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At more or less the same time that Spitamenes handed over the arrested
Bessus to Ptolemy, the slowly advancing Macedonian army made an
astonishing discovery. They encountered a Greek town situated, from their
Mediterranean point of view, at the very edge of the world. It turned out
that these were the descendents of the Branchidae – the caste that up until
the start of the Ionian Revolt in the 5th century had administered the Great
Temple and oracle of Apollo at the Milesian Didyma. During the Ionian
Revolt the Branchidae first refused to use the temple’s funds to finance the
war against Persia but then handed all their money over to Xerxes.
Subsequently, after a momentous Greek victory, Greeks who had
supported the Persians in 480-479 war now had every reason to fear their
compatriots would seek revenge. That is why they took up Xerxes’ offer to
evacuate collaborators deep into Asia. Indeed on many occasions
throughout the Achaemenid period settlers, including Greeks, had been
sent east Bactria and Sogdiana. This time the descendants of the pro-
Persian Branchidae willingly surrendered their town and greeted
Alexander with joy. Their surrender was accepted but among Macedonian
commanders there was consternation as to what to do with the successors
of those who had betrayed the Panhellenic cause. Alexander asked the
Milesians in his camp, but here too opinions were divided. The following
day the king granted his soldiers permission to slaughter the unfortunate
Branchidae with instructions to raze their town to the ground and even cut
down their forests. The truth behind this atrocity, which the court
historiography reflected in Arrian’s account has completely ignored, has
moreover been challenged by some modern historians. The original source,
however, is Callisthenes, a member of Alexander’s expedition who was
favourably disposed to his monarch and would hardly invent a story
casting him in such a bad light. Besides, this was not the only massacre of
civilians in Alexander’s career. The slaughter of the Branchidae in
Sogdiana really happened, only the circumstances seem doubtful for the
sources do not give any convincing motives as to why Alexander made
such a terrible decision. Perhaps – as H.W. Parke and A.B. Bosworth
presume – the slaughter resulted from a lack of moral discipline among the
Macedonian soldiers after long months of campaigning and enduring
extreme conditions raging form the snow capped Hindu Kush to the
unbearable heat of Bactria. 105
Archaeologists have discovered in
105 Curt., 7.5.28-35; Diod., 17.k; Str., 11.11.4; Plu., mor. , 557b; Suda, s.v.
Bragc∂dai. Tarn 1948, ii, pp. 272-275; Parke 1985; Bernard 1985, pp. 123-125;
Bosworth 1988, pp. 108-109; Holt 1988, pp. 73-75; Kulesza 1994, pp. 227-245;
Briant 1996, pp. 771-772; Karttunen 1997, pp. 21-22; Panchenko 2002, pp. 245-
248; Rtveladze 2002, pp. 69-70.
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Chapter V
Afghanistan Greek graffiti dated approximately 500 years after the
massacre including the words bronchidai and bronchees. If these words
are variants of the name Branchidai,106 this would mean that not all the
Branchidae had been killed in 329 and that their community survived for
at least another 500 years.
The next objective of the Macedonian army was the capital of
Sogdiana, Maracanda (today Samarcand in Uzbekistan), where Alexander
left a strong garrison of 1,000 soldiers. Next the army marched to the river
Jaxartes (Syr Darya), which marked the northern boundary of the
Achaemenid Empire. The sources do not record any major battles but the
Macedonians did encounter some resistance from the local population. We
know that they devastated villages around Maracanda and that during a
skirmish with a mountain tribe Alexander had an arrow shot through his
calf into his shinbone. The Jaxartes was also called in ancient times the
Tanais. In Alexander’s time it was frequently confused with a river of the
same name flowing into the Azov Sea, today’s river Don. In those days
that other Tanais (today’s Don) was considered a border between Europe
and Asia.107
However, the Tanais or Jaxartes Alexander’s army reached did not
mark a boundary between ethnic cultures as both sides were inhabited by
Scythian nomads. On the other hand, unlike their southern relatives, the
Scythians living to the north of the river did not belong to the Achaemenid
state though they were usually allies of the Persians. Now they sent envoys
to the Macedonian king. Alexander responded by sending ambassadors to
the Scythians north of the river. These envoys the king selected from
among his hetairoi and also secretly instructed them to carry out some
reconnaissance work. Of course in the diplomatic exchange both sides
declared mutual friendship. Regardless of how sincere his declaration was,
Alexander could not take any action to the north of the Jaxartes. This was
because a revolt had broken out in newly conquered Sogdiana. The rebel
leader was Spitamenes, perhaps the most able and tough Iranian to
confront Alexander, and he had the support of some of the Bactrians. The
ancient authors do not present the reasons for this revolt presumably
because they themselves did not know what they were. Perhaps it was, as
F.L. Holt argues, that the Sogdian leaders were willing to accept
Alexander’s nominal suzerainty but would not tolerate any permanent
changes to their social hierarchy. Up to the arrival of the Macedonians,
Sogdiana had been a country that recognised the rule of the Great King but
106 Bernard 1985, p. 125; Kulesza 1994, pp. 245-246.
107 Arr., An. , 3.30.6-11; Curt., 7.6.1-10; Plu., mor. , 327a; It. Alex. , 79-80; ME, 7-8.
Seibert 1985, pp. 129-131; Bosworth 1988, pp. 109-110.
King of Asia
275
was in fact governed quite independently by the local nobles. Now this
state of affairs appeared to be threatened by a plan to build the city of
Alexandria Eschate and the installation of Macedonian garrisons. These
measures were to ensure a permanent Greek and Macedonian military
presence as well as replace in rural areas the traditional lord and peasant
hierarchy with the population being controlled at various levels by cities
based on the Greek polis system. The conflict was most probably also
caused by cultural differences. The sources record that Alexander tried to
stamp out the local practice of leaving the corpses of their dead out in the
open to be devoured by animals, which was something the Greeks and
Macedonians found quite unacceptable. Whatever the true reason, the
smaller Macedonian garrisons were massacred. Meanwhile the Sogdian
nobles refused to attend a conference Alexander had summoned in Bactra.
They probably did not come out fear for their own safety but this was still
an act of disobedience. Now there was no alternative to war.108
As usual, Alexander’s response was fast and ruthless. He instructed the
best of his officers, Craterus, to besiege the largest of the cities, Cyropolis
&nbs
p; ( Kuruš- kaqa?), which may have been located somewhere near today’s
Kurkat, 40 km to the west of Khojent (Tajikistan). This gave time for
Alexander himself to attack the smaller cities. Their primitive fortifications
constructed out of sun dried bricks were no defence against Macedonian
siege engines. The defenders were treated with exceptional cruelty: the
men were killed while the women and children were sold into slavery.
Within two days three cities were successfully stormed and captured,
while the fleeing populations from another two were slaughtered by the
Macedonian cavalry. Alexander personally commanded the storming of
Cyropolis, during which he was struck with a stone. But this city was also
quickly captured. At that stage it may have seemed that in Sogdiana the
only remaining problem was to relieve the Macedonian garrison at
Maracanda, which was besieged by forces commanded by Spitamenes. For
this task Alexander dispatched 1,400 Macedonian and mercenary cavalry
as well as 1,500 mercenary infantry commanded by the Iranian
Pharnuches.109
108 Onesicritus, ap. Str., 11.11.3 (= FGrH, 134 F5); Arr., An. , 4.1; Curt., 7.6.11-15; Plu., mor. , 328c; It. Alex. , 81; ME, 8. Bickermann 1966, pp. 89-90; Holt 1988, pp.
52-60; Vogelsang 1992, p. 230; Bosworth 1995, pp. 13-19; Karttunen 1997, p. 21;
Ashley 1998, p. 298; Harmatta 1999, pp. 130-132; Holt 1999, pp. 122-123;
Nawotka 2003, p. 94.
109 Arr., An. , 4.2-3; Curt., 7.6.16-24; Plu., Alex. , 45.5; It. Alex. , 82-83; ME, 9.
Engels 1978, p. 103; Bosworth 1995, pp. 19-25.
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Chapter V
The king and the rest of the army now returned to the river Jaxartes, on
the other side of which a Scythian army had gathered ready to support
Spitamenes. The Scythians were worried by Alexander’s plans to found a
town by the river and feared that these would hinder their nomadic
freedom and barter trade. The ancient authors claim that the walls of this
newest town, Alexandria Eschate (‘Alexandria the Furthest’), were raised
within as little as twenty (Arrian) or seventeen (Curtius) days. Medieval
Arab sources suggest that it could be associated with today’s city of
Khojent on the western edge of the Fergana Valley. There had already
been a fortified town on the Jaxartes in Achaemenid times but, unless the
accounts of Curtius and Arrian are completely untrue, Alexandria Eschate
was probably not built on its foundations. However, the new town could
have been built next to the old. It was populated by Greek mercenaries
from Alexander’s army, Macedonian veterans as well as resettled natives
and its original purpose was to guarantee Macedonian military supremacy
in the region. Although Curtius and Arrian write about the raising of the
Alexandria Eschate’s fortifications during events that occurred in 329, the
process must have lasted longer for we know from the Paros’ Chronicle
that the town was officially founded a year later in 328/327 (Athenian
years began in July). Of the many towns Alexander is said to have founded
in Bactria and Sogdiana this is the only one whose existence has been
incontrovertibly confirmed.110
The Scythians tried to attack and provoke the soldiers raising the
fortifications of Alexandria. Alexander naturally took up the challenge.
The crossing was delayed for some time because sacrifices did not augur a
favourable outcome. However, Alexander’s impetuousness eventually
proved too strong and he ordered the operation to start. Protected by the
missiles fired from boat-mounted catapults that the barbarians had never
seen before, the soldiers were able to get across the river. The Scythians
repulsed the first attack of phalanx and mercenary cavalry. In a second
attack, however, Alexander’s skilful use of cavalry, archers and light
infantry prevented the Scythians from deploying their traditional tactic of
encirclement. After that the Macedonians were able to defeat the enemy in
open battle. The routed Scythians were allegedly chased for 150 stades (27
km) to a place where Curtius Rufus and Pliny state Dionysus had left
border signs; an alternative version is that Dionysius and Heracles had
erected some altars there; these presumably were burial mounds. The
110 Marmor Parium, FGrH 239 B7; Arr., An. , 4.1.3-4, 4.4.1; Curt., 7.6.13, 7.6-25-27; Plin., Nat. , 6.49; Ptol., Geog. , 6.12.6, 8.23.14; It. Alex. , 81; ME, 7. Bosworth 1995, pp. 25-27; Briant 1996, p. 767; Briant 2002, pp. 71-72; Fraser 1996, pp. 151-156.
King of Asia
277
Macedonians ended the pursuit only once Alexander could go no further
on account of the injuries he had received during the storming of
Cyropolis; at the time he was also suffering from diarrhoea, after having
drunk some contaminated water. 160 Macedonians were killed and another
1,000 were wounded in this clash. The Scythians lost 1,000 men and 1,800
of their horses were captured. The Scythian king immediately sent envoys
to apologise for the provocative attack, which he claimed had been carried
out without his knowledge. Alexander did not raise the conditions for
peace because he now had to quickly return to Sogdiana, where the
situation had again turned for the worse.111
Already at the start of the sally north of the Jaxartes the fate of the
corps sent to relieve the beleaguered Maracanda was known. Although in
Arrian’s book details in the accounts of the expedition’s participants,
Ptolemy and Aristobulus, differ from one another significantly, the is no
doubt that with the help of Dahae nomads Spitamenes annihilated the
3,000-strong detachment of Macedonian troops that had been sent to
relieve Maracanda. Moreover, the city’s defenders, who had imprudently
sallied from their fortress, were also slaughtered. On returning from his
expedition against the Scythians Alexander divided his army into two.
Craterus was put in charge of the phalanx and instructed to march not
faster than normal. Alexander himself took command of the cavalry,
hypaspists, Agrianians, archers as well as light infantry and proceeded to
Maracanda with considerably greater speed. With some exaggeration
Arrian reports that Alexander’s corps covered the 1,500 stades (270 km) to
the city within three days. But before this larger army arrived, Spitamenes
had escaped into the steppe and there was nothing left Alexander’s men to
do other than bury the dead from Pharnuches’s corps. After a fruitless
pursuit of Spitamenes the Macedonians vented their fury by massacring
the inhabitants of the Polytimetus (Zeravshan) river valley, devastating the
villages and destroying local fortresses. A Macedonian garrison of 3,000
soldiers commanded by Peucolaus was installed in Sogdiana, probably in
Maracanda. By late autumn Alexander withdrew with the rest of the army
to the capital of Bactria, where they spent the winter of 329/328.112
In the spring of 328 reinforcements raised by Antipater and provincial
governors reached Alexander in Bactria. The number of new recruits was
111 Arr., An. , 4.4.1-5.1; Curt., 7.7.1, 7.7.5-9.19; Plu., Alex. , 45.6; Plu., mor. , 341c; Plin., Nat. , 6.49; It. Alex. , 85; ME, 8-12. Engels 1978, pp. 101-1
02; Seibert 1985, p.
132, n. 26; Bosworth 1995, pp. 27-32; Bosworth 1996a, pp. 146-148; Hammond
1996, pp. 194-195.
112 Arr., An. , 4.5.2-7.1; Curt., 7.6.24, 7.7.30-39, 7.9.20-10.10; It. Alex. , 86-88; ME, 13-14. Bosworth 1995, pp. 29-37.
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Chapter V
vast – as many as 22,000, including 2,600 cavalry. On the other hand, the
sources only mention mercenaries. The most likely explanation for this is
that ever since the defeat of the imperial Persian forces at Gaugamela
Alexander was deliberately relying on mercenaries in order to spare
compatriots.113 That spring there was yet another wave of disturbances in
Sogdiana. It turned out that the previous year’s bloody repressions had
failed to pacify the situation and may have even exacerbated it. Fearing for
the old social order and their place in it, the Sogdian lords were now siding
more with Spitamenes and Scythians. Alexander decided to impose his
will on the Sogdians by force and marched his army from Bactria to the
rebel province. Among those he left in charge of Bactria were Meleager
and Polyperchon, both of whom would later play important roles in the
diadochi period. Alexander must have assumed Bactria would be a safe
province as many of the troops he left there were in convalescence. Once
Alexander started operations in Sogdiana, Spitamenes launched an
audacious attack on Bactria destroying one of the smaller Macedonian
garrisons on the way. The slender forces of the main garrison made an
initially successful sortie but in a subsequent clash Spitamenes’s Scythians
defeated them. Those killed included seven hetairoi, 60 mercenary
horsemen and the courageous kitharode Aristonicus of Olynthus, whom
Alexander later honoured with a bronze statue at Delphi.114 However, what
eventually worked against Spitamenes was the enemy’s large numerical
superiority. Despite engaging most of his troops in Sogdiana, Alexander
still had at his disposal Craterus’ corp, which was able to catch up with
Spitamenes and defeat his forces in battle. 150 Scythians were killed, and