The Campaigns of Alexander (Classics) (11 page)

When Alexander’s troops had reached the steepest part of the ascent towards the Pisidians’ position on the hill, they were attacked on both wings by small parties of men, who took advantage of the difficult ground to slip in where they best could and the enemy had least chance to retaliate; in this they were partially successful, for the archers who were leading the assault, and were, moreover, only lightly protected, were forced to retreat. The Agrianes, however, yielded nothing – encouraged, no doubt, by the fact that the Macedonian infantry divisions were already coming up, with Alexander in full view at the head of them. A hand-to-hand struggle ensued; the Pisidians, who had no defensive armour, found themselves matched with fully equipped heavy infantry, with the result that they suffered severe losses and finally broke. About 500 were killed; prisoners were few, because their light equipment and knowledge of the country made escape easy, while the Macedonians, for their part, with their heavy gear and lack of local knowledge, were none too eager to pursue them. None the less Alexander hung on to the fugitives and stormed the town. Cleander, who commanded the archers, was killed during these operations, as were about twenty others.

Alexander then proceeded against the other Pisidian communities; some of their fortified places he took by assault, others surrendered to him without resistance.

His next move was into Phrygia. His route lay past lake Ascania – a lake from which the people of the neighbourhood collect natural salt, so that they have no need to
depend on supplies from the sea. Five days later he was at Celaenae.

The town of Celaenae has a lofty central stronghold, sheer all round, and this was garrisoned by 1,000 Carian troops and 100 Greek mercenaries, who took their orders from the Persian governor of Phrygia. The garrison sent Alexander an offer to surrender the town provided that no reinforcements arrived on a certain day on which they had agreed to expect them – which date they specified; and it seemed better to Alexander to accept this arrangement than to attempt the reduction by siege of such an unassailable position. Accordingly he left a force of some 1,500 men to watch the town, and after a wait often days marched for Gordium. Before he left he appointed Antigonus, son of Philip, to the governorship of Phrygia, promoting Balacrus, son of Amyntas, to the command of the allied contingents in his place.
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To Parmenio he sent orders to meet him at Gordium with the troops under his command – and the orders were duly carried out. The recently married Macedonians who had been sent home on leave also rejoined at Gordium with a force of freshly levied troops – 3,000 Macedonian infantry and about 300 horse, 200 Thessalian horse, and 150 men from Elis under their own commander Alcias. The whole force was commanded by Ptolemy son of Seleucus, Coenus son of Polemocrates, and Meleager son of Neoptolemus.

Gordium is in Hellespontine Phrygia; the town stands on the river Sangarius, which rises in Phrygia and runs
through Bithynian Thrace into the Black Sea. During his stay there Alexander was visited by envoys from Athens with a request for the liberation of Athenian prisoners of war, who had been captured on the Granicus fighting for Persia and were at that time in Macedonia under close confinement, with the other 2,000 prisoners. But for the moment, at any rate, the request was not granted, and the envoys were forced to return with their mission unfulfilled. For Alexander felt that, with the war against Persia still on his hands, it would be dangerous to relax his severity towards anyone of Greek nationality who had consented to fight for Asia against his own country. Nevertheless he did tell the Athenian envoys that they might approach him again on the matter when circumstances were favourable.
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Before his work was completed, however, he fell sick and died, and his death was the most serious setback which Persia received during this period of the war.

Memnon on his deathbed – and pending a further decision by Darius – had handed over his command to his nephew, Pharnabazus, Artabazus’ son; and he and Autophradates vigorously prosecuted the siege. The people of Mitylene, finding themselves cut off on the landward side and blockaded by a powerful fleet, sent to Pharnabazus and agreed, first, to get rid of the mercenary troops sent
to fight for them by Alexander; secondly, to rescind the pact they had made with him
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and enter into alliance with Darius according to the terms of the peace of Antalcidas,
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and, lastly, to allow their exiles to return and resume possession of half their original property. Such were the terms of the agreement; but Pharnabazus and Autophradates, once they had got inside the town, brought in a garrison under the command of Lycomedes of Rhodes and put one of the exiled party, named Diogenes, in general control with autocratic powers. At the same time they enforced the contribution of a sum of money, extorting a part of it from the wealthier men and raising the remainder by a general levy, after which Pharnabazus set sail for Lycia with the mercenary troops, while Autophradates proceeded to the other islands.

Meanwhile Darius sent Thymondas, son of Mentor, to fetch the mercenaries which were in Pharnabazus’ charge and to order Pharnabazus himself formally to take over Memnon’s command. The mercenaries were, accordingly, transferred to Thymondas,
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and Pharnabazus sailed to rejoin Autophradates and the fleet. On his arrival they first dispatched ten ships under a Persian named Datames to the Cyclades islands, and then sailed with a squadron
a hundred strong for Tenedos, where they brought up in what is known as North Harbour. They then sent a demand to the islanders for the abrogation of their agreements with Alexander and the Greeks, and the observance of the terms of the Peace of Antalcidas, which they had concluded with Persia.

The people of Tenedos would have liked nothing better than to remain on good terms with Alexander and the Greeks; but in the circumstances they were forced to believe that their only hope of safety lay in accepting Persia’s terms; even Hegelochus was a broken reed, for though he had had orders from Alexander once again to get a fleet together, he had not yet raised a sufficient force to give any prospect of speedy relief.
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One might say, therefore, that Tenedos was scared into surrender by Pharnabazus and his men, against the true wishes of the people.

About this time it so happened that Proteas, son of Andronicus, upon orders from Antipater, had assembled a number of warships from Euboea and the Peloponnese to afford protection to the Greek coast and the islands in the event of a Persian attack by sea, which report said was not unlikely. Information reached Proteas that Datames had brought up off Siphnos with a squadron of ten ships, so with fifteen of his own he sailed at night for Chalcis on the Euripus. It was dawn when he reached the island of Cythnus, and throughout the day he remained there at anchor in order to get more definite information about the ten enemy ships, and also to give himself the chance of attacking their Phoenician crews with more devastating effect during the hours of darkness. As soon as all doubt about Datames’ presence at Siphnos was removed,
he made sail just before dawn, while it was still dark, delivered a surprise attack, and captured eight of the ten ships, together with their crews. Right at the start of the encounter with Proteas’ squadron Datames slipped away with the remaining two vessels and succeeded in rejoining the rest of the fleet.

To return to Alexander at Gordium. Upon reaching this place he was irresistibly impelled to visit the palace of Gordius and his son Midas high up on the acropolis, in order to inspect the famous Wagon of Gordius and the Knot with which its yoke was fixed. There was a story about this wagon, widely believed in the neighbourhood. Gordius (so went the tale) lived in Phrygia in the ancient days; he was poor and had but two yoke of oxen and a small plot of land to till. With one pair of oxen he ploughed, with the other he drove his wagon. One day when he was ploughing an eagle perched on the yoke of his plough and stayed there until the oxen were loosed and the day’s work done. Gordius was troubled, and went to the seers of Telmissus to consult them about what this sign from heaven might mean – for the people of Telmissus were skilled in interpreting God’s mysteries, and their women and children as well as their men inherited the gift of divination. Near a village belonging to these people he fell in with a girl who was drawing water; he told her of the eagle, and she in reply, being herself sprung from a line of seers, advised him to return to the place where he had seen the sign and offer sacrifice to Zeus the King. Gordius urged her to go with him and show him the form the sacrifice should take, and he performed it as she directed, and afterwards married her, and they had a son whose name was Midas.

Now when Midas had grown to be a fine and handsome man there was trouble and strife among the Phrygians,
and an oracle told them that a wagon would bring them a king, who would put an end to their quarrels. While they were still debating what to do about these things, Midas with his father and mother drove up in the wagon and came to a stop at their place of meeting. Taking this to be the fulfilment of the oracle, the Phrygians decided that here was the man whom the god had foretold that a wagon would bring. So they put Midas on the throne, and he made an end of their trouble and strife and laid up his father’s wagon on the acropolis as a thank-offering to Zeus the King for sending the eagle.

There was also another traditional belief about the wagon: according to this, the man who undid the knot which fixed its yoke was destined to be the lord of Asia.
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The cord was made from the bark of the cornel tree, and so cunningly was the knot tied that no one could see where it began or where it ended. For Alexander, then, how to undo it was indeed a puzzle, though he was none the less unwilling to leave it as it was, as his failure might possibly lead to public disturbances. Accounts of what followed differ: some say that Alexander cut the knot with a stroke of his sword and exclaimed, ‘I have undone it!’, but Aristobulus thinks that he took out the pin – a sort of wooden peg which was driven right through the shaft of the wagon and held the knot together – and thus pulled the yoke away from the shaft. I do not myself presume to dogmatize on this subject. In any case, when he and his attendants left the place where the wagon stood, the general feeling was that the oracle about the untying of the knot had been fulfilled. Moreover, that very night there was lightning and thunder – a further sign from heaven; so Alexander, on the strength of all this, offered sacrifice the following day to the gods who had sent the
sign from heaven and proclaimed the Loosing of the Knot.

Next day he started for Ancyra in Galatia, where he was met by a deputation of Paphlagonians, who expressed a wish to be on terms of friendship with him, offering the submission of their people, and begging him not to march his troops into their territory. Alexander in reply instructed them to take their orders from Calas, the governor of Phrygia,
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and then proceeded to Cappadocia, where he received the submission of all territory bounded by the river Halys and also of a large tract to the west and north beyond it. Then, leaving Sabictas
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as governor of Cappadocia, he advanced to the Cilician Gates. When he reached the position where Cyrus had once encampedinthe campaign with Xenophon, he found the Gates strongly held;
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so he left Parmenio there with the heavy infantry, and marched under cover of darkness to the Gates with the Guards and Agrianes, with the intention of delivering a surprise attack upon the defending force. Actually, his approach was observed, but the bold move was none the less successful; for the knowledge that Alexander was coming upon them in person was too much for the enemy, who abandoned their posts and fled. At dawn the following morning he passed the Gates with all his men and entered Cilicia, where a report reached him that Arsames had abandoned his original intention of holding Tarsus for Persia: now, it appeared, having learned that Alexander had passed the Gates, he meant to give up the town,
and the townspeople were consequently afraid that he might strip the place before he left. Alexander, accordingly, brought up his cavalry and the most mobile of his light infantry with all possible speed, with the result that Arsames, the moment he was aware of his rapid approach, did not stop to plunder the town, but got out as fast as he could and made his way to the court of Darius.

About this time Alexander had a bout of sickness. The cause of it, according to Aristobulus’ account, was exhaustion, but others say that he plunged into the river Cydnus for a swim, as he was sweating with heat and could not resist the pleasure of a bathe. The Cydnus runs right through Tarsus, and as it rises in Mount Taurus and flows through open country, its waters are clear and cold; the result was that Alexander was seized by a convulsion, followed by high fever and sleepless nights. All his doctors but one despaired of his life; but Philip of Acarnania, who attended him and was not only a trusted physician but a good soldier as well, proposed to give him a purgative. Alexander consented to take it, and just as Philip was preparing the draught, Alexander was handed a note from Parmenio. ‘Beware of Philip’, the note read; ‘I am informed that he has been bribed by Darius to poison you.’ Alexander read the warning, and with the paper still in his hand took the cup of medicine and then passed the note to Philip. Philip read it, and while he was reading Alexander swallowed the dose. It was immediately clear that there was nothing wrong with Philip’s medicine; he showed no alarm at Parmenio’s warning, but simply advised Alexander to continue to follow his instructions – for, if he did, he would recover. The dose had its due effect and brought relief, and from that moment Philip knew that Alexander was his faithful friend; it was evident also to everyone else about his person both that he was firm in his refusal
to suspect treachery in friends and could look unmoved upon death.
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He now dispatched Parmenio to the other Gates which stand on the boundary between Cilicia and Assyria.
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Parmenio’s orders were to seize and hold the pass with the troops entrusted to him – the allied infantry, the Greek mercenaries, the Thracians under Sitalces, and the Thessalian cavalry. Alexander himself, leaving Tarsus after Parmenio had gone, in one day’s march reached Anchialus, a town supposed to have been built by Sardanapalus the Assyrian. It is clear from the extent of the surrounding walls and the solidity of their foundations that it was originally a large town and grew to great importance. Close to the walls was the tomb of Sardanapalus, supporting a statue of him in the attitude of a man clapping his hands, with an inscription in Assyrian characters.
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According to the Assyrians the inscription was in verse, but, whether verse or not, the general sense of it was this: ‘Sardanapalus, son of Anakyndaraxes, built in one day Tarsus and Anchialus. O stranger, eat, drink, and play, for everything else in the life of a man is not worth this’ – and by ‘this’ was to be understood a clap of the hands. They also said that ‘play’ was something of a euphemism for the original Assyrian word.

From Anchialus Alexander proceeded to Soli, where he installed a garrison and imposed upon the town a fine of 200 talents of silver for its support of the Persian cause; then with three battalions of Macedonian foot, the Agrianes,
and all his archers he marched against those of the Cilicians who were holding the hills. Some he drove from their positions; others surrendered; and within a week he was back in Soli, where the news reached him that Ptolemy and Asander had won a victory over the Persian commander Orontobates, who was holding the acropolis in Halicarnassus together with the towns of Myndus, Caunus, Thera, and Callipolis, and had also taken possession of Cos and Triopium.
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According to the dispatch, Orontobates had been defeated in a great battle; he had lost some 700 of his infantry and fifty of his mounted troops, with at least 1,000 prisoners.

To celebrate this success Alexander offered sacrifice to Asclepius
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and held a ceremonial parade of all his troops, followed by a torch race and games which included contests in music and verse as well as athletics. The town of Soli he permitted to retain its own popular government. He then started for Tarsus and gave orders for the cavalry to proceed under the command of Philotas across the plain of Alea to the river Pyramus. With the infantry and the Royal Squadron of horse he then went to Magarsus, whence, after offering sacrifice to the local Athene, he proceeded to Mallus, where he performed all proper ceremonies in honour of the demi-god Amphilochus. In this latter place he found political troubles in progress, and settled them, remitting the tribute which the town paid to Darius on the ground that Mallus was a colony of Argos and he himself claimed to be descended from the Argive Heracleidae.

He was still at Mallus when a report reached him that Darius and the whole Persian army were at Sochi, a place
in Assyrian territory about two days’ march from the Assyrian Gates. He at once called a meeting of his staff and told them this important news. They urged unanimously an immediate advance. Alexander thanked them and dismissed the meeting, and on the following day moved forward with the evident intention of attack. Two days later he was past the Gates. He took up a position near Myriandrus, and during the night there was a storm of such violent wind and rain that he was compelled to remain where he was, with no chance of breaking camp.

Meanwhile Darius had no apparent intention of making a move; he had chosen for his position a part of Assyria where the country was flat and open, good for cavalry action, and suitable for manoeuvring the vast numbers under his command. Amyntas, son of Antiochus, a deserter from Alexander’s army, urged him not to move from such favourable ground, for plenty of space was precisely what the Persian army most needed, its numbers and equipment being what they were. Darius took Amyntas’ advice, but later, when there was still no sign of Alexander, who had been held up at Tarsus by his illness, and again at Soli, for nearly as long, by the grand parade and religious ceremonies he held there, and finally, by his expedition against the hill tribes of Cilicia, he began to have his doubts. Moreover, Darius was always ready to believe what he found it most agreeable to believe, and on this occasion flattering courtiers, such as always are, and always will be, the bane of kings, had persuaded him into thinking that Alexander no longer wished to advance further into Asia: in fact, that the news of his own approach was the cause of Alexander’s hesitation. First one, then another of them blew up the bladder of his conceit by saying that the Persian cavalry would ride over the
Macedonian army and trample it to pieces.
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Only Amyntas opposed them, persistently affirming that Alexander would seek out Darius in any place where he knew him to be, and urging him not to shift his ground. But the worse counsel prevailed – because it told him what at the moment he liked to hear; more than that, there was surely some supernatural power which led Darius to take up a position where he could get little advantage either from his cavalry or his superiority in numbers of men and weight of missiles – a position where he had no chance of dazzling the enemy with the splendour of his great host, but was doomed to make a present of easy victory to Alexander and the Macedonians. Destiny had decreed that Macedon should wrest the sovereignty of Asia from Persia, as Persia once had wrested it from the Medes, and the Medes, in their turn, from the Assyrians.