Book 3
Imperial Arrian GreekBOOK III
Chapter 1
Alexander now set out for Egypt, where he had first purposed to go, and on the seventh day, marching from Gaza, he came to Pelusium in Egypt. His fleet sailed along the coast from Phoenicia towards Egypt, and he found the ships lying at anchor at Pelusium.
Mazaces the Persian, who had been appointed satrap of Egypt by Darius, having learned how the battle at Issus had fallen out and that Darius had fled in shameful flight, and that Phoenicia and Syria and much of Arabia were held by Alexander, and having himself no Persian force, received Alexander in friendly fashion into the cities and the country.
Alexander brought a garrison into Pelusium, and ordering those on the ships to sail up the river as far as the city of Memphis, he himself marched towards Heliopolis, keeping the river Nile on his right; and, holding all the places on the road as the inhabitants surrendered them, he came through the desert to Heliopolis.
Thence, crossing the river, he came to Memphis; and there he sacrificed to the other gods and to Apis, and held a contest in athletics and music; and the most distinguished artists from Greece came to him for it. From Memphis he sailed down the river towards the sea, taking on the ships the hypaspists, the archers, the Agrianians, and the royal squadron of the Companion cavalry.
Coming to Canobus, and sailing round the lake of Maria, he disembarked where the city of Alexandria, named after Alexander, now stands. The place seemed to him most beautiful for founding a city in, and that the city would prosper. A longing for the work seized him, and he himself laid out the marks for the city—where the marketplace should be built, and which temples and of what gods, both Greek gods and Egyptian Isis, and where the wall should run round. And over this he sacrificed, and the omens appeared favourable.
Chapter 2
There is also told a story of this kind, not incredible to me: that Alexander wished to leave the marks of the fortification for the builders, but there was nothing with which to mark out the ground; whereupon one of the builders bethought himself, and gathering the barley-meal which the soldiers carried in their vessels, threw it down on the ground where the king directed; and so the circle of the wall he was making for the city was traced out.
The seers, considering this, and especially Aristander of Telmissus, who was said to have foretold many other things truly to Alexander, declared that the city would prosper, and not least for the fruits of the earth.
At this time too Hegelochus sailed down to Egypt and reported to Alexander that the Tenedians had revolted from the Persians and joined him—for they had submitted to the Persians against their will—and that the people of Chios had invited his men in, despite those who held the city, whom Autophradates and Pharnabazus had set up;
and that Pharnabazus himself had been captured there, caught in the act, and Aristonicus the tyrant of Methymna, who had sailed into the harbour of Chios with five pirate galleys, not knowing the harbour was held by Alexander's men but deceived by those holding the harbour-bars into thinking that Pharnabazus' fleet lay there;
and that all the pirates were cut down there by Alexander's men, while he brought Aristonicus to Alexander, and Apollonides the Chian, and Phesinus and Megareus and the rest, all who had shared in the revolt of Chios and at that time held the affairs of the island by force;
and that he had recovered Mytilene, which Chares held, and won over by agreement the other cities of Lesbos; and that he had sent Amphoterus with sixty ships to Cos, for the Coans had invited his men; and that he himself, sailing down, found Cos already held by Amphoterus.
The rest of the prisoners Hegelochus brought; but Pharnabazus had escaped in Cos, eluding his guards. Alexander sent the tyrants from the cities back to their cities, to be dealt with as the people wished, but Apollonides and the Chians he sent to the Egyptian city of Elephantine under close guard.
Chapter 3
After this a longing seized him to go to Ammon in Libya, partly to consult the god, since the oracle of Ammon was said to be unerring, and Perseus and Heracles had consulted it—the one when he was sent by Polydectes against the Gorgon, the other when he went against Antaeus in Libya and against Busiris in Egypt.
Alexander had a rivalry with Perseus and Heracles, being descended from both, and he also traced his own birth in some part to Ammon, just as the myths trace that of Heracles and Perseus to Zeus. So he set out for Ammon with this purpose, to learn his own affairs more exactly, or at least to say that he had learned them.
As far as Paraetonium he went along the sea through desert, but through a country not waterless, about sixteen hundred stades, as Aristobulus says. Thence he turned inland, where the oracle of Ammon was. The road is desert, much of it sand, and waterless.
But much rain from heaven came to Alexander, and this was referred to the divine. This too was referred to the divine: that, when a south wind blows in that region, it heaps the sand over the road to a great extent, and the marks of the road are blotted out, nor is it possible to know which way to go, as on a sea of sand, since there are no marks along the road—no mountain, no tree, no firm-standing hillocks by which travellers might guess their way, as sailors by the stars; so that Alexander's army went astray, and the guides were in doubt about the road.
Ptolemy son of Lagus says that two serpents went before the army, uttering a voice, and that Alexander bade the guides follow these, trusting in the divine; and that they led the way both to the oracle and back again.
But Aristobulus, and the more general account prevails this way, says that two ravens, flying before the army, became Alexander's guides. That something divine helped him I can affirm, because likelihood is on that side; but the exact truth of the story those who have told it variously have taken away.
Chapter 4
The place where the temple of Ammon is has all around it desert and sand and no water; but it itself, small in the midst—for at its widest it extends to about forty stades—is full of cultivated trees, olives and date-palms, and alone of all the region is bedewed.
A spring rises from it, unlike all other springs that rise from the earth. For at midday the water is cold to the taste, and still colder to the touch, as cold as may be; but as the sun declines towards evening it grows warmer, and from evening still warmer until midnight, and at midnight it is at its warmest; from midnight it cools in order, and at dawn is already cold, coldest at midday; and this it does in due order each day.
There are also natural salts, dug up, in this place; and some of these certain of the priests of Ammon carry to Egypt. For when they set out for Egypt, they put them in little baskets plaited of palm and carry them as a gift to the king, or to whomever else.
The lump is long—some of them even more than three fingers' breadth—and clear as crystal; and the Egyptians, and all others who are not careless of the divine, use it for sacrifices, as being purer than salt from the sea.
There Alexander marvelled at the place and consulted the god; and having heard what was to his heart, as he said, he set out again for Egypt, by the same road back, as Aristobulus says, but by another, straight, towards Memphis, as Ptolemy son of Lagus says.
Chapter 5
At Memphis many embassies came to him from Greece, and there was none whom he sent away unsuccessful in what he asked; and an army came to him—from Antipater, Greek mercenaries about four hundred, led by Menoetas son of Hegesander, and from Thrace cavalry about five hundred, commanded by Asclepiodorus son of Eunicus.
There he sacrificed to Zeus the King, held a procession with his army under arms, and held a contest in athletics and music. And there he ordered the affairs of Egypt: he appointed two nomarchs of Egypt, Egyptians, Doloaspis and Petisis, and divided the land of Egypt between them; but when Petisis declined the office, Doloaspis took over the whole.
As garrison-commanders of the Companions he set at Memphis Pantaleon of Pydna, at Pelusium Polemon son of Megacles of Pella; over the mercenaries Lycidas the Aetolian; as secretary over the mercenaries Eugnostus son of Xenophantes, one of the Companions; and as overseers of these Aeschylus and Ephippus son of Chalcideus.
The rule of neighbouring Libya he gave to Apollonius son of Charinus, and of Arabia about the City of Heroes to Cleomenes of Naucratis; and this man was ordered to allow the nomarchs to rule their own nomes as had been established of old, but himself to collect the tributes from them; and they were appointed to bring the tributes to him.
As generals over the army which he left in Egypt he appointed Peucestas son of Macartatus and Balacrus son of Amyntas, and as admiral over the ships Polemon son of Theramenes; and as bodyguard in place of Arrybas he appointed Leonnatus son of Onasus, for Arrybas had died of sickness.
Antiochus too, the commander of the archers, had died, and in his place he set over the archers Ombrion the Cretan. And over the allied foot, whom Balacrus had led—since Balacrus was left in Egypt—he appointed Calanus commander.
He is said to have divided the rule of Egypt among many, marvelling at the nature of the country and its strength, because it seemed to him unsafe to entrust the rule of all Egypt to one man. And the Romans, it seems to me, learning from Alexander, keep Egypt under guard, and send out none of the senate as governor of Egypt, but one of those who rank among the knights.
Chapter 6
At the first showing of spring Alexander marched from Memphis towards Phoenicia; and the passage of the Nile at Memphis and all its canals were bridged for him. When he came to Tyre, he found that his fleet had already come to him there. At Tyre he again sacrificed to Heracles and held a contest in athletics and music.
There the Paralus came to him from Athens bringing envoys, Diophantus and Achilles; and the whole crew of the Paralus joined in the embassy. These obtained the rest of what they came for, and he released to the Athenians the prisoners, all the Athenians who had been taken at the Granicus.
Since it was reported to him that there had been revolution in the Peloponnese, he sent Amphoterus to help those of the Peloponnesians who were firm in the Persian war and did not obey the Lacedaemonians. The Phoenicians and Cyprians were ordered to send a hundred other ships besides those Amphoterus had, to the Peloponnese.
He himself now set out up-country towards Thapsacus and the river Euphrates, appointing in Phoenicia, over the collection of tributes, Coeranus of Beroea, and Philoxenus to collect them from Asia this side of the Taurus. The guard of the money he had with him he entrusted in their place to Harpalus son of Machatas, just come from exile.
For Harpalus had at first fled, while Philip was still reigning, because he was loyal to Alexander; and Ptolemy son of Lagus fled for the same cause, and Nearchus son of Androtimus, and Erigyius son of Larichus, and Laomedon his brother, because they were under suspicion with Philip on Alexander's account, when Philip took Eurydice to wife and dishonoured Olympias the mother of Alexander.
When Philip died, those who had fled on his account returned, and Alexander made Ptolemy a bodyguard, Harpalus master of the money, since his body was useless for war, Erigyius commander of the allied cavalry, Laomedon his brother, since he was bilingual in the barbarian writings, over the barbarian prisoners, and Nearchus satrap of Lycia and the country adjoining Lycia as far as Mount Taurus.
A little before the battle at Issus, Harpalus, persuaded by Tauriscus, a worthless man, fled with Tauriscus. Tauriscus, going to Alexander the Epirote in Italy, died there; but Harpalus' flight was to the Megarid. Yet Alexander persuaded him to return, giving pledges that he should fare none the worse for his flight; nor did he, on returning, but Harpalus was again set over the money. To Lydia he sent Menander, one of the Companions, as satrap;
and over the mercenaries, whom Menander had led, Clearchus was appointed. In place of Arimmas he appointed Asclepiodorus son of Eunicus satrap of Syria, because Arimmas seemed to him to have been slack in the preparation which he had been ordered to make for the army on the road up-country. And Alexander came to Thapsacus in the month Hecatombaeon,
Chapter 7
in the archonship of Aristophanes at Athens; and he found the passage bridged with two bridges. For Mazaeus, to whom the guard of the river had been entrusted by Darius, having about three thousand cavalry and of these two thousand Greek mercenary foot, had till then kept guard there on the river;
and on this account the bridge had not been carried continuously to the opposite bank for the Macedonians, who feared lest Mazaeus' men should attack the bridge where it ended. But Mazaeus, when he heard that Alexander was now approaching, made off in flight with his whole army. And as soon as Mazaeus fled, the bridges were laid to the further bank, and Alexander crossed upon them with his army.
Thence he advanced up-country, keeping the Euphrates and the mountains of Armenia on his left, through the country called Mesopotamia. He did not lead straight towards Babylon, setting out from the Euphrates, because by the other route everything was easier for the army—fodder for the horses and supplies from the country—and the heat not so scorching.
Some of Darius' army, scattered for scouting, were captured on the road and reported that Darius was sitting on the river Tigris, resolved to bar Alexander if he should cross; and that he had an army far larger than that with which he had fought in Cilicia.
Hearing this, Alexander hastened towards the Tigris. When he came there, he found neither Darius himself nor the guard which Darius had left, but crossed the passage, with difficulty owing to the swiftness of the current, though none hindered. There he rested the army; and there was a great eclipse of the moon;
and Alexander sacrificed to the moon and the sun and the earth, who they say are the cause of this. And it seemed to Aristander that the eclipse of the moon was in favour of the Macedonians and Alexander, and that the battle would be in that month, and that the sacrifices signified victory for Alexander.
Setting out from the Tigris, he marched through the land of Assyria, keeping the mountains of the Gordyaeans on his left and the Tigris itself on his right. On the fourth day after the crossing, his scouts reported that enemy cavalry were appearing on the plain, but how many they could not guess. So drawing up his army, he advanced as for battle; and other scouts, riding closer and seeing more exactly, said it seemed to them the cavalry were not more than a thousand.
Chapter 8
Taking the royal squadron, one of the Companions, and the Paeonian scouts, he drove on in haste, and ordered the rest of the army to follow at a walk. The Persian cavalry, seeing Alexander's men coming on sharply, fled at full speed. Alexander pursued and pressed them;
and most escaped, but some they killed, whose horses had failed in the flight, and some they took alive, horses and all; and from these they learned that Darius was not far off with a great force.
For there had come to Darius' aid the Indians neighbouring the Bactrians, and the Bactrians themselves, and the Sogdianians; of all these Bessus, satrap of the Bactrian country, was leader. They were followed by the Sacae—this is a Scythian race, of the Scythians who dwell in Asia—not subjects of Bessus, but allies of Darius; their leader was Mauaces; they were mounted archers.
Barsaentes, satrap of the Arachotians, led the Arachotians and the so-called mountain Indians. Satibarzanes, satrap of the Areians, led the Areians. The Parthyaeans, Hyrcanians, and Tapurians, all cavalry, were led by Phrataphernes. The Medes were led by Atropates; and with the Medes were ranged the Cadusians, Albanians, and Sacesinians.
Those who dwell near the Red Sea were marshalled by Orontobates, Ariobarzanes, and Orxines. The Uxians and Susians provided as leader Oxathres son of Abulites. Bupares led the Babylonians. The deported Carians and the Sittacenians were drawn up with the Babylonians. Orontes and Mithraustes commanded the Armenians, and Ariaces the Cappadocians.
The Syrians, both of Hollow Syria and of the Syria between the rivers, Mazaeus led. The whole army of Darius was said to be cavalry about forty thousand, foot about a million, scythed chariots two hundred, and elephants not many, but about fifteen, belonging to the Indians this side of the Indus.
With this force Darius had encamped at Gaugamela by the river Bumelus, distant about six hundred stades from the city of Arbela, in a place level on every side. And whatever there was of it uneven for cavalry, this the Persians had long since made easy for driving with the chariots and passable for the cavalry. For there were those who urged Darius, concerning the battle at Issus, that he had there been at a disadvantage by the narrowness of the ground; and Darius was easily persuaded.
Chapter 9
When this was reported to Alexander by the Persian scouts who were captured, he remained where it was reported for four days; and he rested the army from the march, and fortified the camp with a ditch and a palisade. For he resolved to leave the baggage and those of the soldiers unfit for fighting, and himself to go into the contest with the fighting men carrying nothing but their arms.
Taking his force, he led on by night, about the second watch, so as to engage the barbarians at dawn. Darius, when it was reported that Alexander was now approaching, drew up his army as for battle; and Alexander led on his men likewise in order. The camps were distant from one another about sixty stades, but they did not yet see each other; for there were hills in the midst, in front of both.
When Alexander was about thirty stades distant and his army was now coming over the hills themselves, then, when he saw the barbarians, he halted his phalanx; and again summoning the Companions, the generals, the squadron-leaders, and the leaders of the allies and the mercenaries, he deliberated whether he should at once lead on the phalanx, as most bade him, or, as Parmenion thought best, encamp there for the present,
and reconnoitre the whole ground, in case there was anything suspect or impassable in it, or any ditches or hidden stakes driven in, and observe the enemy's dispositions more exactly. And Parmenion's opinion prevailed, and they encamped there in the order in which they were to go into battle.
Alexander, taking the light troops and the Companion cavalry, went round in a circle surveying the whole ground where the action was to be. Returning and summoning again the same leaders, he said that they themselves needed no exhortation from him for the contest; for they had long been exhorted by their own valour and by the deeds often nobly performed already.
He bade each rouse those under him—each company-commander his company, each squadron-leader his squadron, each battalion-commander his battalion, and the leaders of the foot each the phalanx entrusted to him—reminding them that in this battle they would fight not for Hollow Syria or Phoenicia, nor for Egypt, as before, but for all Asia—who should rule it being now to be decided.
So there was no need of much exhortation to noble deeds for men who had this from home; but each should attend in the danger to good order on his own part, and to exact silence when they should advance in silence, and again to a loud shout when it was well to shout, and to a war-cry as terrible as possible when it was time to raise it,
and that they themselves should hearken sharply to the orders, and pass them on in turn sharply to the ranks; each should remember that in his own part the whole is endangered if neglected and set right if worked at with care.
Chapter 10
Having exhorted them with these and a few other such words, and been exhorted in turn by the leaders to take heart in them, he ordered the army to take their meal and rest. Parmenion, they say, came to him at his tent and advised him to attack the Persians by night; for he would fall upon them unexpected and disordered, and at the same time more terrible by night.
But Alexander answered him, since others too were listening to the words, that it was shameful to steal the victory, and that Alexander must conquer openly and without trickery. And this lofty speech of his appeared not so much arrogant as confident in the dangers; and it seems to me that he also used exact reasoning in such a case.
For in the night many things, falling out unexpectedly, have failed both those well and those ill prepared for battle, overthrowing the stronger and handing the victory to the worse, contrary to the expectations of both. And to himself, often in peril in battles, the night seemed dangerous; and at the same time, if Darius were again defeated, the secret and nightly attack from Alexander's men would take from him the admission that, being the worse, he was leader of worse men;
and if any unexpected reverse should befall them, the enemy had the country around friendly and were themselves acquainted with the ground, while they were inexperienced among enemies on every side, of whom the prisoners were no small part, and these would join the attack by night not only if they stumbled but even if they did not appear to be winning by much. For these reasons I praise Alexander, and no less for his open loftiness.
Chapter 11
Darius and the army with Darius remained drawn up through the night just as they had first been arranged, because they had no proper camp thrown round them, and at the same time feared lest the enemy attack them by night.
And if anything else, this too harmed the Persians' cause at that time—the long standing under arms and the fear, such as is wont to come before great dangers, not hastily roused at the moment, but long brooded over and enslaving their spirits. His army was drawn up thus:
for the order in which Darius drew up his army was afterwards captured in writing, as Aristobulus says. His left wing was held by the Bactrian cavalry, and with these the Daae and Arachotians; next to these the Persians were drawn up, cavalry and foot mingled together, and the Susians next to the Persians, and the Cadusians next to the Susians.
This was the order of the left wing as far as the centre of the whole phalanx. On the right were drawn up those from Hollow Syria and those from the country between the rivers, and the Medes still on the right, then the Parthyaeans and Sacae, then the Tapurians and Hyrcanians, then the Albanians and Sacesinians, these as far as the centre of the whole phalanx.
In the centre, where King Darius was, were posted the kinsmen of the king, the apple-bearer Persians, the Indians, the so-called deported Carians, and the Mardian archers; the Uxians, Babylonians, those by the Red Sea, and the Sittacenians were posted in depth.
There were posted in advance, on the left opposite Alexander's right, the Scythian cavalry and about a thousand of the Bactrians and a hundred scythed chariots. The elephants stood opposite Darius' royal squadron, and about fifty chariots.
On the right were posted in advance the Armenian and Cappadocian cavalry and fifty scythed chariots. The Greek mercenaries were drawn up beside Darius himself on either side, and the Persians with him, facing the very phalanx of the Macedonians, as alone a match for the phalanx. Alexander's army was ordered thus.
His right was held by the Companion cavalry, in front of which was posted the royal squadron, of which Cleitus son of Dropidas was squadron-leader; then the squadron of Glaucias, next to it that of Ariston, then that of Sopolis son of Hermodorus, then that of Heraclides son of Antiochus, then that of Demetrius son of Althaemenes, next to it that of Meleager, and last of the royal squadrons that of which Hegelochus son of Hippostratus was squadron-leader. Of the whole Companion cavalry Philotas son of Parmenion was commander.
Of the Macedonian phalanx, next to the cavalry, first the guard of the hypaspists was posted, and after it the other hypaspists; their leader was Nicanor son of Parmenion; next to these was the battalion of Coenus son of Polemocrates, after them that of Perdiccas son of Orontes, then that of Meleager son of Neoptolemus, then that of Polyperchon son of Simmias, then that of Amyntas son of Philip; this Simmias led, because Amyntas had been sent to Macedonia to gather an army.
The left of the Macedonian phalanx was held by the battalion of Craterus son of Alexander, and Craterus himself commanded the left of the foot; and next to him the allied cavalry, led by Erigyius son of Larichus; next to these, towards the left wing, the Thessalian cavalry, commanded by Philip son of Menelaus. The whole left was led by Parmenion son of Philotas, and about him moved the Pharsalian cavalry, the best and most numerous of the Thessalian horse. The frontal array of Alexander was thus ordered.
Chapter 12
He posted also a second line, so that the phalanx should be two-fronted. And it was enjoined upon the leaders of the rear ranks that, if they should see their own men encircled by the Persian army, they should wheel about and receive the barbarians;
and, at an angle, in case necessity should arise either to extend or to close up the phalanx—on the right wing, next to the royal squadron, half of the Agrianians were posted, led by Attalus, and with them the Macedonian archers, commanded by Brison; and next to the archers the so-called veteran mercenaries, and their commander Cleander.
In advance of the Agrianians and the archers were posted the scout cavalry and the Paeonians, led by Aretes and Ariston. In front of all were posted the mercenary cavalry, commanded by Menidas. In advance of the royal squadron and the other Companions were posted half of the Agrianians and the archers, and the javelin-men of Balacrus; these were posted opposite the scythed chariots.
Menidas and his men were ordered, if the enemy should ride round their wing, to wheel and charge them on the flank. So were the dispositions on the right wing of Alexander. On the left, at an angle, were posted the Thracians, led by Sitalces, and next to them the allied cavalry, commanded by Coeranus, and then the Odrysian cavalry, led by Agathon son of Tyrimmas.
In front of all these was posted the mercenary cavalry, commanded by Andromachus son of Hieron. Over the baggage the Thracian foot were posted as guard. The whole army of Alexander was cavalry about seven thousand, foot about forty thousand.
Chapter 13
When the armies were now near, Darius and those about him were seen—the apple-bearer Persians, the Indians, the Albanians, the deported Carians, and the Mardian archers, posted opposite Alexander himself and the royal squadron. Alexander led rather towards his own right, and the Persians moved opposite him, far outflanking him on their left.
The Scythian cavalry, riding along, already touched the men posted in advance of Alexander's array, yet Alexander still led to the right, and was near passing beyond the ground levelled by the Persians. Then Darius, fearing lest, if the Macedonians advanced onto the uneven ground, his chariots should become useless, ordered those posted in advance of the left to ride round the right wing, where Alexander was leading, so that they should lead the wing no further on.
When this was done, Alexander ordered the mercenary cavalry, led by Menidas, to charge them. The Scythian cavalry and the Bactrians drawn up with the Scythians, running out against them, routed them, being few against many. Alexander then ordered Aretes' men, the Paeonians, and the mercenaries to charge the Scythians;
and the barbarians gave way. But the other Bactrians, drawing near the Paeonians and mercenaries, rallied their own men now in flight back into the battle and made the cavalry fight a pitched battle. More of Alexander's men fell, hard pressed by the numbers of the barbarians and because the Scythians themselves and their horses were more exactly armoured for protection. Yet even so the Macedonians received their charges and, falling on them violently by squadrons, thrust them out of their array.
Meanwhile the barbarians launched the scythed chariots against Alexander himself, to throw his phalanx into disorder. And in this they were utterly deceived. For as the chariots came on, the Agrianians and the javelin-men with Balacrus, posted in advance of the Companion cavalry, shot them down at once; and others, seizing the reins, dragged down the drivers and, standing round the horses, cut them down.
Some, however, drove right through the ranks; for the men opened out, as had been ordered them, where the chariots fell upon them; and so it chiefly came about that the chariots passed through unharmed, and those against whom they were driven came through without harm. But of these too the grooms of Alexander's army and the royal hypaspists got the better.
Chapter 14
As Darius now led on his whole phalanx, Alexander ordered Aretes to charge those who were riding round their right wing to encircle it;
and he himself for a time led his men in column. But when the cavalry who had come out to help against those encircling the right wing had broken off something of the first barbarian phalanx, he wheeled towards the gap, and making a kind of wedge of the Companion cavalry and the phalanx drawn up there, led them at a run and with a war-cry against Darius himself.
For a short time the battle was hand to hand; but when Alexander's cavalry and Alexander himself pressed on stoutly, thrusting and striking the Persians' faces with their spears, and the Macedonian phalanx, dense and bristling with sarissas, had now charged them, and all the terrors at once appeared to Darius, long since fearful, he was the first to wheel and flee. The Persians too who were riding round the wing were terrified when Aretes' men charged them stoutly.
On this side the Persians' flight was headlong, and the Macedonians, pursuing, slaughtered the fugitives. But Simmias and his battalion were no longer able to join Alexander in the pursuit, but halting the phalanx there fought on, because the Macedonian left was reported to be hard pressed.
And there, their array being broken at the gap, some of the Indians and of the Persian cavalry burst through towards the Macedonian baggage; and there the work grew fierce. For the Persians fell boldly upon the men, mostly unarmed and not expecting any to break through and burst through the double phalanx; and the barbarian prisoners, when the Persians charged, joined them in attacking the Macedonians in the work.
But the leaders of the rear ranks of the first phalanx, perceiving quickly what was happening, wheeled their formation, as had been ordered them, and came upon the Persians in the rear, killing many of them as they were busied about the baggage, while others gave way and fled. Those on the right wing of the Persians, not yet aware of Darius' flight, rode round Alexander's left and charged Parmenion's men on the flank.
Chapter 15
At this point, the Macedonians being at first assailed on both sides, Parmenion sent in haste to Alexander to report that his part was hard pressed and that help was needed. When this was reported to Alexander, he turned aside from the pursuit, and wheeling with the Companion cavalry led at a run against the right of the barbarians. First he charged the fleeing enemy cavalry, the Parthyaeans, some of the Indians, and the most numerous and strongest of the Persians.
And this cavalry battle was the fiercest of the whole action. For the barbarians, drawn up in depth by squadrons, wheeled about, and meeting Alexander's men front to front, used no longer javelins or wheelings of their horses, as is the manner of cavalry battle, but each strove to break through what was opposite him, as being their only safety, and they struck and were struck unsparingly, as men fighting no longer for another's victory but for their own safety. There fell about sixty of Alexander's Companions, and Hephaestion himself was wounded, and Coenus, and Menidas; but Alexander mastered these too.
Those of them who broke through Alexander's men fled at full speed; and Alexander was now near joining the right wing of the enemy. Meanwhile the Thessalian cavalry, fighting brilliantly, fell no whit behind Alexander in the work; for the barbarians on the right wing were now fleeing when Alexander came up to them, so that Alexander, turning aside, set out again to pursue Darius; and he pursued while there was light.
Parmenion's men too pursued those opposite them. But Alexander, crossing the river Lycus, encamped there to rest his men and horses a little; while Parmenion took the camp of the barbarians and the baggage and the elephants and the camels.
Alexander, having rested his cavalry until midnight, advanced again in haste towards Arbela, to take Darius there and the money and the rest of the royal state. He reached Arbela the next day, having pursued in all about six hundred stades from the battle. Darius he did not catch at Arbela, for Darius fled without resting at all; but the money was caught there and all the equipment, and Darius' chariot was again taken, and his shield again, and his bow was captured.
Of Alexander's men about a hundred died, but horses, from wounds and the hardship of the pursuit, over a thousand, and of these nearly half of the Companion cavalry. Of the barbarians the dead were said to be about three hundred thousand, and far more were taken than were killed, and the elephants and such of the chariots as were not cut to pieces in the battle.
Such was the end of this battle, in the archonship of Aristophanes at Athens, in the month Pyanepsion; and Aristander's prophecy was fulfilled, that in the same month in which the moon appeared eclipsed Alexander's battle and victory should come.
Chapter 16
Darius, straight from the battle, drove along the mountains of the Armenians towards Media; and with him fled the Bactrian cavalry, as they had been drawn up in the battle, and of the Persians the kinsmen of the king and a few of the so-called apple-bearers.
There joined him in his flight about two thousand of the mercenaries, whom Patron the Phocian and Glaucus the Aetolian led. His flight was towards Media because he reckoned that Alexander, after the battle, would take the road towards Susa and Babylon, since all that country was inhabited and the road not hard for the baggage, and at the same time Babylon and Susa appeared the prize of the war; while the road towards Media was not easy for a great army. And Darius was not mistaken.
For Alexander, setting out from Arbela, advanced straight towards Babylon. He was now not far from Babylon and led his force drawn up as for battle, when the Babylonians came out to meet him in full force, with their priests and rulers, each bringing gifts and surrendering the city and the citadel and the money.
Alexander, entering Babylon, ordered the Babylonians to rebuild the temples which Xerxes had destroyed, among others the temple of Belus, whom the Babylonians honour most of the gods. He appointed Mazaeus satrap of Babylon, Apollodorus of Amphipolis general over the soldiers left with Mazaeus, and Asclepiodorus son of Philon to collect the tributes.
He sent also to Armenia Mithrenes as satrap, who had surrendered the citadel at Sardis to Alexander. There he met with the Chaldaeans, and did all that the Chaldaeans thought right concerning the temples at Babylon, and in particular sacrificed to Belus according to their direction. He himself set out for Susa;
and on the road there met him the son of the satrap of the Susians and a letter-bearer from Philoxenus. For Philoxenus Alexander had sent off straight from the battle towards Susa. In the letter from Philoxenus it was written that the Susians had surrendered the city and that all the money was safe for Alexander.
Alexander reached Susa from Babylon in twenty days; and entering the city he took over the money, amounting to fifty thousand talents of silver, and the rest of the royal state. Many other things too were captured there, all that Xerxes had brought back from Greece, among them the bronze statues of Harmodius and Aristogiton.
These Alexander sent back to the Athenians, and now the statues stand at Athens in the Ceramicus, as one goes up to the city, just opposite the Metroon, not far from the altar of the Eudanemi; and whoever has been initiated to the two goddesses at Eleusis knows the altar of Eudanemus on the floor of the temple.
There, having sacrificed according to ancestral custom and held a torch-race and an athletic contest, Alexander, leaving as satrap of Susiana Abulites, a Persian, as garrison-commander in the citadel of Susa Mazarus, one of the Companions, and as general Archelaus son of Theodorus, advanced towards Persia. To the coast he sent down Menes as governor of Syria, Phoenicia, and Cilicia.
To him he gave about three thousand talents of silver to take to the coast, and from these to send to Antipater as much as Antipater should need for the war against the Lacedaemonians. There too Amyntas son of Andromenes arrived with the force he was bringing from Macedonia.
The cavalry of these Alexander enrolled in the Companion cavalry, and the foot he added to the other battalions, drawing up each by nation. He also established two companies in each squadron—there having been no cavalry companies before—and set over them as company-leaders those preferred for valour from the Companions.
Chapter 17
Setting out from Susa and crossing the river Pasitigris, he invaded the land of the Uxians. Of the Uxians, those dwelling in the plains obeyed the satrap of the Persians, and now surrendered to Alexander; but the so-called mountain Uxians were not subjects of the Persians, and now, sending to Alexander, said that they would not let him pass on his way to Persia with his force unless he paid them what they had been wont to receive from the king of the Persians for the passage.
Alexander sent them back, bidding them come to the narrows, by holding which they thought the passage to Persia was in their power, so that they might receive from him what was appointed. He himself, taking the royal bodyguards, the hypaspists, and about eight thousand of the rest of the army, went by night by another way than the open road, the Susians guiding him.
Marching by a rough and difficult road in one day, he fell upon the villages of the Uxians, took much plunder, and killed many of them while still in their beds; the rest fled to the mountains. He himself hastened to the narrows, where the Uxians thought to meet him in full force to receive what was appointed.
He had earlier sent Craterus on to seize the heights, where he thought the Uxians, when hard pressed, would withdraw. He himself went on with great speed; and he outstripped them, mastering the passes, and, with his men drawn up, led them from the higher ground against the barbarians.
They, dismayed by Alexander's speed and outmatched on the very ground in which they had most trusted, fled without coming to close quarters. Some of them were killed by Alexander's men in the flight, many on the road, which was precipitous; but most, fleeing up the mountains, fell in with Craterus' men and were destroyed by them.
Having received these gifts from Alexander, they with difficulty obtained, by entreaty, to hold their own land paying tribute yearly to Alexander. Ptolemy son of Lagus says that Darius' mother begged Alexander on their behalf to grant them the land to dwell in. The tribute appointed was a hundred horses a year, five hundred beasts of burden, and thirty thousand sheep; for the Uxians had no money nor land fit to till, but most of them were herdsmen.
Chapter 18
After this he sent the baggage, the Thessalian cavalry, the allies, the mercenaries, and all the rest of the army more heavily armed, with Parmenion, to go towards Persia by the wagon-road leading to Persia.
He himself, taking the Macedonian foot, the Companion cavalry, the scout cavalry, the Agrianians, and the archers, hastened by the way through the mountains. When he came to the Persian Gates, he found there Ariobarzanes the Persian satrap with about forty thousand foot and seven hundred cavalry, who had walled off the Gates and encamped there by the wall, to bar Alexander from the passage. For the time he encamped there;
but the next day, drawing up his army, he led against the wall. When it appeared impossible to take it owing to the difficulty of the ground, and his men received many blows, shot at from higher ground and from engines, for the time he withdrew to the camp.
But when the prisoners told him they would lead him round by another way, so as to pass within the Gates, since he learned the road was rough and narrow, he left Craterus there at the camp with his own battalion and that of Meleager, a few archers, and about five hundred cavalry, and ordered him,
when he should perceive that Alexander had gone round and was now approaching the Persian camp—and he would perceive it without difficulty, for the trumpets would signal it to him—then to assault the wall. He himself advanced by night, and having gone about a hundred stades, took the hypaspists, the battalion of Perdiccas, the nimblest of the archers, the Agrianians, the royal squadron of the Companions, and one cavalry tetrarchy besides, and with these went, bending round towards the Gates, where the prisoners led.
Amyntas, Philotas, and Coenus he ordered to lead the rest of the army towards the plain and to bridge the river which had to be crossed on the way to Persia. He himself went by a hard and rough road, and this for the most part at a run. The first watch of the barbarians he destroyed before dawn, falling upon it, and most of the second;
of the third the greater part escaped, and not even these fled to Ariobarzanes' camp, but, just as they were, in fear to the mountains, so that he fell upon the enemy's camp at dawn unobserved. And at once he assaulted the ditch, and at the same time the trumpets signalled to Craterus' men, and Craterus advanced against the outwork.
The enemy, assailed on every side, fled without even coming to close quarters; but they were hemmed in on all sides, Alexander pressing on one side, Craterus' men running up on another, so that most of them were forced to turn back to the walls and flee; but the walls too were already held by the Macedonians.
For Alexander, suspecting this very thing which came to pass, had left Ptolemy there with about three thousand foot, so that most of the barbarians were cut down at close quarters by the Macedonians, while others, in the flight, which became terrible, flung themselves down the cliffs and perished. Ariobarzanes himself with a few cavalry escaped to the mountains.
Alexander hastened again towards the river, and found a bridge already made over it, and crossed with his army easily. Thence again he drove in haste to Persia, so that he came before the guards could plunder the money. He took also the money in Pasargadae in the treasuries of Cyrus the First.
He appointed Phrasaortes son of Rheomithres satrap of the Persians; but the Persian palace he burned, though Parmenion advised him to spare it, both on other grounds and because it was not well to destroy what was now his own possession, and because the men of Asia would not so readily attach themselves to him, if he seemed resolved not to keep the rule of Asia but only to pass through as a conqueror.
But Alexander said he wished to take vengeance on the Persians for marching against Greece and razing Athens and burning the temples, and for all the other harm they had done the Greeks, and to take satisfaction for these. But it does not seem to me that Alexander acted with good sense in this, nor that this was any vengeance on the Persians of old.
Chapter 19
Having done this, he advanced towards Media; for there he learned that Darius was. Darius had resolved that, if Alexander stayed at Susa and Babylon, he too would await him there in Media, in case any revolution should arise among Alexander's people; but if Alexander marched against him, he would go up-country towards the Parthyaeans and Hyrcania, as far as Bactra, laying waste all the country and making the road forward impassable for Alexander.
The women, then, and the rest of the state still with him, and the covered wagons, he sent to the so-called Caspian Gates; he himself, with the force gathered for him from those at hand, waited in Ecbatana. Hearing this, Alexander advanced towards Media. He invaded the country of the Paraetacae and subdued it, and appointed as their satrap Oxathres son of Abulites, the former satrap of Susa. He himself,
since he learned that Darius had resolved to meet him as for battle and to risk the issue again—for Scythians and Cadusians had come to him as allies—ordered the baggage animals and their guards and the rest of the equipment to follow, and taking the rest of the army led them equipped as for battle. He reached Media on the twelfth day.
There he learned that Darius had no force fit to fight, nor had the Cadusians or Scythians come as his allies, but that Darius had resolved to flee; and he led on still more in haste. When he was about three days' march from Ecbatana, there met him Bisthanes son of Ochus, who reigned over the Persians before Darius;
and he reported that Darius had fled five days before, taking the money from Media, about seven thousand talents, and an army of about three thousand cavalry and six thousand foot. Coming to Ecbatana, Alexander sent the Thessalian cavalry and the other allies back to the coast, paying them their full appointed wages and adding two thousand talents from himself;
and whoever wished privately still to serve for pay with him, he ordered to enrol; and those who enrolled were not few. He appointed Epocillus son of Polyeides to lead them down to the coast, with other cavalry to guard them, for the Thessalians had sold their horses there. He sent word also to Menes, when they should reach the coast, to see that they were conveyed on triremes to Euboea.
He ordered Parmenion to deposit the money brought from Persia in the citadel at Ecbatana and to hand it over to Harpalus; for he left Harpalus over the money and a guard of about six thousand Macedonians and a few cavalry and light troops; while Parmenion himself, taking the mercenaries, the Thracians, and the other cavalry besides the Companion cavalry, was to march along the country of the Cadusians into Hyrcania.
To Cleitus, commander of the royal squadron, he sent word that, when he should come from Susa to Ecbatana—for he had been left at Susa sick—he should take the Macedonians left over the money and go towards the Parthyaeans, where he himself was to come.
Chapter 20
He himself, taking the Companion cavalry, the scouts, the mercenary cavalry, led by Erigyius, the Macedonian phalanx except those posted over the money, the archers, and the Agrianians, drove on against Darius. On the way, made in haste, many of the soldiers fell behind through exhaustion, and horses died;
but even so he pressed on, and reached Rhagae on the eleventh day. This place is distant from the Caspian Gates one day's march for one driving as Alexander led. But Darius had already passed within the Caspian Gates. Of those fleeing with Darius, many, abandoning him in the flight, withdrew each to his own home, and not a few surrendered to Alexander.
Alexander, giving up hope of catching Darius at his heels, remained there five days and rested the army; he appointed as satrap of Media Oxydates, a Persian, who happened to have been arrested by Darius and confined at Susa—this was a pledge of fidelity towards Alexander—and himself led on towards the Parthyaeans.
On the first day he encamped at the Caspian Gates, on the second passed within the Gates as far as the country was inhabited. Provisioning himself there, since he heard the country ahead was desert, he sent Coenus out to forage with cavalry and a few foot.
Chapter 21
Meanwhile there came to him from Darius' camp Bagistanes, a Babylonian, a man of note, and with him Antibelus, one of the sons of Mazaeus. These reported that Nabarzanes, chiliarch of the cavalry fleeing with Darius, and Bessus the satrap of the Bactrians, and Barsaentes the satrap of the Arachotians and Drangians, had arrested Darius.
Hearing this, Alexander led on still more in haste, having about him only the Companions and the scout cavalry, and choosing the strongest and nimblest of the foot, not even waiting for Coenus' men to return from foraging. Over those left behind he set Craterus and ordered him to follow, not by long marches.
He himself, taking with him only arms and two days' provisions, went all that night and on the following day till midday; then, resting the army a little, he went again all the night, and at the showing of dawn came to the camp from which Bagistanes had set out.
The enemy he did not catch, but concerning Darius he learned that he had been arrested and was being carried on a covered wagon, and that Bessus held the power instead of Darius, and had been named leader by the Bactrian cavalry and the other barbarians fleeing with Darius, except Artabazus and his sons and the Greek mercenaries; these were faithful to Darius, but unable to prevent what was happening, and had turned off the highroad towards the mountains by themselves, taking no part with Bessus' men in the deed. Those who had arrested Darius had resolved,
if they should learn that Alexander was pursuing them, to hand over Darius to Alexander and obtain some good for themselves; but if they learned that he had turned back, to gather as large an army as they could and preserve the rule for the common cause. Bessus for the present held the leadership, both by kinship with Darius and because the deed was done in his own satrapy.
Hearing this, it seemed to Alexander that he must pursue at full speed. By now the men and horses were worn out by the continuous toil; yet even so he led on, and going a long way through the night and the following day till midday, he came to a village where those carrying Darius had encamped the day before.
There, hearing that the barbarians had resolved to make their march by night, he questioned the natives whether they knew any shorter road to the fugitives. They said they knew one, but it was desert through lack of water. He bade them lead by this; and knowing that the foot would not follow him driving in haste, he dismounted about five hundred of the cavalry, and choosing the leaders of the foot and the strongest of the others, ordered them to mount the horses just as the foot were armed.
Nicanor, commander of the hypaspists, and Attalus, commander of the Agrianians, he ordered to lead those left behind along the road by which Bessus' men had advanced, these too equipped as lightly as possible; and the rest of the foot to follow in order.
He himself, beginning to lead about dusk, went at a run; and having gone four hundred stades by night, at dawn he came upon the barbarians marching in disorder and unarmed, so that a few of them set out to defend themselves, but most, as soon as they saw Alexander himself, fled without coming to close quarters; and those who turned to resist also fled, a few having fallen.
Bessus and his men for a while carried Darius with them on the covered wagon; but when Alexander was now at hand, Satibarzanes and Barsaentes wounded Darius and left him there, and themselves fled with six hundred cavalry. Darius died a little later of his wounds, before he was seen by Alexander.
Chapter 22
Alexander sent the body of Darius to Persia, bidding it be buried in the royal tombs, like the other kings before Darius; and he appointed as satrap of the Parthyaeans and Hyrcanians Amminapes, a Parthyaean; this man was one of those who had surrendered Egypt to Alexander with Mazaces. Tlepolemus son of Pythophanes, one of the Companions, was joined with him to oversee affairs among the Parthyaeans and Hyrcanians.
Such was the end of Darius, in the archonship of Aristophon at Athens, in the month Hecatombaeon—a man soft in war, if any ever was, and not prudent, but in other matters showing no unreasonable conduct, or rather having no chance to show any, since it befell him at once to come to the kingship and at once to be warred upon by the Macedonians and the Greeks. So that, even had he wished, he could no longer commit outrage against his subjects, being himself in greater danger than they.
While he lived, calamities befell him one upon another, nor was there any respite from the time he first came to the rule; but at once the cavalry disaster of his satraps at the Granicus befell, and at once Ionia and Aeolis were held, and both Phrygias and Lydia and Caria except the Halicarnassians;
a little later Halicarnassus too was taken, and then all the coast as far as Cilicia; then his own defeat at Issus, where he saw his mother taken captive, and his wife, and his children; then Phoenicia was lost, and all Egypt; then he himself fled at Arbela among the first, shamefully, and lost the largest army of the whole barbarian race;
and thereafter, a fugitive wandering from his own rule, and at the last betrayed to the utmost by those about him, at once a king and a prisoner led in dishonour, finally plotted against by those nearest him, he perished.
Such things befell Darius living; but in death he had royal burial, and his children such nurture and education from Alexander as while he reigned, and Alexander became his son-in-law. When he died, he was about fifty years of age.
Chapter 23
Alexander, taking up those of the army left behind in the pursuit, advanced into Hyrcania. The country of Hyrcania lies on the left of the road leading to Bactra; on one side it is shut off by thick and high mountains, but its plain reaches down to the great sea there. He led this way because he learned that the mercenaries with Darius had escaped this way to the mountains of the Tapurians, and at the same time to subdue the Tapurians themselves.
Dividing the army into three, he himself led by the shortest and hardest way, taking the largest and at the same time the nimblest part of the force; Craterus, with his own battalion and that of Amyntas and some archers and a few cavalry, he sent against the Tapurians; and Erigyius, taking the mercenaries and the rest of the cavalry, he ordered to lead by the highroad, which was longer, conducting the wagons, the baggage, and the rest of the throng.
Crossing the first mountains and encamping there, taking the hypaspists, the nimblest of the Macedonian phalanx, and some archers, he went by a hard and difficult road, leaving guards of the roads wherever anything seemed dangerous to him, lest the barbarians holding the mountains attack those who followed at those points.
He himself, with the archers, passing the narrows, encamped in the plain by a river not large. While he was there, Nabarzanes the chiliarch of Darius, Phrataphernes the satrap of Hyrcania and the Parthyaeans, and others of the most distinguished Persians who had been with Darius came and surrendered themselves.
Waiting in the camp four days, he took up those left behind on the road, the rest having come through safely, but the Agrianians, who were guarding the rear, were attacked by the mountain barbarians, who came off the worse in the skirmish.
Setting out thence, he advanced towards Hyrcania to Zadracarta, a city of the Hyrcanians. There Craterus joined him, not having met with Darius' mercenaries, but having won over all the country through which he had passed, partly by force, partly as the inhabitants surrendered. There too Erigyius came with the baggage and the wagons.
A little later Artabazus came to Alexander, and of his sons Cophen and Ariobarzanes and Arsames, and with them envoys from the mercenaries who had been with Darius, and Autophradates the satrap of the Tapurians. To Autophradates he restored the satrapy, and Artabazus and his sons he kept with him in honour, both as being among the chief of the Persians and for their fidelity to Darius.
To the envoys of the Greeks, who begged him to make terms for the whole mercenary force, he answered that he would make no agreement with them; for those who campaigned against Greece on the side of the barbarians, contrary to the decrees of the Greeks, did great wrong; but he bade them all come and surrender themselves, leaving it to Alexander to deal with them as he wished, or save themselves as they could.
They answered that they entrusted themselves and the rest to Alexander, and asked him to send someone to lead them, that they might be conducted safely to him; they were said to be about fifteen hundred. And Alexander sent to them Andronicus son of Agerrus and Artabazus.
Chapter 24
He himself advanced against the Mardians, taking the hypaspists, the archers, the Agrianians, the battalion of Coenus and Amyntas, half of the Companion cavalry, and the mounted javelin-men; for he now had a unit of mounted javelin-men.
Overrunning the greater part of the country of the Mardians, he killed many of them as they fled, some as they turned to resist, and took many alive. For there was none who within memory had invaded their land in war, both because of the difficulty of the country and because the Mardians were poor and warlike in their poverty. Not even fearing that Alexander would ever invade, especially as he had now advanced far forward, they were the more caught unguarded on this account.
Many of them fled to the mountains, which are very high and sheer in their country, thinking that to these at least Alexander would not come. But when he advanced even there, they sent envoys and surrendered themselves and their country; and Alexander released them, and appointed as their satrap Autophradates, the same who was over the Tapurians.
He himself, returning to the camp from which he had set out into the land of the Mardians, found the Greek mercenaries arrived and the envoys of the Lacedaemonians, who had been on an embassy to King Darius—Callistratidas, Pausippus, Monimus, and Onomas, and of the Athenians Dropides. These he arrested and kept under guard, but the men of Sinope he released, because the Sinopeans had no share in the common cause of the Greeks, and, being subject to the Persians, seemed to do nothing unreasonable in sending an embassy to their own king.
He released also those of the other Greeks who had served for pay among the Persians before the peace and alliance with the Macedonians, and Heraclides the envoy of the Calchedonians he released; the rest he ordered to campaign with him for the same pay, and set over them Andronicus, who had brought them and had shown plainly that he made no small matter of saving the men.
Chapter 25
Having done this, he marched towards Zadracarta, the greatest city of Hyrcania, where the palace of the Hyrcanians was. There, spending fifteen days and sacrificing to the gods according to custom and holding an athletic contest, he marched towards the Parthyaeans; and thence to the borders of Areia and to Susia, a city of Areia, where Satibarzanes too, the satrap of the Areians, came to him.
To him he restored the satrapy, and sent with him Anaxippus, one of the Companions, giving him about forty of the mounted javelin-men, that he might set guards over the places, so that the Areians should suffer no wrong from the army on its passage.
At this time there came to him some Persians who reported that Bessus wore the tiara upright and the Persian robe, and called himself Artaxerxes instead of Bessus, and declared himself king of Asia; and that he had with him the Persians who had escaped to Bactra and many of the Bactrians; and that Scythian allies were expected to come to him.
Alexander, now having his whole force together, marched towards Bactra, where Philip son of Menelaus came to him from Media with the mercenary cavalry, which he himself commanded, the Thessalian volunteers who had stayed, and the mercenaries of Andromachus. Nicanor son of Parmenion, commander of the hypaspists, had already died of sickness.
As Alexander was going towards Bactra, it was reported that Satibarzanes the satrap of the Areians had killed Anaxippus and the mounted javelin-men with him, and was arming the Areians and gathering them at the city of Artacoana, where the palace of the Areians was; and that thence he had resolved, when he should learn that Alexander had advanced, to go with his force to Bessus, so as with him to attack the Macedonians wherever he might.
When this was reported to him, he did not lead by the road to Bactra, but taking the Companion cavalry, the mounted javelin-men, the archers, the Agrianians, and the battalion of Amyntas and Coenus, and leaving the rest of his force there with Craterus as commander, he led in haste against Satibarzanes and the Areians, and passing over six hundred stades in two days came to Artacoana.
Satibarzanes, when he learned that Alexander was near, dismayed by the swiftness of his approach, fled with a few of the Areian cavalry; for he was abandoned by most of his soldiers in the flight, when they too learned that Alexander was approaching. Alexander, all whom he found to be accomplices in the revolt and who had then abandoned their villages, these, by sharp pursuits here and there, he killed or enslaved; and he appointed as satrap of the Areians Arsaces, a Persian.
He himself, with Craterus' men who had been left behind, now joined to him, marched towards the country of the Zarangaeans, and came to where the palace of the Zarangaeans was. Barsaentes, who then held the country, being one of those who had attacked Darius in the flight, learning that Alexander was approaching, fled to the Indians this side of the river Indus. But the Indians arrested him and sent him to Alexander, and he was put to death by Alexander for his wrong against Darius.
Chapter 26
There too Alexander learned of the plot of Philotas son of Parmenion; and Ptolemy and Aristobulus say that it had been reported to him before, in Egypt, but had not appeared trustworthy, both for the sake of the old friendship and the honour shown by him to Parmenion the father of Philotas and his trust in Philotas himself.
Ptolemy son of Lagus says that Philotas was brought before the Macedonians, and Alexander accused him strongly, and Philotas made his defence; and that the informers of the deed came forward and convicted Philotas and his men with proofs not obscure, and especially because Philotas himself admitted that he had learned that some plot was being prepared against Alexander, but was convicted of having kept this silent from Alexander, although he went twice daily to Alexander's tent.
Philotas was shot down by the Macedonians, and all who had shared with him in the plot. Against Parmenion was sent Polydamas, one of the Companions, bearing letters from Alexander to the generals in Media, Cleander, Sitalces, and Menidas; for these were posted over the army which Parmenion commanded.
And by these Parmenion was put to death, perhaps because it did not seem credible to Alexander that, when Philotas was plotting, Parmenion did not share with his son in the design, or perhaps because, even if he did not share in it, he was now dangerous if he survived, his son being put to death, being in such esteem with Alexander himself and the rest of the army—not only the Macedonian, but also the other mercenaries, whom he often, both in turn and out of turn, by Alexander's order, had led with credit.
Chapter 27
They say too that Amyntas son of Andromenes was brought to trial at the same time, and Polemon, Attalus, and Simmias, the brothers of Amyntas, as having themselves shared in the plot against Alexander, through their loyalty and comradeship with Philotas.
And the plot seemed the more credible to the multitude because Polemon, one of the brothers of Amyntas, fled to the enemy when Philotas was arrested. But Amyntas, with his brothers, awaiting the trial and making his defence stoutly among the Macedonians, was acquitted of the charge; and at once, when he had been acquitted in the assembly, he asked leave to go to his brother and bring him back to Alexander.
The Macedonians granted it. He went off and that very day brought back Polemon; and thereby Amyntas appeared far more than before free of the charge. But a little later, besieging a village, he was struck by an arrow and died of the wound, so that he gained nothing by escaping the trial except to die accounted a good man.
Alexander, having appointed two commanders over the Companions, Hephaestion son of Amyntor and Cleitus son of Dropidas, and divided the body of the Companions in two, because he would not have wished even a dearest friend to command so many cavalry alone, especially the best of the whole cavalry in rank and other valour, came to the people formerly called Ariaspians, but afterwards named Benefactors, because they had helped Cyrus son of Cambyses in his march against the Scythians.
These Alexander, honouring both for what their ancestors had done for Cyrus and because he found them men who governed themselves not like the other barbarians thereabouts, but laying claim to justice equally with the best of the Greeks, set free, and added to them as much of the neighbouring land as they themselves asked—and they asked no great amount. There, sacrificing to Apollo, he arrested Demetrius, one of the bodyguards, suspecting him of sharing in Philotas' plot; and in place of Demetrius he appointed Ptolemy son of Lagus a bodyguard.
Chapter 28
Having done this, he advanced towards Bactra and Bessus, subduing on the way the Drangians and Gadrosians. He subdued also the Arachotians and appointed Menon satrap over them. He overran too the Indians neighbouring the Arachotians. All these nations he overran through deep snow and amid scarcity of supplies and hardship of the soldiers.
Learning that the Areians had again revolted, Satibarzanes having invaded their country with two thousand cavalry which he had received from Bessus, he sent against them Artabazus the Persian and Erigyius and Caranus of the Companions. He ordered also Phrataphernes the satrap of the Parthyaeans to join in the invasion of the Areians.
And a fierce battle was fought by Erigyius and Caranus against Satibarzanes, nor did the barbarians give way before Satibarzanes, meeting Erigyius, was struck by Erigyius with a spear in the face and died. Then the barbarians gave way and fled headlong.
Meanwhile Alexander marched towards Mount Caucasus, where he founded a city and named it Alexandria; and having sacrificed there to the gods to whom it was his custom, he crossed Mount Caucasus, appointing as satrap over the country Proexes, a Persian, and leaving Neiloxenus son of Satyrus of the Companions as overseer with an army.
Mount Caucasus is high as any other in Asia, as Aristobulus says, but bare for the most part, at least on this side. For Caucasus is a long mountain range stretched out, so that Mount Taurus too, which divides Cilicia and Pamphylia, is said to be from Caucasus, and other great mountains, distinguished from Caucasus by one name and another according to the customs of each region.
But in this Caucasus nothing grows except terebinths and silphium, as Aristobulus says; yet even so it was inhabited by many men, and many sheep and cattle grazed there, because the sheep delight in silphium, and if from afar a sheep should scent silphium, it runs to it and feeds on the flower and digging up the root devours it too.
For this reason in Cyrene they drive their flocks as far as possible from the places where silphium grows. Some even fence the place round, so that not even if sheep should draw near it would they be able to get inside, because silphium is of great worth to the Cyrenaeans.
Bessus, having about him the Persians who had shared with him in the arrest of Darius, about seven thousand of the Bactrians themselves, and the Daae who dwell this side of the river Tanais, laid waste the country under Mount Caucasus, so as by the desolation of the country between himself and Alexander and by scarcity of supplies to bar Alexander from advancing further.
But Alexander marched on none the less, with difficulty through deep snow and want of necessities, yet he went on. Bessus, when it was reported to him that Alexander was now not far off, crossed the river Oxus and burned the boats on which he crossed, and himself withdrew to Nautaca in the country of Sogdiana.
He was followed by Spitamenes and Oxyartes, with the cavalry from Sogdiana, and the Daae from the Tanais. But the Bactrian cavalry, when they learned that Bessus had resolved to flee, dispersed each to his own home. Alexander, coming to Drapsaca and resting
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the army, led to Aornus and Bactra, which are the greatest cities in the Bactrian country. These he took at the first assault, and left a garrison in the citadel of Aornus, and over it Archelaus son of Androcles of the Companions; and over the other Bactrians, who submitted without difficulty, he appointed as satrap Artabazus the Persian. He himself marched towards the river Oxus.
The Oxus flows from Mount Caucasus, and is the greatest of the rivers in Asia which Alexander and those with him came upon, except the Indian rivers; and the Indian rivers are the greatest of all rivers. The Oxus empties into the great sea by Hyrcania.
When he attempted to cross the river, it appeared altogether impassable; for its breadth was about six stades, but its depth not in proportion to its breadth, but much deeper, and sandy, and the current swift, so that what was driven into it was easily wrenched out of the ground by the very current, since it was not firmly fixed in the sand.
Besides, there was a lack of timber for the work, and much delay seemed likely if they should fetch from afar what was needed for bridging the passage. So gathering the hides under which the soldiers tented, he ordered them filled with chaff as dry as possible, and tied and sewn up exactly, so that the water should not get into them. Filled and sewn up, they were enough to ferry the army across in five days.
Before crossing the river, choosing the oldest of the Macedonians and now unfit for war, and the Thessalian volunteers who had stayed, he sent them home. He sent also Stasanor, one of the Companions, to the Areians, ordering him to arrest Arsaces the satrap of the Areians, because Arsaces seemed to him to be playing false, and himself to be satrap of the Areians in his place.
Having crossed the river Oxus, he led on in haste to where he learned Bessus was with his force. Meanwhile there came to him from Spitamenes and Dataphernes messengers reporting that Spitamenes and Dataphernes, if a small army and a leader for the army were sent them, would arrest Bessus and hand him over to Alexander; since they were already keeping Bessus under unfettered guard.
When Alexander heard this, he himself led the army more leisurely than before, resting it; but he sent off Ptolemy son of Lagus with three regiments of the Companion cavalry and all the mounted javelin-men, and of the foot the battalion of Philotas, one chiliarchy of the hypaspists, all the Agrianians, and half of the archers, ordering him to drive in haste against Spitamenes and Dataphernes. And Ptolemy went as he was ordered, and passing over ten stages in four days came to the camp where the day before the barbarians with Spitamenes had bivouacked.
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There Ptolemy learned that Spitamenes and Dataphernes were not firm in their resolve about the surrender of Bessus. So he left the foot, ordering them to follow in order, and himself, riding with the cavalry, came to a certain village where Bessus was with a few soldiers.
For Spitamenes' men had already withdrawn from there, ashamed themselves to hand over Bessus. Ptolemy, setting the cavalry round the village in a circle—for there was a wall thrown round it and gates in it—proclaimed to the barbarians in the village that they should depart unharmed if they handed over Bessus. And they received Ptolemy's men into the village.
Ptolemy, arresting Bessus, went back. He sent ahead and asked Alexander how he should bring Bessus into Alexander's presence. And Alexander ordered him to bind him naked in a collar and so bring him, and set him on the right of the road by which he himself and the army were to pass. And Ptolemy did so.
Alexander, seeing Bessus, halted his chariot and asked for what reason he had first arrested his own king Darius, who had been moreover his kinsman and benefactor, and bound and led him, and then killed him. Bessus said that he had done this not on his own judgement alone, but with those who were then about Darius, that they might find safety for themselves from Alexander.
For this Alexander ordered him to be scourged, and the herald to repeat those very reproaches which he himself had cast at Bessus in the questioning. Bessus, thus maltreated, was sent to Bactra to be put to death. These things Ptolemy recorded concerning Bessus; but Aristobulus says that Spitamenes' and Dataphernes' men brought Bessus to Ptolemy and handed him over to Alexander, naked and bound in a collar.
Alexander, having filled up his cavalry from the horses there—for many of his horses had failed both in the passage of the Caucasus and in the march to and from the Oxus—led towards Maracanda; this is the palace of the country of the Sogdianians. Thence he advanced towards the river Tanais.
The sources of this Tanais, which Aristobulus says is called also by another name, Orxantes, by the native barbarians, are likewise from Mount Caucasus; and this river too empties into the Hyrcanian sea.
There must be another Tanais, of which Herodotus the chronicler says it is the eighth of the Scythian rivers, the Tanais, and that it flows rising from a great lake, and empties into a still greater lake, called Maeotis; and this Tanais some make the boundary of Asia and Europe,
for whom, from the recess of the Euxine Sea, the lake Maeotis and the river Tanais emptying into it divide Asia and Europe, just as the sea by Gadeira and the Nomad Libyans opposite Gadeira divides Libya and Europe; for whom, that is, Libya is separated from the rest of Asia by the river Nile.
There some of the Macedonians, scattered for foraging, were cut down by the barbarians; and those who did the deed escaped to a mountain very rough and sheer on every side; they were in number about thirty thousand. Against these Alexander led the nimblest of the army.
There many assaults were made by the Macedonians on the mountain; and at first they were beaten back, shot at by the barbarians, and many others were wounded, and Alexander himself was shot through the leg with an arrow, and a piece of the fibula was broken off by the shot. But even so he took the place, and of the barbarians some were cut down there by the Macedonians, and many, flinging themselves down the rocks, perished, so that out of thirty thousand not more than eight thousand were saved.