XVI. But on the left wing of the Macedonians — Parmenion as was said before, was in chargeof it — the fortune of the battle was far different on both sides. Mazaeus, who had furiously charged it with the entire cavalry force of his countrymen, was pressing hard upon the flanks of the Macedonians. And already with his superior numbers he had begun to encircle their line, when Parmenion sent horsemen with orders to report to Alexander in what danger they themselves were; unless he was speedily aided, he could no longer hold his men from flight. The king, following hard upon the backs of the fugitives, had already advanced a long way, when the dismal news came from Parmenion. The riders were ordered to rein in their horses, and the army came to a stop, while Alexander gnashed his teeth with rage that the victory was being snatched from his hands and that Darius was more fortunate in his flight than he in his pursuit. Meanwhile the report of his king’s defeat had come to Mazaeus; therefore, although he was the stronger, yet alarmed by the ill-fortune of his side, he began to press less vigorously upon the terror-stricken Macedonians.
Parmenion naturally did not understand the reason for the voluntary slacking of the attack, but he promptly took advantage of the chance for victory. He ordered the Thessalian cavalry to be summoned to him and said: “Do you see that those who just now were fiercely pressing on are giving ground, badly frightened by some sudden cause of fear? No doubt the fortune of our king has won victory also for us. The Persians have all met defeat and carnage. Why do you hold back? are you not a match even for runaways?” He seemed to speak truly, and hope had aroused even the laggards; applying the spurs, they rushed upon the foe. And they gave way, no longer gradually, but at heightened speed, and were to all intent on flight, save that they had not yet turned their backs. Yet Parmenion, being as yet unaware what the king’s fortune had been on the right wing, held back his men. Mazaeus, although given opportunity for battle, crossed the Tigris, not in a direct course but in a longer and hence safer detour, and entered Babylon with the survivors of the defeated army.
Darius with a few companions of his flight had hastened to the river Lycus; after crossing it he hesitated whether to break down the bridge. For it was announced that the enemy would soon be there. But he saw that so many thousands of his men, who had not yet reached the river, would fall prey to the enemy if the bridge were destroyed. As he went away, leaving the bridge intact, he is reliably reported to have said that he preferred to give a passage to his pursuers rather than take one away from those who were in flight. He himself, having covered a great distance in his flight, arrived in Arbela at about midnight.
Who would be able to comprehend in thought, or express in words, so many of fortune’s mockeries — the great slaughter of leaders and their forces, the flight of the vanquished, the disasters, now to individuals and now to all in general? Alas! Fortune piled up the events of almost a generation in that one day.
Some took the shortest way that offered, others sought remote woods and paths unknown to their pursuers. Horse and foot in confusion were intermingled, without a leader, the unarmed with the armed, the unhurt with the weak. Then pity gave place to fear, and those who could not follow were abandoned to their fate amid mutual laments. Burning thirst tormented especially the wearied and the wounded, and they threw themselves down everywhere at all the brooks, and open-mouthed caught the water that flowed by. Since they had eagerly drunk of it when it was turbid, at once their bellies were so painfully distended by the weight of the mud, that their limbs were weakened and numbed, and when the enemy came up they were aroused by fresh wounds. Some, finding the nearest streams occupied, had turned farther aside, to get whatever hidden water trickled anywhere, and there was no pool so remote or so dry as to elude the thirst of the searchers. And from the villages nearest to the road the shrieks of old men and women could be heard, who in the barbarian manner were still calling on Darius as their king.
Alexander, having checked the onset of his men, as was said before, had come to the river Lycus, where the vast number of fugitives had loaded the bridge, and many, when hard pressed by the enemy, had thrown themselves into the river and, weighed down by their arms and exhausted by fighting and by flight, had been swallowed up in the flood. And finally, to say nothing of the bridge, not even the river could contain the fugitives, who blindly continued to pile troop upon troop; for when panic has entered men’s minds, they fear only what they first began to dread. Alexander, urged by his men not to cease pursuing those who were making good their escape, pleaded in excuse that their weapons were blunted, their arms wearied, and their bodies exhausted by so much running, and that the time of day was close upon nightfall; but actually being anxious about the left wing, which he believed to be still standing in line of battle, he resolved to turn back and give aid to his men.
And he had already turned about, when horsemen sent by Parmenion reported the victory of that part of the army also. But no greater peril did the king encounter on that day than while he was leading his forces back to the camp. He was followed only by a disorderly handful, exulting in their victory — for they believed that all the enemy had been completely put to flight or had fallen in battle — when on a sudden a troop of cavalry appeared before them, who at first checked their course, then, seeing the small number of the Macedonians, drove their squadrons against them. The king was marching at the head of his men, making light of the danger rather than scorning it. And in fact his constant good fortune in times of danger did not fail him. For when the leader of the horsemen rushed upon him, eager for battle and for that reason incautious, the king ran him through with his spear; and when he fell from his horse, Alexander killed the next man and then several others with the same weapon. His friends also attacked the disorganized enemy. But the Persians did not fall unavenged, for the entire armies did not enter battle more furiously than these irregular troops. At length the barbarians, when the dim light made flight seem safer than fighting, withdrew in scattered groups. The king, safe and sound after being quit of extraordinary danger, led his men back to camp.
There fell of the Persians, so far as the victors could determine the number, 40,000”; of the Macedonians less than 300 were lost. Moreover, the king owed this victory in greater part to his merit than to his fortune; he won it by his genius, not, as before, by the advantage of the ground. For he drew up his line of battle with the utmost skill, he personally fought most valiantly, and with great good judgement he scorned the loss of packs and baggage, since he saw that the issue of ultimate success depended upon his line of battle, and while the result of the fight was still in doubt, he conducted himself as a victor.
Then, when he had routed the panic-stricken foe he pursued them in their flight with greater prudence than over-eagerness, a thing which can hardly be believed in a man of such fiery spirit. For if, while a part of his army was still engaged in battle, he had persisted in pressing after them as they gave way, he would either have been defeated through his own fault, or he would have owed his victory to another’s valour. Finally, if he had yielded to fear of the large force of cavalry which fell upon him he would have been forced, in the hour of victory, either to flee in disgrace or to perish miserably.
The leaders of his forces too must not be cheated of their meed of glory; in fact the wounds which each man suffered are proofs of their valour; Hephaestion was struck in the arm by a spear, Perdiccas and Coenus and Menidas were all but slain with arrows.
And if we wish justly to estimate the Macedonians of that day, we shall admit that their king was fully worthy of such subordinates, and they of so great a king.
CONTENTS OF BOOK V
Darius on reaching Arbela encourages his friends, but sets out for Media in order to collect more forces from his provinces. Alexander takes Arbela with rich spoils. He goes on to Babylon, Mazaeus surrendering it. Babylon; demoralization of the army (i).
Alexander offers prizes for a contest in military valour, makes changes in military discipline, He takes Susa with its treasures. He consol
es Sisigambis, Darius’ mother, whom he had unwittingly offended (ii).
Alexander defeats the Uxii, sparing their governor and the prisoners at Sisigambis’ request, and sets them free. He attempts to enter Persia, but is checked by Ariobarzanes at the Susian Gates (iii).
A prisoner shows Alexander a difficult but little known way through the mountains. He destroys the Persian force; Ariobarzanes himself is killed (iv).
Alexander takes Persepolis and sets free 4000 Greek prisoners, who had been shamefully ill-treated and mutilated. Some of these wish to be sent to Greece, others to be given homes in Asia. The king grants both requests and treats them all generously (v).
Alexander plunders Persepolis and Parsagada, both rich in treasure. He makes his way into the interior of Persia with great difficulty, subdues the Mardi; their customs. He returns to Persepolis (vi).
Alexander’s dissipation at Persepolis. At the instigation of a courtesan he burns the palace. The Macedonians and finally the king himself are ashamed of his action, but endeavour to justify it (vii).
Darius had reached Ecbatana. From there he had decided to go to Bactra, but alarmed by Alexander’s speed, he changes his plan. He addresses his troops, trying to encourage them for a final contest (viii).
As the result of Darius’ speech his generals express various opinions. Nabarzanes, who had formed a treasonable plot with Bessus, advises him to turn over the rule temporarily to Bessus. Darius was on the point of killing Nabarzanes, but he and Bessus escaped. Artabazus and the Greeks troop support Darius (ix).
Bessus and Nabarzanes plan to betray or imprison Darius, skilfully concealing their design (x).
Their plot is revealed to Darius. He rejects the protection of the Greek troops, being ready to die if his own countrymen do not wish for his safety (xi).
Bessus, deceiving Darius by false words and forced tears, seizes him, binds him in golden fetters, and places him in a common cart (xii).
Alexander hears of Darius’ danger and hastens to his rescue. Bessus and his accomplices, fearing capture, stab Darius and take to flight, killing the animals and the slaves. Alexander sends Nicanor with a part of the cavalry in pursuit and follows with the rest; about 3000 were killed; the rest taken prisoner. A Macedonian soldier finds Darius (xiii).
Darius thanks the gods that he does not die alone; also thanks the man who found him; sends a message to Alexander, wishing him a glorious life on the throne of Cyrus and praying him to punish the assassins.
BOOK V
IF I should wish to describe, each in its own time, all that was done meanwhile under the lead and by the command of Alexander either among the Greeks or among the Illyrians and in Thrace, I should have [2] to interrupt the course of events in Asia, which, especially up to the flight and death of Darius, might seem far more fittingly to be presented as a whole, and just as they form a continuous series, so they should be joined together in my own work. Accordingly, I shall begin by telling of the events connected with the battle at Arbela.
[3] Darius had reached Arbela at about midnight, and Fortune had driven to the same spot the flight of [4] a great part of his friends and of his soldiers. Having called these together, he explained to them that he had no doubt that Alexander would make for the most populous cities and the lands abounding in supplies of every kind; that the Macedonian king and his soldiers had an eye to a rich and easily [6] acquired booty. This under present conditions would prove to be the salvation of his own fortunes; for he himself intended to go to the deserts with a lightly equipped band. The remote parts of his realm were still untouched, and from them he would [6] without difficulty get together forces for war; by all means let that most insatiable race seize his treasure and glut itself with gold, for which it had long hungered — a race soon to fall a prey to itself! he himself had learned from experience that costly equipment and concubines and trains of eunuchs were nothing else than burdens and hindrances. Alexander, dragging these same clogs after him, would be inferior in the resources by which he had formerly conquered.
This speech seemed to all to be full of desperation; for they saw that Babylon, that richest of cities, was being abandoned; presently Susa, presently the other ornaments of the realm, the cause for the war, would be seized by the victor. But Darius went on to show them that in times of adversity it was not at what was splendid to tell of but at what was of actual service, that one must aim; that wars were waged with steel, not with gold, with men, not with the buildings of cities. Everything fell to those who were armed; thus their forefathers, though in the beginning defeated, had speedily recovered their former fortune. And so, whether he had strengthened their courage, or they yielded to his command rather than to his judgement, he entered the territories of Media.
A little later Arbela was surrendered to Alexander, filled with the king’s equipment and with rich treasure; there were 4000 talents in money, besides costly raiment, since, as was said before, the wealth of the entire army was concentrated in that spot.
Then, because of the increasing diseases, which the stench of the dead bodies lying over all the plains had spread abroad, he speedily moved his camp. As they went on, Arabia was on their left hand, a region sources probably caused him to add something (about perfumes) which is really applicable to Arabia proper only. famous for its abundance of perfumes; the route is through plains in the land lying between the Tigris and the Euphrates, which is so fertile and rich, that the flocks are said to be kept from feeding there, for fear that they may die of satiety. The reason for its fertility is the moisture which oozes from both rivers, and almost the whole soil sweats because of the veins of water.
The rivers themselves flow forth from the mountains of Armenia, and then with a wide separation of their waters continue the course which they have begun. Those who have noted the greatest extent of the space between them in the neighbourhood of the mountains of Armenia have made its measure 2500 stadia. When these same rivers have begun to cut through Media and the land of the Gordyaei, they little by little come closer together, and the farther they flow, the narrower is the breadth of land that they leave between them. They are closest together in the plains which their inhabitants call Mesopotamia; for they shut this in between them on both sides. Finally, passing through the territories of the Babylonii, they burst into the Red Sea. Alexander arrived on his fourth day’s march at the city of Mennis. In that place there is a cavern from which a spring pours out so vast an amount of bitumen that it is a well-known fact that the walls of Babylon, a prodigious work, are cemented with bitumen from that spring.
Now, as Alexander kept on his way to Babylon, Mazaeus, who had fled to that city from the battlefield, met him as a suppliant with his mature children, and surrendered the city and himself. His coming was welcome to the king; for the siege of so strongly fortified a city would have been a great task. Moreover, it was evident that a man of distinction and ready action, who had also gained widespread reputation in the recent battle, would by his example induce the rest to surrender. Therefore the king received him courteously with his children; but he ordered his men to enter the city in square formation, with himself at their head, as if they were going into battle.
A great part of the Babylonians had taken their places on the walls in their eagerness to become acquainted with their new king, still more had gone out to meet him. Among the latter Bagophanes, guardian of the citadel and of the royal funds, in order not to be outdone in alacrity by Mazaeus, had strewn the whole road with flowers and garlands, and had placed here and there on both sides silver altars, which he had piled high, not only with frankincense, but with perfumes of all kinds. As gifts there followed him herds of horses and cattle; lions and leopards too were carried before them in cages.
Then came the magi, chanting a hymn after their manner, after them the Chaldeans, and of the Babylonians not only their prophets, but also musicians with their own kind of instruments; the latter were accustomed to sing the praises of the kings, the Chaldeans, to explain the moveme
nts of the heavenly bodies and the appointed changes of the seasons.
Lastly followed the Babylonian cavalry, whose apparel and that of their horses met the demands of luxury rather than of magnificence.
Alexander, surrounded by armed men, had ordered the throng of townspeople to march after the hinder-most of the infantry; he himself entered the city in a chariot, and then entered the palace. On the following day he inspected Darius’ furniture and all his wealth.
But the beauty and antiquity of the city itself drew to it the eyes, not only of the king, but also of all, and deservedly. Semiramis had founded it, not, as many have believed, Belus, whose palace is still pointed out. Its wall, built of small baked brick, cemented with bitumen covers a space of thirty-two feet in width; it is said that two four-horse chariots can meet and pass each other without risk. The wall rises to a height of fifty cubits; the towers are ten feet higher than the walls. The circuit of the entire work embraces 365 stadia; there is a tradition that the building of each stade was finished in a single day. The edifices of the city are not brought close to the walls, but are distant from them about the space ofone iuger. And they have not occupied the whole city either with houses — eighty stadia are occupied by these — and they are not all continuous, I suppose because it seemed safer for them to be scattered over numerous places. The spaces which remain they sow and cultivate, in order that, if a force from without should assail them, supplies may be furnished to the besieged from the soil of the city itself.
The Euphrates flows through Babylon and is held in check by embankments, massive works of great labour. Moreover, all these great works are surrounded by artificial hollows, sunk to a vast depth to meet the rush of the river; for when it has risen above the top of the embankment built against it, it would damage the buildings of the city, if there were no hollows and pools to receive it. These are built of baked brick and the entire work is cemented with bitumen. A bridge of stone built over the river connects the two parts of the city. This also is counted among the marvels of the Orient. For the Euphrates carries a depth of mud, and even when this was dug out far into the river for laying the foundations, they could with difficulty find firm ground for supporting the work; moreover, sand, which is piled up from time to time and adheres to the piers by which the bridge is supported, slows down the course of the river, which, being thus held back, is dashed against the bridge with greater violence than if it flowed in an unimpeded course.
Delphi Complete Works of Quintus Curtius Rufus Page 17
