flowed north into the sea,
thus hemming Alexander's army in. He must either scale the mountain or
cross the river before he could penetrate into the interior.
He thought it would be easiest to cross the river. It is very
difficult to get a large body of horsemen and of heavy-armed soldiers,
with all their attendants and baggage, over high elevations of land.
This was the reason why the army turned to the northward after landing
upon the Asiatic shore. Alexander thought the Granicus less of an
obstacle than Mount Ida. It was not a large stream, and was easily
fordable.
[Illustration: THE GRANICUS.]
It was the custom in those days, as it is now when armies are
marching, to send forward small bodies of men in every direction to
explore the roads, remove obstacles, and discover sources of danger.
These men are called, in modern times, _scouts_; in Alexander's day,
and in the Greek language, they were called _prodromi_, which means
forerunners. It is the duty of these pioneers to send messengers back
continually to the main body of the army, informing the officers of
every thing important which comes under their observation.
In this case, when the army was gradually drawing near to the river,
the _prodromi_ came in with the news that they had been to the river,
and found the whole opposite shore, at the place of crossing, lined
with Persian troops, collected there to dispute the passage. The army
continued their advance, while Alexander called the leading generals
around him, to consider what was to be done.
Parmenio recommended that they should not attempt to pass the river
immediately. The Persian army consisted chiefly of cavalry. Now
cavalry, though very terrible as an enemy on the field of battle by
day, are peculiarly exposed and defenseless in an encampment by night.
The horses are scattered, feeding or at rest. The arms of the men are
light, and they are not accustomed to fighting on foot; and on a
sudden incursion of an enemy at midnight into their camp, their horses
and their horsemanship are alike useless, and they fall an easy prey
to resolute invaders. Parmenio thought, therefore, that the Persians
would not dare to remain and encamp many days in the vicinity of
Alexander's army, and that, accordingly, if they waited a little, the
enemy would retreat, and Alexander could then cross the river without
incurring the danger of a battle.
But Alexander was unwilling to adopt any such policy. He felt
confident that his army was courageous and strong enough to march on,
directly through the river, ascend the bank upon the other side, and
force their way through all the opposition which the Persians could
make. He knew, too, that if this were done it would create a strong
sensation throughout the whole country, impressing every one with a
sense of the energy and power of the army which he was conducting, and
would thus tend to intimidate the enemy, and facilitate all future
operations. But this was not all; he had a more powerful motive still
for wishing to march right on, across the river, and force his way
through the vast bodies of cavalry on the opposite shore, and this was
the pleasure of performing the exploit.
Accordingly, as the army advanced to the banks, they maneuvered to
form in order of battle, and prepared to continue their march as if
there were no obstacle to oppose them. The general order of battle of
the Macedonian army was this. There was a certain body of troops,
armed and organized in a peculiar manner, called the Phalanx. This
body was placed in the center. The men composing it were very heavily
armed. They had shields upon the left arm, and they carried spears
sixteen feet long, and pointed with iron, which they held firmly in
their two hands, with the points projecting far before them. The men
were arranged in lines, one behind the other, and all facing the
enemy--sixteen lines, and a thousand in each line, or, as it is
expressed in military phrase, a thousand in rank and sixteen in file,
so that the phalanx contained sixteen thousand men.
The spears were so long that when the men stood in close order, the
rear ranks being brought up near to those before them, the points of
the spears of eight or ten of the ranks projected in front, forming a
bristling wall of points of steel, each one of which was held in its
place by the strong arms of an athletic and well-trained soldier. This
wall no force which could in those days be brought against it could
penetrate. Men, horses, elephants, every thing that attempted to rush
upon it, rushed only to their own destruction. Every spear, feeling
the impulse of the vigorous arms which held it, seemed to be alive,
and darted into its enemy, when an enemy was at hand, as if it felt
itself the fierce hostility which directed it. If the enemy remained
at a distance, and threw javelins or darts at the phalanx, they fell
harmless, stopped by the shields which the soldiers wore upon the left
arm, and which were held in such a manner as to form a system of
scales, which covered and protected the whole mass, and made the men
almost invulnerable. The phalanx was thus, when only defending itself
and in a state of rest, an army and a fortification all in one, and it
was almost impregnable. But when it took an aggressive form, put
itself in motion, and advanced to an attack, it was infinitely more
formidable. It became then a terrible monster, covered with scales of
brass, from beneath which there projected forward ten thousand living,
darting points of iron. It advanced deliberately and calmly, but with
a prodigious momentum and force. There was nothing human in its
appearance at all. It was a huge animal, ferocious, dogged, stubborn,
insensible to pain, knowing no fear, and bearing down with resistless
and merciless destruction upon every thing that came in its way. The
phalanx was the center and soul of Alexander's army. Powerful and
impregnable as it was, however, in ancient days, it would be helpless
and defenseless on a modern battle-field. Solid balls of iron, flying
through the air with a velocity which makes them invisible, would tear
their way through the pikes and the shields, and the bodies of the men
who bore them, without even feeling the obstruction.
The phalanx was subdivided into brigades, regiments, and battalions,
and regularly officered. In marching, it was separated into these its
constituent parts, and sometimes in battle it acted in divisions. It
was stationed in the center of the army on the field, and on the two
sides of it were bodies of cavalry and foot soldiers, more lightly
armed than the soldiers of the phalanx, who could accordingly move
with more alertness and speed, and carry their action readily wherever
it might be called for. Those troops on the sides were called the
wings. Alexander himself was accustomed to command one wing and
Parmenio the other, while the phalanx crept along slowly but terribly
between.
The army, thus arranged and organized, advanced to the river. It was a
broad and shallow stream. The Persians had assembled in vast numbers
on the opposite shore. Some historians say there were one hundred
thousand men, others say two hundred thousand, and others six hundred
thousand. However this may be, there is no doubt their numbers were
vastly superior to those of Alexander's army, which it will be
recollected was less than forty thousand. There was a narrow plain on
the opposite side of the river, next to the shore, and a range of
hills beyond. The Persian cavalry covered the plain, and were ready to
dash upon the Macedonian troops the moment they should emerge from the
water and attempt to ascend the bank.
The army, led by Alexander, descended into the stream, and moved on
through the water. They encountered the onset of their enemies on the
opposite shore. A terrible and a protracted struggle ensued, but the
coolness, courage, and strength of Alexander's army carried the day.
The Persians were driven back, the Greeks effected their landing,
reorganized and formed on the shore, and the Persians, finding that
all was lost, fled in all directions.
Alexander himself took a conspicuous and a very active part in the
contest. He was easily recognized on the field of battle by his dress,
and by a white plume which he wore in his helmet. He exposed himself
to the most imminent danger. At one time, when desperately engaged
with a troop of horse, which had galloped down upon him, a Persian
horseman aimed a blow at his head with a sword. Alexander saved his
head from the blow, but it took off his plume and a part of his
helmet. Alexander immediately thrust his antagonist through the body.
At the same moment, another horseman, on another side, had his sword
raised, and would have killed Alexander before he could have turned to
defend himself, had no help intervened; but just at this instant a
third combatant, one of Alexander's friends, seeing the danger,
brought down so terrible a blow upon the shoulder of this second
assailant as to separate his arm from his body.
Such are the stories that are told. They may have been literally and
fully true, or they may have been exaggerations of circumstances
somewhat resembling them which really occurred, or they may have been
fictitious altogether. Great generals, like other great men, have
often the credit of many exploits which they never perform. It is the
special business of poets and historians to magnify and embellish the
actions of the great, and this art was understood as well in ancient
days as it is now.
We must remember, too, in reading the accounts of these transactions,
that it is only the Greek side of the story that we hear. The Persian
narratives have not come down to us. At any rate, the Persian army was
defeated, and that, too, without the assistance of the phalanx. The
horsemen and the light troops were alone engaged. The phalanx could
not be formed, nor could it act in such a position. The men, on
emerging from the water, had to climb up the banks, and rush on to the
attack of an enemy consisting of squadrons of horse ready to dash at
once upon them.
The Persian army was defeated and driven away. Alexander did not
pursue them. He felt that he had struck a very heavy blow. The news of
this defeat of the Persians would go with the speed of the wind all
over Asia Minor, and operate most powerfully in his favor. He sent
home to Greece an account of the victory, and with the account he
forwarded three hundred suits of armor, taken from the Persian
horsemen killed on the field. These suits of armor were to be hung up
in the Parthenon, a great temple at Athens; the most conspicuous
position for them, perhaps, which all Europe could afford.
The name of the Persian general who commanded at the battle of the
Granicus was Memnon. He had been opposed to the plan of hazarding a
battle. Alexander had come to Asia with no provisions and no money. He
had relied on being able to sustain his army by his victories. Memnon,
therefore, strongly urged that the Persians should retreat slowly,
carrying off all the valuable property, and destroying all that could
not be removed, taking especial care to leave no provisions behind
them. In this way he thought that the army of Alexander would be
reduced by privation and want, and would, in the end, fall an easy
prey. His opinion was, however, overruled by the views of the other
commanders, and the battle of the Granicus was the consequence.
Alexander encamped to refresh his army and to take care of the
wounded. He went to see the wounded men one by one, inquired into the
circumstances of each case, and listened to each one who was able to
talk, while he gave an account of his adventures in the battle, and
the manner in which he received his wound. To be able thus to tell
their story to their general, and to see him listening to it with
interest and pleasure, filled their hearts with pride and joy; and
the whole army was inspired with the highest spirit of enthusiasm, and
with eager desires to have another opportunity occur in which they
could encounter danger and death in the service of such a leader. It
is in such traits as these that the true greatness of the soul of
Alexander shines. It must be remembered that all this time he was but
little more than twenty-one. He was but just of age.
From his encampment on the Granicus Alexander turned to the southward,
and moved along on the eastern shores of the Aegean Sea. The country
generally surrendered to him without opposition. In fact, it was
hardly Persian territory at all. The inhabitants were mainly of Greek
extraction, and had been sometimes under Greek and sometimes under
Persian rule. The conquest of the country resulted simply in a change
of the executive officer of each province. Alexander took special
pains to lead the people to feel that they had nothing to fear from
him. He would not allow the soldiers to do any injury. He protected
all private property. He took possession only of the citadels, and of
such governmental property as he found there, and he continued the
same taxes, the same laws, and the same tribunals as had existed
before his invasion. The cities and the provinces accordingly
surrendered to him as he passed along, and in a very short time all
the western part of Asia Minor submitted peacefully to his sway.
The narrative of this progress, as given by the ancient historians, is
diversified by a great variety of adventures and incidents, which give
great interest to the story, and strikingly illustrate the character
of Alexander and the spirit of the times. In some places there would
be a contest between the Greek and the Persian parties before
Alexander's arrival. At Ephesus the animosity had been so great that a
sort of civil war had broken out. The Greek party had gained the
ascendency, and were threatening a general massacre of the Persian
inhabitants. Alexander promptly interposed to protect them, though
they were his enemies. The intelligence of this act of forbearance and
generosity spread all over the land, and added greatly to the
influence of Alexander's name, and to the estimation in which he was
held.
It was the custom in those days for the mass of the common soldiers to
be greatly influenced by what they called _omens_, that is, signs and
tokens which they observed in the flight or the actions of birds, and
other similar appearances. In one case, the fleet, which had come
along the sea, accompanying the march of the army on land, was pent up
in a harbor by a stronger Persian fleet outside. One of the vessels of
the Macedonian fleet was aground. An eagle lighted upon the mast, and
stood perched there for a long time, looking toward the sea. Parmenio
said that, as the eagle looked toward the sea, it indicated that
victory lay in that quarter, and he recommended that they should arm
their ships and push boldly out to attack the Persians. But Alexander
maintained that, as the eagle alighted on a ship which was aground, it
indicated that they were to look for their success on the shore. The
omens could thus almost always be interpreted any way, and sagacious
generals only sought in them the means of confirming the courage and
confidence of their soldiers, in respect to the plans which they
adopted under the influence of other considerations altogether.
Alexander knew very well that he was not a sailor, and had no desire
to embark in contests from which, however they might end, he would
himself personally obtain no glory.
When the winter came on, Alexander and his army were about three or
four hundred miles from home; and, as he did not intend to advance
much farther until the spring should open, he announced to the army
that all those persons, both officers and soldiers who had been
married within the year, might go home if they chose, and spend the
winter with their brides, and return to the army in the spring. No
doubt this was an admirable stroke of policy; for, as the number could
not be large, their absence could not materially weaken his force, and
they would, of course, fill all Greece with tales of Alexander's
energy and courage, and of the nobleness and generosity of his
character. It was the most effectual way possible of disseminating
through Europe the most brilliant accounts of what he had already
done.
Besides, it must have awakened a new bond of sympathy and
fellow-feeling between himself and his soldiers, and greatly increased
the attachment to him felt both by those who went and those who
remained. And though Alexander must have been aware of all these
advantages of the act, still no one could have thought of or adopted
such a plan unless he was accustomed to consider and regard, in his
dealings with others, the feelings and affections of the heart, and
to cherish a warm sympathy for them. The bridegroom soldiers, full of
exultation and pleasure, set forth on their return to Greece, in a
detachment under the charge of three generals, themselves bridegrooms
too.
Alexander, however, had no idea of remaining idle during the winter.
He marched on from province to province, and from city to city,
meeting with every variety of adventures. He went first along the
southern coast, until at length he came to a place where a mountain
chain, called Taurus, comes down to the sea-coast, where it terminates
abruptly in cliffs and precipices, leaving only a narrow beach between
them and the water below. This beach was sometimes covered and
sometimes bare. It is true, there is very little tide in the
Mediterranean, but the level of the water along the shores is altered
considerably by the long-continued pressure exerted in one direction
or another by winds and storms. The water was _up_ when Alexander
reached this pass; still he determined to march his army through it.
There was another way, back among the mountains, but Alexander seemed
disposed to gratify the love of adventure which his army felt, by
introducing them to a novel scene of danger. They accordingly defiled
along under these cliffs, marching, as they say, sometimes up to the
waist in water, the swell rolling in upon them all the time from the
offing.
Having at length succeeded in passing safely round this frowning
buttress of the mountains, Alexander turned northward, and advanced
into the very heart of Asia Minor. In doing this he had to pass _over_
the range which he had come _round_ before; and, as it was winter, his
army were, for a time, enveloped in snows and storms among the wild
and frightful defiles. They had here, in addition to the dangers and
hardships of the way and of the season, to encounter the hostility of
their foes, as the tribes who inhabited these mountains assembled to
dispute the passage. Alexander was victorious, and reached a valley
through which there flows a river which has handed down its name to
the English language and literature. This river was the Meander. Its
beautiful windings through verdant and fertile valleys were so
renowned, that every stream which imitates its example is said to
_meander_ to the present day.
During all this time Parmenio had remained in the western part of Asia
Minor with a considerable body of the army. As the spring approached,
Alexander sent him orders to go to Gordium, whither he was himself
proceeding, and meet him there. He also directed that the detachment
which had gone home should, on recrossing the Hellespont, on their
return, proceed eastward to Gordium, thus making that city the general
rendezvous for the commencement of his next campaign.
One reason why Alexander desired to go to Gordium was that he wished
to untie the famous Gordian knot. The story of the Gordian knot was
this. Gordius was a sort of mountain farmer. One day he was plowing,
and an eagle came down and alighted upon his yoke, and remained there
until he had finished his plowing. This was an omen, but what was the
signification of it? Gordius did not know, and he accordingly went to
a neighboring town in order to consult the prophets and soothsayers.
On his way he met a damsel, who, like Rebecca in the days of Abraham,
was going forth to draw water. Gordius fell into conversation with
her, and related to her the occurrence which had interested him so
strongly. The maiden advised him to go back and offer a sacrifice to
Jupiter. Finally, she consented to go back with him and aid him. The
affair ended in her becoming his wife, and they lived together in
peace for many years upon their farm.
They had a son named Midas. The father and mother were accustomed to
go out sometimes in their cart or wagon, drawn by the oxen, Midas
driving. One day they were going into the town in this way, at a time
when it happened that there was an assembly convened, which was in a
state of great perplexity on account of the civil dissensions and
contests which prevailed in the country. They had just inquired of an
oracle what they should do. The oracle said that "a cart would bring
them a king, who would terminate their eternal broils." Just then
Midas came up, driving the cart in which his father and mother were
seated. The assembly thought at once that this must be the cart meant
by the oracle, and they made Gordius king by acclamation. They took
the cart and the yoke to preserve as sacred relics, consecrating them
to Jupiter; and Gordius tied the yoke to the pole of the cart by a
thong of leather, making a knot so close and complicated that nobody
could untie it again. It was called the Gordian knot. The oracle
afterward said that whoever should untie this knot should become
monarch of all Asia. Thus far, nobody had succeeded.
Alexander felt a great desire to see this knot and try what he could
do. He went, accordingly, into the temple where the sacred cart had
been deposited, and, after looking at the knot, and satisfying himself
that the task of untying it was hopeless, he cut it to pieces with his
sword. How far the circumstances of this whole story are true, and how
far fictitious, no one can tell; the story itself, however, as thus
related, has come down from generation to generation, in every country
of Europe, for two thousand years, and any extrication of one's self
from a difficulty by violent means has been called cutting the Gordian
knot to the present day.
[Illustration: THE BATHING IN THE RIVER CYNDUS.]
At length the whole army was assembled, and the king recommenced
his progress. He went on successfully for some weeks, moving in a
southeasterly direction, and bringing the whole country under his
dominion, until, at length, when he reached Tarsus, an event occurred
which nearly terminated his career. There were some circumstances
which caused him to press forward with the utmost effort in
approaching Tarsus, and, as the day was warm, he got very much
overcome with heat and fatigue. In this state, he went and plunged
suddenly into the River Cydnus to bathe.
Now the Cydnus is a small stream, flowing by Tarsus, and it comes down
from Mount Taurus at a short distance back from the city. Such streams
are always very cold. Alexander was immediately seized with a very
violent chill, and was taken out of the water shivering excessively,
and, at length, fainted away. They thought he was dying. They bore him
to his tent, and, as tidings of their leader's danger spread through
the camp, the whole army, officers and soldiers, were thrown into the
greatest consternation and grief.
A violent and protracted fever came on. In the course of it, an
incident occurred which strikingly illustrates the boldness and
originality of Alexander's character. The name of his physician was
Philip. Philip had been preparing a particular medicine for him,
which, it seems, required some days to make ready. Just before it was
presented, Alexander received a letter from Parmenio, informing him
that he had good reason to believe that Philip had been bribed by the
Persians to murder him, during his sickness, by administering poison
in the name of medicine. He wrote, he said, to put him on his guard
against any medicine which Philip might offer him.
Alexander put the letter under his pillow, and communicated its
contents to no one. At length, when the medicine was ready, Philip
brought it in. Alexander took the cup containing it with one hand, and
with the other he handed Philip the communication which he had
received from Parmenio, saying, "Read that letter." As soon as Philip
had finished reading it, and was ready to look up, Alexander drank off
the draught in full, and laid down the cup with an air of perfect
confidence that he had nothing to fear.
Some persons think that Alexander watched the countenance of his
physician while he was reading the letter, and that he was led to take
the medicine by his confidence in his power to determine the guilt or
the innocence of a person thus accused by his looks. Others suppose
that the act was an expression of his implicit faith in the integrity
and fidelity of his servant, and that he intended it as testimony,
given in a very pointed and decisive, and, at the same time, delicate
manner, that he was not suspicious of his friends, or easily led to
distrust their faithfulness. Philip was, at any rate, extremely
gratified at the procedure, and Alexander recovered.
Alexander had now traversed the whole extent of Asia Minor, and had
subdued the entire country to his sway. He was now advancing to
another district, that of Syria and Palestine, which lies on the
eastern shores of the Mediterranean Sea. To enter this new territory,
he had to pass over a narrow plain which lay between the mountains and
the sea, at a place called Issus. Here he was met by the main body of
the Persian army, and the great battle of Issus was fought. This
battle will be the subject of the next chapter.