692 Cf. Plutarch (Alex., 60); Curtius, viii. 51.
693 Diodorus (xvii. 87) says that the battle was fought in the archonship of Chremes at Athens.
694 Nicaea is supposed to be Mong and Bucephala may be Jelalpur. See Strabo, xv. 1.
695 Cf. 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.
696 Curtius (vi. 17) says this occurred in the land of the Mardians; whereas Plutarch (Alex., 44) says it happened in Hyrcania.
697 Diodorus (xvii. 89), says Alexander made a halt of 30 days after this battle.
698 Cf. Arrian, v. 8 supra, where an earlier embassy from Abisares is mentioned.
699 Strabo (xv. 1) says that this Porus was a cousin of the Porus captured by Alexander.
700 This is the Chenab. See Arrian (Indica, iii.), who says that where it joins the Indus it is 30 stades broad.
701 Diodorus (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.
702 Μέλλειν is usually connected with the future infinitive; but Arrian frequently uses it with the present.
703 Now called the Ravi.
704 Sangala is supposed to be Lahore; but probably it lay some distance from that city, on the bank of the Chenab.
705 Compare 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.
706 ἐγκυρεῖν is an epic and Ionic word rarely used in Attic; but found frequently in Herodotus, Homer, Hesiod, and Pindar.
707 The Greeks had only three watches; but Arrian is speaking as a Roman.
708 Eumenes, 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 in B.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.
709 Now called the Beas, or Bibasa. Strabo calls it Hypanis, and Pliny calls it Hypasis.
710 In 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 name Javan is closely connected with the Greek Ion, which originally had a digamma, Ivon. Pott says that it means the young, in opposition to the Graikoi, the old. According to Aristotle (Meteorologica, i. 14) the Hellenes were originally called Graikoi. Cf. Sanscrit, jewan; Zend, jawan; Latin, juvenis; English, young.
711 Coele-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 name Pamphylia is from πᾶν and φυλή, because of the mixed origin of the inhabitants.
712 Cf. 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’s Periplus still 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).
713 The interior of Africa, from the Straits of Gibraltar to Egypt, and from the Mediterranean to the then unexplored South.
714 Arrian, 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.
715 Heracles, from whom the Macedonian kings claimed to be descended.
716 Hence Hercules is called Tirynthius. (Virgil, Aeneid, vii. 662; viii. 228).
717 See chap. 1 of this book.
718 Cf. Xenophon (Anab., i. 7, 4).
719 Cf. Curtius, ix. 12.
720 Arrian (iii. 19) says that the Thessalians were sent back from Ecbatana.
721 Pontus Euxinus antea ab inhospitali feritate Axenos appellatus (Pliny, vi. 1).
722 The Latin name Carthago and the Greek Carchedon were corruptions of the Phoenician Carth-Hadeshoth, the “new city.”
723 Pliny (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.
724 Herodotus (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.
725 This was the Nelumbium 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.
726 I.e. the Mediterranean.
727 See Arrian, v. 6 supra. The native name of Egypt was Chem (black). Compare Vergil (Georgic. iv. 291):—Viridem Aegyptum nigrâ fecundat arenâ. Usque coloratis amnis devexus ab Indis.
728 This use of ἀμφί with the dative is instead of the Attic περί with the genitive or accusative.
729 Plutarch (Alex. 66) informs us that Alexander’s army numbered 120,000 infantry and 15,000 cavalry. Cf. Arrian (Indica, 19).
730 Arrian, in the Indica (chap. 19), says that Alexander embarked with 8,000 men.
731 Strabo (xv. 1) says that the realm of Sopeithes was called Cathaia.
732 As Alexander was at this time east of the Indus, the expression, “beyond the Indus,” means west of it.
733 Cf. Arrian, v. 2 supra.
734 Only fragments of this narrative are preserved. Strabo (xv. 1) says that the statements of Onesicritus are not to be relied upon.
735 Curtius (ix. 13) and Diodorus (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.
736 From 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.
737 Cf. iii. 3 supra.
738 Cf. Arrian (Indica, 7).
739 Cf. 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.
740 According to Diodorus (xvii. 96) and Curtius (ix. 14) Alexander here made an expedition against the Sibi; defeated an army of 40,000 Indians, and captured the city of Agallassa.
741 The chief city of the Mallians is the modern Mooltan.
742 Μήπω. In later writers μή is often used where the Attic writers would use οὔ.
743 Strabo and Curtius call this river Hyarotis.
744 The 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.
745 Cf. Arrian i. 11 supra.
746 The Romans called these men duplicarii. See Livy, ii. 59; vii. 37.
747 τοῖς ἔπειτα πυθέσθαι. Cf. Homer (Iliad, xxii. 305; ii. 119).
748 Curtius (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.
749 Cf. Plutarch (Alex. 63); Diodorus (xvii. 98, 99); Curtius (ix. 18-23); Justin (xii. 9).
750 As 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).
751 Curtius (ix. 18) says it was the town of the Oxydracians.
752 Nearly 70 miles.
753 Isthmus is from the same root as ἰέναι, to go, and thus means a passage. Pindar (Isthmia, iv. 34) calls it the “bridge of the sea.”
754 We learn from Curtius (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.
755 Ptolemy 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. See Pausanias, i. 8, 6.
756 The word ἀταλαίπωρος is used in a similar way by Thucydides, i. 20, 4.
757 Curtius (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.
758 This line is a fragment from one of the lost tragedies of Aeschўlus: δράσαντι γάρ τι καὶ παθεῖν ὀφείλεται.
759 Curtius (ix. 23) says that he was cured of his wound in seven days. Diodorus (xvii. 99) says that it took many days.
760 Arrian 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.
761 About 12 miles. Ita se findente Nilo ut triquetram terrae figuram efficiat. Ideo multi Graecae literae vocabulo Delta appellavere Aegyptum (Pliny, v. 9).
762 This tribe dwelt between the Acesines and the Indus. Diodorus (xvii. 102) calls them Sambastians; while Curtius (ix. 30) calls them Sabarcians. The Xathrians and Ossadians dwelt on the left bank of the Indus.
763 We find from Curtius (ix. 31) and Diodorus (xvii. 102) that the name of this was Alexandria. It is probably the present Mittun.
764 Curtius (ix. 31) calls this satrap Terioltes, and says he was put to death. His appointment as viceroy is mentioned by Arrian (iv. 22 supra).
765 This king is called Porticanus by Curtius (ix. 31), Diodorus (xvii. 102), and Strabo (xv. 1).
766 An expression imitated from Thucydides (iv. 34). Cf. Arrian, ii. 10; v. 19; where the same words are used of Darius and Porus.
767 Diodorus (xvii. 102) says that Sambus escaped beyond the Indus with thirty elephants.
769 The Indica, a valuable work still existing. See chapters x. and xi. of that book.
770 These people inhabited the Delta of the Indus, which is now called Lower Scinde. Their capital, Patala, is the modern Tatta.
771 Cf. Arrian (Indica, ii.).
772 Curtius (ix. 34) calls this king Moeris.
773 Aristobulus, as quoted by Strabo (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, 325 B.C.
774 The right arm of the Indus is now called the Buggaur, and the left Sata.
775 I.e. caused a heavy swell of waters. Cf. Apollonius Rhodius, ii. 595; Polybius, i. 60, 6. This wind was the south-west monsoon.
776 Cf. 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.
777 Plutarch (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.
778 In regard to this expedition, see Arrian, vii. 20 infra.
779 About 200 miles. Arrian here follows the statement of Nearchus. Aristobulus said that the distance was 1,000 stades. See Strabo, xv. 1.
780 See Curtius, ix. 38. This lake has disappeared.
781 These periodical winds are the southerly monsoon of the Indian Ocean. Cf. Arrian (Indica, 21).
782 This occurs at the beginning of November. The Romans called the Pleiades Vergiliae. Cf. Pliny (ii. 47, 125): Vergiliarum occasus hiemem inchoat, quod tempus in III. Idus Novembres incidere consuevit. Also Livy (xxi. 35, 6): Nivis etiam casus, occidente jam sidere Vergiliarum, ingentem terrorem adjecit.
783 This 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 by Strabo (xv. 2).
784 These 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.
785 The Arabitians dwelt between the Indus and the Arabius; the Oritians were west of the latter river.
786 Rhambacia was probably at or near Haur.
787 According to Diodorus (xvii. 104) the city was called Alexandria.
788 Ora was the name of the district inhabited by the Oritians.
789 Cf. Pliny (Nat. Hist. xii. 33-35).
790 Cf. Strabo (xv. 2); Pliny (Nat. Hist. xii. 26).
791 Probably the snow-flake.
792 This is the well-known catechu, obtained chiefly from the Acacia Catechu. The liquid gum is called kuth or cutch in India.
793 These 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).
794 A man of Callatis, a town on the Black Sea in Thrace, originally colonized by the Milesians.
795 Cf. Herodotus, i. 193.
796 Pura was near the borders of Carmania, probably at Bampur. The name means town.
797 Cf. 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.
798 Strabo 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.
799 Cf. Thucydides, ii. 49, 3.
800 Cf. Xenophon (Anab. vii. 5, 13); Homer (Odyss. vii. 283).
801 Curtius (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.
804 Curtius (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.
805 The 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.)
806 ἐξηλέγχθη is substituted by Sintenis for the common reading ἐξηγγέλθη.
807 According to Curtius (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.
808 The thriambus was a hymn to Bacchus, sung in festal processions in his honour. It was also used as a name of that deity, as we learn from Diodorus, iv. 5. It was afterwards used as synonymous with the Roman triumphus, by Polybius, Dionysius, and Plutarch.
809 The Bacchanalian procession through Carmania is described by Curtius (ix. 42); Plutarch (Alex. 67); and Diodorus (xvii. 106).
810 Diodorus (xvii. 106) says that the port into which Nearchus put was called Salmus.
811 ἐκπεριπλεύσοντα. The Attic future of πλέω is πλεύσομαι. πλέυσω is only found in Polybius and the later writers.
812 See Arrian (Indica, 18-43).
813 The 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.
814 B.C. 325.
815 Aria. See chap. 27 supra.
816 Curtius (x. 4) says Orxines was descended from Cyrus.
817 See iii. 25 supra.
818 Cf. Strabo, xv. 3, where a description of this tomb is given, derived from Onesicritus, the pilot of Alexander. See Dean Blakesley’s note on Herodotus i. 214.
819 Just a few lines above, Arrian says that the couch was by the side of the coffin.
820 Cf. 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.
821 See iii. 18 supra.