The Anabasis of Alexander or, The history of the wars and conquests of Alexander the Great

THE ANABASIS OF ALEXANDER. THE ANABASIS OF ALEXANDER; OR, The History of the Wars and Conquests of Alexander the Great. _LITERALLY TRANSLATED, WITH A COMMENTARY, FROM THE GREEK OF ARRIAN THE NICOMEDIAN_, BY E. J. CHINNOCK, M.A., LL.B., LONDON, _Rector of Dumfries Academy_. London: HODDER AND STOUGHTON, 27, PATERNOSTER ROW. MDCCCLXXXIV. Butler & Tanner, The Selwood Printing Works, Frome, and London. PREFACE. When I began this Translation, more than two years ago, I had no intention of publishing it; but as the work progressed, it occurred to me that Arrian is an Author deserving of more attention from the English-speaking races than he has yet received. No edition of his works has, so far as I am aware, ever appeared in England, though on the Continent many have been published. In the following Translation I have tried to give as literal a rendering of the Greek text as I could without transgressing the idioms of our own language. My theory of the duty of a Translator is, to give the _ipsissima verba_ of his Author as nearly as possible, and not put into his mouth words which he never used, under the mistaken notion of improving his diction or his way of stating his case. It is a comparatively easy thing to give a paraphrase of a foreign work, presenting the general drift of the original; but no one, unless he has himself tried it, can understand the difficulty of translating a classical Author correctly without omission or mutilation. In the Commentary which I have compiled, continual reference has been made to the other extant authorities on the history of Alexander, such as Diodorus, Plutarch, Curtius, Justin, and Aelian; so that I think I may safely assert that, taking the Translation and the Notes together, the book forms a complete history of Alexander’s reign. Much geographical and other material has also been gathered from Herodotus, Strabo, Pliny, and Ammianus; and the allusions to the places which are also mentioned in the Old Testament are given from the Hebrew. As Arrian lived in the second century of the present era, and nearly five hundred years after Demosthenes, it is not to be expected that he wrote classical Greek. There are, however, at least a dozen valuable Greek authors of this century whose works are still extant, and of these it is a safe statement to make, that Arrian is the best of them all, with the single exception of Lucian. I have noticed as many of his deviations from Attic Greek constructions as I thought suitable to a work of this kind. A complete index of Proper Names has been added, and the quantities of the vowels marked for the aid of the English Reader. In the multiplicity of references which I have put into the Notes, I should be sanguine if I imagined that no errors will be found; but if such occur, I must plead as an excuse the pressure of work which a teacher in a large school experiences, leaving him very little energy for literary labour. E. J. C. DUMFRIES, _December, 1883_. CONTENTS. PAGE Life and Writings of Arrian 1 Arrian’s Preface 6 BOOK I. CHAP. I. Death of Philip and Accession of Alexander.—His Wars with the Thracians 8 II. Battle with the Triballians 12 III. Alexander at the Danube and in the Country of the Getae 14 IV. Alexander destroys the City of the Getae.—The Ambassadors of the Celts 16 V. Revolt of Clitus and Glaucias 18 VI. Defeat of Clitus and Glaucias 22 VII. Revolt of Thebes (_September_, B.C. 335) 25 VIII. Fall of Thebes 28 IX. Destruction of Thebes 31 X. Alexander’s Dealings with Athens 34 XI. Alexander crosses the Hellespont and visits Troy 36 XII. Alexander at the Tomb of Achilles.—Memnon’s advice Rejected by the Persian Generals 38 XIII. Battle of the Granicus (B.C. 334) 41 XIV. Arrangement of the Hostile Armies 43 XV. Description of the Battle of the Granicus 45 XVI. Defeat of the Persians.—Loss on Both Sides 47 XVII. Alexander in Sardis and Ephesus 50 XVIII. Alexander marches to Miletus and Occupies the Island of Lade 52 XIX. Siege and Capture of Miletus 55 XX. Siege of Halicarnassus.—Abortive Attack on Myndus 58 XXI. Siege of Halicarnassus 61 XXII. Siege of Halicarnassus 63 XXIII. Destruction of Halicarnassus.—Ada, Queen of Caria 64 XXIV. Alexander in Lycia and Pamphylia 66 XXV. Treason of Alexander, Son of Aëropus 68 XXVI. Alexander in Pamphylia.—Capture of Aspendus and Side 70 XXVII. Alexander in Phrygia and Pisidia 72 XXVIII. Operations in Pisidia 74 XXIX. Alexander in Phrygia 76 BOOK II. I. Capture of Mitylene by the Persians.—Death of Memnon 78 II. The Persians capture Tenedus.—They are Defeated at Sea 80 III. Alexander at Gordium 82 IV. Conquest of Cappadocia.—Alexander’s Illness at Tarsus 84 V. Alexander at the Tomb of Sardanapalus.—Proceedings in Cilicia 87 VI. Alexander advances to Myriandrus.—Darius Marches against him 89 VII. Darius at Issus.—Alexander’s Speech to his Army 91 VIII. Arrangement of the Hostile Armies 94 IX. Alexander changes the Disposition of his Forces 97 X. Battle of Issus 99 XI. Defeat and Flight of Darius 101 XII. Kind Treatment of Darius’s Family 104 XIII. Flight of Macedonian Deserters into Egypt.—Proceedings of Agis, King of Sparta.—Alexander occupies Phoenicia 106 XIV. Darius’s Letter, and Alexander’s Reply 111 XV. Alexander’s Treatment of the Captured Greek Ambassadors.—Submission of Byblus and Sidon 114 XVI. The Worship of Hercules in Tyre.—The Tyrians refuse to admit Alexander 117 XVII. Speech of Alexander to his Officers 120 XVIII. Siege of Tyre.—Construction of a Mole from the Mainland to the Island 121 XIX. The Siege of Tyre 123 XX. Tyre Besieged by Sea as well as Land 124 XXI. Siege of Tyre 127 XXII. Siege of Tyre.—Naval Defeat of the Tyrians b 129 XXIII. Siege of Tyre 131 XXIV. Capture of Tyre 132 XXV. The Offers of Darius rejected.—Batis, Governor of Gaza, refuses to Submit 134 XXVI. Siege of Gaza 136 XXVII. Capture of Gaza 137 BOOK III. I. Conquest of Egypt.—Foundation of Alexandria 140 II. Foundation of Alexandria.—Events in the Aegean 142 III. Alexander visits the Temple of Ammon 144 IV. The Oasis of Ammon 147 V. Settlement of the Affairs of Egypt 148 VI. March into Syria.—Alexander’s Kindness to Harpalus and his other early Adherents 150 VII. Passage of the Euphrates and Tigris 152 VIII. Description of Darius’s Army at Arbela 154 IX. Alexander’s Tactics.—His Speech to the Officers 157 X. Rejection of Parmenio’s Advice 159 XI. Tactics of the Opposing Generals 160 XII. Alexander’s Tactics 163 XIII. The Battle of Arbela 164 XIV. Battle of Arbela.—Flight of Darius 166 XV. Defeat of the Persians and Pursuit of Darius 168 XVI. Escape of Darius into Media.—March of Alexander to Babylon and Susa 170 XVII. Subjugation of the Uxians 174 XVIII. Defeat of Ariobarzanes and Capture of Persepolis 176 XIX. Darius pursued into Media and Parthia 179 XX. March through the Caspian Gates 181 XXI. Darius is Assassinated by Bessus 182 XXII. Reflections on the Fate of Darius 185 XXIII. Expedition into Hyrcania 187 XXIV. Expedition against the Mardians 189 XXV. March to Bactra.—Bessus aided by Satibarzanes 191 XXVI. Philotas and Parmenio put to Death 193 XXVII. Treatment of Amyntas.—The Ariaspians 195 XXVIII. Alexander crosses the Hindu-Koosh 196 XXIX. Conquest of Bactria, and Pursuit of Bessus across the Oxus 199 XXX. Capture of Bessus.—Exploits in Sogdiana 201 BOOK IV. I. Rebellion of the Sogdianians 205 II. Capture of Five Cities in Two Days 206 III. Storming of Cyropolis.—Revolt of the Scythians 208 IV. Defeat of the Scythians beyond the Tanais 210 V. Spitamenes destroys a Macedonian Detachment 212 VI. Spitamenes driven into the Desert 214 VII. Treatment of Bessus 216 VIII. The Murder of Clitus 218 IX. Alexander’s grief for Clitus 221 X. Dispute between Callisthenes and Anaxarchus 223 XI. Callisthenes Opposes the Proposal to honour Alexander by Prostration 225 XII. Callisthenes refuses to Prostrate himself 228 XIII. Conspiracy of the Pages 229 XIV. Execution of Callisthenes and Hermolaüs 231