Delphi Complete Works of Quintus Curtius Rufus

by Quintus Curtius Rufus

  Just as in ailing bodies, my soldiers, physicians leave nothing which will do harm, so let us cut away whatever stands in the way of our rule. Often to have ignored a tiny spark has roused a great conflagration. Nothing is safely despised in an enemy; one whom you have scorned you make stronger by [12] neglect. Not even Darius received the rule of the Persians by right of succession, but he was admitted to the throne of Cyrus by the favour of Bagoas, a eunuch; so do not suppose that it will be hard [13] labour for Bessus to seize a vacant kingdom. We certainly committed a sin, soldiers, if we conquered Darius for the purpose of turning over the sovereignty to his slave, who, having dared the worst of crimes, held his king in fetters, like a captive, even when he was in need of aid from without, and whom we, the victors, would surely have spared, and finally slew him in order that he might not be saved by us. Will you suffer such a man to rule? A man whom I, for my part, am in haste to see nailed to a cross, thus paying a well-deserved penalty to all kings and [15] nations, and to loyalty, which he desecrated. But, by Heaven! if presently it shall have been announced that the same wretch is laying waste the cities of the Greeks and the Hellespont, what grief will you feel that a Bessus has robbed you of the fruits of your victory! Then you will hurry to recover what is yours, then you will take up arms. But how much better it is to crush him while he is still in fear and almost beside himself.

  [16] “A march of four days is left for us, who have trodden so many snows, have passed over so many rivers, crossed the heights of so many mountains. Not that sea, which with its rising tide covers the road with its waves, delays our march, not the passes and narrows of Cilicia shut us in, the whole country is level and easy. We stand on the very [17] threshold of victory. A few runaways and slayers of their master remain for us. A noble work, by Heaven! and one to be numbered among the chief of your glorious deeds you will hand down to posterity and to fame, namely, that you have avenged even Darius, your enemy, having ended your hatred of him after his death, by slaying his murderer, and [18] that no impious man has escaped your hands. When this has been accomplished, how much more submissive do you think that the Persians will be, when they know that you undertake pious wars, and that it is the crime of Bessus, not the Persian name, that inflames your wrath?”

  IV. The address was received with the greatest enthusiasm of the soldiers, who bade him lead them [2] whithersoever he wished. Nor did the king delay their ardour, but two days later he made his way through Parthienê to the borders of Hyrcania, having left Craterus with the forces under his command and the band which Amyntas was leading, besides 600 horsemen and the same number of archers, to protect Parthienê from any inroad of the [3] barbarians. He ordered Erigyius to conduct the baggage by the route through the plains, having given him a moderate escort. He himself with the phalanx and the cavalry, after traversing 150 stadia, fortified a camp in the valley through which one enters Hvrcania. There is a grove shaded by a dense growth of very tall trees, where the rich soil of the valley is watered by streams which flow from [4] the overhanging rocks. From the very roots of the mountains the Stiboetes River gushes forth, which flows as a single stream for a distance of nearly three stadia, then, dashed against a rock which obstructs its little channel, it forms two branches, as if by a distribution of its waters. From there a torrent, made more violent by the rough stones over which it runs, it plunges headlong under the earth. For 300 stadia it glides on in a hidden course, and again, as if reborn from another source, it comes to the surface and cuts a new channel, wider than its former [6] one — for it expands to a width of thirteen stadia — and once more contracts its course within narrower banks. At last it empties into another river; it is [7] called the Rhidagnus. The natives asserted that whatever articles had been thrown into the cavern which is nearer the river’s source come out where the other mouth of the river opens; therefore Alexander gave orders that oxen be thrown in where the waters go under the earth, and those who were sent to intercept them saw their bodies thrown out where the river bursts forth again.

  [8] Alexander had already given the soldiers a rest for the fourth day in the same place, when from Nabarzanes, who with Bessus had taken Darius prisoner, he received a letter, of which this was the purport: That he had not been an enemy of Darius, quite on the contrary, he had given him what he believed to be salutary advice, and because he had given the king faithful counsel, he had barely escaped [9] with his life. That Darius had meditated handing over the guardianship of his person to foreign soldiers, contrary to what was just and right, distrusting the loyalty of his own subjects, which for two hundred and thirty years they had preserved inviolate to their [10] kings. For his own part, standing as he was on dangerous and slippery ground, he had taken counsel from his immediate necessity. Darius also, when he had killed Bagoas, had satisfied his countrymen with this excuse, that he had killed the eunuch because he was plotting against him. That nothing was more precious to wretched mortals than life; that it was from love of this that he had been driven to extremities. But those acts he had yielded to, rather than desired. In a general calamity each man’s fortune was his own.

  [12] If Alexander should order Nabarzanes to come to him, he would come without fear. He had no apprehension that so great a king would violate a pledge which he had given; the gods were not wont [13] to be deceived by a god. But if Nabarzanes should be thought unworthy of receiving a pledge, many places of exile were open to his flight; wherever a brave man has chosen his home, there is his native H land. Alexander did not hesitate to give a pledge, in the manner in which the Persians were wont to receive them, that if he should come, he would be unharmed.

  Nevertheless Alexander went on with his army in square formation and in good order, sending scouts ahead from time to time, to reconnoitre the country.

  [13] The light-armed troops led the march, the phalanx followed them, after the infantry was the baggage. Both the warlike race and the nature of their position, which was difficult of access, had put the king on his guard. For there is a continuous valley extending as far as the Caspian Sea, to which arms, so to speak, of that land jut forth; these, bending slightly in the middle, form a curve very like the moon with its horns standing out when that heavenly [17] body does not yet fill out its complete orb. The Cercetae and the Mossyni, and the Chalybes are on the left, and on the other side the fields of the Leucosyri and the Amazons; and it looks towards the latter where it slopes towards the north, to the [18] former when it is turned towards the west. The Caspian Sea, which is fresher than others, breeds serpents of huge size; the colours of the fish in it are very different from others. Some call it Caspian, others Hyrcanian; there are still others who think that the Maeotic pool empties into it, and they advance as evidence the water, because it is fresher than the other seas, since the water from the pool which has flowed into it tempers its saltness.

  [19] Towards the north a great sea rushes upon the shore, drives its waves far, and like a rising tide forms a pool of great extent; but in another condition of the weather the sea retires into itself, and with the same force with which it poured in, it flows back and restores the land to its natural condition. And some have thought that this is not the Caspian Sea, but that the Ocean makes its way from India into Hyrcania, whose high land, as was said before, sinks into an uninterrupted valley.

  [20] From here the king proceeded for twenty stadia by an almost impassable path, which a forest overhung, while torrents and floods delayed the march; yet since no enemy met them, they passed through, [21] and finally came to more cultivated places. Besides other supplies, of which the region then had an abundance, a huge amount of fruits is grown, and [22] the soil is very rich in producing grapes. A kind of tree winch is common there resembles an oak, the leaves of which are bedewed with a great deal of honey; but unless the natives gather it before sunrise, the sap is destroyed by even a moderate warmth.

  [23] From there Alexander had advanced for thirty stadia, when Phrataphernes met him, surrendering himself and those who had fled
after the death of Darius; having received them courteously, the king came to the town of Arvae. There Craterus and [24] Erigyius met him. They had brought Phradates, governor of the tribe of the Tapuri; he also was received under protection, and was an example to many in entrusting themselves to the king’s clemency.

  [25] Then Alexander made Amminaspes satrap of Hyrcania; he had come to Philip as an exile during the reign of Ochus. Alexander also restored the tribe of the Tapuri to Phradates.

  V. And already the king had entered the farthest part of Hyreania, when Artabazus, who, as we have said before, had been most faithful to Darius, met him with his own children and the relatives of Darius, [2] as well as with a small band of Greek soldiers. On his arrival the king offered him his right hand; for he had been a guest of Philip when he was in exile in the reign of Ochus, but the loyalty to his king, which he had maintained to the end, prevailed over the pledges [3] of guest-friendship. Being therefore affably greeted, he said: “May you for your part, king, I pray the gods, enjoy perpetual happiness; I, though in all other respects happy, am grieved by this alone, that because of hastening old age I cannot long enjoy [4] your kindness.” He was in his ninety-fifth year. Nine young men, all born of the same mother, accompanied their father; these Artabazus caused to take the king’s right hand, praying that they might live [5] so long as they might be helpful to Alexander. The king generally made a journey on foot; on that occasion he ordered horses to be brought for himself and Artabazus, in order that the aged man might not feel ashamed to ride a horse while the king himself went on foot.

  [6] Then, after a camp had been pitched, the king ordered the Greeks whom Artabazus had brought to be called together; but they replied that unless a pledge of safety was given also to the Lacedaemonians and to the men of Sinopê, they would consider what step they ought to take. These had been sent as envoys of the Lacedaemonians to Darius, and after the defeat of that king had attached themselves to the Greeks who were serving as mercenaries with [8] the Persians. The king, having given them no pledges of protection nor promises, ordered them to come to him and to accept such fortune as he himself would give them. After long hesitation and many changes of mind, they finally promised that they [9] would come. But Démocrates, an Athenian, who had always been prominent in opposing the Macedonian power, despairing of pardon, fell upon his sword. All the rest, as they had decided, surrendered [10] at discretion to Alexander. They numbered 1500 soldiers, and besides these, ninety who had been sent as envoys to Darius. The soldiers were distributed as additions to the king’s troops, the rest were sent home except the Lacedaemonians whom he ordered to be held under guard.

  [11] The Mardi were a race bordering on Hyrcania, a people of rude habits of life and accustomed to brigandage; they alone had neither sent envoys, nor seemed likely to be obedient to orders. Hence the king, piqued by the thought that one race might prevent him from having been “invincible,” having left the baggage with a guard, went on, accompanied [12] by a strong force. He had made the march by night, and at daybreak the enemy was in sight; it was rather a tumult than a battle. Dislodged from the hills of which they had taken possession, the barbarians fled, and the nearest villages, deserted by their inhabitants, [13] were taken. The interior parts of that region, however, could not be approached without greatly fatiguing the army; ranges of mountains, lofty forests, and impassable rocks shut them in, and such parts as are level the barbarians had obstructed by a novel kind of fortification. Trees are purposely planted close together; while their branches are still tender, they bend them down with their hands, twist them together, and again insert them in the earth; then, as if from another root, more vigorous trunks spring.

  [15] They do not allow these to grow in the direction which Nature carries them, but they join them together, as if interlacing them. When they are clad in abundant foliage, they hide the ground; and so the secret snares, so to speak, of the branches [16] shut in the road by a continuous hedge. The only expedient was to cut an opening into the woods, but this too was a task of great difficulty. For the many knots had hardened the trunks, and the interlaced branches of the trees, like so many suspended festoons, by their tough interwoven shoots would bring to naught the strokes of the axe. The natives, however, being accustomed to crawl under the thickets like wild beasts, then also had entered the woods and from concealment were assailing their enemy with weapons. Alexander, tracing them to their lairs as hunters do, slew many of them, and finally ordered the soldiers to encircle the forest, and to rush in if they could find an opening anywhere; but in the unknown country many of them strayed and lost their way, and some were captured, among them the king’s horse — they called him Bucephalas — which Alexander valued more highly than all other animals. For he would not allow anyone else to sit upon his back, and when the king wished to mount him, he knelt down of its own accord to receive him, and seemed to know whom he was carrying. Therefore aroused with greater anger than was seemly and at the same time with grief, the king gave orders that the horse should be traced, and that proclamation should be made through an interpreter, that unless it should be returned, not a man would be left alive. Terrified by this threat, along with other gifts they brought the horse. But not even by this made milder, the king ordered the woods to be cut down and earth to be brought from the mountains and heaped upon the plain which was made impassable by the branches. And this work had already risen to a considerable height, when the barbarians, despairing of being able to hold the region which they had occupied, surrendered their nation. The king, after having received hostages, ordered them to submit to Phradates.

  Then, four days later, the king returned to his permanent camp. From there he sent Artabazus home, after conferring on him double the honour which Darius had paid him. Now they had come to the city of Hyrcania in which the palace of Darius had been; there Nabarzanes, having received a safe [23] conduct, met him, bringing great gifts. Among these was Bagoas, a eunuch of remarkable beauty and in the very flower of boyhood, who had been loved by Darius and was afterwards to be loved by Alexander; and it was especially because of the boy’s entreaties that he was led to pardon Nabarzanes.

  [24] There was, as was said before, neighbouring on Hyrcania, a race of Amazons, inhabiting the plains of [25] Themiscyra, about the river Thermodon. They had a queen, Thalestris, who ruled all who dwelt between the Caucasus mountains and the river Phasis. She, fired with a desire to visit the king, came forth from the boundaries of her kingdom, and when she was not far away sent messenger’s to give notice that a queen had come who was eager to meet him and to become acquainted with him. She was at once given permission [26] to come. Having ordered the rest of her escort to halt, she came forward attended by three hundred women, and as soon as the king was in sight, she herself leaped down from her horse, carrying two [27] lances in her right hand. The clothing of the Amazons does not wholly cover the body; for the left side is nude as far as the breast, then the other parts of the body are veiled. However, the fold of the robe, which they gather in a knot, does not [28] reach below the knee. One nipple is left untouched, and with it they nourish their female children; the right is seared, in order that they may more easily stretch their bows and hurl their spears.

  [29] With fearless expression Thalestris gazed at the king, carefully surveying his person, which did not by any means correspond to the fame of his exploits; for all the barbarians feel veneration for a majestic presence, and believe that only those are capable of great deeds whom nature has deigned to adorn with [30] extraordinary physical attractiveness. However, on being asked whether she wished to make any request, she did not hesitate to confess that she had come to share children with the king, being worthy that he should beget from her heirs to his kingdom; that she would retain any female offspring but would return [31] a male to his father. Alexander asked her whether she wished to serve in war with him; but she, giving as an excuse that she had left her realm without a guard, persisted in asking that he should not suffer [32] her to go awa
y disappointed in her hope. The passion of the woman, being, as she was, more keen for love than the king, compelled him to remain there for a few days. Thirteen days were spent in satisfying her desire. Then she went to her kingdom, and the king to Parthienê.

  VI. It was in fact at this time that Alexander gave loose rein to his passions, and changed continence and self-control, eminent virtues in every exalted fortune, to haughtiness and wantonness.

  [2] Regarding his native customs and the discipline of the Macedonian kings, wholesomely restrained and democratic, as too low for his grandeur, he strove to rival the loftiness of the Persian court, equal to [3] the power of the gods; he demanded that the victors over so many nations in paying their respects to him should prostrate themselves upon the ground, and gradually sought to accustom them to servile [4] duties and to treat them like captives. Accordingly, he encircled his brow with a purple diadem, variegated with white such as Darius had worn, and assumed the Persian garb, not even fearing the omen of changing from the insignia of a victor to the [5] dress of the conquered. In fact, he used to say that he was wearing the spoils of the Persians; but with them he had assumed also their customs, and insolence of spirit accompanied the magnificence of his [6] attire. The letters also which were to be sent to Europe he sealed with the device of his former ring; on those which he wrote to Asia, the ring of Darius was impressed, so that it appeared that one mind was not equal to the fortune of the two realms.

  [7] Moreover, he compelled his friends, the cavalry, and with them the leaders of the soldiers, to wear the Persian dress, which was indeed repugnant to them, [8] but which they did not dare to refuse. Three hundred and sixty-five concubines, the same number that Darius had had, filled his palace, attended by herds of eunuchs, also accustomed to prostitute themselves.