Chapter 19

692Cf. Plutarch (Alex., 60);Curtius, viii. 51.

693Diodorus(xvii. 87) says that the battle was fought in the archonship of Chremes at Athens.

694Nicaea is supposed to be Mong and Bucephala may be Jelalpur. SeeStrabo, xv. 1.

695Cf. Plutarch (Alex., 61). Schmieder says that Alexander could not have broken in the horse before he was sixteen years old. But since at this time he was in his twenty-ninth year he would have had him thirteen years. Consequently the horse must have been at least seventeen years old when he acquired him. Can any one believe this? Yet Plutarch also states that the horse was thirty years old at his death.

696Curtius(vi. 17) says this occurred in the land of the Mardians; whereas Plutarch (Alex., 44) says it happened in Hyrcania.

697Diodorus(xvii. 89), says Alexander made a halt of 30 days after this battle.

698Cf.Arrian, v. 8 supra, where an earlier embassy from Abisares is mentioned.

699Strabo(xv. 1) says that this Porus was a cousin of the Porus captured by Alexander.

700This is the Chenab. See Arrian (Indica, iii.), who says that where it joins the Indus it is 30 stades broad.

701Diodorus(xvii. 95) says that Alexander received a reinforcement from Greece at this river of more than 30,000 infantry and nearly 6,000 cavalry; also suits of armour for 25,000 infantry, and 100 talents of medical drugs.

702Μέλλειν is usually connected with the future infinitive; but Arrian frequently uses it with the present.

703Now called the Ravi.

704Sangala is supposed to be Lahore; but probably it lay some distance from that city, on the bank of the Chenab.

705Compare Cæsar (Bell. Gall., i. 26): pro vallo carros objecerant et e loco superiore in nostros venientes tela conjiciebant, et nonnulli inter carros rotasque mataras ac tragulas subjiciebant nostrosque vulnerabant.

706ἐγκυρεῖν is an epic and Ionic word rarely used in Attic; but found frequently inHerodotus,Homer,Hesiod, andPindar.

707The Greeks had only three watches; but Arrian is speaking as a Roman.

708Eumenes, of Cardia in Thrace, was private secretary to Philip and Alexander. After the death of the latter, he obtained the rule of Cappadocia, Paphlagonia, and Pontus. He displayed great ability both as a general and statesman; but was put to death by Antigonus inB.C.316, when he was 45 years of age. Being a Greek, he was disliked by the Macedonian generals, from whom he experienced very unjust treatment. It is evident from the biographies of him written by Plutarch and Cornelius Nepos, that he was one of the most eminent men of his era.

709Now called the Beas, or Bibasa. Strabo calls it Hypanis, and Pliny calls it Hypasis.

710In the Hebrew Bible Javan denotes the Ionian race of Greeks, and then the Greeks in general (Gen. x. 2, 4; Isa. lxvi. 19; Ezek. xxvii. 13; Joel iii. 6; Zech. ix. 13). In Dan. viii. 21, x. 20, xi. 2, Javan stands for the kingdom of Alexander the Great, comprising Macedonia as well as Greece. The form of the nameJavanis closely connected with the GreekIon, which originally had a digamma,Ivon. Pott says that it meansthe young, in opposition to theGraikoi, the old. According to Aristotle (Meteorologica, i. 14) the Hellenes were originally called Graikoi. Cf. Sanscrit,jewan; Zend,jawan; Latin,juvenis; English,young.

711Coele-Syria, or the Hollow Syria, was the country between the ranges of Libanus and Antilibanus. Syria between the rivers is usually called by its Greek name of Mesopotamia. It is the Padan Aram of the Bible. Cappadocia embraced the whole north-eastern part of the peninsula of Asia Minor. Slaves were procured from this region. See Horace (Epistles, i. 6, 39);Persius, vi. 77. The namePamphyliais from πᾶν and φυλή, because of the mixed origin of the inhabitants.

712Cf. Arrian (Anabasis, vii. 1;Indica, 43).Herodotus(iv. 42) says that Pharaoh Neco sent a Phoenician expedition from the Red Sea, which circumnavigated Africa and returned by the Straits of Gibraltar, or the Pillars of Hercules. The Carthaginian Hanno is said to have sailed from Cadiz to the extremity of Arabia. See Pliny (Historia Naturalis, ii. 67; v. 1).Herodotus(iv. 43) says that the Carthaginians asserted they had sailed round Africa. There is a Greek translation of Hanno’sPeriplusstill extant. As to the Pillars of Hercules, see Aelian (Varia Historia, v. 3). They are first mentioned by Pindar (Olym.iii. 79;Nem.iii. 36).

713The interior of Africa, from the Straits of Gibraltar to Egypt, and from the Mediterranean to the then unexplored South.

714Arrian, like many other ancient writers, includes Africa, or Libya, as a part of Asia. The boundaries were the Eastern Sea and the Atlas Mountains. Cf.Arrian, iii. 30; vii. 1 and 30. The name Asia first occurs in Homer (Iliad, ii. 461), in reference to the marsh about the Caÿster, and was thence gradually extended over the whole continent.

715Heracles, from whom the Macedonian kings claimed to be descended.

716Hence Hercules is called Tirynthius. (Virgil,Aeneid, vii. 662; viii. 228).

717See chap. 1 of this book.

718Cf. Xenophon (Anab., i. 7, 4).

719Cf.Curtius, ix. 12.

720Arrian(iii. 19) says that the Thessalians were sent back from Ecbatana.

721Pontus Euxinusantea ab inhospitali feritateAxenosappellatus (Pliny, vi. 1).

722The Latin name Carthago and the Greek Carchedon were corruptions of the Phoenician Carth-Hadeshoth, the “new city.”

723Pliny(vi. 21), says that Alexander erected the altars on the farther bank of the Hyphasis, whereas Arrian, Diodorus, and Plutarch say they were on this side of the river.Curtius(ix. 13) does not specify the side of the river.

724Herodotus(iv. 44) says that the Indus is the only river besides the Nile which produces crocodiles. He does not seem to have known the Ganges.

725This was theNelumbium speciosum, the Egyptian bean of Pythagoras, the Lotus of the Hindus, held sacred by them. It is cultivated and highly valued in China, where it is eaten. The seeds are the shape and size of acorns.

726I.e.the Mediterranean.

727SeeArrian, v. 6 supra. The native name of Egypt wasChem(black). Compare Vergil (Georgic.iv. 291):—Viridem Aegyptumnigrâfecundat arenâ. Usque coloratis amnis devexus ab Indis.

728This use of ἀμφί with the dative is instead of the Attic περί with the genitive or accusative.

729Plutarch (Alex.66) informs us that Alexander’s army numbered 120,000 infantry and 15,000 cavalry. Cf. Arrian (Indica, 19).

730Arrian, in theIndica(chap. 19), says that Alexander embarked with 8,000 men.

731Strabo(xv. 1) says that the realm of Sopeithes was called Cathaia.

732As Alexander was at this time east of the Indus, the expression, “beyond the Indus,” means west of it.

733Cf.Arrian, v. 2 supra.

734Only fragments of this narrative are preserved.Strabo(xv. 1) says that the statements of Onesicritus are not to be relied upon.

735Curtius(ix. 13) andDiodorus(xvii. 95) say that there were 1,000 vessels. Arrian (Indica, 19) says there were 800. Krüger reads χιλίων in this passage instead of the common reading δισχιλίων.

736From Arrian (Indica, 18) we learn that he sacrificed to his country gods, and to Poseidon, Amphitrite, the Nereids, the Ocean, as well as to the three rivers. Cf. i. 11, supra.

737Cf. iii. 3 supra.

738Cf. Arrian (Indica, 7).

739Cf.Curtius(ix. 15);Diodorus(xvii. 97). The latter says that Alexander offered sacrifice to the gods for having escaped the greatest danger, and having contested with a river like Achilles.

740According toDiodorus(xvii. 96) andCurtius(ix. 14) Alexander here made an expedition against the Sibi; defeated an army of 40,000 Indians, and captured the city of Agallassa.

741The chief city of the Mallians is the modern Mooltan.

742Μήπω. In later writers μή is often used where the Attic writers would use οὔ.

743Strabo and Curtius call this river Hyarotis.

744The Brachmans, or Brahmins, were a religious caste of Indians. The name was sometimes used for the people whose religion was Brahminism. Cf. Arrian (Indica, 11);Strabo, xv. 1; p. 713 ed.Casaubon.

745Cf.Arriani. 11 supra.

746The Romans called these menduplicarii. SeeLivy, ii. 59; vii. 37.

747τοῖς ἔπειτα πυθέσθαι. Cf. Homer (Iliad, xxii. 305; ii. 119).

748Curtius(ix. 22) calls the physician Critobulus. Near the city of Cos stood the Asclepiēum, or temple of Asclepius, to whom the island was sacred, and from whom the chief family, the Asclepiadae, claimed descent. Curtius says:—Igitur patefacto latius vulnere, et spiculo evolso, ingens vis sanguinis manare coepit, linquique animo rex, et caligine oculis offusa, veluti moribundus extendi.

749Cf. Plutarch (Alex.63);Diodorus(xvii. 98, 99);Curtius(ix. 18-23);Justin(xii. 9).

750As to Fame, or Rumour, see Homer (Iliad, ii. 93;Odyss.xxiv. 412); Hesiod (Works and Days, 758-762); Vergil (Aeneid, iv. 173-190); Ovid (Met.xii. 39-63); Statius (Theb.ii. 426).

751Curtius(ix. 18) says it was the town of the Oxydracians.

752Nearly 70 miles.

753Isthmusis from the same root as ἰέναι,to go, and thus means apassage. Pindar (Isthmia, iv. 34) calls it the “bridge of the sea.”

754We learn fromCurtius(ix. 21) that the authors who stated that Ptolemy was present in this battle were Clitarchus and Timagenes. From the history of the former, who was a contemporary of Alexander, Curtius mainly drew the materials for his history of Alexander.

755Ptolemy received this appellation from the Rhodians whom he relieved from the assaults of Demetrius. The grateful Rhodians paid him divine honours as their preserver, and he was henceforward known as Ptolemy Soter.B.C.304. SeePausanias, i. 8, 6.

756The word ἀταλαίπωρος is used in a similar way byThucydides, i. 20, 4.

757Curtius(ix. 24) says that Craterus was deputed by the officers to make this representation to the king, and that he was backed up by Ptolemy and the rest.

758This line is a fragment from one of the lost tragedies of Aeschўlus: δράσαντι γάρ τι καὶ παθεῖν ὀφείλεται.

759Curtius(ix. 23) says that he was cured of his wound in seven days.Diodorus(xvii. 99) says that it took many days.

760Arrian does not mention the Sutledj, which is the fifth of the rivers of the Punjab.Pliny(vi. 21) calls it Hesidrus;Ptolemy(vii. 1) calls it Zaradrus.

761About 12 miles. Ita se findente Nilo ut triquetram terrae figuram efficiat. Ideo multi Graecae literae vocabulo Delta appellavere Aegyptum (Pliny, v. 9).

762This tribe dwelt between the Acesines and the Indus.Diodorus(xvii. 102) calls them Sambastians; whileCurtius(ix. 30) calls them Sabarcians. The Xathrians and Ossadians dwelt on the left bank of the Indus.

763We find fromCurtius(ix. 31) andDiodorus(xvii. 102) that the name of this was Alexandria. It is probably the present Mittun.

764Curtius(ix. 31) calls this satrap Terioltes, and says he was put to death. His appointment as viceroy is mentioned byArrian(iv. 22 supra).

765This king is called Porticanus byCurtius(ix. 31),Diodorus(xvii. 102), andStrabo(xv. 1).

766An expression imitated fromThucydides(iv. 34). Cf.Arrian, ii. 10; v. 19; where the same words are used of Darius and Porus.

767Diodorus(xvii. 102) says that Sambus escaped beyond the Indus with thirty elephants.

768See note, page327supra.

769TheIndica, a valuable work still existing. See chapters x. and xi. of that book.

770These people inhabited the Delta of the Indus, which is now called Lower Scinde. Their capital, Patala, is the modern Tatta.

771Cf. Arrian (Indica, ii.).

772Curtius(ix. 34) calls this king Moeris.

773Aristobulus, as quoted byStrabo(xv. 1), said that the voyage down the Indus occupied ten months, the fleet arriving at Patala about the time of the rising of Sirius, or July, 325B.C.

774The right arm of the Indus is now called the Buggaur, and the left Sata.

775I.e.caused a heavy swell of waters. Cf.Apollonius Rhodius, ii. 595;Polybius, i. 60, 6. This wind was the south-west monsoon.

776Cf.Curtius(ix. 35, 36); Cæsar (Bell. Gall.iv. 29). τὰ σκάφη ἐμετεωρίζοντο. Arrian does not comply with the Attic rule, that the plural neuter should take a verb in the singular. Compare ii. 20, 8; v. 17, 6 and 7; etc.

777Plutarch (Alex.66) says that Alexander called the island Scillustis; but others called it Psiltucis. He also says that the voyage down the rivers to the sea took seven months.

778In regard to this expedition, seeArrian, vii. 20 infra.

779About 200 miles. Arrian here follows the statement of Nearchus. Aristobulus said that the distance was 1,000 stades. SeeStrabo, xv. 1.

780SeeCurtius, ix. 38. This lake has disappeared.

781These periodical winds are the southerly monsoon of the Indian Ocean. Cf. Arrian (Indica, 21).

782This occurs at the beginning of November. The Romans called the PleiadesVergiliae. Cf.Pliny(ii. 47, 125): Vergiliarum occasus hiemem inchoat, quod tempus in III. Idus Novembres incidere consuevit. AlsoLivy(xxi. 35, 6): Nivis etiam casus, occidente jam sidere Vergiliarum, ingentem terrorem adjecit.

783This river, which is now called the Purally, is about 120 miles west of the mouth of the Indus. It is called Arabis by Arrian (Indica, 21); and Arbis byStrabo(xv. 2).

784These were a people of Gadrosia, inhabiting a coast district nearly 200 miles long in the present Beloochistan. Cf. Arrian (Indica, 22 and 25);Pliny, vi. 23.

785The Arabitians dwelt between the Indus and the Arabius; the Oritians were west of the latter river.

786Rhambacia was probably at or near Haur.

787According toDiodorus(xvii. 104) the city was called Alexandria.

788Ora was the name of the district inhabited by the Oritians.

789Cf. Pliny (Nat. Hist.xii. 33-35).

790Cf.Strabo(xv. 2); Pliny (Nat. Hist.xii. 26).

791Probably the snow-flake.

792This is the well-known catechu, obtained chiefly from the Acacia Catechu. The liquid gum is called kuth or cutch in India.

793These people were called Ichthyophagi, or Fish-eaters. They are described by Arrian (Indica, 29);Curtius, ix. 40;Diodorus, xvii. 105; Pliny (Nat. Hist.vi. 25, 26); Plutarch (Alex.66);Strabo, xv. 2. They occupied the sea-coast of Gadrosia, or Beloochistan. Cf. Alciphron (Epistolae, i. 1, 2).

794A man of Callatis, a town on the Black Sea in Thrace, originally colonized by the Milesians.

795Cf.Herodotus, i. 193.

796Pura was near the borders of Carmania, probably at Bampur. The name meanstown.

797Cf.Strabo, xv. 2;Diodorus, ii. 19, 20. According to Megasthenes, Semiramis died before she could carry out her intended invasion of India. See Arrian (Indica, 5). Neither Herodotus nor Ctesias mentions an invasion of India by Cyrus; and according to Arrian (Indica, 9), the Indians expressly denied that Cyrus attacked them.

798Strabo says that some of these marches extended 200, 400, and even 600 stades; most of the marching being done in the night. Krüger substitutes ξυμμέτρους for ξύμμετρος οὖσα.

799Cf.Thucydides, ii. 49, 3.

800Cf. Xenophon (Anab.vii. 5, 13); Homer (Odyss.vii. 283).

801Curtius(vii. 20) mentions a similar act of magnanimity as having occurred on the march in pursuit of Bessus through the desert to the river Oxus. Plutarch (Alex.42) says it was when Alexander was pursuing Darius; Frontinus (Strategematica, i. 7, 7) says it was in the desert of Africa;Polyaenus(iv. 3, 25) relates the anecdote without specifying where the event occurred. μετεξέτεροι is an Ionic form very frequently used by Herodotus.

802Compare note on page146.

803This man had been placed over the Oritians. See page351supra.

804Curtius(ix. 41) says that Craterus sent a messenger to the king, to say that he was holding in chains two Persian nobles, Ozines and Zeriaspes, who had been trying to effect a revolt.

805The Areians were famed for their skill as professional mourners. See Aeschўlus (Choëphorae, 423). For the origin of the name see Donaldson (New Cratylus, sect. 81.)

806ἐξηλέγχθη is substituted by Sintenis for the common reading ἐξηγγέλθη.

807According toCurtius(x. 1), Cleander and his colleagues were not slain, but put into prison; whereas 600 of the soldiers who had been the agents of their cruelty were put to death. Curtius says Cleander was spared for having killed Parmenio with his own hand. Cf. iii. 26 supra.

808Thethriambuswas a hymn to Bacchus, sung in festal processions in his honour. It was also used as a name of that deity, as we learn fromDiodorus, iv. 5. It was afterwards used as synonymous with the Romantriumphus, by Polybius, Dionysius, and Plutarch.

809The Bacchanalian procession through Carmania is described byCurtius(ix. 42); Plutarch (Alex.67); andDiodorus(xvii. 106).

810Diodorus(xvii. 106) says that the port into which Nearchus put was called Salmus.

811ἐκπεριπλεύσοντα. The Attic future of πλέω is πλεύσομαι. πλέυσω is only found in Polybius and the later writers.

812See Arrian (Indica, 18-43).

813The name for Persia and the Persians in the Hebrew Bible, is Paras. Cyrus is called Koresh (the sun) in Hebrew; in the cuneiform inscriptions the name is Khurush. Cambyses is called Ahasuerus in Ezra iv. 6; and Smerdis the Magian is the Artaxerxes who was induced by the Samaritans to forbid the further building of the temple (Ezra iv. 7-24). The Ahasuerus of the Book of Esther is probably Xerxes. Artaxerxes the Long-handed was the patron of Ezra and Nehemiah (Ezra vii. 11-28; Neh. ii. 1-9, etc). “Darius the Persian,” mentioned in Neh. xii. 22, was probably Darius Codomannus, who was conquered by Alexander. The province of Susiana, previously called Elymais, appears in the Hebrew under the name of Eilam or Elam. Persis is still called Fars.

814B.C.325.

815Aria. See chap. 27 supra.

816Curtius(x. 4) says Orxines was descended from Cyrus.

817See iii. 25 supra.

818Cf.Strabo, xv. 3, where a description of this tomb is given, derived from Onesicritus, the pilot of Alexander. See Dean Blakesley’s note onHerodotusi. 214.

819Just a few lines above, Arrian says that the couch was by the side of the coffin.

820Cf.Ammianus, xxiii. 6, 32, 33. The Magi were the priests of the religion of Zoroaster, which was professed by the Medes and Persians. Their Bible was the Avesta, originally consisting of twenty-one books, only one of which, the twentieth (Vendidad), is still extant.

821See iii. 18 supra.

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