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[2] The king first thought to force his way through and advanced to the pass through narrow defiles in rough country, but without opposition. The Persians allowed him to proceed along the pass for some distance, but when he was about half-way through the hard part, they suddenly attacked him and rolled down from above huge boulders, which falling suddenly upon the massed ranks of the Macedonians killed many of them. Many of the enemy threw javelins down from the cliffs into the crowd, and did not miss their mark. Still others coming to close quarters flung stones at the Macedonians who pressed on. The Persians had a tremendous advantage because of the difficulty of the country, killed many and injured not a few.

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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