19. Darius, meanwhile, was rearming for the continuation of the war with Alexander. He wrote to Porus the king of the Indians, as follows:
‘King Darius greets Porus, king of the Indians. After the disaster that has befallen my house, I write with further news. The Macedonian, who has the soul of a wild beast, has overcome me, and refuses to return my mother, wife and daughters to me. I have promised to give him treasure and all kinds of things, but he is inflexible. Therefore, I have decided to fight him again in order to destroy him for what he has done, until I have punished him and his nation. It is right that you should be angry at what has happened to me, and should come to help me against my insolent opponent. Think of the bonds of blood that bind us. Collect as many of the nations as possible at the Caspian Gates,73 and organize gold and provisions for the men, and fodder for the animals. I will give you half of all the spoils that I win from the enemy, as well as the horse called Bucephalus, the royal lands and the king’s concubines. As soon as you receive this letter, muster your men and send them to me. Farewell.’
When Alexander learnt of this from one of Darius’ men who had crossed over to his side, he took all his forces and marched on Media. There he heard that Darius was at Batana,74 near the Caspian Gates. He continued the pursuit immediately and with all his energy. [Alexander thought he would never rule Asia if he did not despise the name of Darius. Then he was told that Darius had departed for the Caspian Gates. He immediately set off in pursuit until he was informed that Darius was near by: Bagistanes the eunuch arrived and told him everything that happened, which made his pursuit the more enthusiastic. A-text]
20. Two of Darius’ satraps, Bessus and Ariobarzanes, knew that Alexander was approaching. They treacherously planned to kill Darius. For, they said to each other, ‘If we kill Darius, we shall receive a great deal of money from Alexander for destroying his enemy.’ So with this evil plan they went to Darius, swords in hand. When Darius saw them approaching him with their swords drawn, he said to them, ‘O my masters, who were once my servants, how have I wronged you, that you wish to destroy me in this reckless and savage way? Do not act worse than the Macedonians. Let me lie here upon the floor and bewail the unfairness of my fate. If Alexander, the king of the Macedonians, comes here and finds me slain, as a king he will avenge the blood of a king.’
But they took no notice of Darius’ pleas and raised their swords. Darius defended himself with both hands: with the left he held Bessus down and drove his knee into his groin, and with the right he held off Ariobarzanes so that he could not bring his sword close to him, and its blows fell aslant. The traitors found they could not finish him off, however much they struggled; for Darius was a strong man.
The Macedonians now found the Stranga frozen over and crossed the river. Alexander went straight to Darius’ palace. When the traitors heard that Alexander was coming, they fled, leaving Darius dying. So Alexander found him, blood pouring from his wounds. He cried out and began to shed tears, lamenting him as he deserved; then he covered Darius’ body with his cloak. Placing his hands on Darius’ breast, he spoke these words, pregnant with pity:75 ‘Stand up, King Darius. Rule your land and become master of yourself. Receive back your crown and rule your Persian people. Keep your kingdom to its full extent. I swear to you by Providence above that what I say is honest and not feigning. Who was it who struck you? Tell me their names, so that I may give you peace.’
When Alexander had so spoken, Darius groaned and stretched out his hands to Alexander, clutching at him and drawing him to himself.
‘Alexander,’ he said, ‘do not become too proud of the glory of your kingship. Even if what you achieved is godlike, and you are ready now to grasp heaven with both hands, have a thought for the future. Fate recognizes no kings, however powerful they are, and swerves hither and thither, quite without reason. You can see what I was, and what I have become. When I am dead, Alexander, bury me with your own hands. Let the Macedonians and Persians carry me to my grave. Let the families of Darius and of Alexander be one. I commit my mother to you as if she were your own, and I ask you to sympathize with my wife as if she were one of your relatives. As for my daughter Roxane, I give her to you for a wife, to start a line of descendants that will preserve your memory. Be proud of them, as we are of our children, and, as you grow old together, preserve the memory of your parents – you of Philip, and Roxane of Darius.’
With these words Darius laid his head on Alexander’s breast and died.
21. Alexander raised up a great cry and wept for Darius. Then he ordered him to be buried in the Persian manner. He had the Persians march in front, followed by the Macedonians in full armour. Alexander put his own shoulder to the carrying of the bier, along with the other satraps. They all wept and mourned, not so much for Darius as for Alexander, at the sight of him shouldering the bier. After the burial had been carried out in the Persian manner, he dismissed the crowds.
Immediately he issued an order to all the cities, as follows:
‘I, King Alexander, son of King Philip and of Queen Olympias, inform all those in the cities and regions of Persia, that I do not want many tens of thousands of people to the in misery. I give thanks to Providence above, whose goodwill has made me victorious over the Persians. Be informed that I propose to set up satraps over you, whom you must obey as you did in the days of Darius. You shall know no other king but Alexander. Keep to your ancestral customs, festivals, sacrifices and holy days, as you did in the days of Darius. But if anyone leaves his own city or region to dwell in another, he shall be given as food to the dogs. Each of you shall retain all his own possessions, except his gold and silver. I order that the gold and silver be brought to our cities and regions, but we allow you to keep any coined money that you have for your own use. I order every weapon of war to be delivered to my armouries. The satraps are to remain at their posts. No nation will now come to you, except for the purposes of trade, and then no more than twenty men at a time. I will exact the same taxes as in Darius’ days. I wish your lands to be established in prosperity, and the roads of Persia to remain peaceful for trade and travel, so that merchants may come from Greece to you, and you to them. I shall build roads and erect signposts from the Euphrates and the crossing to the Tigris, as far as Babylon.
[‘As for the road tolls that were customary in Darius’ days, I make a present of these to the gods, especially Sarapis and Zeus. Since you wish to celebrate my birthday with honours instead of that of Cyrus, I have commanded Moschylus the satrap to ensure that you celebrate both my birthday and that of Cyrus with festivals and contests. Let the Persians be spectators of the contests, and let prizes be offered, whatever you wish, to the Persians. I wish a virgin to be crowned as priestess of my mother. She is to continue to receive her annual salary,76 and to retain her priesthood until the end of her life; but if she yields to nature and ceases to be a virgin, let her be given the same amount as a dowry. These regulations shall apply also to her successor in the priesthood. Let the gymnasium be built in a conspicuous place, just as it is in Pella. I shall make the selections for the contests, as long as I am alive; after my death, it shall be the task of the rulers to whom I have given the country. For the war-chariot race the prize shall be a golden goblet weighing twelve [thousand] staters, and five silver goblets, each holding a sufficient measure for a moderate man to get drunk on. For the war-horse race the prize shall be a similar goblet and a Persian robe, and free dinners in the sanctuary of Alexander for life. But if the winner prefers rewards in the Persian style, he shall have a golden crown… a plain Persian robe and a golden belt and two cups weighing 170 staters. All my satraps in Persia shall join in the festival meal at the sanctuary of Alexander. They will be rulers, not tyrants. The presidents of the games shall all be my “Alexandrians”, that is, the priests of the sanctuary of Alexander. Moschylus, the founder of the sanctuary of Alexander, is to receive a golden crown and a purple robe, for wear on special days. Let no prostitutes enter the temple; and let none of the race o
f the Medes enter it. I wish that you be not judges in your own affairs, no matter who the other party is, and especially not in capital matters: if anyone is found calling an assembly of satraps or others, except in the council chamber, he shall be treated as an enemy.’
When he had finished settling all these matters, Alexander wrote a speech:
‘They have destroyed the great king, my enemy, your lord, Darius. A-text] I did not kill Darius. Who they were who slew him, I do not know. I owe them great honours, and will present them with much land, because they have killed my enemy.’
The Persians were perturbed at these words of Alexander, because they supposed he wanted to ruin Persia. But Alexander noticed their distress and said, ‘Why do you suppose, men of Persia, that I am seeking out the murderers of Darius? If Darius were alive, he would have made war against me, but now the war is over. Whether it was a Persian or a Macedonian who killed him, let him come to me with confidence, and receive whatever he wishes from me. I swear by Providence above, and by the safety of my mother, Olympias, that I will raise those men up and make them conspicuous among men.’
The crowd wept at this oath of Alexander. Then Bessus and Ariobarzanes came to Alexander, expecting to receive lavish gifts from him, and said, ‘Lord, it was we who killed Darius.’ At once Alexander ordered them to be seized and crucified on the grave of Darius. They protested violently: ‘You swore that you would make those who killed Darius exalted and conspicuous among men. How can you now betray your oath and order us to be crucified?’
‘It is not for your benefit,’ replied Alexander, ‘that I shall answer your question, but for the benefit of the assembled soldiers. There was no way to find you so easily and bring you to light, except by praising the murder of Darius. I was determined to subject his murderers to the severest penalty. How could I suppose that those who killed their own master would spare me? I have not broken my oath, you villains. I swore that I would raise you up and make you conspicuous among men – by which I meant that I would crucify you, so that all can look upon you.’
Then everyone praised Alexander’s cunning, and the wicked murderers were crucified on the grave of Darius.
22. When Alexander had restored peace to the whole land, he asked the people, ‘Whom do you want as the satrap of your city?’ ‘Adulites,77 the brother of Darius,’ came the reply. So he appointed him satrap.
He had left Darius’ mother, wife and daughter in a city two days’ journey away. Now he wrote to them, as follows:
‘King Alexander greets Stateira, Rodo and Roxane, my wife.78 We fought against Darius but did not revenge ourselves on him. I would rather have had him remain alive under my rule. But I found him at the point of death; I pitied him and covered him with my cloak. I asked him who had struck him down, but he said nothing to me except this: “I commit to you my mother and my wife, but especially my daughter Roxane, your wife.” He had no chance to tell me how he had been slain. However, I have punished the murderers in a suitable manner. He required me to bury him in the grave of his ancestors, which has been done. I expect that you have heard about that. Cease now from your grieving. I shall re-establish you in your royal palace. Remain for the moment where you are, until everything is properly settled here. According to the last wishes of Darius, I claim Roxane as my bride, if this is agreeable to you. I wish and command her from now on to be shown obeisance as wife of Alexander. Farewell.’
When they received this letter from Alexander, Stateira and Rodo replied as follows:
‘Greetings to King Alexander. We have prayed to the gods in heaven, who brought low the name of Darius and the pride of Persia, and have revealed you as eternal ruler of the world, full of cunning, wisdom and power. We know that we shall live in safety under your protection. So we prayed to Providence above to grant you many years of flourishing and a reign of endless duration. Your achievements are the proof that you are from an exceptional family. Now we are no longer like prisoners, and we know that Alexander is our new Darius. We fall at Alexander’s feet because he has not disgraced us. We have written to everyone, “O people of Persia, know that the dying Darius chose King Alexander as his successor. Fate has given Roxane as wife to Alexander, king of all the world. All of you, show your gratitude to Alexander, for the fame of Persia has been even further exalted. Rejoice with us in proclaiming Alexander our great king!” This is what we have written to the people of Persia. Farewell.’
Alexander replied to this letter as follows:
‘I commend your good sense. I will try to make my achievements worthy of your love, for I too am only mortal. Farewell.’
In another letter he wrote to Roxane and told her what he had decided.
[‘King Alexander greets his wife, Roxane. I have written to my mother, Olympias, about some other matters that concern us, and I have asked her in my letter to send us the jewellery and robes of Darius’ mother and your mother, Rodo, and to send the bridal gifts on my behalf. Try to adopt a suitable attitude to Alexander and to fear him and to respect Olympias. If you do this, you will bring great distinction to both yourself and us. My dearest, farewell.’ γ-text]
Then he wrote a letter to his mother, Olympias, as follows:
‘King Alexander to his sweet mother, greetings. I am writing to ask you to send me the garments and jewellery of Darius’ mother and his wife, and the royal robes for Roxane, the daughter of Darius, who is now my wife.’79
When Olympias received this letter, she sent him all her royal garments, and all her jewellery of gold and precious stones. When Alexander received them, he began preparations for the wedding in Darius’ palace. Who could describe the joy of that event!
[Supplement F]
23. Alexander wrote again to his mother, as follows:80
‘King Alexander to my mother, whom I miss sorely, and to my most honoured tutor Aristotle, greetings. I thought I ought to write to you about my recent battle with Darius. I heard that he was at the Gulf of Issus with a vast army of his own and the other kings. I took a large number of goats and tied torches to their horns; then I set off and marched forward by night. When the enemy saw the torches from afar, they supposed it to be a countless army, and became so frightened that they were defeated. And that is how I won my victory over them. I founded a city there and called it Aegae.81 I also founded another city on the Gulf of Issus, and called it Alexandria. Darius was deserted, and then seized and murdered by his own satraps. I was very sorry for him. I did not want him to be killed after his defeat, but to live under my rule. I came upon him still alive, and took off my cloak to cover him. Then I reflected on the uncertainty of fortune, as exemplified in the fate of Darius, and I lamented him. I buried him royally, and gave orders to cut off the noses and ears of those who guarded his grave, as is the custom here. I had the murderers of Darius crucified on his grave. Then I went and conquered the kingdom of Ariobarzanes and Manazakes. I subdued Media and Armenia, Ebesia and all the kingdom of Persia that had formerly belonged to Darius.
32. ‘Then I took guides, intending to go deep into the desert, in the direction of the constellation of the Plough. They counselled against going that way because of the numbers of wild beasts that live in those regions. However, I took no notice of them and set out. We soon came to a land full of ravines, where the way was very narrow and precipitous, and it took us eight days to cross it. In this place we saw beasts of all kinds, all quite unfamiliar to us. After we had crossed it, we came to an even more desolate place. Here, we found a great forest of trees called anaphanda, with a strange and unfamiliar fruit: they were like apples, but of the size of melons. There were also people in the wood, called Phytoi, who were 36 feet tall, their necks alone being 2 feet in length, and their feet of equally enormous size. Their forearms and hands were like saws. When they saw us they stormed our camp. I could not believe my eyes when I saw them, and gave orders to capture one; but when we charged them, shouting and blowing our trumpets, they ran away. We killed thirty-two of them, and they killed 100 of our so
ldiers. We spent some time there, eating the fruit of the trees.
33. ‘Then we set out and came to a green country where there were wild men like giants, spherical in shape, with fiery expressions like lions. After them were another people, the Ochlitae, who had no hair at all on their bodies, were 6 feet tall and as broad as a lance. When they saw us, they ran towards us. They were dressed in lions’ skins, very strong and ready to fight without weapons. We fought them, but they struck us with logs and killed a good many of us. I was afraid they might put our men to flight, and so I ordered fires to be lit in the forest. When these mighty men saw the fire, they ran away. But they had killed 180 of our soldiers.
‘The next day I decided to visit their caves. We found wild beasts, resembling lions but with three eyes, tethered at the entrances. There we saw fleas jumping about, as big as frogs in our own country. Then we marched on and came to a place where an abundant spring welled out of the ground. I ordered the army to halt, and we stayed there two months.
‘Then we advanced and reached the country of the Apple-eaters. There we saw a huge man with hair all over his body, and we were frightened. I gave orders to capture him. When he was taken, he gazed at us ferociously. I ordered a naked woman to be brought to him; but he grabbed her and ate her.82 The soldiers rushed up to rescue her, but he made a gnashing noise with his teeth. The rest of the natives heard him, and came running towards us out of the swamp: there were about 10,000 of them. Our forces amounted to 40,000. I ordered the swamp to be set alight; and when they saw the fire they fled. We gave pursuit and overpowered three of them, but they would not take any food and died after eight days. They had no human intelligence, but barked like dogs.
36. ‘We marched on from there and came to a river. I ordered my men to pitch camp and lay aside their armour in the usual way. In the river there were trees which began to grow at sunrise and continued until the sixth hour, but from the seventh hour they shrank again until they could hardly be seen. They exuded a sap like Persian myrrh, with a sweet and noble aroma. I had cuts made in a few of them, and the sap soaked up with sponges. Suddenly the sap-collectors began to be whipped by an invisible spirit: we heard the noise of the whipping and saw the marks of the blows on their backs, but we could not see those who were beating them. Then a voice was heard, telling them neither to cut the trees nor to collect the sap: “If you do not cease,” it said, “the army will be struck dumb.” I was afraid and gave orders not to cut or collect any more of the sap.
The Greek Alexander Romance Page 13