CHAPTER XVII.
Alexander in Sardis and Ephesus.
Having appointed Calas to the post of viceroy of the territory which had been under the rule of Arsites, and having commanded the inhabitants to pay to him the same tribute which they had paid to Darius, he ordered as many of the natives as came down from the mountains and surrendered to him to depart to their several abodes. He also acquitted the people of Zeleia[1] of blame, because he knew they had been compelled to assist the Persians in the war. He then despatched Parmenio to occupy Dascylium,[2] which he easiluy performed; for the garrison evacuated it. He himself advanced towards Sardis; and when he was about 70 stades[3] distant from that city, he was met by Mithrines, the commandant of the garrison in the Acropolis, accompanied by the most influential of the citizens of Sardis. The latter surrendered the city into his hands, and Mithrines the fortress and the money laid up in it. Alexander encamped near the river Hermus,[4] which is about twenty stades[5] distant from Sardis; but he sent Amyntas, son of Andromenes, to occupy the citadel of Sardis.[6] He took Mithrines with him, treating him with honour; and granted the Sardians and other Lydians the privilege of enjoying the ancient laws of Lydia, and permitted them to be free. He then ascended into the citadel, which was garrisoned by the Persians. And the position seemed to him a strong one; for it was very lofty, precipitous on every side, and fenced round by a triple wall. He therefore resolved to
- ↑ A city at the foot of Mount Ida.
- ↑ A city of Bithynia, on the Propontis.
- ↑ About eight miles.
- ↑ This river flows through Phrygia and Lydia, and falls into the gulf of Smyrna. Its present name is Kodus-Chai. See Vergil (Georg., ii. 137); Silius, i. 159; Claudian (Raptus Proserpinae, ii. 67).
- ↑ Nearly two-and-a-half miles.
- ↑ For a description of this fortress, see Herodotus, i. 84.
