Quintus Curtius Rufus, History of Alexander 9.10.28

9.10.28

Sed fortuna, quae rebus famam pretiumque constituit, hoc quoque militiae probrum vertit in gloriam. Et praesens aetas et posteritas deinde mirata est per gentes nondum satis domitas incessisse temulentos barbaris, quod temeritas erat, fiduciam esse credentibus.

But fortune, which assigns to every thing its fame and value in the world's estimation, turned into glory this gross military scandal; and the contemporaries of Alexander, as well as those who came after his time, regarded it as a wonderful achievement, that his soldiers, though drunk, passed in safety through nations hardly as yet sufficiently subdued, the barbarians taking, what was in reality a piece of great temerity, to be a display of well-grounded confidence. All this grand exhibition, however, had the executioner in its wake, for the satrap Aspastes, of whom we before made mention, was ordered to be put to death. So true is it that cruelty is no obstacle to the indulgence of luxury, nor luxury to the indulgence of cruelty.