by Amanda
Alexander may have somehow caused this death. There is no evidence to
suggest this but Curtius does mention a spiteful remark reputedly made by
the king, who remembered how Coenus had humiliated him on the
Hyphasis. Alexander is supposed to have said: ‘Coenus for the sake of a
42 Arr., An. , 5.29.3-5. Badian 1985, p. 469; Bosworth 1983, p. 38; Bosworth 1988,
p. 134; Bosworth 1995, pp. 358-359; Hammond 1996, pp. 221-222; Fraser 1996, p.
70.
43 Arr., An. , 6.1; Arr., Ind. , 6.7-9 (quoting Onesicritus); Str., 15.1.19 (quoting Aristobulus), 15.1.25 (quoting Nearchus); Diod., 17.95.3. Schachermeyr 1973, pp.
443-451; Karttunen 1997, pp. 109-111; Malinowski 2003, p. 205.
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few days had begun a long harangue, as if he alone were destined to see
Macedonia again.’44
Alexander’s army had reached the Hydaspes at the end of September
326 and stayed there for somewhat over a month, building ships and
generally preparing for its expedition to the southern Punjab. The sources
give conflicting information concerning the number of river vessels they
eventually had at their disposal. Diodorus claims there were 1,000,
whereas Arrian states that there were either 800 or 2,000. Only the lowest
of these figures is plausible as we are told that the ships took only 8,000
soldiers and a number of horses. Among those selected to board the
vessels were elite units that usually accompanied Alexander: the
hypaspists, Agrianians, archers, Companion cavalry and horse guards
( agema). The rest of the army split in two and marched along both banks
of the Hydaspes. This measure was probably dictated by the need to
acquire enough provisions. The infantry and cavalry were commanded by
Craterus on the left bank, while Hephaestion was put in charge of all the
rest, including 200 elephants, marching on the right bank. Nearchus was
put in command of the fleet and Onesicritus was made steersman of the
flagship. The land forces were to march to Sopeithes’ kingdom, where
they were to meet up with the army of the satrap Philip. Alexander and his
fleet, however, did not set sail until a libation had been celebrated in
honour of Heracles, Ammon, Poseidon, Amphitrite, Nereus, Oceanus and
the river gods. This happened shortly before the Pleiades (the first decade
of November 326).45
The objected was not only to reach the Ocean but also conquer
southern Punjab. The fleet sailed at a rate of 40 or 60 stades (7-11 km) a
day and thus it was easily overtaken by the marching armies. However, it
kept in touch with various army units and all the forces were together
again after three days. Another two days later they were joined the satrap
Philip’s army. The next leg of their voyage, up to the confluence of the
Hydaspes and Acesines, lasted five days. On this leg powerful river
currents damaged some of the vessels but the Macedonians eventually
managed to land on the right bank. Next they crossed the river to conduct
a short and victorious campaign in the land of the Agalassi and Sibians,
44 Arr., An. , 6.2.1; Diod., 17.95.4; Curt., 9.3.20-22. Hamilton 1973, p. 118; Lane
Fox 1973, p. 371; Seibert 1985, pp. 160-161; Heckel 1992, pp. 63-64; Holt 2000.
Speculations about Alexander’s involvement in the death of Coenus: Badian 1961,
pp. 20, 22; Green 1974, pp. 416; Bosworth 1988, pp. 133-134; Worthington 1999.
45 Arr., An. , 6.2.2-3.3; Arr., Ind. , 18-19; Aristobul, ap. Str., 15.1.17; Diod., 17.95.5-96.1; Curt., 9.3.24; ME, 70; Plu., Alex. , 63.1. Seibert 1985, pp. 161-162; Hamilton 1999, p. 176.
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which modern historians assume to have been near the town of Shorkot in
Pakistan. Ancient sources state that the Sibians had descended from
soldiers that Heracles reputedly brought over to India. This suggests that
the Macedonian staff made great efforts to find or invent traces of the stay
of Alexander’s ancestor at various points on their route.46 An anecdote
recorded by Lucian states that during their voyage down the Hydaspes
Aristobulus presented Alexander a part of his historical book concerning
the king’s struggle against Porus. Unfortunately, the stupendous example
of sycophancy in written form was lost to posterity when Alexander
responded by casting the manuscript into the river.47
Once the Sibians were defeated, the Macedonians marched some 130
km to the confluence of the Hydraotes and Acesines. There the greatest
challenge turned out to be a clash with the belligerent tribes the Malli
( Malava) and the Oxydracae ( Ksudraka). The Malli most probably
inhabited the land between the Acesines and the Hydraotes, whereas the
Oxydracae occupied territories to the south of the Hydraotes, somewhere
to the northeast of today’s town of Multan in Pakistan. Alexander started
by dealing with the Malli first. The Macedonian army was divided into
five corps. Nearchus took the fleet down to the land inhabited by the Malli.
Craterus commanded a corps – including elephants, an additional phalanx
taxis, the satrap Philip’s soldiers and mounted archers – down the west
bank of the Acesines, while the corps of Hephaestion and Ptolemy
proceeded down the left bank. Each corps set out at a different time so that
if the Malli escaped one corps, they would next encounter another.
Craterus was probably entrusted with the additional task of stopping the
Oxydracae from aiding the Malli. Alexander took command of elite
detachments of hypaspists, Agrianians, mounted archers, half the hetairoi
and a single taxis of phalanx. With this corps he set off east across the
Sandar-Bar Desert. Alexander’s usual tactic of employing the elements of
speed and surprise as well as the ability to get across the most difficult of
terrains was once again successful. Allegedly within a single day the
Macedonians covered as many as 500 stades (90 km), so that the following
dawn the cavalry launched a surprise attack on the quite unprepared Malli
outside a town whose name the sources do not mention. The unarmed
enemy was slaughtered, after which Alexander had the town surrounded
and next stormed. In the meantime Perdiccas was despatched with the
46 Arr., An. , 6.4-5; Arr., Ind. , 5.12; Diod., 17.96.2-97.3; Curt., 9.4.1-14; Str., 15.1.33; Plin., Nat. , 6.59; Just., 12.9. Seibert 1985, pp. 162-163; Eggermont 1993,
pp. 22-26; Bosworth 1996a, pp. 117-119; Karttunen 1997, pp. 39-40.
47 Luc., Hist. Conscr. , 12.
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321
cavalry and the Agrianians to the next town. There the inhabitants fled but
only those who reached marshes escaped the massacre.48
Alexander allowed his troops to have a short respite before continuing
his pursuit of the Malli. These had meanwhile crossed to the other side of
the Hydraotes and found shelter in Brahman town. The Macedonians
followed them and stormed the town and its citadel. Both were captured
and the number of slaughtered Indians reached 5,000. Alexander had
already encountered Brahmans in Taxila, but in all probability he had not
shown enough interest in the social structure of India to understand its
caste system a
nd the exceptional position held by the Brahmans. His flying
column was operating in the land of the Malli detached from the main
Macedonian forces and therefore he could not have consulted Calanus
about the social status of the Brahmans, which the Greeks associated with
the sophists. He therefore could not have foreseen the irreparable damage
this particular massacre would do to the Macedonian army’s reputation
and to what extent it would stiffen resistance in the southern Punjab. For
the time being, however, the inhabitants of other Indian towns fled from
their homes and sought refuge in the desert. On Alexander’s instructions
the Macedonians organised actual man hunt against the Malli hiding in the
forests next to the Hydraotes; the obvious objective of this campaign was
to exterminate defiant Indians.49 The Malli crossed the Hydraotes in the
hope being able to resist the Macedonians from the steep eastern bank.
Nevertheless, this was no serious obstacle for Alexander’s veterans. There
were allegedly as many as 50,000 Malli on the bank. When the
Macedonian cavalry arrived, it immediately forded the river. The Malli
then retreated but they did not flee. While waiting for the slower
Macedonian infantry to catch up with the cavalry, Alexander only
launched sorties against the Indians. However, when the infantry finally
arrived he ordered an all out attack. It was only then that the Indians
started to flee. Those whom the Macedonians had failed to catch up with
and slaughter found refuge in a fortified town, probably near modern
Multan. Alexander ordered the town to be immediately surrounded,
though he prudently allowed his soldiers to rest for the night before
storming it.50
The siege of this Mallian town – erroneously called by some sources a
town of Oxydracae – is the best recorded episode of Alexander’s entire
48 Arr., An. , 6.5.4-6.6; Diod., 17.98.1-2; Curt., 9.4.15; Str., 15.1.8; Just., 12.9.
Wilcken 1967, p. 180; Seibert 1985, pp. 163-165; Bosworth 1988, p. 135;
Eggermont 1993, pp. 33-34; Hammond 1996, pp. 224-225.
49 Arr., An. , 6.7.1-8.4. Bosworth 1996a, pp. 94-97; Bosworth 1998, p. 196.
50 Arr., An. , 6.8.4-8. Wood 1997, pp. 199-200; Heckel 2009, p. 50.
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Indian campaign and that is solely because the mortal danger he
encountered on this occasion. The following day the Macedonians
launched their assault and easily captured the town as defenders instantly
sought shelter in the citadel. The taking of the citadel, on the other hand,
seemed to drag on. This may have been due to the lack of ladders or
perhaps on account of a lack of appropriate enthusiasm among the soldiers.
Alexander clearly thought it was the latter reason for suddenly he himself
proceeded to climb a ladder propped up against the citadel wall.
Unfortunately, too many hypaspists followed him up that ladder so that
after a while it broke leaving Alexander and just a few companions
stranded on top of the battlements. Arrows and javelins immediately flew
in their direction but Alexander refused to lose face by retreating to
beyond the citadel. Instead he took the crazy decision of jumping off the
wall into the fort, into Malli’s midst. Three Macedonians hurried after him,
one of whom was instantly killed. Before the other two managed to reach
their king, Alexander had to single-handedly ward off an attacking throng
of Malli. Several, who were audacious enough to come up within striking
distance, he slew with his sword. Alexander was himself soon struck so
hard with an Indian sword that his helmet broke, though fortunately his
head was not badly injured. Much more serious damage was caused by an
arrow that pierced his armour, penetrated his chest and stuck itself deep
into a bone. This resulted in a heavy lose of blood which of course equally
rapidly sapped his strength. The king’s life was saved by his bodyguard
Leonnatus and by the hypaspist Peucestas, both of whom protected him
with their shields as he lay unconscious on the ground. In the meantime,
inspired by Alexander’s example and fearing the mortal danger he was
now in, the remaining Macedonians launched a violent assault on the
citadel. Some scrambled over the battlements while others managed to
force open a gate and destroy part of the wall. They carried out their
unconscious king on their shields, while others mercilessly slaughtered the
Malli to the last man. Fortunately, the Indian arrow had failed to pierce
Alexander’s lung, for against such wounds Greek medicine was helpless.
Nevertheless, there was still great reluctance to treat the wound surgically
for fear it would kill the monarch. Alexander, however, ordered the
physician Critobulus to remove the arrow. To do this Critobulus had to
make incisions enlarging the wound and thus cause a greater lose of blood.
As a result the king relapsed into a state of unconsciousness. Alexander’s
life, however, was saved.51
51 Arr., An. , 6.9-11; Diod., 17.98.2-99.4; Curt., 9.4.26-5.29; Plu., Alex. , 63.2-12; Plu., mor. , 343e-345b; App., BC, 2.152; ME, 75-78; Just., 12.9. Lammert 1953;
Expedition to India
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The operation was successful but many days passed before Alexander
had enough strength to rise from bed. The incident in the Mallian citadel
came as a major shock to everyone in the Macedonian camp. The
possibility of their leader dying terrified the soldiers for they assumed – in
all probability correctly – that such an eventuality would render their
return home to Macedonia unfeasible. For a long time Alexander was too
weak to appear in public and armed guards constantly ensured his privacy.
This led to the spread of rumours among the soldiers about his imminent
death and even a letter he wrote to them did not allay their fears; they even
believed that it was forged. Alexander was eventually conveyed in a litter
to the river’s edge and thence by ship to the Macedonian camp at the
confluence of the Hydraotes and Acesines. But it was only when he
appeared mounted on a horse or standing on his own feet that the mood
among the men changed. Curtius Rufus relates a conversation between
Alexander and Craterus, delegated by the officers to complain about the
needless way in which he was endangering his life. The details of this
conversation are the fantasy of the Roman historian but that such
conversation took place should not be doubted; this is highly plausible on
account of the psychological situation that must have prevailed at the time
and by Nearchus’ account which has been cited by Arrian. Besides,
Alexander would never again show such bravado or take such risks with
his own life for any other reason. 52 Meanwhile news of Alexander’s
serious wound or even his death had reached Greek settlers in Bactria and
Sogdiana, who were none too satisfied with their forced stay so far from
their homeland. Some so much wanted to return to Greece that they
rebelled. The sources provide contradictory information regarding the fate
of this rebellion. We can only assume that although it was local and lasted
a short time, it
did illustrate that Macedonian control of eastern Iran rested
precariously on colonies of Europeans who were settled there not entirely
in accordance with their own will.53
The time of Alexander’s convalescence and the long stay on the
Acesines and Hydraotes gave the soldiers time to repair old ships as well
as build new ones for the next leg of their voyage to the ocean. The
campaign of exterminations in the land of the Malli and no doubt fear that
it could be resumed resulted in the arrival of a large party of Mallian and
Oxydracaean envoys at Alexander’s camp. They now surrendered their
people, submitted hostages as required and also provided 2,500 horsemen.
Bosworth 1988, pp. 136-137; Prag 1990, p. 240; Heckel 1992, pp. 100-101, 264-
265.
52 Arr., An. , 6.12-13; Curt., 9.5.30-6.26; Plu., Alex. , 63.13.
53 Diod., 17.99.5-6; Curt., 9.7.1-11. Eggermont 1993, pp. 70-73.
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The lands of the Malli and the Oxydracae became part of Philip’s satrapy,
which ultimately stretched from the mouth of the Acesines up to the river
Indus.54
It was during a banquet held in honour of the ambassadors from the
two Indian tribes that Curtius Rufus as well as Diodorus provide an
account of a challenge to a ‘gladiator’ duel – though of course such a
concept was quite unknown to the Greeks in 325. This challenge was
made by a drunken Macedonian soldier called Corrhagus to the pankratiast
Dioxippus of Athens. The fight took place the following day before a vast
crowd of Macedonians and Greeks, each group backing their compatriot in
the contest. Corrhagus appeared armed with a shield, a sword, a sarissa
and a javelin, while Dioxippus came with just a club – the weapon of
Heracles. Yet with sheer speed and agility the Greek athlete was able to
dodge the javelin hurled at him, break the sarissa, which anyhow would
have been too cumbersome for single combat, and fell his opponent to the
ground. Only Alexander’s intervention prevented Dioxippus from killing