Delphi Complete Works of Quintus Curtius Rufus

by Quintus Curtius Rufus

  Alexander entered that pass in the range which is called “the Gates.” Having examined the situation of the region, he is said never to have wondered more at his good fortune; he admitted that he might have been overwhelmed even by rocks, if there had been any to roll them down on his men as they came up. The road barely allowed four armed men to walk abreast; a ridge of the mountain overhung a passage that was not merely narrow, but often broken by frequent streams which crossed it, trickling from the roots of the mountains. Nevertheless he had ordered his light-armed Thracians to go in advance and examine the mountain paths, in order that a hidden foe might not burst forth upon them as they went up the pass. A band of bowmen also had taken their place on the ridge; they kept their bows bent, since they had been warned that they were not entering upon a march, but a battle. In this manner the army came to the city of Tarsus, to which at that, very time the Persians were setting fire, in order that the enemy might not invade a rich city. But Alexander had sent Parmenion on with a light-armed troop to check the fire, and as soon as he knew that the barbarians had been put to flight by the arrival of his men, he entered the city which he had saved.

  Mediam Cydnus amnis, de quo paulo ante dictum est, interfluit, et tunc aestas erat, cuius calor non aliam magis quam Ciliciae oram vapore solis accendit, [2] et diei fervidissimum tempus esse coeperat. Pulvere simul ac sudore perfusum regem invitavit liquor fluminis, ut calidum adhuc corpus ablueret: itaque veste deposita in conspectu agminis — decorum quoque futurum ratus, si ostendisset suis levi et parabili cultu corporis [p. 15] se esse contentum — [3] descendit in flumen. Vixque ingressi subito horrore artus rigere coeperunt, pallor deinde suffusus est et totum propemodum corpus vitalis calor liquit. [4] Expiranti similem ministri manu excipiunt nec satis compotem mentis in tabernaculum deferunt.

  V. The river Cydnus, which was mentioned a short time ago, flows through the middle of Tarsus; it was then summer, the heat of which burns no other shore more than that of Cilicia with the sun’s fires, and the hottest time of the day had begun. The clear water of the river tempted the king, who was covered with dust and at the same time with sweat, to bathe his body when it was still heated; accordingly, laying off his clothing in the sight of the army — thinking that it would also be fitting if he should show his men that he was content with attention to his person which was simple and easily attained — he went down into the river. But hardly had he entered it when his limbs began to stiffen with a sudden chill, then he lost his colour, and the vital warmth left almost his entire body. His attendants caught him in their arms, looking like a dying man, and carried him almost unconscious into his tent.

  Ingens sollicitudo et paene iam luctus in castris erat: [5] flentes querebantur in tanto impetu cursuque rerum omnis aetatis ac memoriae clarissimum regem non in acie saltem, non ab hoste deiectum, sed abluentem aqua corpus ereptum esse et extinctum. [6] Instare Dareum victorem, antequam vidisset hostem. Sibi easdem terras, quas victoria peragrassent, repetendas: omnia aut ipsos aut hostes populatos. Per vastas solitudines, etiam si nemo insequi velit, euntes fame atque inopia debellari posse. [7] Quem signum daturum fugientibus? quem ausurum Alexandro succedere? Iam ut ad Hellespontum fuga penetrarent, classem, qua transeant, quem praeparaturum? [8] Rursus in ipsum regem misericordia versa illum florem iuventae, illam vim animi, eundem regem et commilitonem divelli a se et abrumpi inmemores sui querebantur. [9] Inter haec liberius meare spiritus coeperat, adlevaratque rex oculos et paulatim redeunte animo circumstantes amicos agnoverat, laxataque vis morbi ob hoc solum videbatur, quia magnitudinem mali sentiebat. [10] Animi autem aegritudo corpus urgebat: quippe Dareum quinto die in Cilicia fore nuntiabatur. Vinctum ergo se tradi et tantam victoriam eripi sibi ex manibus obscuraque et ignobili morte in tabernaculo extingui se querebatur. [11] Admissisque amicis pariter ac medicis: ‘In quo me,’ inquit, ‘articulo rerum mearum fortuna deprehenderit, cernitis. Strepitum [p. 16] hostilium armorum exaudire mihi videor et, qui ultro intuli bellum, iam provocor. [12] Dareus ergo cum tam superbas litteras scriberet, fortunam meam in consilio habuit, sed nequiquam, si mihi arbitrio meo curari licet. [13] Lenta remedia et segnes medicos non expectant tempora mea: vel mori strenue quam tarde convalescere mihi melius est. Proinde, si quid opis, si quid artis in medicis est, sciant me non tam mortis quam belli remedium quaerere.’

  There was great anxiety, and already almost mourning in the camp; with tears they lamented that the most glorious king of any age or time, in the midst of so swift a career of success, had been laid low, not in battle (which would have been bad enough), not by the enemy, but had been taken off and done to death while bathing. Darius (they said) was close at hand, a victor before he had seen his enemy. As for them, they must go back to the same lands through which they had passed victorious, where everything had been laid waste by themselves or by the enemy. Marching through desert wastes, even if no one wished to pursue them, they could be vanquished by hunger and want. Who would direct them in their flight? Who would venture to succeed Alexander? Just suppose that they should reach the Hellespont in their flight, who would prepare a fleet in which to cross it? Then their pity turned again to the king himself and, forgetting themselves, they lamented that such flower of youth, so powerful a mind, at once their king and their fellow-soldier, was torn and wrested away from them.

  Meanwhile the king’s breath had begun to pass more freely, and he had raised his eyes; and as his senses began to return to him, he recognized his friends who stood about him, and the violence of his illness seemed to have abated for the sole reason that he felt the greatness of the disaster. However, trouble of mind oppressed his body; for it was announced that Darius would be in Cilicia in four days. Therefore he lamented that he was being handed over to him in bonds, that so great a victory was being snatched from his hands, and that he was being blotted out in his tent by an obscure and inglorious death. And so, having admitted his friends, as well as his physicians, he said: “You see in what a crisis of my affairs Fortune has surprised me. Methinks I hear the din of hostile arms, and I who was the aggressor in war, am now challenged. Thus Darius, when he was writing those haughty letters, had regard to my fortune, but to no purpose, if I am allowed to be treated according to my desire. My exigency cannot wait for slow remedies and dilatory physicians; in my opinion it is better even to die speedily than to recover tardily. Therefore, if there is any help, if there is any skill, in physicians, let them know that I do not so much desire a remedy against death as one that will enable me to make war.”

  [14] Ingentem omnibus incusserat curam tam praeceps temeritas eius. [15] Ergo pro se quisque precari coepere, ne festinatione periculum augeret, sed esset in potestate medentium: inexperta remedia haud iniuria ipsis esse suspecta, cum ad perniciem eius etiam a latere ipsius pecunia sollicitaret hostis. [16] Quippe Dareus mille talenta interfectori Alexandri daturum se pronuntiari iusserat. Itaque ne ausurum quidem quemquam arbitrabantur experiri remedium, quod propter novitatem posset esse suspectum.

  This headlong rashness of the king had smitten all with great anxiety. Hence each man individually began to entreat him not to increase his danger by haste but to submit to the control of his physicians; that they had good reason to suspect untried remedies, since his enemy was bribing someone to destroy him even from among his own intimates. And in fact Darius had ordered it to be proclaimed that he would give a thousand talents to the slayer of Alexander. Hence they thought that no one would venture even to try a remedy which on account of its novelty could be suspected.

  Erat inter nobiles medicos ex Macedonia regem secutos Philippus, natione Acarnan, fidus admodum regi: puero comes et custos salutis datus non ut regem modo, sed etiam ut alumnum eximia caritate diligebat. [2] Is non praeceps se, sed strenuum remedium adferre tantamque vim morbi potione medicata levaturum esse promisit. [3] Nulli promissum eius placebat praeter ipsum, cuius periculo pollicebatur. Omnia quippe facilius quam moram perpeti poterat: arma et acies in oculis erant, et victoriam in eo positam esse arbitrabatur, si tantum ante signa stare po
tuisset, id ipsum, quod post diem tertium medicamentum sumpturus esset — [4] ita enim medicus praedixerat — aegre ferens.

  VI. Among the famous physicians who had followed the king from Macedonia was Philip, a native of Acarnania, most loyal to Alexander; made the king’s comrade and the guardian of his health from boyhood, he loved him with extreme affection, not only as his king, but even as a foster-child. He promised to apply a remedy that was not sudden but effective, and to allay the violence of his illness, great — as it was, with a medicated draught. His promise pleased no one except the very one at whose peril it was made. For the king could endure anything except delay; arms and armies were before his eyes, and he thought that victory depended merely upon his ability to take his place before the standards, impatient only because he was not to take the draught until the third day should have come — for so the physician had directed.

  Inter haec a Parmenione, fidissimo purpuratorum, litteras accipit, [p. 17] quibus ei denuntiabat, ne salutem suam Philippo committeret: mille talentis a Dareo et spe nuptiarum sororis eius esse corruptum. [5] Ingentem animo sollicitudinem litterae incusserant, et, quidquid in utramque partem aut metus aut spes subiecerat, secreta aestimatione pensabat. [6] ‘Bibere perseverem? ut, si venenum datum fuerit, ne inmerito quidem, quidquid acciderit, evenisse videatur? Damnem medici fidem? in tabernaculo ergo me opprimi patiar? At satius est alieno me mori scelere quam metu nostro.’ [7] Diu animo in diversa versato nulli, quid scriptum esset, enuntiat epistulamque sigillo anuli sui inpresso pulvino, cui incubabat, subicit. [8] Inter has cogitationes biduo absumpto inluxit a medico destinatus dies, et ille cum is poculo, in quo medicamentum diluerat, intravit. [9] Quo viso Alexander levato corpore in cubili epistulam a Parmenione missam sinistra manu tenens accipit poculum et haurit interritus: tum epistulam legere Philippum iubet nec a vultu legentis movit oculos, ratus, aliquas conscientiae notas in ipso ore posse deprehendere. [10] Ille epistula perfecta plus indignationis quam pavoris ostendit proiectisque amiculo et litteris ante lectum: ‘Rex,’ inquit, ‘semper quidem spiritus meus ex te pependit, sed nunc vere arbitror sacro et venerabili ore trahi tuo. [11] Crimen parricidii, quod mihi obiectum est, tua salus diluet: servatus a me vitam mihi dederis. Oro quaesoque, omisso metu patere medicamentum concipi venis: laxa paulisper animum, quem intempestiva sollicitudine amici sane fideles, sed moleste seduli turbant.’ Non securum modo haec vox, sed etiam laetum regem аc plenum bonae spei fecit. [p. 18] [12] Itaque: ‘Si di,’ inquit, ‘Philippe, tibi permisissent, quo maxime modo velles, animum experiri meum, alio profecto voluisses, sed certiore, quam expertus es, ne optasses quidem: [13] hac epistula accepta tamen, quod dilueras, bibi. Et nunc crede me non minus pro tua fide quam pro mea salute esse sollicitum.’ Haec elocutus dextram Philippo offert. [14] Ceterum tanta vis medicamenti fuit, ut, quae secuta sunt, criminationem Parmenionis adiuverint: interclusus spiritus arte meabat. Nec Philippus quicquam inexpertum omisit: ille fomenta corpori admovit, ille torpentem nunc cibo, nunc vini odore excitavit. [15] Atque ut primum mentis compotem esse sensit, modo matris sororumque, modo tautae victoriae adpropinquantis admonere non destitit. [16] Ut vero medicamentum se diffudit in venas et sensim toto corpore salubritas percipi potuit, primum animus vigorem suum, deinde corpus quoque expectatione maturius recupera vit: [17] quippe post tertium diem, quam in hoc statu fuerat, in conspectum militum venit. Nec avidius ipsum regem quam Philippum intuebatur exercitus: pro se quisque dextram eius amplexi grates habebant velut praesenti deo. Namque haud facile dictu est, praeter ingenitam illi genti erga reges suos venerationem quantum huius utique regis vel admiratione dediti ei fuerint vel caritate flagraverint. [18] Iam primum nihil sine divina ope adgredi videbatur: [19] nam cum praesto esset ubique fortuna, et temeritas in gloriam cesserat. Aetas quoque vix tantis matura rebus, sed abunde sufficiens omnia eius opera honestabat. Et quae leviora haberi solent [p. 19] plerumque, militari gratiora vulgo sunt, exercitatio corporis inter ipsos, cultus habitusque paulum a privato abhorrens, militaris vigor: [20] quis ille vel ingenii dotibus vel animi artibus, ut pariter carus ac venerandus esset, effecerat.

  In the meantime he received a letter from Parmenion, the most faithful of his generals, in which he strongly warned the king not to trust his life to Philip; that he had been bribed by Darius with a thousand talents and the hope of marriage with the king’s sister. This letter had filled Alexander’s mind with great anxiety, and whatever fear or hope cast into either scale he weighed in secret calculation.

  Should I resolve to take the draught, with the result that if poison shall have been given me, it may seem that I deserved whatever shall have happened? Shall I distrust the loyalty of my physician? Shall I then allow myself to be overwhelmed in my tent? But better for me to die of another’s crime than of my own fear.” After having turned his thoughts in various directions for a long time, he revealed to no one what had been written, but impressed the seal of his ring upon the letter and put it under the pillow on which he was lying.

  After he had spent two days in such thoughts as these, the day designated by the physician dawned, and Philip entered with the cup in which he had mixed the drug. On seeing him Alexander raised himself in bed and, holding the letter sent by Parmenion in his left hand, took the cup and drank fearlessly; then he bade Philip read the letter, and he did not turn his eyes from the physician’s face as he read, thinking that he would be able to detect any signs of guilt in his very expression. But Philip, when he had read the letter through, showed more indignation than fear, and throwing his cloak and the letter before the couch: “My king,” said he, “the breath of my life has always depended upon you, but now, I verily believe that it is drawn by your sacred and revered lips. The accusation of murder with which I have been charged your recovery will refute; when saved by me you will have given me life. I beg and beseech you, cease your fear; allow the remedy to be taken into your veins; free for a time your mind, which your friends, faithful indeed but, alas, officious, are disturbing by their ill-timed solicitude.”

  These words made the king, not only free from care, but even joyful and full of good hope. Accordingly he said: “If the gods, Philip, had granted you to test my feelings in the manner which you most desired, you would surely have chosen a different way, but you could not even have wished for a surer one than you experienced, since after receiving this letter nevertheless drank the mixture you had prepared.

  And now, believe me, I am not less anxious to prove your loyalty than I am for my recovery.” Having said this, he offered Philip his right hand. But so great was the strength of the drug that what followed seemed to support the calumny of Parmenion. The king’s breath was impeded and passed with difficulty. But Philip left nothing untried; it was he that applied hot lotions to the king’s body, he that roused him from languor by the odour now of food, [15] now of wine. As soon as he perceived that Alexander was conscious, he did not cease to remind him at one time of his mother and sisters, again of his [16] approaching great victory. But as the drug spread into the king’s veins and gradually its healing power could be felt in his whole body, at first his mind regained its vigour and then his body also, more speedily than could have been expected; for after the third day which he had spent in that condition, ne appeared in sight of the soldiers.

  Nor did the army look with more eagerness upon the king himself than upon Philip; each man individually grasped the physician’s right hand and returned thanks, as if to an all-powerful god. For it is not easily expressed how great, apart from the native reverence of the Macedonians for their kings, was their admiring devotion to this particular king, first of all their burning affection for him. For of all, he seemed to undertake nothing without divine help; for since good fortune everywhere attended him, his very rashness had resulted in glory.

  His years too which seemed hardly ripe for such great deeds, but had proved amply sufficient, enhanced all his exploits. Also things which are commonly regarded as trifling, are usually more pleasing to a crowd of soldiers: bodily exercise in their company, dress
and bearing differing but little from those of a man in private station, a soldier’s vigour; by these, whether they were natural gifts or consciously acquired, he had made himself alike beloved and worthy of deep respect.

  At Dareus nuntio de adversa valitudine eius accepto celeritate, quantam capere tam grave agmen poterat, ad Euphraten contendit iunctoque eo pontibus quinque tamen diebus traiecit exercitum Ciliciam occupare festinans. [2] Iam Alexander viribus corporis receptis ad urbem Solos pervenerat: cuius potitus ducentis talentis multae nomine exactis arci praesidium militum inposuit. [3] Vota deinde pro salute suscepta per ludum atque otium reddens ostendit, quanta fiducia barbaros sperneret: [4] quippe Aesculapio et Minervae ludos celebravit. Spectanti nuntius laetus adfertur Halicarnaso Persas acie a suis esse superatos, Myndios quoque et Caunios et pleraque tractus eius suae facta dicionis. [5] Igitur edito spectaculo ludicro castrisque motis et Pyramo amne ponte iuncto ad urbem Mallum pervenit, inde alteris castris ad oppidum Castabalum. [6] Ibi Parmenio regi occurrit: praemiserat ad explorandum iter saltus, per quem ad urbem Isson nomine penetrandum erat. [7] Atque ille angustiis eius occupatis et praesidio modico relicto Isson quoque desertam a barbaris ceperat. Inde progressus deturbatis, qui interiora montium obsidebant, praesidiis cuncta firmavit occupatoque itinere, sicut paulo ante dictum est, idem et auctor et nuntius venit. [8] Isson deinde rex copias admovit. Ubi consilio habito, utrumne ultra progrediendum foret, an ibi [p. 20] opperiendi essent novi milites, quos ex Macedonia adventare constabat, Parmenio non alium locum proelio aptiorem esse censebat. [9] Quippe illic utriusque regis copias numero futuras pares, cum angustiae multitudinem non caperent: planitiem ipsis camposque esse vitandos, ubi circumiri, ubi ancipiti acie opprimi possent. Timere, ne non virtute hostium, sed lassitudine sua vincerentur: [10] Persas recentes subinde successuros. si laxius stare potuissent. Facile ratio tam salubris consilii accepta est. Itaque inter angustias saltus hostem opperiri statuit. [11] Erat in exercitu regis Sisines Perses: quondam a praetore Aegypti missus ad Philippum donisque et omni honore cultus exilium patria sede mutaverat, [12] secutus deinde in Asiam Alexandrum inter fideles socios habebatur. Huic epistulam Cretensis miles obsignatam anulo, cuius signum haud sane notum erat, tradidit. Nabarzanes, praetor Darei, miserat eam horta baturque Sisinem, ut dignum aliquid nobilitate atque moribus suis ederet: [13] magno id ei apud regem honori fore. Has litteras Sisines, utpote innoxius, ad Alexandrum saepe deferre temptavit, sed cum tot curis apparatuque belli regem videret urgueri, aptius subinde tempus expectans suspicionem initi scelesti consilii praebuit. [14] Namque epistula, priusquam ei redderetur, in m anus Alexandri pervenerat, lectamque eam et ignoti anuli sigillo inpresso Sisini dari iusserat ad aestimandam fidem barbari. [15] Qui quia per conplures dies non adierat regem, scelesto consilio eam visus est suppressisse et in agmine a Cretensibus haud dubie iussu regis occisus. [p. 21]