The Anabasis of Alexander/Book II/Chapter X
Having thus marshalled his men, he caused them to rest for some time, and then led them forward, as he thought the enemy's approach was very slow. For Darius was no longer leading the foreigners against him, as he had arranged them at first, but he remained in his position, upon the bank of the river, which was in many parts steep and precipitous; and in certain places, where it seemed more easy to ascend, he extended a stockade along it. By this it was at once evident to Alexander's men that Darius had become cowed in spirit.[1] But when the armies at length met in conflict, Alexander rode about in every direction to exhort his troops to show their valour; mentioning with befitting epithets the names, not only of the generals, but also those of the captains of cavalry and infantry, and of the Grecian mercenaries as many as were more distinguished either by rank or merit. From all sides arose a shout not to delay but to attack the enemy. At first he still led them on in close array with measured step, although he had the forces of Darius already in full view, lest by a more hasty march any part of the phalanx should fluctuate from the line[2] and get separated from the rest. But when they came within range of darts, Alexander himself and those around him being posted on the right wing, advanced first into the river with a run, in order to alarm the Persians by the rapidity of their onset, and by coming sooner to close conflict to receive little damage from the archers. And it turned out just as Alexander had conjectured; for as soon as the battle became a hand-to-hand one, the part of the Persian army stationed on the left wing was put to rout; and here Alexander and his men won a brilliant victory. But the Grecian mercenaries serving under Darius attacked the Macedonians at the point where they saw their phalanx especially disordered. For the Macedonian phalanx had been broken and disjoined towards the right wing; because Alexander had charged into the river with eagerness, and engaging in a hand-to-hand conflict was already driving back the Persians posted there; but the Macedonians in the centre did not execute their task with equal speed; and finding many parts of the bank steep and precipitous, they were unable to preserve the front of the phalanx in the same line. Here then the struggle was desperate; the aim of the Grecian mercenaries of Darius being to push the Macedonians back into the river, and regain the victory, though their own forces were already flying; the aim of the Macedonians being not to fall short of Alexander's good-fortune, which was already manifest, and not to tarnish the glory of the phalanx, which up to that time had been commonly asserted to be invincible. Moreover the feeling of rivalry which existed between the Grecian and Macedonian races inspired each side in the conflict. Here fell Ptolemy, son of Seleucus, after proving, himself a valiant man, besides about one hundred and twenty other Macedonians of no mean repute.[3]
CHAPTER X.
Battle of Issus.
- ↑ τῇ γνώμῃ δεδουλωμένος. An expression imitated from Thucydides, iv. 34; compare Arrian, iii. 11; v. 19; vi. 16, where the same words are used of Porus and the Indians.
- ↑ κυμῆναν τῆς φάλαγγος. An expression imitated from Xenophon (Anab., i. 8, 18). It is praised by Demetrius (De Elocutione, 84). Krüger reads ἐκκυμῆναν. Cf. Plutarch (Pompey, 69).
- ↑ Curtius (iii. 29) says that on Alexander's side 504 were wounded, and 182 killed. Diodorus (xvii. 36) says, that 450 Macedonians were killed. Justin (xi. 9) states that 280 were slain.