the high walls of Babylon See Curt 5 1 17–23 for the arrival in Babylon.
Xerxes is reported Arr 3 16 4. But Herodotus in the fifth century, after Xerxes, saw it intact (1 181–82).
sent Aristotle a list Ar Cael 2 12.
“The moral corruption there” Curt 5 1 36–38. It is difficult to sort out fact from fiction in Curtius’s and Herodotus’s accounts. But there is no evidence to rebut them.
“There is a great multitude of women” Herod 1 198 2–4.
advance information on roads See Engels, pp. 71–72 for the change in Alexander’s supply situation.
joined by Amyntas Curt 5 1 40, Arrian 3 16 10.
potentially very bad news I follow the drift of Badian, pp. 153–73.
“Alexander had withdrawn” Aesch Ctes 165.
battle outside Megalopolis Diod 17 62 1–4, Curt 6 1–21.
“gave orders that he be put down” Curt 6 1 13.
“It would seem, my men” Plut Age 15 4.
An inscription…reveals GHI, pp. 36–37.
sex with a good-looking man Plut Mor 818b–c.
“by a flame’s radiance” Plut Alex 35 2; for the petroleum incident, see the entire chapter.
“Susa, the great holy city” Persians: Masters of Empire (Lost Civilizations), ed. Brown, Dale, Time Life (UK); Fairfax, Virginia, and New York, 1996, pp. 7–8.
the staggering sum Diod 17 66 1.
“fabulous royal palace” Ibid., 17 65 5.
a daily bill of fare Poly 4 3.
a golden vine Ath 12 514 6f.
objets d’art together weighing Diod 19 48 6.
seated himself Diod 17 66 3–6.
“Don’t do that, Sir” Curt 5 2.
Demaratus, the aged fixer Plut Mor 329d.
A cloud briefly spoiled Curt 5 2 12.
teach them the Greek language Diod 17 67 1.
the journey to Persepolis Arrian 3 18 1–9, Curt 5 31-3-4, and Diod 17 67–68. But their accounts differ somewhat and it is wisest to follow Arrian.
“sparse and rugged” Herod 9 122.
“pay them what was owing” Arrian 3 17 2.
some prisoners of war Or perhaps a local shepherd (suspiciously echoing, however, the one who showed Xerxes how to turn the Greek position at Thermopylae), Diod 17 68 5 and Plut Alex 37 1.
Persepolis…was invented Loose modern analogies can be drawn with Brasilia, Islamabad, and the shiny new capital of Burma.
“I am Xerxes, the great king” XPf (“Harem Inscription”), Achaemenid Royal Inscriptions. See https://www.livius.org/sources/content/achaemenid-royal-inscriptions/xpf/
“He stopped and spoke to it” Plut Alex 37 5.
“because he thought that would help” Ibid., 37 3.
“giddy with wine” Ibid.
let them stage a komos Diod 17 b72 1.
restated the obsolete war aim Curt 5 6 1.
“a tour of conquest” Arrian 3 18 11.
Darius’s personal authority For this paragraph, see Briant, p. 865.
to have had second thoughts Plut Alex 38, Curt 5 7 11.
CHAPTER 11. TREASON!
Arrian and Curtius, with a little aid from Plutarch, dominate as usual. Curtius’s account of the betrayal and death of Darius is politically and psychologically convincing.
Curtius, always well-informed Engels, passim, quotes from modern (nineteenth and early twentieth centuries) sources that confirm Curtius’s descriptions, even if they tend to the overrhetorical. Engels writes: “It is difficult not to be impressed by Curtius’s remarkable geographical knowledge of Alexander’s route” (p. 84).
“jumped from his horse” Curt 5 6 14.
catch up on his correspondence Collections of Alexander’s letters were published after his death, as already noted. Unfortunately, fictional anthologies also appeared. We have to trust the good judgment of the ancient writers—especially Plutarch and Arrian. Almost no complete and genuine letters have survived and we must make do with excerpts.
It is astonishing that Plut Alex 421.
“the people should decide” GHI 17 136.
urged her son to buy a slave of hers Ath 14 359f.
“Stop quarrelling with us” Diod 17 114 3.
“so much as to tell him” Plut Alex 39 5. For the epistolary anecdotes in this section, see Ibid., 41–42.
“We shall follow our king into battle” Curt 5 9 1. So Curtius has it, perhaps fictionally. The sentiments are correct.
“They reasoned that if Alexander” Ibid., 5 9 2.
“Temporarily transfer your authority” Ibid., 5 9 4.
“Its walls are of great size and strength” Herod 1 98–99.
“Alexander was by nature” Plut Alex 39 1.
“I wish you would find other ways” Ibid., 39 7.
He was brave, hardworking, and true For Leonnatus’s expensive tastes, see ibid., 40 1, and Arrian Succ 12.
“How can a man look after his horse” Plut Alex 40 3.
“[the king’s] friends” Ibid., 41 1.
an ancient highway In a later age it became part of the Silk Road.
“inclined Alexander to trust him” Arrian 3 20 7.
“they had no one else to follow” Curt 5 12 19.
“Through you, I give him my hand” Plut Alex 43 4. Plutarch gives Darius a parting speech, which we can safely ignore, but the narrative of the king’s last days, the guilt-ridden conspirators and the hectic Alexander have the untidiness of truth. Diodorus 17 73 unconvincingly has the two kings meet and talk.
Darius has been portrayed This assessment of Darius is indebted to Badian, pp. 457ff.
“a consummate coward” Arrian 3 22 2.
“Hephaestion who approved” Plut Alex 47 9–11 and Plut Mor 181D.
“The soldiers scattered to their tents” Ibid., 6 2 15–16. Arrian does not mention this episode, but his favorite sources tend to ignore or downplay opposition to Alexander.
A general assembly was called Ibid., 6 3. As is usual among ancient historians, Alexander’s speech probably set out what he should or would have said, rather than what he did say. But Curtius’s confection, assisted by Plutarch, is plausible.
“The moment our backs are turned” Curt 6 3 9.
“as if they were so many women” Plut Alex 47 1.
In a dispatch to Antipater Ibid., 47 3.
regularly providing lavish feasts Just 12 3 11–4 6.
“Maintenance was provided for the boys” Ibid., 12 4 10.
Dimnus was infatuated The main sources for the Philotas affair are Curt 6 7–11, Arrian 3 26–27, and Plut Alex 48–49.
A member of the Companion cavalry Diod 17 79 1.
Cebalinus, upset and anxious According to Plut Alex 49 4, Cebalinus simply told Philotas about a matter of great importance and did not mention a plot. If so, it is incomprehensible that Philotas failed to insist on further and better particulars if he was to trouble Alexander with the affair.
stabbed himself with a sword Plutarch has Dimnus killed when resisting arrest—Plut Alex 49 7.
“a quarrel between a male prostitute” Curt 6 7 33.
“also displayed an arrogance” Ibid., 48 3.
Olympias, no slouch Curt 7 1 11.
“Son, don’t make” Plut Alex 48 4.
Sailing to Samothrace for the Mysteries Plut Mor 339e–f.
He tended to discount carping Curt 7 1 12.
“The enemies we are about to pursue” Curt 6 8 9.
a direct lie For example, Badian, pp. 427–30.
“Unfortunately for me” Curt 6 10 16.
some say he listened in Plut Alex 49 11.
“Why hurt me?” Curt 6 11 14.
“fire and beatings” Ibid. 6 11 16.
“With Darius still alive, Parmenion” Ibid., 6 11 29.
stoned to death According to Arrian 3 26 3, they were killed with javelins; but stoning was the traditional penalty.
“it would be too dangerous to let him survive” Arrian 3 26 4.
the hapless Alexander of Lyncestis Diod 17 80 2; Curt 7 1 5–9.
“Although he had had all of three years” Curt 7 1 8.
bring back Polemon Arrian 3 27 2–3. For a slightly different version, see Curt 7 2 1–7.
“While we should perhaps give Alexander” Polyb 8 10 8–9.
He divided the command Arrian 3 27 4.
Letters sent home to family Curt 7 2 36–38; Diod 17 80 4.
“If Parmenion plotted” Plut Mor 183f.
CHAPTER 12. WAR WITHOUT END
Arrian and Curtius with some Plutarch, as usual. Fuller helps disentangle the years of guerrilla fighting. For Alexander’s travels, Engels is essential.
twenty thousand foot and three thousand horse Plut Alex 47 1.
it is tropically fertile Curtius’s description, at 6 4 20–22, is not fantasy and is confirmed by modern observation—see Engels, p. 84.
“in the flower of his youth” Curt 6 5 23.
his emasculation Chugg, p. 147.
acquired a sinister reputation For a friendly account, see Mary Renault’s The Persian Boy (London: Longmans, 1972).
“a culturally backward race” Curt 6 5 11.
eight thousand capable warriors Diod 17 76 4.
he would not let anyone Curt 6 5 18–21.
sent an interpreter Plut Alex 44 4.
Alexander returned to his camp It was about now that some ancient writers record the visit to Alexander’s camp of the completely fictional queen of the Amazons, Thalestris, together with three hundred women fighters. Plutarch (Alex 46) did not believe the tale, nor do I.
his sight began to fail Plut Mor 341b.
on a large flat-topped mountain Engels, pp. 87ff, identifies this “Gibraltar” of Persia with Kalat-i-Nadiri.
the novel art of guerrilla Unfortunately the ancient sources fail to address this factor directly, and much detail is missing.
swimming in the sea of the people Mao Zedong, On Guerrilla Warfare, Ch. 6: The Political Problems of Guerrilla Warfare.
Lake Seistan, the land See Engels, pp. 91–92.
“The barbarian threw his spear” Curt 7 4 36–37.
another garrison town Today’s Kandahar.
harsh treeless highlands Curtius’s description is confirmed by modern accounts; see Engels, p. 94.
The numbing cold Curt 7 3 13.
Prometheus, one of the old gods Diod 17 83 1.
seven thousand local people Diod 17 83 2. The garrison town was near Kabul.
“but still they came on and on” Arrian 3 28 9.
the cause of Artaxerxes V The details in the ancient accounts vary; I favor Arrian 3 29 6-7–3 30 1–5 and 4 7 3–4.
Ptolemy, a Macedonian friend from his teens After Alexander’s death, Ptolemy went on to become pharaoh of Egypt and to found a dynasty which ended with Cleopatra in the first century B.C.
the royal insignia Metz 2.
impalement up the anus Metz 14.
“For my part, I cannot approve” Arrian 4 7 4.
a small town in Sogdiana Curt 7 5 28–35. Some argue that this event never took place. But the broad outline of the story seems convincing enough. See N. G. L. Hammond, “The Branchidae at Didyma and in Sogdiana,” The Classical Quarterly, vol. 48, no. 2 (1998), pp. 339–44; and H. W. Parke, “Massacre of the Branchidae,” The Journal of Hellenic Studies, vol. 105 (1985), pp. 59–68.
“Neither community of language” Curt 7 5 33.
“I would rather face” Arrian 4 4 3.
the ever-circling enemy horsemen Arrian’s account is obscure. Fuller, pp. 239ff, has devised a convincing reconstruction.
“grasped the conditions” Fuller, p. 241.
Pharnuches formed his troops into a square My version follows Arrian 4 5 2–9. Curtius 7 9 10–13 tells a different story about an ambush. The upshot was the same.
19,400 infantry and 2,600 cavalry Curt 7 10 12.
“with India subdued” Arrian 4 15 6.
“pursued their own line of invasion” Ibid., 4 16 3.
“issued orders for the animals” Curt 8 1 13–14.
A consignment of Greek fruit Plut Alex 50 3. The three main accounts (by Plutarch, Life of Alexander 50–52, Arrian 4 8–9ff, and Curtius 8 1 22ff) are broadly similar but differ in detail. They include references to evil dreams, mistaken sacrifices, and angry gods, which read like attempts to blame destiny rather than Alexander for what took place that day. These I ignore and otherwise offer what I hope is a reasonable conflation.
“There is a bad custom which now obtains in Hellas” Eur Androm ll. 695ff. See below for the further lines.
“neglected all other bodily needs” Arrian 4 9 4.
“lying on the floor weeping” Plut Alex 52 5.
“had no notion of moderation” Athen 120d–e.
“old, easy relationship” Arrian 7 8 3.
These divisions were replicated Plut Alex 47 9.
“Alexander had some great natural gifts” Curt 5 7 1.
“The impression that he was a heavy drinker” Plut Alex 23 1.
a domestic twist Curt 8 3 1ff.
“You’ll need soldiers with wings” Arrian 4 18 5.
large number of rebellious Sogdians Curt 7 11 1. Curtius estimates thirty thousand, which seems far too large a number.
“fixing their pegs where they could” Arrian 4 19 1–3.
an attractive sixteen-year-old Arrian 4 19 5–20 3 and Curtius 8 4 23–30 disagree about the story of Rhoxane. Arrian places the first encounter with Alexander after the siege of the Sogdian Rock. Although he makes the king’s behavior to be respectful, he probably chose her as a victors’ sex prize. Curtius has the couple meet at a banquet after the siege of the Rock of Chorienes a little later on. I prefer Arrian for plausible detail, but see no reason entirely to reject Curtius’s banquet.
Achilles and Briseis in the Iliad Curt 8 4 26.
“a banquet of typically barbaric extravagance” Ibid., 8 4 22.
thirty thousand local boys Plut Alex 47 5–6, Arrian 7 6 1.
CHAPTER 13. A PASSAGE TO INDIA
“When the Persians meet one another” Herod 1 134.
An experiment was arranged Curtius and Arrian write of the banquet described here as well as of a public symposium at which elaborate speeches for and against were delivered. Alexander did not need to be told twice that proskynesis was a nonstarter and the symposium was probably invented to allow rhetorical displays.
“Single is the race, single” Pind Nem 6 1–5.
“held out to me the title of son” Curt 8 8 15.
“What you see flowing, my friends, is blood not ‘ichor’ ” Plut Alex 28, quoting the Iliad, book 5, line 340.
hardly ever mentioned his godhead Plut Alex 28 1.
“not at all vain or deluded” Ibid.
“The gods always give good advice” Curt 8 6 17.
“You ask as if you didn’t know” Curt 8 7 1.
“I am foisting Persian habits” Curt 8 8 13.
“Not one of Hermolaus’ accomplices” Plut Alex 55 5–6
“The youths were stoned to death” Ibid., 55 7.
Various versions of his fate Ibid., 55 9; Arrian 4 14 3; Plut Sulla 36; Suda K 240.
They knew very little Tall tales about India can be found in Herodotus 3 98–106.
Gods visited The Greeks were syncretists and equated others’ gods to their own. It
is not inconceivable that advisers like Aristander invented connections for reasons of propaganda.
India was the most populous nation Herod 3 94.
“The extravagance of [the Indians’] royalty” Curt 8 9 23–26.
Darius I had taken the boundary Herod 4 44.
Unwilling to be outdone Curt 8 5 4, and also for the figure of 120,000 soldiers.
not more than sixty thousand See Heckel (2008), pp. 160–61.
recruitment of thirty thousand men Curt 8 5 1.
Taxiles, the king of Taxila Taxiles was a regnal name, not a personal one, and was also adopted by his son.
“If I possess more than you” Plut Alex 59 3.
“At least in India” Curt 8 12 17–18.
an arrow pierced his breastplate Arrian 4 23 3.
“pulled out the barb” Curt 8 10 28–29.
she was good-looking Ibid., 8 10 35–36.
a case of cruel necessity Fuller, p. 126, n. 2.
Cradled in a bend See Stein, chapters 19 and 20, for this section. His identification of Aornos with Pir-Sar is convincing.
a bridge or causeway Arrian 4 29 7 reports that the Macedonians built a ramp, but this would have taken too long to complete. It must have been some sort of bridge.
early American railroad trestle bridge Green, p. 385.
“Alexander was now master of the rock” Arrian 4 30 4.
The king was modest enough Plut Mor 181d.
The army was acting very oddly There is no reason to deny the historicity of this event, but it does look as if Alexander had the wool pulled over his eyes.
women from the baggage train Women are not mentioned in the sources, but were known to participate in similar orgies—see The Bacchae of Euripides, which premiered in Pella.
“He spent all his time” Hom Hymns 26.
“became possessed by Dionysus” Arrian 5 2 7.
Indian king Porus Ancient accounts of the Battle of the Hydaspes are flawed. The best is Arrian (5 8 4– 5 19 3). I have relied on Fuller—except that I take it that Coenus took his cavalry to Porus’s left wing behind his infantry, not in front of it. See Green, p. 397 and note 87 on p. 554.
“rode an elephant” Curt 8 13 7.
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