The Project Gutenberg eBook of Anabasis of Alexander, by Arrian.

329 The Tyrians had been encouraged in their resistance by the promise of aid from their colony Carthage. But the Carthaginians excused themselves on the ground of their own difficulties in contending with the Greeks. The Tyrians however despatched their women, children, and old men to Carthage for safety. See Diodorus, xvii. 40, 41; Curtius, iv. 8 and 15. We learn from Diod., xx. 14, that the Carthaginians were in the habit of sending to the Tyrian Hercules the tenth of their revenues.

330 Diodorus (xvii. 46) and Curtius (iv. 19) state that 2,000 Tyrians who had escaped the massacre were hanged on the seashore by Alexander’s order.

331 The end of July and beginning of August B.C. 332. Diodorus (xvii. 46) tells us that the siege lasted seven months. See also Curtius (iv. 20) and Plutarch (Life of Alexander, 24). We find from Strabo (xvi. 2) that Tyre again became a flourishing city.

332 About £2,440,000.

333 Diodorus (xvii. 54) puts the arrival of this embassy after Alexander’s conquest of Egypt. Curtius (iv. 21) says that the name of the daughter whom Darius offered to Alexander was Statira.

334 The term Palestine is derived from Pĕlesheth, the name given in Hebrew to the coast district in the south-west of Palestine, the inhabitants of which were called Pĕlishtim, or Philistines. As this tract of country lay directly between Phoenicia and Egypt, it became known to the Greeks sooner than the rest of the Holy Land, and they called it Syria Palaestinē. The name was gradually extended until it became the usual one for all the Holy Land among Greek and Latin writers. An interesting account of Alexander’s visit to Jerusalem and his dealings with the Jews is found in Josephus (Antiquities, xi. 8).

335 Nearly two miles and a half. Strabo (xvi. 2) says that the city was only seven stades from the sea.

336 Gaza is the Greek form of the Hebrew name Azzah (fortress). Its position on the border of Egypt and Palestine has given it importance from the earliest times. It was one of the five cities of the Philistines; and retained its own king till a late period, as we learn from Zechariah ix. 5. It was the scene of a battle between Richard I. and the Saracens. It is now called Guzzeh, with a population of 15,000.

337 Compare Arrian, i. 11 and 25; ii. 18. Plutarch (Alex., 25) says that the bird was entangled and caught among the nets and cords. See also Curtius, iv. 26.

338 A stadium equalled 606-3/4 feet.

339 Cf. Thucydides, ii. 76 (description of the siege of Plataeae).

340 Diodorus (xvii. 48) says that the siege of Gaza lasted two months. Polybius (xvi. 40) speaks of the resolution and valour of the Gazaeans. We learn from Curtius (iv. 28) and from Dionysius of Halicarnassus (De Compositione Verborum, pp. 123-125) that Alexander treated the brave Batis with horrible cruelty. He ordered his feet to be bored and brazen rings to be put through them, after which the naked body was tied to the back of a chariot which was driven by Alexander himself round the city, in imitation of the treatment of Hector by Achilles at Troy. Cf. Arrian, vii. 14. Dionysius quotes from Hegesias of Magnesia, who wrote a history of Alexander, not now extant. Curtius says that nearly 10,000 of the Persians and Arabs were slain at Gaza. Strabo (xvi. 2) says that in his time (i.e. in the reign of Augustus) the city still remained desolate, as it was left by Alexander.

341 Pelusium is identical with the Hebrew Sin (a marsh) the most easterly city of Egypt, which is called in Ezekiel xxx. 15, the strength of Egypt, because it was the key to that country from its frontier position. Cf. Herodotus, iii. 5. Strabo (xvii. 1) says it was situated near marshes. It stood east of the Pelusiac branch of the Nile, about 2-1/2 miles from the sea. This mouth of the river was choked up with sand as early as the first century of the Christian era (Lucan, viii. 465). Sennacherib advanced as far as this city, and here Cambyses defeated the Egyptians, B.C. 525. Iphicrates the Athenian advanced to Pelusium with the satrap Pharnabazus, B.C. 373. Cf. Vergil (Georgic, i. 228); Martial, xiii. 9; Silius, iii. 375.

342 Curtius (iv. 22) says that this fleet was under the command of Hephaestion.

343 His predecessor, Sabaces, was slain at Issus. See Arrian, ii. 11 supra.

344 Curtius (iv. 29) says that Mazaces surrendered to Alexander treasure to the amount of 800 talents, nearly £200,000.

345 Memphis, the capital of Egypt, is called in the Hebrew Bible, Noph. In Hosea ix. 6 it is called Moph. The Egyptian name was Mĕnoph, of which both Moph and Noph are contractions. The name signifies place of Ftah, the Egyptian name for Vulcan. Memphis stood on the west bank of the Nile, and is said by Herodotus (ii. 99) to have been founded by Menes. It had a circumference of fifteen miles. Its numerous temples were famous and are mentioned in the poems of Martial, Ovid, and Tibullus. It never recovered the devastation committed by Cambyses, who was exasperated by its resistance. The rise of Alexandria as the capital under the Ptolemies, hastened the decline of Memphis. At Gizeh, near Memphis, are the three great pyramids, being of the height respectively of 460, 446, and 203 feet. Not far off are six smaller ones. Near the second pyramid is the Sphinx, cut out of the solid rock, which was probably an object of worship. Cf. Apollodorus, ii. 4.

346 Heliopolis is known in Hebrew as On, which is an Egyptian word meaning Sun. It is mentioned in Gen. xli. 45, 50; xlvi. 20. In Ezek. xxx. 17, it is called Aven, which is the same word in Hebrew as On, with a variation of the vowels. In Jer. xliii. 13 it is called Beith-Shemesh, which in Hebrew means House of the Sun, a translation of the Egyptian name. The Greeks called it Heliopolis, City of the Sun. The great temple of the Sun and its priesthood are described by Herodotus and Strabo. There are still remaining a beautiful obelisk of red granite nearly 70 feet high, and the brick wall of the temple 3,750 feet long by 2,370 feet broad. Cf. Apollodorus, ii. 4.

347 The word Nile never occurs in the Hebrew Bible; but that river is called Yeor (river). In Amos viii. 8 it is called Yeor Mitsraim, the river of Egypt; but it is usually called simply Yeor, the river. In Isa. xxiii. 3 the corn of Egypt is called the harvest of Yeor, or the Nile. In like manner Avon, Ganges, Rhine, mean river. The Greek name Neilos, or Nile, means a bed with a stream, and was originally applied to the land of Egypt, as the valley of the Nile. It rises in the lake Victoria Nyanza, and has a course of 3,300 miles. In Isa. xxiii. 3 and Jer. ii. 18 the Nile is called Shichor (turbid). In Homer (Odys., iv. 477, etc.) the river is called Egypt as well as the country. Cf. Ammianus, xxii. 15.

348 The Bull of Memphis, sacred to Ftah, the god of fire. See Herodotus, iii. 27, 28; Strabo, xvii. 1; Ammianus, xxii. 14; Ovid (Met., ix. 690).

349 Now Aboukir, about 13 miles north-east of Alexandria, near the westernmost mouth of the Nile. Cf. Aeschўlus (Supp., 311; Prom., 846); Strabo, xvii. 1, 17; Tacitus (Ann., ii. 60).

350 Usually called Lake Mareotis, now Mariût. Cf. Vergil (Georgic, ii. 91).

351 We learn, from Curtius (iv. 33), that Alexander at first resolved to build the city on the island of Pharos, but finding it too small, built it on the mainland.

352 A goddess representing the moon, and wife of Osiris the sun-god.

353 Cf. Strabo (xvii. 1); Plutarch (Alex., 26); Diodorus (xvii. 52); Curtius (iv. 33); Ammianus (xxii. 16).

354 We find from Valerius Maximus (i. 4) and Ammianus, l.c., that his name was Dinocrates.

355 Krüger substitutes ἐπενόει for ἐποίει, comparing iv. 1, 3, and 4, 1 infra.

356 See Arrian, ii. 2 supra.

357 Methymna was, next to Mitylene, the most important city in Lesbos.

358 Chares was an Athenian who had been one of the generals at the fatal battle of Chaeronea. Curtius (iv. 24) says that he consented to evacuate Mitylene with his force of 2,000 men on condition of a free departure.

359 On an island in the Nile, of the same name, opposite Syene. It served as the southern frontier garrison station.

360 The temple of Jupiter Ammon was in the oasis of Siwah, to the West of Egypt. Its ruins were discovered by Browne in 1792. This oasis is about 6 miles long and 3 broad. The people called Libyans occupied the whole of North Africa excluding Egypt. In Hebrew they are called Lubim (sunburnt). See 2 Chron. xii. 3; xvi. 8; Dan. xi. 43; Nah. iii. 9. Cf. Herodotus, ii. 32; iv. 168-199.

361 King of the island Seriphus. Cf. Herodotus, ii. 91.

362 The gigantic son of Poseidon and Ge.

363 King of Egypt, who was said to have sacrificed all foreigners that visited the land.

364 Perseus was the grandfather of Alemena, the mother of Hercules.

365 About 183 miles. This city lay at the extreme west of Egypt, in Marmarica.

366 “For some distance onward the engineers had erected a line of telegraph poles to guide us, but after they ceased the desert was absolutely trackless. Our guides were the stars—had the night been overcast the enterprise would have been impossible—and we were steered by a naval officer, Lieutenant Rawson, who had doubtless studied on previous nights the relation of these celestial beacons to the course of our march. The centre of the line was the point of direction; therefore he rode between the centre battalions (75th and 79th) of the Highland Brigade. Frequently in the course of the night, after duly ascertaining what dark figure I was addressing, I represented to him that his particular star was clouded over; but he always replied that he had another in view, a second string to his bow, which he showed me, and that he was convinced he had not deviated in the least from the proper direction. And he was right, his guidance was marvellously correct; for his reward, poor fellow, he was shot down in the assault, mortally wounded. Here we were adrift, but for the stars, in a region where no token existed on the surface by which to mark the course—any more than on the ocean without a compass—and the distance to be traversed was many miles.”—Sir Edward Hamley: “The Second Division at Tel-el-Kebir,” Nineteenth Century, December, 1882.

367 Strabo (xvii. 1) quotes from Callisthenes, whose work on Alexander is lost. He agrees with Aristobulus about the two ravens. Callisthenes is also quoted by Plutarch (Alex., 27) in regard to this prodigy. Curtius (iv. 30) says that there were several ravens; and Diodorus (xvii. 49) speaks of ravens.

368 Nearly five miles. Cf. Lucan, ix. 511-543.

369 This Fountain of the Sun, as it is called, is 30 paces long and 20 broad; 6 fathoms deep, with bubbles constantly rising from the surface. Cf. Herodotus, iv. 181; Lucretius, vi. 849-878; Ptolemy, iv. 5, 37.

370 This is what we call sal ammoniac, known to chemists as hydrochlorate of ammonia. The dactylos was the smallest Greek measure of length, about 7/10 of an inch.

371 We learn from Strabo (xvii. 1), on the authority of Callisthenes, that the declaration of the oracle of Ammon was confirmed by those of Apollo at Branchidae near Miletus, and of Athena at Erythrae in Ionia. Plutarch (Alex., 28) and Arrian (vii. 29) assert that Alexander set afloat the declaration that he was the son of Zeus to overawe the foreigners over whom he was extending his rule.

372 Ewald and others think that Heroöpolis was identical with the Raamses of the Bible. Raamses, or Rameses, is a Coptic word meaning “the son of the sun.”

373 A city founded by the Milesians on the Canopic branch of the Nile. It remained a purely Greek city, being the only place where Greeks were allowed to settle and trade in Egypt. Cf. Herodotus, ii. 97, 135, 178, 179.

374 Cf. Tacitus (Historiae, i. 11).

375 We learn, from Curtius (iv. 34), that Alexander went to Samaria to chastise the inhabitants, who had burnt his deputy, Andromachus, to death.

376 From early times the Athenians kept two sacred vessels for state purposes, the one called the Paralus and the other Salaminia. In the earliest times the former was used for coasting purposes, and the latter for the journey to Salamis. Hence their respective names. See Dr. Smith’s Dict. of Antiquities. Aeschines, in his oration against Ctesiphon (p. 550), asserts that he was informed by the seamen of the Paralus that Demosthenes on this occasion sent a letter to Alexander soliciting pardon and favour.

377 Cf. Aelian, Varia Historia, i. 25; Curtius, iv. 34.

378 Beroea was a city of Macedonia, on the Astraeus, a tributary of the Haliacmon, about 20 miles from the sea.

379 Other historians call this queen Cleopatra. She was the daughter of a Macedonian named Attalus. Plutarch (Alex., 9 and 10) says that she was cruelly put to death by Olympias during Alexander’s absence. Justin (ix. 7; xi. 2) states that Olympias first slew her daughter on her mother’s bosom and then had Cleopatra hanged; while Alexander put to death Caranus, the infant son of Philip and Cleopatra. Pausanias (viii. 7) says that Olympias caused Cleopatra and her infant son to be roasted on a brazen vessel. Cf. Aelian (Varia Historia, xiii. 35).

380 This king was brother of Alexander’s mother Olympias, and husband of Cleopatra the daughter of Philip and Olympias. He crossed over into Italy to aid the Tarentines against the Lucanians and Bruttians, but was eventually defeated and slain near Pandosia, B.C. 326.

381 June-July, B.C. 331.

382 We learn, from Curtius (iv. 37), that Alexander took eleven days to march from Phoenicia to the Euphrates.

383 Curtius (iv. 37) says that Tigris is the Persian word for arrow; and that the river was so named on account of the swiftness of its current. The Hebrew name is Chiddekel, which means arrow. See Gen. ii. 14; and Dan. x. 4, where it is called the great river. The name Tigris is derived from the Zend Tighra, which comes from the Sanscrit Tig, to sharpen. It is now called Dijleh. It joins the Euphrates 90 miles from the sea, and the united stream is called Shat-el-Arab. Its entire length is 1,146 miles. In ancient times the two rivers had distinct mouths. So the Rhon formerly had several mouths. See Livy, xxi. 26. Strabo (iv. 1, 8) says that Timaeus gave it five mouths; Polybius gives it two; others give seven.

384 This eclipse occurred September 20th, B.C. 331.

385 The part of Assyria lying between the Upper Tigris and the Lycus was called Aturia.

386 Called Carduchi by Xenophon. These mountains separate Assyria and Mesopotamia from Media and Armenia.

387 Cf. Aelian (Varia Historia, xii. 38).

388 Arachosia comprised what is now the south-east part of Afghanistan and the north-east part of Beloochistan.

389 Aria comprised the west and north-west part of Afghanistan and the east part of Khorasan.

390 Parthia is the modern Khorasan. Hyrcania was the country south and south-east of the Caspian Sea. The Tapurians dwelt in the north of Media, on the borders of Parthia between the Caspian passes. Cf. Ammianus, xxiii. 6.

391 The Cadusians lived south-west of the Caspian, the Albanians on the west of the same sea, in the south-east part of Georgia, and the Sacesinians in the north-east of Armenia, on the river Kur.

392 The Red Sea was the name originally given to the whole expanse of sea to the west of India as far as Africa. The name was subsequently given to the Arabian Gulf exclusively. In Hebrew it is called Yam-Suph (Sea of Sedge, or a seaweed resembling wool). The Egyptians called it the Sea of Weeds.

393 The Uxians occupied the north-west of Persis, and Susiana was the country to the north and west of Persis.

394 The Sitacenians lived in the south of Assyria. ἐτετάχατο is the Ionic form for τεταγμένοι ἦσαν.

395 The Greeks called this country Mesopotamia because it lies between the rivers Euphrates and Tigris. In the Bible it is called Paddan-Aram (the plain of Aram, which is the Hebrew name of Syria). In Gen. xlviii. 7 it is called merely Paddan, the plain. In Hos. xii. 12, it is called the field of Aram, or, as our Bible has it, the country of Syria. Elsewhere in the Bible it is called Aram-naharaim, Aram of the two rivers, which the Greeks translated Mesopotamia. It is called “the Island,” by Arabian geographers.

396 Curtius (iv. 35 and 45) states that Darius had 200,000 infantry, 45,000 cavalry, and 200 scythed chariots; Diodorus (xvii. 53) says, 800,000 infantry, 200,000 cavalry, and 200 scythed chariots; Justin (xi. 12) gives 400,000 foot and 100,000 horse; and Plutarch (Alex., 31) speaks of a million of men. For the chariots cf. Xenophon (Anab., i. 8, 10); Livy, xxxvii. 41.

397 This is the first instance on record of the employment of elephants in battle.

398 This river is now called Ghasir, a tributary of the Great Zab. The village Gaugamela was in the district of Assyria called Aturia, about 69 miles from the city of Arbela, now called Erbil.

400 Xenophon (Anab., iii. 4, 35) explains why this was so.

401 σφεῖς here stands for αὐτοί.

402 See note 252 to ii. 10 supra.

403 These people were a Scythian tribe leading a nomadic life east of the Caspian. They are called Daoi by Herodotus, i. 125; Dahae by Ammianus, xxii. 8, 21; Livy, xxxv. 48; xxxvii. 38; Vergil (Aeneid, viii. 728); Pliny, vi. 19; Strabo, xi. 7. They are mentioned in Ezra iv. 9 as subjects of Persia. The district is now called Daikh. See Fürst’s Hebrew Lexicon, sub voce דֶּֽה.

404 A title of honour. Curtius says that they numbered 15,000.

405 Cf. Herodotus, vii. 41.

406 This people lived to the south of the Caspian.

407 “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 Kossaeans by Diodorus (xvii. 59); the Sogdiani, Massagatae, Belitae, Kossaeans, Gortyae, Phrygians, and Kataonians, by Curtius (iv. 12).”—Grote.

408 This distinguished general succeeded Antipater as regent of Macedonia, but was overcome by Cassander, the son of the former, and became subordinate to him.

409 There were thus six taxeis, or brigades of foot Companions, as they were called, in the phalanx of infantry at the battle of Arbela. Arrian’s description of the battle at the Granicus (i. 14) seems to be erroneous in some of the words of the text; yet it may be gathered from it that there were also six taxeis in Alexander’s phalanx on that occasion also.

410 See Arrian’s Tactics, 29.

411 Cf. Diodorus (xvii. 57).

412 See Donaldson’s New Cratylus, sect. 178.

413 Cf. Curtius, iv. 35. “Equitibus equisque tegumenta erant ex ferreis laminis serie inter se connexis.”

414 Compare the uselessness of the Persian scythed chariots at the battle of Cunaxa. See Xenophon (Anabasis, i. 8). So also at the battle of Magnesia between Scipio and Antiochus. See Livy, xxxvii. 41.

415 πεφρικυῖα, imitated from Homer (Iliad, iv. 282). Cf. Vergil (Aeneid, x. 178, horrentibus hastis); Livy, xliv. 41 (horrendis hastis).

416 Curtius (iv. 58, 59) and Diodorus (xvii. 60) describe quite an Homeric battle, Darius hurling a spear at Alexander, and Alexander hurling his at Darius and killing his charioteer. They say that the Persians mistook the fall of the Charioteer for that of the king, and fled, carrying Darius with them.

417 Curtius (iv. 59) and Diodorus (xvii. 60) say that so thick a cloud of dust was raised by the mighty mass of fugitives, that nothing could be clearly distinguished, and that thus the Macedonians lost the track of Darius. The noise of the shouting and the cracking of whips served as guides to the pursuers.

418 Sisygambis, the mother of Darius, whom these Persians were especially anxious to liberate from the custody of the Macedonians, refused to go with them. See Diodorus and Curtius.

419 Arrian does not say much about this vigorous charge of Mazaeus, the commander of the Persian right wing. See Curtius (iv. 60); Diodorus (xvii. 60).

420 We learn from Diodorus and Curtius that Parmenio had driven Mazaeus back before Alexander’s arrival.

421 The Lycus, now called the Great Zab, is a tributary of the Tigris. Xenophon calls it Zabatus (Anab., ii. 5). The Greek Lycus is a translation of the Syrian Zaba (wolf).

422 About sixty-nine miles. Cf. Strabo (xvi. 1, 3).

423 ἐλινύσας. This is an Ionic word used by Herodotus (viii. 71, etc.), and rarely in Attic poets and later prose writers.

424 See Arrian, ii. 11 supra.

425 Curtius (iv. 63) says that 40,000 of the Persians were slain, and that less than 300 Macedonians were killed. Diodorus (xvii. 61) states that more than 90,000 Persians and 500 Macedonians were slain.

426 September 331 B.C. Cf. Plutarch (Alex., 31).

427 For this prediction, see iii. 7 supra.

428 As to the kinsmen and apple-bearers, see iii. 11 supra.

429 Diodorus (xvii. 63) and Curtius (v. 6) state that from the treasure captured in Babylon, Alexander distributed to each Macedonian horseman about £24, to each of the Grecian horsemen £20, to each of the Macedonian infantry £8, and to the allied infantry two months’ pay.

430 Belus, or Bel, the supreme deity of the Babylonians, was identical with the Syrian Baal. The signification of the name is mighty. Cf. Herodotus (i. 181); Diodorus (ii. 9); Strabo (xvi. 1).

431 See i. 17 supra.

432 The Chaldees appear in Hebrew under the name of Casdim, who seem to have originally dwelt in Carduchia, the northern part of Assyria. The Assyrians transported these rude mountaineers to the plains of Babylonia (Isa. xxiii. 13). The name of Casdim, or Chaldees, was applied to the inhabitants of Mesopotamia (Gen. xi. 28); the inhabitants of the Arabian desert in the vicinity of Edom (Job i. 17); those who dwelt near the river Chaboras (Ezek. i. 3; xi. 24); and the priestly caste who had settled at a very early period in Babylon, as we are informed by Diodorus and Eusebius. Herodotus says that these priests were dedicated to Belus. It is proved by inscriptions that the ancient language was retained as a learned and religious literature. This is probably what is meant in Daniel i. 4 by “the book and tongue of the Casdim.” Cf. Diodorus (ii. 29-31); Ptolemy (v. 20, 3); and Cicero (De Divinatione, i. 1). See Fürst’s Hebrew Lexicon, sub voce כֶּֽשֶׂד.

433 In the Bible this city is called Shushan. Near it was the fortress of Shushan, called in our Bible the Palace (Neh. i. 2; Esth. ii. 8). Susa was situated on the Choaspes, a river remarkable for the excellence of its water, a fact referred to by Tibullus (iv. 1, 140) and by Milton (Paradise Reg., iii. 288). The name Shushan is derived from the Persian word for lily, which grew abundantly in the vicinity. The ruins of the palace mentioned in Esther i. have recently been explored, and were found to consist of an immense hall, the roof of which was supported by a central group of thirty-six pillars arranged in the form of a square. This was flanked by three porticoes, each containing two rows of six pillars. Cf. Strabo (xv. 7, 28).

434 The name of the viceroy was Abulites (Curtius, v. 8).

435 If these were Attic talents, the amount would be equivalent to £11,600,000; but if they were Babylonian or Aeginetan talents, they were equal to £19,000,000. Cf. Plutarch (Alex., 36, 37); Justin (xi. 14); and Curtius (v. 8). Diodorus (xvii. 66) tells us that 40,000 talents were of uncoined gold and silver, and 9,000 talents of gold bearing the effigy of Darius.