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  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

  323

  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