From Arrian’s History of the Expedition of Alexander the Great, and conquest of Persia, translated from the Original Greek, by Mr. Rooke, and now corrected and enlarged; with several additions, London: J. Davis, 1812; pp. 34-61.
ARRIAN’S HISTORY OF
IN the mean time, Memnon, whom King Darius had constituted Admiral of his whole fleet, designing to move the seat of war into Greece, had the island Chios delivered to him by treachery: whence, hoisting sail for Lesbos, and having reduced all the towns upon that island, except Mitylene, which declared for Alexander, he appeared before it; and, as that city is seated on a promontory, cut off its communication with the island, by a double wall, fortified with five castles, and drawn across the neck of land, from sea to sea; whereby he prevented its receiving any succours by land, and with one part of his fleet he kept possession of the harbour, and ordered the rest to cruize near Sigrius, a promontory of Lesbos, where is a road for ships of burden, sailing from Chios, Geræstus, and Maleas; by which means he obstructed all hopes of supplies by sea. About this time he died; and his death was a great blow to Darius’s affairs; nevertheless, Autophradates, and Pharnabazus, the son of Artabazus, to whom Memnon, at his decease, had 35 left the navy in charge, till Darius should have leisure to consider the matter, for he was his sister’s son, carried on the siege with vigour. The Mitylenians, therefore, finding themselves distressed, by sea and land, dispatched ambassadors to Pharnabazus, and agreed to surrender their city to the Persians, upon these conditions: viz. that the foreign auxiliaries sent them by Alexander should be suffered to depart peaceably: that the tables whereon their league with Alexander was engraved should be destroyed: that they should enter into a league with Darius, according to the articles of peace formerly made by Antalcis: that their exiles should return, and have half their effects restored them. These terms being accepted, Pharnabazus and Autophradates entered the city, and introduced a garrison, commanded by Lycomedes, the Rhodian. The civil government of the city was, at the same time, committed into the hands of Diogenes, one of their exiles, and a huge sum of money extorted from them, one part thereof by a tax on the wealthy citizens, and the rest from the multitude.
PHARNABAZUS then set sail for Lycia, carrying the foreign auxiliaries above mentioned with him: and Autophradates had a design upon some other islands. In the mean while, Darius dispatched Thymondas, the son of Mentor, to Pharnabazus, to take care of the mercenaries, and acquaint him, in his name, that he was come to succeed his father. Pharnabazus having delivered up the soldiers to Thymondas, immediately made sail to join Autophradates. These, jointly, dispatched Datames, the Persian, against the Cyclades, with ten ships, whilst they, with a hundred, made ready to attack Tenedos. They accordingly hastened thither, and entering the north haven, dispatched a message to the inhabitants, commanding them immediately to destroy the tables whereon their former leagues with Alexander and the Greeks were engraved, and accept of peace from Darius, on the same terms which were granted them before by Antalcis. The islanders had indeed a much greater affection for Alexander and the Greeks; but, as their affairs then stood, they run the risque of being destroyed, unless they immediately condescended to accept the terms imposed on them; because Hegelochus, whom Alexander had ordered to refit the fleet, had not yet got so many ships ready as could give them any hopes of speedy succour; for which reason they were induced to a compliance, rather out of fear than good will. In the mean time, Proteas, the son of Andronicus (having gathered together as many long ships from Eubœa and Peloponnesus, by Antipater’s order, as at least to secure the Grecian coasts and islands from insults of the barbarians), upon advice that Datames, with his ten ships, had chosen the river Syphanus for his station, sailed with fifteen ships to Chalcis, seated on the Euripus; 36 and early the next morning to the island Cythnus, where he spent the rest of the day in receiving more certain information of the place where the enemy’s ships lay, and at the same time resolved to attack them by night, that he might strike the Phœnicians with more terror: and when he was fully assured that the enemy was at the mouth of the river Syphnus, he sailed thither by night, and as the dawn appeared, attacked them furiously, when they least expected it, and soon made himself master of eight of those ships of force. But Datames, with the other two, escaping, at the beginning of the fight, made the best of his way to the rest of the fleet.
AS soon as Alexander arrived at Gordium, and had entered the castle, wherein the palace of Gordius, and his son Midas, had stood, he discovered his ambition of seeing Gordius’s chariot, and the knot which was reported to have been made in the harness thereof; for strange stories had been told concerning it among the neighbouring inhabitants. This Gordius, as the story goes, was a man of slender fortune among the ancient Phrygians, who had a small piece of land, and two yoke of oxen, one of which he employed in the plough, and the other in the waggon; and that on a certain day, while he was ploughing, an eagle alighted upon the yoke, and there rested till the evening. He, terrified at the sight, hastened to consult the Telmissean augurs in that case, for the art of divination was common to all that people, even to the women and children, so that it was, in a manner, hereditary; and when he arrived at a certain village in that country, he met a virgin going to a fountain, who foretold what should happen to him, and ordered him, as she was of the Telmissean progeny, to return to his field, and there offer sacrifice to Jupiter. Gordius, on the other hand, intreated her to accompany him thither, to teach him after what manner the sacrifice should be performed. He, thus instructed by the virgin, took her to wife, and she bore him a son named Midas, who, when he arrived at manhood, was both beautiful and valiant. The Phrygians were at that time harrassed with a cruel sedition, and going to consult the oracle, were told, that a chariot should bring them a king, who should quell their sedition. Whilst they were yet busy in offering their conjectures about this answer, Midas arrived with his father and mother, and appeared suddenly, in his chariot, before the council. They, hereupon, interpreting the answer to relate to him, as the man whom the god had told them should come thither in a chariot, made him their king. Their seditions he appeased, and consecrated his father’s chariot to Jupiter the king, by hanging it up in his palace, as an offering of thanks for the eagle (the bird of Jupiter), sent to his father, by which he received the kingdom. This was also reported concerning the chariot, that whosoever 37 could untie the knot, whereby it hung, should obtain the sovereignty over all Asia. The cord in which this knot was tied was composed of the inner rhind of the corneil tree, and no eye could perceive where it had been begun or ended. Alexander, when he could find no possibly way of untying it, and yet was unwilling to leave it tied, lest it should cause some fears to arise in the hearts of his soldiers, is said by some to have cut the cords with his sword, and affirmed that the knot was untied. But Aristobulus assures us, that he wrested a wooden pin out of the beam of the waggon, which being driven in across the beam, held it up, and so took the yoke from it. How this knot was loosed by Alexander, I dare not affirm: however, he and his followers departed fully satisfied, as if the prophecy concerning the solution thereof had been fulfilled; and the thunder and lightning, which happened the following night, confirmed their opinion; for which reason, the next day, he offered sacrifice to the gods, who had assured him, by prodigies, not only that the oracle’s response was fully accomplished, but also that the Gordian knot was truly untied.
ALEXANDER, the next day, arrived at Ancyra, a city of Galatia, whither ambassadors came to him from Paphlagonia, requesting his friendship, and promising to surrender their province to him, on condition that his army should not enter their borders, to which he agreed, and thereupon deputed Calus, president of Phrygia, their governor. — Thence marching into Cappadocia, he subdued all the country on this side the river Halys, and a great part beyond it; and having appointed Sabictus to preside over Cappadocia, he proceeded to the streights, which open into Cilicia; and when he approached the place which is called the Camp of Cyrus, under whom Xenophon, the famous Captain, served, and saw those streights already possessed by a party of stout soldiers, leaving Parmenio there, with the heavy armed cohorts of foot, he, in the first watch of the night, marched with his targeteers, and archers, and Agrians, to the streights,* with a design to surprise the enemy. But though he could not attack them unprepared, as he intended, yet the very attempt gained him his end; for the enemy appointed to guard the pass, being informed of his approach, quitted their posts and fled. The next morning, therefore, having passed these streights with his whole army, he descended into Cilicia. Here he received information, that Arsames, whom Darius had made governor of Tarsus, hearing he had passed the streights, had resolved to abandon 38 the city, and that the citizens were afraid he would first plunder it; upon which, taking with him his horse, and light-armed foot, he used his utmost endeavours to arrive there in time to save it. But when Arsames was assured of his coming, he immediately fled from Alexander, leaving the city unhurt. Here Alexander, according to Aristobulus’s account, fell into a fit of sickness, by the too excessive toils he underwent; though other authors tell us, that while he was sweating vehemently with the heat of his journey, he cast himself into the river Cydnus, which runs through the city, with a design to refresh himself by swimming. This river, arising from the mountain Taurus, flows along a fine country, by which means its waters are extremely pure, and excessively cold. And hence Alexander was seized with pains in the nerves, accompanied with a sharp fever, and a continual waking, insomuch, that when all the rest of his physicians despaired of his life, Philip the Acarnanian, in whose extraordinary skill in physick he had great confidence, because of his success in the camp, was ordered to administer a draught to him. After these orders were given, while he was preparing the cup, came a letter from Parmenio to Alexander, warning him to beware of Philip, for that he had heard how Philip had been bribed by Darius to poison him. Alexander, having read the letter, took the cup, wherein was the potion, in his hand, and gave Philip the letter to read: and, while he was reading, he drunk up the draught; the physician shewing, by the composure of his countenance, that the medicine was inoffensive, and, by his intrepidity on perusing he letter, that he was not conscious of any crime that he had been guilty of, only intreated Alexander to acquiesce in his advice, in what he should prescribe for the future, which, if he did, he would recover his health. — After his disease had left him, he declared his esteem for Philip, by assuring him that he should always have a share in his friendship; and certified to all who were present, how steady an opinion he retained of their loyalty, in refusing to entertain any suspicions to the contrary; as also, that he could meet death with a true heroic magnanimity.
NOTES
* The country of Cilicia has three memorable streights or passes, the first whereof is so very narrow, that it is called The Gate. The second is called the streights of Amanus, and give an entrance into Armenia. The third is near the bay of Issus. Cilicia is bounded westward by Pamphylia, eastward by Syria, southward by the bay of Issus, and northward by Cappadocia.
PARMENIO was dispatched to seize the streights which divide Cilicia from Assyria, and to keep possession thereof; and with him the auxiliary troops of foot, the mercenary Greeks, and Thracians, commanded by Sitalces, as also the Thessalian horse. He afterwards followed him from Tarsus, and in his first day’s march, arrived at Anchitalos. This city is said to have been built by Sardanapalus, king of Assyria; and, indeed, the vast circuit thereof, and the foundations of the ancient walls, shew that it has been a stately flourishing and populous city. The tomb of Sardanapalus was nigh the walls, on the top whereof was his statue, seeming to clap his hands for joy. The inscription thereof was formerly wrote in the Assyrian language, and, as the inhabitants 39 thereabouts report, in verse, the substance of which was this: Sardanapalus, the son of Anacyndaraxas, built Anchialus and Tarsus in one day. As for thee, O traveller, eat, drink, play, for all other human things do not deserve this; alluding to the joy signified by the clapping of his hands. But the word IIAZE is said in the original to contain a much more effeminate and lascivious meaning. From Anchialus Alexander hastened to Soli, in which city having placed a garrison, he exacted two hundred talents of silver from the inhabitants, because they seemed to incline most to the Persian interest. Afterwards, with three troops of Macedonian foot, and all his archers and Agrians, encountering the Cilicians, who had seized the passes through the mountains, in the space of seven days, partly by force, and partly by composition, he reduced them all to his obedience, and then returned to Soli. Here he received intelligence, that Orontobates the Persian, who had held the government of the castle of Halicarnassus, and Myndus, and Caunus, and Callipolis, against him, had received an overthrow by Ptolemy and Asander; and that the island Cos, and Triopium, had declared for the conquerors. The battle was bloody; about seven hundred Persian foot, and fifty of their horse, being slain, and not less than a thousand taken prisoners. While Alexander lay at Soli, he sacrificed to Æsculapius, for the recovery of his health; himself an all his army walking in procession, with lighted torches in their hands. He also exhibited gymnic and musical exercises; and allowed the citizens to change their government into a popular state. Thence taking his route towards Tarsus, and giving Philotas orders to march through the country of Aleius, as far as the river Pyramus, with his foot, and royal cohort, he arrived at Magarsus, where he offered sacrifices to Minerva of Magarsus. Thence moving to Mallos, he sacrificed to Amphilochus, as a hero; and having quelled a sedition among the citizens, he released them from the tribute which they had formerly paid to Darius, because the inhabitants of that city were a colony of Argives; and he himself deduced his pedigree from Hercules Argivus.
WHILE Alexander continued at Mallos, news was brought him that Darius, with his whole army, lay encamped at Sochos, a place in Assyria, about two days journey from the streights, before mentioned. Whereupon, having called a council of his friends, he declared what had been related to him concerning Darius and his forces; and they immediately requested to be led thither against them. Hereupon he dismissed the council, with due praises of their valour; and, the next day, set forwards with his army, and having passed the Persian streights, the day after he pitched his tents before the city Myriandrus. But a huge tempest arising that night, and a prodigious quantity of rain falling, so annoyed his forces, that he continued still in the same place. Darius, 40 in the mean time, had chose a fit place for his army to encamp in, being a large plain, every way open, and exceedingly commodious for so great a force, especially where the horse made up so considerable a part of the army; and Amyntus, the son of Antiochus, a deserter from Alexander, persuaded him, by all means, to remain there; and assured him, that that place, considering the multitudes of their friends, and the vast quantity of their baggage, was the fittest place imaginable, and Darius accordingly remained there for some time. But Alexander’s long stay at Tarsus, by reason of his sickness, and at Soli, where he exhibited shows, and offered sacrifices, besides the time he spent in subduing the Cilicians, who had possessed the passes, drove Darius entirely from his resolutions; and indeed, such was his nature, that he was easily induced to believe that truth, which he wished to be so; and was, then especially, influenced by those who consulted not so much what would be profitable, as what was pleasant to him. Those sycophants, the most certain bane of all kingdoms, persuaded him that Alexander, upon advice of his approach, at the head of such a numerous army, durst not proceed any further. And their common discourse, throughout the camp, was, that Darius’s horse alone would be sufficient to trample the whole Macedonian army under foot. Notwithstanding this, Amyntas always affirmed, that Alexander would certainly come to any place, wherever he heard Darius lay encamped; and persuaded him, by all means, to continue there, and wait his approach. But worse advice proving more grateful to the king’s ears prevailed. And whether it was some god, or fortune, which drew him out, most certain it is, he afterwards chose an unfit place, where his horse could neither be of much service to him, nor the numerous multitude of his darters and archers contribute to his safety; nor, indeed, had he so much as an opportunity to shew the magnificence of his army, but afforded Alexander a cheap and easy victory. And it was undoubtedly decreed by fate, that the Persians should be deprived of the empire of Asia by the Macedonians, as the Medes had been by the Persians, and the Assyrians heretofore by the Medes.
DARIUS, having already passed by the mountain, which is near the streights of Amanus, directed his march towards Issus, not knowing that Alexander was now behind him. Having taken Issus, as many Macedonians as had been left there by Alexander, for the recovery of their health, were first cruelly handled, and afterwards slain. The day after, he proceeded to the river Pinarus. So soon as Alexander heard that Darius was left behind him, because he cold not believe the news, he dispatched some of his friends, in a ship with thirty oars, towards Issus, to inquire into the truth of the story; who, going accordingly on board, as the sea on that coast terminates in a large bay, they soon perceived where 41 the Persians had pitched their tents; and accordingly acquainted Alexander that Darius was now in his hands. He calling a council of all his captains of cohorts, and troops, and the prefects of his auxiliaries, advised them to be of good courage, to remember what great and glorious actions they had already performed, and to consider that this battle would be no more, than for them, who were ever conquerors, to fight against those who were always beaten; that the gods must certainly declare for them against Darius, who had been so far infatuated as to move his army from that spacious plain into these streights, where the Macedonians had room enough commodiously to form their phalanx, but where the vast multitude of their enemies would be altogether unserviceable. He added, that those with whom they were now to fight were neither equal to them in strength nor valour; that the Macedonians were to encounter with the Medes and Persians, nations which had been enervated by long ease and effeminacy; whereas they had been inured to warlike toils, and well exercised to undergo all difficulties with a becoming bravery. Besides, they, being a free people, were to attack a nation of slaves; and even the Greeks, who were in the two armies, were to fight on terms vastly different; those of Darius’s party for hire, and that small and inconsiderable; but those of his freely and voluntarily engaged themselves, for the sake of glory and their country; that the Thracians, Pœonians, Illyrians, and Agrians, the stoutest and most warlike nations in Europe, were about to meet the wanton, the luxurious, and effeminate Asiatics; and lastly, that Alexander was to lead an army against Darius. Thus far he proceeded, that the Macedonians, and other nations, which composed his host, might know how much they surpassed their enemies in heroic exploits. He then begun to expatiate upon the greatness of the rewards they were to receive from that day’s action, by telling them, they were not only to overcome the nobles of Darius in that conflict, nor that party of horse which stood posted on the banks of the river Granicus, nor twenty thousand mercenary soldiers, but the whole body of the Persian and Median empires, and what other nations soever have bowed to their power, throughout all Asia; and that when they had subdued so great a king, in one battle, nothing would hinder them from taking possession of all Asia, and putting, at once, a happy end to all their labours. He then recited the glorious acts which they had already done in a confederate body; and withal assured them, that if any single person among them performed a gallant action, he would call him out by name, and make a suitable mention thereof; and at the same time declared his own contempt of danger in war, to stir up others by his example. He forgot not, on this occasion, to mention the story of Xenophon, and the ten thousand soldiers, his followers, who were, as he said, neither equal to his troops in number, nor on any other account to be compared with them, there being neither Thessalians, nor Bœotians, nor Peloponnesians, nor Macedonians, nor Thracians, nor any other body of horse in their whole army, neither had they any archers nor slingers, except a few Cretans and Rhodians, whom Xenophon had hastily levied 42 in the very face of danger. And yet even those chased a mighty monarch, with his whole army, from before the walls of Babylon, and subdued all the nations which lay in their way, from thence to the Euxine Sea. He also added several other arguments, such as were fit for a great commander, in order to inspire a stout and gallant army with courage, immediately before a battle. When he had made an end, they gave their hands to each other, and extolling their king’s words, such a heat inflamed their minds, that they instantly required to be led forth against the enemy.
ALEXANDER then gave his soldiers a strict charge to take care of their bodies; and, having dispatched some of his horse and archers before, to clear the road to the streights, through which he was obliged to pass, the night following he moved, with his whole army, to take possession of them again; and this being also accomplished, about midnight, he ordered his men to compose themselves to sleep till morning, having appointed a strict guard, wherever it seemed necessary. As soon as the dawn appeared, he begun to descend from the hills, having streightened his front, by reason of the narrowness of the pass; and when the mountains begun to open a little, he disposed his army, one part after another, into a close and regular phalanx, the right wing thereof extending to the mountain, and the left to the sea-shore, the horse, at the same time, standing ranged behind the foot. But when they arrived in an open country, he immediately drew them up in order of battle. In the right wing, towards the mountain, he placed a squadron of foot, and the targeteers, commanded by Niconor, the son of Parmenio. Next to these, the troops of Cænus and Perdiccas; and these he placed so as to extend to the middle ranks of the heavy-armed foot. In the left wing were Amyntas’, Ptolemy’s, and Meleager’s forces. The foot, in this range, was commanded by Craterus, but the charge of the whole wing was given to Parmenio, who had strict orders not to remove from his station on the sea-shore, lest he should suffer the army to be surrounded by the barbarians, who were much superior to the Macedonians in numbers. Darius, as soon as he was certified of Alexander’s approach, with a choice army, ordered thirty thousand of his horse, and twenty thousand foot, to pass the river Pinarus, that the rest might draw up the more commodiously: and, first of all, he ranged the *Greek mercenary troops, which were heavy-armed, in front (in number about thirty thousand) to oppose the Macedonian phalanx; and on each hand of them stood sixty thousand of the Cardaci, who were also heavy-armed, in the form of wings; for the mountain being so near, would not suffer 43 more troops to stand ranged in front. On the left hand, towards the mountain, facing Alexander’s right wing, he placed twenty thousand, and some of those extended even to the banks of the Macedonians; for the mountain under which the army was drawn up, sloping a great way inward, formed a kind of a bay, or hollow part, like those made by the sea on the shore, and, after that, winding forwards, was the cause that those who were posted at the front thereof beheld the backs of Alexander’s right wing. The remaining multitude of Darius’s soldiers, as well light as heavy-armed (according to the difference of nations whereof they were composed) were reduced into close and unserviceable orders, and placed behind the Greek mercenaries; and the phalanx of barbarians, and the whole number of Darius’s forces there, is said to have amounted to six hundred thousand. As soon as ever Alexander saw the narrow passage open, he drew up his horse in order, as well his own royal cohort as the Thessalians and Macedonians, and those he placed on the right wing, near his person. The Peloponnesians and the rest he dispatched to the left wing, to Parmenio. When Darius had ordered his army, the horse which he had before commanded to pass the river he suddenly recalled, and posted the greatest part of them on the right wing, towards the sea, against Parmenio; because they were of most use there; the rest he ordered to the left, at the foot of the mountain. But when he perceived that they could not be serviceable here, by reason of the narrowness of the place, he commanded many of them to go and strengthen their companions on the right wing. Darius, observing the ancient and established rule of the Persian monarchs, kept the main body, the reason of which custom is given us by Xenophon, the son of Gryllus.
NOTES
* These troops of mercenary Grecians were under the command of Thymondas, the son of Mentor; and in them the chief strength of Darius’s army lay.
IN the mean while, Alexander perceiving almost all the Persian horse drawn up against his left wing, on the sea-shore, and considering that only the Peloponnesians, and part of the royal cohort of horse, were posted there, he immediately dispatched the Thessalian horse thither, with orders that they should convey themselves to that post as secretly as they could, to prevent the enemies from discovering their march. In their places, on the right wing, he appointed those horse which had usually made up the forlorn hope, commanded by Protomachus, and the Pœnians by Ariston, and among the foot, the archers headed by Antiochus, and the Agrians by Attalus, besides some troops of horse and archers, which he placed in the very turning, with their faces towards the mountain; so that those who made up the right part of the phalanx were divided into two wings, the one fronting Darius and the Persians, on the other side of the river, the other opposite, who stood with their backs towards the mountain. On the left side he placed the Grecian and Thracian archers, commanded by Sitacles, and, before those, the 44 horse which belonged to the right wing, the foreign mercenary troops being placed on the rear. But now, perceiving the phalanx on the right wing too much weakened, and imagining that the Persians might easily surround it, he ordered two troops from the main body, the Athebusian cohort, over which was Peridas the son of Menostheus, and the Lagæan cohort, commanded by Pantordamus, the son of Cleander, to wheel off silently to the right; but the archers, and part of the Agrians, with some of the Greek mercenaries he had before drawn off from the right wing, and placed in the front, by which means that phalanx was stretched out beyond the enemy’s opposite wing. But, as those who were posted at the foot of the mountain did not attempt to descend, but, on the contrary, when an attack was made upon them, by a small party of archers and Agrians, were easily beat from their station, and fled up the side thereof, he thought those whom he placed there might be more useful to strengthen the phalanx elsewhere, and that a party of three hundred would be sufficient to cope with the enemy on that side.
ALEXANDER having thus marshalled his army, led them on slowly against the enemy: neither did Darius suffer his soldiers to move from their posts to meet them, but kept them on the banks of the river, which were there steep, and difficult to ascend; or, wherever the ascent was easier, he fortified the place with a rampart, which was an argument to the Macedonians that he, even then, imagined himself a prisoner. But, after the armies joined battle, Alexander appeared every where, that he might encourage his men to behave themselves valiantly, and not only called to all his chief commanders, by their several names and titles, but also to the tribunes, and other officers, and even those prefects of the mercenaries who were either illustrious by descent, or had made themselves so by martial exploits. And now the word was given, and the cry went round to rush forwards upon their enemies: but, although Alexander had Darius’s whole army full in view, yet he advanced leisurely at first, lest his phalanx, by too eager a contention, should fall into disorder. Nevertheless, when they came within the reach of their darts, those of the right wing, who surrounded him, and afterwards he himself, pushed forwards into the river, in such a manner as struck a terror into their enemies, and, coming swiftly upon them, they received little damage from their arrows. And this succeeded according to Alexander’s design; for the moment they came to hand-blows, the enemies who were posted on the left wing of their army turned their backs, and fled, and Alexander and his companions obtained a cheap and entire victory on that side. But the Greek mercenary troops of Darius’s party, seeing the right wing of the Macedonians divided (for Alexander suddenly entering the river, and encountering the Persians, easily repulsed 45 them on the part where he landed; but those who followed had not the same success, for, being stopped by the steep and rugged banks, they could scarce preserve their order of battle) made an attack on that part of the phalanx which they saw disjoined, and thence ensued a sharp conflict, the Persians endeavouring to push the Macedonians back into the river, and (though many of their own troops were now flying) to wrest the victory out of their hands; and the Macedonians, on the other hand, striving to render the conquest they had already nearly obtained complete, and that the glory of the phalanx, which had, to that time, been unsullied, and which was known to every body, should not suffer by that day’s action. And then happened a strife between the Grecians and Macedonians, concerning the honour of their respective nations. In this conflict with the enemy fell Ptolemy, the son of Seleucus, after having behaved himself gloriously, and other Macedonians, of no mean account to the number of one hundred and twenty.
THE cohorts which were posted on the right wing, perceiving the Persians opposite to them to turn their backs, hastened straightway to attack Darius’s foreign mercenaries, and, after an obstinate defence, drove them from the banks of the river, and surrounding that part of the army which had been broke, and attacking them on the opposite side, they made a great slaughter among them: but the Persian horse, which faced the Thessalians, continued the conflict a long time after the Macedonians had passed the river, and, opposing them with much valour and magnanimity, a fierce equestrian fight ensued, which continued till they received intelligence that Darius himself was fled, and the Grecian mercenaries routed, and dispersed by the Macedonians. The overthrow of the Persian army was then perceived on all sides; their horses, because their riders were heavy-armed, were many of them overtaken, and cut off in the retreat, and the riders themselves were so much incommoded by the narrowness of the roads, and their own fears, that, while each endeavoured to fly swifter than another, they hindered each other, and received less [?] loss from their own party than from the enemy in pursuit after them. The Thessalians, however, followed them close, and it is hard to determine whether their loss of horse or foot forces was greatest in their flight. As soon as Darius perceived his left wing broken by Alexander, and that part of his army dispersed and put to flight, he immediately drove out of the battle, and escaped in a chariot, with some of his nobles: and, so far as the country was plain and open, his chariot conveyed him away with ease and safety; but when the roads begun to be rough, and the country mountainous, he quitted it, and having left therein his shield, his cloak, and his bow, continued his flight on horseback, and, had not the night favoured him, he had then fallen into his enemy’s hands; for whilst it 46 was yet day, Alexander pursued hard after him, but when it was dark he returned to his army, carrying with him the chariot, the shield, the cloak, and bow of Darius, which had fallen into his hands. Besides, Alexander did not attempt to pursue him before he had seen the foreign mercenaries, and the Persian horse, dispersed, and driven far from their station, on the banks of the river. Of the Persians there fell, Arsames, Rheomithres, and Atizyes, who had been captains of the horse in the fight at the river Granicus; as also Sabaces, Governor of Egypt, and Bubaces, men of great account in Persia, besides a vast multitude of private men, to the number of one hundred thousand, including ten thousand horse. The slaughter was so great, that Ptolemy, the son of Lagus, reports, that those who accompanied Alexander in his pursuit after Darius, when they came to a ditch, filled it up with the dead bodies of their enemies, and so passed over them. Darius’s tent was taken at the beginning of the fight, and therein his mother, his wife, his sisters, and his son, an infant, besides his two daughters, with a great number of the wives of the principal nobility in the army; for the other Persians had dispatched their wives, along with the carriages, to Damascus, whither also Darius had sent the greatest part of his treasure, and many other things, which warlike Kings carry with them, to shew their splendour and magnificence, so that there was not above three thousand talents found in the whole camp. However, all the treasure above mentioned was, soon after, seized on the road, by Parmenio. This battle was fought in the month Maimacterion, when Nicostratus was Archon at Athens.
THE day after, Alexander, though still indisposed, by reason of a hurt which he had received in his thigh, visited the wounded, and, having diligently searched after the bodies of the slain, ordered them to be splendidly interred, the whole army standing ranked in battle array, and, at the same time, bestowing praises on every one whom either he had seen behaving themselves gallantly in the battle, or relating their noble actions, from the information of others: he also honoured each of them with a largess of money, according to his honour or merit. After this he constituted Balacrus, the son of Nicanor, one of his body-guards, Governor of Cilicia, and appointed Menetes, the son of Dionysius, to succeed him. The troop of Ptolemy, the son of Seleucus, who fell in the last battle, he bestowed on Polysperchon, the son of Simmias. The fifty talents, which still remained unpaid by he citizens of Soli he remitted, and delivered up their hostages. Neither, among all this hurry of affairs, was he unmindful of the mother of Darius, nor of his wife nor children: for some of the writers of Alexander’s life relate, that the very night on which he returned from the pursuit, when he entered into Darius’s tent, which had been seized, and kept for him, he heard a woman’s lamentation, and some other noise, not far distant, and, 47 enquiring what women these were, and why in a tent so near? was immediately answered, “O King, the mother, and wife, and children of Darius, being told that thou hast taken his cloak, his arms, and his shield, pour forth their lamentations for Darius, supposing him slain.” Alexander hearing this, immediately dispatched Leonnatus, one of his friends, to them, with orders to acquaint them that Darius was still alive; but that his arms and cloak were seized in his chariot, after he had quitted it, and only these were in Alexander’s custody. Leonnatus having entered the tent, delivered his message, and withal told them that Alexander had allowed them to wear their royal apparel, to appear in state, and have the title of Queens; and to assure them that it was for no old enmity the war against Darius was undertaken, but gloriously to contend for the empire of Asia. Thus Ptolemy and Aristobulus relate the story; but others say that Alexander himself, the next day, entered the tent, without any attendant of note, except his friend Hephæstion, and that Darius’s mother, doubting which of them was the King (for their habit was much alike) went to Hephæstion, and, because he appeared somewhat taller, fell at his feet, and saluted him: but when he retired, and some who were nearer shewed her Alexander, she was ashamed of her mistake, and endeavoured to retire; but he told her she was not mistaken, for Hephæstion was an Alexander. This last passage I neither relate as truth, nor condemn as fiction: if it be true, Alexander’s pity and indulgence used to the women, and the honour bestowed on his friend, deserve the highest commendation: but supposing them feigned, and only related as probabilities by the writers of those times, yet still they are actions worthy Alexander, and truly great and glorious.
DARIUS fled away, by night, with a few of his friends; but, in the day-time, gathering up the Persians, and foreign mercenaries, who had escaped out of the battle, amounting in all to about four thousand, he marched, by long journies, to the city Thapsacus, on the river Euphrates, that he might, as soon as possible, have that river as a barrier between him and Alexander. In the mean while, Amyntas, the son of Antiochus, and Thymodes, the son of Mentor, with Aristomedes, the Pherean, and Bianor, the Acarnanian, all deserters, fled away from the battle, with about eight thousand men, and passed through the mountainous country to Tripolis, a city of Phœnicia, where seizing some ships, newly drawn out of the docks, wherein they had before been transported from Lesbos, as many of them as were fit for their purpose they put to sea with; the rest they burnt in the dock, lest they should afterwards be made use of by their enemies to pursue them; with these they sailed first to Cyprus, and afterwards to Egypt, where Amyntas, attempting innovations, was slain by the inhabitants. Pharnabazus and Autophradates staid some 48 time at Chius; but that island being strengthened with a garrison, and having dispatched some ships away to Coos and Halicarnassus, they, with an hundred sail, well stored, came to Sphinus; thither Agis, king of the Lacedæmonians, arriving in a trireme, required money for the use of the war, and as many sea and land-forces as they could spare, to be sent into Peloponnesus. But at that very time arrived a messenger with the news of the fatal battle of Issus; which, striking a terror into their minds, Pharnabazus, with twelve ships, and one thousand five hundred foreign mercenaries, sailed to Chius, lest the inhabitants of that island, hearing of this defeat, should attempt to revolt. Agis having received from Autophradates thirty talents of silver, and ten ships, dispatched these, by Hippias, to his brother Agesilaus, at Tænarus, with orders, that the moment he had paid the sailors their arrears, he should hasten into Crete, to settle the affairs of that island. He, tarrying among these islands some time, departed, at last, to Autophradates, at Halicarnassus. In the mean time, Alexander appointed Menon, the son of Cerdimas, to be governor of Cælosyria, and left him some of the auxiliary troops of horse, for the safety of the province, while he marched forwards into Phœnicia, where, by the way, he was met by Strato, the son of Gerostratus; this Gerostratus was king of Arados and all the neighbouring islands, and he, with other Phœnician and Cyprian princes, had joined his fleet with Autophradates, who, placing a crown of gold upon Alexander’s head, surrendered into his hands the island Arados, and Marthus, a wealthy and populous city on the Continent, over-against it; as also Mariamme, and whatever territories besides he had in possession.
WHILE Alexander remained at Marathus, ambassadors came to him with a letter from Darius, who also entreated him by word of mouth, to set Darius’s mother, and wife, and children, at liberty. The letter itself mentioned the league which Philip, his father, had entered into with Artaxerxes; and that when Arses, the son of Artaxerxes, ascended the throne, the same Philip, without any damage received from the Persians, or other provocation whatsoever, had first of all unjustly invaded his dominions; and how Alexander, from the time he begun his reign, had never sent ambassadors to confirm the ancient leagues and treaties between the two nations; but, on the contrary, had passed over into Asia with his army, and had committed numerous depredations upon his subjects; that he only took up arms to defend his own rights, and protect his dominions; however, the event of the war must be according as the gods had determined. In the mean time, he, a king, sought his wife, his mother, and children, from him, who was also a king, offering to enter into friendship and alliance with him, and to that end desired, that when Meniscus 49 and Arsimas, his ambassadors, returned, he would send others with them who might both receive the terms proposed, and agree to them on his part. Alexander, without returning any answer by the ambassadors, ordered Thersippus to accompany them back again to Darius, and to give him a letter; declaring, at the same time, that he would not admit of any verbal conference. The letter was to this purpose: — “Your predecessors have entered Macedonia, and the rest of Greece, in an hostile manner, and injured us, before they received any injuries from us. I, at my advancement to the empire of Greece, willing to revenge my country’s wrongs upon the Persians, have passed over into Asia, having received sufficient provocation from your former numerous ravages. You aided the Perinthians in their unjust wars against my father; and Ochus transported an army of Persians into Thrace, to disturb the peace of our government. My father was slain by traitors whom you hired for that purpose, as you have, every where, boasted in your letters; and, at the same time, when you had taken care that Arses should be dispatched by Bagoas, you usurped the empire unjustly, and in open defiance of all the Persian laws. You have, moreover, wrote letters into Greece, encouraging my subjects to rebellion, and to that end have sent money to the Lacedæmonians, and others, which, nevertheless, all the Grecians, except the Lacedæmonians, loyally rejected; by which means you strove to withdraw my friends and followers from me, and to dissolve that firm league which I have entered into with all the states of Greece. Wherefore I have invaded thy realms, in a hostile manner, because thou wast the first author of hostilities. And now, when I have beaten thy governors, and captains, and afterwards thyself and thy whole army, in a pitched battle, and have already, by the permission of the gods, gained possession of Asia, as many of thy soldiers as surrendered themselves into my hands, after the battle, I protect; neither do they tarry with me against their inclinations, but freely and voluntarily take up arms for my cause. To me, therefore, as lord of all Asia, come, and apply thyself; but if thou art afraid of any harsh usage upon thy coming, send some of thy friends, who may take an oath from me for thy safety. When thou comest into my presence, ask for thy mother, thy wife, and children, and whatsoever thou wilt besides, and thou shalt receive them; and nothing shall be denied thee. However, when you write to me next, remember to entitle me King of Asia; neither write to me any more as your equal, but as lord of all your territories. If you act otherwise, I shall look upon it as an indignity of the highest consequence; and if you dispute my right to the possession of your realms, stay, and try the event of another battle; but hope not any more to secure yourself by flight; for, wherever you fly, thither I will surely pursue you.”
50AFTER Alexander had been informed that all the treasure which Darius had sent to Damascus, by Cophenes, the son of Artabazus, was seized, and that the Persians appointed to guard it, and the rest of the royal furniture, were taken prisoners, he ordered them to be carried back, and kept safe at Damascus, by Parmenio. But the Grecian ambassadors, who had been dispatched to Darius before the battle, and were taken, he commanded to be sent to him. These were Euthycles the Lacedæmonian, Thessaliscus, the son of Ismenias, Dionysodorus, the son of Olympionices, the Theban, and Iphicrates, the son of Iphicrates the General, the Athenian. When they were brought into his presence, Thessaliscus and Dionysodorus, being Thebans, were immediately set at liberty, partly out of compassion to the Thebans, and partly because they deserved pardon if, after their city had been sacked and overthrown by the Macedonians, they endeavoured, in some measure, to retrieve the miserable state of themselves and country, by the assistance of Darius and the Persians; for thus he stated the case mildly, and with great humanity, towards both. He had, moreover, a private value for Thessaliscus, on account of his pedigree, for he was descended from an ancient Theban family, for which reason he dismissed him. He released Dionysodorus, because he had been conqueror at the Olympic games; and Iphicrates, for the love he bore to the Athenians, and the memory of his father’s glory, whom, whilst he lived, he had always highly honoured, and, after his death, took care that his bones should be conveyed to be interred among his ancestors at Athens. But Euthycles, as he was a Lacedæmonian, and that city was then at open variance with Alexander, and as he could find nothing in his character worthy of notice, he ordered into custody, though without fetters, and afterwards, when his affairs were crowned with prosperity, on all hands, he also set him at liberty. Alexander, after this departing from Marathus, had the city Byblus* surrendered to him; as also the city Sidon;† the citizens inviting him thither, out of their hatred to Darius and the Persians. Then, marching to Tyrus, the Tyrian ambassadors came forth to meet him, assuring him that the citizens were ready to obey his commands, — he, with due praises, given both to the citizens and to the ambassadors, (for they were some of the principal citizens, and one of them the king’s son; for the king Azelmicus himself had embarked on board the fleet, with Autophradates) commanded them to return, for he was determined shortly to enter the city, and there offer sacrifice to Hercules.
NOTES
* Byblus was a city of Phœnicia, seated on the coast, between Berytus and Tripolis. Enylus was then king thereof; but he being absent with Autophradates, the citizens surrendered to Alexander, and shook off the Persian yoke.
† Sidon was the most ancient and illustrious city of all Phœnicia, and deservedly renowned for the wit and invention of her citizens. They first found out, and taught astronomy, arithmetic, the art of dying purple, and making glass; as also the manner of sailing in the night, by the observation of the stars. It is distant from Tyre two hundred furlongs, or twenty-five English miles.
51THERE was in that city a temple, dedicated to Hercules, the most ancient of all those recorded in history; not the Grecian Hercules, who was the son of Alcmena: for this Hercules was worshipped at Tyre, many ages before Cadmus sailed from Phœnicia, and seized Thebes, and long before Semele was born to Cadmus, whence came Bacchus, the son of Jupiter. For Bacchus was the third from Cadmus, Polydorus being his son, and Labdacus, who was cotemporary with Cadmus, son to Polydorus. But the Grecian Hercules flourished at the time of Oedipus, the son of Laius. The Egyptians worshipped another Hercules, different from both these; and Herodotus assures us he was one of their twelve gods. The Athenians, in like manner, worshipped another Bacchus, different from this, the son of Jupiter and Proserpina, and the mythical title of Iacchus belonged to this Bacchus, and not to the Theban. Nevertheless, the Hercules, worshipped among the Iberians, at Tartessus, who gave the name to Hercules’s pillars, is, in my opinion, the same with the Tyrian; for Tartessus was built by the Phœnicians, and a temple was reared there, and sacrifices performed to Hercules, after the Phœnician manner. Moreover, Hecatæus the historian assures us, that that Geryon, against whom the Grecian Hercules was dispatched by Eurystheus, to seize his oxen, and bring them to Mycene, was no inhabitant of Spain, neither was Hercules sent to any island called Erythia, seated in the ocean; but that Geryon reigned on the Continent, between Ambracia and Amphilochos; that from thence it was that Hercules drew his oxen; and even then he deems it a prodigious labour. I am assured, that, to this day, there are rich pastures on that Continent, that fat oxen are bred there, and that these being drawn thence by Hercules, the glory of that action was described to Eurystheus; neither can I think it improbable to imagine, that a King of that country might be named Geryon, especially because Eurystheus could never be supposed so much as to have heard of the name of a King of Iberia, the remotest nation in Europe, much less, whether any fat oxen were to be had there, unless some have a mind here to introduce the story of Juno, commanding Hercules to perform this task for Eurystheus; which is no other than disgracing true history, by an unnecessary mixture of fable. Alexander sent word, that he would offer sacrifice to this Tyrian Hercules, which, when the citizens understood, by their ambassadors, they thought fit to declare that they were ready to perform whatever Alexander should command them, but that none, either Grecian or Macedonian, should be admitted to enter their gates; that this (considering their present state) was the mildest answer they should send him, and, considering the chance of war, which was variable, the safest for themselves. As soon as this answer of the Tyrians came to Alexander, he commanded their ambassadors to return, 52 in a great fury; and calling a council of his friends, and the generals, and captains of his army, he harangued them thus: —
“I CAN, by no means, deem it safe for us, my friends and companions, to undertake an expedition into Egypt, while the Persians have the sovereignty of the sea, nor to continue our pursuit of Darius, while Tyre remains unsubdued, and our enemies have Egypt and Cyprus in their possession. This I hold dangerous, in many respects, but in none more than by reason of the present state of Greece, lest if they should regain their sea-ports, while we are pushing on our conquests against Babylon and Darius, they, by the help of their fleet, should transfer the war into Greece, especially, considering the Lacedæmonians are already our open and declared enemies, and the Athenians retain their fidelity towards us, at this juncture, rather out of fear, than love. But when Tyre is taken, and all Phœnicia brought into subjection, the great and mighty force of their navy, which the Persians now enjoy, will, in all probability, fall into our hands. Neither will the Phœnicians suffer either their rowers, or sea-soldiers, to hazard a naval engagement for other nations, when we are masters of their towns on the Continent. Cyprus will then either join in confederacy with us, or may easily be reduced by a fleet; and so scouring the sea with the united force of the Macedonians and Phœnicians, and Cyprus being in our hands, we shall reign absolute sovereigns at sea, and an easy way will be laid open for making a descent upon Egypt; and when Egypt is added to our empire, we shall then cease to be solicitous about the state of Greece, or our own domestic affairs; and as we may undertake the Babylonian expedition with much more security at home, so we may attempt it with much more glory and honour, when the Persians are removed from the sea-coasts, and chased out of all the countries on this side the Euphrates.”
BY this speech, his soldiers were easily induced to attempt the siege of Tyre. But he was also encouraged by a divine vision; for that very night, as he seemed to be scaling the Tyrian walls, in a dream, the figure of Hercules reached forth his right hand to him, to draw him into the city. This was interpreted, by Aristander, to signify, that Tyre would be taken with abundance of toil, and that the siege thereof would be an Herculean labour. And, surely, the attempt itself seemed to threaten no less; for the city was seated in an island, surrounded with 53 strong walls. And the naval affairs seemed, at that time, to favour them, the Persians being not only masters at sea, but the citizens themselves having a strong and powerful fleet. Notwithstanding these difficulties, they were resolved to try their fortune; and, accordingly, their first attempt was to extend a huge bank, or rampart, from the Continent to the city. There is clay at the bottom of that part of the sea, and shallow towards the shore; but when you draw near the city, it is almost three fathom deep. But as there was abundance of stone not far off, and a sufficient quantity of timber and rubbish to fill up the vacant spaces, they found no great difficulty in laying the foundations of their rampart; the stiff clay at the bottom, by its own nature, serving instead of mortar, to bind the stones together. The Macedonians shewed a wonderful forwardness and alacrity to the work; and Alexander’s presence contributed not a little thereto; for he designed every thing himself, and saw every thing done, and encouraged some, who seemed to slacken in their work, and commended others, who proceeded in theirs, with vigour, and were ambitious of excelling their fellows. And indeed, so long as the work was not far off the Continent, it went on, with a more than ordinary speed; for they built the mole in a small depth of water, and proceeded without opposition; but when they came to greater depth, and approached nearer the city, they were galled with darts, and other missive weapons, from the high walls, and sustained much loss, being prepared rather for work than battle. The Tyrians, besides this, vexing them, on all hands, from their ships, for the sea was yet open, made the mighty work go on slowly, and with great danger to the Macedonians. To prevent this, Alexander erected two wooden towers on the rampart, where it was furthest extended into the sea, and planted his engines in them. Their covering was of leather and raw hides, so that they could not be burnt by fiery missive weapons from the walls, and might, at the same time, preserve their workmen from their darts, and not only this, but as often as the Tyrians gave them any disturbance from their ships, they might beat them back from those towers.
THE Tyrians, not to be behind hand with their enemies, made use of this contrivance: they procured a huge hulk, or ferry-boat, which they filled up with dry twigs, and other combustible stuff, and having placed two masts towards the prow, and made their piles as broad and capacious as possible, they added huge quantities of pitch and sulphur, and whatever was proper to raise a great fire. Moreover, to each mast they fixed two yards, at the arms or extremities of which, were hung caldrons, filled with whatever might add to the violence of the flame; they afterwards filled the stern with stones and rubbish, that the heat might be raised higher. Then taking the opportunity of a favourable wind, 54 blowing towards the mole, they fixed two triremes to her, and towed her into the sea. When they approached the towers, at the end of the mole, they set fire to the materials on board the hulk, which they forced forwards to the mole-head, with their utmost strength; and the rowers on board easily escaped, by swimming. In the mean time, the towers having caught fire, begun to blaze exceedingly; and the yards of the hulk breaking, whatever was contained in the caldrons, which hung there, increased the flames. The Tyrians also, in their triremes, cast their darts upon the Macedonians in the towers; so that they could not move to extinguish the flames, but with the utmost hazard. When the towers had now catched fire, many of the citizens, getting on board small skiffs, attacked the mole in several parts at once, and the wall which faced the rampart being soon demolished, all the rest of the materials, which the fire from the ships had not yet reached, were now consumed. Alexander, upon this, laid the foundation of a rampart from the Continent, much broader, and stronger than the former, and capable of containing more towers; and, at the same time, gave orders to his engineers to prepare new engines, which, being performed, he, with his targeteers and Agrians, marched to Sidon, with an intent to seize upon all their ships; because the siege of Tyre was a matter of extreme difficulty, while the citizens were so potent at sea.
ABOUT this time, Gerostratus, King of Arados, and Enylus, King of Babylon, being assured that their dominions were possessed by Alexander, left Autophradates and his navy; and each, with his own fleet, came and submitted themselves to him; and with them came also the Sidonian triremes, so that he had now near eighty Phœnician ships in his power. At this juncture, several triremes came to his assistance from Rhodes, one of which was, by way of excellency, called Peripoles; and with her were nine more. From Soli and Mallos arrived three; from Lycia, ten; from Macedon, one with fifty oars, commanded by Proteas, the son of Andronicus; and soon after, the kings of Cyprus (having received intelligence of the Persian defeat at Issus, and terrified with the news that all Phœnicia had submitted to the conqueror) arrived at Sidon with a navy of one hundred and twenty ships. Alexander granted them a general pardon for all past offences, because they had not joined their fleet with the Persians out of choice, but necessity. In the mean time, while the engines were preparing, and the ships fitting out, as well to attack the city, as for a sea fight, Alexander, with some troops of horse and targeteers, besides archers and Agrians, made an excursion into Arabia, to he mountain called Anti-Libanus; and, having reduced the country thereabouts, partly by force, and partly by composition, at the end of ten days, he returned to Sidon, 55 where Cleander, the son of Polemocrates, who was newly arrived from Peloponnesus, met him with four thousand Greek mercenaries: his fleet being now ready, and a sufficient number of targeteers taken on board, (unless a sea fight should happen rather with ships then men) he set sail from Sidon, and, with a choice army, hastened towards Tyre, himself being on the right wing, which was stretched forth to seaward, and with him were the Cyprian Kings, and all the Phœnicians, except Pnytagoras; for he and Craterus brought up the left wing. The Tyrians had, at first, resolved upon a sea fight, if Alexander should attempt to bring a fleet against them; but when they saw such a prodigious naval force, far beyond what they expected, (for they had not yet heard that all the Cyprian and Phœnician fleets were in his hands) and those ready to make a descent, with a choice army, (for a little before they came near the city, the ships, on the right wing, stood out to sea, but the Tyrians not coming forth to meet them, they received contrary orders, and with all their force, steered directly thither) then the Tyrians begun to lay aside all thoughts of a sea engagement, and only studied how to block up the mouths of their harbours, with as many triremes as they could contain, that the enemy’s fleet might not be able to force an entrance into either of them. Alexander, perceiving that the Tyrians came not forth to meet him, sailed still nearer the city, but durst not attempt to make his way into the haven towards Sidon, because of the narrowness of its entrance, which was also obstructed by many ships, whose opposite prows he could easily discern: three of those ships, posted at the extremity of the passage, the Phœnicians attacked with their armed prows, and immediately sunk; but the sailors who were on board easily escaped, by swimming to their friends. Then Alexander drew his fleet ashore, near the new mole, which he had built, to preserve them from the danger of storms; and the day after commanded Andromachus, captain of the Cyprian navy, to block up the haven towards Sidon, and besiege the city on that side. The Phœnicians were ordered to lie over against the haven, on the other side of the mole, which looks towards Egypt, where also he fixed his royal pavilion.
MANY engineers were now assembled from Cyprus and Phœnicia, and many warlike engines prepared, some whereof were planted upon the rampart, others on board the hulks, which were brought from Sidon, and others on the decks of such of their ships as were the slowest sailors. All things thus in readiness, he instantly proceeded to batter the walls, as well from their ships as the ramparts. The Tyrians who were posted on the walls, opposite to the enemies batteries, built towers of wood, wherein they placed themselves, to annoy the besiegers, and from whence, if the engines assaulted them on any side, they might defend themselves with darts, and cast their missive weapons, bearing fire 56 at their points into their very ships, endeavouring, by that means, to deter the Macedonians from approaching. The wall, opposite to their mole, was near one hundred and fifty feet high, with a breadth proportionable, and built with vast stones, strongly cemented together. The hulks and triremes, which should have advanced with the besiegers’ engines against the walls, could not approach there, because the huge stones, which the Tyrians continually cast down into the sea, hindered their access. Alexander, however, took care to clear the passage, by drawing the stones out of the sea, which was a work of great difficulty, especially since it was to be performed out of their ships, where no such firm footing was to be had as on shore. Some Tyrians, then, in close vessels, made towards their ships, and cutting their cables, which held them, entirely deprived them of all power of assaulting them that way. Alexander seeing this, dispatched some close ships, of thirty oars each, to cast anchor there, and repel the Tyrians in theirs. But neither could this take effect; for the Tyrians, being expert divers, slid secretly out of their vessels, and again cutting their cables, set their ships adrift. The Macedonians then used chains for cables, to secure them from the danger of divers. The stones which the citizens had cast into the sea were drawn up with ropes, and thrown into a deeper place, at a distance, that they might no more hinder their access; and this huge bank of stones thus cleared away, the ships easily approached the wall.
THE Tyrians, seeing themselves reduced to such great streights, resolved to attack the Cyprian squadron, posted at the mouth of the haven, which looks towards Sidon, and having, before that time, spread sails across the mouth of the haven, that their ships, filled with soldiers, might not be discovered by the enemy, about noon (at which time the Macedonian soldiers were usually busied about their private affairs, and Alexander had retired from his fleet to his pavilion, on the other side of the city), with five choice quinqueremes, as many quadriremes, and seven triremes, filled with expert rowers, and resolute soldiers, well armed for fight, and inured to the sea, rowed out slowly and silently, one by one, against the enemy. But when they advanced within sight of the Cyprians, encouraging each other with a great shout, and clashing of their oars, they attacked their fleet. But it happened that day that Alexander, having retired, as usual, to his pavilion, tarried there but a short time, and returned to his fleet. The Tyrians assaulted the enemy’s ships all on a sudden, when some were entirely empty, and others, by reason of the noise and violence of the attack, were surprised, and unprepared for resistance. Pnytagoras’s quinquereme was sunk at the first onset, with another commanded by Androcles, the Amathusian, and Pasicrates, the Thurian; others were forced on shore, and beat to pieces. Alexander, hearing of this excursion of the Tyrian triremes, immediately 57 ordered as many ships as he could spare, and were well armed, to block up the mouth of the haven, and thereby hinder the rest of the Tyrian fleet from coming forth. He then, with the quinqueremes which he had ready, and five triremes, well prepared, sailing round the city, hastened to attack the Tyrians. The besieged, seeing this from the wall, and perceiving Alexander himself there, endeavoured, by loud cries, to recal their men, who were on board; and when their cries, by reason of the tumult, could not be heard, they made several signals for them to return, because the enemy was at hand: but finding, too late, that Alexander was upon them, they turned their sails, and hastened to the haven; yet few of them could save themselves by flight; for Alexander’s ships falling in suddenly among them, rendered some unfit for sailing; and one quinquereme, and a quadrireme, were taken at the very entrance of the port. The slaughter of the Tyrians was not great, because, as soon as they perceived it impossible to save their ships, they escaped into the harbour by swimming. The Macedonians, now knowing that the Tyrian fleet would be unserviceable, moved their engines up to the walls. Those which advanced on the side towards the rampart did no execution, by reason of the firmness of the wall there. — Others moved some hulks with engines, to that quarter of the city which looks towards Sidon. But when they found their endeavours there fruitless, sailing along the whole south part of the wall towards Egypt, they tried to batter it every where; and there, indeed, by the violence of their attacks, it was at first shaken, and afterwards beat down, and demolished; whereupon they immediately mounted the breach, by the help of their ladders, and begun to storm the place; but the Tyrians, without any great difficulty, repulsed them.
THE third day after this, the sea being perfectly calm, Alexander having called his Captains together, and encouraged them to fight, caused his batteries to be advanced to the walls, a great part whereof fell down at the first shock of their engines; and when he perceived that the breach was wide enough, he ordered the hulks, which bore the engines, to retire, and amother two, with the scaling ladders, to advance, that they might enter the town over the ruins of the wall: one of these had the targeteers on board, commanded by Admetus; the other the auxiliary troop of foot, commanded by Cænus himself, with the targeteers, standing ready to mount the walls, on the first opportunity. He ordered some triremes to block up both havens, and, if possible, while the Tyrians were busy in defending themselves elsewhere, to enter by force; and as many of his ships as carried the shooting artillery, or were built close, for the convenience of archers, he commanded to sail round the wall, and assault it wherever they could; and where they could not, to keep, at least, within reach of their darts; and this he did, that the 58 Tyrians, finding themselves pressed on all hands, might be confounded, and unable to defend their city. The ships being now drawn up close to the walls, and the ladders fixed, the targeteers, headed by Admetus, valiantly mounted the breach; and it was not long before he was seconded by Alexander, who was always present where danger called, and a constant encourager and rewarder of valour in others. The wall was taken, and entered on that part where Alexander made the assault; and the Tyrians being beat back, the Macedonians found firm footing. — While Admetus, who first mounted the breach, was exhorting his soldiers to follow his example, he was thrust through with a spear, and died; but Alexander, with his men, mounting at the same time, kept their ground. Some towers being then seized, with the whole space between them, he marched directly from the wall towards the royal palace, because the descent into the city that way seemed the most easy and agreeable.
THOSE, then, who were ordered to block up the haven, looking towards Egypt, with the Phœnicians, making a sudden attempt upon it, broke the chain, and attacked the ships in the haven; some floating on the water were sunk; others running on shore were beat in pieces. The Cyprians also broke into the haven towards Sidon, and entered the city on that side. The Tyrians, seeing their walls in the enemy’s possession, retired thence, in a body, to the Agenorium (a place so called), where they rallied, and drew up against the Macedonians; but Alexander, with his targeteers, hastening to the place, killed many, and put the rest to flight. A great slaughter also happened at the haven, where Cænus and his forces entered the city; for the Macedonians were vehemently enraged at the citizens, partly for holding out the place so long, and partly because they, having seized some of their men sailing from Sidon, first hoisted them up aloft upon their walls, in sight of their friends, and afterwards stabbed them, and threw their bodies into the sea. About eight thousand Tyrians were slain. Of the Macedonians, besides Admetus, who first entered the breach, and took possession of the wall, about twenty targeteers fell in that assault; and during the whole siege, about four hundred. They who had fled to the temple of Hercules (being some of the chief Tyrian nobility, besides King Azelmicus, and some Carthaginian priests, who, according to ancient custom, were sent to their mother city, to offer sacrifices to Hercules), had the benefit of a free pardon. The rest, to the number of thirty thousand, including strangers, were sold for slaves. Alexander, after this, offered sacrifice to Hercules, at which his whole army assisted. The navy also performed a part in the solemnity. He moreover appointed gymnic sports in Hercules’s temple, which was then finely illuminated. The engine, wherewith the wall was demolished, he placed there, as an eternal monument of his victory; and the Tyrian ships, consecrated to Hercules, 59 which he had taken in a sea-fight, he caused to be hung up there, with an inscription, which, whether composed by himself, or any other, as it contains nothing worth notice, I have deemed it unworthy to be communicated to posterity. And thus was the city of Tyre taken, in the month Hecatombaion, when Anicetus was Archon at Athens.
WHILE Alexander was yet besieging Tyre, ambassadors arrived from Darius, telling him, that Darius would bestow upon him ten thousand talents of silver, if he would set his wife, his mother, and children, at liberty; as also all the country between the Euphrates and the Hellespont; and if he would take his daughter in marriage, he should be stiled his friend and confederate. Which embassy being debated in council, Parmenio is said to have told him, that if he was Alexander, he would accept the terms; and, when the end of war was gained, no longer tempt the hazard thereof. To which the other is said to have replied, so would he, if he was Parmenio; but as he was Alexander, he must act worthy of Alexander. He therefore answered the ambassadors, that he neither wanted Darius’s money, nor would accept of part of his empire instead of the whole; for that all his treasure, and his country, was his; that he would marry his daughter, if he pleased, without his consent; but, if he had a mind to try his humanity, let him come to him. This answer being carried to Darius, and he despairing of peace, made fresh preparations for war. Alexander then resolved upon an expedition into Egypt, all the cities of that part of Syria called Palestine being surrendered peaceably into his hands, except Gaza, which was kept by a certain eunuch, named Batis, who, foreseeing this, had already hired many troops of Arabians, and laid up vast stores of provisions, to serve for a long siege. He also entirely trusted to the strength of the place, which he looked upon as impregnable; for which reason he was resolved, that whenever Alexander approached, he should be denied entrance.
GAZA is only twenty furlongs distant from the sea-shore, and exceeding difficult of access, because of the depth of the sand, and the neighbouring sea, which is every where shallow. The city itself is large and populous, seated on a high hill, and surrounded by a strong wall. It is also the last inhabited place which travellers meet with, in their way from Phœnicia to Egypt, and borders upon a vast desert. Alexander, immediately after his arrival there, encamped over-against that part of the wall which seemed most subject to an assault, and ordered his engines to be brought thither, and, notwithstanding it was the opinion of 60 some of his engineers that the wall was not possible to be taken by force, by reason of the height of the bulwarks, he thought fit to declare his sentiments to the contrary, and that he more difficult the attempt was, it was the more necessary to be undertaken; for that the very suddenness and briskness of their assault would strike their enemies with no small terror. He added, that if he was unable to reduce the city, it would abundantly redound to his dishonour, when the news should be carried to Greece, as well as to Darius. He therefore ordered a rampart to be run round it, of such an height, that the engines placed thereupon might be upon a level with the top of the wall; which rampart he then built over-against the south part of the wall, because it seemed there the least difficult to be assaulted: and when the work was now brought to its full height, the Macedonian engines were immediately placed thereon. About this time, as Alexander was sacrificing, with a crown of gold upon his head, according to the custom of Greece, and just entering upon the office, a certain bird of prey hovered over the altar, and let a stone fall from his claws upon his head. Alexander immediately sent to consult Aristander, the soothsayer, what this prodigy could portend, who returned answer, “Thou shalt, indeed, take the city, O King; but beware of danger from hence, on the day it is taken.” He hearing this, retired out of the reach of their darts, to the engines on the rampart.
BUT when Alexander saw the Arabians make a furious sally out of the city, and set fire to the engines, and, having the advantage of the higher station, gall the Macedonians below, and beat them from the rampart which they had built, then, either forgetful of the divine warning, or moved with the danger of his soldiers, he called his targeteers together, and hastened to succour the Macedonians, where they were most exposed, and, by his presence, kept them from betaking themselves to flight, and abandoning the rampart; but while he was thus pushing forwards, an arrow from an engine pierced his shield and breast-plate, and wounded him in the shoulder, which, when he perceived, and thereby knew that Aristander’s prediction was true, he rejoiced, because, by the same prediction, he was to take the city, notwithstanding that wound was not cured but with much difficulty. In the mean time other engines, which had been used at the siege of Tyre, arriving by sea, he ordered the rampart to be run quite round the city, two stadia in breadth, and two hundred and fifty feet in height. The engines then being prepared, and planted thereupon, the wall was vehemently shaken, and the miners, in many places, working privately underneath the foundations thereof, and conveying the rubbish away, it fell down. The besiegers then plying the citizens with their darts, beat them out of their towers; yet thrice they sustained the Macedonian shocks, with the loss of abundance, slain and wounded; but, at the fourth attack, when Alexander had called his 61 men thither, he so levelled the wall, which had been undermined in some places, and widened the breaches made by the engines in other, that it seemed then a matter of no difficulty to the Macedonians to fix their ladder to the ruins thereof, and storm the city. As soon as the ladders were fixed, there arose a great emulation among he besiegers, who should first mount the breach. This honour was gained by Neoptolemus, of the race of the Æacidae, one of his friends, and, after him, other captains, and others, still entered with their forces; and, when many of the Macedonians were now within the walls, they forced open the gates, one after another, and gave entrance to the whole army. The citizens, notwithstanding, they saw the place thus taken by storm, were resolved to fight to the last, and, gathering together in a body, every one lost his life where he stood, after a brave resistance. Alexander sold their wives and children for slaves, and, a colony being drawn thither from the neighbourhood, the city was afterwards made use of as a garrison.
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