Ἀλεξάνδρου ἀνάβασις 5.24.8
Ἀλεξάνδρου ἀνάβασις 5.24.8
- Language
- Ancient Greek
5.24.8
ὡς δὲ ἀπέγνω διώκειν τοῦ πρόσω τοὺς φεύγοντας, ἐπανελθὼν ἐς τὰ Σάγγαλα τὴν πόλιν μὲν κατέσκαψε, τὴν χώραν δὲ τῶν Ἰνδῶν τοῖς πάλαι μὲν αὐτονόμοις, τότε δὲ ἑκουσίως προσχωρήσασι προσέθηκεν. καὶ Πῶρον μὲν ξὺν τῇ δυνάμει τῇ ἀμφʼ αὐτὸν ἐκπέμπει ἐπὶ τὰς πόλεις αἳ προσκεχωρήκεσαν, φρουρὰς εἰσάξοντα εἰς αὐτάς, αὐτὸς δὲ ξὺν τῇ στρατιᾷ ἐπὶ τὸν Ὕφασιν ποταμὸν προὐχώρει, ὡς καὶ τοὺς ἐπέκεινα Ἰνδοὺς καταστρέψαιτο. οὐδὲ ἐφαίνετο αὐτῷ πέρας τι τοῦ πολέμου ἔστε ὑπελείπετό τι πολέμιον.
Such were the directions he gave, and Ptolemy in that place collected as many as he could of the waggons which the enemy had left behind in their first flight, and placed them athwart so that the fugitives might imagine there were many obstacles to their escaping by night. He ordered the stakes, which had been cut but not fixed in the ground, to be formed into stockades at different points between the lake and the wall. All this was done by the soldiers during the night. But when it was now about the fourth watch the barbarians, in accordance with the information Alexander had received, opened the gates which fronted the lake and rushed towards it at full speed. They did not, however, escape the vigilance either of the picquets posted there, or of Ptolemy who lay behind ready to support them; and just then the trumpeters gave him the signal, and he advanced against the barbarians with his troops which were under arms and drawn up ready for action. The waggons, moreover, as well as the stockade, which had been constructed between the wall and the lake, impeded the fugitives; and as soon as the trumpet sounded the alarm Ptolemy with his men fell upon them and killed them, one after another, as they slunk out from the waggons. Upon this the Indians fled back once more to the city for refuge, and as many as 500 of them were slain in the retreat.
Meanwhile Pôros also arrived, bringing with him the remainder of his elephants and a force of 5000 Indians, and the military engines which had been constructed by Alexander were now being brought up to the wall. But the Macedonians, before any part of it was battered down, took the city by storm, having undermined the wall, which was of brick, and planted ladders against it all round. In the capture 17,000 of the Indians were slaughtered, and more than 70,000 were captured, together with 300 waggons and 500 horsemen. The loss in Alexander's army during all the siege was somewhat under 100 killed, but the proportion of the wounded to the number killed was higher than usual, for there were 1200 wounded, including some officers, and among these Lysimachos, a member of the body-guard.
Alexander having buried the dead according to custom, sent Eumenes, his secretary, in command of 300 horsemen to the two cities which had revolted along with Sangala, to tell those who held them that Sangala had been captured, and that Alexander would not at all deal hardly with them if they remained where they were and received him in a friendly way, for that none of the independent Indians who had voluntarily surrendered themselves had received any ill-treatment at his hands. But they had already learned that Sangala had been stormed by Alexander, and being terrified by the news had left the cities and were in flight. When Alexander was informed of their flight he hastened after them, but as they had a long start of him most of them baffled his efforts to overtake them. Those, however, who were left behind in the retreat when their strength failed were taken by the troops and slaughtered to the number of about 500. As he gave up the design of pursuing the fugitives any farther, he drew back to Sangala and razed the city to the ground! The land belonging to it he made over to those Indians who had formerly been independent, but who had voluntarily submitted to him. He then sent Poros with his own forces to the cities which had submitted to introduce garrisons within them, but he himself with his army advanced to the river Hyphasis to conquer the Indians who dwelt beyond it. Nor did there appear to him any end of the war as long as an enemy remained to be encountered.
Translations (2)
- The Invasion of India by Alexander the Great (Arrian) — John Watson McCrindle 1896, English
- Arrian's Anabasis of Alexander and Indica — Edward James Chinnock 1893, English