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The Seventeenth Book of Diodorus: in Two Parts
chapter 1chapter 2chapter 3chapter 4chapter 5chapter 6chapter 7chapter 8chapter 9chapter 10chapter 11chapter 12chapter 13chapter 14chapter 15chapter 16chapter 17chapter 18chapter 19chapter 20chapter 21chapter 22chapter 23chapter 24chapter 25chapter 26chapter 27chapter 28chapter 29chapter 30chapter 31chapter 32chapter 33chapter 34chapter 35chapter 36chapter 37chapter 38chapter 39chapter 40chapter 41chapter 42chapter 43chapter 44chapter 45chapter 46chapter 47chapter 48chapter 49chapter 50chapter 51chapter 52chapter 53chapter 54chapter 55chapter 56chapter 57chapter 58chapter 59chapter 60chapter 61chapter 62chapter 63chapter 64chapter 65chapter 66chapter 67chapter 68chapter 69chapter 70chapter 71chapter 72chapter 73chapter 74chapter 75chapter 76chapter 77chapter 78chapter 79chapter 80chapter 81chapter 82chapter 83chapter 84chapter 85chapter 86chapter 87chapter 88chapter 89chapter 90chapter 91chapter 92chapter 93chapter 94chapter 95chapter 96chapter 97chapter 98chapter 99chapter 100chapter 101chapter 102chapter 103chapter 104chapter 105chapter 106chapter 107chapter 108chapter 109chapter 110chapter 111chapter 112chapter 113chapter 114chapter 115chapter 116chapter 117chapter 118
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The
Relatives now pressed in a solid body about the two fallen men1; at first they rained their javelins on Alexander, and then
closing went all out to slay the king.
[2]
But exposed as he was
to many and fierce attacks he nevertheless was not overborne by the numbers of the foe. Though
he took two blows on the breastplate, one on the helmet, and three on the shield2 which he had brought from the temple
of Athena, he still did not give in, but borne up by an exaltation of spirit surmounted every
danger.
[3]
After this, several of the other noble Persians
fighting against him fell, of whom the most illustrious were Atizyes and Pharnaces, brother of
Dareius's queen, and also Mithrobuzanes who commanded the Cappadocians.3
[4]
Now that many of their
commanders had been slain and all the Persian squadrons were worsted by the Macedonians, those
facing Alexander were put to flight first, and then the others also. Thus the king by common
consent won the palm for bravery and was regarded as the chief author of the victory, and next
to him the Thessalian cavalry won a great reputation for valour because of the skilful handling
of their squadrons and their unmatched fighting quality.
[5]
After
the rout of the cavalry, the foot soldiers engaged one another in a contest that was soon
ended. For the Persians, dismayed by the rout of the cavalry and shaken in spirit, were quick
to flee.4
[6]
The total of the Persian infantry killed was more than ten
thousand; of the cavalry not less than two thousand; and there were taken alive upwards of
twenty thousand.5 After the battle
the king gave magnificent obsequies to the dead,6 for he thought it important by
this sort of honour to create in his men greater enthusiasm to face the hazards of battle.
[7]
Recovering his forces,
Alexander led them down through Lydia and took over the city of the Sardians with its citadels
and, what is more, the treasures stored therein, for Mithrines the satrap surrendered them
without resistance.7
1 That is, Spithridates and Rhosaces. This incident is variously reported. In Plut. Alexander 16.4-5, Rhosaces and Spithridates attacked Alexander simultaneously; the king killed the former, while the latter cracked his helmet and was run through by Cleitus's spear. In Plut. De Fortuna aut Virtute Alexandri 1.1.326f, the antagonists are Spithridates and Mithridates. In Arrian. 1.15.7-8, Mithridates is Dareius's son-in-law. Alexander dismounted him with his lance. Rhosaces cracked Alexander's helmet but was overborne by the king, while it was Spithridates whose arm was severed by Cleitus. The text of Diodorus here might allow one to suppose that Alexander also was thrown to the ground, and a figure appearing in two of the reliefs of the Alexander Sarcophagus in Constantinople, with cracked helmet and broken spear, has been thought to be Alexander at the Battle of the Granicus, but this is all very uncertain.
2 Cp. chap. 18.1 above.
3 Arrian. 1.16.3, gives a longer list of Persian casualties, but omits the name of Atizyes. Diodorus gives this name also among the Persians who fell at Issus (chap. 34.5).
4 By allowing their entire cavalry force to be first contained and then routed by the Macedonians, the Persian commanders left their infantry without protection from the flanks and rear, and with little chance of withdrawal. Arrian. 1.16.2 speaks only of the annihilation of the Greek mercenary phalanx. According to Diodorus, the Persian infantry would have got away with a loss of some thirty per cent of its effectives.
5 Plut. Alexander 16.7, gives the Persian casualties as 2500 horse and 20,000 foot; Arrian as 1000 horse and the most of the Greek phalanx, except for 2000 who were captured.
6 The Macedonian casualties were 9 foot and 120 horse (Justin 11.6.12), 9 foot and 25 horse (Plut. Alexander 16.7), or 30 foot and 60 horse (including 25 "Companions," Arrian. 1.16.4). These were honoured with statues (Justin, Plutarch, Arrian, loc. cit.; Velleius Paterculus 1.11.3-4.
7 Plut. Alexander 17.1. The account of Arrian 1.17-18.2 is fuller.
Diodorus Siculus. Diodorus of Sicily in Twelve Volumes with an English Translation by C. H. Oldfather. Vol. 4-8. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press; London: William Heinemann, Ltd. 1989.
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References (13 total)
- Cross-references to this page
(3):
- Smith's Bio, Cleitus
- Smith's Bio, Mithrobarza'nes
- Smith's Bio, Pha'rnaces
- Cross-references in notes from this page (9):
- Cross-references in general dictionaries to this page
(1):
- LSJ, κατεξ-ανίσταμαι
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