Delphi Complete Works of Quintus Curtius Rufus

by Quintus Curtius Rufus

  [4] From there he went on to the Sambagrae, a strong race of India, which was governed by the will of the people, not the power of kings. They had 60,000 infantry and 6000 cavalry; these forces were followed by 500 chariots. They had chosen three leaders [5] distinguished for valour in war. But the people in the fields adjoining the river — and they had many villages, especially on its bank — when they saw the whole stream as far as they could see covered with ships, and shining arms of so many soldiers, stunned by the novel sight, believed an army of gods was coming and another Father Liber, a name celebrated [6] among those nations. Hence the shouting of the soldiers, hence the beat of the oars and the confused cries of the rowers, as they encouraged one another, [7] had filled their ears with terror. Therefore they all ran to those who were under arms, crying that they were mad and were about to do battle with gods; that the ships were innumerable and carried invincible heroes. And they struck such terror into the army of their countrymen that they sent envoys to surrender the nation. g When these had been received in submission, Alexander came next on the fourth day to another nation. These had no more courage than the others had had. Accordingly, after founding a town there, which he ordered to be called Alexandria, he entered the territories of those who are called the [9] Musicani. Here, because of charges made by the Parapanisadae, he tried the satrap Terioltes,” whom he had made their governor, and since he was convicted of many acts of greed and arrogance, ordered [10] him to be put to death. Oxyartes, ruler of the Bactriani, was not only acquitted, but because of his tie of affection with the king was given the territories of a more extensive rule. Then, having reduced the Musicani to submission, Alexander put a garrison in charge of their capital.

  [11] From there he came through forests to a rude race of India. Its king was Porticanus, who with a great force of his subjects had shut himself up in a fortified city. This Alexander took by assault on the third [12] day after he had begun to besiege it. And Porticanus, having taken refuge in the citadel, sent envoys to the king to discuss conditions of surrender. But before they reached Alexander two towers had fallen with a mighty crash, and through their ruins the Macedonians burst into the citadel. After this had been taken, Porticanus, who was resisting with a few of his men, was slain.

  [13] Having therefore razed the citadel, and sold all the prisoners, Alexander entered the domain of King Sambus, and after receiving many towns in surrender took the strongest city of the nation by a [14] subterranean passage. To the barbarians, who were inexperienced in military operations, this seemed like a prodigy; for armed men came up out of the earth almost in the middle of the city, no indication having been given beforehand of the digging of the passage-

  [15] way. Clitarchus states that 80,000 Indi were killed in that region, and many captives sold at auction.

  [16] Again the Musicani revolted; Pithon was sent to subdue them, captured the principal man of the race, who was also the instigator of the rebellion and brought him to Alexander. The king had him crucified, and returned again to the river, on which he had ordered the fleet to wait for him.

  [17] Then, three days later, he sailed down the river to a town at the extremity of the realm of Sambus. That king had lately given himself up, but the people of the city rejected his authority and had closed the [18] gates of the town. The king, despising the smallness of their number, ordered 500 of the Agriani to advance to the wall, and by slowly retiring to lure the enemy outside of the town; for they would be sure to follow, if they believed that the Agriani were [19] in flight. The Agriani, as had been ordered, after attacking the enemy, suddenly turned their backs; the barbarians, hotly pursuing them, fell in with other troops, among whom was King Alexander himself. Hence the battle was renewed, and of 3000 barbarians 600 were killed, 1000 captured, and the [20] rest shut within the walls of the city. But the victory was not so happy in its outcome as it appeared to be at first sight; for the barbarians had poisoned their swords. In consequence the wounded died one after the other, and no cause for so speedy a death could be imagined by the physicians, since even slight wounds were incurable.

  [21] Now the barbarians had hoped that the incautious and rash king might be one of the victims. But although he fought among the foremost, he was [22] fortunate enough to escape untouched. Ptolemy, who was wounded in the left shoulder, slightly it is true but with greater danger than that caused by the wound, had caused the king special anxiety. He was a blood-relation, and some believed him to be a son of Philip; at any rate it was known for certain that he was the offspring of one of that king’s [23] concubines. He was also a member of Alexander’s body-guard and a most valiant warrior, and even greater and more distinguished in the arts of peace than in those of war; modest and affable in his manner of life, particularly generous and easy of access, he had assumed none of the haughtiness of [24] royal origin. Because of these qualities it could be doubted whether he was dearer to the king or to the people; at all events, it was at that time that he first realized the affection of his countrymen; which was so great that in that time of his peril the Macedonians seemed to have presaged the rank to which he afterwards rose.

  [25] Indeed their solicitude for Ptolemy was no weaker than that of the king. For when Alexander, wearied by fighting and by anxiety, had taken his place beside Ptolemy, he ordered a bed for himself [26] to sleep on to be brought in. As soon as he lay down upon it, he immediately fell into a profound sleep. When he awoke, he said that in a dream a serpent had appeared to him, carrying an herb in its mouth, which it had indicated to be a cure for the [27] poison; and the king declared too that he would recognize the colour of the herb if anyone could find it. Then, when it was found — for it was sought by many at the same time — he placed it upon the wound; and immediately the pain ceased and within a short [28] time the wound was scabbed over. The barbarians, since their first hope had proved vain, surrendered themselves and the city.

  From there they came to the next nation, that of the Patalii. Their king was Soeris, who had abandoned his city, and taken refuge in the mountains.

  [29] Alexander took the town and pillaged the fields. From there great booty was driven off, in the form of flocks and herds, and a great store of grain was found.

  [30] Then, taking guides acquainted with the river, he sailed down to an island which arose in about the middle of the channel.

  IX. Being compelled to stay there for a longer time, because the guides, who had been carelessly guarded, had made their escape, he sent men to look for others. When none were found, the desire of visiting the Ocean and going to the ends of the world prevailed upon him, without guides who knew the region, to entrust his own life and the safety of so [2] many valiant men to an unknown river; and so they sailed on, knowing nothing of the country through which they were being carried. How far off from there the sea was, what nations dwelt there, how quiet the mouth of the river was, whether it was navigable by ships of war, was divined by uncertain and blind conjecture; the sole consolation for the rash enterprise was the king’s perpetual good fortune.

  [3] Already they had gone on for 400 stadia, when the pilots made known to the king that they felt sea air [4] and that the Ocean was not far distant. He, filled with joy, began to urge the sailors to bend to the oars, saying that the end of their labours, so ardently desired, was at hand; now nothing was wanting to complete their glory, nothing left to oppose their valour, without any decision of Mars, without blood-shed, they were taking the very edge of the world; not even Nature could go farther, soon they would see what [5] was unknown except to the immortals. Nevertheless he sent a few men ashore in a boat, to take some of the peasants who were roving about, from whom he hoped to get more accurate information. They, after searching all the huts, at last found some hidden [6] in them. These, when asked how far away the sea was, answered that they had never even heard of any sea; but that on the third day they could reach bitter water, which spoiled the fresh water.

  It was clear that this was a description of the sea by those w
ho were not acquainted with its nature; [7] and so the boatmen rowed on with great eagerness, and each succeeding day, as the fulfilment of their hopes drew nearer, their ardour increased. By the third day sea water mixed with the river met them, as the tide, which was still gentle, mingled the different [8] waters. Then carried to another island, situated in the middle of the river, somewhat more slowly because their speed being retarded by the tide, they brought their fleet to the shore and ran about to look for supplies, with no thought of the accident which befell them in their ignorance. It was nearly the third hour, when the Ocean, in its regular change, began to be carried on a flood-tide into the river, and pushed it back. The stream, at first checked and then pushed more violently, was driven upstream with greater speed than that of torrents running in a [10] precipitous channel. The nature of the sea was unknown to the common soldiers, who thought that they were witnessing portents and signs of the anger of the gods when the sea continually swelled and overflowed to flood fields that shortly before were dry.

  [11] Now the ships were lifted and the whole fleet was scattered, and those who had gone on shore, alarmed and amazed by the unexpected calamity, ran from [12] every side back to the ships. But in times of confusion even haste is slow. Some were pushing at the ships with poles, others had taken their seats while [13] they prevented the oars from being put in place, some in their haste to sail, without waiting for those who ought to have been with them, were weakly struggling with crippled and unmanageable ships, other ships had taken all those who rushed inconsiderately into them; and equally too great and too small numbers [14] delayed their haste. Here some were shouting to wait, there others, to go on, and the contradictory cries of those who never demanded one and the same action had prevented the use, not only of the eyes, [15] but also of the ears. And there was no help even in the pilots, for their voice could not be heard in the tumult, nor could their orders be carried out by the frightened and disordered sailors.

  [16] Hence the ships began to be dashed together, and the oars to be shorn off in turn, and the crews to foul one another’s ships. You would have supposed, not that it was the fleet of one army, but that the fleets of two armies were engaged in a sea-fight.

  [17] Prows were dashed against sterns, those ships that damaged ships in front of them were in turn injured by ships behind them; from angry words they even came to blows.

  [18] And now the tide had flooded all the plains about the river except for mounds projecting like small islands, to which many in their trepidation hastened [19] to swim, deserting the ships. The scattered fleet stood, a part in very deep water, where valleys had made low ground, a part were stranded on shoals, wherever the waters had covered land of uneven but rising level; when on a sudden a new cause of terror, greater than the former one, surprised [20] them. The sea began to flow back with great pull, as the waters ran back to their own channel and restored the lands which a little before had been submerged in deep surge. Hence some of the ships, being thus stranded, were thrown upon their prows, others fell upon their sides. The fields were strewn with baggage, arms, and fragments of [21] broken planks and oars. The soldiers dared neither to land nor to stay aboard, since they were awaiting more serious calamities than the present that might follow at any time. They could hardly believe that they actually beheld what they were experiencing, shipwreck on dry land, the sea in the river.

  [22] And there was no end to their troubles; for since they did not know that the sea would a little later bring back the tide by which their ships would be floated, they foresaw famine and the utmost extremities. Horrible sea-beasts too, left by the tide, were [23] roaming about. And already night was drawing near, and despair of safety had disturbed even the king himself. However his cares did not so master his indomitable spirit as to keep him from spending the whole night on the watch and sending horsemen ahead to the mouth of the river, in order that when they saw that the tide was rising again, they might [24] outstrip it. He also gave orders that the ships which were damaged should be repaired, that those which had been overturned by the waves should be raised, and that everyone should be prepared and alert [25] when the sea had again flooded the lands. When all that night had been spent in watching and in encouraging the army, at the same time the horsemen came fleeing for safety at top speed, and the tide followed. This at first, as the waters came under them with gentle flow, began to lift the ships, and then, when all the fields were flooded, even set the fleet in motion.

  [26] Then the hand-claps and cheers of the soldiers and boatmen, hailing with unrestrained joy the unexpected safety, made the shores and banks resound. In wonder they asked one another whence so great a sea had suddenly returned, whither it had fled the day before, what was the nature of this same element which was at one moment at variance with the strict laws of time, and at another so subject to them.

  [27] The king, since from what had happened he conjectured that the regular tune was after sunrise, in the middle of the night, in order to anticipate the tide, with a few ships went down the river and, carried out to its mouth, proceeded 400 stadia into the sea, at last accomplishing the object of his prayers. Then, after sacrificing to the gods presiding over the sea and the region, he returned to the fleet.

  X. Next the fleet went up the river, and on the second day was moored near a salt lake, the unknown nature of which deceived those who rashly entered its waters. For a scabby itch attacked their bodies and the contagion of the ailment was [2] communicated also to others. A remedy was oil. Then Leonnatus was sent ahead, to dig wells along the route by which he seemed likely to lead the army in a march by land — for the region was dry — while Alexander himself with his troops remained where he was, [3] waiting for the springtime. Meanwhile he both founded several cities and ordered Nearchus and One-sicritus, who were skilled in navigation, to sail the strongest ships down to the Ocean, and having gone as far as they safely could, to make themselves acquainted with the nature of the sea, saying that when they wished to return to him, they could come up either by that same river or by the Euphrates.

  [4] And when the winter was nearly over, he burned the ships which seemed useless, and led the army [5] by land. On the ninth day he came into the region of the Arabitae, and from there in the same number of days into that of the Cedrosii. This free people, after having held a council, surrendered themselves, and nothing was demanded of the surrendered [6] except supplies. Next, on the fifth day, he came to a river which the natives call the Arabus. A region barren and poor in water met him; having passed through this, he crossed into the land of the Horitae. There he handed over the greater part of the army to Hephaestion and shared the light-armed troops [7] with Ptolemy and Leonnatus. Three armies at the same time were pillaging the Indi, and a great amount of booty was driven off; Ptolemy was burning the maritime regions, the king himself and in another direction Leonnatus, the rest of the country. In this region also he founded a city, and colonized it with Arachosii.

  [8] From there he came to the Indi who dwell along the sea-coast. They occupy a great extent of country which is barren and desolate, and mingle in no kind of [9] intercourse even with their neighbours. Their very solitude has made quite wild their dispositions, which are savage even by nature; their nails grow long, never having been cut, their hair is shaggy and unshorn.

  [10] They adorn their huts with shells and other things thrown up by the sea. Clad in the skins of wild beasts, they feed upon fish cured in the sun, and also on the flesh of larger animals cast up by the sea.

  [11] Therefore, since their supplies were used up, the Macedonians began to suffer at first scarcity, and finally starvation, grubbing everywhere for the roots of palms — for that is the only kind of tree that grows [12] there. And when even this nourishment had failed them, they began to kill their draught animals, not even abstaining from the horses. And when they had nothing to carry their packs, they burned the spoils taken from the enemy, for the sake of which they had traversed the remotest parts of the Orient.

 
[13] Then pestilence followed hunger. For the harmful juices of the unwholesome viands, added to the labour of marching and anxiety of mind, had spread diseases, and they could neither remain where they were nor advance without danger of death; if they remained, famine, if they went on, a deadlier enemy, pestilence, [14] assailed them. Hence the plains were strewn with almost more bodies of the dying than of the dead. And not even those who were slightly ill were able to follow; for the army was led on rapidly, since each man believed that the army was making the more progress towards the hope of safety, the more [15] they cut short their journey by hurrying. Therefore those who had given out besought those whom they knew, and strangers as well, to succour them; but there were no animals by which they could be taken on, and the soldiers could barely carry their arms and the sight of the evil which threatened themselves was before their eyes. Therefore, though often called back, they could not endure even to look upon their comrades, but pity was overcome by fear.

  [16] Those others, being left behind, called upon the gods as witnesses, on their common sacred rites, and on the aid of the king, and when they found that they were wearying deaf cars to no purpose, despair turned to madness and they prayed that those to whom they appealed might have a fate like their own and friends and comrades as cruel as themselves.

  [17] The king, oppressed by grief, and at the same time by shame, because he himself was the cause of such a great disaster, sent messengers to Phrataphernes, satrap of the Parthyaei, to order cooked food to be brought on camels, and informed other governors of [18] neighbouring regions of his necessities. And they did not delay. And so the army, saved at least from starvation, was at last led into the country of Cedrosia. That is a land with a soil productive of all fruits; there he encamped for some time, in order [19] to recuperate the suffering soldiers with rest. Here he received a letter from Leonnatus, saying that he had fought with 8000 infantry and 400 cavalry of the Horitae with successful result. From Craterus also came the news that he had defeated Ozines and Zariaspes, Persian nobles who were attempting [20] a revolt, and that they were in fetters. Therefore, having made Sibyrtius governor of that region — for Menon, its prefect, had lately fallen ill and died —