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38 - 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 eighteen, Part two 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: A History of Greece to the Death of Alexander the Great,
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Speaker 1: Volume two by John bagno Bury, Chapter eighteen, Part two,
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Speaker 1: the Conquest of India. In returning to Afghanistan, Alexander seems
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Speaker 1: to have followed the main road from Balkh to Kabul,
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Speaker 1: crossing the Hindu Kush by a pass more westerly than
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Speaker 1: that by which he had come, reaching Alexandria in ten days.
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Speaker 1: He went on to another town, which, if he had
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Speaker 1: not refounded, he had at all events renamed Nicea, in
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Speaker 1: which is possibly to be Salt in Kabul itself. Here
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Speaker 1: he stayed till the middle of November, finding much to do,
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Speaker 1: both in organizing the province and in preparing for further advance.
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Speaker 1: He had left a large detachment of his army in Bactria,
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Speaker 1: but he had enrolled a still larger force thirty thousand
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Speaker 1: of the Asiatics of those regions. Bactrians Sogdians, Dahai, and Sakai.
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Speaker 1: The host with which he was now to descend upon
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Speaker 1: India must have been at least twice as numerous as
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Speaker 1: the army with which he had crossed the Hellespont seven
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Speaker 1: years before. It had increased as it ruled on, and
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Speaker 1: the augmentations far more than counterbalanced the reductions caused by
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Speaker 1: leaving detachments in each new province and the losses due
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Speaker 1: to warfare or disease. During these years, Alexander's camp was
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Speaker 1: his court and capital, the political center of his empire,
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Speaker 1: A vast city rolling along over a mountain and river
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Speaker 1: through Central Asia. Men of all trades and callings were there,
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Speaker 1: Some indispensable for the needs of the king and his army,
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Speaker 1: Others drawn by the prospect of making profits by the
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Speaker 1: spoiled laden soldiers, craftsmen of every kind, engineers, physicians and seers,
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Speaker 1: cheap men and money changers, literary men, poets, musicians, athletes, jesters,
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Speaker 1: secretary clerks, court attendants, a host of women and slaves.
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Speaker 1: In many of the halting places, athletic and musical contests
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Speaker 1: were held, serving both to cheer the Greeks by reminding
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Speaker 1: them of their home country and to impress the imagination
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Speaker 1: of the barbarians. A court diary was regularly kept in
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Speaker 1: imitation of the court journal of Persia by Eumenes of Cardia,
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Speaker 1: who conducted all the political correspondence of Alexander. Alexander had
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Speaker 1: no notion of the shape or extent of the Indian peninsula,
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Speaker 1: and his notion of the Indian conquest was probably confined
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Speaker 1: to the basins of the Khofen and the Indus. He
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Speaker 1: was not the first invader speaking in Aryan language who
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Speaker 1: went down through the northwestern hills into the plains of India.
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Speaker 1: Centuries and centuries before, Aryan herdsmen had flown down in
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Speaker 1: successive waves and found an abiding home there from Central
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Speaker 1: Asia from the regions of the Hindu Kush, bringing with
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Speaker 1: them their old hymns, some of which we still possess.
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Speaker 1: They came down into the lands of the Indus, the
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Speaker 1: glorious giver of wealth, and turned to a settled agricultural life.
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Speaker 1: Strangely different was the civilization which grew up in northern
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Speaker 1: India among the men who called upon Daius Pittar from
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Speaker 1: that of their speech brethren, who worshiped Zeus Pater on
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Speaker 1: the shores of the Aegean, the kas of the Brahmins
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Speaker 1: and the warriors. The inhuman asceticism of the Brahmins life,
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Speaker 1: the political influence of these religious men must have seemed
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Speaker 1: repulsive and outlandish to the free and cheerful temper of
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Speaker 1: the Greeks. The great Drayas had partially annexed the lands
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Speaker 1: of the Indus, and they constantly supplied troops to his successors.
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Speaker 1: Skylaks of Krianda had sailed down the Indus by his orders,
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Speaker 1: and probably published an account of the voyage. The stories
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Speaker 1: that were told about the wonders of India excited the
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Speaker 1: curiosity of the Greek invaders. It was a land of
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Speaker 1: righteous folks, of strange beasts and plants, of surpassing wealth
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Speaker 1: in gold and gems. It was supposed to be the
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Speaker 1: ultimate country on the eastern side of the world, bounded
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Speaker 1: by Ocean's stream. At this time, northwestern India was occupied
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Speaker 1: by a number of small, heterogeneous principalities and village communities.
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Speaker 1: The northern districts of the land between the Indus and
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Speaker 1: the Hydaspes, a stream which we now called the Jelum,
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Speaker 1: was ruled by Omphis, a prince whose capital was at
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Speaker 1: Taxila near the Indus. His brother Abessares was the ruler
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Speaker 1: of Hazara and the adjacent parts of Cashmir. Beyond the
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Speaker 1: Hydaspes was the powerful kingdom of Porus, who held sway
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Speaker 1: as far as the Asines or Dark Hued, which we
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Speaker 1: know as the Shinab, and the next of the five rivers.
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Speaker 1: East of the Shannab, in the lands of the Ravi
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Speaker 1: and the Bays were other small principalities and also free
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Speaker 1: kingless peoples who own no master. These principalities and free
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Speaker 1: communities differed much in manners and religion. They had no
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Speaker 1: tendency to unity or combination. The free tribes feared and
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Speaker 1: hated the princes. The princes strove with one another, and
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Speaker 1: these states were not all of the same race. Most
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Speaker 1: perhaps were Aryan, but some, like the Mali, belonged to
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Speaker 1: the old Dravidian stock, whom even in the Punjab the
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Speaker 1: Arians had not entirely dispossessed or subdued an invader, therefore
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Speaker 1: had no common resistance to fear. He had to deal
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Speaker 1: with the states one by one, and he could be
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Speaker 1: assured that many would welcome him out of hatred for
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Speaker 1: their neighbors. The Prince of Taxila hoped great things from
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Speaker 1: the Macedonian conqueror, especially the downfall of his rival Porus.
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Speaker 1: He visited Alexander at Nicia, laid himself and his king
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Speaker 1: at the great Emperor's feet, and promised his aid in
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Speaker 1: subduing India. Other chiefs on the hither side of the
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Speaker 1: Indus also made submission. Alexander's direct road from the high
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Speaker 1: plain of Kabul into the Punjab lay along the right
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Speaker 1: bank of the Kofin or Kabul River, through the great
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Speaker 1: gate of the Kaiber Pass. But it was impossible to
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Speaker 1: advance to the Indus without securing his communications, and for
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Speaker 1: this purpose it was needful to subjugate the river valleys
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Speaker 1: to the left of the Kabul, among the huge western
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Speaker 1: spurs of the Himalaya mountains. It was perhaps not far
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Speaker 1: from Jalalabad that the army came to a city which
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Speaker 1: was called Nisa. The name immediately awakened in the minds
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Speaker 1: of all the Greeks the memory of their god Dionysus,
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Speaker 1: for Mount Nisa was the mythical place which he had
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Speaker 1: been nursed by nymphs when he was born from the
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Speaker 1: thigh of Zeus, the mountain was commonly supposed to be
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Speaker 1: in Thrace, but an old hymn placed it near the
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Speaker 1: streams of the Nile. It had no place on the
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Speaker 1: traveler's chart. But here was an actual Nyssa, and close
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Speaker 1: to the town was a hill whose name resembled Meros,
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Speaker 1: the Greek word for thigh, and whose slopes were covered
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Speaker 1: with the god's own ivy. Therefore, Nysa, they said, was
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Speaker 1: founded by Dionysus. The god had fared eastward to subdued India,
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Speaker 1: and now Alexander was marching on his tracks everywhere on
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Speaker 1: their further march, the Greeks and Macedonians were alert to
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Speaker 1: discover traces of the progress of the Bacchic god. For
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Speaker 1: the purposes of this campaign, Alexander divided his army, Hephestian,
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Speaker 1: taking three regiments of the phalanx, half the Macedonian cavalry
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Speaker 1: all the mercenary cavalry advanced by the Kyber Pass, with
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Speaker 1: orders to construct a bridge across the Indus. The king,
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Speaker 1: with the rest of his army, including the light troops,
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Speaker 1: plunged into the difficult country north of the river, and
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Speaker 1: the winter was spent in warfare. With the hardy Hill folks,
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Speaker 1: especially the Aspasians and Assakins, and in capturing their impregnate
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Speaker 1: fortresses in the district of the Kunar, in remote Chitraal
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Speaker 1: and in the Pankjar and Swat valleys. Would be interesting
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Speaker 1: to follow the exploits of the Macedonian army in these wilds,
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Speaker 1: but we cannot identify the places with certainty. Masaga of
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Speaker 1: the Assekinian people in the Swat valley was one of
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Speaker 1: the most important strongholds that Alexander captured. We cannot point
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Speaker 1: it out on the map, but Diirtra, another fortress of
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Speaker 1: the same people, may be fairly sought in Deer. The
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Speaker 1: most wonderful exploit of all was the scaling and taking
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Speaker 1: of the rock of Aornis, which has been recognized in
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Speaker 1: the hill of Mahaban on the right bank of the Indus,
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Speaker 1: about sixty miles from the confluence of that river with
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Speaker 1: the Kabul. When by a miracle of boldness and patience
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Speaker 1: he captured this fortress, Alexander had to return on his
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Speaker 1: steps as far as Deer to suppress the revolt of
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Speaker 1: the Assakins. After this severe winter campaign, the army rested
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Speaker 1: on the hither bank of the Indus, until spring had begun,
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Speaker 1: and then, with the solemnity of games and sacrifices, crossed
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Speaker 1: the river and marched a three days journey eastward to Taxila.
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Speaker 1: The rich country of these Aryan husbandmen was a striking
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Speaker 1: a pleasant contrast to the barren abodes of the shepherds
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Speaker 1: of Bactria and Sogdiana. The Prince of Tasila met Alexander
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Speaker 1: with obsequious pomp, and other lesser princes assembled at the
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Speaker 1: city to do him homage. The administration of the recent
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Speaker 1: conquests was now arranged. A new satrope embracing the lands
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Speaker 1: west of the Indus, was established and entrusted to Philip,
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Speaker 1: son of Mactus. Macedonian garrisons were placed in Taxila and
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Speaker 1: some other places east of the Indus, and Philip was
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Speaker 1: charged with the general command of these troops. This shows
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Speaker 1: the drift of Alexander's policy. The Indus was to be
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Speaker 1: the eastern boundary of his direct sway beyond the Indus,
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Speaker 1: he proposed to create no new provinces, but only to
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Speaker 1: form a system of protected states over which the governor
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Speaker 1: of the frontier province would have a general supervision. Alexander
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Speaker 1: then marched by a southward road to the Hydaspes, where
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Speaker 1: he was to meet the only power in the land
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Speaker 1: which could hope to resist his progress. Prince Poros had
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Speaker 1: sent a defiance, and, having gathered an army from thirty
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Speaker 1: to forty thousand strong, was encamped on the left bank
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Speaker 1: of the river to contest the crossing. Moreover, Abisaris of
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Speaker 1: Kashmir promised him made although he had sent marks of
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Speaker 1: homage to Alexander. The boats which had been constructed on
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Speaker 1: the Indus for transporting the troops were by Alexander's orders,
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Speaker 1: saw on in two or three pieces, according to their size,
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Speaker 1: and conveyed on carts to the Hydaspes. After a march
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Speaker 1: which was made slow and toilsome by the heavy tropical rain,
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Speaker 1: the invaders encamped on the right bank of the river
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Speaker 1: near Jalalipour and saw the lines of Porus on the
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Speaker 1: opposite shore, protected by a multitude of elephants, his most
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Speaker 1: formidable weapon of war. It was useless to think of
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Speaker 1: crossing in the face of this host, for the horses,
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Speaker 1: who could not endure the smell and noise of the elephants,
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Speaker 1: would certainly have been drowned, and the men would have
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Speaker 1: found it almost impossible to land amid showers of darts
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Speaker 1: on the slimy, treacherous edge of the stream. All the
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Speaker 1: fords in the neighborhood were watched. Alexander adopted various measures
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Speaker 1: to deceive and puzzle the enemy. He collected large stores
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Speaker 1: of corn, as if he had made up his mind
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Speaker 1: for Maine. For many days where he was he spread
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Speaker 1: the rumor that he intended to wait till the season
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Speaker 1: of rains was over, and he kept his troops in
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Speaker 1: constant motion, sending detachments hither and thither. Then one night,
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Speaker 1: his trumpets blew, His cavalry rode down to the edge
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Speaker 1: of the water, and to the eyes of the enemy,
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Speaker 1: it seemed that the whole army was about to cross.
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Speaker 1: Porus moved his elephants up to the bank and set
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Speaker 1: his host in array, but it proved to be a
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Speaker 1: false alarm. The same faint was repeated again and again
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Speaker 1: each night. The Macedonia and camp was in motion, as
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Speaker 1: if for crossing. Each night, the Indians stood long hours
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Speaker 1: in the wind and rain. But when he saw that
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Speaker 1: the noise was never followed by action, Poris became weary
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Speaker 1: of these useless nightly watches and disregarded the alarms of
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Speaker 1: a faint hearted foe. Alexander meanwhile was maturing a plan
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Speaker 1: which he was able to carry out when he had
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Speaker 1: put Porus off his guard. About sixteen miles upwards from
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Speaker 1: the camp, the Hydaspes makes a bend, changing its course
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Speaker 1: from south to westward, and opposite the jutting angle, a
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Speaker 1: thickly wooded island rose amid the stream, while a dense
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Speaker 1: wood covered its right shore. Here Alexander determined to cross.
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Speaker 1: He caused the boats to be conveyed thither and remade
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Speaker 1: in the shelter of the wood, close to a deep ravine.
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Speaker 1: He had prepared skins stuffed with straw, such as he
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Speaker 1: had used in passing the Oxus. When the time came,
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Speaker 1: he led a portion of his troops to the wooded promontory,
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Speaker 1: marching at a considerable distance from the river, in order
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Speaker 1: to avoid the observation of the enemy. A sufficient force
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Speaker 1: was left in the camp under the command of Crateras
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Speaker 1: with orders not to cross. An less Porous either moved
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Speaker 1: his entire army from its present position or was defeated
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Speaker 1: and routed. Other forces were posted at points between the
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Speaker 1: camp and the island to cross and to help at
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Speaker 1: the right moment. The king arrived at the appointed spot
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Speaker 1: later in the evening, and throughout the wet, stormy night
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Speaker 1: he directed the preparations for passing the swollen stream. Here
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Speaker 1: on the right bank, he posted the regiments of heavy infantry,
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Speaker 1: which he had brought with him, a precaution, probably against
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Speaker 1: the possible arrival of Abasaris. The wind and rain, which
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Speaker 1: had effectually concealed all the noise from the ears of
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Speaker 1: hostile outposts on the bank, abated before dawn and the
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Speaker 1: passage began. Alexander led the way in a bark of
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Speaker 1: thirty oars, and the island was safely passed, But land
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Speaker 1: was hardly reached before they were descried by Indian scouts,
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Speaker 1: who galloped off at full speed to warn their chieftain.
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Speaker 1: The king, who was the first to leap ashore, waited
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Speaker 1: until the cavalry had been disembarked and marshaled, but on
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Speaker 1: advancing he discovered that he had landed not on the bank,
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Speaker 1: but on an island which was parted from the bank
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Speaker 1: by a small channel, now swollen with rain. It was
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Speaker 1: some time before passage for waiting could be found, and
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Speaker 1: the water was breast high. At last, the whole force
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Speaker 1: was safely landed on the bank, and Alexander ordered his
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Speaker 1: men for the coming battle, the third of the three
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Speaker 1: great battles of his life. It was to be won
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Speaker 1: without any heavy infantry. He had with him only six
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Speaker 1: thousand hypastaes, about four thousand light foot five thousand cavalry,
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Speaker 1: including one thousand Scythian archers. Taking all the cavalry with him,
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Speaker 1: he rode rapidly forward towards the camp of Porus, leaving
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Speaker 1: the infantry to follow. If the whole host of Porus
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Speaker 1: should come out to meet him, he would wait for
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Speaker 1: the infantry, but if the enemy showed symptoms of retreating,
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Speaker 1: he would dash in among them with his superior cavalry.
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Speaker 1: Presently he saw a troop coming. It was the son
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Speaker 1: of Porus, at the head of one thousand horsemen and
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Speaker 1: sixty war chariots, too late to impede the landing of
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Speaker 1: the Macedonians. As soon as he perceived the small number
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Speaker 1: of the foe, Alexander charged and easily drove them back,
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Speaker 1: slaying the prince in four hundred of his men. But
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Speaker 1: Porus himself was advancing with his main army, having left
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Speaker 1: a small force to guard the river bank against crateras.
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Speaker 1: When he reached sandy ground suitable for the movements of
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Speaker 1: his cavalry and war chariots, he drew up his line
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Speaker 1: in battle. In front of all he arranged two hundred
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Speaker 1: elephants at intervals of one hundred feet, and at some
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Speaker 1: distance behind them his infantry, who numbered twenty thousand, if
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Speaker 1: not more. On the wings, he placed his cavalry, perhaps
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Speaker 1: four thousand. Alexander waited for the hypastus and drew them
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Speaker 1: up opposite to the elephants. It was impossible to attack
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Speaker 1: in front, for neither horse nor foot could venture in
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Speaker 1: between these beasts, which stood towers of defense the true
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Speaker 1: strength of the Indian army. The only method was to
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Speaker 1: begin by a cavalry attack on the flank, and Seleucus
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Speaker 1: and the other captains of the infantry were bidden not
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Speaker 1: to advance until they saw that both the horse and
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Speaker 1: the foot of the foe were tumbled into confusion by
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Speaker 1: the flank assault. Alexander determined to concentrate his attack on
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Speaker 1: the left wing, perhaps because it was on the river
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Speaker 1: side and he would be within easier reach of his
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Speaker 1: troops on the other bank. Accordingly, he kept all his
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Speaker 1: cavalry on his right wing. One body was entrusted to Coynus,
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Speaker 1: who bore well to the right and was ready to
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Speaker 1: strike in the rear, and to deal with the body
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Speaker 1: of horse stationed upon the enemy's right wing in case
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Speaker 1: they should come round to assist their comrades on the left.
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Speaker 1: The mounted Scythian archers rode straight against the front of
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Speaker 1: the enemy's cavalry, which was still in column formation, not
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Speaker 1: having had time to open out, and harassed it with
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Speaker 1: showers of arrows, while Alexander himself, with the rest of
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Speaker 1: the heavy cavalry, led the charge upon the flank. Porus,
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Speaker 1: who had committed the fatal mistake of allowing the enemy
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Speaker 1: to take the offensive, brought up his remaining squadrons from
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Speaker 1: the right wing as fast as he could. Then Coynus,
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Speaker 1: who had ridden round close to the river bank, fell
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Speaker 1: upon them in the rear. The Indians had now to
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Speaker 1: form a double front against the double foe. Alexander seized
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Speaker 1: the moment to press hard against the adverse squadrons. They
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Speaker 1: swayed backwards and selt shelter behind the elephants. Then those
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Speaker 1: elephant riders who were on this side of the army
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Speaker 1: drove the beasts against the Macedonian horses, and at the
17:38
Speaker 1: same time the Macedonian footmen rushed forward and attacked the animals,
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Speaker 1: which were now turned sideways towards them. But the other
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Speaker 1: elephants of the line were driven into the ranks of
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Speaker 1: the hypastus and dealt destruction, trampling down and striking Furiously.
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Speaker 1: Heartened by the success of the elephants, the Indian cavalry
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Speaker 1: rallied and charged, but beaten by the Macedonian horse, who
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Speaker 1: were now formed in a serried mass, They again salt
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Speaker 1: shelter behind the Elephantine wall. But many of the beasts
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Speaker 1: were now furious with wounds and beyond control. Some had
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Speaker 1: lost their riders, and in the melay they trampled on
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Speaker 1: friends and foes alike. The Indians suffered most, for they
18:21
Speaker 1: were surrounded and confined to the space in which the
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Speaker 1: animals raged, while the Macedonians could attack the animals on
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Speaker 1: side or rear, and then retreat into the open when
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Speaker 1: they turned to charge at length. When the elephants grew
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Speaker 1: weary and their charges were feebler, Alexander closed in. He
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Speaker 1: gave the order for the Hypastus to advance in close array,
18:44
Speaker 1: shielded to shield, while he reforming his squadrons dashed in
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Speaker 1: from the side. The enemy's cavalry, already weakened and dislocated,
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Speaker 1: could not withstand the double shock and was cut to pieces.
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Speaker 1: The hypasthus rolled on upon the enemy's in who, though
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Speaker 1: they had hitherto taken no serious part in the fight,
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Speaker 1: soon broke and fled. Meanwhile, the generals on the other
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Speaker 1: side of the river Craterus in the rest. Discovering that
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Speaker 1: fortune was declaring for Alexander, crossed the river without resistance
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Speaker 1: and arrived in time to consummate the victory by pursuing
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Speaker 1: the fugitives. Porus, who had shown himself a mediocre general
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Speaker 1: but a most valiant soldier, when he saw most of
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Speaker 1: his forces scattered, his elephants lying dead or straying, riderless,
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Speaker 1: did not flee, as Durius had twice fled, but remained fighting,
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Speaker 1: seated on an elephant of commanding height, until he was
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Speaker 1: wounded in the right shoulder, the only part of his
19:41
Speaker 1: body unprotected by mail. Then he turned around and rode away. Alexander,
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Speaker 1: struck with admiration at his prowess, sent messengers who overtook
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Speaker 1: him and induced him to return. The victor, riding out
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Speaker 1: to meet the old prince, was impressed by his stature
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Speaker 1: and beauty, and asked him, if few would fain be treated,
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Speaker 1: treat me like a king, said Porus, for my own sake,
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Speaker 1: said Alexander, I will do that. Ask a boon for
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Speaker 1: thy sake, that replied Poris containeth all. And Alexander treated
20:16
Speaker 1: his captive royally. He not only gave him back his kingdom,
20:20
Speaker 1: henceforward to be a protected state under Macedonian SUZERAINTI, but
20:24
Speaker 1: largely increased its borders. This royal treatment, however, though it
20:28
Speaker 1: pleased the generous impulses of Alexander, was inspired by deep policy.
20:33
Speaker 1: He could rest the security of his rule beyond the
20:35
Speaker 1: Indus on no better base than the mutual jealousy of
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Speaker 1: two moderately powerful princes. He had made the Lord of
20:42
Speaker 1: Taxilla as powerful as he was safe. The reinstatement of
20:45
Speaker 1: his rival Porus would be the best guarantee of his loyalty.
20:49
Speaker 1: But on the other side of the Hydaspes, close to
20:52
Speaker 1: the scene of the battle, two cities were founded which
20:54
Speaker 1: would serve as garrisons in the subject land. On the
20:58
Speaker 1: right hand the city of Bucephala, named after Alexander's steed,
21:02
Speaker 1: which had died here, probably shortly before the Battle of
21:05
Speaker 1: old Age and Weariness. On the left Nicea, the city
21:09
Speaker 1: of Victory. Leaving Crateras to build the cities, Alexander marched
21:14
Speaker 1: northward to subdue the Glaussai, a hill folk on the
21:17
Speaker 1: border of Cashmere, and at the same time to intimidate Abassares. Then,
21:23
Speaker 1: keeping near the skirts of the hills, he crossed the Acasanes,
21:26
Speaker 1: more than a mile and a half broad, with great
21:28
Speaker 1: peril and some loss, into the territory of a namesake
21:32
Speaker 1: and nephew of Porus. This Porus was at enmity with
21:35
Speaker 1: his uncle, who probably claimed overlordship over him. He had
21:39
Speaker 1: set messages of submission to Alexander before the battle, but
21:43
Speaker 1: disappointed and frightened at the favor which the conqueror had
21:46
Speaker 1: shown his uncle, he fled eastward. Alexander himself, hastened in pursuit,
21:51
Speaker 1: crossed the Hydraotis, which, unlike the Acasanes, was easily passed,
21:56
Speaker 1: But he left Hephaestian to march southward and subdue the
21:59
Speaker 1: land of the younger por Orus, as well as the
22:01
Speaker 1: free communities between the two rivers. All this northern portion
22:05
Speaker 1: of the Doab or interfluvial tract may be added to
22:09
Speaker 1: the realm of the elder Porus. The news that the Cathayans,
22:14
Speaker 1: a free and warlike people whom Porus and Abassaris had
22:18
Speaker 1: some time before failed to conquer, were determined to give
22:20
Speaker 1: him battle, diverted Alexander from the pursuit. He advanced against
22:25
Speaker 1: their chief town Sangela, strongly walled and protected on one
22:29
Speaker 1: side by a hill and on the other by a lake.
22:32
Speaker 1: It was probably near Amrastar, to the northeast of Lahore.
22:36
Speaker 1: The Cathayians, supported by some neighboring tribes, had made a
22:40
Speaker 1: stockade with a triple line of wagons round the hill.
22:43
Speaker 1: After a severe struggle, the entrenchment was carried and the
22:46
Speaker 1: defenders retreated into the city. They tried to escape through
22:50
Speaker 1: the lake under the cover of night, but Alexander discovered
22:53
Speaker 1: the plan and lined the shores with soldiers. Then the
22:56
Speaker 1: place was stormed and slighted. The neighboring people submitted, and
23:00
Speaker 1: all this land was likewise placed under the lordship of Porus. Thus,
23:05
Speaker 1: of the four river bounded tracts, which composed the Punjab.
23:09
Speaker 1: The largest between Indus and Jelum belonged to Umphus of Taxilla,
23:14
Speaker 1: while the three others between Jealum and Baus were assigned
23:17
Speaker 1: to Porus. Alexander now advanced to the Hyphaesus or Bayeus,
23:24
Speaker 1: and reached it higher up than the point where it
23:26
Speaker 1: joins the Sootlage to form the Khatudru or one hundred streams.
23:32
Speaker 1: It was destined to be the landmark of his utmost march.
23:35
Speaker 1: He wished to go farther and explore the lands of
23:37
Speaker 1: the Ganges, but an unlooked for obstacle occurred. The Macedonians
23:42
Speaker 1: were worn out with years of hard campaigning and weary
23:45
Speaker 1: of this endless rolling on into the unknown. Their numbers
23:48
Speaker 1: had dwindled. The remnant of them were battered and grown
23:51
Speaker 1: old before their time. The terrible rains which had beaten
23:55
Speaker 1: incessantly upon them since the crossing of the Indus and
23:58
Speaker 1: had made their labors doubly Laboririus were the last weight
24:01
Speaker 1: in the scale. Their gear was worn out, the hoofs
24:04
Speaker 1: of their horses, as one of the campaigners described, were
24:07
Speaker 1: rubbed away by the long, rough journeys. Their arms were
24:11
Speaker 1: blunted and broken in hard combats. The bodies of the
24:14
Speaker 1: veterans were enveloped in Indian rags, for their Greek clothes
24:17
Speaker 1: were worn out. All yearned back for their homeland in
24:21
Speaker 1: the west. They had won glory enough. Why heap toil
24:25
Speaker 1: upon toil and peril upon peril on the banks of
24:29
Speaker 1: the Hyphacus. The crisis came. The men resolved to go
24:33
Speaker 1: no farther, and their resolution was strengthened by the information
24:36
Speaker 1: that they would have to cross the Indian Desert, a
24:39
Speaker 1: journey of eleven days before they reached the fertile regions
24:42
Speaker 1: of the Ganges. At a meeting of the officers which
24:46
Speaker 1: Alexander summoned, Coynus was the spokesman of the general, Feeling
24:50
Speaker 1: the king not a little vexed, dismissed them, and, summoning
24:54
Speaker 1: them on the morrow, declared that he had proposed to
24:56
Speaker 1: advance himself, but would constrain no man to follow him.
25:00
Speaker 1: Let the Macedonians go back to Macedonia and tell how
25:04
Speaker 1: they abandoned their king in a hostile land. He retired
25:08
Speaker 1: to his tent and for two days refused to see
25:10
Speaker 1: any of his companions, hoping that their hearts would be softened.
25:14
Speaker 1: But though his resentment made them unhappy, the Macedonians did
25:18
Speaker 1: not relent or go back from their purpose. On the
25:21
Speaker 1: third day, Alexander offered sacrifices preliminary to crossing the river,
25:26
Speaker 1: But the victims, and this was assuredly no freak of chance,
25:30
Speaker 1: gave unfavorable signs. Then the king yielded and signified to
25:35
Speaker 1: the obdurate army that he had decided to return. When
25:38
Speaker 1: his will was made known, the way worn veterans burst
25:41
Speaker 1: into wild joy. The more part of them shed tears.
25:45
Speaker 1: They crowded round the royal tent, blessing the unconquered king
25:48
Speaker 1: that he had permitted himself to be conquered for once
25:51
Speaker 1: by his Macedonians. On the banks of the Hyphacis, Alexander
25:56
Speaker 1: erected twelve towering altars to the twelve great gods of
25:59
Speaker 1: Olympi as a thank offering for having strewn his wonderful
26:03
Speaker 1: path with victories and led him safely within reach of
26:07
Speaker 1: the world's end. Within reach of the world's end, and
26:11
Speaker 1: not to reach it. This was the disappointment which befell
26:15
Speaker 1: Alexander at the Hyphasis to understand fully the measure of
26:19
Speaker 1: this disappointment, we must realize his geographical conceptions of the
26:24
Speaker 1: southern extension of Asia in the great Indian Promontory, and
26:27
Speaker 1: further India with its huge islands. He knew nothing of
26:31
Speaker 1: the vastness of China, of the existence of Siberia, he
26:34
Speaker 1: had not the least suspicion. He supposed that the Gangs
26:38
Speaker 1: discharged its waters into the Ocean, which bounded the Earth
26:41
Speaker 1: in the east, as the Atlantic bounded it on the west.
26:44
Speaker 1: And he imagined that this eastern sea, washing the base
26:47
Speaker 1: of the further slopes of the Hindu, Kush and Pamir
26:50
Speaker 1: Mountains and rounding the northern slopes of Scythia, was continuous
26:54
Speaker 1: with the Caspian. And just as he planned to navigate
26:57
Speaker 1: the Southern Ocean from the mouth of the Indus to
26:59
Speaker 1: the the Arabian Gulf, or perhaps even round Libya to
27:03
Speaker 1: the Pillars of Hercules, plans of which we shall presently speak,
27:07
Speaker 1: so he probably dreamed of navigating the Eastern Ocean from
27:10
Speaker 1: the mouth of the Gangs and winning round to the
27:13
Speaker 1: shores of Scythia and Hyrcania on annexation or effective conquest.
27:19
Speaker 1: Beyond the Hyphacus, the mine of Alexander does not seem
27:22
Speaker 1: to have been bent. He had only a small army
27:25
Speaker 1: with him, for he had dropped large detachments on his
27:28
Speaker 1: way from the Jalum to the Bais, and he expected
27:31
Speaker 1: no hostilities from the tranquil dwellers of the Gangs. His
27:35
Speaker 1: expedition would have been, in the first instance, a journey
27:38
Speaker 1: of exploration, circumstances might have made it into a march
27:42
Speaker 1: of conquest. Alexander is often represented as a madman, dazzled
27:48
Speaker 1: by wild and whirling visions of dominion and glory, impelled
27:52
Speaker 1: by an insatiable lust of conquest for conquest's sake. But
27:57
Speaker 1: in judging his schemes, which in themselves seem wild too,
28:00
Speaker 1: us who know the configuration of the earth, we must
28:03
Speaker 1: contract our imagination to the compass of his false notions
28:06
Speaker 1: and imperfect knowledge. If the form and feature of the
28:10
Speaker 1: earth were what he pictured it to be, twenty years
28:13
Speaker 1: would have sufficed to make his empire contramineous with its limits.
28:17
Speaker 1: He might have ruled from the eastern to the western Ocean,
28:20
Speaker 1: from the ultimate bounds of Scythia to the shores of Libya.
28:24
Speaker 1: He might have brought to pass in three continents, and
28:26
Speaker 1: universal peace and dotted the habitable globe with his Greek cities.
28:31
Speaker 1: Alexander was ambitious, but ambition did not blind him. He
28:35
Speaker 1: was perfectly capable of discerning shine from substance. The advance
28:39
Speaker 1: to the Indus was no mere wanton aggression, but was
28:42
Speaker 1: necessary to establish secure roots for Indian trade, which was
28:47
Speaker 1: at the mercy of the wild hill tribes, and the
28:49
Speaker 1: subjugation of the Punjab was a necessity for securing the
28:52
Speaker 1: Indus frontier. The solid interests of commerce underlay the ambitions
28:57
Speaker 1: of the Macedonian conqueror. It is not without significance that
29:00
Speaker 1: Phoenician merchants accompanied his army. Alexander retraced his steps to
29:05
Speaker 1: the Hydaspes on his way, picking up Hephestian, who had
29:09
Speaker 1: founded a new city on the banks of the Acesanes.
29:12
Speaker 1: On the Hydaspes. Craterus had not only built the two
29:14
Speaker 1: cities at the scene of the great battle, but it
29:17
Speaker 1: also prepared a large fleet of transports, which was to
29:19
Speaker 1: carry part of the army down the river to reach
29:22
Speaker 1: the Indus and the Ocean. The fleet was placed under
29:25
Speaker 1: the command of Niarchus, and the king's own ship was
29:28
Speaker 1: piloted by Onascritis, who afterwards wrote a book on Alexander's expedition.
29:34
Speaker 1: The rest of the army, divided into four parts, marched
29:36
Speaker 1: along either bank under Hephestian and Crateras as they advanced,
29:42
Speaker 1: they swept the southern portions of the Doabs, reducing the
29:45
Speaker 1: tribes which did not submit. The only formidable resistance that
29:49
Speaker 1: they encountered was from the free and warlike tribe of
29:52
Speaker 1: the Mali, whose territory stretched on both sides of the Ravi.
29:57
Speaker 1: Having routed a large host of these Indians on the
29:59
Speaker 1: southe othern bank of the river, Alexander pursued them to
30:02
Speaker 1: their chief city, which is probably to be sought at
30:05
Speaker 1: the site of the modern Moltan. Since then, the ravill
30:09
Speaker 1: has changed its bed, and the days of Alexander it
30:11
Speaker 1: used to flow into the Shinnab below Moultan. Here he
30:16
Speaker 1: met with a grave adventure. The city had been easily
30:18
Speaker 1: taken and the Indians had retreated into the citadel. Two
30:22
Speaker 1: ladders were brought to scale the earthen wall, but it
30:25
Speaker 1: was found hard to place them beneath the shadow of
30:27
Speaker 1: missiles from above. Impatient at the delay, Alexander seized a
30:32
Speaker 1: ladder and climbed up under the cover of his shield. Peucestus,
30:37
Speaker 1: who bore the sacred buckler from the temple of Ilion,
30:40
Speaker 1: and Leonatus followed, and Abraeus ascended the other ladder. When
30:45
Speaker 1: the king reached the battlement, he hurled down or slew
30:48
Speaker 1: the Indians who were posted at that spot the Hypassus.
30:51
Speaker 1: When they saw their king standing upon the wall, a
30:54
Speaker 1: mark for the whole garrison of the fortress, made a
30:56
Speaker 1: rush for the ladders, and both ladders broke under the
30:59
Speaker 1: weight of the crowd. Only these three, Paeochistus, Leonatus and
31:04
Speaker 1: Abraeus reached the wall before the latters broke. His friends
31:09
Speaker 1: implored Alexander to leap down. He answered their cries by
31:12
Speaker 1: leaping down among the enemy. He alighted on his feet,
31:17
Speaker 1: with his back to the wall. He stood there alone
31:19
Speaker 1: against the throng of foes, who recognized the great king.
31:22
Speaker 1: With his sword, he cut down their leader and some
31:25
Speaker 1: others who ventured to rush at him. He felled two
31:27
Speaker 1: more with stones, and the rest, not daring to approach,
31:31
Speaker 1: pelted him with missiles. Meanwhile, his three companions had cleared
31:35
Speaker 1: the wall of its defenders and leapt down to help
31:37
Speaker 1: their king. Abraeus fell slain by a dart. Then Alexander
31:42
Speaker 1: himself received a wound in the breast. For a space
31:45
Speaker 1: he stood in fought, but at last sank on his shield,
31:48
Speaker 1: fainting through loss of blood. Paochastus stood over him with
31:52
Speaker 1: the Holy shield of Troy. Leonatus guarded him on the
31:55
Speaker 1: other side until rescue came. Having no ladders, the Macedonians
32:00
Speaker 1: had driven pegs into the wall, and a few had
32:02
Speaker 1: clambered up as best they could and flung themselves down
32:05
Speaker 1: into the fray. Some of these succeeded in opening one
32:08
Speaker 1: of the gates, and then the fort was taken. No man,
32:12
Speaker 1: woman or child in the place was spared by the
32:14
Speaker 1: infuriated soldiers, who thought that their king was dead. But
32:18
Speaker 1: though the wound was grave, Alexander recovered. The rumor of
32:22
Speaker 1: his death reached the camp where the main army was
32:24
Speaker 1: waiting at the junction of the Raville with the Shanab,
32:28
Speaker 1: and it produced deep consternation and despair. Reassuring letters were
32:32
Speaker 1: not believed, so Alexander caused himself to be carried to
32:36
Speaker 1: the banks of the Raville and conveyed by water down
32:38
Speaker 1: to the camp. When he drew near the canopy which
32:41
Speaker 1: sheltered his bed in the stern of the vessel was removed.
32:45
Speaker 1: The soldiers, still doubting, thought it was his corpse. They
32:48
Speaker 1: saw until the barqu drew close to the bank and
32:50
Speaker 1: he waved his hand. Then the host shouted for joy.
32:55
Speaker 1: When he was carried ashore, he was lifted for a
32:57
Speaker 1: moment on horseback that he might be better seen by all,
33:00
Speaker 1: and then he walked a few steps for their greater reassurance.
33:04
Speaker 1: This adventure is an extreme case of Alexander's besetting weakness,
33:08
Speaker 1: which has been illustrated in many others of his actions
33:12
Speaker 1: in the excitement of battle. Amid the ring of arms,
33:15
Speaker 1: he was apt to forget his duties as a leader.
33:18
Speaker 1: Though one of the most consummate generals that the world
33:20
Speaker 1: has seen, he took a far keener delight in fighting
33:23
Speaker 1: in the thickest of the fray or heading a charge
33:26
Speaker 1: of cavalry than in maneuvering an army or contriving strategical operations.
33:31
Speaker 1: His eyes and ears were ever filled with the brilliance
33:34
Speaker 1: of battle, the bloom in the beauty, and the splendor
33:37
Speaker 1: of spears. He could not resist the temptations of danger,
33:42
Speaker 1: and he hardly conducted a single campaign in which he
33:45
Speaker 1: had not been wounded. Of the last and most flagrant occasion,
33:49
Speaker 1: when some of his intimate friends upbraided him for acting
33:51
Speaker 1: as a soldier instead of acting as a general. He
33:54
Speaker 1: was deeply hurt, for his conscience pricked him. To have
33:57
Speaker 1: endangered his own safety was a crime against the whole army.
34:02
Speaker 1: The Mali made a complete submission, and their example was
34:05
Speaker 1: followed by the Oxidrakes, their southern neighbours, who were also
34:08
Speaker 1: renowned for their warlike character. These lower parts of the
34:12
Speaker 1: Punjab were not added to the dominion of Porus, but
34:15
Speaker 1: were placed in direct dependence on the Satrope, which had
34:17
Speaker 1: been committed to Philip. When Alexander had recovered from his wound,
34:22
Speaker 1: the fleet sailed downward, passed the junction of the Hyphasis,
34:25
Speaker 1: and the Indian tribes submitted, presenting to the conqueror the
34:28
Speaker 1: characteristic products of India, gems, fine draperies, tame lions and tigers.
34:34
Speaker 1: At the place where the united stream of the four
34:36
Speaker 1: lesser Rivers joins the mighty flow of the Indus, the
34:39
Speaker 1: foundations were laid of a new Alexandria, to be the
34:43
Speaker 1: great trade center between the Punjab and the territory of
34:45
Speaker 1: the lower Indus, and to be the bulwark of the
34:48
Speaker 1: southern frontier of the province of Philip. The next stage
34:52
Speaker 1: of the southward advanced was the capital town of the Sogdi,
34:55
Speaker 1: which lay upon the river. Alexander refounded it as a
34:59
Speaker 1: Greek colony and built wharfs. It was known as the
35:02
Speaker 1: Sogdian Alexandria, and was destined to be the residence of
35:05
Speaker 1: a southern satrope which was to extend to the sea coast.
35:09
Speaker 1: This province was committed to Paathan, the son of Agenore.
35:13
Speaker 1: The principalities of the rich and populous land of the
35:16
Speaker 1: sind were distinguished from the states of the north by
35:19
Speaker 1: the great political power enjoyed by the Brahmins. Under the
35:22
Speaker 1: influence of this caste, which was vehemently opposed to the
35:26
Speaker 1: intrusion of the outlanders, the princes either defied Alexander, or,
35:31
Speaker 1: if they submitted at first, speedily rebelled. The spring was
35:34
Speaker 1: spent in reducing these regions, and it was nearly Midsummer
35:38
Speaker 1: when the king reached Patala at the vertex of the
35:41
Speaker 1: Indus Delta, on the tidings of an insurrection in Aracosia,
35:46
Speaker 1: he had dispatched Krateras with a considerable portion of the
35:49
Speaker 1: army to march through the Bolan Pass into southern Afghanistan
35:53
Speaker 1: and to put down the revolt. Alexander himself designed to
35:57
Speaker 1: march through Baluchistan, and Krateras was ordered to meet him
36:01
Speaker 1: in Kirman, near the entrance of the Persian Gulf. Another
36:05
Speaker 1: division of the host was to go by sea to
36:07
Speaker 1: the mouth of the Tigris. The king fixed upon Patala
36:11
Speaker 1: to be for the Indian Empire what the most famous
36:14
Speaker 1: of his Alexandrias was for Egypt. He charged Festian with
36:18
Speaker 1: the task of fortifying the citadel and building an ample harbor.
36:22
Speaker 1: Then he sailed southward himself to visit the southern Ocean.
36:25
Speaker 1: It was the season at which the monsoons blow from
36:28
Speaker 1: the southwest, and the Macedonians, accustomed to the tideless midland sea,
36:33
Speaker 1: were at first sorely perplexed by the ebb and flow
36:35
Speaker 1: of the oceanic tide at this time, especially high and
36:39
Speaker 1: violent in the main arm of the river. Several ships
36:42
Speaker 1: were lost, but the sailors soon mastered the secret of
36:45
Speaker 1: the times and tides, and Alexander fared out into the
36:48
Speaker 1: open sea he sacrificed to Poseidon. He poured drink offerings
36:53
Speaker 1: from a golden cup to the Nerids and Dioscori, and
36:57
Speaker 1: to Thetis, the mother of his ancestor Kills lillies, and
37:01
Speaker 1: then hurled the cup into the waves. This ceremony inaugurated
37:05
Speaker 1: his plan of opening a seaway for commerce between the
37:08
Speaker 1: West and the far East. The enterprise of discovering this
37:12
Speaker 1: seaway was entrusted to Nearchus, an officer who was an
37:15
Speaker 1: intimate companion of his own and possessed the confidence of
37:18
Speaker 1: the troops. Alexander started on his land march in the
37:23
Speaker 1: early autumn, but Nearchus and the fleet were to wait
37:25
Speaker 1: until October in order to be helped forward by the
37:28
Speaker 1: Eastern monsoons. End of Chapter eighteen, Part two