The Anabasis of Alexander or, The history of the wars and conquests of Alexander the Great
right wing were already beginning to fly when he came on the scene of
conflict; so that he wheeled round again and started off in pursuit of
Darius once more, keeping up the chase as long as there was daylight.
Parmenio’s brigade also followed in pursuit of those who were opposed
to them. But Alexander crossed the river Lycus[421] and pitched his
camp there, to give his men and horses a little rest; while Parmenio
seized the Persian camp with their baggage, elephants, and camels.
After giving his horsemen rest until midnight, Alexander again advanced
by a forced march towards Arbela, with the hope of seizing Darius
there, together with his money and the rest of his royal property. He
reached Arbela the next day, having pursued altogether about 600 stades
from the battle-field.[422] But as Darius went on fleeing without
taking any rest,[423] he did not find him at Arbela. However the money
and all the other property were captured, as was also the chariot of
Darius. His spear and bow were likewise taken, as had been the case
after the battle of Issus.[424] Of Alexander’s men about 100 were
killed, and more than 1,000 of his horses were lost either from wounds
or from fatigue in the pursuit, nearly half of them belonging to the
Companion cavalry. Of the foreigners there were said to have been about
300,000 slain, and far more were taken prisoners than were killed.[425]
The elephants and all the chariots which had not been destroyed in the
battle were also captured. Such was the result of this battle, which
was fought in the archonship of Aristophanes at Athens, in the month
Pyanepsion;[426] and thus Aristander’s prediction was accomplished,
that Alexander would both fight a battle and gain a victory in the same
month in which the moon was seen to be eclipsed.[427]
CHAPTER XVI.
ESCAPE OF DARIUS INTO MEDIA.—MARCH OF ALEXANDER TO BABYLON AND SUSA.
Immediately after the battle, Darius marched through the mountains
of Armenia towards Media, accompanied in his flight by the Bactrian
cavalry, as they had then been posted with him in the battle; also by
those Persians who were called the king’s kinsmen, and by a few of the
men called apple-bearers.[428] About 2,000 of his Grecian mercenaries
also accompanied him in his flight, under the command of Paron the
Phocian, and Glaucus the Aetolian. He fled towards Media for this
reason, because he thought Alexander would take the road to Susa and
Babylon immediately after the battle, inasmuch as the whole of that
country was inhabited and the road was not difficult for the transit
of baggage; and besides Babylon and Susa appeared to be the prizes of
the war; whereas the road towards Media was by no means easy for the
march of a large army. In this conjecture Darius was mistaken; for when
Alexander started from Arbela, he advanced straight towards Babylon;
and when he was now not far from that city, he drew up his army in
order of battle and marched forward. The Babylonians came out to meet
him in mass, with their priests and rulers, each of whom individually
brought gifts, and offered to surrender their city, citadel, and
money.[429] Entering the city, he commanded the Babylonians to rebuild
all the temples which Xerxes had destroyed, and especially that of
Belus, whom the Babylonians venerate more than any other god.[430]
He then appointed Mazaeus viceroy of the Babylonians, Apollodorus
the Amphipolitan general of the soldiers who were left behind with
Mazaeus, and Asclepiodorus, son of Philo, collector of the revenue. He
also sent Mithrines, who had surrendered to him the citadel of Sardis,
down into Armenia to be viceroy there.[431] Here also he met with
the Chaldaeans; and whatever they directed in regard to the religious
rites of Babylon he performed, and in particular he offered sacrifice
to Belus according to their instructions.[432] He then marched away
to Susa[433]; and on the way he was met by the son of the viceroy of
the Susians,[434] and a man bearing a letter from Philoxenus, whom
he had despatched to Susa directly after the battle. In the letter
Philoxenus had written that the Susians had surrendered their city to
him, and that all the money was safe for Alexander. In twenty days
the king arrived at Susa from Babylon; and entering the city he took
possession of the money, which amounted to 50,000 talents, as well
as the rest of the royal property.[435] Many other things were also
captured there, which Xerxes brought with him from Greece, especially
the brazen statues of Harmodius and Aristogeiton.[436] These Alexander
sent back to the Athenians, and they are now standing at Athens in
the Ceramicus, where we go up into the Acropolis,[437] right opposite
the temple of Rhea, the mother of the gods, not far from the altar
of the Eudanemi. Whoever has been initiated in the mysteries of the
two goddesses[438] at Eleusis, knows the altar of Eudanemus which is
upon the plain. At Susa Alexander offered sacrifice after the custom
of his fathers, and celebrated a torch race and a gymnastic contest;
and then, leaving Abulites, a Persian, as viceroy of Susiana, Mazarus,
one of his Companions, as commander of the garrison in the citadel
of Susa, and Archelaüs, son of Theodorus, as general, he advanced
towards the land of the Persians. He also sent Menes down to the sea,
as governor of Syria, Phœnicia, and Cilicia, giving him 3,000 talents
of silver[439] to convey to the sea, with orders to despatch as many
of them to Antipater as he might need to carry on the war against the
Lacedaemonians.[440] There also Amyntas, son of Andromenes, reached
him with the forces which he was leading from Macedonia[441]; of whom
Alexander placed the horsemen in the ranks of the Companion cavalry,
and the foot he added to the various regiments of infantry, arranging
each according to nationalities. He also established two companies in
each squadron of cavalry, whereas before this time companies did not
exist in the cavalry; and over them he set as captains those of the
Companions who were pre-eminent for merit.
CHAPTER XVII.
SUBJUGATION OF THE UXIANS.
He now set out from Susa, and, crossing the river Pasitigris,[442]
invaded the country of the Uxians. Some of these people who inhabit
the plains were under the rule of the viceroy of the Persians, and on
this occasion surrendered to Alexander; but those who are called the
mountaineers were not in subjection to the Persians, and at this time
sent word to Alexander that they would not permit him to march with
his forces into Persis, unless they received from him as much as they
were in the habit of receiving from the king of the Persians for the
passage through their mountains.[443] He sent the messengers back with
instructions to come to the defiles, the possession of which made them
think that the passage into Persis was in their power, promising them
that they should there receive from him the prescribed toll. He then
took the royal body-guards, the shield-bearing infantry, and 8,000 men
from the rest of his army, and, under the guidance of the Susians,
marched by night along a different road from the frequented one.
Advancing by a route rough and difficult, on the same day he fell upon
the villages of the Uxians, where he captured much booty and killed
many of the people while still in their beds; but others escaped into
the mountains. He then made a forced march to the defiles, where the
Uxians resolved to meet him in mass in order to receive the prescribed
toll. But he had already previously despatched Craterus to seize the
heights, to which he thought the Uxians would retire if they were
repelled by force; and he himself went, with great celerity, and got
possession of the pass before their arrival. He then drew up his men in
battle array, and led them from the higher and more commanding position
against the barbarians. They, being alarmed at Alexander’s celerity,
and finding themselves deprived by stratagem[444] of the position in
which they had especially confided, took to flight without ever coming
to close combat. Some of them were killed by Alexander’s men in their
flight, and many lost their lives by falling over the precipices along
the road; but most of them fled up into the mountains for refuge, and
falling in with Craterus, were destroyed by his men. Having received
these gifts of honour[445] from Alexander, they with difficulty, after
much entreaty, procured from him the privilege of retaining possession
of their own land on condition of paying him an annual tribute.
Ptolemy, son of Lagus, says that the mother of Darius,[446] on their
behalf, entreated Alexander to grant them the privilege of inhabiting
the land. The tribute agreed upon was a hundred horses, five hundred
oxen, and 30,000 sheep a year; for the Uxians had no money, nor was
their country fit for tillage; but most of them were shepherds and
herdsmen.
CHAPTER XVIII.
DEFEAT OF ARIOBARZANES AND CAPTURE OF PERSEPOLIS.
After this, Alexander despatched Parmenio with the baggage, the
Thessalian cavalry, the Grecian allies, the mercenary auxiliaries,
and the rest of the more heavily armed soldiers, to march into Persis
along the carriage road leading into that country. He himself took the
Macedonian infantry, the Companion cavalry, the light cavalry used for
skirmishing, the Agrianians, and the archers, and made a forced march
through the mountains. But when he arrived at the Persian Gates, he
found that Ariobarzanes, the viceroy of Persis, with 40,000 infantry
and 700 cavalry, had built a wall across the pass, and had pitched his
camp there near the wall to block Alexander’s passage. Then indeed he
pitched his camp there; but next day he marshalled his army, and led
it up to the wall. When it was evident that it would be difficult to
capture it on account of the rugged nature of the ground, and as many
of his men were being wounded, the enemy assailing them with missiles
from engines of war placed upon higher ground, which gave them an
advantage over their assailants, he retreated to his camp. He was
informed by the prisoners that they could lead him round by another
route, so that he might get to the other end of the pass; but when he
ascertained that this road was rough and narrow, he left Craterus there
at the camp with his own brigade and that of Meleager, as well as a
few archers and 500 cavalry, with orders that when he perceived he had
got right round and was approaching the camp of the Persians (which
he could easily perceive, because the trumpets would give him the
signal), he should then assault the wall. Alexander advanced by night,
and travelling about 100 stades, he took the shield-bearing guards,
the brigade of Perdiccas, the lightest armed of the archers, the
Agrianians, the royal squadron of cavalry Companions, and one regiment
of cavalry besides these, containing four companies; and wheeling round
with these troops, he marched towards the pass in the direction the
prisoners led him. He ordered Amyntas, Philotas, and Coenus to lead
the rest of the army towards the plain, and to make a bridge over the
river[447] which one must cross to go into Persis. He himself went
by a route difficult and rough, along which he nevertheless marched
for the most part at full speed. Falling upon the first guard of the
barbarians before daylight,[448] he destroyed them, and so he did most
of the second; but the majority of the third guard escaped, not indeed
by fleeing into the camp of Ariobarzanes, but into the mountains as
they were, being seized with a sudden panic. Consequently He fell upon
the enemy’s camp at the approach of dawn without being observed. At the
very time he began to assault the trench, the trumpets gave the signal
to Craterus, who at once attacked the advanced fortification. The enemy