when he saw the enemy pressing upon the men in the rear, he stationed his engines of war upon the bank, and ordered the engineers to shoot from them as far forward as possilile all sorts of projectiles which are usually shot from military engines.[1] He directed the archers, who had also entered the water, to shoot their arrows from the middle of the river. But Glaucias durst not advance within range of the missiles; so that the Macedonians passed over in such safety, that not one of them lost his life 'in the retreat.
Three days after this, Alexander discovered that Clitus and Glaucias lay carelessly encamped; that neither were ' their sentinels on guard in military order, nor had they protected themselves with a rampart or ditch, as if they imagined he had withdrawn through fear; and that they had extended their line to a disadvantageous length. He therefore crossed the river again secretly, at the approach of night, leading with him the shield-bearing guards, the Agrianians, the archers, and the brigades of Perdiccas[2] and Coenus,[3] after having given orders for the
- ↑ In addition to his other military improvements, Philip had organized an effective siege-train with projectile and battering engines superior to anything of the kind existing before. This artillery was at once made use of by Alexander in this campaign against the Illyrians.
- ↑ Perdiccas, son of Orontes, a Macedonian, was one of Alexander's most distinguished generals. The king is said on his death-bed to have taken the royal signet from his finger and to have given it to Perdiccas. After Alexander's death he was appointed regent; but an alliance was formed against him by Antipater, Craterus, and Ptolemy. He marched into Egypt against Ptolemy. Being defeated in his attempts to force the passage of the Nile, his own troops mutinied against him and slew him (B.C. 321). See Diodorus, xviii. 36. For his personal valour see Aelian (Varia Historia, xii. 39).
- ↑ Coenus, son of Polemocrates, was a son-in-law of Parmenio, and one of Alexander's best generals. He violently accused his brother-inlaw Philotas of treason, and personally superintended the torturing of that famous officer previous to his execution (Curtius, vi. 36, 42). He was put forward by the army to dissuade Alexander from advancing beyond the Hyphasis (Arrian, v. 27). Soon after this he died and was
