The Anabasis of Alexander or, The history of the wars and conquests of Alexander the Great
51 (ἐλιπάρεε ἱστορέων)
[880] The paean was sung, not only before and after battle, but
also after a banquet, as we see from this passage and from Xenophon
(_Symposium_, ii. 1).
[881] About £240.
[882] Literally “with his own head,” an Homeric expression. We learn
from Plutarch (_Eumenes_, 6), that Craterus was a great favourite with
the Macedonians because he opposed Alexander’s Asiatic innovations. See
also Plutarch (_Alexander_, 47); _Diodorus_, xvii. 114:—Κράτερον μὲν
γὰρ εἶναι φιλοβασιλέα, Ἡφαιστίωνα δὲ φιλαλέξανδρον.
[883] The use of κελεύειν with the dative, is in imitation of Homer.
Cf. i. 26, 3 supra.
[884] We learn from Diodorus (xviii. 4) that when Alexander died,
Craterus had got no farther than Cilicia on his return journey. He had
with him a paper of written instructions, among which were projects
for building an immense fleet in Phoenicia and the adjacent countries
for conveying an expedition against the Carthaginians and the other
western nations as far as the pillars of Hercules; for the erection of
magnificent temples, and for the transportation of people from Europe
into Asia and from Asia into Europe. Alexander’s generals put these
projects aside, as too vast for any one but Alexander himself.
[885] Cf. _Curtius_, x. 31.
[886] The Greeks reckoned according to the lunar months, and therefore
they talked of ten months instead of nine as the period of gestation.
Cf. _Herodotus_, vi. 63; Aristophanes (_Thesmoph._ 742); Menander
(_Plocion_, fragment 3); Plautus (_Cistell._ i. 3, 15); Terence
(_Adelphi_, iii. 4, 29).
[887] For this expression, cf. _Dion Cassius_, xlii. 57; Homer
(_Iliad_, 23, 538); _Pausanias_, vii. 10, 2; _Herodotus_, viii. 104.
[888] Here there is a gap in the manuscripts of Arrian, which probably
contained an account of the flight of Harpalus, the viceroy of Babylon,
with the treasures committed to his care, and also a description of the
dispute between Hephaestion and Eumenes. See _Photius_ (codex 92).
[889] Cf. Plutarch (_Eumenes_, 2).
[890] The march was from Opis to Media, as we see from the next chapter.
[891] Cf. _Herodotus_ (iii. 106; vii. 40); _Strabo_, xi. 7 and 14;
_Diodor._ xvii. 110; _Ammianus_, xxiii. 6. Sir Henry Rawlinson says:
“With Herodotus, who was most imperfectly acquainted with the geography
of Media, originated the error of transferring to that province the
Nisea (Nesá) of Khorassan, and all later writers either copied or
confounded his statement. Strabo alone has escaped from the general
confusion. In his description we recognise the great grazing plains
of Khawah, Alishtar, Huru, Silakhur, Burburud, Japalak, and Feridun,
which thus stretch in a continuous line from one point to another
along the southern frontiers of Media.” Alexander probably visited the
westernmost of these pastures which stretch from Behistûn to Ispahan
along the mountain range. The form διαρπαγῆναι is
used only by the later writers for διαρπασθῆναι.
[892] Cf. _Strabo_, xi. 5; _Diodorus_, xvii. 77; _Curtius_, vi.
19; _Justin_, xii. 3; _Arrian_, iv. 15; Homer (_Iliad_, iii. 189);
Aeschўlus (_Eumenides_, 655); Hippocrates (_De Aere, Aquis, et Locis_,
p. 553).
[893] The queen is called Thalestris by Diodorus and Curtius.
[894] This is a mistake, for Xenophon does mention the Amazons in
the _Anabasis_ (iv. 4, 16). For Trapezus and the Phasians see his
_Anabasis_ (iv. 8, 22; v. 6, 36.)
[895] See _Diodorus_, iv. 16. This was one of the twelve labours of
Hercules.
[896] See Plutarch (_Theseus_, 26).
[897] “The Battle of the Amazons” was a celebrated painting in the Stoa
Poecile at Athens, executed by Micon, son of Phanichus, a contemporary
of Polygnotus about B.C. 460. Cf. Aristophanes (_Lysistrata_, 678):
“Look at the Amazons whom Micon painted on horseback fighting with the
men.” See also _Pausanias_ (i. 15; viii. 11).
[898] Cf. _Herodotus_, iv. 110-117; ix. 27.
[899] See Isocrates (_Panegyricus_, 19); Lysias (_Oratio Funebris_,
near the beginning).
[900] _Strabo_ (xi. 5) declined to believe in the existence of the
Amazons altogether. However, even Julius Cæsar spoke of them as having
once ruled over a large part of Asia. See Suetonius (_Life of Julius
Cæsar_, 22). Eustathius, on _Dionysius Periegetes_, p. 110, derives
the name _Amazones_ from ἀ, _not_, and μᾶζα, _barley-bread_:—διὸ καὶ
Ἀμαζόνες ἐκαλοῦντο οἷα μὴ μάζαις ἀλλὰ κρέασι θηρίων ἐπιστρεφόμεναι.
This is not the usual derivation of the word.
[901] Cf. Plutarch (_Alex._ 72); _Diodorus_ (xvii. 110).
[902] Plutarch makes this statement.
[903] See Homer (_Iliad_, xxiii. 141, 152); _Arrian_ (i. 12).
[904] See _Herodotus_ (vii. 35). Xerxes means _the venerable king_. Cf.
_Herod._, vi. 98. See Donaldson’s _New Cratylus_, sections 161, 479.
[905] Epidaurus in Argolis was celebrated as the chief seat of the
worship of Aesculapius.
[906] This is an Homeric expression, meaning _myself_.
[907] Equal to £2,300,000. Plutarch (_Alex._ 72) agrees with Arrian.
_Diodorus_ (xvii. 115) and _Justin_ (xii. 12) say 12,000 talents.
[908] Cf. Aelian (_Varia Historia_, vii. 8); _Diodorus_ (xvii. 114,
115); Plutarch (_Alex._ 72, 75; _Eumenes_, 2; _Pelopidas_, 34).
[909] See p. 392, note 888.
[910] Cossaea was a district on the north-east of Susiana, which the
Persian kings never subdued, but purchased the quiet of the inhabitants
by paying them tribute. It is supposed to be the Cush of the Old
Testament. _Diodorus_ (xvii. 111) says that Alexander completed his
conquest of the Cossaeans in forty days. Plutarch (_Alex._ 72) says
he called the massacre of the Cossaeans his offering to the manes of
Hephaestion.
[911] Cf. _Livy_, vii. 37, 38; _Pliny_, xxii. 4; _Justin_, xii. 13.
[912] The Romans called these people Etruscans.
[913] _Justin_ (xxi. 6) says that the Carthaginians sent Hamilcar to
learn Alexander’s real designs against them, under the pretence of
being an exile offering his services.
[914] Cf. _Diodorus_, xvii. 113.
[915] Aristus was a man of Salamis in Cyprus. Neither his work nor that
of Asclepiades is extant. Aristus is mentioned by _Athenæus_ (x. 10)
and _Strabo_ (lib. xv.).
[916] _Livy_ (ix. 18) says he does not think the contemporary Romans
even knew Alexander by report.
[917] These are what Hirtius (_Bell. Alex._ 11) calls “naves apertas et
constratas.”
[918] See p. 155, note 392.
[919] See p. 199, note 499. _Strabo_ (xi. 7) says that Aristobulus
declared the Oxus to be the largest river which he had seen except
those in India.
[920] See p. 198, note 498. The Oxus and Jaxartes really flow into the
Sea of Aral, or the Palus Oxiana, which was first noticed by _Ammianus
Marcellinus_ (xxiii. 6, 59) in the 4th century A.D. Ptolemy, however,
mentions it as a small lake, and not as the recipient of these rivers.
Cf. _Pliny_, vi. 18.
[921] The Araxes, or Aras, joins the Cyrus, or Kour, and falls into
the Caspian Sea. It is now called Kizil-Ozan, or Red River. Its Hebrew
name is Chabor (2 Kings xvii. 6). Pontem indignatus Araxes (Vergil,
_Aeneid_, viii. 728). See Aeschўlus (_Prometheus_, 736), Dr. Paley’s
note.
[922] As to the Chaldaeans, see Cicero (_De Div._, i. 1) and _Diod._
(ii. 29-31).
[923] This is a verse from one of the lost tragedies of Euripides.
It is also quoted by Cicero (_De Divin._, ii. 5): Est quidam Graecus
vulgaris in hanc sententiam versus; bene qui conjiciet, vatem hunc
perhibebo optimum.
[924] See _Herodotus_ (i. 32); Plutarch (_Solon_, 27).
[925] See p. 171, note 430. _Herodotus_ (i. 181) gives a description
of this temple, which he says existed in his time. _Strabo_ (xvi.
1) agrees with Arrian that it was said to have been destroyed by
Xerxes. He also says that Alexander employed 10,000 men in clearing
away the rubbish of the ruins. Professor Sayce and others adduce this
passage of Arrian to prove that Herodotus is not to be trusted even
when he says he had seen the places and things which he describes.
The words of Herodotus are ἐς ἐμὲ τοῦτο ἔτι ἐόν, meaning, not that he
had himself seen the temple, but that it existed _till his time_. In
chap. 183 he expressly states that he did not see other things which he
is describing, but that he derived his information from the Chaldaeans.
He was about twenty years of age when Xerxes was assassinated. It must
not be forgotten that Strabo and Arrian lived five or six hundred
years after Xerxes. The veracity of Strabo is never doubted; yet in
his description of Babylon this author speaks of the walls and hanging
gardens as if they were still in existence, though not expressly saying
so.
[926] Cf. _Arrian_, iii. 16 supra.
[927] See _Arrian_, iii. 16 supra.
[928] Cf. Philostratus (_Life of Apollonius_, viii. 7, 5).
[929] Perdiccas was killed by his own troops at Memphis, B.C. 321. See
_Diodorus_, xviii. 36.
[930] The battle of Ipsus was fought B.C. 301. See Plutarch
(_Demetrius_, 29).
[931] _Diodorus_ (xvii. 113) says that embassies came from the
Carthaginians, Liby-Phoenicians, Greeks, Macedonians, Illyrians,
Thracians, and Gauls.
[932] Cf. _Arrian_, iii. 16 supra.
[933] The name Athens is said to have been derived from the worship
of Athena. See Euripides (_Ion_, 8): Πόλις τῆς χρυσολόγχου Παλλάδος
κεκλημένη. Attica is ἀττική or ἀκτικὴ γῆ, the “promontory land.”
[934] Clazomenae was an Ionian city on the Gulf of Smyrna, celebrated
as the birthplace of Anaxagoras. It is now called Kelisman.
[935] About £1,200,000.
[936] The Hebrew name for Arabia is Arab (wilderness). In Gen. xxv. 6
it is called the “East country,” and in Gen. xxix. 1 the “Land of the
Sons of the East.”
[937] Cf. _Arrian_, v. 26; vii. 1 and 15 supra.
[938] Cf. _Herodotus_, iii. 8.
[939] Cf. _Herodotus_, ii. 40, 86; iii. 110-112; _Strabo_, xvi. 4;
Pliny (_Nat. Hist._ xii.).
[940] About 17 miles.
[941] One of the Sporades, west of Samos, now called Nikaria. Cf.
Horace (_Carm._, iv. 2, 2) and Ovid (_Fasti_, iv. 28).
[942] Called Tyrus by _Strabo_ (xvi. 3). It is now called Bahrein, and
is celebrated for pearl fisheries.
[943] A fragment of the work of Androsthenes descriptive of his voyage
is preserved by _Athenæus_ (iii. p. 936).
[944] Probably Ramses. Its ruins are at Abu-Kesheb.
[945] Probably the projection now called Ras-al-Had.
[946] Cf. Arrian (_Indica_, 32).
[947] About 90 miles. This canal fell into the Persian Gulf at Teredon.
No trace of it now remains.
[948] The Hebrew name for Armenia is Ararat (2 Kings xix. 37; Isa.
xxxvii. 38; Jer. li. 27).
[949] The country called Assyria by the Greeks is called Asshur (level)
in Hebrew. In Gen. x. 11 the foundation of the Assyrian kingdom is
ascribed to Nimrod; for the verse ought to be translated: “He went
forth from that land into Asshur.” Hence in Micah v. 6, Assyria is
called the “land of Nimrod.”
[950] The Hebrew name for Babylon is Babel, _i.e._ Bab-Bel, _court of
Bel_: porta vel aula, civitas Beli (_Winer_). In Jer. xxv. 26; li.
41, it is called Sheshach, which Jewish commentators, followed by
Jerome, explain by the Canon Atbash, _i.e._ after the alphabet put
in an inverted order. According to this rule the word Babel, which
is the Hebrew name of Babylon, would be written Sheshach. Sir Henry
Rawlinson, however, says it was the name of a god after whom the city
was named; and the word has been found among the Assyrian inscriptions
representing a deity.
[951] The perfect passive δεδόμημαι is equivalent to the Epic and Ionic
form δέδμημαι.
[952] σχεθῆναι. See p. 268, note 629.
[953] τῶν τὶς ναυτῶν. This position of τίς is an imitation of the usage
in Ionic prose. Cf. _Herod._ i. 85; τῶν τὶς Περσέων. See _Liddell and
Scott_, sub voce τίς. Cf. _Arrian_, ii. 26, 4; vi. 9, 3; vii. 3, 4; 22,
5; 24, 2.
[954] Cf. _Arrian_ v. 13 supra.
[955] Cf. _Arrian_, iii. 6; iv. 18.