Delphi Complete Works of Quintus Curtius Rufus

by Quintus Curtius Rufus

  XIII. But Parmenion, when he had gone on in advance and had received information that the satrap of Darius was at hand, fearing lest the small numbers of his men should arouse contempt, decided to summon a greater force. But it chanced that a native of Mardia fell in with the scouts whom Parmenion had sent ahead, and when he was brought interpretation. Here, as always when it is necessary to fill out lacunae, real or assumed, the supplements are purely to Parmenion, delivered to him a letter which had been sent to Alexander by the governor of Damascus, adding that he had no doubt that the governor would hand over all the royal equipment as well as [3] the money. Parmenion, after giving orders that the Mardian should be put under guard, opened the letter, in which it was written that Alexander should speedily send one of his generals with a small force, to whom he might hand over what Darius had left in his charge. Accordingly he sent back the Mardian to the traitor with an escort; he escaped from his guards and entered Damascus before daylight.

  This conduct had disturbed the mind of Parmenion, who feared a plot, and he did not venture to enter upon an unknown road without a guide; nevertheless, trusting to the good fortune of his king, he gave orders that some peasants should be captured, to serve as guides for the journey. When these had been quickly found, he arrived at the city on the fourth day, where the governor was already in a state of fear lest he had not been trusted. Therefore, feigning lack of confidence in the fortifications of the town, before sunrise he gave orders that the king’s money — the Persians call it gaza — along with his most precious possessions should be brought out, pretending flight, but actually intending to offer it as booty to the enemy. As Parmenion was leaving be city of Damascus, many thousands of men and women followed him, a throng to excite the pity of au, except the man to whose protection they had been entrusted. For in order that the reward for his treachery might be the greater, he was preparing to deliver to the enemy a booty more acceptable than by money, namely, men of high rank, the wives and children of the generals of Darius, and besides these the envoys from the Greek cities, whom Darius had left in the hands of the traitor, as if in a very safe citadel.

  [7] The Persians call men who carry burdens on their shoulders gangabae; these, since they could not endure the severity of the weather — for a storm had suddenly brought a fall of snow and the ground was stiff being then bound in frost-put on the robes adorned with gold and purple, which they were carrying with the money, and no one dared to forbid them, since the ill-fortune of Darius gave licence over him [8] even to the lowest of men. They therefore presented to Parmenion the appearance of an army not to be despised; so with unusual care he encouraged his men with a few words, as if for a regular battle, bidding them put spurs to their horses and make a swift charge upon the enemy.

  [9] But those who were carrying the burdens dropped them and took flight in terror; from the same fear the armed men too who were escorting them began to throw away their arms and make for familiar hiding-places. The governor, by pretending that he himself was panic-stricken, had caused general alarm. Scattered over all the fields lay the king’s riches, that money designed for the pay of a great force of soldiers, the adornments of so many men of high rank, of so many illustrious women, golden vases, golden bridles, tents adorned with regal splendour, chariots too, abandoned by their owners and filled with vast riches, a sad sight even for the plunderers, if anything could stand in the way of avarice. For of the fortune, incredible and beyond belief, which had been stored up in the course of so many years, a part was now seen rent by brambles, a part buried in mud; the hands of the ravishers were not sufficient to carry the spoil.

  [12] And now they had come also to those who had fled first; very many women were dragging their little children as they went along. Among them were three maidens, daughters of Ochus, who had reigned before Darius; they had formerly been brought down from the high estate of their father by a revolution, but then Fortune was making their lot still more cruel. In the same throng were also the wife of the aforesaid Ochus, and the daughter of Oxathres — he was the brother of Darius — and the wife of Artabazus, chief of the courtiers, and his son; Hystanes was his name.

  The wife also of Phamabazus, to whom Darius had given supreme command of the seacoast, along with his son, was taken, the three daughters of Mentor, and the wife and the son of that most famous general Memnon; hardly any house of a member of the court escaped that great disaster. There were captured with these the Lacedaemonians’ and Athenians who had violated their pledge of alliance and followed the Persians: Aristogiton and Dropides and Iphicrates, by far the most renowned among the Athenians for birth and reputation, the Lacedaemonians Pasippus and Onomastorides with Onomas and Callicratides, these also men of note at home.

  The sum of coined money was 2600 talents, the weight of wrought silver amounted to 500 pounds. Besides these, 30,000 men, with 7000 pack-animals 17 carrying burdens on their backs, were taken. But the betrayer of so great a fortune the avenging deities quickly visited with the punishment he deserved, For one of his accomplices, reverencing the majesty of the king, I suppose, even in his present condition, slew the traitor and carried his head to Darius, a timely solace for his betrayal; for he both had gained vengeance over his enemy, and also saw that the memory of his grandeur was not yet effaced from the minds of everyone.

  “Darius had sent the greater part of his money and his other property to Damascus; even this wealth at Damascus was captured soon afterwards by Parmenion.

  BOOK IV.

  Dareus, tanti modo exercitus rex, qui triumphantis magis quam dimicantis more curru sublimis inierat proelium, per loca, quae prope inmensis agminibus inpleverat, iam inania et ingenti solitudine vasta fugiebat. [2] Pauci regem sequebantur: nam nec eodem omnes fugam intenderant et deficientibus equis cursum eorum, quos rex subinde mutabat, aequare non poterant. [3] Onchas deinde pervenit, ubi excepere eum Graecorum quattuor milia: non segnius tamen ad Euphraten contendit, id demum credens fore ipsius, quod celeritate praecipere potuisset. [4] At Alexander Parmenionem, per quem apud Damascum recepta erat praeda, iussum eam ipsam et captivos diligenti adservare custodia, Syriae, quam Coelen vocant, praefecit. [5] Novum imperium Syri non- [p. 40] dum belli cladibus satis domiti aspernabantur: sed celeriter subacti oboedienter imperata fecerunt. Aradus quoque insula deditur regi. [6] Maritimam tum oram et pleraque longius etiam a mari recedentia rex eius insulae, Strato, possidebat: [7] quo in fidem accepto castra movit ad urbem Marathon. Ibi illi litterae a Dareo redduntur, quibus ut superbe scriptis vehementer offensus est: praecipue eum movit, quod Dareus sibi regis titulum nec eundem Alexandri nomini adscripserat.

  I. DARIUS, a king at the head of an army lately so great, who rather as if celebrating a triumph than waging war had entered battle standing on high in his chariot, was already in flight through the places which he had filled with his all but countless forces, but which now were without signs of life, a huge waste [2] and solitary desert. The king’s followers were few; for not all had turned their flight in the same direction as he, and those who did so could not with their exhausted horses keep pace with those which the [3] king kept constantly changing. Then he arrived at Onchae, where 4-000 Greeks received him; but nevertheless he hastened with undiminished speed to the Euphrates, believing that he would be master only of what he was able by swiftness to keep the enemy from seizing.

  [4] But Alexander had made Parmenion, through whom the booty at Damascus had been recovered, governor of the part of Syria called Coelê, with orders to preserve the booty itself and the prisoners with diligent care. The Syrians, not yet sufficiently tamed by the disasters of the war, rejected the new rule; but they were quickly subdued and obediently did what they were ordered. The island of Aradus also surrendered to Alexander. Straton, the king of the island, at that time possessed the adjoining sea-coast and many places also farther back from the sea; after receiving him in surrender Alexander went on to [7] the city of Marathus. There a letter from Darius was delivered to him by which he was exceedingly offended bec
ause of its arrogant tone; it angered him especially that Darius had added the title of King to his own name and had not given the same title [8] to Alexander.

  [8] Postulabat autem magis quam petebat, ut accepta pecunia, quantamcumque tota Macedonia caperet, matrem sibi et coniugem liberosque restitueret: de regno aequo, si vellet, Marte contenderet. [9] Si saniora consilia tandem pati potuisset, ut contentus patrio cederet alieni imperii finibus, socius amicusque esset. [10] In ea se fidem et dare paratum et accipere. Contra Alexander in hunc maxime modum rescripsit: ‘Rex Alexander Dareo S. Cuius nomen sumpsisti, Dareus Graecos, qui oram Hellesponti tenent, coloniasque Graecorum Ionias omni clade vastavit, [11] cum magno deinde exercitu mare traiecit inlato Macedoniae et Graeciae bello. Rursus Xerxes gentis eiusdem ad oppugnandos nos cum in manium barbarorum copiis venit: qui navali proelio victus Mardonium tamen reliquit in Graecia, ut absens quoque popularetur urbes, agros ureret. [12] Philippum vero, parentem meum, quis ignorat ab iis interfectum esse, quos ingentis pecuniae spe sollicitaverant vestri? Inpia enim bella suscipitis et, cum habeatis arma, licemini hostium capita, sicut tu proxime talentis mille, tanti exercitus rex, percussorem in me emere voluisti. [13] Repello igitur bellum, non infero. Et di [p. 41] quoque pro meliore stant causa: magnam partem Asiae in dicionem redegi meam, te ipsum acie vici. Quem etsi nihil a me inpetrare oportebat, utpote qui ne belli quidem in me iura servaveris, tamen, si veneris supplex, et matrem et coniugem et liberos sine pretio recepturum esse promitto. [14] Et vincere et consulere victis scio. Quodsi te committere nobis times, dabimus fidem inpune venturum. De cetero, cum mihi scribes, memento non solum regi te, sed etiam tuo scribere.’ Ad hanc perferendam Thersippus est missus. [15] In Phoenicen dein descendit et oppidum Byblon traditum recepit. Inde ad Sidona ventum est, urbem vetustate famaque conditorum inclitam. [16] Regnabat in ea Strato, Darei opibus adiutus: is quia deditionem is magis popularium quam sua sponte fecerat, regno visus indignus, Hephaestionique permissum, ut, quem eo fastigio e Sidoniis dignissimum arbitraretur, [17] constitueret regem. Erant Hephaestioni duo hospites, clari inter suos iuvenes: qui facta ipsis potestate regnandi negaverunt quemquam patrio more in id fastigium recipi nisi regia stirpe ortum. [18] Admiratus Hephaestion magnitudinem animi spernentis, quod alii per ignes ferrumque peterent: ‘Vos quidem macte virtute,’ inquit, ‘estote, qui primi intellexistis, quanto maius esset regnum fastidire quam accipere. Ceterum date aliquem regiae stirpis, qui meminerit a vobis acceptum habere se regnum.’ [19] Atque illi, cum multos imminere tantae spei cernerent singulis amicorum [p. 42] Alexandri iam ob nimiam regni cupiditatem adulantis, statuunt neminem esse potiorem quam Abdalonymum quendam, longa quidem cognatione stirpi regiae adnexum, sed ob inopiam suburbanum hortum exigua colentem stipe. [20] Causa ei paupertatis sicut plerisque probitas erat, intentusque operi diurno strepitum armorum, qui totam Asiam concusserat, non exaudiebat. [21] Subito deinde, de quibus ante dictum est, cum regiae vestis insignibus hortum intrant, quem forte steriles herbas eligens Abdalonymus repurgabat. [22] Tum rege eo salutato alter ex his: ‘Habitus,’ inquit, ‘hic vestis, quem cernis in meis manibus, cum isto squalore permutandus tibi est. Ablue corpus inluvie terrenisque sordibus squalidum: cape regis animum et in eam fortunam, qua dignus es, istam continentiam perfer. Et cum in regali solio residebis vitae necisque omnium civium dominus, cave obliviscaris status, in quo accipis regnum, immo, hercule, propter quem.’ [23] Somnio similis res Abdalonymo videbatur: interdum, satisne sani essent, qui tam proterve sibi inluderent, percontabatur. Sed ut cunctanti squalor ablutus est et iniecta vestis purpura auroque distincta et fides a iurantibus facta, serio iam rex iisdem comitantibus in regiam pervenit. [24] Fama deinde, ut solet, strenue tota urbe discurrit : aliorum studium, aliorum indignatio eminebat, divitissimus quisque humilitatem inopiamque eius apud amicos Alexandri criminabatur. [25] Admitti eum rex protinus iussit diuque contemplatus : [p. 43] ‘Corporis,’ inquit, ‘habitus famae generis non repugnat, sed libet scire, inopiam qua patientia tuleris.’ Tum ille: ‘Utinam,’ inquit, ‘eodem animo regnum pati possim! hae manus suffecere desiderio meo: nihil habenti nihil defuit.’ [26] Magnae indolis specimen ex hoc sermone Abdalonymi cepit. Itaque non Stratonis modo regiam supellectilem attribui ei iussit, sed pleraque etiam ex Persica praeda: regionem quoque urbi adpositam dicioni eius adiecit. [27] Interea Amyntas, quem ad Persas ab Alexandro transfugisse diximus, cum quattuor milibus Graecorum ipsius ex acie persecutis fugam Tripolin pervenit. Inde in naves militibus inpositis Cyprum transmisit et, cum in illo statu rerum id quemque, quod occupasset, habiturum arbitraretur velut certo iure possessum, Aegyptum petere decrevit, utrique regi hostis et semper ex ancipiti mutatione temporum pendens. [28] Hortatusque milites ad spem tantae rei docet Sabacen, praetorem Aegypti, cecidisse in acie: Persarum praesidium et sine duce esse et invalidum, Aegyptios semper praetoribus eorum infestos pro sociis ipsos, non pro hostibus aestimaturos. [29] Omnia experiri necessitas cogebat: quippe cum primas spes fortuna destituit, futura praesentibus videntur esse potiora. Igitur conclamant, duceret, quo videretur. Atque ille utendum animis, dum spe calerent, ratus ad Pelusium ostium penetrat, simulans a Dareo se esse praetorem missum. [p. 44] [30] Potitus ergo Pelusii Memphim copias promovit. Ad cuius famam Aegyptii, vana gens et novandis quam gerendis aptior rebus, ex suis quisque vicis urbibusque huc ipsi concurrunt ad delenda praesidia Persarum. [31] Qui territi tamen spem retinendi Aegyptum non omiserunt. Sed eos Amyntas proelio superatos in urbem conpellit castrisque positis victores ad populandos agros. Velut in medio positis bonis hostium cuncta agebantur: [32] itaque Mazaces, quamquam infelici proelio suorum animos territos esse cognoverat, tamen palantes et victoriae fiducia incautos ostentans perpulit, ne dubitarent ex urbe erumpere et res amissas reciperare. [33] Id consilium non ratione prudentius quam eventu felicius fuit: ad unum omnes cum ipso duce occisi sunt. Has poenas Amyntas utrique regi dedit, nihilo magis ei, ad quem transfugerat, fidus quam illi, quem deseruerat. [34] Darei praetores, qui proelio apud Isson superfuerant, cum omni manu, quae fugientes secuta erat, [35] adsumpta etiam Cappadocum et Paphlagonum iuventute Lydiam reciperare temptabant. Antigonus, praetor Alexandri, Lydiae praeerat: qui quamquam plerosque militum ex praesidiis ad regem dimiserat, tamen barbaris spretis in aciem suos eduxit. Eadem illic quoque fortuna partium fuit: [36] tribus proeliis alia atque alia regione commissis Persae funduntur. Eodem [p. 45] tempore classis Macedonum ex Graecia accita Aristomenen, qui ad Hellesponti oram reciperandam a Dareo erat missus, captis eius aut eversis navibus superat. [37] A Milesiis deinde Pharnabazus, praefectus Persicae classis, pecunia exacta et praesidio in urbem Chium introducto centum navibus Andrum et inde Siphnum petiit. Has quoque insulas praesidiis occupat, pecunia multat. [38] Magnitudo belli, quod ab opulentissimis Europae Asiaeque regibus in spem totius orbis occupandi gerebatur, Graeciae quoque et Cretae arma commoverat. [39] Agis, Lacedaemoniorum rex, octo milibus Graecorum, qui ex Cilicia profugi domos repetierant, contractis bellum Antipatro, Macedoniae praefecto, moliebatur. [40] Cretenses has aut illas partes secuti nunc Spartanorum, nunc Macedonum praesidiis occupabantur. Sed leviora inter illos fuere discrimina unum certamen, ex quo cetera pendebant, intuente fortuna.

  Moreover, Darius demanded, rather than asked, that having accepted a sum of money great enough to fill all Macedonia, Alexander should restore to him his mother and his wife and children; as to the sovereignty, he might fight for it, if he so [9] desired, on equal terms. If he could at last listen to more wholesome advice, he would be content with his native kingdom, withdraw from lands ruled by another, and be his friend and ally. To the acceptance of such conditions he was ready to give and to receive a pledge.

  In reply Alexander wrote substantially as follows:

  King Alexander to Darius, greeting. Darius, whose name you have assumed, brought devastation on the Greeks who dwell on the shore of the Hellespont, and on the Ionian colonies of the Greeks, with every possible disaster, then he crossed the sea with a great army and made war upon Macedonia and Greece.

  Again, Xerxes, of the same Tace, came to attack us with hordes of savage barb
arians; although defeated in a sea-fight, he nevertheless left Mardonius in Greece, in order that even in his absence he might [12] lay waste our cities and burn our fields. As to my father Philip, who does not know that he was killed by those whom your countrymen had tempted with the hope of a vast sum of money? Impious, in fact, are the wars you wage, and although you have arms, you bid for the lives of your enemies, just as lately you, the king of so great an army, for a thousand talents wished to hire an assassin to slay me.” Therefore it is a war of defence that I am waging, not of offence. And the gods also favour the better cause; I have reduced a great part of Asia into my power, I have defeated you yourself in battle. Although there is nothing that you have a right to expect from me, inasmuch as in dealing with me you have not even observed the laws of war, yet, if you will come to me as a suppliant, I promise that you shall recover without ransom your mother and your wife and your children. I know both how to conquer and how to treat the conquered. But if you fear to trust yourself to me, I will pledge my word that you may come without danger. For the future, when you write to me, remember that you are writing, not only to a king, but also to your king.” Thersippus was sent to deliver this letter.