The Anabasis of Alexander or, The history of the wars and conquests of Alexander the Great
the untying of the cord had been fulfilled. Moreover, that very night,
the thunder and lightning were signs from heaven of its fulfilment; and
for this reason Alexander offered sacrifice on the following day to the
gods who had revealed the signs and assured him that the cord had been
untied in a proper way.[213]
CHAPTER IV.
CONQUEST OF CAPPADOCIA.—ALEXANDER’S ILLNESS AT TARSUS.
The next day he sent out to Ancyra[214] in Galatia, where he was met by
an embassy from the Paphlagonians, offering to surrender their nation
to him and to enter into an alliance with him; but they requested him
not to invade their land with his forces. He therefore commanded them
to submit to the authority of Calas, the viceroy of Phrygia. Marching
thence into Cappadocia, he subjugated all that part of it which lies on
this side of the river Halys,[215] and much of that which lies beyond
it. Having appointed Sabictas viceroy of Cappadocia, he advanced to
the Gates of Cilicia,[216] and when he arrived at the Camp of Cyrus,
who (went) with Xenophon,[217] and saw that the Gates were occupied by
strong guards, he left Parmenio there with the regiments of infantry
which were more heavily armed; and about the first watch, taking the
shield-bearing guards, the archers, and the Agrianians, he advanced by
night to the Gates, in order to fall upon the guards when they least
expected it. However, his advance was not unobserved; but his boldness
served him equally well, for the guards, perceiving that Alexander was
advancing in person, deserted their post and set off in flight. At dawn
next day he passed through the Gates with all his forces and descended
into Cilicia.[218] Here he was informed that Arsames had previously
intended to preserve Tarsus for the Persians; but when he heard that
Alexander had already passed through the Gates, he resolved to abandon
the city; and that the Tarsians were therefore afraid he would turn to
plunder their city and afterwards evacuate it. Hearing this, Alexander
led his cavalry and the lightest of his light infantry to Tarsus with
a forced march; consequently Arsames, hearing of his start, fled with
speed from Tarsus to King Darius without inflicting any injury upon the
city.
Alexander now fell ill from the toils he had undergone, according
to the account of Aristobulus; but other authors say that while he
was very hot and in profuse perspiration he leaped into the river
Cydnus[219] and swam, being eager to bathe in its water. This river
flows through the midst of the city; and as its source is in mount
Taurus and it flows through a clean district, it is cold and its water
is clear. Alexander therefore was seized with convulsions, accompanied
with high fever and continuous sleeplessness. None of the physicians
thought he was likely to survive,[220] except Philip, an Acarnanian,
a physician in attendance on the king, and very much trusted by him
in medical matters, who also enjoyed a great reputation in the army
in general affairs. This man wished to administer a purgative draught
to Alexander, and the king ordered him to administer it. While Philip
was preparing the cup, a letter was given to the king from Parmenio,
warning him to beware of Philip; for he heard that the physician had
been bribed by Darius to poison Alexander with medicine. But he, having
read the letter, and still holding it in his hand, took the cup which
contained the medicine and gave Philip the letter to read. While Philip
was reading the news from Parmenio, Alexander drank the potion. It was
at once evident to the king that the physician was acting honourably
in giving the medicine, for he was not alarmed at the letter, but only
so much the more exhorted the king to obey all the other prescriptions
which he might give, promising that his life would be saved if he
obeyed his instructions. Alexander was purged by the draught, and his
illness then took a favourable turn. He afterwards proved to Philip
that he was a faithful friend to him; and to the rest of those about
he proved that he had perfect confidence in his friends by refusing
to entertain any suspicion of their fidelity; and at the same time he
showed that he could meet death with dauntless courage.[221]
CHAPTER V.
ALEXANDER AT THE TOMB OF SARDANAPALUS.—PROCEEDINGS IN CILICIA.
After this he sent Parmenio to the other Gates which separate the land
of the Cilicians from that of the Assyrians, in order to capture them
before the enemy could do so, and to guard the pass.[222] He gave
him the allied infantry, the Grecian mercenaries, the Thracians who
were under the command of Sitalces, and the Thessalian cavalry. He
afterwards marched from Tarsus, and on the first day arrived at the
city of Anchialus.[223] According to report, this city was founded by
Sardanapalus the Assyrian;[224] and both from the circumference and
from the foundations of the walls it is evident that a large city had
been founded and that it had reached a great pitch of power. Also near
the wall of Anchialus was the monument of Sardanapalus, upon the top
of which stood the statue of that king with the hands joined to each
other just as they are joined for clapping.[225] An inscription had
been placed upon it in Assyrian characters,[226] which the Assyrians
asserted to be in metre. The meaning which the words expressed was
this:—“Sardanapalus, son of Anacyndaraxas, built Anchialus and Tarsus
in one day; but do thou, O stranger, eat, drink, and play, since all
other human things are not worth this!” referring, as in a riddle, to
the empty sound which the hands make in clapping. It was also said that
the word translated _play_ had been expressed by a more lewd one in the
Assyrian language.
From Anchialus Alexander went to Soli,[227] into which city he
introduced a garrison, and imposed upon the inhabitants a fine of 200
talents of silver,[228] because they were more inclined to favour
the Persians than himself. Then, having taken three regiments of
Macedonian infantry, all the archers, and the Agrianians, he marched
away thence against the Cilicians, who were holding the mountains;
and in seven days in all, having expelled some by force, and having
brought the rest over by composition, he marched back to Soli. Here he
ascertained that Ptolemy and Asander[229] had gained the mastery over
Orontobates the Persian who was guarding the citadel of Halicarnassus,
and was also holding Myndus, Caunus, Thera, and Callipolis.[230] Cos
and Triopium[231] also had been brought into subjection. They wrote
to inform him that Orontobates had been worsted in a great battle;
that about 700 of his infantry and 50 of his cavalry had been killed,
and not less than 1,000 taken prisoners. In Soli Alexander offered
sacrifice to Asclepius,[232] conducting a procession of the entire
army, celebrating a torch race, and superintending a gymnastic and
musical contest. He granted the Solians the privilege of a democratical
constitution; and then marched away to Tarsus, despatching the
cavalry under Philotas to march through the Aleian plain to the
river Pyramus.[233] But he himself with the infantry and the royal
squadron of cavalry came to Magarsus, where he offered sacrifice to
the Magarsian Athena. Thence he marched to Mallus, where he rendered
to Amphilochus the sacrificial honours due to a hero.[234] He also
arrested those who were creating a sedition among the citizens, and
thus put a stop to it. He remitted the tribute which they were paying
to King Darius, because the Malliotes were a colony of the Argives, and
he himself claimed to have sprung from Argos, being a descendant of
Heracles.
CHAPTER VI.
ALEXANDER ADVANCES TO MYRIANDRUS.—DARIUS MARCHES AGAINST HIM.
While he was still at Mallus, he was informed that Darius was encamped
with all his forces at Sochi, a place in the land of Assyria, distant
about two days’ march from the Assyrian Gates.[235] Then indeed he
collected the Companions and told them what was reported about Darius
and his army. They urged him to lead them on as they were, without
delay. At that time he commended them, and broke up the conference; but
next day he led them forward against Darius and the Persians. On the
second day he passed through the Gates and encamped near the city of
Myriandrus;[236] but in the night a heavy tempest and a violent storm
of wind and rain occurred which detained him in his camp. Darius, on
the other hand, had been spending a long time with his army, having
chosen a plain in the land of Assyria which stretches out in every
direction, suitable for the immense size of his army and convenient for
the evolutions of cavalry. Amyntas, son of Antiochus, the deserter from
Alexander, advised him not to abandon this position, because there was
plenty of room for the great multitude of the Persians and for the vast
quantity of their baggage. So Darius remained. But as Alexander made a
long stay at Tarsus on account of his illness, and not a short one at
Soli, where he offered sacrifice and conducted his army in procession,
and moreover spent some time in marching against the Cilician
mountaineers, Darius was induced to swerve from his resolution. He
was also not unwilling to be led to form whatever decision was most
agreeable to his own wishes; and being influenced by those who gave
him the advice which they thought would be pleasant to him, without
consideration of its utility (for kings will always have associates to
give them bad advice),[237] he came to the conclusion that Alexander
was no longer desirous of advancing further, but was shrinking from an
encounter on learning that Darius himself was marching against him.
On all sides they were urging him on, asserting that he would trample
down the army of the Macedonians with his cavalry.[238] Nevertheless,
Amyntas, at any rate, confidently affirmed that Alexander would
certainly come to any place where he heard Darius might be; and he
exhorted him by all means to stay where he was. But the worse advice,
because at the immediate time it was more pleasant to hear, prevailed;
moreover he was led by some divine influence into that locality where
he derived little advantage from his cavalry and from the sheer number
of his men, javelins and bows, and where he could not even exhibit the
mere magnificence of his army, but surrendered to Alexander and his
troops an easy victory. For it was already decreed by fate that the
Persians should be deprived of the rule of Asia by the Macedonians,
just as the Medes had been deprived of it by the Persians, and still
earlier the Assyrians by the Medes.
CHAPTER VII.
DARIUS AT ISSUS.—ALEXANDER’S SPEECH TO HIS ARMY.
Darius crossed the mountain range by what are called the Amanic Gates,
and advancing towards Issus, came without being noticed to the rear
of Alexander.[239] Having reached Issus, he captured as many of the
Macedonians as had been left behind there on account of illness.
These he cruelly mutilated and slew. Next day he proceeded to the
river Pinarus. As soon as Alexander heard that Darius was in his rear,
because the news did not seem to him trustworthy, he embarked some of
the Companions in a ship with thirty oars, and sent them back to Issus,
to observe whether the report was true. The men who sailed in the
thirty-oared ship discovered the Persians encamped there more easily,
because the sea in this part takes the form of a bay. They therefore
brought back word to Alexander that Darius was at hand. Alexander
then called together the generals, the commanders of cavalry, and the
leaders of the Grecian allies, and exhorted them to take courage from
the dangers which they had already surmounted, asserting that the
struggle would be between themselves who had been previously victorious