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. 1-34.
ARRIAN’S HISTORY OF
WHEN Alexander had now built and made ready many triremes and biremes, with several vessels for carrying horses, and all other things necessary for conveying his army from the banks of the Hydaspes, he resolved to sail down that river till he came to the ocean: and whereas he had seen crocodiles in the river Indus, and in no other except the Nile, and beans growing upon the banks of the river Acesines, such as Egypt produces, and had heard that Acesines lost itself in the river Indus, he straightway supposed that he had found out the head of the Nile: for he thought it must rise in that country, and, after having run through the vast deserts, lose its first name; but, coming again into a land well inhabited, it was called Nilus by the Æthiopians and Egyptians dwelling in these parts (in the same manner as Homer calls the Nilus by the name of Egyptus, within the dominions of Egypt), and thence flowed into the Mediterranean Sea. Wherefore, in a letter which he wrote to his mother Olympias, concerning the country of India, he told her, among other things, that he believed he had found the fountain of the Nile, grounding his conjecture upon the slight and trivial circumstances before mentioned. But when he made a more narrow search into the affair, he was assured by the inhabitants that the river Hydaspes lost its waters in the Acesines, and the Acesines its waters and name in the Indus, which river discharged its stream by two mouths into the ocean, very far from the country of Egypt. He then caused that passage concerning the Nile to be expunged out of his letter, and, having determined to sail down to the ocean by the course aforesaid, he ordered all preparations to be made accordingly. The rowers and steerers of his vessels were carefully chosen out from among the Phœnicians, Cyprians, Carians, and Egyptians, who followed his army, and were fit for that purpose.
ABOUT this time Cænus, one of his most intimate and faithful companions, departed this life, whose obsequies were celebrated with all the solemnity that the time would allow: then, calling a council of his friends, at which all the ambassadors of the Indian princes were present, 152 he constituted Porus King over all the parts of India he had conquered, which was no less than seven nations, containing above two thousand cities. After this he divided his forces in this manner: — the targeteers, archers, and Agrians, and some of the horse, he took on board the fleet with him; Craterus was ordered to march along the bank, on the right hand, with part of the horse and foot, and Hephæstion on the left hand with the rest, being the best and greatest part, besides two hundred elephants. They were to make all imaginable haste to the kingdom of Sopithus, and Philip, governor of a province beyond the river Indus, adjacent to Bactria, was commanded to follow them in three days, with all his forces. The Nysæan horse was sent home. Nearchus was appointed admiral over the whole navy, and Onesicritus captain of that single ship where the King was, who, notwithstanding, in his history of Alexander, falsely assumes the title of admiral, when he was, in reality, no more than commander of the royal galley. The number of triremes which composed this navy (according to Ptolemy’s account, which I chiefly adhere to) was about eighty; but the whole number of vessels, those employed for horses and others, built then as well as before, amounted to near two thousand.
ALL things being then ready for his intended voyage, the army, about break of day, embarked on board. He, in the mean while, by the direction of his augurs, offered sacrifices to the gods, and to the river Hydaspes, after the custom of his country, and then entering his ship, stood upon the prow, and, pouring a libation out of a golden cup, invocated the Acesines, as well as the Hydaspes, being informed that that river flowed into the Hydaspes not far from thence, as also the Indus, because both these, when united, fall into that river. And when he had afterwards sacrificed to Hercules and Hammon, and other gods, according to his custom, he immediately ordered a signal to be given, by sound of trumpet, for the ships to move, and they moved accordingly: for it was already agreed at what distance the store-ships should keep from those which carried the horses, and these from the ships of war, lest, if they proceeded without due order, they should be dashed one against another; nor were the best sailors suffered to go out of their ranks, nor the slowest to lag behind. It was wonderful to hear the clashing of the oars of such a mighty number of ships at the same instant, as also the shouts of the rowers, and the commands of their officers, which the banks, often higher than the ships themselves, and the thick woods on each side of the river, so increased by compression and re-percussion, that the barbarians, on all hands, were struck with the utmost surprise thereat; and what added to their wonder was, their seeing horses embarked on board a fleet, which was so unusual a sight (for the expedition 153 of Bacchus into that country was by land), that they followed the ships a vast way down the river. As many also of the more remote Indians as were in friendship with Alexander, and heard the clashing of the oars, and the shouts of the rowers, came flocking to the banks of the river, and sung songs after their country manner: for the Indians, above all other nations, have delighted in music and dancing ever since the time that Dionysus and his bacchanals were among them.
THE fleet, sailing in the above-mentioned order, arrived, on the third day, at the place where Alexander had ordered Craterus and Hephæstion to encamp on each side of the river, where they tarried two days, to wait for Philip with the rest of the army, whom he forthwith dispatched, with the forces which he brought, to the Acesines, commanding him to lead his troops along the bank of that river. He also, once more, dispatched Craterus and Hephæstion upon a fresh expedition, and marked out the route they were to take. He, in the mean time, prosecuted his voyage down the river Hydaspes, which he never found less than twenty furlongs wide; and wherever he approached the banks and came on shore, the Indians of those places either paid him a voluntary obedience, or were reduced by force of arms. Then he steered directly against the Malli and Oxydracæ, having received intelligence that the inhabitants of these countries were both numerous and war-like, and that they had secured their wives and children in fortified places, with a design to meet him and his forces in the plain, and give him battle; and he made so much the more haste thither, because he hoped to crush them before they could come together in a body, for as yet they were busied in making preparations for war. He therefore moved thence, and on the fifth day came to the place where the Hydaspes flows into the river Acesines; and the banks being close, and the channel narrow, where these two rivers join, the current is, by that means, extremely rapid, and the prodigious eddies, caused by the rebounding waters, make such a loud noise as is heard in places at a vast distance. Those things were told to Alexander and his soldiers by the inhabitants, a long time before they approached them, that their surprise might be the less, notwithstanding which, when they drew near, the rushing noise of the two uniting streams so filled the ears of the rowers, that they laid down their oars, not by any particular order, but because their commanders themselves, astonished at an object so strange and full of horror, ceased to give necessary directions.
154BUT when they re-assumed their courage, the masters of the ships ordered the rowers to use their utmost strength to get out of these streights, and by the force of their oars break the violence of the waters, lest they should be sucked in, and swallowed up by the eddies. Some vessels, indeed, of a round form, which happened to be thus drawn in, received no other damage, except the extreme fright of the crews they contained, and immediately continued their course; but the long ships, whose sides were not so strong as to endure the force of the contending waves, received much more harm in the conflict, and especially the biremes, whose lower bank of oars was but a little above the surface of the water; for when they were hurried, with a full broadside, in the eddy, and could not lift up their oars, they were broke by the fury of the waves; many of them were shattered in this manner; two were dashed in pieces against each other, and most of the soldiers, which were on board, perished. But when the channel began to open, the stream to run smoother, and the eddies to be less violent, Alexander caused his fleet to steer towards the shore, on the right hand, where was the best shelter, it being a sort of a bay, which a rock made by shooting out into the river: there he gathered his shattered vessels together, and took care of the few who were found alive on board; then having refitted, he ordered Nearchus to proceed in his course to the country of the Malli. He, in the mean while, making an excursion into the territories of the barbarians, who refused to submit to his power, crushed them, that they might not be able to assist the Malli, and then returned to his fleet, where he found Craterus, Hephæstion, and Philip, with all their forces. Then having conveyed his elephants and Polysperchon’s troops, with the equestrian archers, and Philip, across the river, and given the command of them to Craterus, he sent away Nearchus, his admiral, with orders to sail down the river, to be three days march before the army. The rest of his forces he divided into three parts, ordering Hephæstion, with his party, to march five days before him, that if any should fly away at his approach, and betake themselves to the utmost limits of the country for safety, they should fall into the hands of Hephæstion. Ptolemy, the son of Lagus, with his forces, was ordered to tarry three days behind him, that whoever fled from him, and got behind his army, should be surprised by Ptolemy and his party. He also ordered those, who went before, that when they arrived at the confluence of the rivers Acesines and Hydraotes, they should wait for his coming, and till Ptolemy and Craterus, with their parties, also arrived.
155THEN taking with him the targeteers, archers, Agrians, and Python’s troop, which consisted of those called the auxiliary foot, with the equestrian archers, and half the auxiliary horse, he marched through a desert country, against the Malli, and the first day pitched his tents on the banks of a small rivulet, about an hundred furlongs distant from the river Acesines; having there allowed his troops a little time for refreshment and rest, he ordered every one to fill all his vessels with water, which done, he continued his march, the remaining part of that day, and all night, and early the next morning arrived at a city, whither may of the Malli had fled for refuge; and this was about four hundred furlongs distant from the Acesines. The Malli, never once imagining that Alexander would attempt to march through such a desolate country, were all unarmed and scattered about the fields, whom therefore, he surprised on a sudden, and slew many before they could prepare for a defence; the rest fled into the city, and shut their gates. Whereupon he immediately surrounded the walls with his horse, for his foot were not yet come up; but when they arrived, he dispatched Perdiccas with his own, and Clitus’s horse, besides the Agrians, to hasten to another city of the Malli, into which a great body of Indians had fled for safety; and withal ordered them only to block them up, but by no means attempt to storm the place till he arrived; he warned them, however, to take care that none should escape out of the city, to spread the story of his arrival through the country. He then began to assault the city, whereupon the barbarians forsook the walls, being assured they could not hold the place out any time. However, many were slain in the attack, and many more wounded, and rendered unserviceable, upon which they abandoned the city, and retired into the castle; and that, as being seated upon an eminence difficult of access, they held for some time; but when the Macedonians pressed them on all hands, and Alexander himself pushed on the siege with vigour, the castle was carried by storm, and the barbarians who fled thither, to the number of two thousand, were all slain. Perdiccas marching to the city, which he was commanded to besiege, found it quite dismantled; but when he came to understand that the inhabitants had not been long fled, he immediately resolved to pursue them; and sending his light horse after them, with all imaginable expedition, they overtook a great many, and slew them: the rest betook themselves to the neighbouring marshy places, and thereby saved their lives.
156ALEXANDER having allowed his soldiers some time for refreshment and rest, about the first watch of the night set forwards, and marching hard all that night, came to the river Hydraotes, about day-light, and understanding that some parties of the Malli were just passing the river, he immediately attacked them, and slew many, and having passed the river himself, with his forces, in pursuit of those who had gained the further side, he killed vast numbers of them, and took many prisoners. However, some of them escaped, and betook themselves for safety to a certain town, well fortified, both by art and nature. Alexander waited for the arrival of his foot, and then dispatched Python against them, with his own troop, and two cohorts of horse, who gaining the place at the first assault, took all prisoners, whom they slew not, and soon after returned to the camp. Alexander then led his army against a certain city of the Brachmans, where he heard another body of the Malli had fled. When he arrived there, he drew his forces every where close up to the wall, whereupon the defendants, seeing their walls undermined, and themselves galled with darts from the Macedonians, abandoned the city, and fled to the castle, hoping to defend themselves there; and a few of the Macedonians too rashly attempting to pursue, they turned back upon them, and slew twenty five of them, and beat the rest back. In the mean while Alexander lost no time, but ordered his scaling ladders to be fixed to the castle walls, and the walls to be undermined, which done, when one of the towers fell down, and a part of the adjoining wall was shattered, and afforded an easy entrance, he first mounted the breach himself, and attempted to storm the castle, upon which the Macedonians, ashamed at their backwardness, one after another climbed over the wall. Thus was the castle won; however, some of the Indians seeing the place ready to be taken, set fire to their own houses, and perished in the flames: others were slain in the assault; about five thousand of them fell during the siege of that city; and, so great was their valour, that few came alive into the enemy’s hands.
HAVING tarried one day there, to refresh his army, he then directed his march against others of the same nation, who, he was informed, had abandoned their cities, and retired into the deserts; and taking another day’s rest, on the next he commanded Python, and Demetrius, a captain of a troop of horse, with the forces they then had, and a party of light armed foot, to return immediately to the river, and if they found any of those who had taken shelter in the adjacent woods, to put them to the sword, if they refused to surrender. This they accordingly performed, 157 and many Indians were there slain. In the mean while, he led his forces to the capital city of the Malli, whither he was informed many of the inhabitants of other cities had fled for their better security. But even this place was dismantled by the Indians (upon Alexander’s approach), who crossing the river Hydraotes, drew up their forces upon the bank thereof, which was steep and difficult of ascent, as though they would have obstructed his passage; which he receiving intelligence of, immediately led his horse to that part of the river where they stood, commanding his foot to follow; and when he arrived there, and saw the enemy’s army posted on the opposite bank, he made no delay, but instantly entered the river with the troops of horse he brought with him. The Indians seeing him and his forces now in the middle of the river, retired hastily, yet orderly, from the bank, and were pursued by Alexander; but when they perceived that their pursuers were only a party of horse, they faced about, and resolved to give him battle, being about fifty thousand in number. He, seeing the firm and close order of their army, and considering that he had no foot forces, resolved only to ride round them, and gall them at a distance, but not to venture a close engagement; but in the mean while the Agrians and archers, and others of his choicest light armed foot, having passed the river, came to his aid, and a phalanx of foot appeared at a small distance; whereupon the Indians, growing diffident of their own strength, betook themselves to flight, and retired into a certain fortified city, not far off; but Alexander pursuing them, slew many, and the rest being inclosed, he first environed them with the horse; but when the foot arrived, he pitched his tents, and besieged them in form. And as the day was now too far spent to begin an assault, his foot, wearied with a long march, and his horse, harrassed with a continued pursuit, as well as a difficult passage over the river, he resolved to give them a little rest the remaining part of the day.
ON the morrow, having divided his forces, he took the command of one part of the army himself, and having given the order to Perdiccas, attacked the walls, and when the defendants were unable to endure the violence thereof, they fled, and retired into the castle. Alexander, with his forces, having burst open one of the gates of the city, entered, and took possession thereof a long time before the rest. Perdiccas and his party no sooner mounted the walls (for many of them had not yet recovered their ladders) than they perceived the city taken, because the walls were left defenceless. However, the besieged having entered the castle, and being resolutely bent to hold it, some of the Macedonians endeavoured to undermine the walls, others to scale them, and accordingly busied themselves in fixing their ladders wherever they could, 158 with a design to storm the place. But Alexander, not brooking their slow proceedings, snatched a ladder out of the hands of one of the soldiers, and applying it to the wall, immediately mounted, having guarded his body with his shield. Peucestas followed his steps, bearing the consecrated shield, which Alexander had taken out of the temple of the Trojan Pallas, and ordered to be borne before him in all his battles: after him, Leonnatus ascended by the same ladder; and Abreas (one who received a double stipend, on account of former services) by another. And now Alexander, having gained the top of the battlements, and fixed his shield for defence, drove some of the defendants headlong down into the castle, and slew others with his sword, insomuch, that he cleared the place where he stood. But the royal targeteers being solicitous for their King, and endeavouring to ascend in too great numbers, broke the ladders, and thereby not only fell down themselves, but hindered others from mounting. Alexander, in the mean time, stood as a mark for all the Indians who were in the adjacent towers, for none of them durst venture to come so near him as to fight hand to hand, and those within the castle also cast their darts at him, but at some distance (for the Indians had thrown up a rampart there within the wall where the stood), and they easily perceived who he was, both by the brightness of his armour and the greatness of his courage. However, he resolved (rather than to continue exposed in that station, where nothing was to be done worthy of notice, to cast himself directly into the castle, imagining that such an action would strike a terror into the besieged, or at least it would add greatly to his glory, and if he died there, he should gain the admiration and applause of posterity, upon which he immediately leaped down into the castle, where fixing himself against the wall, some of the enemy, who rushed forwards upon him, he slew with his sword, and among the rest the Indian general: others, as they advanced towards him, he smote with stones, and beat them back; but upon their second, and nearer approach, he slew them also with his sword, so that the barbarians durst now no more attempt to come within his reach, but gathering about him, at some distance, threw their darts, and such other weapons, at him, as they had, or could find, from that station.
PEUCESTAS, Abreas, and Leonnatus, were the only three persons of the whole Macedonian army who mounted the castle wall before the ladders broke, and they leaped down on the inside, and valiantly fought to save their King. Abreas was wounded in the face with an arrow, and fell down dead. Alexander’s breast-plate was pierced through with an arrow, whereby he received a wound in the breast, which Ptolemy says was so dangerous, that, by the vast effusion of blood, his life 159 was despaired of: nevertheless, so long as he was hot, he retained his innate courage, and defended himself valiantly; but the blood streaming from him, and his spirits sinking, he was seized with a dizziness in his head, and a chillness throughout his limbs, whereupon he fell forward upon his shield. Peucestas then, with the sacred shield of Pallas, stood by the King, and protected him from the enemy’s darts on the one side, as did Leonnatus on the other; but they were also sore wounded, and Alexander was very near losing his blood and life together. The Macedonians without were in the utmost anxiety how they should ascend the walls, and get to the inside of the castle, fearing lest heir King, who had rashly exposed himself, by scaling the walls, and leaping down among the enemy, should be in danger; and their ladders being broke, they used all their skill to contrive other ways to mount: whereupon some of them drove large iron pins into the wall (which was built with brick), and taking hold of those, hoisted themselves up with great difficulty; others mounted upon the shoulders of their companions, and so gained the top; however, he who ascended first leaped down on the other side, and saw the King lying prostrate; and afterwards, others following, with dreadful shouts and lamentations, a sharp battle ensued, they endeavouring, with all their might, to save their King, by covering him with their shields. In the mean while, others having torn off the bars, and forced open a gate between two towers, made way for their companions to enter, and a part of the wall giving way to the violent shocks of some others, opened a new passage into the castle.
A MIGHTY slaughter of the Indians then ensued, every soul which was found being cut off, and not so much as the women or children spared. The Macedonians then turned their thoughts on their King, whom they bore away upon his shield, not knowing whether he would die or live. Some authors relate, that Critodemus, a physician of Coos, laid open his wound, and drew out the arrow: others, that Perdiccas performed that task, no physician being present, and the case urgent; for Alexander commanded that the wound should be opened, though with a sword, and the dart drawn out of his body: however, he lost abundance of blood in the operation; and when he again fainted away, that very syncope, or swooning fit, which then seized him, stopped the effusion of blood, and saved his life. Many other things are related concerning this accident, by historians, which, having their first foundation laid in falsehood, have been transmitted by romancers to our times, and are likely to be handed down to posterity, unless an end be put to this way of writing. That this misfortune happened to Alexander among the Oxydracæ, is the vulgar notion, which nevertheless was among the Malli, one of the free nations of India. For the city belonged 160 to that people, and it was from that people he received the wound. The Malli indeed designed to have joined their forces with the Oxydracæ, and so to have given him battle; but Alexander’s hasty and unexpected march through the dry and barren waste prevented their union, so that they could not give any assistance to each other. In the same manner, the last battle with Darius (from whence he took his flight, and continued it from place to place, till he was seized by Bessus, and slain upon Alexander’s approach) is as confidently reported to have been fought at Arbela as the preceding one was at Issus, and the first equestrian battle at the river Granicus. The first equestrian battle really happened on the banks of the river Granicus, as did the other at Issus; but Arbela is distant from the field where this last battle was fought six hundred, or at least five hundred furlongs. For both Ptolemy and Aristobulus assure us, that the scene of this last action with Darius was at Gaugamela, upon the river Bumelus. And whereas Gaugamela was only an obscure village, and the sound of its name not grateful to the ear, the glory of that battle has been conferred on Arbela, as the chief city of these parts. But if this battle may be said to have been fought at Arbela, which was really fought at so great a distance from it, why may not the naval action at Salamis be ascribed to the Corinthian Isthmus, or that at Artemesius, in the island of Eubœa, to Ægina or Sunium? But to return; even the names of those who saved Alexander from the enemy’s fury, by covering him with their shields, are diversly given: that Peucestas was one, all authors agree; but not so concerning Leonnatus nor Abreas. Again, some writers tell us that Alexander, having received a blow with a club upon his helmet, a mist came over his eyes, and he fell down; but recovering his spirits, and rising again, his breast-plate was pierced with an arrow, and he was wounded; though Ptolemy assures us that he was only wounded in the breast. But the writers of Alexander’s life have grossly erred, who report that Ptolemy, the son of Lagus, mounted the ladder to scale the wall, along with Alexander and Peucestas, and that he was one of those who protected the King with his shield, when he lay prostrate; and, on that account, received the name of Soter, or Saviour; for he himself assures us, that he was not present at that siege, but was dispatched, at that time, on an expedition against other Indians elsewhere. This digression I have made, that the writers of history may be more careful in relating the particular circumstances of great actions, and enquire more narrowly into the truth of whatever they deliver to posterity.
WHILE the King lay there, to wait for the healing of his wound, news was carried to the camp (from whence he set out on that expedition) that he was dead; upon which a sudden cry run throughout the camp, as the report spread from one to another: and when they came a 161 little to themselves, and begun to set bounds to their grief, they were strangely perplexed, and in great doubt who should be chosen to head the army (for many seemed to have equal pretence to that dignity, by their merit, not only in Alexander’s opinion, but also in that of the Macedonians) and how they should be led safe into their own country, being surrounded with so many fierce and warlike nations; some whereof, whom they had not yet visited, would, in all probability, fight stoutly for their liberty; and others whom they had would revolt, when they were freed from the fear of Alexander. Besides, when they begun to consider how many vast rivers were between them and their country, which they were no ways able to pass over, they were almost driven to despair; and indeed every thing seemed terrible to them, when they wanted their King: and even when the former accounts were contradicted, and news came of his still being alive, the messenger could hardly find credit, for they had before heard that there were but small hopes of his life: nay, when letters arrived, signifying that he would return to the camp in a short while, the news seemed incredible to many, by reason of the excessive fear which possessed them; for they supposed that the letters had been no more then a contrivance of his body-guards, and the generals of his army.
WHEN Alexander came to the knowledge of this, he began to fear that an insurrection might happen, for which reason, as soon as his health would admit, he ordered himself to be conveyed to the banks of the river Hydraotes, and from thence, down the stream to the camp, which was near the confluence of the Hydraotes and Acesines, where Hephæstion had the command of the army, and Nearchus of the navy. When the ship, which had the King on board, approached in view of the camp, he ordered the cover of his royal pavilion to be hoisted upon the poop thereof, to be seen by the whole army. But neither yet did many believe him to be alive, but that the ship was bringing his dead body, till at last he drew near the shore, and stretched out his right hand to the multitude. Then a loud shout was raised for joy; some holding up their hands to heaven; others to their King; and many, who despaired of his life, melting into tears, by such a sudden and unexpected joy. And when the targeteers, upon his coming on shore, brought the bed or litter, whereon he had been carried before, he refused it, and ordered his horse to be made ready, which, having mounted, he again received the joyful acclamations of the whole army; the banks and neighbouring woods echoing with the sound. When he approached his tent, he leaped from his horse, and shewed himself also to his army on foot, to give them the greater certainty of his health. Then arose a general emulation among them, and they strove which should approach 162 nearest to him, and some were ambitious to touch his hands; others his knees; others aspired no higher than his garments; and some were even satisfied with a sight of him, and with wishing him health and happiness; some brought garlands, and other flowers, such as the country produced, to strew in his way; and when some of his friends reproved him for exposing himself to such dangers for the army, and told him it was not the business of a general, but of a common soldier, Nearchus tells us he took their reproofs ill; and the reason why he was offended at the liberty they used, seems to be, because their reproofs were just, and he was conscious he deserved them. However, his fortitude in battle, and his thirst after glory, hurried him so far, that he could not contain himself, nor keep out of the midst of danger. The same author also assures us, that an ancient Bœotian, whose name he conceals, understanding how much Alexander was offended at his friends’ rebukes, and how he bore a shew of anger in his looks, approached his presence, and spoke to him to this effect, in the Bœotian dialect: — “O Alexander, to attempt great actions is the part of an hero;” and at the same time repeated an Iambick verse, the purport whereof is, “He who acts bravely ought also to suffer bravely.” This saying of the old man pleased the King so well, that he, ever after, held him in high esteem.
ABOUT this time arrived ambassadors from the Malli, which still remained unsubdued, who made him a surrender of the government of their whole nation; then also arrived the prefects of cities, and presidents of the provinces of the Oxydracæ, and with them one hundred and fifty of their chief men, with choice presents, and a free tender of themselves and country into his hands. They, moreover, begged his pardon for coming no sooner, to profess their obedience to him, which, however, they thought themselves not unworthy of, because, like other free nations of India, they had a strong desire of living according to their own laws, which liberty they had enjoyed free and unmolested, from the time that Bacchus conquered India to that day. But if it seemed good to Alexander (for as much as he was said to be the offspring of a god), they were willing to receive a governor from him, to pay the tribute he should impose upon them, as also to give what hostages he should require. Alexander hereupon required them to send a thousand of the chief men of their nation, whom he would either retain, or use as soldiers, till he had conquered the rest of India. Those thousand, chosen out of the best and choicest of their nation, were accordingly sent, and with them five hundred chariots of war, with their charioteers, over and above his demands. Over these people, and those of the Malli, from whom the ambassadors came, Philip was constituted governor; and the King was so pleased with the generosity of the Oxydracæ, that he freely sent back their hostages, and only reserved 163 the chariots. Those affairs thus terminated, and more ships being built and manned, while his wound was healing, he went on board his fleet, with seventeen hundred of the auxiliary horse, and as many light horse as before, besides ten thousand foot, and had not sailed far before he arrived at the confluence of the Hydraotes and Acesines; for the Hydraotes flowing into the Acesines there, loses its name. Then sailing down the Acesines, he came to the place where it falls into the river Indus; for these four large and navigable rivers at last discharge their waters into that, though they do not preserve their several and distinct names till that time, for the Hydaspes, falling into the Acesines, loses its name there: the Acesines takes the Hydraotes, as also the Hyphasis, and still retains its name, till it falls at last into the Indus; and when the Indus divides itself into two streams, and composes the figure of the Greek letter Δ (Delta) I believe it is not less than an hundred furlongs wide, nay, much more where it forms a lake, the current there being hardly discernible.
AT the confluence of the two great rivers, Acesines and Indus, Alexander tarried with his fleet, till Perdiccas arrived with the army under his command, having subdued the Abastani, one of the free nations of India, in his journey. About this time came divers triremes, and vessels of burthen, which had been built among the Xathri, a free people of India, who voluntarily surrendered their country. Ambassadors also arrived there from the Ossadii, promising obedience, and tender of their liberty. The King then employed himself in settling the limits of Philip’s government that way, and bounded it with the meeting of the Acesines and Indus, leaving him all the Thracian horse, and as many of other troops as were necessary for the security of his province. He then ordered a city to be built at the confluence of these two rivers, imagining, that by the advantage of such a situation, it would become rich and populous, and there he caused some ships to be built. About this time Oxyartes, the Bactrian, father to Roxane, Alexander’s wife, came to him; he received him kindly, and bestowed on him the government of the country of the Parapamisans, Tiryestes, their former governor, being displaced for male-administration. Then Craterus, with the greatest part of the army, and the elephants, were ferried over the river Indus, and set ashore upon the left bank, because the road on that side seemed much more firm and commodious for the heavy armed soldiers; and, besides, the neighbouring countries were not wholly reduced. He then sailed down the stream to the realm of the Sogdi, where he built another city, and some more shipping, and caused his old ships to be repaired. Then the government of the whole country, from the confluence of the Acesines and the Indus to the sea, as also all the sea coast, 164 he bestowed upon Oxyartes and Python; and having again dispatched Craterus with his forces, through the confines of the Aracoti, and Drangi, he sailed down the river, till he arrived at the kingdom of Musicanus (which, according to the information he had received, was the richest and most populous throughout all India), and was highly offended, because Musicanus neither came forth to meet him, and offer him subjection, nor sought his friendship by ambassadors, nor sent him presents according to his expectations, nor so much as condescended to make one single request to him; and so swiftly did he pass down the river, that he entered his territories before he received any notice of his coming. Musicanus, surprised at his sudden visit, immediately went forth to meet him, with all his elephants in his train, and having offered him presents of the highest value, delivered himself and realms into his hands, and acknowledged his crime ,which kind of behaviour always weighed much with Alexander, towards the obtaining whatever was requested. Having therefore pardoned his crime, and admired at the wealth and beauty of his kingdom, and capital city, he delivered the government of both again into his hands. But, lest he should attempt any innovation, when he was at a distance, he ordered Craterus to build a castle in the city, and himself tarried there to see it finished; this done, he left a strong garrison therein, because this fort seemed extremely commodious for bridling the neighbouring nations, and keeping them in subjection.
THEN, with his archers and Agrians, and all the troops of horse which he had on board his navy, he marched against a neighbouring prince named Oxycanus, and invaded his dominions, because he neither came forth to meet him, nor sent ambassadors, with the surrender of himself and country: he took two of his chief cities at the first assault, in one of which the King himself was taken prisoner. Alexander gave the spoils of them to his soldiers, and carried away his elephants; whereupon all the other cities belonging to Oxycanus immediately submitted without blows; so much did the courage and fortune of Alexander prevail against the Indians in those parts. After this, he led his forces against Sambus, whom he had before declared Governor of the Indian mountaineers, but who had fled, when he heard that Musicanus was dismissed in a friendly manner, and had his dominions restored, for he was at enmity with Musicanus. When Alexander approached the capital city of his province, called Sindomana, the gates being set open, the friends and domestics of Sambus came forth to meet him, with presents of money and elephants, assuring him that Sambus did not retire out of his territories, by reason of any sinister designs against him, but for fear of Musicanus, after his enlargement. Having then received the homage of these, he attacked and won a city, which had revolted from him, and 165 put to death as many of the Brachmans as fell into his hands, having charged them with being the authors of this rebellion. They bear a great sway among the Indians, for their reputed wisdom, whereof we shall give our sentiments in a separate treatise, relating to the affairs of India.
WHILE these things were in agitation, news arrived of the revolt of Musicanus; wherefore Python, the son of Agenor, being dispatched with a sufficient force against him, he attacked the cites belonging to him, and demolished some of them, and erected castles and planted garrisons in others, and, having executed his orders, returned to the camp and fleet, carrying Musicanus along with him, in chains. Alexander ordered him to be crucified in his own territories, and with him as many of the Brachmans as had instigated him to a revolt. At this time came the Prince of the Pattalans to meet him, and gave up himself and kingdom into his hands. (This realm the river Indus incloses in the form of the Greek letter Δ (Delta), and it is much larger than the Egyptian province of the same name.) Alexander restored him to his government, commanding him only to provide all necessaries for his army when they arrived there. He then dispatched Craterus, with Attalus’s, Meleager’s, and Antigene’s troops, and some of the archers, with such of the auxiliaries, and other Macedonian soldiers, as were unfit for service, with orders that they should pass through the countries of the Archoti and Drangi, into Carmania, and thence into Macedonia, and to him he gave the charge of the elephants. The rest of the army, except those forces which he had on board his fleet, was commanded by Hephæstion: but Python, who led the equestrian archers and Agrians, on the other side of the river, opposite to Hephæstion, was ordered to draw colonies into the cities newly built; and, if the neighbouring Indians attempted any innovation, to reduce them to obedience, and then to meet him and his forces at Pattala. But when he had sailed three days down the river, he received intelligence that the prince of the Pattalans, having gathered together a vast number of his subjects, had abandoned his country and fled into the deserts, upon which Alexander made the more haste thither; and when he arrived there he found the cities destitute of inhabitants, and even the fields of husbandmen; wherefore, sending some of the lightest-armed troops of his army in pursuit, when they had taken some of them, he dispatched those forwards to the rest, to invite them to return, declaring that they should enjoy the same freedom, both to inhabit their cities, and to till their lands, as heretofore, upon which invitation many of them returned.
166HE then dispatched Hephæstion to build a fort in the city, and sent several men into the neighbouring country, which was destitute of water, to dig wells, and render it inhabitable; but some of the barbarians assaulting them on a sudden, slew a few of them, but were at last put to flight, and having lost many of their numbers, betook themselves to the desert. Alexander having notice of this insult of the barbarians, sent other forces to join with the former, and carry on the work with safety. Near Pattala the river Indus divides itself into two vast branches, both whereof carry the same name to the sea. Here he ordered a haven and convenient docks for ships to be built; and, when all things succeeded to his wish, he resolved to sail down to the ocean by that branch of the river on the right hand; wherefore, sending Leonnatus with a thousand horse, and about eight thousand heavy and light-armed foot, through the island Pattala, that they might meet the fleet on the other side, he, with some of his choicest and best sailing ships, namely the biremes and triremes, and some long gallies, begun his course down the right branch of the river; but as he had no pilot who was acquainted with the channel (for the Indians thereabout had fled from their habitations), they were reduced to great straits: for the wind blowing vehemently from the ocean the next day, the river swelled, the waves raged, and his ships beat against each other, insomuch that some of them were shattered, and some of his triremes almost wholly dashed in pieces, so that they were, with much difficulty, drawn to the bank, and the men saved, who otherwise had been swallowed up by the waves. Other ships being then built, and some of the nimblest of the light-armed soldiers sent up into the country, at a distance from the river, they took some Indians, whom they used as pilots all along that river: but when they arrived at the place where it is full two hundred furlongs wide, namely, at its mouth, the wind blowing hard from the sea, and the waves rising so high as to hinder them from managing their oars, they again put into a certain bay, which their pilots shewed them, for shelter.
WHILE they continued in that station, an accident happened which astonished them, namely, the ebbing and flowing of the waters, like as in the great ocean, insomuch, that the ships were left upon dry ground, which Alexander and his friends having never perceived before, were so much the more surprised at. But what increased their astonishment was, that the tide returning, a short while after, begun to heave the ships up; so that those which stuck in the mud were gently raised, and set on float again, without receiving any damage; but those which lay upon the sand were some of them swept away by the fury of the tide, and dashed 167 to pieces, and others driven against the bank and destroyed. These losses being, however, repaired, according as the time would allow, Alexander sent two long gallies before the fleet, towards the ocean, to view a certain island, which they called Cillutas, where, his pilots told him, he might go on shore before he entered the main ocean: and when they had assured him that it was a large island, and had commodious harbours, besides plenty of fresh water, the commanded the rest of the fleet to put in there; but he himself, with some choice ships, proceeded farther, to try if their passage, out of the mouth of that river into the ocean, was likely to be safe; and having passed about two hundred furlongs from the first island, he came within view of another in the ocean: then returning to the first island in the river, and drawing up his fleet under a promontory, he sacrificed to the gods, as he had received orders from Hammon, and arriving at the other island, in the ocean, the next day, he prepared other victims, and sacrificed to other gods, in a different manner, according to the directions which he said he had received from the oracle of Hammon. Then, having passed the mouths of the river Indus, he launched forth in to the vast ocean, to discover (as he pretended), if any land lay beyond that island; but, in my opinion, it was only that he might boast of his sailing in the ocean beyond the Indies. Having there sacrificed some bulls to Neptune, he threw them into the sea, and having poured forth a libation, and offered sacrifices, after giving thanks to the god, he threw the golden goblet, and other vessels, overboard, praying that the fleet, which he now resolved to send under command of Nearchus, into the Persian Gulph, and thence up the mouths of the Euphrates and Tigris, might go safe.
THEN returning back to Pattala, he found the castle built, and Python, with his forces there, having executed his orders. Wherefore, giving the charge of building a haven and docks for shipping to Hephæstion (for he designed to leave part of his fleet at the city of Pattala, where the Indus divides itself into two streams), he, with the rest, prepared to sail down to the ocean by the other branch of the river, to try whether the passage out to sea was safer or more easy that way. These two mouths of the river Indus are about eighteen hundred furlongs distant from each other, and so much is the extent of the island Pattala along the sea-coast. When he had sailed far down the left branch, and was now near the mouth thereof, he came to a certain lake, formed either by the river spreading wide over a flat country, or by additional streams flowing in from the adjacent parts, and making it appear like a bay in the sea. Abundance of sea-fish are found there, of a much larger size than our seas produce: wherefore steering to a certain creek, which his pilots directed him to, he left Leonnatus there, with many of the soldiers, and all the long gallies, but himself, with some biremes and triremes, 168 passed out at the mouth of the river, and sailed into the ocean also that way, and found that passage much safer and easier than the other. Then going on shore with a party of horse, he travelled three days along the sea-coast to view it, and try if he could find any bays or creeks to secure his fleet from storms. He also ordered many wells to be dug, to supply his navy with water, and, returning to Pattala, dispatched a part of his army to help those who were employed in digging the wells along the coast; and ordered them, when they had finished their work, to return thither. He afterwards took another voyage to the lake, where he commanded another haven to be made, with other places for the safety of ships, and, leaving a garrison there, ordered that four months provision should be go ready, and all other necessaries for the army on board.
THE season of the year was then unfit for undertaking a voyage, for the Etesian winds reigned, which blow not there, as with us, from the north, but from the south, and come off the vast ocean. Besides, he was informed by those who knew the country, that those seas were safest for navigation from the beginning of winter, which is from the setting of the Pleiades to the winter solstice. For, at that time, while the country is refreshed with great rains, gentle breezes of wind arise, extremely commodious for those who try the sea there, as well with oars as sails. Nearchus, the admiral of this fleet, lay waiting for this opportunity to set sail. But Alexander, departing from Pattala, marched with a sufficient force to the river Arabius. Then, with the half of his targeteers and archers, and some of his troops of auxiliary horse and foot, besides one troop out of every regiment of horse, and all his equestrian archers, he turned towards the ocean, on his left hand, not only that he might cause more wells to be dug for the use of his fleet, which was to sail that way, but that he might make a sudden attempt upon the Oritæ (a nation of India, who had long enjoyed their freedom), because they had made no offers of friendship, either to himself or his army. The rest of the forces he committed to Hephæstion. The Oritæ, who were a free nation, dwelling near the river Arabius, being neither strong enough to encounter him, nor willing to yield themselves subject to him, no sooner perceived his approach, than they retired to the deserts. Alexander having crossed the river, which was neither wide nor deep, marched through the greatest part of the desert that night, and came into a well-inhabited country betimes next morning. Then ordering his foot forces to follow him at leisure, he passed forward with his horse, which he divided into parties, that they might take up the more space, and thus invaded the territories of the Oritæ. Many of those who took up arms to oppose him were slain, and many were taken prisoners. Then coming to a small river, he there pitched his tents, but when Hephæstion 169 arrived with the rest of his forces, he penetrated further into the country; and coming to a certain village, which served them instead of a capital city, and was named Rambacia, he was pleased with its situation; and imagining that it would rise to a rich and populous city, if a colony were drawn thither, he committed the care thereof to Hephæstion.
THEN, with half of his targeteers, and Agrians, equestrian archers, and other troops of horse, he marched to the frontiers of the Gadrosi and Oritæ, where he was informed there was a narrow pass, which the Gadrosi and Oritæ had jointly seized, with a design of stopping his progress; and there they were posted advantageously enough; but as soon as they heard that he approached towards them, they abandoned their post, and fled. However, the chiefs of the Oritæ came to him there, and surrendered themselves and country into his hands. He thereupon commanded them to assemble the people together, and order them to disperse and return home, which if they obeyed, no harm should befall them. And having deputed Apollophanes their governor, he commanded Leonnatus, one of his body-guards, with his Agrians and archers, and part of the horse and foot forces, to tarry there till the fleet should sail round these coasts, and take care to see the city well peopled, and the governor’s orders obeyed. In the mean while, he, with the rest of the army (for Hephæstion was returned with his forces) marched into the territories of the Gadrosi, the greatest part of his way lying through the desert. In this country, Aristobulus tells us, great numbers of myrrh trees grow, much taller than any that are to be found elsewhere; and that the Phœnicians, who followed Alexander’s army for the sake of merchandise, gathered the gum of that tree (for there was a vast quantity there, the branches being large, and never any gathered from them before) in such prodigious plenty, as therewith to load many beasts of burthen. The country also produces roots of spikenard, whereof the Phœnicians gathered good store, and much of it was trampled under foot by the army, so that a prodigious perfume was thereby diffused all round them, the air being filled therewith. Many other sorts of trees are also seen there; the leaves of one kind whereof, he tells us, somewhat resemble those of laurel; these trees grow chiefly in places where the tide flows among them, and where they are again left dry at low water; nevertheless, those which grow in low grounds, whence the sea does not leave them at the lowest ebb, stand uncorrupted by the salt water: they rise to thirty cubits in height, and happened to be then in blossom. Their flower is white, and in shape like a violet, but much excelling it in sweetness. There grows also a thorn there, as the same author assures us, which produces shoots, or stems, with prickles so strong and so thick set, that if a horseman 170 should happen to be entangled therewith, he would sooner be pulled off from his horse than freed from the stem: these thorns are said to catch fast hold of the down of hares as they endeavour to pass through, insomuch, that they are taken as birds are with bird-lime, or fish with hooks. However, these thorns are easily cut down, and being afterwards sawed in pieces, much juice issues from them, which is far richer than that of the fig-tree, in the spring time, though much more acid.
THENCE Alexander travelled through the country of the Gadrosi, by a road very dangerous, and destitute of all the necessaries of life: but above all, his forces were ready to die with thirst, on which account they were obliged to march most by night, and they were at a great distance from the sea. However, he determined to draw them down towards the sea coast, to try if he could find any haven or creek, and also to provide some necessaries for his fleet; for which reason, he ordered pits or wells to be dugs, markets to be appointed, and creeks sought for; but the whole coast of the Gadrosi was entirely waste and uncultivated; nevertheless, he dispatched Thoas, the son of Mandrodorus, with a small party of horse towards the sea, to try if he could possibly find any creek or fresh water, or any thing necessary for the fleet. But when he returned he brought word, that he found some fishermen upon the coast, who lived in small huts, whose walls were composed of sea-shells piled upon each other, and the roofs of fish-bones, the back-bones serving instead of rafters: he also added, that they had but little water, and what they had was dug out of the sand, and very brackish: and when, after a long journey, he came into a part of the same country, somewhat better inhabited and more fruitful, he gathered up as much corn as he could, and having sealed it with his signet, ordered some horse-loads thereof to be carried to the sea-coast, for the use of the fleet; but whilst he retired into a little cottage on the shore, the soldiers (regardless of the strict charge he had laid upon them, and afterwards, those appointed to guard it) breaking the seals, made use of it; dividing it among those of their own company who were most pinched with hunger, which at that time was so grievous among them, that rather than they should suffer certain death, they chose the more remote and uncertain one of dying for disobeying the King’s orders. However, Alexander hearing the story, and understanding the necessity which obliged them to act in that manner, freely pardoned them. Then passing through all the country, and gathering as much as could be procured, he ordered Cretheus, the son of Callatianus, to convey it to the sea-coast for the use of the army on board. He moreover commanded the natives to bring him as much corn as they could, ready ground; as also a quantity of dates and cattle from 171 the higher parts of the country, and assured them that he would satisfy them for their trouble. He likewise sent Telephus, one of his friends, to procure necessaries elsewhere, though he could afford him but a scanty allowance of ground corn for his journey.
HE himself then marched forward to Pura, the capital city of the Gadrosi, where he arrived the sixtieth day after his departure from the country of the Oritæ. Many of the writers of Alexander’s life tell us, that all the hardship which his army endured in his expedition through Asia were not to be compared with those they underwent in that march; and Nearchus assures us, that though he could not possibly be ignorant of the difficulties they must struggle with, in such a country, yet, nevertheless, he was resolved to go forward. He tells us, the inhabitants informed him that no general was ever able to conduct an army safe through these deserts; that Semiramis entering them, with great numbers of men, in her flight from India, carried no more than twenty through, out of her whole army; and that Cyrus, the son of Cambyses, who also attempted to invade India, but miscarried, lost the greatest part of his forces in those dangerous wastes, himself and seven of his followers only escaping: that these stories being told to Alexander, were so far from damping his resolutions, that he was thereupon the rather excited to attempt to conduct his army through these parts, where both Cyrus and Semiramis had failed of success, to shew that no country was unpassable by such soldiers, led on by such a general. For these reasons, as also that he might be near the sea-coast, to provide necessaries for his fleet, he chose to return that way. However, the heats were so vehement, and their want of water so much, that many of his men, and most of their beasts of burthen, died; some by being smothered in the deep scorching sands, but the greatest part of thirst; for they found many little tumili, or hillocks of sand, which they were obliged to ascend, and where no firm footing could be had, but they sunk deep into it, as they would into clay, or new-fallen snow, and their horses and mules were no less harrassed, and wearied out, by the excessive heats and intolerable fatigues of such a march, than the men. The great distance of their resting-places was one occasion of the army’s hardship, for their want of water caused them oftentimes to continue their march much further than otherwise they would. If, after they had travelled all night, they happened to find some water in the morning, their miseries were a little abated; but if they found none, and proceeded thus the next day, then the length of the march, with the excessive heats, and raging thirst they endured, dispatched many of them.
172THE soldiers then began to slay many beasts of burthen for their own use; for when provisions failed, they consulted together, and killed both horses and mules and eat their flesh, and afterwards excused themselves, by pretending that they died of heat or thirst, and there was none who took the pains to enquire thoroughly into the affair: even Alexander himself, it is said, was not ignorant of it; but as their necessities pleaded in their behalf, he deemed it prudent rather to conceal his knowledge thereof, than to seem to authorize it, by suffering the guilty persons to escape punishment. And now to such straits were they reduced, that neither the sick, nor those who were weary with travel, could be drawn any further, partly for want of beasts, and partly for want of carriages, which the soldiers themselves, because they could not easily drag them through the sands, broke in pieces. Many also broke their waggons before they begun this march, through fear that they should be forced to leave the shorter and nearer path, and take that which was further about, only because it was more convenient for carriages. On this account many were left behind, some by reason of sickness, some of heat and weariness, and others of thirst; and none took care either to restore them to health again, or to help them forwards; for the army moved apace, and the whole was so much in danger, that they were obliged to neglect the care of particular persons. If any chanced to fall asleep, by reason of the vast fatigues of a hard night’s march, when they awaked, if they had strength, they followed the army by the track of their foot-steps, though few of them ever came up with it, the far greatest part sinking into the sands, like sailors into the ocean, and so perishing. Another accident also happened, which equally affected man and beast; for the Gadrosian country, like the Indies, is subject to rains, while the Etesian winds blow; but these rains fall not in the plains, but among the mountains, where the clouds, not reaching their tops, are, as it were, pent up by the winds, and dissolved into showers. When the army, therefore, encamped near a small brook, for the sake of water, the same, about the second watch of the night (being swelled with sudden rains, which none of them perceived) poured down such a dreadful inundation, that many women and children, who followed the camp, with the royal furniture, and the baggage mules which were left alive, were swept away. Nay, so furious was the deluge, that the soldiers were hardly able to save themselves, many of them losing their arms, and some few their lives: many also, who had long endured the utmost extremities of heat and thirst, finding plenty of water at their first coming here, drank to excess, and died. And hence it was that Alexander would never, after that time, suffer them to encamp near a torrent, but at the distance of twenty furlongs, at least, to hinder his men from rushing too violently forwards, and drinking too 173 large draughts, to their own destruction. He also took care that those who came first should not run into the water with their feet, and thereby render it unwholesome to the rest of the army.
WHILE the army laboured under the most dreadful inconveniences of heat, and thirst in this desert, Alexander performed one gallant act, which I can by no means pass over in silence, though some authors affirm it was not done here, but in the deserts of Parapamisus. As the forces continued their march through these sands, which reflected the burning rays of the sun upon them, it was necessary that they should send out parties daily to seek for water; the King, though ready to faint away with thirst; marched on foot, at the head of his troops, that his officers and soldiers (as is usual in such cases) might the more patiently endure those hardships which their General shared in common with them. In the mean while some light-armed soldiers, who were dispatched to search for water, found a small quantity, not far from the army, in the channel of a brook, almost dried up, but it was very muddy. However, they drew it up, and bringing it in a shield, presented it to the King, as a choice gift. He received it, and returning due thanks to those who brought it, poured it immediately upon the ground, in presence of the army. This action of his encouraged the soldiers, as much as if every man had drank a share of that water which he refused to taste; and is extraordinary self-denial is no less praise-worthy than the noble example he shewed of a wise and consummate General. Another accident happened here, which, if it had not been speedily remedied, might have occasioned the loss of the whole army; for the sands being moved to and fro by the winds, and all the surface reduced to a level, their guides themselves were at a loss how to conduct the army any further, for no sign of any track appeared to point out the path, nor was there so much as a tree, nor a shrub, nor any certain hillock, to be seen to direct them; besides, they were unacquainted with the manner of observing the motions of the sun by day, and the stars by night, to regulate their march, as mariners at sea do their course by the two Bears; the Phœnicians by the Lesser, but most other nations by the Greater. In this difficulty, Alexander was forced to proceed as chance directed him. However, he ordered his army to turn to the left, and himself, with a few choice horse, went before to point out the road, but their horses, quite spent with heat, were most of them left behind, insomuch that only he, with five of his followers, passed through the sands to the sea-shore safe on horseback. However, on their arrival there, they dug near the coast, and found plenty of water, sweet and clear; whereupon he ordered the army thither, and, after that, travelled seven days along the sea-coast, and always 174 found plenty of water. Then his guides assuring him they knew the way again, they left the sea, and led the army into the inland parts again.
AS soon as Alexander arrived at the capital city of the Gadrosi, he allowed his soldiers some rest. He then deposed Apollophanes, because he had taken no care to observe what was ordered him, and Thoas was deputed to govern in his stead; but he dying soon after, Sibyrtius was appointed to succeed him. He was first made Governor of Carmania, but that being given to Tlepolemus, the son of Pythophanes, he was promoted to the government of the Arachoti and Gadrosi. And now the King was upon his march for Carmania, when he received news that Philip (whom he had constituted his Lieutenant in India) was basely murdered by the mercenary soldiers, but that the murderers were most of them seized, and put to death by the Macedonians, who were Philip’s guards, partly in the act, and partly afterwards. He then dispatched orders to Eudemus and Taxiles, by letters, that they should take care of the administration of affairs in that province for a while, till he could send a new deputy thither. When he entered Carmania, Craterus came to him, with the rest of his forces, and the elephants, and brought Ordones with him, whom he seized, because he had attempted to revolt. At the same time arrived Stasanor, governor of the Arii and Drangæ, and Pharismanes, the son of Phrataphernes, governor of Parthia and Hyrcania. Cleander also, with Sitalces and Heracon, captains of the forces which were left with Parmenio in Media, waited upon him there, with a great part of the army under their command. Cleander and Sitalces were accused by the Medians, as well as by the army, of spoiling their temples, removing their ancient ornaments, and committing many other acts of avarice, lust, and cruelty, among them, and the crimes laid to their charge being full proved against them, they were ordered to be put to death, that other Governors, or Presidents, or Lieutenants, who should succeed them, might be deterred from treading in their footsteps, for fear of meeting with their punishment; and such exemplary pieces of justice was one great means of continuing the nations under Alexander’s command firm in their allegiance, whether they were subdued by force of arms, or yielded voluntarily, notwithstanding they were so many, and lay so remote from another, for he would never suffer any governor of a province to injure the people committed to his care. Heracon, at that time, baffled his accusers; but being soon after seized by the Susians, and accused of demolishing a temple of theirs, he also suffered death. Stasanor and Phraternes brought vast numbers of camels and beasts of burthen to the King; for when they heard that he had led his army through the country of the Gadrosi, they easily imagined he would meet 175 with all the inconveniences and hardships imaginable, for which reason they brought him that supply; and, indeed, both they and the beasts arrived very seasonably. He then divided the beasts and camels partly among the governors, and partly among the troops, centuries, and cohorts, as their number would allow, or the other occasions required.
SOME authors tell us (but with no great probability of truth) that Alexander, lying extended with his friends, upon two chariots chained together, and having their ears entertained with the most delicious music, led his army through Carmania, the soldiers following him with dances and garlands, and that the Carmanians prepared all things for so pompous a procession through their territories. They also add, that this was done in emulation of the ancient Bacchanals of Dionysus; for the story goes, that Bacchus having conquered India, passed through the greatest part of Asia in this manner, and, on that account, obtained the name of Triumphus; and that warlike pomps or processions have, ever since that time, been called triumphs. But as neither Ptolemy nor Aristobulus, nor any grave and judicious author has mentioned this, let it suffice that it is not here told as any ways credible; for Aristobulus gives us a quite different account of the matter, namely, that Alexander, having got safe into Carmania, gave thanks, and offered sacrifices to the gods for his victories in India, and the preservation of his army in the country of the Gadrosi, and tells us, that he also exhibited gymnic and musical sports, as usual. He then appointed Peucestas to be one of his body-guards, for he designed to bestow the government of Persia upon him, and honoured him with this, in the mean time, as a testimony of his favour, for his eminent service among the Malli. The number of his body-guards were then seven: Leonnatus, the son of Antæus; Hephæstion, the son of Amyntor; Lysimachus, the son of Agathocles; Aristonus, the son of Pisæus; these were Pellæans: Perdiccas, the son of Orontes the Orestian; and Ptolemy, the son of Lagus, and Python, the son of Crateas, Eordeans; but an eighth was then added, namely, Peucestas, who saved Alexander’s life, by defending him with his shield. About this time Nearchus, Commander-in-Chief, or Admiral of the royal navy, having sailed along the coast of the Oritæ, Gadrosi, and Icthyophagi, arrived at the habitable part of the Carmanian shore, and coming to the King, related whatever had happened to him, and what he saw worthy of observation in that voyage through the foreign ocean. Hereupon he was immediately sent back to the fleet, with orders to sail to the Susian shores, and the mouth of the Tigris. But how he performed this voyage from the river Indus to the Persian Gulph, and the mouth of the Tigris, I shall relate in a 176 separate tract, from Nearchus himself, whose Greek journal thereof is still extant, and shall annex it to this history, if life allows me time and opportunity to finish it. Alexander then dispatched away Hephæstion, with the greatest part of his army, and the elephants and beasts of burthen, along the sea-coast, from Carmania into Persia, because, as he was to make that journey in the winter season, the sea-coast of that country was not only the mildest, but the fleet abounded in all things necessary for the army on board.
HE then, with his best and most expeditious light-armed foot, his auxiliary horse, and some part of his archers, marched towards Pasargadæ, a city in Persia, having before sent Stasanor back to his own province. When he arrived on the confines of Persia, he found not Phrasaortes, his Lieutenant, executing his office (for he died while Alexander was employed in his Indian wars), but Orsines acted in his stead; not by any especial order, but because he deemed it not unworthy of Alexander that a Persian should undertake the administration, since none besides were at that time capable of managing it. Atropates, Governor of Media, came to meet the King there, and brought with him Baryaxes the Mede, (who had put the royal tiara upon his head, and presumed to style himself King of Media and Persia) and with him all adherents, who had endeavoured to revolt, whom Alexander caused to be put to death. He was strangely disturbed in mind, when he came to understand what havoc had been made of the tomb of Cyrus, which Aristobulus tells us he found rifled and broke in pieces. This tomb was placed in the royal gardens at Pasargadæ, and round it was planted a grove of all kind of trees: the place also was well watered, and the surface of the earth all round cloathed with beautiful verdure. The basis thereof consisted of one large stone of a quadrangular form. Above was a small edifice, with an arched roof of stone, and a door or entrance so very narrow, that the slenderest man could scarce pass through. Within this edifice was the golden coffin, wherein the body of Cyrus was preserved, as also the bed, whose supporters were of massy gold, curiously wrought; the covering thereof was of Babylonian tapestry, the carpets underneath of the finest wrought purple: the cloak and other royal robes were of Babylonian, but his drawers of Median workmanship. Their colour was chiefly purple, but some of them were of various dyes. The chain round his neck, his bracelets, his ear-rings, and his sword, were all of gold, adorned with precious stones. A costly table was also placed there, and a bed, whereon lay the coffin which contained the King’s body. There was also within the inclosure, near the ascent to the tomb, a small house built for the Magi, who had the keeping of the tomb: that charge was confirmed on them by Cambyses, the son of 177 Cyrus, and descended from the fathers to their children. They had a sheep allowed every day for their maintenance, with a certain quantity of wine and flour; and a horse was sent them once every month to sacrifice to Cyrus. The inscription, which was wrote in the Persian language, was to this purpose: “O mortal, I am Cyrus, the son of Cambyses, founder of the Persian monarchy, and sovereign of Asia, grudge me not therefore this monument.”
ALEXANDER had had a vast ambition of seeing this monument, from the moment he became lord of the Persian monarchy, but at his coming there he found all gone, except the bed and the coffin; nay, they had not even spared the royal body, for the cover of the coffin was torn off and taken away, and the body cast forth: they had attempted also to carry off the coffin, and had accordingly battered and bruised it much, by endeavouring to break it in pieces, for the more easy conveyance; but not being able to compass their designs, they were forced to leave it. Aristobulus assures us, that he was appointed by Alexander to see this monument restored, that the parts of the royal body which still remained should be again laid in the coffin, and a new cover be made, that whatever was broke should be made whole. That the bed should be adorned with crowns, and other ornaments, like those which had been taken away, the same both as to number, form, and value; and that the entrance into the little edifice should be walled up with stone, and the royal signet applied thereto. After this, Alexander seized the Magi, and examined them strictly concerning the authors of this villany, but they would neither confess any thing of themselves, nor others; and there being no proof against them, they were acquitted. He then returned to the royal palace of the Persian monarchs, which he had before laid in ashes, which act of his I can neither commend, nor did he himself approve it, at his return. Then many crimes were brought against Orsines, who had assumed the administration of affairs in Persia, after the decease of Phrasaortes the governor; as his spoiling their temples, defacing the royal monuments, and putting many of the Persians unjustly to death, whereupon he was ordered to be crucified. After this Peucestas, one of his body-guards (for his singular merit in many instances, but especially for preserving his life among the Malli, with the hazard of his own) was made governor of Persia. He was a man who conformed himself to the customs of that nation; and, in order to endear himself to them the more, no sooner entered upon his government than he arrayed himself in the Median habit, learned the Persian language, and was the only one among the Macedonians who shewed an exact conformity to them in all respects; and this demeanour of his not 178 only gained him Alexander’s applause, but the Persians gladly received him, because he seemed to prefer their habits and manners to those of his own country.
For online additions, corrections, notes & design:
Copyright © 2007
by Elfinspell