The Campaigns of Alexander (Classics) (13 page)

The moment the Persian left went to pieces under Alexander’s attack and Darius, in his war-chariot, saw that it was cut off, he incontinently fled – indeed, he led the race for safety. Keeping to his chariot as long as there was smooth ground to travel on, he was forced to abandon it when ravines and other obstructions barred his way; then, dropping his shield and stripping off his mantle – and even leaving his bow in the war-chariot – he leapt upon a horse and rode for his life. Darkness soon closed in; and that alone saved him from falling into the hands of Alexander, who, while daylight held, relentlessly pressed the pursuit; but when there was no longer light enough to see what he was coming to, he turned back – but not without taking possession of Darius’ chariot together with his shield, mantle, and bow. In point of fact his pursuit would have been more rapid had he not turned back at the moment when his line of heavy infantry broke, in the first stage of the battle; he had then waited until he saw that both the Greek mercenaries and the Persian cavalry had been forced back from the river bank.

Among the Persian dead were Arsames, Rheomithres, and Atizyes – all three of whom had served as cavalry officers at the battle on the Granicus; also Sabaces, governor of Egypt, and Bubaces, another person of distinguished rank;
of the common soldiers, something like 100,000 were killed, including over 10,000 of the cavalry.
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Ptolemy, son of Lagus, who was serving with Alexander at this time, says in his account of the battle that the Macedonians in their pursuit of Darius actually crossed a ravine on the bodies of the Persian dead.

Darius’ headquarters were stormed and captured; his mother was taken, together with his wife (who was also his sister) and his infant son; in addition to these, two of his daughters fell into Alexander’s hands with a few noble Persian ladies who were in attendance upon them. The Persian officers had sent their gear and womenfolk to Damascus, and Darius, too, had sent thither most of his treasure and the various paraphernalia which the luxurious life of a great king seems to require, even on campaign;
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so that a mere 3,000 talents were found at his headquarters. In point of fact, however, the treasure at Damascus, too, was seized not long afterwards by Parmenio, who was ordered there for the purpose. Such, then, was the result of the battle of Issus, fought in the month of November, during the archonship of Nicocrates at Athens.
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Alexander had been hurt by a sword-thrust in the thigh,
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but this did not prevent him from visiting the
wounded on the day after the battle, when he also gave a splendid military funeral to the dead in the presence of the whole army paraded in full war equipment. At the ceremony he spoke in praise of every man who by his own observation or from reliable report he knew had distinguished himself in the fighting, and marked his approval in each case by a suitable reward. He appointed Balacrus, son of Nicanor, a member of the Royal Guard, as governor of Cilicia, promoting Menos, son of Dionysius, to fill the place thus left vacant, and Polysperchon, son of Simmias, was promoted to command the battalion of Ptolemy, son of Seleucus, who had been killed. The people of Soli still owed fifty talents of the fine imposed upon them, but he cancelled the debt and returned their hostages.
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His sympathy was extended, moreover, even to Darius’ mother, wife, and children. According to some accounts, on the night when he returned from the pursuit he heard upon entering Darius’ tent, which had been set aside as his own special portion of the spoils of war, the confused sound of women’s voices raised in lamentation somewhere close at hand. He asked who the women were and why they should be in a tent so close to him. ‘Sire,’ he was told, ‘they are Darius’ mother and wife and children. They know that you have his bow and his royal mantle and that his shield has been brought back, and they are mourning for his death.’ Alexander at once sent Leonnatus, one of his Companions, to tell them that Darius was alive – his mantle and weapons he had left, as he fled for safety, in his war chariot, and these, and nothing else, had fallen
into Alexander’s hands. Leonnatus entered their tent, gave the message about Darius, and added that Alexander wished them to retain all the marks, ceremonies, and titles of royalty, as he had not fought Darius with any personal bitterness, but had made legitimate war for the sovereignty of Asia. This is the account given by Ptolemy and Aristobulus; there is also another story to the effect that Alexander on the following day entered the tent accompanied only by Hephaestion, and that Darius’ mother, in doubt, owing to the similarity of their dress, which of the two was the King, prostrated herself before Hephaestion, because he was taller than his companion. Hephaestion stepped back, and one of the Queen’s attendant’s rectified her mistake by pointing to Alexander; the Queen withdrew in profound embarrassment, but Alexander merely remarked that her error was of no account, for Hephaestion, too, was an Alexander – a ‘protector of men’. I record this anecdote not as necessarily true, though it is credible enough. If such were indeed the facts, I cannot but admire Alexander both for treating these women with such compassion and for showing such respect and confidence towards his friend; if the story is apocryphal, it was at least inspired by Alexander’s character: thus he would have acted, thus he would have spoken – and on that account I admire him no less.
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Meanwhile Darius with a few followers made the best of his escape throughout the night, and with the coming of daylight was joined as he went along by parties of survivors, Persians or mercenaries, until he had in all a body of some 4,000 men; with these he pressed on with all speed towards Thapsacus and the Euphrates with the
intention of putting the river between himself and Alexander as soon as he could.
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Four men who had deserted to Darius – Amyntas son of Antiochus, Thymondas son of Mentor, Aristomedes of Pherae, and Bianor the Acar-nanian – fled to the hills with the 8,000 troops under their command
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and reached Tripolis in Phoenicia; finding hauled ashore there the ships which had brought them from Lesbos, they launched as many as they thought would serve their purpose, burnt the rest as they lay in the yards, to delay pursuit, and sailed first for Cyprus and thence to Egypt – where not long afterwards Amyntas was killed by the Egyptians for meddling in what did not concern him.
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All this time Pharnabazus and Autophradates had been hanging about in Chios. Now, after garrisoning the island, they dispatched a part of their fleet to Cos and Halicarnassus, and themselves put to sea with the hundred fastest ships they had; at Siphnos they were met by the Spartan King, Agis, who with a single trireme had come to raise money for the war and to ask that as many ships and men as possible should be sent to him in the Peloponnese. It was at this moment that the news of the battle of Issus came. The effect of it was shattering; Pharnabazus, fearing defeat might lead to trouble in Chios, at once sailed for
the island with twelve ships and 1,500 of the mercenaries, while Agis dispatched Hippias to Taenarum to deliver to his brother Agesilaus the ten ships and thirty talents of silver which he had received from Autophradates, adding instructions that he should tell Agesilaus to pay the seamen in full and sail immediately to secure Crete. Agis himself remained for a time in the islands, but subsequently joined Autophradates at Halicarnassus.
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Leaving Menon, son of Kerdimmas, as governor of Lowland Syria with the allied cavalry to keep the country under control, Alexander marched for Phoenicia. On the way thither he was met by Straton, the son of Gerostratus, who was the prince of Aradus and its neighbouring peoples; Gerostratus himself had sailed with Autophradates, as had the other petty kings of Phoenicia and Cyprus, so it was left to Straton to present himself before Alexander and to crown him with a gold crown, yielding him the sovereignty of the island of Aradus together with the large and prosperous town of Marathus on the mainland opposite, and Sigon, Mariamme, and everything else under his control.

While Alexander was at Marathus, envoys from Darius came with a request for the release of his mother, wife, and children. They also brought a letter from him, of which the substance was as follows:
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Philip and Artaxerxes were on terms of friendship and alliance;
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but upon the accession of Artaxerxes’ son Arses, Philip was guilty of unprovoked aggression against him.
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Now, since Darius’ reign began, Alexander has sent no representative to his court to confirm the former friendship and alliance between the two kingdoms; on the contrary, he has crossed into Asia with his armed forces and done much damage to the Persians. For this reason Darius took the field in defence of his country and of his ancestral throne. The issue of the battle was as some god willed; and now Darius the King asks Alexander the King to restore from captivity his wife, his mother, and his children, and is willing to make friends with him and be his ally. For this cause he urges Alexander to send to him, in company with Meniscus and Arsimas who have brought this request, representatives of his own in order that proper guarantees may be exchanged.

Alexander, having written his reply, ordered Thersippus to accompany Darius’ envoys on their return, giving him strict instructions to deliver the letter to Darius but to discuss no question whatever which might arise from it. This was the letter:

Your ancestors invaded Macedonia and Greece and caused havoc in our country, though we had done nothing to provoke them. As supreme commander of all Greece I invaded Asia because I wished to punish Persia for this act – an act which must be laid wholly to your charge. You sent aid to the people of Perinthus in their rebellion against my father; Ochus sent an army into Thrace, which was a part of our dominions; my father was killed by assassins whom, as you openly boasted in your letters, you yourselves hired to commit the crime;
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having murdered Arses with Bagoas’ help,
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you unjustly and illegally seized the throne, thereby committing a crime against your country; you sent the Greeks false information about me in the hope of making them my enemies; you attempted to supply the Greeks with money – which only the Lacedaemonians were willing to accept,
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your agents corrupted my friends and tried to wreck the peace which I had established in Greece – then it was that I took the field against you; but it was you who began the quarrel. First I defeated in battle your generals and satraps; now I have defeated yourself and the army you led. By God’s help I am master of your country, and I have made myself responsible for the survivors of your army who fled to me for refuge: far from being detained by force, they are serving of their own free will under my command.

Come to me, therefore, as you would come to the lord of the continent of Asia. Should you fear to suffer any indignity at my hands, then send some of your friends and I will give them the proper guarantees. Come, then, and ask me for your mother, your wife, and your children and anything else you
please; for you shall have them, and whatever besides you can persuade me to give you.

And in future let any communication you wish to make with me be addressed to the King of all Asia. Do not write to me as to an equal. Everything you possess is now mine; so, if you should want anything, let me know in the proper terms, or I shall take steps to deal with you as a criminal. If, on the other hand, you wish to dispute your throne, stand and fight for it and do not run away. Wherever you may hide yourself, be sure I shall seek you out.

Such were the terms of Alexander’s answer.

When he learned that money and other valuables sent by Darius to Damascus in charge of Cophen, son of Artabazus, had been seized and removed together with all the Persians left to guard them, he instructed Parmenio to see that the whole treasure was taken back to Damascus for sake keeping. The envoys from Greece, who had visited Darius before the battle, had also fallen into Parmenio’s hands; and these Alexander ordered should be sent to him. They were Euthycles, from Sparta; Thessaliscus, son of Ismenius, and Dionysidorus (the Olympic victor), from Thebes; and Iphicrates son of the distinguished general of the same name, from Athens. The four men were duly brought before Alexander; Thessaliscus and Dionysidorus, in spite of – or perhaps because of – the fact that they were Thebans, he at once dismissed: he was sorry for Thebes, and could not but feel that, as she had been reduced to slavery by a Macedonian army, her people had done nothing very reprehensible in sending to Darius; after all, they were only looking for what help they could get from Persia for themselves and their country, so he was inclined to take a lenient view of both these men. All the same, he privately declared that he released Thessaliscus out of respect for his family, which
was one of the noble families of Thebes, and Dionysidorus because of his success at the Olympic games. Iphicrates, from affection for Athens and the memory of his father’s fame, he retained in his personal suite, treating him with every mark of honour, and when he fell ill and died sent his bones to his relatives in Athens.
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Euthycles, on the contrary, represented a city then bitterly hostile to him; and for that reason, and because he was unable to produce any reasonable claim to clemency, Alexander kept him for the time being under open arrest. Later, however, in the full tide of his success, he let Euthycles go free as well.

Alexander now resumed his advance from Marathus. Byblus and Sidon both surrendered to him – the people of Sidon, who hated Darius and the Persians, actually inviting him to enter the town.
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He then proceeded in the direction of Tyre, and was met on the way by representatives from the town, who had been sent by its government to say that they had determined to abide by any instructions Alexander might give. The envoys were men of the best families in Tyre and included the son of the Tyrian king, Azemilcus, who himself was at sea with Autophradates; Alexander thanked them for their communication and directed them to return to Tyre and tell their people that he wished to enter the town and offer sacrifice to Heracles.