Delphi Complete Works of Quintus Curtius Rufus

by Quintus Curtius Rufus

  [16] If any could reach the huts of the barbarians, they were quickly restored. But such was the darkness that the only thing which revealed the buildings was [16] their smoke. When the natives, who had never before seen a stranger in their country, suddenly caught sight of armed men, they were paralysed with fear and brought them whatever they had in their [17] huts, begging them to spare their lives. The king went about on foot among his troops, lifting up some who were lying prostrate, and, by the aid of his body, supporting those who were following with difficulty. Now in the van, now in the centre, now at the rear of the army he was everywhere present with manifold [18] toil. At length they came to more cultivated places and the army was revived by an abundance of supplies; at the same time also those who had not been able to keep up came into the camp which they had pitched.

  [19] From there the army proceeded to the Caucasus mountains, whose range divides Asia by a continuous ridge. It looks on one side to the sea which washes Cilicia, on the other to the Caspian Sea, the river Araxes, and the well-known deserts of the Scythian [20] region. Taurus, a mountain of second rank in height, joins the Caucasus; rising from Cappadocia, it passes by Cilicia, and unites itself with the Armenian mountains. Thus the ranges, as if connected in a series, form a continuous chain, from which almost all the rivers of Asia flow, some into the Red Sea, others into the Caspian, and still others into the Hyrcanian and Pontic. The army passed over Caucasus [22] in a space of seventeen days. There is a crag in the mountain, embracing ten stadia in circumference and rising to four stadia in height, on which ancient [23] fable reports that Prometheus was chained. A site for founding a city was chosen at the foot of the mountain and seven thousand from the subdued nations were permitted to settle in the new city, as well as those soldiers whose services the king had ceased to make use of. This city also its inhabitants called Alexandria.

  IV. But Bessus, greatly terrified by Alexander’s speed, after having duly performed a sacrifice to the gods of the country, as is the custom with those nations, was feasting and holding council with his friends and with the leaders of his forces about the [2] war. Heavy with wine, they began to boast of their strength, and to express scorn, now of the rashness [3] of the enemy, now of their small numbers. In particular Bessus, in insolent language and so proud of a sovereignty gained by murder as hardly to be in his right mind, began by saying that the reputation of the enemy had increased through the incapacity i of Darius. For he had encountered them in the narrowest part of the passes of Cilicia, when by drawing back he might have taken them off their guard and led them into places which the nature of the country made safe, since so many rivers lay in the way and there were so many hiding-places in the mountains that if surprised among these the enemy would have had not even an opportunity for flight, [5] much less for resisting. That it was his intention to withdraw into the land of the Sogdiani; he would oppose the Oxus River like a wall to the enemy, until powerful auxiliaries should assemble from the [6] neighbouring nations; the Chorasmii would come to him and the Dahae and Sacae, and the Indians and the Scythians dwelling beyond the river Tanais, not one of whom was so short of stature that he was not a head taller than a Macedonian soldier.

  [7] His drunken companions shouted in chorus that this plan alone was sound; and Bessus ordered wine to be served more abundantly, as if intending to [8] vanquish Alexander at the table. There was present at that banquet Gobares, a Mede by nationality, but a dabbler in the art of magic — if only that is an art, and not the illusion of all the greatest liars — more celebrated in his pretension than in his actual knowledge, but in other respects modest and upright.

  [9] He, by way of preface, said that he knew that it was more expedient for a slave to obey orders than to offer counsel, since the same fate awaits those who obey which awaits the rest, but those who advise undergo a particular peril of their own. Bessus bade him speak fearlessly and even handed him the cup which he had [10] been holding in his hand. Having taken the cup, Gobares said: “The nature of mortal men may be called perverse and vicious under this head also, that each one is less keen-sighted in his own business than [11] in that of another. The counsels of those who advise themselves are confused. Fear opposes them, at another time their desire, sometimes the natural love of their own plans; for presumption does not apply to you. You have, in truth, learned by experience to consider as the only or the best plan [12] whatever you yourself have devised. You sustain a great burden on your head, a kingly crown; this must either be borne with moderation or, which I pray the gods to avert, it will fall in ruins upon you. There is need of prudence, not of impetuosity.”

  [13] Then he added a proverb in common use among the Bactriani, that a timid dog barks more violently than it bites, and that the deepest rivers flow with the least sound. This I have quoted, in order that whatever wisdom could exist among barbarians” might be recorded.

  [14] By these words Gobares had left in suspense the expectation of his hearers; then he disclosed his advice, which was more expedient for Bessus than pleasing to him. “At the entrance” of your kingdom,” said he, “stands the swiftest of kings; he will advance his army before you put away that table of yours.

  Now you will summon an army from the Tanais, and you will oppose rivers to his arms. Of course the enemy cannot follow to whatever place you shall flee! The route is common to both, safer for the victor. Although you may think that fear is swift, yet hope is more rapid. Why do you not hasten to gain the favour of the stronger and give yourself up, since however it may turn out, you will have better fortune in having surrendered than you will have as his [17] enemy? You are holding the kingdom of another, hence it will be easier to do without it. You would perhaps begin to be a legitimate king when he himself has made you one who can give you royal power, or [18] wrest it from you. You have faithful advice, which it would be superfluous to set forth at greater length. A noble horse is guided by the mere shadow of the whip, a worthless one cannot be aroused even by [19] the spur.” Bessus, headstrong by nature, and made still more so by much wine, so burned with anger that he was with difficulty restrained by his friends from killing the speaker — for he had even drawn his scimitar. At any rate, he leaped up from the banquet-table, quite beside himself. Gobares escaped amid the confusion and deserted to Alexander.

  [20] Bessus had 8000 Bactriani under arms. These, so long as they believed that the Macedonians because of the rigour of the climate would be more likely to go to India, carried out his orders obediently; after they learned that Alexander was coming against them, they slipped away each to his own village and [21] deserted Bessus. He with a band of his clients who had not changed their allegiance passed over the river Oxus, and after burning the boats in which he had crossed, in order that the enemy might not use them, was levying fresh forces among the Sogdiani.

  [22] Alexander had crossed the Caucasus, as was said above, but had almost been reduced to starvation [23] through lack of grain. With the juice pressed from sesame they anointed their bodies in lieu of oil, but each amphora of this juice was valued at 240 denarii, an amphora of honey at 390, and of wine at 300; of [24] wheat very little or nothing was found. For the barbarians had pits which they call siri, which they conceal so skilfully, that only those who dug them can find them; in these their crops were stored away. In lack of these supplies the soldiers lived on fish from [25] the river and on herbs. And now even these foods had failed them, whereupon they were ordered to kill the pack-animals which carried their baggage; on the flesh of these they managed to exist until they reached the Bactriani.

  The land of the Bactriani is of a manifold and varied nature. In one part many trees and vines produce plentiful and mellow fruits, frequent brooks irrigate the rich soil, the milder parts of this they sow with grain, the rest they leave for pasture for the flocks, farther on a great part of the same land is occupied by sterile sands; because of its frightful dryness the region is uninhabited and produces no fruit. Indeed, when the winds blow from the Pontic sea, they sweep t
ogether whatever sand lies on the plains; when this is piled up, it looks from a distance like great hills, and all traces of the former road disappear. Accordingly, those who cross the plains watch the stars and direct their course by them, as do those who sail the sea; and the shade of night is almost brighter than daylight. Therefore the region is impassable in the daytime, because they find no traces to follow, and the light of the stars is hidden in darkness. Moreover, if the wind which arises from the sea overtakes any, it buries them in the sand. But where the land is milder it breeds a great multitude of men and horses. Therefore the cavalry of the Bactriani had amounted to 30,000. Bactra itself, the capital of the region, is situated at the foot of Mount Parapanisus. The Bactrus River flows at the foot of its walls. The river gave its name to the city and to the region.

  While the king was holding a stationary camp there, news came from Greece of the revolt of the Peloponnesians and the Laconians — for they had not yet been vanquished when those who were to report the beginnings of that uprising set forth — and another cause of alarm near at hand was reported, namely, that the Scythians who dwell beyond the river Tanais were coming and bringing aid to Bessus. At the same time news was brought of what Caranus and Erigyius [33] had accomplished in the land of the Arii. A battle had been fought between the Macedonians and the Arii. The traitor Satibarzanes commanded the barbarians; when he saw that the battle was almost at a standstill with the forces equal on both sides, he rode into the foremost ranks, and taking off his helmet and checking those who were hurling weapons, he challenged to battle anyone who wished to fight in single combat; he said that he would fight [34] bareheaded. Erigyius, advanced in years, it is true, but in vigour of both mind and body not to be deemed inferior to any of the young men, could not endure the bravado of the barbarian. He, having taken off his helmet and displaying his white hair, said: “The time has come for me to show either by victory or by a glorious death what sort of friends and soldiers [35] Alexander has.” Without more words he drove his horse against the foe.

  You would believe that the order had been given for both armies to cease fighting; certain it is that they at once drew back and left a free space, intent upon the fate, not only of the leaders, but their own also, since they were bound to share the outcome of [36] another’s fight. The barbarian was the first to hurl his spear. Erigyius avoided it by a slight movement of his head, and putting spurs to his horse, drove his lance straight into the middle of the barbarian’s throat, so that it came out at the back of his neck.

  [37] The barbarian, though thrown from his horse, yet still continued to fight. But Erigyius, drawing the spear from the wound, directed it again at his face. Satibarzanes seized it with his hand, in order to die more [38] quickly, and aided the enemy’s stroke. The barbarians, having lost their leader, whom they had followed rather on compulsion than voluntarily, and then not unmindful of the merits of Alexander, [30] surrendered to Erigyius. The king, rejoicing in this success, although by no means free from anxiety about the Spartans, yet bore their revolt with great courage, saying that they had not dared to reveal their design until they knew that he had come to 40 the confines of India. He himself moved his forces in pursuit of Bessus; Erigyius met him, displaying the head of the barbarian, as a glorious spoil of war.

  V. Therefore having entrusted the region of the Bactriani to Artabazus, he left there the packs and baggage with a garrison, and himself with a lightarmed force entered the desert places of the Sogdiani [2] leading his army by night. The scarcity of water, mentioned above, sets up a burning thirst through despair of finding it, before it does so by desire for drinking. For 400 stadia not even a drop of water [3] is to be found. The heat of the summer sun makes the sands hot, and when they began to glow, everything is burned as if by a continuous conflagration.

  Then too a mist, aroused by the excessive warmth of the ground, obscures the light, and the aspect of the plain is not unlike that of a vast and deep sea.”

  By night the march seemed endurable, since their bodies were relieved by the dew and by the early morning coolness. But with the very daylight the heat returns, and dryness consumes all their natural moisture; mouths and innermost vitals are [6] parched. As a result, first their courage and then their strength began to give out, they were [7] reluctant either to stand still or to go on. A few, advised by those who knew the region, had provided themselves with water beforehand; this for a time appeased their thirst, then, as the heat increased, the desire for water was kindled again. Therefore what wine and oil there was lavished upon all, and so great was the pleasure of drinking, that they [8] did not fear thirst for the future. Later, heavy from drinking greedily, they could not carry their arms nor march, and those seemed more fortunate who had had nothing to drink, since those who had were forced to get rid of by vomiting up what they had poured down without moderation.

  [9] The king, worried by such troubles, was surrounded by his friends, who begged him to remember that the greatness of his own courage was the sole remedy for [10] the weakness of the army; when two of those who had gone ahead to choose a place for a camp met them, bringing water in skins, in order to aid their sons who were in that same army and whom they [11] knew to be suffering severely from thirst. When they met Alexander, one of them opened one of the skins, filled a cup which he was carrying with him, and offered it to the king. He took it; then, having asked for whom he was bringing the water, he learned [12] that he was bringing it for his sons. Thereupon, returning the full cup, just as it had been offered to him, the king said: “I cannot endure to drink alone, and I cannot distribute so little among all; do you hasten and give to your children what you have brought for them.” [13] At length Alexander came to the river Oxus at about sunset. But the great part of the army had been unable to keep up with him; hence he ordered fires to be lighted on a high hill, in order that those who were following with difficulty might know that [14] they were not far from the camp, but that of those who were in the front of the army, after speedily refreshing themselves with food and drink, some should fill skins, others whatever other vessels could [15] hold water, and bring aid to his men. But those who had drunk too intemperately, had a choking fit and died, and the number of these was much greater [16] than the king had lost in any battle. But he, still wearing his cuirass and refreshed neither with food nor drink, stood on the road by which the army was coming, nor did he retire to refresh himself until the whole army had passed by, and he spent that whole [17] night without sleep in great trouble of mind. Nor was he more cheerful on the following day, because he had no boats, nor could a bridge be set up, since all the land around the river was bare and especially lacking in timber. Therefore he adopted the only [18] expedient that necessity had suggested; he distributed as many skins stuffed with straw as possible; lying upon these, they swam across the river, and those who had crossed first remained on guard until the rest had passed over. In this way he brought his whole army on the farther bank after five days.

  [19] And now he had decided to go on in pursuit of Bessus, when he learned what had happened in the country of the Sogdiani. Spitamenes was most [20] highly honoured by Bessus among all his friends, but treachery cannot be tamed by any services, a thing which nevertheless might have been less odious in his case, since it seemed that no wrong could be done by anyone to Bessus, the murderer of his king. A specious pretext for his crime was offered, namely, the avenging of Darius, but it was the fortune, not the evil [21] deed, of Bessus that he hated. For when he learned that Alexander had crossed the river Oxus, he enrolled Dataphernes and Catanes, in whom Bessus had the greatest confidence, as accomplices in the conspiracy which he had planned. They consented more promptly than they were asked, and taking with them eight very strong young men, they laid the [22] following snare. Spitamenes went to Bessus and in a private conference said that he had learned that Dataphernes and Catanes were plotting against him, in order to deliver him alive to Alexander; that he had anticipated their conspiracy and was holding them in fetters
.

  [23] Bessus, under obligation for this great service, as he thought it, both thanked them and, eager to inflict punishment, ordered the two men to be brought [24] to him. They, with their arms voluntarily bound, were dragged in by the accomplices in the plot; Bessus, gazing fiercely at them, arose, evidently unable to refrain from laying hands upon them. Then they, laying aside pretence, surrounded him, and in spite of his vain attempts at resistance bound him, tearing from his head the royal tiara and rending the clothes which he had put on from the spoils of the murdered [25] king. Bessus, confessing that the gods had come as avengers of his crime, added that they had not been unfavourable to Darius, whom they thus avenged, but propitious to Alexander, since even his enemies [26] always aided his victory. Whether the populace would have rescued Bessus is uncertain, had not those who had bound him, by falsely saying that they had done so by order of Alexander,” terrified them while their minds were still wavering. The conspirators placed him on a horse and took him to be delivered to Alexander.