The Greek Alexander Romance
Page 18
We have commanded the administrators of the regions to send 1,000 talents of coined gold from the satrap’s palace to the temples in Egypt, and have ordered our body to be conveyed thither. As for the arrangement of our tomb, we shall concur with whatever the Egyptian priests decide. We have ordered Thebes to be rebuilt with royal money, in the belief that it has suffered enough and its people have now repented of their misdeeds. Grain is to be given by the Macedonians to the Thebans who will come from Thebes, until the city’s strength is restored. We have commanded that you be given for the adornment of your city 350 talents of gold and 77 triremes to protect your freedom; you are to receive from Egypt in grain 20,000 bushels of wheat a year, and from the stewards of Asia and the regions near you 20,000 of barley. Land is to be allotted to you, so that in future times you shall be self-sufficient in grain and shall lack for nothing, and can live as your city deserves.
I have appointed Craterus the ruler of Macedon, Ptolemy the satrap of Egypt, and Perdiccas and Antigonus123 to rule the regions of Asia. I instruct you to take this letter from Olcias who will give it to you, and not to neglect these dispensations, because it has been made your responsibility to guarantee these matters, in order that your city shall prosper. I am quite sure that you will obey my instructions. Ptolemy my bodyguard will take care of you: we have indicated to him what he must do for you. Do not think this legacy was made to you lightly. The administrators of the kingdom will ensure that there is no deviation from the instructions.
King Alexander, the son of Ammon and Olympias, appoints Arrhidaeus, the son of Philip, to be king of Macedonia for the present.124 But if Roxane bears a son to Alexander, he is to be king of Macedonia and to be given whatever name the Macedonians please. But if Roxane’s child is female, let the Macedonians elect as king whomever they choose, if they do not want Arrhidaeus, the son of Philip. Whoever is elected, let him preserve the rule of the Argeads, and let the Macedonians pay tribute to the Argeads in the accustomed way. It shall be permitted to Olympias, the mother of Alexander, to dwell in Rhodes, if the Rhodians are agreeable. But under no circumstances is this to be done without their consent. If she does not want to live on Rhodes, let her live wherever she likes, and receive the same income as she received while her son Alexander was alive.
Until the Macedonians decide to appoint a king, King Alexander, the son of Ammon and Olympias, appoints as administrators of all his kingdom of Macedonia Craterus and his wife Cynane, the daughter of Philip the former king of Macedonia; as ruler of Thrace, he appoints Lysimachus with his wife Thessalonike, the daughter of Philip the former king of Macedonia; he gives the satrapy of the Hellespont to Leonnatos and his wife Cleodice, the sister of Olcias, and he gives Paphlagonia and Cappadocia to Eumenes his secretary. The islanders he leaves free, with the Rhodians as their masters. Pamphylia and Cilicia go to Antigonus, who is to rule all that country as far as the river Halys. Babylon and its territory go to the warrior Seleucus. Phoenicia and Hollow Syria, as it is called, go to Meleager. Egypt goes to Perdiccas; Libya to Ptolemy and his wife Cleopatra, the sister of Alexander. The regions beyond Babylon are to have as general and administrator Phanocrates and his wife Roxane the Bactrian.125
I command the administrators of the kingdom to build a golden sarcophagus, weighing 200 talents, to hold the body of Alexander, the king of Macedonia. Those of the Macedonians who are old or feeble are to be sent to Macedonia, as are the Thessalians in the same condition; and they are to be given 3 talents of gold. The armour of Alexander is to be sent to Argos, along with 50 talents of coined gold as first-fruits of the war for Heracles. The elephants’ tusks and the snake-skins are to be sent to Delphi along with 130 gold cups, first-fruits of the expedition. The Milesians are to be given 150 talents of coined gold for the adornment of their city, and [the same] for the Cnidians.
I wish Perdiccas, whom I leave as king of Egypt in the city I have founded named Alexandria, to keep it in good fortune and pleasing to the great Sarapis, ruler of all. There is to be an administrator of the city, who will be known as the priest of Alexander and will attend all the city’s great festivals, adorned with a golden crown and a purple cloak; he is to be paid 1 talent per annum. His person is to be inviolate and he is to be free of all civic obligations; the post shall be the preserve of the man who excels all in nobility of family, and the honour shall remain in his family thereafter.
King Alexander appoints Taxiles king of India as far as the river Hydaspes, and Porus king of the part of India beyond the Hydaspes; he appoints Oxydrakes of Bactria, the father of Alexander’s wife Roxane, king of the Paropanisadae. Arachosia goes to…, Dran-giana to…, Bactria and Susiana to Philip, Parthyaea and the parts of Hyrcania which we hold to Phrataphernes, Carmania to Tlepolemos, Persis to Peucestas… is to replace Oxyntes in Media.
King Alexander appoints Olcias king of Illyria; he is to have 500 horses from Asia and 300 talents. With these he is to construct and dedicate statues of Ammon, Heracles, Athena, Olympias and Philip. The administrators of the kingdom are to set up statues of Olcias
Witnesses of these provisions shall be the Olympian gods, and Heracles the first ancestor of King Alexander.
Then Ptolemy came to him and said, ‘Alexander, to whom do you leave your kingdom?’
‘To him who is strong, who is willing, who can keep it, and who can maintain it,’ was the reply. A-text]
33. Then he dictated the following letter to his mother:
‘King Alexander greets his sweet mother. When you have received this, my last letter, prepare a fine banquet in honour of Providence above which gave you such a fine son. But if you wish to honour me, go out by yourself and invite all, both great and small, both rich and poor, to the banquet, and tell them, “See, the banquet is prepared; come in and enjoy yourselves. But let no one come who knows of past or present sorrow; for I did not make this banquet for sorrow but for joy.” Mother, farewell.’
Olympias did as she was bidden; but no one could be found, great or small, rich or poor, who had known no sorrow, and so no one came. Then Olympias perceived Alexander’s wisdom, and realized that Alexander had written this as a consolation to those whom he was leaving, so that they should realize that what had happened was nothing unusual, but something that had happened and would happen to everybody.
[When he had finished greeting everybody, Charmides the son of Polycrates came in. He was a strong lad, well-reputed even among his enemies, and Alexander was in love with him. He embraced Alexander and did not want to leave him. He wailed terribly and poured forth a long lament. Even the earth seemed to mourn with him. At last the boy turned to the horse Bucephalus, and addressed him tearfully, ‘You too, I imagine, are just as unhappy; you are a Pegasus who has lost his Bellerophon; but you were stronger than Pegasus among horses, just as Alexander is mightier than Bellerophon. Alas, who will ride you now? Who could look Bucephalus in the eye with another rider on his back?’ So said Charmides, weeping as he spoke; and the crowd beat their breasts. Alexander did not want to let the lad go, but flung his arms around his neck. On the point of death, Alexander made the following speech:
‘I, who crossed all the inhabited earth,
And the uninhabited places, and the places of darkness,
Was unable to evade fate.
A small cup can yield a man to death,
And send him down among the dead with a drop of poison.
The army, seeing me compelled to die,
Wish to help and are powerless.
For the rest – I shall lie buried in Hades.’
Then he called everyone and asked them to have him buried in Alexandria, and to accompany him to his grave, and after the funeral to depart, each of them, to his allotted kingdom. He called them and made them swear an oath not to disregard any of his dispensations, if he was in charge of Macedonians and was troubled in his soul about them. All the while he
clung to Charmides.
Alexander stroked Bucephalus, who was standing at his feet, and said, ‘You were born to share my fate, and now you suffer ill-fortune on my account. You were always my companion in war; but now you cannot fight for me in this my last battle with death. You look as if you wish to help me, but you cannot.’
When Alexander spoke like this to Bucephalus, the whole army howled, making a tremendous noise. The treacherous slave who had prepared the poison and who had plotted against their lives thought that Alexander was dead, and came running to see. When Bucephalus saw him, he cast off his morose and dejected look, and, just as if he were a rational, even a clever man – I suppose it was done through Providence above – he avenged his master. He ran into the midst of the crowd, seized the slave in his teeth and dragged him to Alexander; he shook him violently and gave a loud whinny to show that he was going to have his revenge. Then he took a great leap into the air, dragging the treacherous and deceitful slave with him, and smashed him against the ground. The slave was torn apart; bits of him flew all over everyone like snow falling off a roof in the wind. The horse got up, neighed a little, and then fell down before Alexander and breathed his last. Alexander smiled at him. γ-text]
Then the air was filled with mist, and a great star was seen descending from the sky, accompanied by an eagle; and the statue in Babylon, which was called the statue of Zeus, trembled. When the star ascended again to the sky, accompanied by the eagle, and had disappeared, Alexander fell into his eternal sleep.
34. There followed a struggle between the Persians and the Macedonians: the former wanted to bring him to their country and honour him as Mithras; the latter, on the contrary, wanted to bring his body back to Macedonia. Then Ptolemy addressed them:
‘There is in Babylon an oracle of the Babylonian Zeus. Let us consult the oracle about the body of Alexander; the god will tell us where to lay it to rest.’
The god’s oracle was as follows:
‘I tell you what will be of benefit to all. There is a city in Egypt named Memphis; let him be enthroned there.’
No one spoke against the oracle’s pronouncement. They gave Ptolemy the task of transporting the embalmed body to Memphis in a lead coffin. So Ptolemy placed the body on a wagon and began the journey from Babylon to Egypt. When the people of Memphis heard that he was coming, they came out to meet the body of Alexander and escorted it to Memphis.126 But the chief priest of the temple in Memphis said, ‘Do not bury him here, but in the city that he founded in Rhacotis. Wherever his body rests, that city will be constantly troubled and shaken with wars and battles.’ So Ptolemy at once brought the body to Alexandria and built a tomb in the temple, which is now called Alexander’s Monument; and there he deposited Alexander’s mortal remains. [They set up there a statue of moonstones, representing Alexander as he laughed at the moment of his death, leaning his arm on Charmides. It was so like him that Alexander himself seemed to be displaying his fear and sorrow.
So Alexander, in his wars and battles, was elevated in glory, wisdom and bravery above all the race of kings. But in his journey through life he was unable to anticipate his death. The greatest king of the greatest kingdom abandoned the honours attaching to his glory, and departed this life. γ-text]
35. Alexander lived thirty-two years. His life ran thus: he was king for ten years; he made war for twelve years, and was victorious in his wars. He overcame twenty-two barbarian nations and fourteen Greek peoples. He founded these twelve cities: Alexandria-in-Egypt, Alexandria-among-the-Horpae, Alexandria-the-Strongest, Alexandria-in-Scythia, Alexandria-on-the-river-Crepis, Alexandria-Troas, Alexandria-Babylon, Alexandria-in-Persia, Alexandria-for-the-horse-Bucephalus, Alexandria-by-Porus, Alexandria-on-the-Tigris, Alexandria-among-the-Massagetae.
Alexander was born in January at the new moon, at the rising of the sun; he died in the month of April at the new moon, at the setting of the sun. The day of his death was called Neomaga,127 because Alexander had died young. He died in the year of the world 5176,128 in the last year of the 113th Olympiad.129 (One Olympiad is four years, and the first Olympiad began in the fourth year of King Ahaz.) From the death of Alexander to the Incarnation of the Word of God by the Virgin is 324 years.
[Supplement K]
SUPPLEMENTS TO THE TEXT
A: THE SCYTHIAN AND THESSALONIAN CAMPAIGNS (I.23, p. 54)
The γ-text has a different sequel here, at the end of which it resumes the story at ch. 25, after the death of Philip.
Some days had passed, the situation remaining unchanged, when the Scythians started preparing for war against the Macedonians. When Philip heard of it, he looked at his own army and realized it was insufficient to withstand them. For there were about 400,000 of the Scythians. Philip was at a loss, and summoned all his chieftains and friends to discuss what to do about the war.
‘Your Majesty,’ said Aristotle, ‘entrust the campaign to Alexander and let him fare as fortune wills.’
At once Philip summoned Alexander.
‘Now, Alexander,’ he said, ‘is your opportunity to fight for your country. War is your lot, by fate’s decree. Consider how you are going to deal with it. The saying, “Consider the affairs of war,” shall be the prologue to your success.’
Alexander stood up, and so did the others; then he smiled, took heart and replied to his father with an eager expression on his face.
‘Why did you not tell me this long ago? Have you plunged yourself into such despondency and grief because of the gathering of a number of ants? I will go out and beat them and obliterate their mighty ones. Victories are not won by numbers but by the grace of Providence above.’ They all fixed their eyes on Alexander and were amazed: he stood in the midst of them like a shining star.
‘Go, child,’ said Philip, ‘and do whatever Providence prompts you to.’
Alexander set out accompanied by 300,000 young men and went to war with the Scythians. The number of Scythian troops was huge, but Alexander’s fortune was unbeatable. He took a few men with him and captured a ridge. When he saw their camp, he spied out a suitable stronghold that the Scythians did not know about. Then he turned round and brought with him the whole army and, in the course of the night, stationed them in a circle around the Scythian camp some distance off. He let his men go as they pleased in the difficult terrain, but hid 2,000 picked men. Then he ordered the encircling troops to light thirty or more bonfires. When the Scythians saw this huge number of fires, they decided to flee under cover of darkness and save their skins. At once they abandoned all their equipment and fled. When Alexander observed this, he followed them silently with all his army. When the Scythians reached the appointed place and stepped into the ambush,130 Alexander sounded the trumpets behind them, and the Macedonians started to shout, and the Scythians began to jostle one another; those in ambush came forward and began to bombard them. The Scythians stood still, expecting nothing but death, and crying out for mercy. Virtually all of them were slaughtered by the Macedonians. Alexander advanced his men and told them to keep up the pressure; he had all the Scythians bound and brought to his camp while he decided what to do with them. When they arrived at the appointed place, Alexander ordered their leaders to stand forward. They did so, trembling. Alexander addressed them:
‘You know that Providence has given you into the hands of the Macedonians and you cannot stand against our coming. Will you be my slaves or not?’
‘We will be your slaves, lord,’ they replied in fear, ‘for ever, just as you wish.’
They threw themselves before him and made obeisance to him. Alexander, to show he was well disposed to them, ordered their fetters to be struck off, and marched them with him into the city of Philip his father, to show them off in triumph.
24. When they reached the city, there was a great noise and commotion. People came to meet Alexander and tell him what had happened. A certain Anaxarchus, king of the Thessalonians, had once come to visit Philip, and while he was his guest had seen Olympias and fallen in love with her. Knowin
g of the Scythian expedition against Macedonia, he had set out with 12,000 men for Macedonia, with the idea of entering into alliance with Philip. Then, if he could, he would seize Olympias, but if he could not, he would renew the alliance and return home. As it fell out, he captured Olympias, in the following way. When Philip learnt of Alexander’s victory against the Scythians, he took Olympias with him and went out to meet Alexander. He left her in a villa and went out with his troops, full of confidence. When Anaxarchus learnt of this, he came down and seized Olympias and made off with her. Philip at once set off in pursuit with his few troops. When Alexander learnt what had happened, he hastily extended his line and set off in pursuit of Anaxarchus, taking 8,000 horsemen with him. Philip caught up with him first. There was a battle, in which Philip was struck on the chest and fell from his horse. Alexander found him lying on the ground. Seeing that he was still alive, he left him and went off to battle. He surrounded Anaxarchus’ men and trounced them soundly, so that they ran away; but they took Olympias with them. Alexander got hold of a prisoner and said, ‘Show me where Anaxarchus is and I swear by Providence that I will spare your life.’ The man showed him. ‘Look in the middle of the phalanx. When you see someone wearing a white robe and a gold crown, sitting on a finely apparelled horse, that is Anaxarchus.’