Delphi Complete Works of Quintus Curtius Rufus

by Quintus Curtius Rufus

  IV. But Bessus, greatly terrified by Alexander’s speed, after having duly performed a sacrifice to the gods of the country, as is the custom with those nations, was feasting and holding council with his friends and with the leaders of his forces about the [2] war. Heavy with wine, they began to boast of their strength, and to express scorn, now of the rashness [3] of the enemy, now of their small numbers. In particular Bessus, in insolent language and so proud of a sovereignty gained by murder as hardly to be in his right mind, began by saying that the reputation of the enemy had increased through the incapacity i of Darius. For he had encountered them in the narrowest part of the passes of Cilicia, when by drawing back he might have taken them off their guard and led them into places which the nature of the country made safe, since so many rivers lay in the way and there were so many hiding-places in the mountains that if surprised among these the enemy would have had not even an opportunity for flight, [5] much less for resisting. That it was his intention to withdraw into the land of the Sogdiani; he would oppose the Oxus River like a wall to the enemy, until powerful auxiliaries should assemble from the [6] neighbouring nations; the Chorasmii would come to him and the Dahae and Sacae, and the Indians and the Scythians dwelling beyond the river Tanais, not one of whom was so short of stature that he was not a head taller than a Macedonian soldier.

  [7] His drunken companions shouted in chorus that this plan alone was sound; and Bessus ordered wine to be served more abundantly, as if intending to [8] vanquish Alexander at the table. There was present at that banquet Gobares, a Mede by nationality, but a dabbler in the art of magic — if only that is an art, and not the illusion of all the greatest liars — more celebrated in his pretension than in his actual knowledge, but in other respects modest and upright.

  [9] He, by way of preface, said that he knew that it was more expedient for a slave to obey orders than to offer counsel, since the same fate awaits those who obey which awaits the rest, but those who advise undergo a particular peril of their own. Bessus bade him speak fearlessly and even handed him the cup which he had [10] been holding in his hand. Having taken the cup, Gobares said: “The nature of mortal men may be called perverse and vicious under this head also, that each one is less keen-sighted in his own business than [11] in that of another. The counsels of those who advise themselves are confused. Fear opposes them, at another time their desire, sometimes the natural love of their own plans; for presumption does not apply to you. You have, in truth, learned by experience to consider as the only or the best plan [12] whatever you yourself have devised. You sustain a great burden on your head, a kingly crown; this must either be borne with moderation or, which I pray the gods to avert, it will fall in ruins upon you. There is need of prudence, not of impetuosity.”

  [13] Then he added a proverb in common use among the Bactriani, that a timid dog barks more violently than it bites, and that the deepest rivers flow with the least sound. This I have quoted, in order that whatever wisdom could exist among barbarians” might be recorded.

  [14] By these words Gobares had left in suspense the expectation of his hearers; then he disclosed his advice, which was more expedient for Bessus than pleasing to him. “At the entrance” of your kingdom,” said he, “stands the swiftest of kings; he will advance his army before you put away that table of yours.

  Now you will summon an army from the Tanais, and you will oppose rivers to his arms. Of course the enemy cannot follow to whatever place you shall flee! The route is common to both, safer for the victor. Although you may think that fear is swift, yet hope is more rapid. Why do you not hasten to gain the favour of the stronger and give yourself up, since however it may turn out, you will have better fortune in having surrendered than you will have as his [17] enemy? You are holding the kingdom of another, hence it will be easier to do without it. You would perhaps begin to be a legitimate king when he himself has made you one who can give you royal power, or [18] wrest it from you. You have faithful advice, which it would be superfluous to set forth at greater length. A noble horse is guided by the mere shadow of the whip, a worthless one cannot be aroused even by [19] the spur.” Bessus, headstrong by nature, and made still more so by much wine, so burned with anger that he was with difficulty restrained by his friends from killing the speaker — for he had even drawn his scimitar. At any rate, he leaped up from the banquet-table, quite beside himself. Gobares escaped amid the confusion and deserted to Alexander.

  [20] Bessus had 8000 Bactriani under arms. These, so long as they believed that the Macedonians because of the rigour of the climate would be more likely to go to India, carried out his orders obediently; after they learned that Alexander was coming against them, they slipped away each to his own village and [21] deserted Bessus. He with a band of his clients who had not changed their allegiance passed over the river Oxus, and after burning the boats in which he had crossed, in order that the enemy might not use them, was levying fresh forces among the Sogdiani.

  [22] Alexander had crossed the Caucasus, as was said above, but had almost been reduced to starvation [23] through lack of grain. With the juice pressed from sesame they anointed their bodies in lieu of oil, but each amphora of this juice was valued at 240 denarii, an amphora of honey at 390, and of wine at 300; of [24] wheat very little or nothing was found. For the barbarians had pits which they call siri, which they conceal so skilfully, that only those who dug them can find them; in these their crops were stored away. In lack of these supplies the soldiers lived on fish from [25] the river and on herbs. And now even these foods had failed them, whereupon they were ordered to kill the pack-animals which carried their baggage; on the flesh of these they managed to exist until they reached the Bactriani.

  The land of the Bactriani is of a manifold and varied nature. In one part many trees and vines produce plentiful and mellow fruits, frequent brooks irrigate the rich soil, the milder parts of this they sow with grain, the rest they leave for pasture for the flocks, farther on a great part of the same land is occupied by sterile sands; because of its frightful dryness the region is uninhabited and produces no fruit. Indeed, when the winds blow from the Pontic sea, they sweep together whatever sand lies on the plains; when this is piled up, it looks from a distance like great hills, and all traces of the former road disappear. Accordingly, those who cross the plains watch the stars and direct their course by them, as do those who sail the sea; and the shade of night is almost brighter than daylight. Therefore the region is impassable in the daytime, because they find no traces to follow, and the light of the stars is hidden in darkness. Moreover, if the wind which arises from the sea overtakes any, it buries them in the sand. But where the land is milder it breeds a great multitude of men and horses. Therefore the cavalry of the Bactriani had amounted to 30,000. Bactra itself, the capital of the region, is situated at the foot of Mount Parapanisus. The Bactrus River flows at the foot of its walls. The river gave its name to the city and to the region.

  While the king was holding a stationary camp there, news came from Greece of the revolt of the Peloponnesians and the Laconians — for they had not yet been vanquished when those who were to report the beginnings of that uprising set forth — and another cause of alarm near at hand was reported, namely, that the Scythians who dwell beyond the river Tanais were coming and bringing aid to Bessus. At the same time news was brought of what Caranus and Erigyius [33] had accomplished in the land of the Arii. A battle had been fought between the Macedonians and the Arii. The traitor Satibarzanes commanded the barbarians; when he saw that the battle was almost at a standstill with the forces equal on both sides, he rode into the foremost ranks, and taking off his helmet and checking those who were hurling weapons, he challenged to battle anyone who wished to fight in single combat; he said that he would fight [34] bareheaded. Erigyius, advanced in years, it is true, but in vigour of both mind and body not to be deemed inferior to any of the young men, could not endure the bravado of the barbarian. He, having taken off his helmet and displaying his white hair, said: “
The time has come for me to show either by victory or by a glorious death what sort of friends and soldiers [35] Alexander has.” Without more words he drove his horse against the foe.

  You would believe that the order had been given for both armies to cease fighting; certain it is that they at once drew back and left a free space, intent upon the fate, not only of the leaders, but their own also, since they were bound to share the outcome of [36] another’s fight. The barbarian was the first to hurl his spear. Erigyius avoided it by a slight movement of his head, and putting spurs to his horse, drove his lance straight into the middle of the barbarian’s throat, so that it came out at the back of his neck.

  [37] The barbarian, though thrown from his horse, yet still continued to fight. But Erigyius, drawing the spear from the wound, directed it again at his face. Satibarzanes seized it with his hand, in order to die more [38] quickly, and aided the enemy’s stroke. The barbarians, having lost their leader, whom they had followed rather on compulsion than voluntarily, and then not unmindful of the merits of Alexander, [30] surrendered to Erigyius. The king, rejoicing in this success, although by no means free from anxiety about the Spartans, yet bore their revolt with great courage, saying that they had not dared to reveal their design until they knew that he had come to 40 the confines of India. He himself moved his forces in pursuit of Bessus; Erigyius met him, displaying the head of the barbarian, as a glorious spoil of war.

  Igitur Bactrianorum regione Artabazo tradita sarcinas et inpedimenta ibi cum praesidio relinquit, ipse cum expedito agmine loca deserta Sogdianorum intrat [p. 221] nocturno itinere exercitum ducens. [2] Aquarum, ut ante dictum est, penuria prius desperatione quam desiderio bibendi sitim accendit. Per CCCC stadia ne modicus quidem humor existit. [3] Harenas vapor aestivi solis accendit: quae ubi flagrare coeperunt, haud secus quam continenti incendio cuncta torrentur. [4] Caligo deinde inmodico terrae fervore excitata lucem tegit, camporumque non alia quam vasti et profundi aequoris species est. [5] Nocturnum iter tolerabile videbatur, quia rore et matutino frigore corpora levabantur. Ceterum cum ipsa luce aestus oritur, omnemque naturalem absorbet humorem siccitas: [6] ora visceraque penitus uruntur. Itaque primum animi, deinde corpora deficere coeperunt: [7] pigebat et consistere et progredi. Pauci a peritis regionis admoniti praepararant aquam: haec paulisper repressit sitim, deinde crescente aestu rursus desiderium humoris accensum est. Ergo, quidquid vini oleique erat omnibus, ingerebatur, tantaque dulcedo bibendi fuit, ut in posterum sitis non timeretur. [8] Graves deinde avide hausto humore non sustinere arma, non ingredi poterant, et feliciores videbantur, quos aqua defecerat, cum ipsi sine modo infusam vomitu cogerentur egerere. [9] Anxium regem tantis malis circumfusi amici, ut meminisset, orabant, animi sui magnitudinem unicum remedium deficientis exercitus esse: [10] cum ex iis, qui praecesserant ad capiendum locum castris, duo occurrunt utribus aquam gestantes, ut filiis suis, [p. 222] quos in eodem agmine esse et aegre pati sitim non ignorabant, succurrerent. [11] Qui cum in regem incidissent, alter ex his utre resoluto vas, quod simul ferebat, inplet porrigens regi. Ille accipit: percontatus, quibus aquam portaret, filiis ferre cognoscit. [12] Tunc poculo pleno, sicut oblatum est, reddito : ‘Nec solus,’ inquit, ‘bibere sustineo nec tam exiguum dividere omnibus possum: vos currite et liberis vestris, quod propter illos attulistis, date.’ [13] Tandem ad flumen Oxum ipse pervenit prima fere vespera. Sed exercitus magna pars non potuerat consequi: in edito monte ignes iubet fieri, ut ii, qui aegre sequebantur, haud procul castris ipsos abesse cognoscerent, [14] cos autem, qui primi agminis erant, mature cibo ac potione firmatos inplere alios utres, alios vasa, is quibuscumque aqua portari posset, аc suis opem ferre. [15] Sed qui intemperantius hauserant, intercluso spiritu extincti sunt, multoque maior horum numerus fuit, [16] quam ullo amiserat proelio. At ille thoracem adhuc indutus nec aut cibo refectus aut potu, qua veniebat excercitus, constitit nec ante ad curandum corpus recessit, quam praeterierat omne agmen, totamque eam noctem cum magno animi motu perpetuis vigilas egit. [17] Nec postero die laetior erat, quia nec navigia habebat nec pons erigi poterat terra circum amnem nuda et materia maxime sterili. Consilium igitur, quod unum necessitas subiecerat, init: utres quam plurimos [p. 223] stramentis refertos dividit. [18] His incubantes transnavere amnem, quique primi transierant, in statione erant, dum traicerent ceteri. Hoc modo sexto demum die in ulteriore ripa totum exercitum exposuit. [19] Iamque ad persequendum Bessum statuerat progredi, cum ea, quae in Sogdianis eveneiant, cognoscit. Spitamenes erat inter omnes amicos praecipuo honore cultus a Besso, sed nullis mentis perfidia mitigari potest: [20] quae tamen iam minus in eo invisa esse poterat, quia nihil ulli nefastum in Bessum, interfectorem regis sui, videbatur. Titulus facinori speciosus praeferebatur, vindicta Darei, sed fortunam, non scelus oderat Bessi. [21] Namque ut Alexandrum numen Oxum superasse cоgnovit, Dataphernem et Catanen, quibus a Besso maxima fides habebatur, in societatem cogitatae rei adsciscit. Illi promptius adnuunt, quam rogabantur, adsumptisque VIII fortissimis iuvenibus talem dolum intendunt. [22] Spitamenes pergit ad Bessum et remotis arbitris conperisse ait se, insidiari ei Dataphernen et Catanen, ut vivum Alexandro traderent, agitantes : a semet occupatos esse et vinctos teneri. [23] Bessus tanto merito, ut credebat, obligatus partim gratias agit, partim avidus expetendi supplicii adduci eos iubet. [24] Illi manibus sua sponte religatis a participibus consilii trahebantur: quos Bessus truci vultu intuens consurgit manibus non temperaturus. Atque illi simulatione omissa circumsistunt eum et frustra repugnantem [p. 224] vinciunt derepto ex capite regni insigni lacerataque veste, [25] quam e spoliis occisi regis induerat. Ille deos sui sceleris ultores adesse confessus adiecit non Dareo iniquos fuisse, quem sic ulciscerentur, sed Alexandro propitios, [26] cuius victoriam semper etiam hostes adiuvissent. Multitudo an vindicatura Bessum fuerit, incertum est, nisi illi, qui vinxerant, iussu Alexandri fecisse ipsos ementiti dubios adhuc animi terruissent. In equum inpositum Alexandro tradituri ducunt. [27] Inter haec rex, quibus matura erat missio, electis nongentis fere bina talenta equiti dedit, pediti terna denarium milia monitosque, ut liberos generarent, remisit domum. Ceteris gratiae actae, quod ad reliqua belli navaturos operam pollicebantur. [28] Dum Bessum persequitur, perventum erat in parvulum oppidum. Branchidae eius incolae erant: Mileto quondam iussu Xerxis, cum e Graecia rediret, transierant et in ea sede constiterant, quia templum, quod Didymeon appellatur, in gratiam Xerxis violaverant. [29] Mores patrii nondum exoleverant, sed iam bilingues erant paulatim a domestico externo sermone degeneres. Magno igitur gaudio regem excipiunt [p. 225] urbem seque dedentes. Ille Milesios, qui apud ipsum militarent, convocari iubet. [30] Vetus odium Milesii gerebant in Branchidarum gentem. Proditis ergo, sive iniuriae sive originis meminisse mallent, liberum de Branchidis permittit arbitrium. [31] Variantibus deinde sententiis se ipsum consideraturum, quid optimum factu esset, ostendit. Postero die occurrentibus Branchidis secum procedere iubet, cumque ad urbem ventum esset, ipse cum expedita manu portam intrat: [32] phalanx moenia oppidi circumire iussa et dato signo diripere urbem, proditorum receptaculum, ipsosque ad unum caedere. [33] Illi inermes passim trucidantur, nec aut commercio linguae aut supplicum velamentis precibusque inhiberi crudelitas potest. Tandem, ut deicerent, fundamenta murorum ab imo moliuntur, ne quod urbis vestigium extaret. [34] Nemora quoque et lucos sacros non caedunt modo, sed etiam extirpant, ut vasta solitudo et sterilis humus exustis etiam radicibus linqueretur. [35] Quae si in ipsos proditionis auctores excogitata essent, iusta ultio esse, non crudelitas videretur: nunc culpam maiorum posteri luere, qui ne viderant quidem Miletum, adeo et Xerxi non potuerant prodere. [36] Inde processit ad Tanain amnem. Quo perductus est Bessus non vinctus modo, sed etiam omni [p. 226] velamento corporis spoliatus. Spitamenes eum tenebat collo inserta catena, tam barbaris quam Macedonibus gratum spectaculum. [37] Tum Spitamenes: ‘Et te,’ inquit, ‘et Dareum, reges meos, ultus interfectorem domini sui adduxi, eo modo captum, cuius ipse fecit exemplum. Aperiat ad hoc spectaculum oculos Dareus! [38] existat ab inferis, qui illo supplicio indignus fuit et hoc solacio dignus est!’ Alexander multum conlaudato Spitamene c
onversus ad Bessum: ‘Cuius,’ inquit, ‘ferae rabies occupavit animum tuum, cum regem de te optime meritum prius vincire, deinde occidere sustinuisti? [39] Sed huius parricidi i mercedem falso regis nomine persolvisti tibi.’ Ille facinus purgare non ausus regis titulum se usurpare dixit, ut gentem suam tradere ipsi posset: [40] quippe, si cessasset, alium fuisse regnum occupaturum. Et Alexander Oxathren, fratrem Darei, quem inter corporis custodes habebat, propius iussit accedere tradique Bessum ei, ut cruci adfixum mutilatis auribus naribusque sagittis configerent barbari adservarentque corpus, [41] ut ne aves quidem contingerent. Oxathres cetera sibi curae fore pollicetur: aves non ab alio quam a Catane posse prohiberi adicit eximiam eius artem cupiens ostendere: namque adeo certo ictu destinata feriebat, ut aves quoque exciperet. [42] Nunc forsitan sagittarum celebri usu minus admirabilis videri ars haec possit: tum ingens [p. 227] visentibus miraculum magnoque honori Catani fuit. [43] Dona deinde omnibus, qui Bessum adduxerant, data sunt. Ceterum supplicium eius distulit, ut eo loco, in quo Dareum occiderat, ipse necaretur.