The Invasion of India by Alexander the Great as described by Arrian, Q. Curtius, Diodoros, Plutarch and Justin: Being Translations of such portions of the Works of these and other Classical Authors as describe Alexander's Campaigns in Afghanistan, the Panjâb, Sindh, Gedrosia and Karmania

by John Watson McCrindle

BIBLIOTHECA HISTORICA OF DIODÔROS SICULUS

Seventeenth Book

Chapter LXXXIV.—Alexander at Massaga—His treachery towards the Indian mercenaries who had capitulated

When the capitulation on those terms had been ratified by oaths, the Queen [of Massaga], to show her admiration of Alexander’s magnanimity, sent out to him most valuable presents, with an intimation that she would fulfil all the stipulations. Then the mercenaries at once, in accordance with the terms of the agreement, evacuated the city, and after retiring to a distance of eighty stadia, pitched their camp unmolested without thought of what was to happen. But Alexander, who was actuated by an implacable enmity against the mercenaries, and had kept his troops under arms ready for action, pursued the barbarians, and falling suddenly upon them, made a great slaughter of their ranks. The barbarians at first loudly protested that they were attacked in violation of sworn obligations, and invoked the gods whom he had desecrated by taking false oaths in their name. But Alexander with loud voice retorted that his covenant merely bound him to let them depart from the city, and was by no means a league of perpetual amity between them and the Macedonians. The mercenaries, undismayed by the greatness of their danger, drew their ranks together in form of a ring, within which they placed the women and children to guard them on all sides against their assailants. As they were now desperate, and by their audacity and feats of valour, made the conflict in which they closed hot work for the enemy, while the Macedonians held it a point of honour not to be outdone in courage by a horde of barbarians, great was the astonishment and alarm which the peril of the crisis created. For as the combatants were locked together fighting hand to hand, death and wounds were dealt round in every variety of form. Thus the Macedonians, when once their long spikes had shattered the shields of the barbarians, pierced their vitals with the steel points of these weapons, and on the other hand the mercenaries never hurled their javelins without deadly effect against the near mark presented by the dense ranks of the enemy. When many were thus wounded and not a few killed, the women, taking the arms of the fallen, fought side by side with the men, for the imminence of the danger and the great interests at stake forced them to do violence to their nature, and to take an active part in the defence. Accordingly some of them who had supplied themselves with arms, did their best to cover their husbands with their shields, while others who were without arms did much to impede the enemy by flinging themselves upon them and catching hold of their shields. The defenders, however, after fighting desperately along with their wives, were at last overpowered by superior numbers, and met a glorious death which they would have disdained to exchange for a life with dishonour.[333] Alexander spared the unwarlike and unarmed multitude, as well as the women that still survived, but took them away under charge of the cavalry.

Chapter LXXXV.—Alexander captures the rock Aornos

He took many other cities, and put to death all who offered resistance to his arms. He then advanced to the rock called Aornos, unto which such of the inhabitants as survived had fled for refuge, because it was a stronghold of incomparable security.[334] Heraklês, it is said, had in the days of old assaulted this rock, but had abandoned the siege on the occurrence of violent earthquakes and signs from heaven. Now, when this story came to Alexander’s ears, it only whetted his eagerness to attack the stronghold, and match himself against the god in a contest for glory. The rock was 100 stadia in circuit, 16 stadia in height, and had a level surface, forming a complete circle. On its southern side it was washed by the Indus, the greatest of Indian rivers, but elsewhere it was all environed with deep ravines and inaccessible cliffs. When Alexander, who perceived the difficult nature of the ground, had given up all hope of taking the place by assault, there came to him an old man accompanied by his two sons. He was miserably poor, this man, and had lived a long time in that neighbourhood, inhabiting a cave with three lairs cut into the rock, which served as night-quarters for himself and his sons. He had thus a familiar knowledge of all that locality. This old man then, coming to the king, explained to him what his circumstances were, and undertook to guide his army up the difficult ascent, and take him to a position which commanded the barbarians in occupation of the rock. Alexander promised the man an ample recompense for this service, and in following his guidance seized in the first place the narrow pass which alone gave access to the rock, and, as there was no exit from it elsewhere, he so closely blocked up the enemy that no assistance could possibly reach them from any quarter. In the next place he set all his men to work to fill up with a mound the ravine which lay at the root of the rock. Having thus got nearer the place, he pushed the siege with all possible vigour, making assaults for seven days and as many nights without intermission, the troops taking duty by turns. The advantage, however, lay at first with the barbarians, who fought from a higher position, and killed many who pressed the attack too recklessly. But when the mound had been completed, and catapults which shot bolts to a great distance and other engines of war had been brought to bear against them, and when it became manifest besides that the king would by no means abandon the siege, the Indians were struck with despair. Alexander, whose sagacity foresaw what would occur, withdrew the guard which he had left at the pass, thus giving the men on the rock, if they wished to retire, a free passage out. So then the barbarians, dismayed alike by the valour of the Macedonians and the king’s fixed ambition to be master of the place, evacuated the rock by night.

Chapter LXXXVI.—Alexander crosses the Indus, and is hospitably received by Taxilês

Alexander having thus outwitted the Indians by these feints, obtained possession of the rock without risk being incurred. He then gave his guide the stipulated reward, and moved off with his army at the very time when Aphrikês, an Indian who had 20,000 soldiers and 15 elephants, was hovering about in that locality.[335] This man certain of his followers put to death, and, having brought his head to Alexander, procured for this service their own safety. The king took them into his own ranks, and got possession of the elephants, which were wandering at large about the country.

He then came to the river Indus, and, finding that the thirty-oared galleys which he ordered had been prepared, and the passage bridged, he gave his army a rest of thirty days to recruit their strength. Having then offered to the gods sacrifices on a magnificent scale, he led his army over to the other side, where he met with an incident which took a strange and unexpected turn. For Taxilês being by this time dead, his son Môphis[336] had succeeded to the government. Now Môphis had before this not only sent word to Alexander, then in Sogdiana, that he would fight on his side against any Indians who might appear in arms against him, but at this juncture had also sent ambassadors to say that he surrendered his kingdom into his hands. So when Alexander was at a distance of forty stadia he set forth to meet him, attended by his friends, and his army drawn up in battle order and his elephants ranged in line. Alexander, seeing a great host advancing towards him drawn up as if for action, thought that the Indian had treacherously offered to surrender that he might thus fall upon the Macedonians before they could prepare for battle. He therefore ordered the trumpeters to sound to arms, and, having marshalled his troops, advanced to give the Indians battle. But Môphis, on seeing the commotion in the Macedonian ranks, and comprehending its cause, left his army, and riding forward with a few of his friends, corrected the mistake into which the Macedonians had fallen, and surrendered himself and his army to the king. Alexander, to mark his approbation of this conduct, gave back his kingdom to Môphis, and ever afterwards treated him as a friend and ally. He also changed his name to Taxilês.[337]

Chapter LXXXVII.—Alexander marches against Pôros—The appearance presented by the Indian army with its elephants

Such were the transactions of this year—that in which Chremês was archon at Athens, and in which the Romans appointed Publius Cornelius and Aulus Postumius consuls.[338] Thereafter Alexander, who had recruited his army by an interval of rest in the country of Taxilês, took the field against Pôros, the king of the neighbouring Indians, who had an army of more than 50,000 foot, about 3000 horse, above 1000 chariots, and 130 elephants. This king had made an alliance with another prince called Embisaros,[339] the ruler of an adjacent tribe, and who possessed an army which was but little inferior to his own. Alexander, on learning that this king was 400 stadia distant, resolved to attack Pôros before his ally could reach him. Pôros, being warned of the near approach of the enemy, at once drew up his troops in order of battle. His cavalry he distributed on the wings, and his elephants he placed in his front line at equi-distances, and so arranged as to strike the enemy with terror. In the intervals between the animals he stationed the rest of his soldiers, instructing them to succour the elephants and protect them from being assailed in flank by the enemy’s missiles. The whole disposition of his army gave it very much the appearance of a city—the elephants as they stood resembling its towers, and the men-at-arms placed between them resembling the lines of wall intervening between tower and tower. But Alexander, having observed how the forces of the enemy had been disposed, regulated thereby the formation of his own line.

Chapter LXXXVIII.—The defeat of Pôros

The Macedonian cavalry began the action, and destroyed nearly all the chariots of the Indians. Upon this the elephants, applying to good use their prodigious size and strength, killed some of the enemy by trampling them under their feet, and crushing their armour and their bones, while upon others they inflicted a terrible death, for they first lifted them aloft with their trunks, which they had twined round their bodies, and then dashed them down with great violence to the ground. Many others they deprived in a moment of life by goring them through and through with their tusks. But the Macedonians heroically bore the brunt of this dreadful onslaught, and having killed with their long pikes the men stationed between the elephants, made the poise of the battle equal. They next assailed the animals themselves with a storm of javelins, thus piercing them with numerous wounds, which so tortured them that the Indians mounted on their backs lacked sufficient strength to control their movements, for the animals on heading to their own ranks bore against them with an impetuosity not to be repressed, and trampled their own friends under their feet. Then ensued a great confusion, but Pôros, who was mounted on the most powerful of all his elephants, on seeing what had happened, gathered around him forty of the animals that were still under control, and falling upon the enemy with all the weight of the elephants, made a great slaughter with his own hand, for he far surpassed in bodily strength any soldier of his army. In stature he measured five cubits, while his girth was such that his breastplate was twice the size required for a man of ordinary bulk. For this reason the javelins he flung from his hand flew with all but the impetus of shots from a catapult. The Macedonians who stood opposed to him being terror-struck at his astonishing prowess, Alexander sent to their assistance the archers and the divisional light troops, with orders that every man should make Pôros the object of his aim. The soldiers lost no time in carrying out these orders. Their bolts flew thick and fast, and as the Indian king at whom they were all aimed presented a broad mark, none of them failed to carry home. Pôros fought on with heroic courage, but being drained of blood by the number of his wounds, he fainted away, and leaning on his elephant for support, was borne to the ground. A report having spread that their king was dead, the remnant of the Indian host fled from the field, but many of them were slain in the flight.

Chapter LXXXIX.—Losses sustained by each side in the battle of the Hydaspês—Alexander orders a fleet to be built on the Hydaspês.

Alexander having gained this splendid victory, recalled his soldiers from the field by sound of trumpet. In this engagement more than 12,000 of the Indians fell, among whom were two of the sons of Pôros, and his generals, and the most distinguished of his other officers. More than 9000 men were taken prisoners, and eighty elephants were captured. Pôros himself, who was still alive, was given into the hands of the Indians to be cured of his wounds. Of the Macedonians, there fell 280 horsemen and more than 700 foot-soldiers. The king buried the dead, and in proportion to their merits rewarded those who had signalised themselves by their bravery in the action. He then sacrificed to the Sun, as the deity who had given him the conquest of the eastern parts of the world. As the mountainous country adjacent produced much well-grown fir, and not a little cedar and pine, besides an unlimited quantity of other kinds of timber fit for building ships, he prepared what ships he required. For he intended, after he had reached the limits of India and subdued all its inhabitants, to sail down stream to the ocean. He founded two cities, one beyond the river at the place where he crossed, and the other on the field where he had defeated Pôros.[340] The work of building the ships was quickly finished, owing to the great number of hands employed on it; and he then appointed Pôros, who had recovered from his wounds, in consideration of the valour he had displayed, to be king of the country over which he had formerly ruled. He then gave his army thirty days to recruit in this region, which yielded an unstinted supply of all the necessaries of life.

Chapter XC.—Some account of the serpents, apes, and trees seen by the Macedonians in India

In the mountainous country which adjoined the scene of action there were found other peculiar products besides timber for shipbuilding, for it abounded with snakes of an extraordinary size, being sixteen cubits in length,[341] and with many kinds of apes, which also were remarkable for their size. The apes of themselves suggested what stratagem should be employed in hunting them, for they are prone to imitate whatever they see men doing, but yet are not easily overpowered by mere force, since they are possessed both of great strength of body and sharpness of wit. Some members, therefore, of the hunting party smear their eyes with honey, others in full view of their game put on their shoes, while others hang mirrors around their necks. Then, having affixed nooses to their shoes, they leave these behind them, and in place of the honey they substitute gum, and at the same time attach hauling-ropes to the mirrors. So when the apes try to do all that they had seen done by the men they find themselves powerless to do so, for their eyelids are glued together, their feet entangled in the nooses, and their bodies held fast by the ropes. In these circumstances they fall an easy prey to the hunters.

Alexander having struck terror into the king called Embisaros, who had come too late to the assistance of Pôros, compelled him to do what he commanded. Having then crossed the river with his army, he advanced through a country of surpassing fertility, for it had various kinds of trees which rose to a height of seventy cubits, and had such a girth that it took fully four men to clasp them round, while their shadow projected to a distance of 300 feet. This region also was much infested with snakes. These were small in size, and marked with diverse colours, for while some were like bronze-coloured wands, others had a thick hair-like mane, and with their sting inflicted a death of acute pain, for the sufferings of any one they bit were dreadful, and were accompanied with a flux of sweat which looked like blood. On this account the Macedonians, being terribly plagued by their stings, suspended their couches from the trees, and kept awake the greater part of the night; but when they had learned from the natives that a certain root was an antidote, its application relieved them from their sufferings.[342]

Chapter XCI.—Alexander pursues Pôros, nephew of the great Pôros—Subdues the Adrestai and Kathaians and enters the kingdom of Sôpeithês—Peculiar customs of the natives of these parts

When he moved forward with his forces certain men came to inform him that Pôros, the king of the country, who was the nephew of that Pôros whom he had defeated, had quitted his kingdom and fled to the nation of the Gandaridai. Alexander, irritated at the news, despatched Hêphaistiôn into his country with a body of troops and ordered him to hand over the kingdom to the other Pôros who was on his side. He then marched in person against the Adrestai,[343] and having reduced some of their cities which offered resistance, and persuaded others to surrender, he invaded the country of the Kathaians, a people among whom the custom prevailed that widows should be burned along with their husbands, the barbarians having put in force a decree to this effect because an instance had occurred of a wife procuring her husband’s death by poison.[344] The king laid siege to their greatest and strongest city and burned it to the ground, in revenge for the many dangers incurred in capturing it. While he was besieging another considerable city the Indians in a suppliant manner entreated his mercy and he spared them accordingly.

He next warred against the cities that were subject to the sway of Sôpeithês.[345] These were governed by laws in the highest degree salutary, for while in other respects their political system was one to admire, beauty was held among them in the highest estimation. For this reason a discrimination between the children born to them is made at the stage of infancy, when those that are perfect in their limbs and features, and have constitutions which promise a combination of strength and beauty, are allowed to be reared, while those that have any bodily defect are condemned to be destroyed as not worth the rearing.[346] They make their marriages also in accordance with this principle, for in selecting a bride they care nothing whether she has a dowry and a handsome fortune besides, but look only to her beauty and other advantages of the outward person. It follows that the inhabitants of these cities are generally held in higher estimation than the rest of their countrymen. Their king Sôpeithês, who was admired by all for his beauty and his stature, which exceeded four cubits, came forth from the city where his palace was, and on surrendering himself and his kingdom to Alexander was reinstated in his authority by the clemency of the conqueror. Sôpeithês with the utmost cordiality feasted the whole army in splendid style for several days.

Fig. 12.—Sôphytês.

Chapter XCII.—Courage and ferocity of the dogs in the dominions of Sôpeithês

Among the many valuable presents which he bestowed on Alexander were 150 dogs remarkable for their size and strength, and superior also in other points, and said to have been bred from tigresses.[347] Being desirous that Alexander should have proof of their mettle by seeing them at work, he placed a full-grown lion within an enclosure, and selecting two of the least valuable of the dogs included in the present, cast them to the lion. When these were likely to be vanquished by the wild beast he let loose other two dogs. Then when the four dogs together proved more than a match for the lion, a man who was sent into the ring with a knife cut away the right leg of one of the dogs. When the king loudly remonstrated, and his body-guards rushed forward and arrested the hand of the Indian, Sôpeithês announced that he would give three dogs instead of the one which was mutilated. Then the huntsman, taking hold of the leg, cut it away quietly bit by bit. The dog, without uttering so much as a yell or a moan of pain, kept his fangs fixed in the bite, until all his blood being drained he drew his last breath on the body of the lion.

Chapter XCIII.—Submission of Phêgeus—Advance to the Hypanis—Description given by Phêgeus of the country beyond the Hypanis—Of the Praisians and their king Xandrames

During these transactions Hêphaistiôn, who had made large conquests of Indian territory with the expedition under his command, rejoined Alexander, who, after having praised that general for his valour and devotion to his service, then led his army into the dominions of Phêgeus.[348] Here, as the natives welcomed the presence of the Macedonians, and Phêgeus came out with many gifts to meet them, Alexander consented to let him retain his kingdom. Then having for two days enjoyed along with his army the noble hospitality of this prince, he advanced toward the Hypanis,[349] a river with a width of seven stadia, a depth of six fathoms, and a violent current which made its passage difficult. He had obtained from Phêgeus a description of the country beyond the Indus: First came a desert which it would take twelve days to traverse; beyond this was the river called the Ganges which had a width of thirty-two stadia, and a greater depth than any other Indian river; beyond this again were situated the dominions of the nation of the Praisioi and the Gandaridai,[350] whose king, Xandrames, had an army of 20,000 horse, 200,000 infantry, 2000 chariots, and 4000 elephants trained and equipped for war. Alexander, distrusting these statements, sent for Pôros and questioned him as to their accuracy. Pôros assured him of the correctness of the information, but added that the king of the Gandaridai was a man of quite worthless character, and held in no respect, as he was thought to be the son of a barber.[351] This man—the king’s father—was of a comely person, and of him the queen had become deeply enamoured. The old king having been treacherously murdered by his wife, the succession had devolved on him who now reigned. Alexander, though sensible of the difficulties which would attend an expedition against the Gandaridai, had nevertheless no thought of swerving from the path of his ambition, but having in his favour the courage of the Macedonians and the responses of the oracles, he was buoyed up with the hope that he would conquer the barbarians, for had not the Pythian priestess pronounced him invincible, and had not Ammôn promised him the dominion of the whole world?[352]

Chapter XCIV.—Miserable condition of the Macedonian army—Its refusal to advance beyond the Hypanis

He saw, however, that his soldiers were dispirited by interminable campaigns, and by their exposure for nearly eight years to toils and dangers reduced to a condition of the utmost misery, and he therefore conceived it was necessary for him to animate his troops for the expedition against the Gandaridai[353] by plying them with suitable arguments. For death had made severe ravages in his ranks, and all hope was gone that his wars would ever come to an end. Then their horses’ hoofs had been worn off by ceaseless marches, and their weapons worn out by use. The Hellenic costumes again were by this time threadbare and could not be replaced, and hence the men were obliged to use cloth woven in barbaric looms wherewith to cut out such dresses for themselves as were worn by Indians. It also so happened that violent storms of rain burst from the clouds for the space of seventy days, accompanied with continual outbreaks of thunder and lightning. Alexander, considering this state of things an obstacle to his designs, placed all his hopes of gaining his ends on winning by benefactions the hearty support of his soldiers. Accordingly he allowed them to plunder the enemy’s country where supplies of all sorts abounded, and on those days when the army was busily engaged in foraging he called together the soldiers’ wives and children, and then promised to give the women an allowance of food month by month, and the children a donative according to the calculations of what their fathers received as the pay of their military rank. When the soldiers who had found a rich and ample booty returned to the camp, he gathered them all together, and in a well-weighed speech addressed the assembly on the subject of the expedition against the Gandaridai; but when the Macedonians would by no means assent to his proposals he renounced his contemplated enterprise.

Chapter XCV.—Alexander erects altars and other memorials near the Hypanis, and returns to the Akesinês

He then resolved to set up marks to indicate the limits to which he had advanced; so first of all he built altars to the twelve gods of 50 cubits in height. Having next enclosed an encampment thrice the size of the one he occupied, he dug round it a trench 50 feet broad and 40 feet deep, and with the earth cast up from this trench he erected a rampart of extraordinary dimensions. He further ordered quarters to be constructed as for foot-soldiers, each containing two beds 5 cubits in length for each man, and besides this accommodation, two stalls of twice the ordinary size for each horseman. Whatever else was to be left behind was directed to be likewise proportionately increased in size. His object in all this was not merely to make a camp as for heroes, but at the same time to leave among the people of the country tokens of mighty men to show with what enormous bodily strength they were endowed. When these works were finished he retraced his steps with all his army to the river Akesinês.[354] On reaching it he found that the boats had been built, and when he had rigged these out, he ordered an additional number to be constructed. At this time there arrived from Greece allies and mercenaries led by the generals in command of the allies, amounting to more than 30,000 foot and not much less than 6000 cavalry. Splendid full suits of armour besides were brought for the infantry to the number of 25,000,[355] and 100 talents of medicinal drugs, all which he distributed among the soldiers. When the equipment of the fleet was finished, and 200 boats without hatches and 800 tenders had been got ready, he proceeded to give names to the cities which had been founded on the banks of the river, calling one Nikaia in commemoration of his victory, and the other Boukephala after his horse that perished in the battle with Pôros.

Chapter XCVI.—Voyage to the Southern Ocean begun—Submission of the Siboi—The Agalassians attacked and conquered

Alexander now embarked with his friends, and started on the voyage to the Southern Ocean. The bulk of the army simultaneously marched along the banks of the river under the command of Krateros and Hêphaistiôn. On coming to the place where the Akesinês and Hydaspês join each other the king landed his troops, and led them against a people called the Siboi. These, it is said, were descended from the soldiers who, under Heraklês, attacked the rock Aornos, and after failing to capture it were settled by him in this part of the country. Alexander encamped near their capital, and thereupon the citizens who filled the highest offices came forth to meet him, and reminded him how they were connected by the ties of a common origin. They avowed themselves to be, in virtue of their kinship, ready and willing to do whatever he might require, and presented him also with magnificent gifts. Alexander was so gratified by their professions of goodwill that he permitted their cities to remain in the enjoyment of their freedom.[356] He then advanced his arms against their next neighbours; and finding that the people called Agalassians[357] had mustered an army of 40,000 foot and 3000 horse, he gave them battle, and proving victorious put the greater number of them to the sword. The rest, who had fled for safety to the adjacent towns, which were soon captured, he condemned to slavery. The remainder of the inhabitants had been collected into one place, and he seized 20,000 of them, who had taken refuge in a large city, which he stormed. The Indians, however, having barricaded the narrow streets, fought with great vigour from the houses, so that Alexander in pressing the attack lost not a few Macedonians. This enraged him, and he set fire to the city, burning with it most of its defenders.[358] He gave quarter, however, to 3000 of the survivors, who had fled for refuge to the citadel and sued for mercy.

Chapter XCVII.—Disaster to the fleet at the confluence of the rivers

He again embarked with his friends, and sailed down stream as far as the confluence of the Indus with the two rivers already mentioned. These mighty streams met with tumultuous roar, and formed at their junction many formidable eddies, which destroyed whatever sailing craft were sucked into their vortex. The current besides was so swift and strong that it baffled all the skill of the pilots. Two ships of war foundered in consequence, and of the other vessels not a few were stranded. A furious surge broke over the admiral’s ship itself—a mishap which nearly proved fatal to the king. Wherefore, as death itself stared him in the face, he stripped off his clothes, and in his naked condition clung to anything that offered a chance of safety. His friends were at the same time swimming alongside the ship, every one eager to receive the king in the event of its capsizing. The utmost confusion prevailed on board, the men contending with the force of the current, and the river baffling all human skill and endeavour, so that it was with the greatest difficulty Alexander made the shore, on which he was cast along with the vessels. For this unexpected deliverance he offered sacrifice to the gods for his escape from extreme peril after contending, like Achilles, with a river.[359]

Chapter XCVIII.—Combination of the Syrakousai and Malloi—Alexander, neglecting the warning of a soothsayer, attacks their stronghold, and scales the walls of its citadel

He undertook next an expedition against the Syrakousai[360] and the people called the Malloi, two populous and warlike nations. The inhabitants, he found, had mustered a force of 80,000 foot, 10,000 horse, and 700 chariots. Before Alexander’s coming they had been at feud with each other, but on his approach had settled their differences, and cemented an alliance by intermarriage, each nation taking and giving in exchange 10,000 of their young women for wives.[361] They did not, however, combine their forces and take the field, for as a dispute had arisen about the leadership, they had drawn off into the adjoining towns. Alexander, while approaching the city that first came in his way, was pondering how he could lay siege to it and capture it at the very first assault, when one of the soothsayers, named Dêmophôn, came to him and said that he had been forewarned by certain omens that the king in besieging the place would be very dangerously wounded, and he therefore advised Alexander to let that city alone for the present, and meanwhile turn his attention to other enterprises. But the king sharply rebuked him for hampering the valour of men in the heat of action. He then made arrangements for the conduct of the siege, and he led himself the way to the city, which he was ambitious to reduce at once by a vigorous assault. The battering train was, however, late in coming up, and he was himself the first to burst open a postern, and by this side entrance get into the city. He then cut down many of the defenders, put the rest to flight, and pursued them into the citadel. As the Macedonians were meanwhile detained fighting at the wall, he seized a ladder, and applying it to the rampart of the fortress, began to mount it, holding the while his shield above his head. He climbed up with such activity that he quickly reached the top, and surprised the barbarians who were stationed there on guard. The Indians did not venture to close with him, but assailed him from a distance off with darts and arrows, so that the king was sorely galled with the pelting storm of missiles. By this time the Macedonians had applied to the walls two scaling ladders, up which they were mounting, when both of them from being overcrowded broke down, precipitating every one to the ground.

Chapter XCIX.—Alexander left alone leaps down from the walls into the citadel, bravely defends himself, but is dangerously wounded—He is rescued by his friends, who capture the stronghold—The Greek colonists in Bactria revolt

The king being thus isolated from all help, performed a feat of marvellous audacity, which well deserves to be put on record. For, thinking it would be unworthy of his characteristic good fortune if he retired from the walls to his men leaving his purpose unaccomplished, he leaped down, arms and all, alone as he was, into the citadel. The Indians hastened up to assail him, but with undaunted courage he sustained the brunt of their onslaught. Protecting himself on his right hand by the shelter of a tree rooted by the wall, and on the left by the wall itself, he thus kept the Indians at bay, firmly fixed in his purpose to bear himself right gallantly like a king by whom such great things had been achieved, and ambitious to make the close of his life the most glorious of his whole career, for numerous were the blows which he received on his helmet, nor few were those which he caught on his shield. At last, however, being hit by an arrow under the pap, he sank on his knee, overcome by the force of the blow. The Indian who had shot the arrow immediately sprang forward, thinking lightly of the danger, but while he was fetching down a blow, Alexander smote him with his sword under the ribs, and, as the wound was mortal, the barbarian fell. Then the king, grasping a branch within reach of his hand, and raising himself up with it, challenged any of the Indians who so wished to come forward and fight him. Just at this crisis Peukestas, one of the hypaspists, who had mounted by a different ladder, was the first who succeeded in covering the king with his shield. After him many others appeared on the scene, who terrified the barbarians and saved Alexander. The city was then stormed, and the Macedonians, in their rage for what the king had suffered, slew all whom they could anywhere find, and filled the city with dead bodies. While the king’s attention was for many days absorbed with the curing of his wound, the Greek colonists of Bactria and Sogdiana, who had long felt it a great grievance to be settled among barbarians, when they heard at that time that the king had died of a wound, revolted from the Macedonians, and, having mustered to the number of 3000, set out on their return home. They had many sufferings to endure on the way, and they were subsequently put to death by the Macedonians after Alexander’s death.

Chapter C.—Alexander recovers from his wound—Combat between Koragos and Dioxippos—Dioxippos becomes victor

Alexander, on being cured of his wound, gave thank-offerings to the gods for his recovery, and entertained his friends with great banquets. During the revels a noteworthy incident occurred. Among the invited guests was a Macedonian called Koragos,[362] who was remarkable for his great bodily strength and the number of his brave exploits in war. This man, in an access of drunken bravado, challenged to single combat the Athenian Dioxippos, a prize-fighter, who had been crowned at the public games for victories of the highest distinction. The guests present at the carousal naturally were interested in the match, and Dioxippos having accepted the challenge, the king fixed the day on which the combat should come off. At the time appointed for the match the people thronged in tens of thousands to witness the spectacle. The Macedonians, who were of the same race with Koragos, and the king himself joined in showing their eagerness for the success of their compatriot, while the Greeks were unanimous in backing up Dioxippos. The champions advanced into the lists, the Macedonian arrayed in costly armour, the Athenian naked, rubbed over with oil, and wearing a close-fitting skull-cap made of felt. As both men excited the wonder and admiration of the spectators by the massive strength of their limbs and their superlative prowess, the contest, it was anticipated, would be of the nature of a fight between two gods; for the Macedonian, with his stalwart form and the dazzling splendour of his arms, which filled the beholders with amazement, was taken to be like Mars, while Dioxippos, by his prodigious strength, his practice in wrestling and carrying the characteristic club, showed like Heraklês. When they advanced to the attack the Macedonian from the proper distance discharged his javelin, but his antagonist, swerving a little aside, eluded the coming blow. Then the former again advanced with his long Macedonian pike levelled for the charge, but the other on seeing him approach sufficiently near, struck the pike with his club and shattered it to pieces. The Macedonian, after being thus twice baffled, came on to the next round intending now to use his sword, but when he was just on the point of drawing it, Dioxippos unexpectedly sprang forward, and with his left hand seized the hand that was drawing the sword, while with his right hand he pushed Koragos from where he stood, tripped up his legs, and hurled him to the ground. Then Dioxippos, planting his foot on his foeman’s neck and lifting up his club, directed his eyes towards the spectators.

Chapter CI.—The Macedonians plot against Dioxippos, who in consequence takes away his own life—Alexander’s regret for his loss

The multitude having loudly applauded the victor for the supreme courage whereby, contrary to all expectation, he had won the day, the king ordered him to let his antagonist go, and then, dismissing the assembly, withdrew to his tent deeply mortified by the discomfiture of the Macedonian. Then Dioxippos, letting the fallen man go, quitted the field with a famous victory and wearing fillets with which his countrymen had adorned his brows in gratitude for the honour which he had conferred on all Greeks in common. Fortune, however, did not allow the victor any long time to enjoy his triumph, for the king became more and more alienated from him, and all Alexander’s friends and all the Macedonians about the court were so envious of his worth and fame, that they laid a plot against him, and persuaded the chief steward of the royal household to hide away one of the golden wine-cups under his pillow. So at their next banquet when the wine was served, they charged Dioxippos with theft on the pretence that the cup had been found in his possession, thus subjecting him to shame and disgrace. From this he saw clearly that the Macedonians with one consent had set themselves against him, and he then rose from the banquet, and soon afterwards, when within his own chamber, wrote a letter to Alexander regarding the machinations which had been formed against him. This letter he entrusted to his own servants to deliver into the king’s own hands. He then put an end to his life, and thus, by having inconsiderately accepted a challenge, terminated his career by an act of still greater folly. Many of those accordingly who blamed him for a want of sense, sarcastically remarked it was a misfortune to have great strength of body and but a modicum of brain. The king on perusal of the letter took the man’s end much to heart, and in after times often regretted the loss of a man of his noble qualities. As he made no use of him in his lifetime, but felt the want of him when he was gone, and when regret was unavailing, he came to know the nobility of the man’s nature from its contrast to the baseness of his calumniators.[363]

Chapter CII.—The Sambastai, Sodrai, and Massanoi submit to Alexander, who founds near the banks of the river a city called Alexandreia—He conquers the kingdoms of Mousikanos, Portikanos, and Sambos—The last effects his escape

Alexander having given orders to his army to march along the river in a line parallel with the course of the navigation, proceeded on his voyage down stream towards the ocean, and on reaching the dominions of the Sambastai,[364] landed to invade their country. They were a people inferior to none in India either for numbers or for bravery. They dwelt in cities in which the democratic form of government prevailed, and on hearing that the Macedonians were coming to attack them collected 60,000 foot soldiers, 6000 horse, and 500 chariots. But when the fleet bore in sight they were thrown into great alarm by the novelty of the appearance it presented and the unexpectedness of its presence, and, as they were at the same time disheartened by the reports which circulated about the Macedonians, they adopted the advice of their elders not to fight, and therefore sent on an embassy consisting of fifty of their foremost citizens, under the belief that they would be treated with all proper courtesy. The king having commended them for coming and expressed his readiness to make peace with them, was presented by the inhabitants with gifts of great magnificence, and was besides accorded heroic honours. He then moved on towards the tribes called Sodrai[365] and Massanoi,[366] who occupied the country on both sides of the river, and in these parts he founded near the river the city of Alexandreia,[367] in which he planted a colony of 10,000 men. He next reached the dominions of King Mousikanos, seized that potentate, and, having put him to death, subjugated his people.[368] He next invaded the territories under the sway of Portikanos, and took two cities at the first assault, which he permitted the soldiers to sack and then burned. Portikanos himself fled into a part of the country which offered means of defence, but in a battle he was defeated and slain. All the cities subject to his sceptre Alexander captured and razed to the ground, and by these severe measures spread consternation among the surrounding tribes.[369] He next plundered the kingdom of Sambos, and having enslaved and destroyed most of his cities, put upwards of 80,000 of the barbarians to the sword.[370] The nation called the Brahmanoi were involved in like calamities, but, as the rest sued for mercy, Alexander punished the most guilty and acquitted the rest of the offences charged against them. King Sambos escaped the danger with which he was menaced by taking flight with thirty elephants into the country beyond the Indus.

Chapter CIII.—Harmatelia holds out against Alexander—In a battle with its inhabitants Ptolemy is wounded by a poisoned arrow, but is cured by an antidote revealed to Alexander in a dream

At the extremity of the country of the Brachmans there lay in the midst of difficult ground the city called Harmatelia,[371] and as the inhabitants presumed alike on their valour and the security of their position, Alexander despatched against them a few light-armed troops, who were directed to hang on the rear of the enemy, and to take to flight in case they were attacked. These men proceeded to attack the ramparts, but being only 500 strong were regarded with contempt. A body therefore of 3000 men under arms sallied out from the city against these troops, which pretending to be panic-struck, took to a precipitate flight. But the king with a few followers stood his ground against the barbarians who gave pursuit, and after a severe conflict slew some and took others prisoners. On the king’s side, however, not a few received wounds which all but proved fatal, since the barbarians had anointed their steels with a deadly tincture, and had taken the field to bring the war to an issue in full reliance on its efficacy. This virulent tincture was prepared from snakes of a certain kind which were hunted by the natives, who on killing them exposed their carcases to the sun in order that the flesh might be decomposed by the burning heat of his rays. As this process went on the juices fell out in drops, and by this liquid the poison was secreted from the carcases of the snakes. Accordingly, when any one was wounded, his body at once became numb, and sharp pains soon succeeded, while the whole frame was shaken with tremblings and convulsions. The skin became cold and livid, and the stomach discharged bile. A foam, moreover, of a black colour issued from the wound and putrefied. At this stage the poison quickly spread to the vital parts of the body, and caused a death of fearful agony. Those, therefore, who had been severely wounded and those who had received nothing more than an accidental scratch suffered equally. While the wounded were perishing by such a horrible death, the king was not so much grieved for the others, but was in the deepest distress of mind on account of Ptolemy, who afterwards became a king, and for whom he had at that time a warm affection. Now at this crisis an incident occurred of a strange and marvellous nature, which concerned Ptolemy, and which some ascribed to the provident care of the gods for his safety. For as he was loved by all the soldiers for his bravery and his unbounded generosity, so in his hour of need he obtained the kindly help he required. For the king in his sleep saw a vision in which he appeared to see a serpent holding a plant in its mouth, and showing its nature and its powers, and the place where it grew. Then Alexander, when he awoke, had search made for the plant and discovered it. This he ground into a powder, which he not only laid as a plaster on Ptolemy’s body, but also administered to him as a potion, and by this means restored him to health. When the valuable properties of the plant became known, the other patients to whom the remedy was applied recovered in like manner.[372] He then laid siege to the capital of the Harmatêlioi, a city both of great size and strength. As the inhabitants, however, came to meet him with the symbols of suppliants, and tendered their submission, he dismissed them without enacting any retributive penalty.

Chapter CIV.—Alexander sails down to the mouth of the Indus—Sails back to Tauala (Patala?)—Starts on his march homewards, instructing Nearchos to explore the way with his fleet to the head of the Persian Gulf—Ravages the land of the Oritians and founds another Alexandreia

He then sailed down the stream with his friends to the ocean, and when he had there seen two islands he forthwith offered a sacrifice of great splendour to the gods, casting at the same time many large drinking-cups of gold, along with the libations they held, into the bosom of the deep. Having next erected altars to Têthys and Okeanos, he assumed that he had finished the expedition which he had undertaken. He then started on the return voyage, and in sailing up the river came to Tauala,[373] a city of great note, with a political constitution drawn on the same lines as the Spartan; for in this community the command in war was vested in two hereditary kings of two different houses, while a council of elders ruled the whole state with paramount authority. Alexander now burned all the vessels that were worn out, and gave the command of the rest that were still serviceable to Nearchos and some others of his friends, whom he instructed to coast along the shores of the ocean, and after having carefully explored whatever lay on their route, to rejoin him at the mouth of the river Euphrates. He himself with his army traversed a great extent of country, overcoming those who opposed him, and treating humanely those who offered their submission. He thus gained over without any danger being incurred the people called the Arbitai and the inhabitants of Kedrôsia. Then, after passing through an extensive waterless tract, of which no inconsiderable part was desert, he reached the borders of Oritis. Here he divided his army into three parts, giving Ptolemy the command of the first division, and Leonnatos of the second, Ptolemy being commissioned to ravage and plunder the seaboard, and Leonnatos the interior, while the third division, under his own command, devastated the plains towards the hills and the hill country itself. While the fury of war was thus at one and the same time let loose over the whole land, conflagration, pillage, and massacre ran riot in every special locality. The soldiers accordingly soon appropriated a vast amount of booty, while the number of the inhabitants cut off by the sword amounted to many myriads. All the neighbours of these unfortunate tribes, appalled by the destruction which had overtaken them, submitted to the king. But Alexander, who was ambitious to found a city by the seaside, discovered a harbour sheltered from the violence of the waves, and which had a convenient site near it, and he built thereon the city of Alexandreia.[374]

Chapter CV.—How the Oritians bury their dead—The Ichthyophagoi described—Sufferings and losses of the army in the Gedrôsian desert—Relief sent by various satraps—Leonnatos is attacked by the Oritians

Alexander having stolen into the country of the Oritai by the passes, quickly reduced the whole of it to submission. The Oritai, while in other respects closely resembling the Indians, have one custom which is different, and altogether staggers belief. It has reference to their treatment of the dead. For when a man dies his relatives, naked and holding spears, carry away his body to the oak-coppices which grow in their country, and having there deposited it, and stripped it of the apparel and ornaments with which it is arrayed, they leave it to be devoured by wild beasts. When they have divided the garments which were worn by the deceased, they sacrifice to the heroes now in the under world, and give an entertainment to the members of his household.

Alexander next advanced towards Kedrôsia, following the route along the sea-coast. He encountered on the way an inhospitable and utterly savage tribe, for there the natives let their nails grow without ever cutting them from the day they are born to old age, allow their growth of hair to become matted, have complexions scorched with the heat of the sun, and are dressed with the skins of wild beasts. They subsist on the flesh of whales stranded on their shores. Their habitations they prepare by running up walls, and forming the roofs of the ribs of the whale, these supplying beams of a length of 18 cubits. For covering over the roofs they use instead of tiles the scales of fish.[375] Alexander, in passing through the country of these savages, was much distressed by the scarcity of provisions; but in the next country he entered he fared still worse, for it was desert and bare of everything useful to support life. As many perished from sheer want, the stout hearts of the Macedonians yielded to despondency, and Alexander was overwhelmed with no ordinary grief and anxiety; for it seemed a terrible thing that his men, who surpassed all mankind in bravery and in arms, should perish ingloriously in a desert land and in utter destitution. He therefore despatched messengers post-haste into Parthyaia,[376] and Drangianê,[377] and Areia,[378] and the other states bordering on the desert, enjoining them to send quickly to the passes of Karmania dromedaries and other beasts of burden laden with food and other necessaries. These messengers having rapidly performed the journey to the satraps of these provinces, caused ample supplies of provisions to be conveyed to the appointed place. Alexander had, however, before their arrival lost many of his soldiers from his inability to relieve their wants; and afterwards, when he was on the march, some of the Oritai, having attacked the troops commanded by Leonnatos and slain a good many men, escaped scatheless into their own country.[379]

Chapter CVI.—Revels of Alexander and the army after escaping from the desert—Officials who had abused their authority called to account—Nearchos visits Alexander at Salmous, and recounts the incidents of his voyage

When the desert had been crossed with all these painful experiences, he came to an inhabited region which abounded with all things useful. He here allowed his army to recruit its exhausted powers, and then marched forward for seven days with his soldiers splendidly dressed as at a public assembly, while he celebrated a festival to Dionysos, heading himself the procession of the revellers, and, as he led the way, quaffing intoxicating draughts of wine. At the end of all this having come to learn that many high-placed officials had transgressed all bounds of law by an arbitrary and outrageous exercise of their authority, he decided that not a few of his satraps and generals stood in need of punishment. As the odium in which these leading men were held on account of their scandalous disregard of the law was a matter of public notoriety, many of them who held high posts of command in the army, and whose conscience accused them of outrages and other violations of their duty, became seriously alarmed. Some whose troops consisted of mercenaries revolted from the king, and others who had amassed riches took to flight. The king on hearing this wrote to all the commanders and satraps throughout Asia that immediately after they had read his letter they should dismiss all the mercenaries.

When the king was just at this time staying in a sea-coast town called Salmous, and holding a dramatic exhibition, the officers of the expedition which had been directed to navigate the ocean along its shores put into harbour, and, proceeding straightway to the theatre, saluted Alexander, and gave him an account of their adventures. The Macedonians, delighted to see their old comrades once more among them, marked the event with loud and prolonged cheering, and all the theatre was in a transport of joy that could not be exceeded.[380] The voyagers described how the ocean was subject to the strange vicissitude of the ebbing and flowing of its waters, and that when it ebbed numerous islands were unexpectedly revealed to view at the projections of land along the coast, while at flood-tide all these lands just mentioned were again submerged, a full gale blowing meanwhile towards shore, and whitening with foam all the surface of the water. But the strangest part of their story was that they had encountered a great many whales, and these of an incredible size. They were in great dread of these monsters, and at first gave up all hopes of life, thinking they might at any moment be consigned, boats and all, to destruction; but when, on recovering from their panic, they raised a simultaneous shout, which they increased by rattling their arms and sounding the trumpets, the creatures took alarm at the strange noise, and sank to the depths below.

Chapter CVII.—Kalanos, the Indian philosopher, immolates himself—Alexander marries the daughter of Darius

When the king had heard their story to the end, he ordered the leaders of the expedition to sail up to the mouth of the Euphrates. At the head of his army he traversed himself a great stretch of country, and arrived on the borders of Sousiana. About that time Kalanos, the Indian who had made great progress in philosophy, and was held in honour and esteem by Alexander, brought his life to an end in a most singular manner; for when he was three years over three score and ten, and up till then had never known what illness was, he resolved to depart this life as one who had received the full measure of happiness alike from nature and from fortune. He was now, however, afflicted with a malady which became daily more and more burdensome, and he therefore requested the king to prepare for him a great funeral pyre, and to order his servants to set fire to it as soon as he should ascend it. Alexander at first tried to divert him from his purpose, but when he found that all his remonstrances were unavailing, he consented to do him the service asked. Orders were accordingly given for doing the work, and when the pyre was ready the whole army attended to witness the extraordinary spectacle. Then Kalanos, following the rules prescribed by his philosophy, stepped with unflinching courage on to the summit of the pyre, and perished in the flames which consumed it. Some of the spectators condemned the man for his madness, others for the vanity shown in his act of hardihood, while some admired his high spirit and contempt of death. The king honoured him with a sumptuous funeral, and then proceeded to Sousa, where he married Stateira, the elder of the two daughters of Darius.