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33 - History of Greece to the Death of Alexander the Great, Vol II by John Bagnell Bury · History of Greece to the Death of Alexander the Great, Vol II

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  Speaker 1: Chapter seventeen, Part six of A History of Greece to
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  Speaker 1: the Death of Alexander the Great, Volume two. This is
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  Speaker 1: a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain.
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  Speaker 1: For more information or to volunteer, please visit LibriVox dot org.
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  Speaker 1: The History of Greece to the Death of Alexander the Great,
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  Speaker 1: Volume two by John bagnell Bury. Chapter seventeen, Part six,
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  Speaker 1: Section six. Battle of Issus. The Great King had already
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  Speaker 1: crossed the Euphrates at the head of a vast host.
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  Speaker 1: He had let the invader subjugate Asia Minor, but he
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  Speaker 1: now came in person to bar his further progress. Alexander
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  Speaker 1: did not hurry to the encounter, and his delay, as
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  Speaker 1: we shall see, turned to his profit in an unexpected manner,
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  Speaker 1: sending forward Parmenio with part of the army to secure
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  Speaker 1: the passes from Silicia into Syria. Alexander himself turned to
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  Speaker 1: subdue western Cilicia. He first visited Anchialus, noted for the
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  Speaker 1: statue of the Assyrian king Sardanopoulis and the famous inscription
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  Speaker 1: Sardanopaulus founded Anchialus and Tarsus on the same day, But
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  Speaker 1: thou O stranger eat drink in sport. All else is worthless.
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  Speaker 1: Having seen this comment on his own ambitious dreams, Alexander
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  Speaker 1: went on to Soli, the city of Silicisms, an ultimate
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  Speaker 1: Greek outpost where men had almost forgotten Greek institutions and
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  Speaker 1: Greek speech. From here he made an excursion against the
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  Speaker 1: Silsian hill folks and reduced the whole district in seven days.
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  Speaker 1: Then he returned eastward in advanced to Issus under Mount Amanus.
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  Speaker 1: Durius was on the other side of the mountains, in
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  Speaker 1: the plain of Sokoy, on ground which was highly favorable
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  Speaker 1: for deploying his host. There were two roads from Issus
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  Speaker 1: into Syria. One led directly over difficult mountain passes, while
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  Speaker 1: the other wound along the coast to Miriandros and then
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  Speaker 1: crossed Mount Amai. The second road, along which we formerly
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  Speaker 1: accompanied Cyrus and Xenophon, was now chosen by Alexander. Leaving
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  Speaker 1: his sick at Issus, he marched forward to Miriandros, but
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  Speaker 1: was detained there by a violent storm of rain, for
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  Speaker 1: it was already the beginning of winter. The Great King,
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  Speaker 1: informed by Arsimies of the rapid approach of Alexander, expected
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  Speaker 1: every day to see him descending from the mountains, and
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  Speaker 1: when he came not owing to the delays in Cilicia,
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  Speaker 1: it was thought that he held back through fear and
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  Speaker 1: did not venture to desert the coast. Accordingly, Durus and
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  Speaker 1: his nobles decided to seek Alexander. The Persian army crossed
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  Speaker 1: the northern passes of Amanus and reached Issus, where they
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  Speaker 1: tortured and put to death the sick who had been
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  Speaker 1: left behind. Alexander cannot be blamed for this disaster, for
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  Speaker 1: he could not foresee that his enemies would commit such
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  Speaker 1: an incredible military error as to abandon the open plain
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  Speaker 1: in which their numerical superiority would tell, for a confined
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  Speaker 1: place where the movements of a multitude would be cramped.
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  Speaker 1: To Alexander, the tidings that Drius was at Issus was
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  Speaker 1: too good to be true, and he set a boat
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  Speaker 1: to reconnoiter. When he was assured that the enemy had
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  Speaker 1: thus played into his hands, he marched back from Mariandros
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  Speaker 1: through the sea gates into the little plain of Issus.
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  Speaker 1: The plain of Issus is cut in two by the
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  Speaker 1: stream of the Pinaris, which was to play the same
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  Speaker 1: part in the coming battle, as the Granachus had played
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  Speaker 1: in the Battle of Adrastia. Here, as in that first skirmish,
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  Speaker 1: it fell to Alexander to attack the Persians, who had
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  Speaker 1: themselves no plan of attack. Here, as there, the Persians
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  Speaker 1: were defended by the natural entrenchment of a steep banked river.
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  Speaker 1: The Macedonian columns defiled into the plain at dawn, and
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  Speaker 1: when Durius learned that they were approaching, he threw across
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  Speaker 1: the river fifty thousand cavalry and light troops to cover
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  Speaker 1: the rest of the army while it raided itself for battle.
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  Speaker 1: As his host was numbered by tens of thousands and
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  Speaker 1: the plain was only three miles broad, it is clear
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  Speaker 1: that most of his troops were forced to remain behind
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  Speaker 1: as reserves. The whole front was composed of hoplights, thirty
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  Speaker 1: thousand Greek mercenaries, and the regiments of Orientals called cardaces.
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  Speaker 1: The left wing touched the lower slopes of the mountains
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  Speaker 1: and curved round, following the line of the hill, so
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  Speaker 1: as to face the flank of the enemy's right wing.
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  Speaker 1: When the array was formed, the cavalry was recalled to
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  Speaker 1: the north of the river and posted on the right
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  Speaker 1: wing near the sea. Where the ground was best adapted
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  Speaker 1: for cavalry movements. Alexander advanced his army, drawn up on
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  Speaker 1: the usual plan, the Phalanx in the center, the hypastus
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  Speaker 1: on the right. At first, he placed the Thessalian as
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  Speaker 1: well as the Macedonian cavalry on the right wing in
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  Speaker 1: order to strengthen his own cavalry attack. But when he
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  Speaker 1: saw that all the Persian cavalry was concentrated on the
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  Speaker 1: sea side, he was obliged to transfer the Thessalians to
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  Speaker 1: their usual position on his own left. In order to
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  Speaker 1: meet the danger which threatened the flank and rear of
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  Speaker 1: his right wing from the Persian forces on the slope
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  Speaker 1: of the mountain, he placed a column of light troops
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  Speaker 1: on the extreme right to form a second front. As
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  Speaker 1: in the engagements on the Granicus, the attack was to
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  Speaker 1: be made by the heavy cavalry on the left center
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  Speaker 1: of the enemy's line, but it was a far more
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  Speaker 1: serious and formidable venture. Those who have read the story
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  Speaker 1: of the Battle of Kunaxa might despise an Asiatic multitude,
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  Speaker 1: but Darius had thirty thousand Greek mercenaries who knew how
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  Speaker 1: to stand in to fight, and if Alexander was defeated,
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  Speaker 1: his retreat was cut off. The Persian left did not
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  Speaker 1: sustain Alexander's onset at the head of his cavalry. The
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  Speaker 1: phalanx followed more slowly, and in crossing the stream and
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  Speaker 1: climbing the steep bank, the line became dislocated, especially at
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  Speaker 1: one spot, and the Greek hoplights pressed them hard on
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  Speaker 1: the river bank. If the phalanx had been driven back,
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  Speaker 1: Alexander's victorious right wing would have been exposed on the
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  Speaker 1: flank and the battle lost. But the Phalangites stood their
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  Speaker 1: ground obstinately until the Hypastus were free to come to
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  Speaker 1: their help by taking their adversaries in the flank. Meanwhile,
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  Speaker 1: Alexander's attack had been directed upon the spot where the
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  Speaker 1: great King himself stood in his war chariot, surrounded by
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  Speaker 1: a guard of Persian nobles. There was a furious melee
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  Speaker 1: in which Alexander was wounded in his leg. Then Duras
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  Speaker 1: turned his chariot and fled, and this was the signal
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  Speaker 1: for a universal flight on the left. On the sea side,
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  Speaker 1: the Persian cavalry crossed the river and carried all before them,
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  Speaker 1: but in the midst of their success, the cry that
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  Speaker 1: the king was fleeing made them waver and they were
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  Speaker 1: soon riding wildly back, pursued by the Thessalians. The whole
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  Speaker 1: Persian host was now rushing northward till the passes of Amanus,
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  Speaker 1: and thousands fell beneath the swords of their pursuers. Darius
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  Speaker 1: did not tarry. He forgot even his mother and his wife,
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  Speaker 1: who were in the camp at Issus, and when he
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  Speaker 1: reached the mountain, he left his chariot, his shield, and
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  Speaker 1: his royal cloak behind him, and, mounting a swift mare,
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  Speaker 1: rode for dear life. Having pursued the great king till
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  Speaker 1: nightfall and found his relics by the wayside, Alexander returned
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  Speaker 1: to the Persian camp. He supped in the tent of Drias,
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  Speaker 1: and there fell upon his ears a noise and the
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  Speaker 1: wailing of women from a tent hard by. He asked
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  Speaker 1: who the women were and why they were lodged so near,
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  Speaker 1: and learned that it was the wife and mother and
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  Speaker 1: the children of the fugitive king. They had been told
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  Speaker 1: that Alexander had returned with the shield and cloak of Duras, and,
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  Speaker 1: supposing that the lord was dead, had broken into lamentation.
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  Speaker 1: Alexander sent one of his companions to comfort them with
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  Speaker 1: the insurance that Drias lived and that they would receive
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  Speaker 1: while they were in Alexander's power, all the respect and
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  Speaker 1: consideration due to royal ladies, for Alexander had no personal
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  Speaker 1: enmity against Arias. No act of Alexander perhaps astonished his
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  Speaker 1: contemporaries more than this generous treatment of the family of
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  Speaker 1: his royal rival. His ideal hero Achilles would not have
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  Speaker 1: resisted the charm of the captive Queen Statira, the most
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  Speaker 1: beautiful of women. But the charms of love had no
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  Speaker 1: temptation for Alexander, and his behavior to the captives was
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  Speaker 1: prompted not only by his natively humane and generous feelings,
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  Speaker 1: but by the instinct and policy of a royal invader
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  Speaker 1: to display respect for royalty. As such. Thus was the
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  Speaker 1: Persian host which had come to trample down Alexander and
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  Speaker 1: his little army annihilated on the plain of Issus, a
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  Speaker 1: city which still retains the name of Alexander, was built
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  Speaker 1: in commemoration of the battle at the northern end of
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  Speaker 1: the sea gates. The road was now open into Syria.
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  Speaker 1: This was the immediate military result of the Battle of Issus.
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  Speaker 1: Just as the small fight on the Granachus had cleared
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  Speaker 1: the way for the acquisition of Agia Minor, so the
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  Speaker 1: fight on the Pinaris cleared the way for the conquest
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  Speaker 1: of Syria and Egypt. The rest of the work would
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  Speaker 1: consist in tedious sieges, but the victory of Issus had,
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  Speaker 1: beyond its immediate result, immense importance through the prestige which
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  Speaker 1: it conferred on the victor. He had defeated an army
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  Speaker 1: ten times as great as his own, led by the
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  Speaker 1: Great King in person, whom he had driven back over
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  Speaker 1: the mountains in ignominious flight. He had captured them of
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  Speaker 1: the Great King and his wife and his children. Durus
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  Speaker 1: himself unbent his haughty Persian pride when he had reached
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  Speaker 1: safety beyond the Euphrates, so far as to make the
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  Speaker 1: first overtures to the conqueror. He wrote a letter in
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  Speaker 1: which he complained that Alexander was an unprovoked aggressor, begged
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  Speaker 1: that he would send back the royal captives, and professed
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  Speaker 1: willingness to conclude a treaty of friendship and alliance. It
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  Speaker 1: was much for a Persian king to bring himself to
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  Speaker 1: write this, but such a condescending appeal required a stern reply.
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  Speaker 1: We are fortunate enough to possess the text of Alexander's answer,
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  Speaker 1: which seems to have been published as a sort of
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  Speaker 1: manifesto to Europe as well as Asia. It was to
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  Speaker 1: this effect your ancestors invaded Macedonia and the rest of Greece,
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  Speaker 1: and without provocation, inflicted wrongs upon us. I was appointed
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  Speaker 1: leader of the Greeks and crossed over into Asia for
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  Speaker 1: the purpose of avenging those wrongs. For ye were the
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  Speaker 1: first aggressors. In the next place, ye assisted the people
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  Speaker 1: of Parenthus, who were offenders against my father, and Ochus
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  Speaker 1: sent a force into Thrace, which was part of our empire. Further,
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  Speaker 1: the conspirators who slew my father were suborned by you,
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  Speaker 1: as ye yourselves boasted in your letters, Thou, with the
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  Speaker 1: help of Bagoas, didst murder erases son of Ochus, and
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  Speaker 1: seized the throne unjustly and contrary to the law of
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  Speaker 1: the Persians. And then thou didst write in proper letters
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  Speaker 1: regarding me to the Greeks to incite them to war
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  Speaker 1: against me. And didst send to the Lasimidonians and others
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  Speaker 1: of the Greeks for the same purpose sums of money,
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  Speaker 1: where if none of the other cities partook, but only
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  Speaker 1: the Lacemdonians and thine emissaries corrupted my friends and tried
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  Speaker 1: to dissolve the peace which I had brought about in Greece.
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  Speaker 1: Wherefore are marched against thee who weret Thus the aggressor
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  Speaker 1: in the quarrel. I have overcome in battle, first thy
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  Speaker 1: generals and satraps, and now thyself and thine host, and
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  Speaker 1: possessed thy land. And through the grace of the gods,
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  Speaker 1: those who fought on thy side and were not slain
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  Speaker 1: but took refuge with me, are under my protection, and
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  Speaker 1: are glad to be with me, and will fight with me. Henceforward,
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  Speaker 1: I am Lord of all Asia. And therefore do thou
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  Speaker 1: come to me. If thou art afraid of being evilly entreated,
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  Speaker 1: send some of thy friends to receive sufficient guarantees. Thou
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  Speaker 1: hast only to come to me to ask and receive
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  Speaker 1: thy mother and wife and children, and whatever else thou
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  Speaker 1: mayest desire and for the future. Whenever thou sendest, send
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  Speaker 1: to me as the great king of Asia, and do
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  Speaker 1: not write to me as an equal, but tell me
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  Speaker 1: whatever they might need as to one who is lord
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  Speaker 1: of all that is thine. Otherwise I will deal with
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  Speaker 1: Thee as an offender. But if thou disputest the kingdom,
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  Speaker 1: then wait and fight for it again, and do not flee,
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  Speaker 1: for I will march against Thee wherever thou mayest be.
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  Speaker 1: The treasures which Durias had brought with him into Syria
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  Speaker 1: had been sent for safety to Damascus when he crossed
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  Speaker 1: the passes of Amanus. Accordingly, Alexander sent Parmenio to take
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  Speaker 1: possession of them. Parmenio found at Damascus some Greek envoys
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  Speaker 1: who had arrived at the camp of Durius a short
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  Speaker 1: time before the battle, one Spartan, one Athenian, and two Thebans.
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  Speaker 1: Alexander detained the Spartan as a prisoner, kept the Athenian
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  Speaker 1: as a friend, and let the Thebans go free. His
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  Speaker 1: clemency to the Thebans was due to a certain compunction
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  Speaker 1: which he always felt for the hard measures dealt out
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  Speaker 1: to their city, while a personal motive dictated his favor
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  Speaker 1: to the Athenian Eficrates, son of the great general of
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  Speaker 1: the same name, whose memory was highly esteemed to Macedonia.
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  Speaker 1: The incident showed that Greece, which had openly chosen Alexander
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  Speaker 1: for her leader, was secretly intriguing with Persia. When it
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  Speaker 1: was known that Durias was crossing the Euphrates, men were
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  Speaker 1: hoping and praying at Athens that the Macedonians would be
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  Speaker 1: trodden under by the Persian host. A hundred fast sailing
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  Speaker 1: Persian ships appeared as Syphnos and Aegis, the Spartan king
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  Speaker 1: visited the commanders, asking for money and galleys to carry
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  Speaker 1: out a project of rebellion against Macedonia. At Athens, Hipperiides
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  Speaker 1: agitated for open war, but Demosthenes prudently counseled his fellow
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  Speaker 1: citizens to wait until the expected catastrophe of Alexander had
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  Speaker 1: become an accomplished fact. Then the news came that the
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  Speaker 1: leader of the Greeks had won a brilliant victory, and
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  Speaker 1: Greece had to cloak her disappointment. The Persian squadron hurried
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  Speaker 1: back to save what could be saved on the Asiatic coast,
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  Speaker 1: and only thirty talents and ten vessels could be spared
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  Speaker 1: to Agis, who used them to secure the island of Crete.
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  Speaker 1: End of Chapter seventeen, Part six