Ἀλεξάνδρου ἀνάβασις 5.27

5.27.1

ταῦτα καὶ τοιαῦτα εἰπόντος Ἀλεξάνδρου πολὺν μὲν χρόνον σιωπὴ ἦν οὔτε ἀντιλέγειν τολμώντων πρὸς τὸν βασιλέα ἐκ τοῦ εὐθέος οὔτε ξυγχωρεῖν ἐθελόντων. ἐν δὲ τούτῳ πολλάκις μὲν Ἀλέξανδρος ἐκέλευε λέγειν τὸν βουλόμενον, εἰ δή τις τὰ ἐναντία τοῖς ὑπʼ αὐτοῦ λεχθεῖσι γιγνώσκει· ἔμενε δὲ καὶ ὣς ἐπὶ πολὺ ἡ σιωπή· ὀψὲ δέ ποτε θαρσήσας Κοῖνος ὁ Πολεμοκράτους ἔλεξε τοιάδε.

When Alexander had spoken to this and the like effect, a long silence followed, because those present neither dared to speak freely in opposition to the king, nor yet wished to assent to what he proposed. Alexander again and again requested that any one who wished should speak, even if his views differed from those which he had himself expressed. But the silence was unbroken for a long time, till at last Koinos, the son of Polemokrates, summoned up courage and spoke to this effect: "Forasmuch as you do not wish, O king! to rule Macedonians by constraint, but say that you will lead them by persuasion, or suffering yourself to be persuaded by them, will not have recourse to compulsion, I intend to speak, not on behalf of myself and fellow-officers who have been honoured above the other soldiers, and have most of us received splendid rewards of our labours, and from having been highly exalted above others are more zealous than others to serve you in all things, but in behalf of the great body of the army. Yet on behalf of this army I intend not to say what may be agreeable to the men, but what I think will be conducive to your present interests and safest for the future. I feel bound by my age not to conceal what appears to be the best course to follow ; bound by the high authority conferred on me by yourself, and bound also by the unhesitating boldness which I have hitherto exhibited in all enterprises of danger.

5.27.2

ἐπειδὴ αὐτός, ὦ βασιλεῦ, οὐ κατὰ πρόσταγμα ἐθέλεις Μακεδόνων ἐξηγεῖσθαι, ἀλλὰ πείσας μὲν ἄξειν φῄς, πεισθεὶς δὲ οὐ βιάσεσθαι, οὐχ ὑπὲρ ἡμῶν τῶνδε ποιήσομαι ἐγὼ τοὺς λόγους, οἳ καὶ προτιμώμενοι τῶν ἄλλων καὶ τὰ ἆθλα τῶν πόνων οἱ πολλοὶ ἤδη κεκομισμένοι καὶ τῷ κρατιστεύειν παρὰ τοὺς ἄλλους πρόθυμοί σοι ἐς πάντα ἐσμέν, ἀλλʼ ὑπὲρ τῆς στρατιᾶς τῆς πολλῆς.

5.27.3

οὐδὲ ὑπὲρ ταύτης τὰ καθʼ ἡδονὴν ἐκείνοις ἐρῶ, ἀλλὰ ἃ νομίζω σύμφορά τέ σοι ἐς τὰ παρόντα καὶ ἐς τὰ μέλλοντα μάλιστα ἀσφαλῆ εἶναι. δίκαιος δέ εἰμι καθʼ ἡλικίαν τε μὴ ἀποκρύπτεσθαι τὰ δοκοῦντα βέλτιστα καὶ κατὰ τὴν ἐκ σοῦ μοι οὖσαν καὶ ἐς τοὺς ἄλλους ἀξίωσιν καὶ κατὰ τὴν ἐν τοῖς πόνοις τε καὶ κινδύνοις ἐς τόδε ἀπροφάσιστον τόλμαν.

5.27.4

ὅσῳ γάρ τοι πλεῖστα καὶ μέγιστα σοί τε ἡγουμένῳ καταπέπρακται καὶ τοῖς ἅμα σοὶ οἴκοθεν ὁρμηθεῖσι, τοσῷδε μᾶλλόν τι ξύμφορόν μοι δοκεῖ πέρας τι ἐπιθεῖναι τοῖς πόνοις καὶ κινδύνοις. αὐτὸς γάρ τοι ὁρᾷς, ὅσοι μὲν Μακεδόνων τε καὶ Ἑλλήνων ἅμα σοὶ ὡρμήθημεν, ὅσοι δὲ ὑπολελείμμεθα·

The more I look to the number and magnitude of the exploits performed under your command by us who set out with you from home, the more does it seem to me expedient to place some limit to our toils and dangers. For you see yourself how many Macedonians and Greeks started with you, and how few of us are left. From our ranks you sent away home from Baktra the Thessalians as soon as you saw they had no stomach for further toils, and in this you acted wisely. Of the other Greeks, some have been settled in the cities founded by you, where all of them are not willing residents; others still share our toils and dangers. They and the Macedonian army have lost some of their numbers in the fields of battle ; others have been disabled by wounds ; others have been left behind in different parts of Asia, but the majority have perished by disease. A few only out of many survive, and these few possessed no longer of the same bodily strength as before, while their spirits are still more depressed. All those, whose parents are still living, have a yearning to see them— a yearning to see their wives and children— a yearning to see were it but their native land itself— a desire pardonable in men who would return home in great splendour derived from your munificence, and raised from humble to high rank, and from indigence to wealth.

5.27.5

ὧν Θετταλοὺς μὲν ἀπὸ Βάκτρων εὐθὺς οὐ προθύμους ἔτι ἐς τοὺς πόνους αἰσθόμενος οἴκαδε, καλῶς ποιῶν, ἀπέπεμψας· τῶν δὲ ἄλλων Ἑλλήνων οἱ μὲν ἐν ταῖς πόλεσι ταῖς πρὸς σοῦ οἰκισθείσαις κατῳκισμένοι οὐδὲ οὗτοι πάντῃ ἑκόντες μένουσιν· οἱ δὲ ξυμπονοῦντές τε ἔτι καὶ ξυγκινδυνεύοντες, αὐτοί τε καὶ ἡ Μακεδονικὴ στρατιά, τοὺς μὲν ἐν ταῖς μάχαις ἀπολωλέκασιν, οἱ δὲ ἐκ τραυμάτων ἀπόμαχοι γεγενημένοι ἄλλοι ἄλλῃ τῆς Ἀσίας ὑπολελειμμένοι εἰσίν,

5.27.6

οἱ πλείους δὲ νόσῳ ἀπολώλασιν, ὀλίγοι δὲ ἐκ πολλῶν ὑπολείπονται, καὶ οὔτε τοῖς σώμασιν ἔτι ὡσαύτως ἐρρωμένοι, ταῖς τε γνώμαις πολὺ ἔτι μᾶλλον προκεκμηκότες. καὶ τούτοις ξύμπασιν πόθος μὲν γονέων ἐστίν, ὅσοις ἔτι σώζονται, πόθος δὲ γυναικῶν καὶ παίδων, πόθος δὲ δὴ τῆς γῆς αὐτῆς τῆς οἰκείας, ἣν ξὺν τῷ ἐκ σοῦ πορισθέντι σφίσιν κόσμῳ μεγάλοι τε ἀντὶ μικρῶν καὶ πλούσιοι ἐκ πενήτων ἀναστρέφοντες ξύγγνωστοί εἰσιν ἐπιδεῖν ποθοῦντες.

5.27.7

σὺ δὲ νῦν μὴ ἄγειν ἄκοντας· οὐδὲ γὰρ ὁμοίοις ἔτι χρήσῃ ἐς τοὺς κινδύνους, οἷς τὸ ἑκούσιον ἐν τοῖς ἀγῶσιν ἀπέσται· ἐπανελθὼν δὲ αὐτός [τε], εἰ δοκεῖ, ἐς τὴν οἰκείαν καὶ τὴν μητέρα τὴν σαυτοῦ ἰδὼν καὶ τὰ τῶν Ἑλλήνων καταστησάμενος καὶ τὰς νίκας ταύτας τὰς πολλὰς καὶ μεγάλας ἐς τὸν πατρῷον οἶκον κομίσας οὕτω δὴ ἐξ ἀρχῆς ἄλλον στόλον στέλλεσθαι, εἰ μὲν βούλει, ἐπʼ αὐτὰ ταῦτα τὰ πρὸς τὴν ἕω ᾠκισμένα Ἰνδῶν γένη, εἰ δὲ βούλει, ἐς τὸν Εὔξεινον πόντον, εἰ δέ, ἐπὶ Καρχηδόνα καὶ τὰ ἐπέκεινα Καρχηδονίων τῆς Λιβύης. ταῦτα δὲ σὸν ἤδη ἐξηγεῖσθαι.

Seek not, therefore, to lead them against their inclinations, for you will not find them the same men in the face of dangers, if they enter without heart into their contests with the enemy. But do you also, if it agree with your wishes, return home with us, see your mother once more, settle the affairs of the Greeks, and carry to the house of your fathers those your great and numerous victories. Then having so done, form, if you so wish, a fresh expedition against these same tribes of eastern Indians, or, if you prefer, against the shores of the Euxine Sea, or against Karchedon, and the parts of Lybia beyond the Karchedonians. It will then be your part to unfold your purpose, and then other Macedonians and other Greeks will follow you — young men full of vigour instead of old men worn out with toils — men for whom war, through their inexperience of it, has no immediate terrors, and eager to set out from the hope of future rewards. They will also naturally follow you with the greater alacrity, from seeing that the companions of your former toils and dangers have returned home wealthy instead of poor, and raised to high distinction from their original obscurity. Moderation, in the midst of success, is, O king ! the noblest of virtues, for though, at the head of so brave an army, you have nothing to dread from mortal foes, yet the visitations of the deity cannot be foreseen, and man cannot, therefore, guard against them."

5.27.8

ἕψονται δέ σοι ἄλλοι Μακεδόνες καὶ ἄλλοι Ἕλληνες, νέοι τε ἀντὶ γερόντων καὶ ἀκμῆτες ἀντὶ κεκμηκότων, καὶ οἷς τὰ τοῦ πολέμου διὰ τὸ ἀπείρατον ἔς τε τὸ παραυτίκα οὐ φοβερὰ καὶ κατὰ τὴν τοῦ μέλλοντος ἐλπίδα ἐν σπουδῇ ἔσται· οὓς καὶ ταύτῃ ἔτι προθυμότερον ἀκολουθήσειν σοι εἰκός, ὁρῶντας τοὺς πρότερον ξυμπονήσαντάς τε καὶ ξυγκινδυνεύσαντας ἐς τὰ σφέτερα ἤθη ἐπανεληλυθότας, πλουσίους τε ἀντὶ πενήτων καὶ ἀντὶ ἀφανῶν τῶν πάλαι εὐκλεεῖς.

5.27.9

καλὸν δέ, ὦ βασιλεῦ, εἴπερ τι καὶ ἄλλο, καὶ ἡ ἐν τῷ εὐτυχεῖν σωφροσύνη. σοὶ γὰρ αὐτῷ ἡγουμένῳ καὶ στρατιὰν τοιαύτην ἄγοντι ἐκ μὲν πολεμίων δέος οὐδέν, τὰ δὲ ἐκ τοῦ δαιμονίου ἀδόκητά τε καὶ ταύτῃ καὶ ἀφύλακτα τοῖς ἀνθρώποις ἐστί. τοιαῦτα εἰπόντος τοῦ Κοίνου θόρυβον γενέσθαι

When Koinos had concluded his address, those present are said to have signified their approval of what he said by loud applause, while many by their streaming tears showed still more expressively their aversion to encounter further dangers, and how welcome to them was the idea of returning. But Alexander, who resented the freedom with which Koinos had spoken, and the hesitation displayed by the other generals, broke up the conference; but next day while his wrath was still hot he summoned the same men again, and told them that he was going forward himself, but would not force any of the Macedonians to accompany him against their wishes, for he would find men ready to follow their king of their own free will. But those who wished to go away were free to go home, and might tell their friends there that they had returned and left their king in the midst of his enemies. It is said that with these words he withdrew into his tent, and did not admit any of his companions to see him on that day, nor even till the third day after, waiting to see whether a change of mood, such as often takes place in an assemblage of soldiers, would manifest itself among the Macedonians and the allies, and make them readier to yield to his persuasions. But when a deep silence again reigned throughout the camp, and the soldiers were evidently offended by his wrath without their minds being changed by it, he began none the less, as Ptolemy, the son of Lagos, states, to offer there sacrifice for the passage of the river; but when on sacrificing he found the omens were against him, he then assembled the oldest of the Companions, and especially his intimate friends among them, and as everything indicated that to return was his most expedient course he intimated to the army that he had resolved to march back.