[2] Then he went on down the river, keeping some distance ahead of the rest of the fleet, in order that the quiet which he still needed in his very weak condition might not be interfered with by the beat of the oars.
[3] On the fourth day after he had begun his voyage he came into a region which was indeed deserted by all its inhabitants, but abounded in grain and cattle. The place suited him for resting both himself and his [4] soldiers. It was the custom for the principal men among the king’s friends and for his body-guard to keep watch before his tent whenever he had fallen ill; since this custom was being observed at that time [6] as usual, they all entered his chamber. Alexander, anxious lest they brought some serious news, because they had all come at once, asked whether an immediate approach of the enemy was being reported.
[6] But Craterus, who had been intrusted to convey to him the prayers of his friends, replied:— “Do you imagine that we are more disturbed by the coming of the enemy, although they even now stood on our rampart, than through care for your safety, on [7] which you seem to set little store? However great a force of all nations should unite against us, should fill the whole world with arms and men, should cover the sea with their fleets, should bring against us beasts never seen before, it is you that will make us g invincible. But who among the gods can promise that this prop and star of Macedonia will be lasting, when you so eagerly expose your person to evident dangers, forgetting that you draw into disaster the [9] lives of so many citizens? For who desires to be, or can be, your survivor? Following your auspices and command, we have come to a place from which none of us can find a way to his hearth and home except under your lead.
[10] “But if you were still contending with Darius for the dominion of Persia, although no one could wish it, yet one could not even wonder that you are of such ready daring in the face of every danger; for when the peril and its reward are equal, the gain is not only more ample in case of success, but the solace is greater in [11] case of defeat. But that an obscure village should be bought at the price of your life who could endure, not to mention your own soldiers, but even the citizen of any barbarous nation who knows your greatness?
[12] My soul shudders at the thought of the scene which we witnessed a short time ago. I fear to mention that the most worthless of hands would have polluted the spoils stripped from your invincible body, had not Fortune been compassionate and saved you for us.
“We are so many traitors, so many deserters, all of [13] us who were not able to keep up with you. Although you should brand your soldiers with ignominy, no one will refuse to pay that penalty for the guilt which [14] he could not avoid incurring. I pray you, allow us to be worthless in your sight in a different way. Whithersoever you bid us we will go. We demand for ourselves the obscure dangers and inglorious battles; save yourself for those which are worthy of your greatness. Glory gained over mean enemies quickly fades, and nothing is more unworthy than for it to [15] be wasted when it cannot be displayed.” Ptolemy spoke too about the same purport, and the rest used similar language. And now with mingled tears and cries all besought him that at last from satiety he should set a limit to the pursuit of glory and have regard for his safety, that is, the safety of the state.
[16] The affection of his friends was gratifying to the king; accordingly, having embraced them one after the other with unusual tenderness, he bade them be seated and, seeking words of deeper feeling, [17] said: “To you indeed, most faithful and most loyal of my fellow citizens and friends, I feel and express gratitude, not only for the reason that today you value my safety more than your own, but also because from the outset of this war there is no pledge and proof of your affection for me which you have omitted, so much so that I must confess that my life has never been so dear to me as it has begun to be now that I can enjoy your [18] companionship for a long time. But the thought of those who wish to die for me is not the same as my own, since I think that I have long since won this goodwill of yours through deeds of valour. For you would wish to enjoy me for a long time, and perhaps forever, whereas I measure myself by the extent of [19] my glory rather than that of my life. I might, content with the kingdom of my sire, within the limits of Macedonia amid idleness have awaited an obscure and inglorious old age. And yet even the indolent cannot control their destiny, but a premature death often surprises those who consider length of days the only blessing. But I, who count not my years but my victories, if I keep a correct account of Fortune’s favours, have already had a long life.
[20] “Beginning my reign in Macedonia, I hold dominion over Greece, I have subdued Thrace and the Illyrians, I rule the Triballi and the Maedi, I possess Asia from where it is washed by the Hellespont to the shores of the Red Sea. And now I am not far from the end of the world, and passing beyond this, I have resolved to open to myself a new realm of Nature, a new [21] world. From Asia I crossed into the bounds of Europe in a single hour. Having conquered both continents in the ninth year of my reign and the twenty-eighth of my life, does it seem to you that I can pause in the task of completing my glory, to which alone I have devoted myself? I at least shall not be found wanting, and wherever I shall fight, I shall believe that I am in the theatre of the whole [22] world. I will give fame to unknown places. I will open to all nations lands which Nature had moved to a distance.
“To end my life amid these enterprises, if chance shall so will it, is in my opinion glorious; I am born from such stock that I am bound to desire an [23] abundant life rather than a long one. I pray you, think that you have come to lands in which the name of a woman is renowned because of her valour. What cities did Samiramis build! What nations did she reduce to submission! What great works did she accomplish! We have not yet equalled a woman in glory, and has a satiety of renown already seized us? Let the gods favour us, and still greater things [24] await us. But those which we have not yet undertaken will be ours only if we consider nothing small in which there is room for great glory. Do you only keep me safe from intestine treachery and domestic plots; I will meet unterrified the hazard of war and of Mars.
[25] “Philip was safer on the field of battle than in the theatre. He often evaded the hands of the enemy, but he could not escape those of his own countrymen. If you think also of the deaths of other kings, you will count more that were slain by their own [26] people than by the foe. But since an opportunity has now been offered of setting forth a matter which I have long agitated in my thoughts, let me say that I shall receive the greatest reward for my labours and my toils if my mother Olympias shall be consecrated to immortality when she departs from life.
[27] This, if it shall be allowed me, I myself will effect; if Fate shall anticipate me, remember that I have entrusted this duty to you.” And then indeed he dismissed his friends. But for many days he remained there in the same camp.
Haec dum in India geruntur, Graeci milites nuper in colonias a rege deducti circa Bactra orta inter ipsos seditione defecerant non tam Alexandro infensi quam metu supplicii. [2] Quippe occisis quibusdam popularium, qui validiores erant, arma spectare coeperunt et Bactriana arce, quae quasi tuta neglegentius adservata erat, occupata barbaros quoque in societatem defectionis inpulerant. [3] Athenodorus erat princeps eorum, qui regis quoque nomen adsumpserat non tam imperii cupidine quam in patriam revertendi cum iis, qui [p. 334] [4] auctoritatem ipsius sequebantur. Huic Biton quidam nationis eiusdem, sed ob aemulationem infestus conparavit insidias invitatumque ad epulas per Boxum quendam Bactrianum in convivio occidit. [5] Postero die contione advocata Bito nitro insidiatum sibi Athenodorum plerisque persuaserat: sed aliis suspecta erat fraus Bitonis, et paulatim in plures coepit manare suspicio. [6] Itaque Graeci milites arma capiunt occisuri Bitonem, si daretur occasio: ceterum principes eorum iram multitudinis mitigaverunt. [7] Praeter spem suam Biton praesenti periculo ereptus paulo post est insidiatus auctoribus salutis suae. Cuius dolo cognito et ipsum conprehenderunt et Boxum. [8] Ceterum Boxum protinus placuit interfici, Bitonem etiam per cruciatum necari. Iamque corpori tormenta admovebantur, cum Graeci
— incertum, ob quam causam — lymphatis similes ad arma discurrunt. [9] Quorum fremitu exaudito, qui torquere Bitonem iussi erant, omisere veriti, ne id facere tumultuantium vociferatione prohiberentur. [10] Illе, sicut nudatus erat, pervenit ad Graecos, et miserabilis facies supplicio destinati in diversum animos repente mutavit, dimittique eum iusserunt. [11] Hoc modo poena bis liberatus cum ceteris, qui colonias a rege attributas reliquerunt, revertit in patriam. Haec circa Bactra et Scytharum terminos gesta. [p. 335] Interim regem duarum gentium, [12] de quibus ante dictum est, C legati adeunt. Omnes curru vehebantur eximia magnitudine corporum, decoro habitu: lineae vestes in texto auro purpuraque distinctae. [13] Ei se dedere ipsos, urbes agrosque referebant, per tot aetates inviolatam libertatem illius primum fidei dicionique permissuros: deos sibi deditionis auctores, non metum: [14] quippe intactis viribus iugum excipere. Rex coasilio habito deditos in fidem accepit stipendio, quod Arachosiis utraque natio pensitabat, inposito: praeterea milia et D equites imperat. Et omnia oboedienter a barbaris facta. [15] Invitatis deinde ad epulas legatis gentium regulisque exornari convivium iussit. C aurei lecti modicis intervallis positi erant, lectis circumdederat aulaea purpura auroque fulgentia, quidquid aut apud Persas vetere luxu aut apud Macedonas nova inmutatione corruptum erat, confusis utriusque gentis vitiis in illo convivio ostendens. [16] Intererat epulis Dioxippus Atheniensis, pugil nobilis et ob eximiam virtutem virium iam et regi pernotus et gratus. In vidi malignique increpabant per seria et ludum saginati corporis sequi inutilem beluam: cum ipsi proelium imirent, oleo madentem praeparare ventrem epulis. [17] Eadem igitur in convivio Corratas Macedo iam temulentus exit probrare ei coepit et postulare, ut, si vir esset, postero die secum ferro decerneret: regem tandem vel de sua temeritate vel de illius ignavia iudicaturum. [18] Et a Dioxippo contemptim militarem eludente ferociam [p. 336] accepta condicio est. Ac postero die rex, cum etiam acrius certamen exposcerent, quia deterrere non poterat, [19] destinata exequi passus est. Ingens vis militum, inter quos erant Graeci, Dioxippo studebant. Macedo iusta arma sumpserat, aereum clipeum hastamque — sarisam vocant — laeva tenens, dextera lanceam gladioque cinctus, velut cum pluribus simul dimicaturus: [20] Dioxippus oleo nitens et coronatus laeva puniceum amiculum, dextra validum nodosumque stipitem praeferebat. [21] Ea ipsa res omnium animos expectatione suspenderat: quippe armato congredi nudum dementia, non temeritas videbatur. Igitur Macedo, haud dubius eminus interfici posse, lanceam emisit. Quam Dioxippus cum exigua corporis declinatione vitasset, [22] antequam ille hastam transferret in dextram, adsiluit et stipite mediam eam fregit. Amisso utroque telo Macedo gladium coeperat stringere, cum occupatum conplexu pedibus repente subductis Dioxippus arietavit in terram ereptoque gladio pedem super cervicem iacenti inposuit stipitem intentans elisurusque eo victum, [23] ni prohibitus esset a rege. Tristis spectaculi eventus non Macedonibus modo, sed etiam Alexandro fuit, maxime quia barbari adfuerant: quippe celebratam Macedonum fortitudinem ad ludibrium recidisse querebatur. [24] Hinc ad criminationem invidorum adapertae sunt regis aures. Et post paucos dies inter epulas aureum poculum ex conposito subducitur, ministrique, quasi amisissent, [25] quod amoverant, regem adeunt. Saepe minus est [p. 337] constantiae in rubore, quam in culpa: coniectum oculorum, quibus ut fur destinabatur, Dioxippus ferre non potuit et, cum excessisset convivio, litteris conscriptis, quae regi redderentur, ferro se interemit. [26] Graviter mortem eius tulit rex existimans indignationis esse, non paenitentiae testem, utique postquam falso insimulatum eum nimium invidorum gaudium ostendit.
VII. While this was going on in India, the Greek soldiers who had lately been established by the king in colonies round about Bactra, since disagreement had arisen among them, had revolted, not so much through hostility to Alexander, as from fear of [2] punishment. For the stronger faction, having killed some of their countrymen, began to think of armed action, and after having seized the citadel of Bactra, which through belief in its safety had been carelessly guarded, they had forced the barbarians also to join [3] in their revolt. Their chief was Athenodorus, who had even assumed the title of king, not so much from a desire for power, as for returning to his fatherland along with those who acknowledged his authority.
[4] Against him a certain Biton of the same nation, but hostile to Athenodorus because of rivalry, laid a plot, and having invited him to a banquet, had him assassinated at table by a Bactrian called Boxus.
[5] On the following day Biton called an assembly and convinced the majority that Athenodorus without provocation had plotted to take his life; but others suspected imposture on the part of Biton and the [6] suspicion gradually began to spread to more. Accordingly, the Greek soldiers armed themselves, intending to kill Biton if an opportunity offered; but their leading men appeased the wrath of the multitude.
[7] Biton, rescued from imminent danger contrary to his expectation, a little later plotted against those who had saved him. But when his treachery became [8] known, they seized both him and Boxus. The latter they ordered to be put to death at once and Biton also, but after suffering torture. And they were already applying the instruments of torture to his body, when the Greeks — for what reason is uncertain [9] — as if crazed, rushed to arms. When their tumult was heard, those who had been ordered to torture Biton, left him, for fear that they would be prevented from carrying out their orders by the cries of the [10] rioting soldiers. He, stripped naked as he was, came to the Greeks, and the pitiable aspect of the man who had been condemned to death suddenly changed their feelings to pity, and they gave orders to let him go.
[11] Twice freed from punishment in this way, he returned to his native land with the rest who had left the colonies established by Alexander. This is what happened in the region of Bactra and the frontiers of Scythia.
[12] In the meantime a hundred envoys came to the king from the two nations of which mention has been made. All rode in chariots and were men of uncommon stature and dignified bearing; their robes were of linen, embroidered with inwrought gold and [13] purple. They said that they surrendered to him themselves, their cities, and their lands, and would entrust for the first time the liberty which they had preserved inviolate for so many ages to his protection and authority; that it was the gods that advised their submission to him, not fear, since they assumed the yoke while their strength was [14] unimpaired. The king, after holding a council, admitted the surrendered peoples into his protection, imposing upon them the tribute which both nations were paying to the Arachosii; besides, he ordered them to furnish 2500 horsemen. All these commands [15] were faithfully carried out by the barbarians. Then he invited the envoys and the petty kings of the nations to a banquet, and ordered a magnificent feast to be prepared. A hundred golden couches had been placed at a small distance from each other; the couches he had hung about with purple tapestries gleaming with gold, displaying in that banquet all that was corrupt in the ancient luxury of the Persians or in the new fashions adopted by the Macedonians, thus intermingling the vices of both nations.
[16] There was present at the feast Dioxippus, an Athenian, a celebrated boxer, and because of the extraordinary greatness “of his strength already both well known to the king and a favourite of his. Some through jealousy and malice carped at him with mingled seriousness and jest, saying that they had as a companion a useless brute with an over-fed body; that while they entered battle, he, dripping [17] with oil, was preparing his belly for feasts. Thus it was that at the banquet Corratas, a Macedonian, already overcome by wine, began to upbraid Dioxippus, and to demand that, if he were a man, he should fight with him on the following day with swords; that the king at last would have an opportunity to judge of Corratas’ rashness or the other’s [18] cowardice. And the challenge was accepted by Dioxippus, who contemptuously made sport of the soldier’s bravado. And on the next day the king, since they even more earnestly demanded the contest, and he was unable to dissuade them, allowed [19] what they desired to be carried out. A great number of soldiers, including the Greeks, favoured Dioxippus. The Macedonian had assumed his usual arms, holding in his left
hand a bronze shield and a spear — they call it sarisa — in his right a lance, and girt with a sword, as if he were going to fight with [20] several men at once; Dioxippus, gleaming with oil and wearing a garland, displayed a purple cloth in his left hand, and in his right a stout knotted club. This very thing had filled the minds of all with eager anticipation; since for a naked man to fight with one in full armour seemed not only rashness, but madness.
Then the Macedonian, not doubting that his foe could be killed at long range, hurled his lance. Dioxippus avoided it by a slight movement of his body, and before the other could transfer his spear to his right hand, leaped upon him and broke the spear in [22] two with his club. Having lost both his missiles, the Macedonian had begun to draw his sword, when Dioxippus seized him in his arms, suddenly knocked his feet from under him, and butted him to the ground; then snatching his sword from him, he set his foot upon the Macedonian’s neck as he lay prostrate, and poising his club to strike him, would have crushed his defeated adversary with it, had he not been prevented by the king.
[23] The result of this spectacle was displeasing, not only to the Macedonians, but to the king, especially because the barbarians had witnessed it; for he regretted that the famous valour of the Macedonians was [24] exposed to ridicule. For this reason the ears of the king were opened to the calumnies of jealous rivals. And a few days later at a feast a golden cup was purposely abstracted, and the attendants went to the king, pretending to have lost what they had [25] actually hidden. Often there is less firmness in innocent embarrassment than in genuine guilt. Dioxippus could not endure the gaze of all eyes by which he was marked as a thief, and leaving the banquet, he wrote a letter to be delivered to the king, and [26] killed himself with his sword. The king was greatly grieved by his death, believing it to be a sign of indignation rather than of repentance, especially after the excessive joy of his rivals showed that he had been falsely accused.
Delphi Complete Works of Quintus Curtius Rufus Page 128
