VI. Meanwhile some of the Macedonians, who had gone forth in a disorderly band to forage, were fallen upon by the barbarians, who rushed down from the mountains near by, and more were captured than [2] were killed; but the barbarians, driving their prisoners before them, withdrew again to the mountains. The brigands numbered 20,000, and they [3] entered battle with slings and arrows. While the king was besieging them, as he fought among the foremost he was struck by an arrow, which had left its [4] point fixed in the middle of his leg. The sorrowing and amazed Macedonians carried him back into the camp, but it did not escape the barbarians that the king had been carried from the field — for from their lofty mountain they had seen everything [5] — and so on the following day they sent envoys to the king. He at once ordered them to be admitted, and taking off the bandages, but concealing the severity of the wound, showed his leg to the barbarians.
[8] The envoys, when bidden to be seated, declared that the Macedonians had not been more sorrowful than they themselves on hearing of the wound; that if they could have discovered who had inflicted it, they would have given him up; for that only the impious [7] warred with the gods. Furthermore, they said, that overcome by his wound, they surrendered their race into his protection. The king, having pledged his faith and recovered his men who had been take [8] prisoner, received the race in surrender. Then camp was broken and he was carried in a soldier’s litter. All the cavalry and the infantry vied with one another as to who should carry it; the cavalry, with whom the king had been wont to enter battle, thought that it was a part of their privilege, the infantry on the other hand, since they themselves had been accustomed to carry their injured comrades, complained that their proper duty was being taken from them just at the very time when the king had to be carried. Alexander, in so great a contention between the two parts of the army thinking that a choice would be difficult for him and displeasing to those who were passed over, ordered them to carry him by turns.
From there on the fourth day they came to the city of Maracanda; this city is begirt by a wall of seventy stadia, and the citadel is enclosed by another wall. Having left 1000 men as a guard of the city, he ravaged and burned the neighbouring villages.
Then envoys of the Abii, who are Scythians, arrived, who had been free since the death of Cyprus and were then ready to submit to Alexander. They were commonly regarded as the most just of the barbarians; they abstained from warfare except in self-defence, and because of their moderate and impartial practice of freedom they had made the [12] humblest equal to the chief men. Having addressed them courteously, Alexander sent one of his friends, Derdas, to those Scythians who dwell in Europe; he was to command them not to cross the Tanais river without the king’s order. He charged the same messengers to reconnoitre the country and to visit those Scythians also who dwell above the Bosphorus.
[13] He had chosen a site for founding a city on the bank of the Tanais, as a barrier both to those who had already been subdued and to those whom he had decided to attack later; but his design was put off by the reported revolt of the Sogdiani, which also [14] involved the Bactriani. These consisted of 7000 cavalry, whose authority the rest followed.
Alexander ordered Spitamenes and Catanes to be summoned, by whom Bessus had been delivered to him, not doubting that by their aid they could be reduced into his power by the suppression of those [16] who had stirred up a revolt. But they, being the ringleaders of the revolt to the suppression of which they were summoned, had spread abroad the report that all the Bactrian cavalry were being sent for by the king, in order that they might be slain, but that they however could not bring themselves to execute this order which had been given them, for fear of committing an inexpiable crime against their countrymen. That they had been no more able to endure the savage cruelty of Alexander than the parricide of Bessus. Therefore they aroused to arms without difficulty those who were already of their own accord alarmed by fear of punishment.
[16] Alexander, on learning of the rebellion of the deserters, ordered Craterus to besiege Cyropolis; he himself took another city of the same region by circumvallation, and when the order had been given that all the men fit for service should be killed, the rest became booty for the victor. The city was razed, in order that the rest might be held to their allegiance [17] by the example of its destruction. The Memaceni, a powerful race, had decided to stand a siege, as not only more honourable, but also as safer; to tame their obstinacy, the king sent ahead fifty horsemen, to make known to them his clemency towards those who surrendered and his inexorable spirit towards [18] the vanquished. They replied that they did not doubt the good faith and clemency of the king and ordered the horsemen to encamp outside the fortifications of the city; then, having entertained them hospitably, they attacked them in the dead of night, when they were heavy with feasting and sleep, [19] and slew them. Alexander, incensed as was quite natural, surrounded the city with a line of troops, since it was too well fortified to be taken at the first assault. Therefore he united Meleager and Perdiccas in its siege, and he himself rejoined Craterus, who was besieging Cyropolis, as was said before.
[20] However, he had decided to spare this city, since it was founded by Cyrus; for there were no other of those nations whom he admired more than that king and Semiramis, who he believed had far excelled all others in the greatness of their courage and the glory [21] of their deeds. But the obstinacy of the inhabitants so inflamed his anger, that, after taking the city, he ordered it to be ravaged. Having destroyed it, not unreasonably filled with indignation against the Memaceni, he returned to Meleager and Perdiccas.
[22] But no other city withstood siege more stoutly; for the bravest of his soldiers fell and the king himself was exposed to extreme danger. For his neck was struck with a stone with such force that darkness veiled his eyes and he fell and even lost consciousness; the army in fact lamented as if he had already [23] been taken from them. But unconquered in the face of what terrifies other men, he pressed on the siege before the wound had yet been wholly healed, anger spurring on his natural speed. Therefore, his men having undermined the walls and opened a great breach, he burst through it into the city, and when victor ordered it to be razed.
[24] Next he sent Menedemus with 3000 infantry and 800 cavalry to the city of Maracanda. Within the walls of this city the deserter Spitamenes, after driving out the Macedonian garrison, had shut himself, although the inhabitants did not fully approve of his design of revolt; yet they were thought to consent to [25] it, since they could not prevent it. Meanwhile Alexander returned to the Tanais and surrounded with a wall all the space which he had occupied with his camp; the wall of the city measured sixty stadia. This city also he ordered to be called Alexandria.
[26] The work was completed with such speed, that seventeen days after the fortifications were raised the buildings of the city also were finished. There had been great rivalry of the soldiers with one another, that each band — for the work w as divided — might be [27] the first to show the completion of his task. As inhabitants for the new city prisoners were chosen, whom he freed by paying the masters their price; even now their posterity after so long a time have not ceased to enjoy consideration among those peoples because of the memory of Alexander.
At rex Scytharum, cuius tum ultra Tanaim imperium erat, ratus eam urbem, quam in ripa amnis Macedones condiderant, suis inpositam esse cervicibus, fratrem, Carthasim nomine, cum magna equitum manu misit ad diruendam eam proculque amne submovendas Macedonum copias. [2] Bactrianos Tanais ab Scythis, quos Europaeos vocant, dividit, idem Asiam et Europam finis interfluit. [3] Ceterum Scytharum gens haud procul Thracia sita ab oriente ad septentrionem se vertit Sarmatarumque, ut quidam credidere, non finitima, sed pars est. [4] Recta deinde regione saltum ultra Istrum iacentem colit, ultima Asiae, qua Bactra sunt, stringit. Habitant, quae septentrioni propiora sunt: [p. 232] profundae inde silvae vastaeque solitudines excipiunt. Rursus quae Tanain et Bactra spectant, humano cultu haud disparia sunt primis. [5] Cum hac gente non provisum bellum Alexander
gesturus, cum in conspectu eius obequitaret hostis, adhuc aeger ex vulnere, praecipue voce deficiens, quam et modicus cibus et cervicis extenuabat dolor, amicos in consilium advocari iubet. [6] Terrebat eum non hostis, sed iniquitas temporis: Bactriani defecerant, Scythae etiam lacessebant, [7] ipse non insistere in terra, non equo vehi, non docere, non hortari suos poterat. Ancipiti periculo inplicitus deos quoque incusans querebatur, se iacere segnem, cuius velocitatem nemo antea valuisset effugere: vix suos credere non simulari valitudinem. [8] Itaque, qui post Dareum victum hariolos et vates consulere desierat, rursus ad superstitionem, humanarum mentium ludibrium, revolutus Aristandrum, cui credulitatem suam addixerat, explorare eventum rerum sacrificiis iubet. Mos erat haruspicibus exta sine rege spectare et, quae portenderentur, referre. [9] Inter haec rex, dum fibris pеcudum explorantur eventus latentium rerum, propius ipsum considere de industria amicos iubet, ne contentione vocis cicatricem infirmam adhuc rumperet. Hephaestio et Craterus et Erigyius erant cum custodibus in tabernaculum admissi. [10] ‘Discrimen,’ inquit, ‘me occupavit [p. 233] meliore hostium quam meo tempore: sed necessitas ante rationem est, maxime in bello, quo raro permittitur tempora eligere. [11] Defecere Bactriani, in quorum cervicibus stamus, et, quantum in nobis animi sit, alieno Marte experiuntur. Haud dubia fortuna: si omiserimus Scythas ultro arma inferentes, contempti ad illos, qui defecerunt, revertemur: [12] si vero Tanaim transierimus et ubique invictos esse nos Scytharum pernicie ac sanguine ostenderimus, quis dubitabit parere etiam Europae victoribus? [13] Fallitur, qui terminos gloriae nostrae metitur spatio, quod transituri sumus. Unus amnis interfluit: quem si traicimus, in Europam arma proferimus. [14] Et quanti aestimandum est, dum Asiam subigimus, in alio quodammodo orbe tropaea statuere et, quae tam longo intervallo natura videtur diremisse, [15] una victoria subito committere? At, hercule, si paulum cessaverimus, in tergis nostris Scythae haerebunt. An soli sumus, qui flumina transnare possum us? Multa in nosmetipsos recident, quibus adhuc vicimus. [16] Fortuna belli artem victos quoque docet. Utribus amnem traiciendi exemplum fecimus nuper: hoc ut Scythae imitari nesciant, Bactriani docebunt. [17] Praeterea unus gentis huius exercitus adhuc venit, ceteri expectantur. Ita bellum vitando alemus et, quod inferre possumus, accipere cogemur. [18] Manifesta est consilii mei ratio: sed, an permissuri sint mihi Macedones [p. 234] animo uti meo, dubito, quia, ex quo hoc vulnus accepi, [19] non equo vectus sum, non pedibus ingressus. Sed si me sequi vultis, valeo, amici. Satis virium est ad toleranda ista: [20] aut, si iam adest vitae meae finis, in quo tandem opere melius extinguar?’ Haec quassa adhuc voce subdeficiens vix proximis exaudientibus dixerat, cum omnes a tam praecipiti consilio regem deterrere coeperunt, [21] Erigyius maxime, qui haud sane auctoritate proficiens apud obstinatum animum superstitionem, cuius potens non erat rex, incutere temptavit dicendo, deos quoque obstare consilio magnumque periculum, [22] si flumen transisset, ostendi. Intranti Erigyio tabernaculum regis Aristander occurrerat tristia exta fuisse significans: [23] haec ex vate conperta Erigyius nuntiabat. Quo inhibito Alexander non ira solum, sed etiam pudore confusus, quod superstitio, quam celaverat, detegebatur, [24] Aristandrum vocari iubet. Qui ut venit, intuens eum: ‘Non rex,’ inquit, ‘sed privatus clam, sacrificium ut faceres, mandavi: quid eo portenderetur, cur apud alium quam apud me professus es? Erigyius arcana mea et secreta te prodente cognovit, quem certum, mehercule, habeo extorum interprete uti metu suo. [25] Tibi autem, qui sapis, quam potest, denuntio, ipsi mihi indices, quid ex eis cognoveris, ne possis infitiari dixisse, [26] quae dixeris.’ Ille exanguis attonitoque [p. 235] similis stabat per metum etiam voce suppressa tandemque eodem metu stimulante, ne regis expectationem moraretur: ‘Magni,’ inquit, ‘laboris, non inriti discrimen instare praedixi: [27] nec me tam ars mea quam benivolentia tua perturbat. Infirmitatem valitudinis tuae video et, quantum in uno te sit, scio: vereor, ne praesenti fortunae tu sufficere non possis.’ [28] Rex iussit eum confidere felicitati suae: ut alias sibi ait gloriam concedere deos. [29] Consultanti inde cum isdem, quonam modo flumen transirent, supervenit Aristander non alias laetiora exta vidisse se adfirmans, utique prioribus longe diversa: tum sollicitudinis causas adparuisse, nunc prorsus egregie litatum esse. [30] Ceterum, quae subinde nuntiata sunt regi, continuae felicitati rerum eius inposuerant labem. [31] Menedemum, ut supra dictum est, miserat ad obsidendum Spitamenen, Bactrianae defectionis auctorem: qui conperto hostis adventu, ne muris urbis includeretur, simul fretus excipi posse, qua eum venturum sciebat, consedit occultus. [32] Silvestre iter aptum insidiis tegendis erat: ibi Dahas condidit. Equi binos armatos vehunt, quorum invicem singuli repente desiliunt et equestris pugnae ordinem turbant. [33] Equorum velocitati par est hominum pernicitas. Hos Spitamenes saltum circumire iussos pariter et a lateribus et a fronte et a tergo hosti ostendit. [34] Menedemus undique inclusus, ne nu- [p. 236] mero quidem par, diu tamen resistit clamitans nihil aliud superesse locorum fraude deceptis quam honestae mortis solacium ex hostium caede. [35] Ipsum praevalens equus vehebat, quo saepius in cuneos barbarorum effusis habenis evectus magna strage eos fuderat. [36] Sed cum unum omnes peterent, multis vulneribus exanguis Hypsiclem quendam ex amicis hortatus est, ut in equum suum escenderet et se fuga eriperet. Haec agentem anima defecit, corpusque ex equo defluxit in terram. [37] Hypsicles poterat quidem effugere, sed amisso amico mori statuit. Una erat cura, ne inultus occideret: itaque subditis calcaribus equo in medios hostis se inmisit et memorabili edita pugna obrutus telis est. [38] Quod ubi videre, qui caedi supererant, tumulum paulo quam cetera editiorem capiunt: [39] quos Spitamenes fame in deditionem subacturus obsedit. Cecidere eo proelio peditum II milia, CCC equites. Quam cladem Alexander sollerti consilio texit, morte denuntiata his, qui ex proelio advenerant, si acta vulgassent.
VII. But the king of the Scythians, whose rule at that time extended beyond the Tanais, thinking that this city which the Macedonians had founded on the bank of the river was a yoke upon their necks, sent his brother, Carthasis by name, with a large force of cavalry to demolish it and drive off the Macedonian [2] forces away from the river. The Tanais separates the Bactriani from the so-called European Scythians, and [3] is also the boundary between Asia and Europe. But the Scythian race which is situated not far from Thrace extends from the east towards the north, and is not a neighbour of the Sarmatians, as some have [4] believed, but a part of them. Then keeping straight on, it inhabits the forest lying beyond the Danube, and borders the extremity of Asia at Bactra. They inhabit the parts which are nearer to the north, then dense forests and desert wastes meet them. Again, the parts which look towards the Tanais and Bactra in human cultivation are not unlike the first.
[5] Alexander, about to wage an unforeseen war with this race, when the enemy rode up in sight of him, although still ailing from his wound, and especially feeble of voice, which both moderation in food and the pain in his neck had weakened, ordered his friends to [6] be called to a conference. It was not the enemy that alarmed him, but the unfavourable condition of the times; the Bactriani had revolted, the Scythians also were provoking him to battle, he himself could not stand on his feet, could not ride a horse, could not [7] instruct nor encourage his men. Involved as he was in a double danger, accusing even the gods, he complained that he, whose swiftness no one had before been able to escape, was lying idle; even his own men hardly believed that he was not feigning illness.
[8] Therefore he, who after vanquishing Darius had ceased to consult soothsayers and seers, lapsing again into superstition, that mocker of men’s minds, ordered Aristander, to whom he had consigned his faith, to examine by sacrifices into the outcome of his affairs. It was the custom of the diviners to examine the entrails without the presence of the king, and to report what these portended.
[9] Meanwhile the king, while they were trying by inspection of the entrails of the victims to learn the result of hidden events, purposely bade his friends to sit very near him, in order that he might not, by exerting his voice, break the scab of his wound, which was still tender. Hephaestion, Craterus, and Erigyius, with his body-guard, had been admitted to his [10] tent. To
them he said: “Danger has surprised me at a time better for the enemy than for myself; but necessity outstrips calculation, especially in war, where a man is seldom allowed to choose his own times.
[11] The Bactriani have revolted, on whose necks we are standing, and are trying through a war waged by others to learn how much spirit we have. Our fortune is not doubtful; if we disregard the Scythians, who are attacking us without provocation, we shall return [12] an object of contempt to those who have revolted; if however we cross the Tanais and show by the defeat and slaughter of the Scythians that we are everywhere invincible, who will hesitate to obey those who [13] are victors even over Europe also? He is deceived who measures our glory by the space which we are about to cross. A single river flows between us; if we cross that, we carry our arms into Europe. And how highly must it be regarded, while we are subjugating Asia, to set up trophies in what might be called another world, and suddenly to join in one victory places which Nature seems to have separated by so [15] great a space? But, by Heaven! if we delay even a short time, the Scythians will be close at our backs. Are we the only ones that can swim across rivers? Many inventions will recoil upon us by which we have so far been victorious. The fortune of war teaches its art even to the vanquished. We have lately set them the example of crossing a river on skins; even if the Scythians do not know how to imitate this, the Bactriani will teach them. Besides, only one army of this nation has yet arrived, the rest are expected. Hence by avoiding war, we shall give it strength, and in a war in which we can take the offensive we shall be reduced to defence.
Delphi Complete Works of Quintus Curtius Rufus Page 111