The Anabasis of Alexander or, The history of the wars and conquests of Alexander the Great
[248] Cf. _Arrian_, iii. 11; and Xenophon (_Anab._, i. 8, 21, 22).
[249] See Donaldson’s _New Cratylus_, sect. 178.
[250] Cf. Xenophon (_Cyropaedia_, vii. 1, 6).
[251] In describing the battle of Arbela, Arrian mentions eight
distinct squadrons of Macedonian heavy cavalry, which was known by
the name of the Companions. Among the squadrons several, if not all,
were named after particular towns or districts of Macedonia, as here,
Anthemus, and Leuge. We also find mention of the squadrons of Bottiaea,
Amphipolis, and Apollonia. See also _Arrian_, i. 2; i. 12; iii. 11.
[252] τῇ γνώμῃ δεδουλωμένος. An expression imitated from _Thucydides_,
iv. 34; compare _Arrian_, iii. 11; v. 19; vi. 16, where the same words
are used of Porus and the Indians.
[253] κυμῆναν τῆς φάλαγγος. An expression imitated from Xenophon
(_Anab._, i. 8,18). It is praised by Demetrius (_De Elocutione_, 84).
Krüger reads ἐκκυμῆναν. Cf. Plutarch (_Pompey_, 69).
[254] _Curtius_ (iii. 29) says that on Alexander’s side 504 were
wounded, and 182 killed. _Diodorus_ (xvii. 36) says, that 450
Macedonians were killed. _Justin_ (xi. 9) states that 280 were slain.
[255] Polybius, who lived nearly three centuries before Arrian,
censures Callisthenes for asserting that the Persian cavalry
crossed the river Pinarus and attacked the Thessalians. No doubt
Arrian received this information from the lost works of Ptolemy and
Aristobulus (_Poly._, xii. 18).
[256] ἀμβάτης is the poetical form of ἀναβάτης,
the word used by Xenophon, Plato, and other Attic writers.
The latter is found only once in Arrian (III. xiii. 5).
[257] ἢ τῶν πεζῶν is Martin’s emendation for ἢ ὡς πεζῶν.
[258] _Curtius_ (iii. 27) and _Diodorus_ (xvii. 34) give a graphic
description of a direct charge made by Alexander upon Darius, and a
sanguinary conflict between Alexander’s body-guard and the Persian
nobles, in which the Great King’s horses were wounded and became
unmanageable, whereupon Darius got out, mounted a horse, and fled.
We learn from Plutarch (_Alex._, 20) that Chares affirmed Alexander
came into hand-to-hand conflict with Darius, and that he received
a wound in the thigh from that king’s sword. Plutarch says that
Alexander wrote to Antipater that he had been wounded in the thigh
with a dagger, but did not say by whom. He also wrote that nothing
serious had resulted from the wound. The account of Arrian is far the
most trustworthy. Callisthenes stated that Alexander made a direct
attack upon Darius (_Polybius_, xii. 22). We know from Xenophon that
the Persian kings were in the habit of occupying the centre, and that
Cyrus directed Clearchus to make the attack against the person of his
brother Artaxerxes at the battle of Cunaxa. Polybius seems to have
been ignorant of this custom of the Persian kings when he wrote his
criticism on the statement of Callisthenes.
[259] ἀφείλετο. On this word see Donaldson (_New
Cratylus_, sect. 315). Cf. Aeschўlus (_Persae_, 428); _Thucydides_ (iv.
134); Xenophon (_Hellenics_, i. 2, 16).
[260] The victories of the Greeks and Macedonians over the Persians
were materially aided by the pusillanimity of Xerxes and Darius.
Compare the conduct of Xerxes at Salamis (_Herodotus_, viii. 97;
Aeschўlus, _Persae_, 465-470, with Mr. Paley’s note) and that of Darius
at Arbela (_Arrian_, iii. 14).
[261] _Diodorus_ (xvii. 36) and _Curtius_ (iii. 29) agree with Arrian
as to the number of slain in the army of Darius. Plutarch (_Alex._, 20)
gives the number as 110,000.
[262] _Justin_ (xi. 9) agrees with Arrian, that the wife of Darius was
also his sister. Grote speaks of the mother, wife, and sister of Darius
being captured, which is an error. _Diodorus_ (xvii. 38) and _Curtius_
(iii. 29) say that the son was about six years of age.
[263] Cf. Xenophon (_Cyropaedia_, ii. 1, 3; vii. 5, 85).
[264] Damascus,—the Hebrew name of which is Dammesek,—a very ancient
city in Syria, at the foot of the Antilibanus, at an elevation of 220
feet above the sea, in a spacious and fertile plain about 30 miles in
diameter, which is watered by three rivers, two of which are called in
the Bible Abana and Pharpar. It has still a population of 150,000. The
emperor Julian, in one of his letters, calls it “the Eye of all the
East.”
[265] About £730,000.
[266] B.C. 333; end of October or beginning of November.
[267] Alexander erected three altars on the bank of the Pinarus, to
Zeus, Heracles, and Athena (_Curtius_, iii. 33). Cicero, who was
proconsul of Cilicia, speaks of “the altars of Alexander at the foot
of Amanus,” and says that he encamped there four days (_Epistolae ad
Diversos_, xv. 4).
[268] About £12,000.
[269] This distinguished general saved Alexander’s life in India,
in the assault on the city of the Mallians. After the king’s death,
he received the rule of the lesser or Hellespontine Phrygia. He was
defeated and slain by the Athenians under Antiphilus, against whom he
was fighting in alliance with Antipater, B.C. 323. See _Diodorus_,
xviii. 14, 15; Plutarch (_Phocion_, 25).
[270] Compare _Diodorus_, xvii. 37, 38; _Curtius_, iii. 29-32.
[271] Named Sisygambis.
[272] In a letter written by Alexander to Parmenio, an extract from
which is preserved by Plutarch (_Alex._, 22), he says that he never saw
nor entertained the desire of seeing the wife of Darius, who was said
to be the most beautiful woman in Asia; and that he would not allow
himself to listen to those who spoke about her beauty. Cf. _Ammianus_
(xxiv. 4, 27), speaking of Julian: “Ex virginibus autem, quae speciosae
sunt captae, ut in Perside, ubi feminarum pulchritudo excellit,
nec contrectare aliquam voluit, nec videre: Alexandrum imitatus et
Africanum, qui haec declinabant, ne frangeretur cupiditate, qui se
invictos a laboribus ubique praestiterunt.”
[273] Thapsacus is understood to be identical with the city called
Tiphsach (passage) in 1 Kings iv. 24; which is there said to have been
the eastern boundary of Solomon’s empire. It is generally supposed that
the modern Deir occupies the site of the ancient Thapsacus; but it has
been discovered that the only ford in this part of the river is at
Suriyeh, 165 miles above Deir. This was probably the site of Thapsacus.
From the time of Seleucus Nicator the city was called Amphipolis
(_Pliny_, v. 21). See _Stephanus_ of Byzantium, _sub voce_ Amphipolis.
Cf. Xenophon (_Anabasis_, i. 4, 11).
[274] The Euphrates is the largest river of western Asia, and rises in
the mountains of Armenia. It unites with the Tigris, and after a course
of 1,780 miles flows into the Persian Gulf. It is navigable by boats
for 1,200 miles. The annual inundation, caused by the melting of the
snow in the mountains of Armenia, takes place in the month of May. The
Euphrates, Tigris, and Eulaeus had formerly three separate outlets into
the Persian Gulf; but the three now unite in a single stream, which is
called Shat-el-Arab. The Hebrew name for the river which the Greeks
called Euphrates, was Pĕrath (rapid stream). It is called in the Bible,
the _Great River_, and _the River_ (Gen. xv. 18; Exod. xxiii. 31; _et
passim_). In Jeremiah xiii. 4-7, the word _Pĕrath_ stands for Ephrath,
another name for Bethlehem; in our Bible it is mis-translated. See
Fürst’s _Hebrew Lexicon_.
[275] The term _Cĕnaan_ was applied to the lowland plain from Aradus
to Gaza. The northern portion, from Aradus to Carmel, is known to
us under its Grecian name of Phoenicia, which is probably derived
from the Greek _phoinix_ (a palm-tree), which grew abundantly in the
country, and was the emblem of some of its towns. Others derive it from
another Greek word _phoinix_ (red dye), which formed one of its most
important manufactures. The Phoenicians applied the term Cenaan to
their land in contrast to the highlands to the west, which they called
_Aram_ (highland), the Hebrew name for Syria. The country of Phoenicia
was 120 miles long and with an average breadth of 12 miles, never
exceeding 20 miles. The chief cities of Phoenicia were Tyre, Sidon,
Aradus, Byblus, Berytus, Tripolis, and Accho or Ptolemais. Its central
position between the eastern and western countries, early developed
its commercial power, and its intercourse with foreign nations at an
early period produced an advanced state of civilization and refinement.
The Phoenicians were a Semitic nation like the Israelites; and their
language bears a remarkable affinity with the Hebrew, as is seen by
fragments of the Carthaginian language preserved in Plautus. In an
inscription discovered at Marseilles in 1845, out of 94 words 74
were found in the Hebrew Bible. The Phoenicians were asserted by the
Greeks to have communicated to them the knowledge of letters; and this
statement is corroborated by the similarity of the Hebrew and ancient
Greek letters. Their colonies spread from Cyprus to Crete and the
Cyclades, thence to Euboea, Greece, and Thrace. The coasts of Asia
Minor and Bithynia were dotted with their settlements, and they carried
their commerce into the Black Sea. They also had colonies in Sicily,
Sardinia, Ivica, and Spain, where they founded Cadiz. The northern
coast of Africa was lined with their colonies, the most flourishing of
which was Carthage, which rose to be one of the great powers of the
world. Strabo says that they had 300 colonies on the western coast of
Africa. They visited the coasts of England for tin; and thus, to quote
the words of Humboldt, “the Tyrian flag waved at the same time in
Britain and the Indian Ocean.” _Herodotus_ (iv. 42, 43) says that under
the patronage of Necho, king of Egypt, they circumnavigated Africa; but
he states that he does not believe it was a fact. The reason which he
assigns for his disbelief is, that the navigators alleged that the sun
was on their right hand, which is the strongest argument in favour of
the truth of their statement. In Isaiah xxiii. 11, Phoenicia is called
Cĕnaan, where the English Bible has erroneously, _the merchant city_.
In the Bible the word _Cĕnaanim_ is frequently used for _merchants_,
because the Phoenicians were the principal commercial people of
antiquity (Job xli. 6; Prov. xxxi. 24; Isaiah xxiii. 8; Hos. xii.
7; Zeph. i. 2; Zech. xiv. 21). Tripolis consisted of three distinct
cities, 600 feet apart, each having its own walls, but all united in
a common constitution with one place of assembly. These cities were
colonies respectively of Sidon, Tyre, and Aradus. Tripolis was a
flourishing port on a headland which is a spur of Lebanon. It is now
called Tripoli, and is still a large town. See Dr. Smith’s _Dictionary
of Classical Geography_.
[276] The oldest towns in Cyprus,—Citium, Amathus, and Paphus,—were
Phoenician colonies. These were afterwards eclipsed by the Greek
colonies, Salamis, Soli, and New Paphus. In Hebrew the island is
called _Ceth_, and the inhabitants _Cittim_. Gesenius says, that upon
a Sidonian coin _Ceth_ in Cyprus, which the Greeks called Citium, is
described as a Sidonian colony. _Diodorus_ (xvi. 42) says there were
nine kings in Cyprus. It is probable that the kings of the Hittites
mentioned in 1 Kings x. 29, were from Cyprus. Also the Hittite women
whom Solomon married were probably Cyprians (1 Kings xi. 1). The kings
of the Hittites of whom the Syrians were afraid were also Cypriotes (2
Kings vii. 6); and the _land of the Hittites_ mentioned in Judges i.
26, probably means Cyprus. Josephus, Eusebius, and Jerome understand
these passages to refer to Cyprus. In Isaiah xxiii. 1, the _land
of Cittim_ refers to Cyprus, which belonged to Tyre, the revolt of
which the prophet announced. This revolt is confirmed by Menander
(_Josephus_, ix. 14, 9).
[277] Agis III. was ultimately defeated and slain by Antipater, B.C.
330. See _Curtius_, vi. 1 and 2; Grote’s _Greece_, vol. xii. pp.
102-106.
[278] About £7,300.