Chapter XCIII (3)

The other most notable incident, which distinguished the four or five months’ stay of Alexander in Egypt, was his march through the sandy desert to the temple of Zeus Ammon. This is chiefly memorable as it marks his increasing self-adoration and inflation above the limits of humanity. His achievements during the last three years had so transcended the expectations of every one, himself included—the gods had given to him such incessant good fortune, and so paralyzed or put down his enemies—that the hypothesis of a superhuman personality seemed the natural explanation of such a superhuman career.[347] He had to look back to the heroic legends, and to his ancestors Perseus and Herakles, to find a worthy prototype.[348] Conceiving himself to be (like them) the son of Zeus, with only a nominal human parentage, he resolved to go and ascertain the fact by questioning the infallible oracle of Zeus Ammon. His march of several days, through a sandy desert—always fatiguing, sometimes perilous, was distinguished by manifest evidences of the favor of the gods. Unexpected rain fell just when the thirsty soldiers required water. When the guides lost their track, from shifting of the sand, on a sudden two speaking serpents, or two ravens, appeared preceding the march and indicating the right direction. Such were the statements made by Ptolemy, Aristobulus, and Kallisthenes, companions and contemporaries; while Arrian, four centuries afterwards, announces his positive conviction that there was a divine intervention on behalf of Alexander, though he cannot satisfy himself about the details.[349] The priest of Zeus Ammon addressed Alexander, as being the son of the god, and farther assured him that his career would be one of uninterrupted victory, until he was taken away to the gods; while his friends also, who consulted the oracle for their own satisfaction, received for answer that the rendering of divine honors to him would be acceptable to Zeus. After profuse sacrifices and presents, Alexander quitted the oracle, with a full and sincere faith that he really was the son of Zeus Ammon; which faith was farther confirmed by declarations transmitted to him from other oracles—that of Erythræ in Ionia, and of Branchidæ near Miletus.[350] Though he did not directly order himself to be addressed as the son of Zeus, he was pleased with those who volunteered such a recognition, and angry with sceptics or scoffers, who disbelieved the oracle of Ammon. Plutarch thinks that this was a mere political manœuvre of Alexander, for the purpose of overawing the non-Hellenic population over whom he was enlarging his empire.[351] But it seems rather to have been a genuine faith,—a simple exaggeration of that exorbitant vanity which from the beginning reigned so largely in his bosom. He was indeed aware that it was repugnant to the leading Macedonians in many ways, but especially as a deliberate insult to the memory of Philip. This is the theme always touched upon in moments of dissatisfaction. To Parmenio, to Philôtas, to Kleitus, and other principal officers, the insolence of the king in disclaiming Philip and putting himself above the level of humanity, appeared highly offensive. Discontents on this subject among the Macedonian officers, though condemned to silence by fear and admiration of Alexander, became serious, and will be found re-appearing hereafter.[352]

[347] Diodor. xvii. 51. τεκμήρια δ᾽ ἔσεσθαι τῆς ἐκ τοῦ θεοῦ
γενέσεως τὸ μέγεθος τῶν ἐν ταῖς πράξεσι κατορθωμάτων (answer of
the priest of Ammon to Alexander).

[348] Arrian, iii. 3, 2.

[349] Arrian, iii. 3, 12. Καὶ ὅτι μὲν θεῖόν τι ξυνεπέλαβεν αὐτῷ,
~ἔχω ἰσχυρίσασθαι~, ὅτι καὶ τὸ εἰκὸς ταύτῃ ἔχει· τὸ δ᾽ ἀτρεκὲς
τοῦ λόγου ἀφείλοντο οἱ ἄλλῃ καὶ ἄλλῃ ὑπὲρ αὐτοῦ ἐξηγησάμενοι.

Compare Curtius, iv. 7, 12-15; Diodor. xvii. 49-51; Plutarch,
Alex. 27; Kallisthenes ap. Strabon. xvii. p. 814.

[350] Kallisthenes, Fragm. xvi. ap. Alexand. Magn. Histor.
Scriptor. ed. Geier. p. 257; Strabo, xvii. p. 814.

[351] Plutarch, Alexand. 28. Arrian, hints at the same
explanation (vii. 29, 6).

[352] Curtius, iv. 10, 3—“fastidio esse patriam, abdicari
Philippum patrem cœlum vanis cogitationibus petere.” Arrian, iii.
26, 1; Curtius, vi. 9, 18; vi. 11, 23.

The last month of Alexander’s stay in Egypt was passed at Memphis. While nominating various officers for the permanent administration of the country, he also received a visit of Hegelochus his admiral, who brought as prisoners Aristonikus of Methymna, and other despots of the various insular Grecian cities. Alexander ordered them to be handed over to their respective cities, to be dealt with as the citizens pleased; all except the Chian Apollonides, who was sent to Elephantinê in the south of Egypt for detention. In most of the cities, the despots had incurred such violent hatred, that when delivered up, they were tortured and put to death.[353] Pharnabazus also had been among the prisoners, but had found means to escape from his guards when the fleet touched at Kos.[354]

[353] Curtius, iv. 8, 11.

[354] Arrian, iii. 2, 8, 9.

In the early spring, after receiving reinforcements of Greeks and Thracians, Alexander marched into Phenicia. It was there that he regulated the affairs of Phenicia, Syria, and Greece, prior to his intended expedition into the interior against Darius. He punished the inhabitants of Samaria, who had revolted and burnt alive the Macedonian prefect Andromachus.[355] In addition to all the business transacted, Alexander made costly presents to the Tyrian Herakles, and offered splendid sacrifices to other gods. Choice festivals with tragedy were also celebrated, analogous to the Dionysia at Athens, with the best actors and chorists contending for the prize. The princes of Cyprus vied with each other in doing honor to the son of Zeus Ammon; each undertaking the duty of chorêgus, getting up at his own cost a drama with distinguished chorus and actors, and striving to obtain the prize from pre-appointed judges—as was practised among the ten tribes at Athens.[356]

[355] Curtius, iv. 8, 10.

[356] Plutarch, Alexand. 29; Arrian, _l. c._

In the midst of these religious and festive exhibitions, Alexander was collecting magazines for his march into the interior.[357] He had already sent forward a detachment to Thapsacus, the usual ford of the Euphrates, to throw bridges over the river. The Persian Mazæus was on guard on the other side, with a small force of 3000 men, 2000 of them Greeks; not sufficient to hinder the bridges from being built, but only to hinder them from being carried completely over to the left bank. After eleven days of march from Phenicia, Alexander and his whole army reached Thapsakus. Mazæus, on the other side, as soon as he saw the main army arrive, withdrew his small force without delay, and retreated to the Tigris; so that the two bridges were completed, and Alexander crossed forthwith.[358]

[357] Arrian, iii. 6, 12.

[358] Arrian, iii. 7, 1-6; Curtius, iv. 9, 12—“undecimis castris
pervenit ad Euphraten.”

Once over the Euphrates, Alexander had the option of marching down the left bank of that river to Babylon, the chief city of the Persian empire, and the natural place to find Darius.[359] But this march (as we know from Xenophon, who made it with the Ten Thousand Greeks) would be one of extreme suffering and through a desert country where no provisions were to be got. Moreover, Mazæus in retreating had taken a north-easterly direction towards the upper part of the Tigris; and some prisoners reported that Darius with his main army was behind the Tigris, intending to defend the passage of that river against Alexander. The Tigris appears not to be fordable below Nineveh (Mosul). Accordingly he directed his march, first nearly northward, having the Euphrates on his left hand; next eastward across Northern Mesopotamia, having the Armenian mountains on his left hand. On reaching the ford of the Tigris, he found it absolutely undefended. Not a single enemy being in sight, he forded the river as soon as possible, with all his infantry, cavalry, and baggage. The difficulties and perils of crossing were extreme, from the depth of the water, above their breasts, the rapidity of the current, and the slippery footing.[360] A resolute and vigilant enemy might have rendered the passage almost impossible. But the good fortune of Alexander was not less conspicuous in what his enemies left undone, than in what they actually did.[361]

[359] So Alexander considers Babylon (Arrian, ii. 17,
3-10)—προχωρησάντων ξὺν τῇ δυνάμει ἐπὶ Βαβυλῶνά τε καὶ Δαρεῖον
... τόν τε ἐπὶ Βαβυλῶνος στόλον ποιησόμεθα, etc. This is the
explanation of Arrian’s remark, iii. 7, 6—where he assigns the
reason why Alexander, after passing the Euphrates at Thapsakus,
did not take the straight road towards Babylon. Cyrus the younger
marched directly to Babylon to attack Artaxerxes. Susa, Ekbatana,
and Persepolis were more distant, and less exposed to an enemy
from the west.

[360] Arrian, iii. 7, 8; Diodor. xvii. 55; Curtius. iv. 9, 17-24.
“Magna munimenta regni Tigris atque Euphrates erant”, is a part
of the speech put into the mouth of Darius before the battle of
Arbela, by Curtius, (iv. 14, 10). Both these great defences were
abandoned.

[361] Curtius, iv. 9, 23; Plutarch, Alexand. 39.

After this fatiguing passage, Alexander rested for two days. During the night an eclipse of the moon occurred, nearly total; which spread consternation among the army, combined with complaints against his overweening insolence, and mistrust as to the unknown regions on which they were entering. Alexander, while offering solemn sacrifices to Sun, Moon, and Earth, combated the prevailing depression by declarations from his own prophet Aristander and from Egyptian astrologers, who proclaimed that Helios favored the Greeks, and Selênê the Persians; hence the eclipse of the moon portended victory to the Macedonians—and victory too (so Aristander promised), before the next new moon. Having thus reassured the soldiers, Alexander marched for four days in a south-easterly direction through the territory called Aturia, with the Tigris on his right hand, and the Gordyene or Kurd mountains on his left. Encountering a small advanced guard of the Persians, he here learnt from prisoners that Darius with his main host was not far off.[362]

[362] Arrian, iii. 7, 12; iii. 8, 3. Curtius, iv. 10, 11-18.

Nearly two years had elapsed since the ruinous defeat of Issus. What Darius had been doing during this long interval, and especially during the first half of it, we are unable to say. We hear only of one proceeding on his part—his missions, twice repeated, to Alexander, tendering or entreating peace, with the especial view of recovering his captive family. Nothing else does he appear to have done, either to retrieve the losses of the past, or to avert the perils of the future; nothing, to save his fleet from passing into the hands of the conqueror; nothing, to relieve either Tyre or Gaza, the sieges of which collectively occupied Alexander for near ten months. The disgraceful flight of Darius at Issus had already lost him the confidence of several of his most valuable servants. The Macedonian exile Amyntas, a brave and energetic man, with the best of the Grecian mercenaries, gave up the Persian cause as lost,[363] and tried to set up for himself, in which attempt he failed and perished in Egypt. The satrap of Egypt, penetrated with contempt for the timidity of his master, was induced, by that reason as well as by others, to throw open the country to Alexander.[364] Having incurred so deplorable a loss, as well in reputation as in territory, Darius had the strongest motives to redeem it by augmented vigor.

[363] Arrian, ii. 13; Curtius, iv. 1, 27-30—“cum in illo statu
rerum id quemque, quod occupasset, habiturum arbitraretur”
(Amyntas).

[364] Arrian, iii. 1, 3. τήν τε ἐν Ἰσσῷ μάχην ὅπως συνέβη
πεπυσμένος (the satrap of Egypt) καὶ Δαρεῖον ὅτι αἰσχρᾷ φυγῇ
ἔφυγε, etc.

But he was paralyzed by the fact, that his mother, his wife, and several of his children, had fallen into the hands of the conqueror. Among the countless advantages growing out of the victory of Issus, this acquisition was not the least. It placed Darius in the condition of one who had given hostages for good behavior to his enemy. The Persian kings were often in the habit of exacting from satraps or generals the deposit of their wives and families, as a pledge for fidelity; and Darius himself had received this guarantee from Memnon, as a condition of entrusting him with the Persian fleet.[365] Bound by the like chains himself, towards one who had now become his superior, Darius was afraid to act with energy, lest success should bring down evil upon his captive family. By allowing Alexander to subdue unopposed all the territory west of the Euphrates, he hoped to be allowed to retain his empire eastward, and to ransom back his family at an enormous price. Such propositions did satisfy Parmenio, and would probably have satisfied even Philip, had Philip been the victor. The insatiate nature of Alexander had not yet been fully proved. It was only when the latter contemptuously rejected everything short of surrender at discretion, that Darius began to take measures east of the Euphrates for defending what yet remained.

[365] Diodor. xvii. 23. Compare Xenophon, Anabasis, i. 4, 9;
Herodotus, vii. 10.

The conduct of Alexander towards the regal hostages, honorable as it was to his sentiment, evinced at the same time that he knew their value as a subject of political negotiation.[366] It was essential that he should treat them with the full deference due to their rank, if he desired to keep up their price as hostages in the eyes of Darius as well as of his own army. He carried them along with his army, from the coast of Syria, over the bridge of the Euphrates, and even through the waters of the Tigris. To them, this must have proved a severe toil; and in fact, the queen Statira became so worn out that she died shortly after crossing the Tigris;[367] to him also, it must have been an onerous obligation, since he not only sought to ensure to them all their accustomed pomp, but must have assigned a considerable guard to watch them, at a moment when he was marching into an unknown country, and required all his military resources to be disposable. Simply for safe detention, the hostages would have been better guarded and might have been treated with still greater ceremony, in a city or a fortress. But Alexander probably wished to have them near him, in case of the possible contingency of serious reverses to his army on the eastern side of the Tigris. Assuming such a misfortune to happen, the surrender of them might ensure a safe retreat under circumstances otherwise fatal to its accomplishment.

[366] The praise bestowed upon the continence of Alexander, for
refusing to visit Statira the wife of Darius, is exaggerated even
to absurdity.

In regard to women, Alexander was by temperament cold, the
opposite of his father Philip. During his youth, his development
was so tardy, that there was even a surmise of some physical
disability (Hieronymus ap. Athenæ. x. p. 435). As to the most
beautiful persons, of both sexes, he had only to refuse the
numerous tenders made to him by those who sought to gain his
favor (Plutarch, Alex. 22). Moreover, after the capture of
Damascus, he did select for himself, from among the female
captives, Barsinê, the widow of his illustrious rival Memnon;
daughter of Artabazus, a beautiful woman of engaging manners, and
above all, distinguished, by having received Hellenic education,
from the simply Oriental harem of Darius (Plutarch, Alex. 21).
In adopting the widow of Memnon as his mistress, Alexander may
probably have had present to his imagination the example of his
legendary ancestor Neoptolemus, whose tender relations with
Andromache, widow of his enemy Hektor, would not be forgotten by
any reader of Euripides. Alexander had by Barsinê a son called
Herakles.

Lastly, Alexander was so absorbed by ambition,—so overcharged
with the duties and difficulties of command, which he always
performed himself—and so continually engaged in fatiguing bodily
effort,—that he had little leisure left for indulgences; such
leisure as he had, he preferred devoting to wine-parties with the
society and conversation of his officers.

[367] Curtius, iv. 10, 19. “Itineris continui labore animique
ægritudine fatigata”, etc.

Curtius and Justin mention a third embassy sent by Darius
(immediately after having heard of the death and honorable
obsequies of Statira) to Alexander, asking for peace. The other
authors allude only to two tentatives of this kind; and the third
seems by no means probable.

Being at length convinced that Alexander would not be satisfied with any prize short of the entire Persian empire, Darius summoned all his forces to defend what he still retained. He brought together a host said to be superior in number to that which had been defeated at Issus.[368] Contingents arrived from the farthest extremities of the vast Persian territory—from the Caspian sea, the rivers Oxus and Indus, the Persian Gulf, and the Red Sea. The plains eastward of the Tigris, about the latitude of the modern town of Mosul, between that river and the Gordyene mountains (Zagros), were fixed upon for the muster of this prodigious multitude; partly conducted by Darius himself from Babylon, partly arriving there by different routes from the north, east, and south. Arbêla—a considerable town about twenty miles east of the Great Zab river, still known under the name of Erbil, as a caravan station on the ordinary road between Erzeroum and Bagdad—was fixed on as the muster-place or head-quarters, where the chief magazines were collected and the heavy baggage lodged, and near which the troops were first assembled and exercised.[369]

[368] Arrian, iii. 7, 7.

[369] Diodorus, xvii. 53; Curtius, iv. 9, 9.

But the spot predetermined for a pitched battle was, the neighborhood of Gaugamela near the river Bumôdus, about thirty miles west of Arbêla, towards the Tigris, and about as much south-east of Mosul—a spacious and level plain, with nothing more than a few undulating slopes, and without any trees. It was by nature well adapted for drawing up a numerous army, especially for the free manœuvres of cavalry, and the rush of scythed chariots; moreover, the Persian officers had been careful beforehand to level artificially such of the slopes as they thought inconvenient.[370] There seemed every thing in the ground to favor the operation both of the vast total, and the special forces, of Darius; who fancied that his defeat at Issus had been occasioned altogether by his having adventured himself in the narrow defiles of Kilikia—and that on open and level ground his superior numbers must be triumphant. He was even anxious that Alexander should come and attack him on the plain. Hence the undefended passage of the Tigris.

[370] Arrian, iii. 8, 12. Καὶ γὰρ καὶ ὅσα ἀνώμαλα αὐτοῦ ἐς
ἱππασίαν, ταῦτά τε ~ἐκ πολλοῦ~ οἱ Πέρσαι τοῖς τε ἅρμασιν
ἐπελαύνειν εὐπετῆ πεποιήκεσαν καὶ τῇ ἵππῳ ἱππάσιμα.

For those who looked only to numbers, the host assembled at Arbêla might well inspire confidence; for it is said to have consisted of 1,000,000 of infantry[371]—40,000 cavalry—200 scythed chariots—and fifteen elephants; of which animals we now read for the first time in a field of battle. But besides the numbers, Darius had provided for his troops more effective arms; instead of mere javelins, strong swords and short thrusting pikes, such as the Macedonian cavalry wielded so admirably in close combat—together with shields for the infantry and breastplates for the horsemen.[372] He counted much also on the terrific charge of the chariots, each of which had a pole projecting before the horses and terminating in a sharp point, together with three sword-blades stretching from the yoke on each side, and scythes also laterally from the naves of the wheels.[373]

[371] This is the total given by Arrian as what he found set
forth (ἐλέγετο), probably the best information which Ptolemy and
Aristobulus could procure (Arrian, iii. 8, 8).

Diodorus (xvii. 53) says 800,000 foot, 200,000 horse, and 200
scythed chariots. Justin (xi. 12) gives 400,000 foot and 100,000
horse. Plutarch (Alex. 31) talks generally of a million of men.
Curtius states the army to have been almost twice as large as
that which had fought in Kilikia (iv. 9, 3); he gives the total
as 200,000 foot, and 45,000 horse (iv. 12, 13).

[372] Diodor. xvii. 53; Curtius, iv. 9, 2.

[373] Curtius, iv. 9, 3; Diodor. xvii. 53. Notwithstanding the
instructive note of Mützel upon this passage of Curtius, the mode
in which these chariots were armed is not clear on all points.

Informed of the approach of Alexander, about the time when the Macedonian army first reached the Tigris, Darius moved from Arbêla, where his baggage and treasure were left—crossed by bridges the river Lykus or Great Zab, an operation which occupied five days—and marched to take post on the prepared ground near Gaugamela. His battle array was formed—of the Baktrians on the extreme left, under command of Bessus the satrap of Baktria; next, the Dahæ and Arachôti, under command of Barsäentes, satrap of Arachosia; then the native Persians, horse and foot alternating—the Susians, under Oxathres,—and the Kadusians. On the extreme right were the contingents of Syria both east and west of the Euphrates, under Mazæus; then the Medes, under Atropates; next, the Parthians, Sakæ, Tapyrians, and Hyrkanians, all cavalry, under Phrataphernes; then the Albanians and the Sakesinæ. Darius himself was in the centre, with the choice troops of the army near and around him—the Persian select Horse-guards, called the king’s kinsmen—the Persian foot-guards, carrying pikes with a golden apple at the butt-end—a regiment of Karians, or descendants of Karians, who had been abstracted from their homes and planted as colonists in the interior of the empire—the contingent of Mardi, good archers—and lastly, the mercenary Greeks, of number unknown, in whom Darius placed his greatest confidence.

Such was the first or main line of the Persians. In the rear of it stood deep masses of Babylonians,—inhabitants of Sittakê down to the Persian Gulf—Uxians, from the territory adjoining Susiana to the east—and others in unknown multitude. In front of it were posted the scythed chariots, with small advanced bodies of cavalry—Scythians and Baktrians on the left, with one hundred chariots—Armenians and Kappadokians on the right, with fifty more—and the remaining fifty chariots in front of the centre.[374]

[374] The Persian battle order here given by Arrian (iii. 11),
is taken from Aristobulus, who affirmed that it was so set down
in the official scheme of the battle, drawn up by the Persian
officers, and afterwards captured with the baggage of Darius.
Though thus authentic as far as it goes, it is not complete,
even as to names—while it says nothing about numbers or depth or
extent of front. Several names, of various contingents stated to
have been present in the field, are not placed in the official
return—thus the Sogdiani, the Arians, and the Indian mountaineers
are mentioned by Arrian as having joined Darius (iii. 8); the
Kossæans, by Diodorus (xvii. 59); the Sogdiani, Massagetæ,
Belitæ, Kossæans, Gortyæ, Phrygians, and Kataonians, by Curtius
(iv. 12).

Alexander had advanced within about seven miles of the Persian army, and four days’ march since his crossing the Tigris—when he first learnt from Persian prisoners how near his enemies were. He at once halted, established on the spot a camp with ditch and stockade; and remained there for four days, in order that the soldiers might repose. On the night of the fourth day, he moved forward, yet leaving under guard in the camp the baggage, the prisoners, and the ineffectives. He began his march, over a range of low elevations which divided him from the enemy, hoping to approach and attack them at daybreak. But his progress was so retarded, that day broke, and the two armies first came in sight, when he was still on the descending slope of the ground, more than three miles distant. On seeing the enemy, he halted, and called together his principal officers, to consult whether he should not prosecute his march and commence the attack forthwith.[375] Though most of them pronounced for the affirmative, yet Parmenio contended that this course would be rash; that the ground before them, with all its difficulties, natural or artificial, was unknown, and that the enemy’s position, which they now saw for the first time, ought to be carefully reconnoitred. Adopting this latter view, Alexander halted for the day; yet still retaining his battle order, and forming a new entrenched camp, to which the baggage and the prisoners were now brought forward from the preceding day’s encampment.[376] He himself spent the day, with an escort of cavalry and light troops, in reconnoitring both the intermediate ground and the enemy, who did not interrupt him, in spite of their immense superiority in cavalry. Parmenio, with Polysperchon and others, advised him to attack the enemy in the night; which promised some advantages, since Persian armies were notoriously unmanageable by night,[377] and since their camp had no defence. But on the other hand, the plan involved so many disadvantages and perils, that Alexander rejected it; declaring—with an emphasis intentionally enhanced, since he spoke in the hearing of many others—that he disdained the meanness of stealing a victory; that he both would conquer, and could conquer, Darius fairly and in open daylight.[378] Having then addressed to his officers a few brief encouragements, which met with enthusiastic response, he dismissed them to their evening meal and repose.

[375] Arrian, iii. 9, 5-7.

[376] Arrian, iii. 9, 2-8. It is not expressly mentioned by
Arrian that the baggage, etc. was brought forward from the first
camp to the second. But we see that such must have been the
fact, from what happened during the battle. Alexander’s baggage,
which was plundered by a body of Persian cavalry, cannot have
been so far in the rear of the army as the distance of the first
camp would require. This coincides also with Curtius, iv. 13,
35. The words ἔγνω ἀπολείπειν (Arrian, iii. 9, 2), indicate the
contemplation of a purpose which was not accomplished—ὡς ἅμ᾽
ἡμέρᾳ προσμῖξαι τοῖς πολεμίοις (iii. 9, 3). Instead of “coming
into conflict” with the enemy at break of day—Alexander only
arrived within sight of them at break of day; he then halted the
whole day and night within sight of their position; and naturally
brought up his baggage, having no motive to leave it so far in
the rear.

[377] Xenoph. Anabas. iii. 4, 35.

[378] Arrian, iii. 10, 3; Curtius, iv. 13, 4-10.

On the next morning, he marshalled his army, consisting of 40,000 foot, and 7000 horse, in two lines.[379] The first or main line was composed, on the right, of the eight squadrons of Companion-cavalry, each with its separate captain, but all under the command of Philôtas, son of Parmenio. Next (proceeding from right to left) came the Agêma or chosen band of the Hypaspistæ—then the remaining Hypaspistæ, under Nikanor—then the phalanx properly so called, distributed into six divisions, under the command of Kœnus, Perdikkas, Meleager, Polysperchon, Simmias, and Kraterus, respectively.[380] Next on the left of the phalanx, were ranged the allied Grecian cavalry, Lokrian and Phokian, Phthiot, Malians, and Peloponnesians; after whom, at the extreme left, came the Thessalians under Philippus—among the best cavalry in the army, hardly inferior to the Macedonian Companions. As in the two former battles, Alexander himself took the command of the right half of the army, confiding the left to Parmenio.

[379] Arrian, iii. 12, 1-9.

[380] Arrian, ii. 11; Diodor. xvii. 57; Curtius, iv. 13, 26-30.

Behind this main line, was placed a second or body of reserve, intended to guard against attacks in the flanks and rear, which the superior numbers of the Persians rendered probable. For this purpose, Alexander reserved,—on the right, the light cavalry or Lancers—the Pæonians, under Aretes and Aristo—half the Agrianes, under Attalus—the Macedonian archers, under Brisson—and the mercenaries of old service, under Kleander; on the left, various bodies of Thracian and allied cavalry, under their separate officers. All these different regiments were held ready to repel attack either in flank or rear. In front of the main line were some advanced squadrons of cavalry and light troops—Grecian cavalry, under Menidas on the right, and under Andromachus on the left—a brigade of darters under Balakrus, together with Agrianian darters, and some bowmen. Lastly, the Thracian infantry were left to guard the camp and baggage.[381]

[381] Arrian, iii. 12, 2-6; Curtius, iv. 13, 30-32; Diodor. xvii.
57.

Forewarned by a deserter, Alexander avoided the places where iron spikes had been planted to damage the Macedonian cavalry.[382] He himself, at the head of the Royal Squadron, on the extreme right, led the march obliquely in that direction, keeping his right somewhat in advance. As he neared the enemy, he saw Darius himself with the Persian left centre immediately opposed to him—Persian guards, Indians, Albanians, and Karians. Alexander went on inclining to the right, and Darius stretching his front towards the left to counteract this movement, but still greatly outflanking the Macedonians to the left. Alexander had now got so far to his right, that he was almost beyond the ground levelled by Darius for the operations of his chariots in front. To check any farther movement in this direction, the Baktrian 1000 horse and the Scythians in front of the Persian left, were ordered to make a circuit and attack the Macedonian right flank. Alexander detached against them his regiment of cavalry under Menidas, and the action thus began.[383]

[382] Curtius, iv. 13, 36; Polyænus, iv. 3, 17.

[383] Arrian, iii. 13, 1-5.

The Baktrian horse, perceiving the advance of Menidas, turned from their circuitous movement to attack him, and at first drove him back until he was supported by the other advanced detachments—Pæonians and Grecian cavalry. The Baktrians, defeated in their turn, were supported by the satrap Bessus with the main body of Baktrians and Scythians in the left portion of Darius’s line. The action was here for some time warmly contested, with some loss to the Greeks; who at length however, by a more compact order against enemies whose fighting was broken and desultory, succeeded in pushing them out of their place in the line, and thus making a partial opening in it.[384]

[384] Arrian, iii. 13, 9.

While this conflict was still going on, Darius had ordered his scythed chariots to charge, and his main line to follow them, calculating on the disorder which he expected that they would occasion. But the chariots were found of little service. The horses were terrified, checked, or wounded, by the Macedonian archers and darters in front; who even found means to seize the reins, pull down the drivers, and kill the horses. Of the hundred chariots in Darius’s front, intended to beat down the Macedonian ranks by simultaneous pressure along their whole line, many were altogether stopped or disabled; some turned right round, the horses refusing to face the protended pikes, or being scared with the noise of pike and shield struck together; some which reached the Macedonian line, were let through without mischief by the soldiers opening their ranks; a few only inflicted wounds or damage.[385]

[385] About the chariots. Arrian, iii. 13, 11; Curtius, iv. 15,
14; Diodor. xvii. 57, 58.

Arrian mentions distinctly only those chariots which were
launched on Darius’s left, immediately opposite to Alexander. But
it is plain that the chariots along the whole line must have been
let off at one and the same signal—which we may understand as
implied in the words of Curtius—“Ipse (Darius) ante se falcatos
currus habebat, quos signo dato universos in hostem effudit” (iv.
14, 3).

The scythed chariots of Artaxerxes, at the battle of Kunaxa,
did no mischief (Xenoph. Anab. i. 8, 10-20). At the battle of
Magnesia, gained by the Romans (B. C. 190) over the
Syrian king Antiochus, his chariots were not only driven back,
but spread disorder among their own troops (Appian, Reb. Syriac.
33).

As soon as the chariots were thus disposed of, and the Persian main force laid open as advancing behind them, Alexander gave orders to the troops of his main line, who had hitherto been perfectly silent,[386] to raise the war-shout and charge at a quick pace; at the same time directing Aretes with the Pæonians to repel the assailants on his right flank. He himself, discontinuing his slanting movement to the right, turned towards the Persian line, and dashed, at the head of all the Companion-cavalry, into that partial opening in it, which had been made by the flank movement of the Baktrians. Having by this opening got partly within the line, he pushed straight towards the person of Darius; his cavalry engaging in the closest hand-combat, and thrusting with their short pikes at the faces of the Persians. Here, as at the Granikus, the latter were discomposed by this mode of fighting—accustomed as they were to rely on the use of missiles, with rapid wheeling of the horse for renewed attack.[387] They were unable to prevent Alexander and his cavalry from gaining ground and approaching nearer to Darius; while at the same time, the Macedonian phalanx in front, with its compact order and long protended pikes, pressed upon the Persian line opposed to it. For a short interval, the combat here was close and obstinate; and it might have been much prolonged—since the best troops of Darius’s army—Greeks, Karians, Persian guards, regal kinsmen, etc., were here posted,—had the king’s courage been equal to that of his soldiers. But here, even worse than at Issus, the flight of the army began with Darius himself. It had been the recommendation of Cyrus the younger, in attacking the army of his brother Artaxerxes at Kunaxa, to aim the main blow at the spot where his brother was in person—since he well knew that victory there was victory everywhere. Having already once followed this scheme successfully at Issus, Alexander repeated it with still more signal success at Arbêla. Darius, who had long been in fear, from the time when he first beheld his formidable enemy on the neighboring hills, became still more alarmed when he saw the scythed chariots prove a failure, and when the Macedonians, suddenly breaking out from absolute silence into an universal war-cry, came to close quarters with his troops, pressing towards and menacing the conspicuous chariot on which he stood.[388] The sight and hearing of this terrific _mêlée_, combined with the prestige already attaching to Alexander’s name, completely overthrew the courage and self-possession of Darius. He caused his chariot to be turned round, and himself set the example of flight.[389]

[386] See the remarkable passage in the address of Alexander
to his soldiers previous to the battle, about the necessity of
absolute silence until the moment came for the terrific war-shout
(Arrian, iii. 9, 14): compare Thucyd. ii. 89—a similar direction
from Phormio to the Athenians.

[387] Arrian, iii. 15, 4. οὔτε ἀκοντισμῷ ἔτι, οὔτε ἐξελιγμοῖς τῶν
ἵππων, ἥπερ ἱππομαχίας δίκη, ἐχρῶντο—about the Persian cavalry
when driven to despair.

[388] Arrian, iii. 14, 2. ἦγε δρόμῳ τε καὶ ἀλαλαγμῷ ὡς ἐπὶ αὐτὸν
Δαρεῖον—Diodor. xvii. 60. Alexander μετὰ τῆς βασιλικῆς ἴλης καὶ
τῶν ἄλλων τῶν ἐπιφανεστάτων ἱππέων ἐπ᾽ αὐτὸν ἤλαυνε τὸν Δαρεῖον.

[389] Arrian, iii. 14, 3. Καὶ χρόνον μέν τινα ὀλίγον ἐν χερσὶν
ἡ μάχη ἐγένετο. Ὣς δὲ οἵ τε ἱππεῖς οἱ ἀμφ᾽ Ἀλέξανδρον καὶ
αὐτὸς Ἀλέξανδρος εὐρώστως ἐνέκειντο, ὠθισμοῖς τε χρώμενοι, καὶ
τοῖς ξυστοῖς τὰ πρόσωπα τῶν Περσῶν κόπτοντες, ἥ τε φάλαγξ ἡ
Μακεδονικὴ, πυκνὴ καὶ ταῖς σαρίσσαις πεφρικυῖα, ἐμβέβληκεν ἤδη
αὐτοῖς, ~καὶ πάντα ὁμοῦ τὰ δεινὰ καὶ πάλαι ἤδη φοβερῷ ὄντι Δαρείῳ
ἐφαίνετο, πρῶτος αὐτὸς ἐπιστρέψας ἔφευγεν~. At Issus, Arrian
states that “Darius fled along with the first” (ii. 11, 6); at
Arbela here, he states that “Darius was the first to turn and
flee;” an expression yet stronger and more distinct. Curtius
and Diodorus, who seem here as elsewhere to follow generally
the same authorities, give details, respecting the conduct of
Darius, which are not to be reconciled with Arrian, and which are
decidedly less credible than Arrian’s narrative. The fact that
the two kings were here (as at Issus) near, and probably visible,
to each other, has served as a basis for much embroidery. The
statement that Darius, standing on his chariot, hurled his spear
against the advancing Macedonians—and that Alexander also hurled
his spear at Darius, but missing him, killed the charioteer—is
picturesque and Homeric, but has no air of reality. Curtius and
Diodorus tell us that this fall of the charioteer was mistaken
for the fall of the king, and struck the Persian army with
consternation, causing them forthwith to take flight, and thus
ultimately forcing Darius to flee also (Diodor. xvii. 60; Curt.
iv. 15, 26-32). But this is noway probable; since the real fight
then going on was close, and with hand-weapons.

From this moment, the battle, though it had lasted so short a time, was irreparably lost. The king’s flight, followed of course immediately by that of the numerous attendants around him, spread dismay among all his troops, leaving them neither centre of command, nor chief to fight for. The best soldiers in his army, being those immediately around him, were under these circumstances the first to give way. The fierce onset of Alexander with the Companion-cavalry, and the unremitting pressure of the phalanx in front was obstructed by little else than a mass of disordered fugitives. During the same time, Aretes with his Pæonians had defeated the Baktrians on the right flank,[390] so that Alexander was free to pursue the routed main body,—which he did most energetically. The cloud of dust raised by the dense multitude is said to have been so thick, that nothing could be clearly seen, nor could the pursuers distinguish the track taken by Darius himself. Amidst this darkness, the cries and noises from all sides were only the more impressive; especially the sound from the whips of the charioteers, pushing their horses to full speed.[391] It was the dust alone which saved Darius himself from being overtaken by the pursuing cavalry.

[390] Arrian, iii. 14, 4.

[391] Diodor. xvii. 60; Curtius, iv. 15, 32, 33. The cloud of
dust, and the noise of the whips, are specified both by Diodorus
and Curtius.

While Alexander was thus fully successful on his right and centre, the scene on his left under Parmenio was different. Mazæus, who commanded the Persian right, after launching his scythed chariots (which may possibly have done more damage than those launched on the Persian left, though we have no direct information about them), followed it up by vigorously charging the Grecian and Thessalian horse in his front, and also by sending round a detachment of cavalry to attack them on their left flank.[392] Here the battle was obstinately contested, and success for some time doubtful. Even after the flight of Darius, Parmenio found himself so much pressed, that he sent a message to Alexander. Alexander, though full of mortification at relinquishing the pursuit, checked his troops, and brought them back to the assistance of his left, by the shortest course across the field of battle. The two left divisions of the phalanx, under Simmias and Kraterus, had already stopped short in the pursuit, on receiving the like message from Parmenio; leaving the other four divisions to follow the advanced movement of Alexander.[393] Hence there arose a gap in the midst of the phalanx, between the four right divisions, and the two left; into which gap a brigade of Indian and Persian cavalry darted, galloping through the midst of the Macedonian line to get into the rear and attack the baggage.[394] At first this movement was successful, the guard was found unprepared, and the Persian prisoners rose at once to set themselves free; though Sisygambis, whom these prisoners were above measure anxious to liberate, refused to accept their aid, either from mistrust of their force, or gratitude for the good treatment received from Alexander.[395] But while these assailants were engaged in plundering the baggage, they were attacked in the rear by the troops forming the second Macedonian line, who though at first taken by surprise, had now had time to face about and reach the camp. Many of the Persian brigade were thus slain, the rest got off as they could.[396]

[392] Curtius, iv. 16, 1; Diodorus, xvii. 59, 60; Arrian, iii.
14, 11. The two first authors are here superior to Arrian, who
scarcely mentions at all this vigorous charge of Mazæus, though
he alludes to the effects produced by it.

[393] Arrian, iii. 14, 6. He speaks directly here only of the
τάξις under the command of Simmias; but it is plain that what he
says must be understood of the τάξις commanded by Kraterus also.
Of the six τάξεις or divisions of the phalanx, that of Kraterus
stood at the extreme left—that of Simmias (who commanded on this
day the τάξις of Amyntas son of Andromenes) next to it (iii.
11, 16). If therefore the τάξις of Simmias was kept back from
pursuit, on account of the pressure upon the general Macedonian
left (iii. 14, 6)—_à fortiori_, the τάξις of Kraterus must have
been kept back in like manner.

[394] Arrian, iii. 14, 7.

[395] Curtius. iv. 15, 9-11; Diodor. xvii. 59. Curtius and
Diodorus represent the brigade of cavalry who plundered the camp
and rescued the prisoners, to have been sent round by Mazæus
from the Persian right; while Arrian states, more probably, that
they got through the break accidentally left in the phalanx, and
traversed the Macedonian lines.

[396] Arrian, iii. 14, 10. Curtius represents this brigade as
having been driven off by Aretes and a detachment sent expressly
by Alexander himself. Diodorus describes it as if it had not been
defeated at all, but had ridden back to Mazæus after plundering
the baggage. Neither of these accounts is so probable as that of
Arrian.

Mazæus maintained for a certain time fair equality, on his own side of the battle, even after the flight of Darius. But when, to the paralyzing effect of that fact in itself, there was added the spectacle of its disastrous effects on the left half of the Persian army, neither he nor his soldiers could persevere with unabated vigor in a useless combat. The Thessalian and Grecian horse, on the other hand, animated by the turn of fortune in their favor, pressed their enemies with redoubled energy and at length drove them to flight; so that Parmenio was victor, on his own side and with his own forces, before the succors from Alexander reached him.[397]

[397] Diodor. xvii. 60. Ὁ Παρμενίων ... μόλις ἐτρέψατο τοὺς
βαρβάρους, μάλιστα καταπλαγέντας τῇ κατὰ τὸν Δαρεῖον φυγῇ.
Curtius, iv. 16, 4-7. “Interim ad Mazæum fama superati regis
pervenerat. Itaque, quanquam validior erat, tamen fortunâ partium
territus, perculsis languidius instabat.” Arrian, iv. 14, 11; iv.
15, 8.

In conducting those succors, on his way back from the pursuit, Alexander traversed the whole field of battle, and thus met face to face some of the best Persian and Parthian cavalry, who were among the last to retire. The battle was already lost, and they were seeking only to escape. As they could not turn back, and had no chance for their lives except by forcing their way through his Companion-cavalry, the combat here was desperate and murderous; all at close quarters, cut and thrust with hand weapons on both sides contrary to the Persian custom. Sixty of the Macedonian cavalry were slain; and a still greater number, including Hephæstion, Kœnus, and Menidas, were wounded, and Alexander himself encountered great personal danger. He is said to have been victorious; yet probably most of these brave men forced their way through and escaped, though leaving many of their number on the field.[398]

[398] Arrian, iii. 15, 6. Curtius also alludes to this combat;
but with many particulars very different from Arrian (iv. 16,
19-25).

Having rejoined his left, and ascertained that it was not only out of danger, but victorious, Alexander resumed his pursuit of the flying Persians, in which Parmenio now took part.[399] The host of Darius was only a multitude of disorderly fugitives, horse and foot mingled together. The greater part of them had taken no share in the battle. Here, as at Issus, they remained crowded in stationary and unprofitable masses, ready to catch the contagion of terror and to swell the number of runaways, so soon as the comparatively small proportion of real combatants in the front had been beaten. On recommencing the pursuit, Alexander pushed forward with such celerity, that numbers of the fugitives were slain or taken, especially at the passage of the river Lykus;[400] where he was obliged to halt for a while, since his men as well as their horses were exhausted. At midnight, he again pushed forward, with such cavalry as could follow him, to Arbêla, in hopes of capturing the person of Darius. In this he was disappointed, though he reached Arbêla the next day. Darius had merely passed through it, leaving an undefended town, with his bow, shield, chariot, a large treasure, and rich equipage, as prey to the victor. Parmenio had also occupied without resistance the Persian camp near the field of battle, capturing the baggage, the camels, and the elephants.[401]

[399] Arrian, iii. 15, 9.

[400] Arrian, iii. 15, 10. Curtius (iv. 16, 12-18) gives
aggravated details about the sufferings of the fugitives in
passing the river Lykus—which are probably founded on fact. But
he makes the mistake of supposing that Alexander had got as far
as this river in his first pursuit, from which he was called back
to assist Parmenio.

[401] Arrian, iii. 15, 14; Curtius, v. 1, 10.

To state anything like positive numbers of slain or prisoners, is impossible. According to Arrian, 300,000 Persians were slain, and many more taken prisoners. Diodorus puts the slain at 90,000, Curtius at 40,000. The Macedonian killed were, according to Arrian, not more than 100—according to Curtius, 300: Diodorus states the slain at 500, besides a great number of wounded.[402] The estimate of Arrian is obviously too great on one side, and too small on the other; but whatever may be the numerical truth, it is certain that the prodigious army of Darius was all either killed, taken, or dispersed, at the battle of Arbêla. No attempt to form a subsequent army ever succeeded; we read of nothing stronger than divisions or detachments. The miscellaneous contingents of this once mighty empire, such at least among them as survived, dispersed to their respective homes and could never be again mustered in mass.

[402] Arrian, iii. 15, 16; Curtius, iv. 16, 27, Diodor. xvii. 61.

The defeat of Arbêla was in fact the death blow of the Persian empire. It converted Alexander into the Great King, and Darius into nothing better than a fugitive pretender. Among all the causes of the defeat—here as at Issus—the most prominent and indisputable was the cowardice of Darius himself. Under a king deficient not merely in the virtues of a general, but even in those of a private soldier, and who nevertheless insisted on commanding in person—nothing short of ruin could ensue. To those brave Persians whom he dragged into ruin along with him and who knew the real facts, he must have appeared as the betrayer of the empire. We shall have to recall this state of sentiment, when we describe hereafter the conspiracy formed by the Baktrian satrap Bessus. Nevertheless, even if Darius had behaved with unimpeachable courage, there is little reason to believe, that the defeat of Arbêla, much less that of Issus, could have been converted into a victory. Mere immensity of number, even with immensity of space, was of no efficacy without skill as well as bravery in the commander. Three-fourths of the Persian army were mere spectators, who did nothing, and produced absolutely no effect. The flank movement against Alexander’s right, instead of being made by some unemployed division, was so carried into effect, as to distract the Baktrian troops from their place in the front line, and thus to create a fatal break, of which Alexander availed himself for his own formidable charge in front. In spite of amplitude of space—the condition wanting at Issus,—the attacks of the Persians on Alexander’s flanks and rear were feeble and inefficient. After all, Darius relied mainly upon his front line of battle, strengthened by the scythed chariots; these latter being found unprofitable, there remained only the direct conflict, wherein the strong point of the Macedonians resided.

On the other hand, in so far as we can follow the dispositions of Alexander, they appear the most signal example recorded in antiquity, of military genius and sagacious combination. He had really as great an available force as his enemies, because every company in his army was turned to account, either in actual combat, or in reserve against definite and reasonable contingences. All his successes, and this most of all, were fairly earned by his own genius and indefatigable effort, combined with the admirable organization of his army. But his good fortune was no less conspicuous in the unceasing faults committed by his enemies. Except during the short period of Memnon’s command, the Persian king exhibited nothing but ignorant rashness alternating with disgraceful apathy; turning to no account his vast real power of resistance in detail—keeping back his treasures to become the booty of the victor—suffering the cities which stoutly held out to perish unassisted—and committing the whole fate of the empire on two successive occasions, to that very hazard which Alexander most desired.

The decisive character of the victory was manifested at once by the surrender of the two great capitals of the Persian empire—Babylon and Susa. To Babylon, Alexander marched in person; to Susa, he sent Philoxenus. As he approached Babylon, the satrap Mazæus met him with the keys of the city; Bagophanes, collector of the revenue, decorated the road of march with altars, sacrifices, and scattered flowers; while the general Babylonian population and their Chaldæan priests poured forth in crowds with acclamations and presents. Susa was yielded to Philoxenus with the same readiness, as Babylon to Alexander.[403] The sum of treasure acquired at Babylon was great: sufficient to furnish a large donative to the troops—600 drachms per man to the Macedonian cavalry, 500 to the foreign cavalry, 200 to the Macedonian infantry, and something less to the foreign infantry.[404] But the treasure found and appropriated at Susa was yet greater. It is stated at 50,000 talents[405] (= about £11,500,000 sterling), a sum which we might have deemed incredible, if we did not find it greatly exceeded by what is subsequently reported about the treasures in Persepolis. Of this Susian treasure four-fifths are said to have been in uncoined gold and silver, the remainder in golden Darics[406]; the untouched accumulations of several preceding kings, who had husbanded them against a season of unforeseen urgency. A moderate portion of this immense wealth, employed by Darius three years earlier to push the operations of his fleet, subsidize able Grecian Officers, and organize anti-Macedonian resistance—would have preserved both his life and his crown.

[403] Arrian, iii. 16, 5-11; Diodor. xvii. 64; Curtius, v. 1,
17-20.

[404] Curtius, v. 1, 45; Diodor. xvii. 64.

[405] Arrian states this total of 50,000 talents (iii. 16. 12).

I have taken them as Attic talents; if they were Æginæan talents,
the value of them would be greater in the proportion of five to
three.

[406] Curtius, v. 2, 11; Diodor. xvii. 66.

Alexander rested his troops for more than thirty days amidst the luxurious indulgences of Babylon. He gratified the feelings of the population and the Chaldæan priests by solemn sacrifices to Belus, as well as by directing that the temple of that god, and the other temples destroyed in the preceding century by Xerxes, should be rebuilt.[407] Treating the Persian empire now as an established conquest, he nominated the various satraps. He confirmed the Persian Mazæus in the satrapy of Babylon, but put along with them two Greeks as assistants and guarantees—Apollodorus of Amphipolis, as commander of the military force—Asklepiodorus as collector of the revenue. He rewarded the Persian traitor Mithrines, who had surrendered at his approach the strong citadel of Sardis, with the satrapy of Armenia. To that of Syria and Phenicia, he appointed Menes, who took with him 3000 talents, to be remitted to Antipater for levying new troops against the Lacedæmonians in Peloponnesus.[408] The march of Alexander from Babylon to Susa occupied twenty days; an easy route through a country abundantly supplied. At Susa he was joined by Amyntas son of Andromenes, with a large reinforcement of about 15,000 men—Macedonians, Greeks, and Thracians. There were both cavalry and infantry—and what is not the least remarkable, fifty Macedonian youths of noble family, soliciting admission into Alexander’s corps of pages.[409] The incorporation of these new-comers into the army afforded him the opportunity for remodelling on several points the organization of his different divisions, the smaller as well as the larger.[410]

[407] Arrian, iii. 16, 6-9: compare Strabo, xvi. p. 738.

[408] Arrian, iii. 16, 16; Curtius, v. 1, 44; Diodor. xvii. 64.
Curtius and Diodorus do not exactly coincide with Arrian; but the
discrepancy here is not very important.

[409] Curtius, v. 1, 42: compare Diodor. xvii. 65; Arrian, iii,
16, 18.

[410] Arrian, iii. 16, 20; Curtius, v. 2, 6; Diodor. xvii. 65.
Respecting this reorganization, begun now at Susa and carried
farther during the next year at Ekbatana, see Rüstow and Köchly,
Griechisches Kriegswesen, p. 252 _seq._

One among the changes now made was, that the divisions
of cavalry—which, having hitherto coincided with various
local districts or towns in Macedonia, had been officered
accordingly—were re-distributed and mingled together (Curtius, v.
2, 6).