The Campaigns of Alexander (Classics) (20 page)

Alexander sent Darius’ body to Persepolis to be buried in the royal tombs, like the kings before him.
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He appointed
a Parthian named Amminapes as Governor of Parthia and Hyrcania – he was one of Mazaces’ party who had surrendered Egypt to Alexander. Tlepolemus, son of Pythophanes, one of the Companions, was given a post to assist him in keeping an eye on things in the two provinces.

Such was the end of Darius; he died in July, during the archonship of Aristophon in Athens.
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In military matters he was the feeblest and most incompetent of men; in other spheres his conduct appears to have been moderate and decent – though the truth may well be that, as his accession to the throne coincided with the declaration of war by Macedon and Greece, he had no opportunity to play the tyrant. In the circumstances, being himself in greater peril than his subjects, he could hardly have treated them with the usual cruelty of an Oriental despot, even had he wished to do so. His life was an unbroken series of disasters from the moment of his accession to the throne. He was immediately faced by the defeat of his satraps and their mounted troops on the Granicus; the loss of Ionia and Aeolis swiftly followed, with the two Phrygias, Lydia, and all Caria except Halicarnassus; soon afterwards Halicarnassus, too, was gone, and the whole coast as far as Cilicia; then came his own defeat at Issus, and the bitter sight of his mother, wife, and children as prisoners in enemy hands. The loss of Phoenicia and Egypt was followed by the
débâcle
at Arbela, his own shameful flight from the field, and the destruction of the mightiest army of the whole East; then, a homeless fugitive in the land he once ruled, ruthlessly betrayed by his own guards, a monarch in chains contemptuously smuggled away from the scene of his former glory, he was finally murdered by the treachery of those most
bound in duty to serve him. Such was the unhappy life of Darius; dead, he was more fortunate; for he was buried in the royal tomb, his children were given by Alexander the same upbringing and education they would have had if he had still been king – and his daughter became Alexander’s wife.
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He was about fifty when he died.

The troops left behind during the pursuit of Darius now rejoined, and Alexander advanced into Hyrcania, a country which lies on the left of the road to Bactria. One side of it is bounded by high wooded hills; on the other the plains extended to the Caspian Sea. He chose this route because of a report that it was the way taken by Darius’ mercenaries in their escape to the mountains of Tapuria, and also because he intended to subdue the Tapurian people. Dividing his force into three, he took charge of the largest and most mobile section himself, and proceeded by the shortest but most difficult road; Craterus was sent against the Tapurians with his own and Amyntas’ contingent, some of the archers, and a small group of mounted men, while Erigyius had orders to take the mercenaries and the rest of the cavalry by the better, though longer, route, accompanied by the baggage-wagons and non-combatant units.

Alexander halted after crossing the first range of hills, and then went on with the Guards, some of the archers, and the most mobile of the Macedonian infantry. The going was rough and difficult; as he proceeded, he left parties of men to guard the tracks at dangerous points, to prevent the possibility of his own troops, who were coming along behind, being set upon by the enemy who held the hills. Once through the pass with his archers, he halted on level ground by a small river.

While he was there, Nabarzanes, commander of Darius’ cavalry, Phrataphernes, satrap of Hyrcania and Parthia, and other high-ranking Persian officers, came and gave themselves up. Alexander stayed four days in camp at this spot; by that time all the men left behind on the march had rejoined: most of them came through safely, though the Agrianes, who formed the rearguard, had been attacked by the hill-tribes. However, their long-range fighting was too good for the enemy, who had the worst of it and withdrew.

On the march again. Alexander now advanced to Zadracarta, a town in Hyrcania,
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where he was rejoined by Craterus’ division; they had not encountered Darius’ mercenaries, but had managed to take over all the territory through which they had marched, either by force or surrender. Erigyius also rejoined at this point with the baggage-wagons and gear. Shortly afterwards Artabazus came over to Alexander with three of his sons – Cophen, Ariobarzanes, and Arsames; with them were delegates from the mercenary troops who had served under Darius, and Autophradates, the satrap of Tapuria. Autophradates was permitted to retain his satrapy, and Artabazus and his sons, not only because of their rank but especially because of their loyalty to Darius, were kept in close attendance upon his person and treated with every mark of respect. The Greek delegates asked for terms for all Greek mercenaries now prisoners of war; this, however, Alexander categorically refused: Greek soldiers, he maintained, who fought for Persia against their own country were little better than criminals and had acted contrary to the resolutions of the Greeks. Far from agreeing upon terms, he gave orders that they should all put themselves into his hands to be dealt with as he saw fit – or, if they preferred,
to take what measures they could for their own safety. They chose the former alternative, and at the same time asked for an officer, to give the prisoners safe conduct. The number of prisoners was reckoned to be about 1,500. Alexander sent them Artabazus and Andronicus, son of Agerrhus.

He now marched for Mardia, his force consisting of the Guards, the archers, the Agrianes, the battalions of Coenus and Amyntas, half the Companions, and the mounted javelin-men, a brigade of which had by now been formed. He overran the greater part of Mardia, and the people of the province suffered severely: many were killed either attempting to escape or, in some cases, offering resistance, and many prisoners were taken. Mardia is a rugged and difficult country; its people, although poor, are sturdy fighters, and it was many years since an invader had set foot upon their soil; they had not the least apprehension of an attack by Alexander, especially as he already appeared to have by-passed their territory, so for these reasons they were caught off their guard even more than they would otherwise have been. Many of them did succeed in escaping to the mountains, which are very lofty and precipitous in this part of the world, confident that there, at least, Alexander would not come after them; however, he did; so they had nothing for it but unconditional surrender. The spokesmen who brought the offer of surrender were allowed by Alexander to return to their people, and Autophradates was made governor of the province, as well as of Tapuria.

Returning to the spot whence he had started upon his expedition to Mardia, Alexander found the Greek mercenaries awaiting him. Dropidas the Athenian, and the Spartans Callicratidas, Pausippus, Monimus, and Onomas, – envoys from Greece on their way to Darius’ court – had
also arrived. They were all arrested. The envoys from Sinope were dismissed, as Sinope was not a member of the League of Corinth, and the fact that, as Persian subjects, they were sending a delegation to the Persian King seemed to Alexander reasonable enough. Of the other Greeks those who had been serving with the Persians before the conclusion of the peace and alliance with Macedon were also dismissed, as was Heracleides, the delegate from Calchedon; the remainder were ordered to serve under Alexander at the same rate of pay. Andronicus was made their commander: it was he who had brought them to Alexander, and he had made it clear that he considered the safety of his men a matter of the first importance.

This business completed, Alexander went on to Zadracarta, the chief town of Hyrcania and site of the royal palace. He remained there fifteen days, sacrificed to the gods in accordance with custom, celebrated Games, and then moved on by way of Parthia to the frontiers of Aria. At Susia, a town in this province,
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he was visited by the satrap, Satibarzanes, whose office he confirmed, sending Anaxippus, one of the Companions, to accompany him on his return with about forty mounted javelin-men. This force was to enable him to set guards to save the people of Aria from molestation at the hands of the troops passing through.

About this time some Persians came with a report that Bessus was proclaiming himself King of Asia: he was wearing the royal mantle and the cap with the point erect, in royal fashion, and had changed his name to Artaxerxes. He already had with him the Persian troops who had escaped into Bactria, besides a considerable number of the Bactrians themselves, and was expecting reinforcements from Scythia. Alexander marched at once for Bactria with his whole force, which had now reassembled, and was met
there by Philip, son of Menelaus, who had come from Media with the mercenary cavalry under his own command, the Thessalian volunteers, and Andromachus’ contingent of foreign troops. Parmenio’s son Nicanor, the commander of the Guards, had already died of sickness.

On the way to Bactra
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news came in that Satibarzanes, satrap of Aria, had murdered Anaxippus and the forty men with him; he was arming the Arians and concentrating them at Artacoana (where the palace was), and had resolved, as soon as he should learn that Alexander had put sufficient space between them, to join Bessus with the force at his disposal and assist him in attacking the Macedonians wherever an opportunity should present itself. Alexander changed his plans accordingly: leaving Craterus in command on the spot, he took the Companions, the mounted javelin-men, the archers, the Agrianes, and Amyntas’ and Coenus’ battalions, and marched with all speed against Satibarzanes and the Arians, reaching Artacoana after covering some seventy-five miles in two days.

The rapidity of the march took Satibarzanes completely by surprise, and he fled as soon as he heard that Alexander was coming. A few horsemen got away with him, but the majority of his men, once they, too, knew that Alexander was approaching, had deserted immediately the attempt to escape began. All who had had any hand in the revolt or had left their villages at the time of its occurrence were rapidly hunted down and rounded up in various places. Some were killed, others sold into slavery. Arsaces, a Persian, was appointed to the governorship of Aria.

The troops left in charge of Craterus now rejoined Alexander, and, marching for Zarangia,
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he arrived at
the town where the palace was situated. This region was then under the control of Barsaentes, one of the conspirators who had fatally wounded Darius during the attempt to get him away; and when he learned of Alexander’s approach, he fled for refuge to the Indians west of the Indus. But they arrested him and sent him back to Alexander, who had him executed for his treachery to Darius.

It was here, too, that Alexander learned of Philotas’ plot against his life.
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According to Ptolemy and Aristobulus, information of what was going on had come to his ears before, while he was in Egypt, but he had refused to believe it;
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for Philotas had long been his friend, he had trusted him, and had also bestowed the highest honours upon his father, Parmenio. Ptolemy’s account of what now occurred is this: Philotas was brought before the Macedonians to stand his trial; Alexander made his accusation in no uncertain terms, and Philotas answered the charge. Then the persons who had reported the affair came forward, with various irrefutable proofs of his own guilt and that of his fellow-conspirators, of which the most damning was that he admitted knowledge of a plot against Alexander but had said nothing about it, in spite of the fact that he was in the habit of visiting Alexander’s tent twice a day.
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Thereupon he was shot
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by the
Macedonians, and the others who were concerned in the conspiracy shared the same fate. Parmenio was executed as well: Polydamas, one of his Companions, was sent to him with a letter from Alexander addressed to Cleander, Sitalces, and Menidas, three generals in Media who had been posted to the army which Parmenio commanded. It was they who put him to death.
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The reason for Parmenio’s execution may have been that Alexander could not believe that he had no share in his son’s conspiracy; on the other hand, even granting his innocence, his living on after his son’s execution was already in fact a danger; for he was a man of immense prestige: he had great influence not only with Alexander himself but also with the army – and not alone with the Macedonian units, but also with the mercenary soldiers, whom so often by Alexander’s orders and with Alexander’s approbation he had led on special missions or in the ordinary course of duty.
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It is said that Amyntas, son of Andromenes, and his brothers, Polemon, Attalus, and Simmias, were brought to trial at the same time for complicity in the plot against Alexander, on the grounds of the closeness of their association with Philotas.
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Most people were the more inclined to believe in their guilt because Polemon deserted to the enemy when Philotas was arrested. In any case, Amyntas stood his trial with his other two brothers, and after making a vigorous defence was acquitted, whereupon he immediately asked permission of the Court to go and find his brother and bring him back. Permission was granted,
and he started out the same day, returning later with Polemon. This was a strong additional proof of Amyntas’ innocence. Soon after, however, during the siege of some village or other, he died of a wound from an arrow, so that all the benefit he got from his acquittal was death without dishonour.

In view of these events Alexander split the Companions into two separate divisions and appointed, respectively, Hephaestion son of Amyntor and Cleitus son of Dropidas
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to command them. The reason for this step was that he did not think it advisable that one man – even a personal friend – should have control of so large a body of cavalry – especially as the Companions were the most famous and formidable of all his mounted troops. This done, he proceeded to the territory of the Ariaspians (this, by the way, was their original name: later they came to be known as the Benefactors in recognition of the help they gave Cyrus, son of Cambyses, in his expedition to Scythia). These people Alexander treated with every courtesy; he honoured them for the service rendered to Cyrus in the old days and also for the fact, which he observed for himself, that their political institutions were different from those of other tribes in that part of the world: like the best of the Greeks, they claimed to know the distinction between right and wrong. He accordingly allowed them to retain their freedom, and offered to give them as much of their neighbours’ territory as they wanted – and they asked only for a small slice.