Historiae Alexandri Magni 8.14.12

8.14.12

Capitis etiam sanxerant poenam iis, qui ex acie non rettulissent, metu, quem ex illo hoste quondam conceperant, etiam in religionem venerationemque converso. Macedonas non beluarum modo, sed etiam ipsius regis aspectus parumper inhibuit.

The sight not only of the huge beasts, but even of Porus himself, made the Macedonians pause for a time, for the beasts, which had been placed at intervals between the armed ranks, presented, when seen from a distance, the appearance of towers, and Porus himself not only surpassed the standard of height to which we conceive the human figure to be limited, but, besides this, the elephant on which he was mounted seemed to add to his proportions, for it towered over all the other elephants even as Porus himself stood taller than other men. Hence Alexander, after attentively viewing the king and the army of the Indians, remarked to those near him, "I see at last a danger that matches my courage. It is at once with wild beasts and men of uncommon mettle that the contest now lies." Then turning to Coenus, "When I," he said, "along with Ptolemy, Perdiccas, and Hephaestion, have fallen upon the enemy's left wing, and you see me in the heat of the conflict, do you then advance the right wing, and charge the enemy when their ranks begin to waver. And you, sirs," he added, turning to Antigenes, Leonnatus, and Tauron, "must bear down upon their centre, and press them hard in front. The formidable length and strength of our pikes will never be so useful as when they are directed against these huge beasts and their drivers. Hurl, then, their riders to the ground, and stab the beasts themselves.

A few which were driven off the field by the darts of the enemy made their way to Porus, who was making most energetic preparations for the contest. As soon as he saw his chariots scattered amid his ranks, and wandering about without their drivers, he distributed his elephants to his friends who were nearest him. Behind them he had posted the infantry and the archers and the men who beat the drums, the instruments which the Indians use instead of trumpets to produce their war music. The rattle of these instruments does not in the least alarm the elephants, their ears, through long familiarity, being deadened to the sound. An image of Hercules was borne in front of the line of infantry, and this acted as the strongest of all incentives to make the soldiers fight well. To desert the bearers of this image was reckoned a disgraceful military offence, and they had even ordained death as a penalty for those who failed to bring it back from the battlefield, for the dread which the Indians had conceived for the god when he was their enemy had been toned down to a feeling of religious awe and veneration.