Quintus Curtius Rufus, History of Alexander 9.10.17

9.10.17

Rex dolore simul ac pudore anxius, quia causa tantae cladis ipse esset, ad Phrataphernen, Parthyaeorum satrapen, misit; qui iuberet camelis cocta cibaria adferri, aliosque finitimarum regionum praefectos certiores necessitatis suae fecit.

Those, on the other hand, who were thus forsaken, implored the king, in the name of the gods and by the rites of their common religion, to help them in their sore need, and when they found that they vainly importuned deaf ears, their despair turned to frantic rage, so that they fell to imprecations, wishing for those who refused to help them a similar death and similar friends. The king, feeling himself to be the cause of so great a calamity, was oppressed with grief and shame, and sent orders to Phrataphernes, the satrap of the Parthyaeans, to forward him upon camels provisions ready cooked, and he also notified his wants to the governors of the adjacent provinces. In obedience to his orders the supplies were at once forwarded, and the army being thus rescued, from famine at least, reached eventually the frontiers of Cedrosia, a region which alone of all these parts produces everything in great abundance. Here, therefore, he halted for some time to refresh his harassed troops by an interval of repose.