Alexander himself had consented to be adopted by Ada princess of Karia as her son (Arrian, i. 23, 12).
[299] Arrian, ii. 14, 11; ii. 15, 8.
[300] Diodor. xvi. 45.
[301] Arrian, ii. 15, 8; ii. 20, 1. Curtius, iv. 1, 6-16.
[302] Arrian, ii. 14; Curtius, iv. i. 10; Diodor. xvii. 39. I give the substance of this correspondence from Arrian. Both Curtius and Diodorus represent Darius as offering great sums of money and large cessions of territory, in exchange for the restitution of the captives. Arrian says nothing of the kind.
[303] Arrian, ii. 12, 9.
[304] Curtius, iv. 1, 20-25; Justin, xi. 10. Diodorus (xvii. 47) tells the story as if it had occurred at Tyre, and not at Sidon; which is highly improbable.
[305] Arrian. iii 15, 9. ὡς ἐγνωκότων Τυρίων πράσσειν, ὅ,τι ἂν ἐπαγγέλλῃ Ἀλέξανδρος. Compare Curtius, iv. 2, 3.
[306] Curtius (ut suprà) adds these motives: Arrian asserts nothing beyond the simple request. The statement of Curtius represents what is likely to have been the real fact and real feeling of Alexander.
It is certainly true that Curtius overloads his narrative with rhetorical and dramatic amplification; but it is not less true that Arrian falls into the opposite extreme—squeezing out his narrative until little is left beyond the dry skeleton.