The Campaigns of Alexander (Classics) (16 page)

The defenders, though the town was taken, still stood shoulder to shoulder and fought to the last. Every one of them was killed at his post. Their women and children were sold as slaves.
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People from neighbouring tribes were settled in the town and Alexander used it as a blockhouse for possible future operations.

Alexander garrisoned Pelusium
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and, after giving orders to the fleet to proceed up the Nile to Memphis, set out southward along the east bank of the river, and, crossing the desert, arrived at Heliopolis. All the country along his route he secured without any native opposition. From Heliopolis he crossed the river to Memphis, where, among the other gods, he offered a special sacrifice to Apis and held Games with both athletic and literary contests.
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The most famous performers in Greece came over to take part. From Memphis he sailed down the river again with his Guards and archers, the Agrianes, and the Royal Cavalry Squadron of the Companions, to Canobus, when he proceeded round Lake Mareotis and finally came ashore at the spot where Alexandria, the city which bears his name, now stands. He was at once struck by the excellence of the site, and convinced that if a city were built upon it, it would prosper. Such was his enthusiasm that he could not wait to begin the work; he himself designed the general layout of the new town, indicating the position of the market square, the number of temples to be built, and what gods they should serve – the gods of Greece and the Egyptian Isis – and the precise limits of its outer defences. He offered sacrifice for a blessing on the work; and the sacrifice proved favourable.
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A story is told – and I do not see why one should disbelieve it – that Alexander wished to leave his workmen the plan of the city’s outer defences, but there were no available means of marking out the ground. One of the men, however, had the happy idea of collecting the meal from the soldiers’ packs and sprinkling it on the ground behind the King as he led the way; and it was by this means that Alexander’s design for the outer wall was actually transferred to the ground. The soothsayers pondered the significance of this – especially, of course, Aristander of Telmissus, who had the reputation of having already proved a true prophet to Alexander on
many occasions – and their conclusion was that the new town would prosper and that, amongst its blessings, the chief would be the fruits of the earth.

Meanwhile Hegelochus arrived in Egypt by sea with the news that Tenedos, which had been forcibly annexed by Persia, had now revolted and come over to Macedon.
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Chios, too, in spite of the puppet government introduced by Autophradates and Pharnabazus, had invited the Macedonians in; Pharnabazus had been captured in the island together with Aristonicus, the master of Methymna: the latter had entered the harbour at Chios with five pirate chasers, not being aware that it was already in Macedonian hands and misled by the statement of the men in charge of the defences that the vessels inside were Pharnabazus’ fleet. All, the pirate crews had been killed then and there, but he was bringing Aristonicus to Alexander, together with Apollonides, Phisinus, Megareus, and everyone else who had taken part in the original revolt of the island and had unlawfully seized control of its affairs. He further reported that he had taken the control of Mitylene from Chares
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and that the other Lesbian towns had consented to support him; Amphoterus had been dispatched with sixty ships to Cos, at the invitation of its people – indeed, he had himself visited Cos and found it already in Amphoterus’ hands. All the other prisoners he brought with him, with the exception of Pharnabazus, who had given his guards the slip in Cos and escaped.

Alexander sent the political bosses back to the towns in which they had exercised their power, to be dealt with
by the people on the spot as the fancy took them; the Chians with Apollonides he sent to Elephantine in Egypt under regular guard.
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After these events Alexander suddenly found himself passionately eager to visit the shrine of Ammon in Libya.
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One reason was his wish to consult the oracle there, as it had a reputation for infallibility, and also because Perseus and Heracles were supposed to have consulted it, the former when he was sent by Polydectes to slay the Gorgon, the latter during his journeys in Libya and Egypt in search of Antaeus and Busiris. But there was also another reason: Alexander longed to equal the fame of Perseus and Heracles; the blood of both flowed in his veins, and just as legend traced their descent from Zeus, so he, too, had a feeling that in some way he was descended from Ammon. In any case, he undertook this expedition with the deliberate purpose of obtaining more precise information on this subject – or at any rate to say that he had obtained it.
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He began his journey, according to Aristobulus’ account,
by marching 200 miles along the coast to Paraetonium.
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The country through which he passed was uninhabited but not waterless. At Paraetonium he turned south towards the interior, where the oracle of Ammon was situated. The way to it is across the desert, most of it sandy and waterless. Fortunately for Alexander there was much rain – the god’s own gift, as he supposed. Now it happens that a southerly wind in those parts buries the track deep in sand so that it is impossible to see it; travellers lose their bearings like sailors at sea; there are no marks along the track, no hill, no tree, no eminence of solid earth thrusting up through the sand, to enable the wayfarer to set his course, as seamen do by the stars. In fact, the guides were lost and Alexander’s army was going astray. In this dangerous situation, however, the god had another gift to give: according to Ptolemy, son of Lagus, two snakes led the army, hissing as they went, and Alexander told his guides to trust in providence and follow them. This they did, and the snakes led the way both to the oracle and back again. There is a commoner version of the story recorded by Aristobulus: according to this, Alexander’s guides were two crows which flew along in front of the army; in any case I have no doubt whatever that he had divine assistance of some kind – for what could be more likely? But precisely what form it took we shall never know because of the disparity in the various records.

The shrine of Ammon
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is surrounded on all sides by a waterless desert of sand; but in the midst of this waste
there is a small plot of ground five miles wide at its broadest point, and thickly planted with fruit trees – olives and date-palms. This, the actual site of the temple, is the only spot in the surrounding desert which has any moisture. Dew falls, and there is a spring, quite unlike other springs elsewhere: its water at midday is cold to the taste and still more so to the touch – nothing could be colder; but as the sun goes down and evening draws in, it gets warmer, and continues to rise in temperature until midnight, when it reaches its peak. After midnight it cools again, and by dawn it is already cold, though coldest, as I have said, at noon. The same changes in temperature are repeated every day in a regular cycle. Natural salt is also mined in this region; some of it is taken to Egypt by priests of the Temple, who before they begin their journey pack it in palm-leaf baskets and then carry it as a present, sometimes to the king.
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The salt is in large grains, some of which have been found to be more than three fingers broad,
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and it is as clear as crystal. The Egyptians and other people who are particular about religious observance use it for their sacrifices in preference to sea salt, because of its greater purity.

It was with deep admiration that Alexander surveyed the Temple and its site. He put his question to the oracle and received (or so he said) the answer which his heart desired.
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Then he began his return journey to Egypt,
following, according to Aristobulus, the same route as before. Ptolemy, son of Lagus, states that he took a different route and went direct to Memphis.

At Memphis he was visited by a number of deputations from Greece, and not a man of them did he send away without a favourable answer to his requests. He was joined here by a force of 400 Greek mercenaries sent by Antipater under the command of Menidas, son of Hegesander, and 500 Thracian cavalry commanded by Asclepiodorus, son of Eunicus. Here, too, he offered sacrifice to Zeus the King and held a ceremonial parade of his troops in battle order, followed by games with athletic and literary contests. He reorganized the country politically, appointing Doloaspis and Petisis, both Egyptians, as provincial governors, each to control one half of the country; but as Petisis declined the appointment, the whole was taken over by Doloaspis. To command the garrisons at Memphis and Pelusium respectively he posted two of his Companions, Pantaleon of Pydna and Polemon of Pella, son of Megacles; Lycidas, a Greek from Aetolia, was given the charge of the mercenaries. Other appointments were that of Eugnostus, son of Xenophantes, a member of the Companions, to be Secretary of foreign troops, and of Aeschylus and Ephippus of Chalcis to superintend the work of the two latter men. The governorship of the neighbouring country of Libya was given to Apollonius, son of Charinus, and of Arabia by Heröopolis
to Cleomenes of Naucratis;
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the latter was instructed to permit the existing nomarchs, or district governors, to carry on as before except for the collection of tribute, which they, in their turn, were ordered to pay him. Peucestas son of Macartus and Balacrus son of Amyntas were posted to the command of the troops to be left in Egypt, and Polemon son of Theramenes to the command of the fleet. Leonnatus son of Onasus was taken into the King’s personal bodyguard in place of Arrybas, who had died. Antiochus, the commander of the archers, had also died, and a Cretan named Ombrion was appointed to succeed him. Calanus took over the allied infantry in place of Balacrus, who was to remain in Egypt.

Alexander was deeply impressed by Egypt, and it is generally supposed that the potential strength of the country, which was greater than he expected, induced him to divide the control of it among a number of officers, as he judged it to be unsafe to put it all into the hands of one man. No doubt the Romans took a leaf from Alexander’s book when they decided to keep Egypt under strict surveillance, and never to send a senator there as proconsul, but always a man from the class of Equites, or Knights.

At the first sign of spring Alexander left Memphis, crossing the Nile by a bridge which had been built for him over the river and all its canals, and marched for Phoenicia. At Tyre he found the fleet awaiting him, and here, once again, he did honour to Heracles by religious celebrations and games. While he was in Tyre, the Athenian State Galley arrived with Diophantus and Achilles on board – and indeed her entire crew, being all free citizens, were members of the deputation. Approaching Alexander, these men achieved all the objects of their mission, the
most important of which was the return of the Athenian prisoners of war taken at the battle of the Granicus. News now came that things were on the move in the Peloponnese, and Amphoterus was sent with instructions to support all the Greek communities in that part of the country, which had sound views on the Persian war and did not take their orders from Sparta.
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Phoenicia and Cyprus were to furnish 100 ships for the Peloponnese, in addition to the fleet which was being dispatched with Amphoterus.

The time had now come to be on the march again – inland, for Thapsacus and the Euphrates. Before starting, he entrusted Coeranus of Beroea with the collection of tribute in Phoenicia, and Philoxenus in Asia west of Taurus;
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both these men had been in charge of the money actually with Alexander on campaign, and their office was now taken over by Harpalus, son of Machatas, who had recently been recalled from exile. Harpalus had twice fled the country: the first time was when Philip was still on the throne of Macedon, and he was then driven into exile for his loyalty to Alexander. Ptolemy son of Lagus, Nearchus son of Androtimus, Erigyius son of Larichus, and his brother Laomedon all shared the same fate for the same reason; for the fact was that at that period Alexander incurred Philip’s suspicion when the king married Eurydice, in open contempt of Alexander’s mother Olympias.
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These men were recalled from exile
after Philip’s death, and raised by Alexander to important offices: Ptolemy was enrolled in the King’s bodyguard; Harpalus, whose health was not good enough for active service, was given control of the treasury, Erigyius the command of the allied cavalry, and his brother Laomedon, who happened to be as fluent in the Persian language as in Greek, was put in charge of prisoners of war. Nearchus was appointed Governor of Lycia and the neighbouring territory as far as Mount Taurus. However, shortly before the battle of Issus, Harpalus was persuaded by a scoundrel named Tauriscus to desert – which they both did: Tauriscus made his way to Alexander of Epirus in Italy,
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where he died; and Harpalus took refuge in the Megarid. In spite of this conduct Alexander urged him to return, assuring him that he would in no way suffer for his desertion. Nor, indeed, did he; on the contrary, Alexander restored him to the control of the treasury.

Finally, Alexander sent Menander, one of his Companions, as governor to Lydia,
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appointing Clearchus to succeed to his command of the mercenaries; the governorship of Syria was given to Asclepiodorus, son of Eunicus, in place of Arimmas, who, in Alexander’s opinion, had scamped his work of supplying and equipping the troops for their march into the interior.

Alexander reached Thapsacus in August, during the archonship of Aristophanes in Athens.
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Two bridges were already across the river. For some time previously Mazaeus, under orders from the Persian King, had been guarding the approaches to the river with a force of 3,000 mounted troops, two-thirds of them Greek mercenaries; and for this reason the Macedonians had not carried their bridge right to the further bank, lest the enemy should attack it at their end. Mazaeus, however, no sooner got wind of Alexander’s approach than he made off at his best speed with all his men, whereupon the two bridges were promptly completed, and Alexander was able to use them to get his army across.