PLUTARCH’S LIFE OF ALEXANDER
Chapter LVIII.—Alexander at Nysa
... When the Macedonians were hesitating to attack the city called Nysa, because the river which ran past it was deep, “Unlucky man that I am,” Alexander exclaimed, “why did I not learn to swim?” and so saying he prepared to ford the stream. After he had withdrawn from the assault, envoys arrived from the besieged with an offer to surrender. They were at first surprised to find him clad in his armour, and still stained with the dust and blood of battle. A cushion was then brought to him, which he requested the eldest of the envoys to take and be seated. This man was called Akouphis, and he was so much struck with the splendour and courtesy with which he was received that he asked what his countrymen must do to make him their friend. Alexander replied: “They must make you their governor, and send me a hundred of their best men.” At this Akouphis laughed, and said: “Methinks, O King! I should rule better if, instead of the best, you took the worst.”
Chapter LIX.—Interchange of civilities between Alexander and Taxilês—Alexander breaks his faith with Indian mercenaries, and hangs some Indian philosophers
Taxilês, it is said, ruled over a part of India which was as large as Egypt, afforded good pasturage, and had a very fertile soil. He was a shrewd man, and after he had embraced Alexander, said to him: “Why should we two, Alexander, fight with one another if you have come to take away from us neither our water nor our necessary food—the only things about which sensible men ever care to quarrel and fight. As for anything else, call it money or call it property, if I am richer than you, what I have is at your service; but if I have less than you, I would not object to stand debtor to your bounty.” Alexander was delighted with what he said, and, giving him his right hand in token of his friendship, exclaimed: “Perhaps you think from the friendly greetings we have exchanged our intercourse will be continued without a contest. There you are mistaken, for I will war to the knife with you in good offices, and will see to it that you do not overcome me in generosity.” Alexander therefore, after having received many presents from Taxilês, and given him more in return, at last drank to his health, and accompanied the toast with the present of a thousand talents of coined money. This act of his greatly vexed his friends, but made him stand higher in favour with many of the barbarians. As the Indian mercenary troops, consisting, as they did, of the best soldiers to be found in the country, flocked to the cities which he attacked, and defended them with the greatest vigour, he thus incurred serious losses, and accordingly concluded a treaty of peace with them; but afterwards, as they were going away, set upon them while they were on the road, and killed them all. This rests as a foul blot on his martial fame, for on all other occasions he observed the rules of civilised warfare as became a king.[381] The philosophers gave him no less trouble than the mercenaries, because they reviled the princes who declared for him and encouraged the free states to revolt from his authority. On this account he hanged many of them.[382]
Chapter LX.—The account of the battle with Pôros, as given by Alexander himself—Alexander’s noble treatment of Pôros
How the war against Pôros was conducted he has described in his own letters. He tells us that the river Hydaspês ran between the two camps, and that Pôros with his elephants which he had posted with their heads towards the stream, constantly guarded the passage. Alexander himself, day after day, caused a great noise and disturbance to be made in his camp, in order that the barbarians might be gradually led to view his movements without alarm. At last, upon a dark and stormy night, he took a part of the infantry and a choice body of cavalry, marched to a considerable distance from the enemy, and crossed over to an island of no great size. Here he was exposed with his army to the rage of a violent thunderstorm, amid which rain fell down in torrents, and though he saw some of his men struck dead with the lightning, he nevertheless advanced from the island and reached the furthermost bank of the river. The Hydaspês was now flooded by the rains, and its raging current had chosen a new channel of great width, down which a great body of water was carried. In fording this new bed, he could with difficulty keep his footing, as the bottom was very slippery and uneven. It was here that Alexander is said to have exclaimed, “O Athenians! can you believe what dangers I undergo to earn your applause?” This particular rests on the authority of Onesikritos, for Alexander himself merely says that he and his men left their rafts, and under arms waded through the second torrent with the water up to their breasts. After crossing, he himself rode forward about twenty stadia in advance of the infantry, concluding that if the enemy attacked him with their cavalry only, he could easily rout them; but if they moved forward their entire force, he could bring his infantry into the field before fighting began. He was right in both conclusions, for he fell in with 1000 horse and 60 war-chariots of the enemy, and these he routed, capturing every chariot, and slaying 400 of the horsemen. Pôros thus perceived that Alexander himself had crossed the river, and he therefore advanced against him with all his army, except some troops which he left to guard his camp, in case the Macedonians should cross from the opposite bank to attack it. Alexander, dreading the elephants and the great numbers of the enemy, did not engage with them in front, but attacked them himself on the left wing, ordering Koinos to fall upon them on the right. Both wings were broken, and the enemy, driven from their position, thronged always towards the centre where the elephants were posted. The contest, which began early in the morning, was so obstinately maintained that it was fully the eighth hour of the day before the Indians renounced all attempts at further resistance. This description of the battle is given by the chief actor in it himself in his letters. Most historians are agreed that Pôros stood four cubits and a span high, and that his gigantic form was not less proportioned to the elephant which carried him, and which was his biggest, than was a rider of an ordinary size to his horse. This elephant showed wonderful sagacity and care for its royal master, for while it was still vigorous it defended him against his assailants and repulsed them, but when it perceived that he was ready to sink from the number of his wounds and bruises, fearing that he might fall off its back, it gently lowered itself to the ground, and as it knelt quietly extracted the darts from his body with its trunk. When Pôros was taken prisoner, Alexander asked him how he wished to be treated. “Like a king,” answered Pôros. When Alexander further asked if he had anything else to request, “Every thing,” rejoined Pôros, “is comprised in the words, like a king.” Alexander then not only reinstated Pôros in his kingdom with the title of satrap, but added a large province to it, subduing the inhabitants whose form of government was the republican. This country, it is said, contained 15 tribes, 5000 considerable cities, and villages without number.[383] He subdued besides another district three times as large, over which he appointed Philippos, one of his friends, to be satrap.
Chapter LXI.—Death of Boukephalas, and Alexander’s regret at his loss
After the battle with Pôros, Boukephalas died, not immediately, but some time afterwards, from wounds which he received in the engagement. This is the account which most historians give, but Onesikritos says that he died of old age and overwork, for he had reached his thirtieth year.[384] Alexander deeply regretted his loss, taking it as much to heart as if it had been that of a faithful friend and companion. He founded a city in his honour on the banks of the Hydaspês, and named it Boukephalia. It is also recorded that when he lost a pet dog called Peritas, which he had brought up, and of which he was very fond, he founded a city and called it by the name of this dog. Sôtiôn tells us that he had heard this from Potamôn of Lesbos.
Chapter LXII.—The army refuses to advance to the Ganges—Alexander, preparing to retreat, erects altars which were afterwards held in veneration by the Praisian kings—The opinion of Androkottos
The battle with Pôros depressed the spirits of the Macedonians, and made them very unwilling to advance farther into India. For as it was with the utmost difficulty they had beaten him when the army he led amounted only to 20,000 infantry and 2000 cavalry, they now most resolutely opposed Alexander when he insisted that they should cross the Ganges.[385] This river, they heard, had a breadth of two-and-thirty stadia, and a depth of 100 fathoms, while its farther banks were covered all over with armed men, horses, and elephants. For the kings of the Gandaritai and the Praisiai[386] were reported to be waiting for him with an army of 80,000 horse, 200,000 foot, 8000 war chariots, and 6000 fighting elephants. Nor was this any exaggeration, for not long afterwards Androkottos,[387] who had by that time mounted the throne, presented Seleukos with 500 elephants, and overran and subdued the whole of India with an army of 600,000 men. Alexander at first in vexation and rage withdrew to his tent, and shutting himself up lay there feeling no gratitude towards those who had thwarted his purpose of crossing the Ganges; but regarding a retreat as tantamount to a confession of defeat. But being swayed by the persuasions of his friends, and the entreaties of his soldiers who stood weeping and lamenting at the door of his tent, he at last relented, and prepared to retreat. He first, however, contrived many unfair devices to exalt his fame among the natives, as, for instance, causing arms for men and stalls and bridles for horses to be made much beyond the usual size, and these he left scattered about. He also erected altars for the gods which the kings of the Praisiai even to the present day hold in veneration, crossing the river to offer sacrifices upon them in the Hellenic fashion.[388] Androkottos himself, who was then but a youth, saw Alexander himself, and afterwards used to declare that Alexander could easily have taken possession of the whole country since the king was hated and despised by his subjects for the wickedness of his disposition and the meanness of his origin.[389]
Chapter LXIII.—Alexander starts on a voyage down stream, reducing tribes by the way—He is dangerously wounded in the capital of the Malloi—Extraction of the arrow from his wound—His recovery
After marching thence Alexander, who wished to see the outer ocean, ordered many rafts and vessels managed with oars to be built, and he then fell down the rivers in a leisurely manner. But the voyage was neither an idle one nor unattended with warlike operations, for at times he disembarked, and attacking the cities which adjoined the banks succeeded in subduing them all. But he very nearly lost his life when he was amongst the people called the Malloi, who were said to be the most warlike of all the Indians. For in besieging their city, after he had driven the defenders from the walls by volleys of missiles, he was the first man to ascend a scaling ladder and reach the summit of the wall.[390] Just then the ladder broke, so that he was left almost alone, and as the barbarians who were standing at the foot of the wall inside shot at him from below, he was repeatedly hit with their missiles. He therefore poised himself and leaped down into the midst of his enemies, alighting by good chance on his feet. The flashing of his arms as he brandished them made the barbarians think that lightning or some supernatural splendour played round his person, and they therefore drew back and dispersed. But when they saw that he was attended by two followers only, some of them attacked him at close-quarters with swords and spears, while one man, who stood a little farther off, shot an arrow from his bow at full bent, and with such force that it pierced through his corselet and lodged itself in the bones of his breast.[391] As he staggered under the blow and sank upon his knees, the barbarian ran up with his drawn scimitar to despatch him. Peukestas and Limnaios[392] placed themselves before Alexander to protect him; both of them were wounded, one of them mortally; but Peukestas, who survived, continued to make some resistance, while the king slew the Indian with his own hand. Alexander was wounded in many places; and at last received a blow on his neck from a club, which forced him to lean for support against the wall with his face turned towards the enemy. The Macedonians, who by this time had come up, crowded round him, and snatching him up, now insensible to all around him, carried him off to his tent. A rumour immediately ran through the camp that he was dead, and his attendants having with great difficulty sawed through the arrow, which had a wooden shaft, were thus able after much trouble to take off his corselet. They had next to extract the barbed head of the arrow which was firmly fixed in one of his ribs. This arrow-head is said to have measured three fingers’ breadths in width and four in length. Accordingly, when it was pulled out, he swooned away and was brought very near the gates of death, but he at length revived. When he was out of danger, but still very weak, having for a long time to follow the mode of life most conducive to the restoration of his health, he heard a disturbance outside his tent, and learning that the Macedonians were longing to see him he put on his cloak and went out to them. After sacrificing to the gods, he again moved forward and subdued a great extent of country and many considerable cities that lay on his route.
Chapter LXIV.—Alexander’s interview with the Indian gymnosophists
He captured ten of the gymnosophists who had been principally concerned in persuading Sabbas[393] to revolt, and had done much harm otherwise to the Macedonians. These men are thought to be great adepts in the art of returning brief and pithy answers, and Alexander proposed for their solution some hard questions, declaring that he would put to death first the one who did not answer correctly and then the others in order.[394]
He demanded of the first “Which he took to be the more numerous, the living or the dead?” He answered, “The living, for the dead are not.”
The second was asked, “Which breeds the largest animals, the sea or the land?” He answered, “The land, for the sea is only a part of it.”
The third was asked, “Which is the cleverest of beasts?” He answered, “That with which man is not yet acquainted.”
The fourth was asked, “For what reason he induced Sabbas to revolt?” He answered, “Because I wished him to live with honour or die with honour.”
The fifth was asked, “Which he thought existed first, the day or the night?” He answered, “The day was first by one day.” As the king appeared surprised at this solution, he added, “Impossible questions require impossible answers.”
Alexander then turning to the sixth asked him “How a man could best make himself beloved?” He answered, “If a man being possessed of great power did not make himself to be feared.”
Of the remaining three, one being asked “How a man could become a god?” replied, “By doing that which is impossible for a man to do.”
The next being asked, “Which of the two was stronger, life or death?” he replied, “Life, because it bears so many evils.”
The last being asked, “How long it was honourable for a man to live?” answered, “As long as he does not think it better to die than to live.”
Upon this Alexander, turning to the judge, requested him to give his decision. He said they had answered each one worse than the other. “Since such is your judgment,” Alexander then said, “you shall be yourself the first to be put to death.” “Not so,” said he, “O king, unless you are false to your word, for you said that he who gave the worst answer should be the first to die.”
Chapter LXV.—Onesikritos confers with the Indian gymnosophists Kalanos and Dandamis—Kalanos visits Alexander and shows him a symbol of his empire
The king then gave them presents and dismissed them to their homes. He also sent Onesikritos to the most renowned of these sages, who lived by themselves in tranquil seclusion, to request that they would come to him.[395] This Onesikritos was a philosopher who belonged to the school of Diogenês the Cynic. He tells us that one of these men called Kalanos ordered him with the most overbearing insolence and rudeness to take off his clothes, and listen naked to his discourse—otherwise he would not enter into conversation with him even if he came from Zeus himself. Dandamis, however, was of a milder temper, and when he had been told about Sôkrates, Pythagoras and Diogenês, he said they appeared to him to have been men of genius, but from an excessive deference to the laws had subjected their lives too much to their requirements. But other writers tell us that he said nothing more than this, “For what purpose has Alexander come all the way hither?” Taxilês, however, persuaded Kalanos to visit Alexander. His real name was Sphinês, but as he saluted those whom he met with “Kale,” which is the Indian equivalent of “Chairein” (that is, “All hail”), he was called by the Greeks Kalanos. This philosopher, we are told, showed Alexander a symbol of his empire. He threw down on the ground a dry and shrivelled hide and planted his foot on the edge of it. But when it was trodden down in one place, it started up everywhere else. He then walked all round it and showed that the same thing took place wherever he trod, until at length he stepped into the middle, and by doing so made it all lie flat. This symbol was intended to show Alexander that he should control his empire from its centre, and not wander away to its distant extremities.
Chapter LXVI.—Alexander visits the island Skilloustis, and sailing thence explores the sea—Sufferings of his army on the march homeward, and extent of its losses—Relief sent by the satraps
Fig. 13.—Greek Warship.
Alexander’s voyage down the rivers to the sea occupied seven months. On reaching the ocean he sailed to an island which he himself has called Skilloustis, but which is generally known as Psiltoukis.[396] On landing there he sacrificed to the gods, exploring afterwards the nature of the sea and the coast as far as he could penetrate. This done, he turned back, after praying to the gods that no man might ever overpass the limits which his expedition had reached. He ordered his fleet to sail along the coast, keeping India on the right hand; and he appointed Nearchos to the chief command, with Onesikritos as the master pilot. He himself, returning by land with the army, marched through the country of the Oreitai, where he was reduced to the sorest straits from the scarcity of provisions, and lost such numbers of men that he hardly brought back from India the fourth part of his military force, though he entered it with 120,000 foot and 15,000 horse. Many perished from malignant distempers, wretched food, and scorching heat, but most from sheer hunger, for their march lay through an uncultivated region, inhabited only by some miserable savages, the owners of a small and inferior breed of sheep, accustomed to feed on sea-fish, which gave to their flesh a rank and disagreeable flavour.[397] With great difficulty, therefore, he traversed this desert region in sixty days, and reached Gedrôsia, where all the men were at once supplied with abundance of provisions, furnished by the satraps and kings of the nearest provinces.
Chapter LXVII.—Alexander and the army indulge in wild revelry on emerging from the desert
After he had given his forces some time to recruit, he led them in a joyous revel for seven days through Karmania. He himself sat at table with his companions mounted on a lofty oblong platform drawn by eight horses, and in that conspicuous position feasted continually both by day and by night. This carriage was followed by numberless others, some with purple hangings and embroidered canopies, and others screened with over-arching green boughs always fresh gathered, conveying the rest of Alexander’s friends and officers crowned with garlands and drinking wine. There was not a helmet, a shield, or a pike to be seen, but all along the road the soldiers were dipping cups, horns, and earthen vessels into great jars and flagons of wine, and drinking one another’s healths, some as they went marching forward, and others as they sat by the way. Wherever they passed might be heard the music of the pipe and the flute and the voices of women singing and dancing and making merry. During this disorderly and dissolute march the soldiers after their cups indulged in ribald jests, as if the god Dionysos himself were present among them and accompanying their joyous procession.[398] Alexander, on reaching the capital of Gedrôsia, again halted to refresh his army, and entertained it with feasting and revelry.