Quintus Curtius Rufus, History of Alexander 8.13.23

8.13.23

Traicere amnem cum ceteris copiis in regionem insulae, de qua ante dictum est, parabat averso hoste in eos, qui cum Ptolomaeo inferiorem obsederant ripam, cum procella imbrem vix sub tectis tolerabilem effundit. Obrutique milites nimbo in terram refugerunt navigiis ratibusque desertis, sed tumultuantium fremitus obstrepentibus ventis ab hoste non poterat audiri.

Alexander then gave orders that his own tent should be pitched on a part of the bank looking the other way, that the guard of honour which usually attended him should be posted before it, and that all the pageantry of royal state should be paraded before the eyes of the enemy on purpose to deceive them. He besides requested Attalus, who was about his own age, and not unlike him in form and feature, especially when seen from a distance, to wear the royal mantle, and so make it appear as if the king in person was guarding that part of the bank without any intention of crossing the river. The state of the weather at first hindered, but afterwards favoured, the execution of this design, fortune making even untoward circumstances turn out to his ultimate advantage. For when the enemy was busy watching the troops under Ptolemy which occupied the bank lower down, and Alexander with the rest of his forces was making ready to cross the river and reach the land over against the island already mentioned, a storm poured down torrents of rain, against which even those under cover could scarcely protect themselves. The soldiers, overcome by the fury of the elements, deserted the boats and ships, and fled back for safety to land, but the din occasioned by their hurry and confusion could not be heard by the enemy amid the roar of the tempest.