Quintus Curtius Rufus, History of Alexander 9.1

9.1.1

Alexander tam memorabili victoria laetus, qua sibi Orientis finis apertos esse censebat, Soli victimis caesis milites quoque, quo promptioribus animis reliqua belli obirent, pro contione laudatos docuit, quidquid Indis virium fuisset, illa dimicatione prostratum:

Alexander rejoicing in a victory so memorable, which led him to believe that the East to its utmost limits had been opened up to his arms, sacrificed to the sun, and having also summoned the soldiers to a general meeting, he praised them for their services, that they might with the greater alacrity undertake the wars that yet remained. He pointed out to them that all power of opposition on the part of the Indians had been quite overthrown in the battle just fought. What now remained for them was a noble spoil. The much-rumoured riches of the East abounded in those very regions, to which their steps were now bent. The spoils accordingly which they had taken from the Persians had now become cheap and common. They were going to fill with pearls, precious stones, gold, and ivory, not only their private abodes, but all Macedonia and Greece. The soldiers who coveted money as well as glory, and who had never known his promises to fail, on hearing all this, readily placed their services at his command. He sent them away full of good hope, and ordered ships to be built in order that when he had overrun all Asia, he might be able to visit the sea which formed the boundary of the world.

9.1.2

cetera opimam praedam fore celebratasque opes in ea regione eminere, quam peterent. Proinde iam vilia et obsoleta esse spolia de Persis: gemmis margaritisque et auro atque ebore Macedoniam Graeciamque, non suas tantum domos repleturos.

9.1.3

Avidi milites et pecuniae et gloriae, simul quia numquam eos adfirmatio eius fefellerat, pollicentur operam: dimissisque cum bona spe navigia exaedificari iubet, ut, cum totam Asiam percucurrisset, finem terrarum, mare, inviseret.

9.1.4

Multa materia navalis in proximis montibus erat: quam caedere adgressi magnitudinis invisitatae repperere serpentes.

In the neighbouring mountains was abundance of timber fit for building ships, and the men in hewing down the trees came upon serpents of most extraordinary size. There they also found the rhinoceros, an animal rarely met with elsewhere. This is not the name it bears among the Indians, but one given it by the Greeks, who were ignorant of the speech of the country. The king having built two cities, one on each side of the river which he had lately crossed, presented each of the generals with a crown, in addition to a thousand pieces of gold. Others also received rewards in accordance either with the place which they held in his friendship, or the value of the services which they had rendered. Abisares, who had sent envoys to Alexander before the battle with Porus had come off, now sent others to assure him that he was ready to do whatever he commanded, provided only he was not obliged to surrender his person ; for he could neither live, he said, without having the power of a king, nor have that power if he were to be kept in captivity. Alexander bade them tell their master that if he grudged to come to Alexander, Alexander would go to him.

9.1.5

Rhinocerotes quoque, rarum alibi animal, in isdem montibus erant. Ceterum hoc nomen beluis inditum a Graecis: sermonis eius ignari Indi aliud lingua sua usurpant.

9.1.6

Rex duabus urbibus conditis in utraque fluminis, quod superaverat, ripa copiarum duces coronis et M aureis singulos donat: ceteris quoque pro portione aut gradus, quem in amicitia obtinebant, aut navatae operae honos habitus est.

9.1.7

Abisares, qui, priusquam cum Poro dimicaretur, legatos ad Alexandrum miserat, rursus alios misit pollicentes, omnia facturum, quae imperasset, modo ne cogeretur corpus suum dedere: neque enim aut sine regio imperio victurum aut regnaturum esse captivum.

9.1.8

Cui Alexander nuntiari iussit, si gravaretur ad se venire, ipsum ad eum esse venturum. Hinc praerapido amne superato ad interiora Indiae processit.

After crossing a river some distance farther on, he advanced into the interior parts of India. The forests there extended over an almost boundless tract of country, and abounded with umbrageous trees of stateliest growth, that rose to an extraordinary height. Numerous branches, which for size equalled the trunk of ordinary trees, would bend down to the earth, and then shoot straight up again at the point where they bent upward, so that they had more the appearance of a tree growing from its own root than of a bough branching out from its stem. The climate is salubrious, for the dense shade mitigates the violence of the heat, and copious springs supply the land with abundance of water. But here, also, were multitudes of serpents, the scales of which glittered like gold. The poison of these is deadlier than any other, since their bite was wont to prove instantly fatal, until a proper antidote was pointed out by the natives. From thence they passed through deserts to the river Hyarotis, the banks of which were covered with a dense forest, abounding with trees not elsewhere seen, and filled with wild peacocks. Decamping hence, he came to a town that lay not far off. This he captured by a general attack all round the walls, and having received hostages, imposed a tribute upon the inhabitants. He came next to a great city — great at least for that region — and found it not only encompassed with a wall, but further defended by a morass.

9.1.9

Silvae erant prope in inmensum spatium diffusae procerisque et in eximiam altitudinem editis arboribus umbrosae.

9.1.10

Plerique rami instar ingentium stipitum flexi in humum rursus, qua se curvaverant, erigebantur, adeo ut species esset non rami resurgentis, sed arboris ex sua radice generatae.

9.1.11

Caeli temperies salubris: quippe et vim solis umbrae levant et aquae large manant e fontibus.

9.1.12

Ceterum hic quoque serpentium magna vis erat squamis fulgorem auri reddentibus. Virus haud ullum magis noxium est: quippe morsum praesens mors sequebatur, donec ab incolis remedium oblatum est.

9.1.13

Hinc per deserta ventum est ad flumen Hyraotim. Iunctum erat flumini nemus opacum arboribus alibi invisitatis agrestiumque pavonum multitudine frequens.

9.1.14

Castris inde motis oppidum haud procul positum corona capit obsidibusque acceptis Stipendium inponit. Ad magnam deinde, ut in ea regione, urbem pervenit, non muro solum, sed etiam palude munitam.

9.1.15

Ceterum barbari vehiculis inter se iunctis dimicaturi occurrerunt: tela aliis hastae, aliis secures erant, transiliebantque in vehicula strenuo saltu, cum succurrere laborantibus suis vellent.

The barbarians nevertheless sallied out to give battle, taking their waggons with them, which they fastened together each to each. For weapons of offence some had pikes and others axes, and they were in the habit of leaping nimbly from waggon to waggon if they saw their friends hard pressed and wished to help them. This mode of fighting being quite new to the Macedonians, at first alarmed them, since they were wounded by enemies beyond their reach, but coming afterwards to look with contempt upon a force so undisciplined, they completely surrounded the waggons and began stabbing all the men that offered resistance. The king then commanded the cords which fastened the waggons together to be cut - that it might be easier for the soldiers to beset each waggon separately. The enemy after a loss of 8000 men withdrew into the town. Next day the walls were escaladed all round and captured. A few were indebted for their safety to their swiftness of foot. Those who swam across the sheet of water when they saw the city was sacked, carried great consternation to the neighbouring towns, where they reported that an invincible army, one of gods assuredly, had arrived in the country.

9.1.16

Ac primo insolitum genus pugnae Macedonas terruit, cum eminus vulnerarentur : deinde spreto tam incondito auxilio ab utroque latere vehiculis circumfusi repugnantes fodere coeperunt.

9.1.17

Et vincula, quis conserta erant, iussit incidi, quo facilius singula circumvenirentur. Itaque VIII milibus suorum amissis in oppidum refugerunt.

9.1.18

Postero die scalis undique admotis muri occupantur. Paucis pernicitas saluti fuit: qui ubi cognito urbis excidio paludem transnavere, in vicina oppida ingentem intulere terrorem invictum exercitum et deorum profecto advenisse memorantes.

9.1.19

Alexander ad vastandam eam regionem Perdicca cum expedita manu misso partem copiarum Eumeni tradidit, ut is quoque barbaros ad deditionem conpelleret: ipse ceteros ad urbem validam, in quam aliarum quoque confugerant incolae, duxit.

Alexander having sent Perdiccas with a body of light troops to ravage the country, and given another detachment to Eumenes to be employed in bringing the barbarians to submission, marched himself with the rest of the army against a strong city within which the inhabitants of some other cities had taken refuge. The citizens sent deputies to appease the king's anger, but continued all the same to make warlike preparations. A dissension, it seems, had arisen among them and divided their counsels, some preferring to submit to the last extremities rather than surrender, others thinking that resistance on their part would be altogether futile. But as no consultation was held in common, those who were bent on surrendering threw open the gates and admitted the enemy. Alexander would have been justified in making the advocates of resistance feel his displeasure, but he nevertheless pardoned them all without exception, and after taking hostages marched forward to the next city. As the hostages were led in the van of the army, the defenders on the wall recognised them to be their own countrymen, and invited them to a conference. Here they were prevailed on to surrender, when they were informed of the king's clemency to the submissive, and his severity if opposed. In a similar way he gained over other towns, and placed them under his protection.

9.1.20

Oppidani missis, qui regem deprecarentur, nihilo minus bellum parabant. Quippe orta seditio in diversa consilia diduxerat vulgum: alii omnia deditione potiora, quidam nullam opem in ipsis esse ducebant.

9.1.21

Sed dum nihil in commune consulitur, qui deditioni inminebant, apertis portas hostem recipiunt.

9.1.22

Alexander quamquam belli auctoribus iure poterat irasci, tamen omnibus venia data et obsidibus acceptis ad proximam deinde urbem castra movit.

9.1.23

Obsides ducebantur ante agmen: quos cum ex muris agnovissent, utpote gentis eiusdem, in colloquium incolae vocaverunt. Illi clementiam regis simulque vim commemorando ad deditionem eos conpulere: ceterasque urbes simili modo domitas in fidem accepit.

9.1.24

Hinc in regnum Sopithis perventum est. Gens, ut barbari credunt, sapientia excellet bonisque moribus regitur.

They entered next the dominions of King Sopithes, whose nation in the opinion of the barbarians excels in wisdom, and lives under good laws and customs. Here they do not acknowledge and rear children according to the will of the parents, but as the officers entrusted with the medical inspection of infants may direct, for if they have remarked anything deformed or defective in the limbs of a child they order it to be killed. In contracting marriages they do not seek an alliance with high birth, but make their choice by the looks, for beauty in the children is a quality highly appreciated. Alexander had brought up his army before the capital of this nation where Sopithes was himself resident. The gates were shut, but as no men-at-arms showed themselves either on the walls or towers, the Macedonians were in doubt whether the inhabitants had deserted the city, or were hiding themselves to fall upon the enemy by surprise.

9.1.25

Genitos liberos non parentum arbitrio tollunt aluntque, sed eorum, quibus spectandi infantum habitum cura mandata est. Si quos vitiis insignes aut aliqua parte membrorum inutiles notaverunt, necari iubent.

9.1.26

Nuptiis coeunt non genere ac nobilitate coniunctis, sed electa corporum specie, quia eadem aestimatur in liberis.

9.1.27

Huius gentis oppidum, cui Alexander admoverat copias, ab ipso Sopithe obtinebatur. Clausae erant portae, sed nulli in muris turribusque se armati ostendebant, dubitabantque Macedones, deseruissent urbem incolae an fraude se occulerent:

9.1.28

cum subito patefacta porta rex Indus cum duobus adultis filiis occurrit multum inter omnes barbaros eminens corporis specie.

The gate, however, was on a sudden thrown open, and the Indian king with two grown-up sons issued from it to meet Alexander. He was distinguished above all the other barbarians by his tall and handsome figure. His royal robe, which flowed down to his very feet, was all inwrought with gold and purple. His sandals were of gold and studded with precious stones, and even his arms and wrists were curiously adorned with pearls. At his ears he wore pendants of precious stones which from their lustre and magnitude were of an inestimable value. His sceptre too was made of gold and set with beryls, and this he delivered up to Alexander with an expression of his wish that it might bring him good luck, and be accepted as a token that he surrendered into his hands his children and his kingdom.

9.1.29

Vestis erat auro purpuraque distincta, quae etiam crura velabat, aureis soleis inseruerat gemmas, lacerti quoque et brachia margaritis ornata erant,

9.1.30

pendebant ex auribus insignes candore ac magnitudine lapilli, baculum aureum berylli distiuguebant. Quo tradito precatus, ut sospes acciperet, se liberosque et gentem suam dedidit.

9.1.31

Nobiles ad venandum canes in ea regione sunt: latratu abstinere dicuntur, cum viderunt feram, leonibus maxime infesti.

His country possesses a noble breed of dogs, used for hunting, and said to refrain from barking when they sight their game which is chiefly the lion. Sopithes wishing to show Alexander the strength and mettle of these dogs, caused a very large lion to be placed within an enclosure where four dogs in all were let loose upon him. The dogs at once fastened upon the wild beast, when one of the huntsmen who was accustomed to work of this kind tried to pull away by the leg one of the dogs which with the others had seized the lion, and when the limb would not come away, cut it off with a knife. The dog could not even by this means be forced to let go his hold, and so the man proceeded to cut him in another place, and finding him still clutching the lion as tenaciously as before, he continued cutting away with his knife one part of him after another. The brave dog, however, even in dying kept his fangs fixed in the lion's flesh; so great is the eagerness for hunting which nature has implanted in these animals, as testified by the accounts transmitted to us.

9.1.32

Horum vim ut ostenderet Alexandro, in consaeptum leonem eximiae magnitudinis iussit emitti et quattuor omnino admoveri canes. Qui celeriter feram occupaverunt: tum ex iis, qui adsueverant talibus ministeriis, unus canis leoni cum aliis inhaerentis crus avellere et, quia non sequebatur, ferro amputare coepit.

9.1.33

Ne sic quidem pertinacia victa rursus aliam partem secare institit et inde non segnius inhaerentem ferro subinde caedere: at ille in vulnere ferae dentes moribundus quoque infixerat. Tantam in illis animalibus ad venandum cupiditatem ingenerasse naturam memoriae proditum est.

9.1.34

Equidem plura transcribo quam credo: nam nec adfirmare sustineo, de quibus dubito, nee subducere, quae accepi.

I must observe, however, that I copy from preceding writers more than I myself believe, for I neither wish to guarantee statements of the truth of which I am doubtful, nor yet to suppress what I find recorded. Alexander therefore leaving Sopithes in possession of his kingdom, advanced to the river Hyphasis, where he was rejoined by Hephaestion who had subdued a district situated in a different direction. Phegeus, who was king of the nearest nation, having beforehand ordered his subjects to attend to the cultivation of their fields according to their wont, went forth to meet Alexander with presents and assurances that whatever he commanded he would not fail to perform.

9.1.35

Relicto igitur Sopithe in suo regno ad fluvium Hypasin processit Hephaestione, qui diversam regionem subegerat, coniuncto.

9.1.36

Phegeus erat gentis proximae rex: qui popularibus suis colere agros, ut adsueverant, iussis Alexandro cum donis occurrit nihil, quod imperaret, detrectans.