IV. After these matters had been arranged, he withdrew the army from winter quarters after two months’ stay, intending to go to the region which is [2] called Gazaca. The first day allowed a quiet march, the following day was, it is true, not yet stormy and gloomy, yet it was darker than the preceding one, and did not pass without threat of growing trouble, [3] on the third, lightning flickered from every quarter of the heavens, and the light which now shone through and now was hidden, began, not only to dazzle the eyes of the advancing army, but even to [4] terrify them. There were almost continual peals of thunder, and bolts of lightning striking everywhere were seen, so that the army, stunned and deafened, [5] dared neither to halt nor to advance; then suddenly a rain-storm bombarding them with hail poured upon them like a torrent. At first indeed they had received the hail successfully on the cover afforded by their shields, but finally their stiffened hands could no longer hold their slippery weapons,’ nor could they themselves determine in what direction to turn their bodies, since on every side greater violence of the storm met them than that which they were trying to [6] avoid. Hence, having broken ranks, the army went wandering all through the woods, and many, worn out by fear (not yet by toil), had thrown themselves upon the ground, although the extreme cold had [7] hardened the rain and hail into solid ice. Others had leaned against the trunks of trees; this served as a [8] support and refuge for very many. But it did not escape them that they were choosing a place to die, since when they ceased to move, the vital heat left them; but inactivity of body was welcome to them in their weariness, nor did they shrink from dying as the price of resting. As a matter of fact, the force of the disastrous storm was not only violent but also persistent, and the light, that natural solace, in addition to the tempest, which was like night, was obscured also by the shade of the woods.
[9] The king, who alone was able to endure such a disaster, went about among the soldiers, brought together those that were scattered, lifted up those who had fallen, and pointing out the distant smoke that rolled up from some huts, urged each man to resort to [10] the nearest places of refuge. And nothing contributed more to their safety than that they were ashamed to fail the king, who in spite of redoubled toil was able to endure the hardships to which they themselves [11] had succumbed. Moreover, necessity, which in adversity is more effective than reason, found a remedy for the cold; for they began to cut down the woods everywhere with adzes and set fire to the heaps [12] and piles of wood. You would have thought that the forest was ablaze with a continuous conflagration and that amid the flames hardly room was left for the troops. This heat aroused their benumbed bodies, and gradually their breath, which the cold had [13] checked, began to pass freely. Some took refuge in the huts of the barbarians, which necessity had tracked out though they were hidden in the inmost part of the woods, others in the camp which they pitched on ground that was indeed wet, but already the severity of the weather was moderating. That plague destroyed 2000 soldiers, not counting sutlers and batmen. It is reported that some were seen stuck to the trunks of trees, looking as if they were not only alive but even talking together, still keeping the posture in which death had overtaken them.
[15] It chanced that a Macedonian common soldier, hardly able to stand up and hold his weapons, had nevertheless reached the camp. On seeing him the king, although he himself was just then warming himself beside a fire, leaped up from his chair, and taking his armour from the exhausted and hardly [16] conscious soldier, bade him sit in his own seat. For a long time the man did not realize where he was resting nor by whom he had been rescued. At last, when he had recovered his vital heat and saw the [17] royal seat and the king, he arose in terror. Alexander, looking kindly at him, said: “Do you understand, soldier, how much better a life you all have under a king than the Persians have? For with the Persians, to have sat in the king’s seat would have been a capital crime, with you it has saved your life.”
[18] On the next day, having called together his friends and the leaders of his forces, he ordered it to be proclaimed that he himself would make good all that [19] had been lost. And he kept his promise. For Sisimithres had brought in many pack-animals and 2000 camels, besides flocks and herds; these were distributed equally and saved the soldiers both from [20] loss and from hunger. The king, greatly pleased by the requital made him by Sisimithres, on his way to the Sacae ordered the soldiers to carry with them cooked food enough for six days. Having devastated all that region, he gave Sisimithres a gift of 30,000 cattle from the booty.
[21] From there he came into the province governed by Oxyartes, an illustrious satrap, who submitted himself to the power and good faith of the king. Alexander restored his dominion to him, and made no further requirement than that two of the satrap’s [22] three sons should serve as his soldiers. Oxyartes delivered to him also the son who was left with him, and prepared a banquet of oriental magnificence, at [23] which he entertained Alexander; while this was being celebrated with great friendliness, the satrap ordered thirty high-born maidens to be brought in. Among these was his own daughter, Roxanê by name, a maiden of remarkable beauty of person, and of a dignity of bearing uncommon among barbarians.
[24] She, although she had entered among an elite group, yet drew the eyes of all to her, especially of the king, who by now had less mastery over his passions amid the constant indulgence of Fortune, against whom [25] mortal man is not sufficiently on his guard. And so he, who had looked upon the wife of Darius and his two maiden daughters, to whom none save Roxanê could be compared in beauty, with no other feeling than that of a father, was then so transported with love for this little maiden, of obscure birth in comparison with royal stock, that he said that it was important for establishing his empire that Persians and Macedonians be joined in wedlock; that only in that way could shame be taken from the conquered and [26] haughtiness from the victors. Achilles also, he said, from whom he traced his ancestry, had united with a captive maiden; lest the vanquished should think that a wrong was being done to them, he wished to be joined with Roxanê in lawful wedlock.
The father was elated with unexpected joy on hearing the king’s words and Alexander, in the full tide of his ardent passion, ordered a loaf of bread to be brought in according to his country’s custom — this among the Macedonians was the most sacred pledge of those contracting marriage — which was cut in two [28] with a sword and tasted by each. I suppose that those who established the customs of the race wished by a frugal and common food to show to those who were about to unite their resources with how little [29] they ought to be contented. In this way the king of Asia and of Europe took to himself in wedlock a woman who had been brought in among the entertainments of a banquet, intending to beget from a captive [30] a son who should rule over victors. His friends were ashamed that a father-in-law had been chosen from among the surrendered amid wine and feasting, but since after the murder of Clitus freedom of speech had been banned, they pretended assent by expression of their faces, which most readily play the slave.
Ceterum Indiam et inde Oceanum petiturus, ne quid a tergo, quod destinata inpedire posset, moveretur, ex omnibus provinciis XXX milia iuniorum legi iussit et ad se armata perduci obsides simul habiturus et milites. [2] Craterum autem ad persequendos Haustanen et Catanen, qui ab ipso defecerant, misit: quorum Haustanes captus est, Catanes in proelio occisus. Polypercon quoque regionem, quae Bubacene appellatur, in dicionem redegit. [3] Itaque omnibus conpositis cogitationes in bellum Indicum vertit. Dives regio habebatur non auro modo, sed gemmis quoque margaritisque, ad luxum magis quam ad magnificentiam exculta. [4] Periti militum res auro et ebore fulgere dicebant: itaque, necubi vinceretur, cum ceteris praestaret, scutis argenteas laminas, equis frenos aureos addidit, loricas quoque alias auro, alias argento adornavit. CXX milia armatorum erant, quae regem ad id bellum sequebantur. [5] Iamque omnibus praeparatis ratus, quod olim prava mente conceperat, tunc esse maturum, quonam modo caelestes honores usurparet, coepit agitare. Iovis filium non dici tantum se, sed etiam credi volebat, tamquam pe
rinde animis imperare posset ac linguis, [6] iussitque more Persarum Macedonas venerabundos ipsum [p. 270] salutare prosternentes humi corpora. Non deerat talia concupiscenti perniciosa adulatio, perpetuum malum regum, quorum opes saepius adsentatio quam hostis evertit. [7] Nec Macedonum haec erat culpa — nemo enim illorum quicquam ex patrio more labare sustinuit — sed Graecorum, qui professionem honestarum artium malis conruperant moribus, [8] Agis quidem Argivus, pessimorum carminum post Choerilum conditor, et ex Sicilia Cleo, hic quidem non ingenii solum, sed etiam nationis vitio adulator, et cetera urbium suarum purgamenta, quae propinquis etiam maximorumque exercituum ducibus a rege inserebantur. Hi tum caelum illi aperiebant Herculemque et Patrem Liberum et cum Polluce Castorem novo numini cessuros esse iactabant. [9] Igitur festo die omni opulentia convivium exornari iubet, cui non Macedones modo et Graeci, principes amicorum, sed etiam hostium nobiles adhiberentur. Cum quibus cum discubuisset rex, paulisper epulatus convivio egreditur. [10] Cleo, sicut praeparatum erat, sermonem cum admiratione laudum eius instituit. Merita dein de percensuit: quibus uno modo referri gratiam posse, si, quem intellegerent deum esse, confiterentur exigua turis inpensa tanta beneficia pensaturi. [11] Persas quidem non pie solum, sed etiam prudenter reges suos inter deos colere: maiestatem enim imperii salutis esse tutelam. Ne Herculem quidem et Patrem Liberum prius dicatos deos, quam vicissent secum viventium invidiam: tantum de quoque posteros credere, quantum praesens aetas spopondisset. [12] Quodsi [p. 271] ceteri dubitent, semetipsum, cum rex inisset convivium, prostraturum humi corpus. Debere idem facere ceteros et in primis sapientia praeditos: ab illis enim cultus in regem exemplum esse prodendum. [13] Haud perplexe in Callisthenen dirigebatur oratio. Gravitas viri et prompta libertas invisa erat regi, quasi solus Macedonas paratos ad tale obsequium moraretur. [14] Is tum silentio facto unum illum intuentibus ceteris: ‘Si rex,’ inquit, ‘sermoni tuo adfuisset, nullius profecto vox responsuri tibi desideraretur: ipse enim peteret, ne in peregrinos ritus externosque degenerare se cogeres neu rebus felicissime gestis invidiam tali adulatione contraheres. [15] Sed quoniam abest, ego tibi pro illo respondeo nullum esse eundem et diuturnum et praecoquem fructum, caelestesque honores non dare te regi, sed auferre. Intervallo enim opus est, ut credatur deus, semperque hanc gratiam magnis viris posteri reddunt. [16] Ego autem seram inmortalitatem precor regi, ut et vita diuturna sit et aeterna maiestas. Hominem consequitur aliquando, [17] numquam comitatur divinitas. Herculem modo et Patrem Liberum consecratae inmortalitatis exempla referebas. Credisne illos unius convivii decreto deos factos? Prius ab oculis mortalium amolita natura est, quam in caelum fama perveheret. [18] Scilicet ego et tu, Cleo, deos facimus, a nobis divinitatis suae auctoritatem accepturus est rex. Potentiam tuam experiri libet: fac aliquem regem, si deum potes facere! [19] Facilius est caelum dare quam imperium? Di propitii [p. 272] sine invidia, quae Cleo dixit, audierint eodemque cursu, quo fluxere adhuc res, ire patiantur. Nostris moribus velint nos esse contentos. Non pudet patriae, nee desidero, ad quem modum rex mihi colendus sit, discere a victis. [20] Quos equidem victores esse confiteor, si ab illis leges, quis vivamus, accipimus.’ Aequis auribus Callisthenes veluti vindex publicae libertatis audiebatur. Expresserat non adsensionem modo, sed etiam vocem, seniorum praecipue, quibus gravis erat inveterati moris externa mutatio. [21] Nec quicquam eorum, quae invicem iactata erant, rex ignorabat, cum post aulaea, quae lectis obduxerat, staret. Igitur ad Agin et Cleonem misit, ut sermone finito barbaros tantum, cum intrasset, procumbere suo more paterentur, et paulo post, [22] quasi potiora quaedam egisset, convivium repetit. Quem venerantibus Persis Polypercon, qui cubabat super regem, unum ex iis mento contingentem humum per ludibrium coepit hortari, ut vehementius id quateret ad terram, elicuitque iram Alexandri, quam olim animo capere non poterat. [23] Itaque rex: ‘Tu autem,’ inquit, ‘non veneraberis me? An tibi uni digni videmur esse ludibrio?’ Ille nec regem ludibrio nec se contemptu dignum esse respondit. [24] Tum detractum eum lecto rex praecipitat in terram et, cum is pronus corruisset: ‘Videsne,’ inquit, ‘idem te fecisse, quod in alio paulo ante ridebas?’ Et tradi eo in custodiam iusso convivium solvit.
V. But the king, intending to go on to India and from there to the Ocean, lest there should be any disturbance in his rear which could interfere with his plans, ordered 30,000 of the younger men to be selected from all the provinces and brought to him under arms, intending to have them at once as host-
[2] ages and as soldiers. Furthermore, he sent Craterus in pursuit of Haustanes and Catanes, who had revolted from him, of whom Haustanes was taken prisoner, Catanes killed in battle. Polypercon also reduced to submission the region which is called [3] Bubacenê. Accordingly, when everything was in order, he turned his thoughts towards an Indian war. That region was considered rich, not only in gold, but also in gems and pearls, and was highly developed [4] rather for luxury than for magnificence. Those who knew said that the equipment of the soldiers gleamed with gold and ivory; consequently Alexander, not to be outdone in anything, since he surpassed all other men, added silver plates to the shields and put golden bits on his horses, and adorned the cuirasses also, some with gold, others with silver. There were 120,000 armed men who followed the king to that war. —
[5] And now, when all was ready in advance, thinking that the time was then ripe for what he had long perversely planned, he began to consider how he might usurp divine honours. He wished, not only to be called, but to be believed to be the son of Jupiter, as if he could rule men’s minds as well as their [6] tongues, and he ordered the Macedonians to pay their respects to him in the Persian fashion and to salute him by prostrating themselves on the ground. In his desire for such things he did not lack pernicious adulation, the constant evil of kings, whose power is more frequently overthrown by flattery than by foes.
[7] And this was not the fault of the Macedonians for none of them could endure to impair any jot of his native customs — but of the Greeks, who had debased their profession of the liberal arts by evil habits: [8] Agis, an Argive, the composer of the worst of poems next after Choerilus, and Cleo, from Sicily, the latter indeed a flatterer, from a defect not only in his own nature, but also in his nation, and other sweepings of their own cities; these were mingled by the king even with his nearest friends and the leaders of his greatest armies. These at that time were opening Heaven to him, boasting that Hercules and Father Liber and Castor with Pollux would give place to the new deity.
[9] Therefore on a festal day he ordered a banquet to be prepared with all magnificence, to which not only Macedonians and Greeks, the chief of his friends, but also nobles of the enemy were invited. When the king had taken his place at table with these, after [10] feasting for a little while he left the banquet. Cleo, as had been prearranged, began the conversation by expressing admiration for the king’s glorious deeds. Then he enumerated their obligations to him; these, he said, could be requited in only one way, namely, since they knew that he was a god, by admitting it and paying for such great favours by the slight [11] expense of incense. The Persians indeed were not only loyal but also wise in worshipping their kings among the gods; for the majesty of the empire was the protector of its safety. Not even Hercules and Father Liber had been acknowledged as gods until they had overcome the jealousy of those who lived with them: — future generations believed only so much about each man as his own time had vouched [12] for. But if the rest of the company were in doubt, he himself would prostrate himself on the ground when the king entered the banquet. The rest ought to do the same, and especially those endowed with wisdom; for it was by those that a precedent in worshipping the king ought to be shown.
Delphi Complete Works of Quintus Curtius Rufus Page 117