The Anabasis of Alexander/Book VII/Chapter I
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When Alexander arrived at Pasargadae and Persepolis,[1] he was seized with an ardent desire to sail down the Euphrates and Tigres[2] to the Persian Sea, and to see the mouths of those rivers as he had already seen those of the Indus as well as the sea into which it flows. Some authors[3] also have stated that he was meditating a voyage round the larger portion of Arabia, the country of the Ethiopians, Libya (i.e. Africa), and Numidia beyond Mount Atlas to Gadeira (i.e. Cadiz),[4] inward into our sea (i.e. the Mediterranean); thinking that after he had subdued both Libya and Carchedon (i.e. Carthage), he might with justice be called king of all Asia.[5] For he said that the kings of the Persians and Medes called themselves Great Kings without any rights since they did not rule the larger part of Asia. Some say that he was meditating a voyage thence into the Baxine Sea, to Scythia and the Lake Maeotis (i.e. the Sea of Azov); while others assert that he intended to go to Sicily and the Iapygian Cape,[6] for the fame of the Romans spreading far and wide was now exciting his jealousy. For my own part I cannot conjecture with any certainty what were his plans; and I do not care to guess. But this I think I can confidently affirm, that he meditated nothing small or mean; and that he would never have remained satisfied with any of the acquisitions he had made, even if he had added Europe to Asia, or the islands of the Britons to Europe ; but would still have gone on seeking for unknown lands beyond those mentioned. I verily believe that if he had found no one else to strive with, he would have striven with himself. And on this account I commend some of the Indian philosophers, who are said to have been caught by Alexander as they were walking in the open meadow where they were accustomed to spend their time.[7] At the sight of him and his army they did nothing else but stamp with their feet on the earth, upon which they were stepping. When he asked them by means of interpreters what was the meaning of their action, they replied as follows: "king Alexander, every man possesses as much of the earth as this, upon which we have stepped; but thou being only a man like the rest of us, except in being meddlesome and arrogant, art come over so great a part of the earth from thy own land, giving trouble botli to thyself and others.[8] And yet tbou also wilt soon die, and possess only as mucli of the earth as is sufficient for thy body to be buried in."
BOOK VII.
CHAPTER I.
Alexander's Plans. — The Indian Philosophers.
- ↑ Pasargadae was the ancient capital of Cyrus, but Persepolis was that of the later kings of Persia. The tomj) of Cyrus has been discovered at Murghab; consequently Parsagadae was on the banks of the river Cyrus, N.E. of Persepolis. The latter city was at the junction of the Araxes and Medus. Its extensive ruins are called Chel-Minar, "the forty columns."
- ↑ The Tigris rises in Armenia, and joins the Euphrates ninety miles from the sea, the united stream being then called Shat-el-Arab. In ancient times the two rivers had distinct outlets. In the Hebrew the Tigris is called Chiddekel, i.e. arrow. The Greek name Tigres is derived from the Zend Tighra, which comes from the Sanscrit Tig, to sharpen. Its present name is Dijleh. The respective lengths of the Euphrates and Tigris are 1,780 and 1,146 miles.
- ↑ Among these were Curtius (x. 3); Diodorus (xviii. 4); and Plutarch (Alex., 68).
- ↑ Gadeira or Gades was a Phoenician colony. The name is from the Hebrew 'li, a fence. Cf. Pliny (iv. 36); appellant Poeni Gadir ita Punica lingua septum significante. Also Avienus (Ora Maritima, 268): Punicorum lingua conseptum locum Gaddir vocabat. According to Pliny (v. 1), Suetonius Paulinus was the first Eoman general who crossed the Atlas Mountains.
- ↑ See note 3, page 309.
- ↑ Now called Capo di Leuoa, the south-eastern point of Italy.
- ↑ Cf. Arrian (Indica, 11).
- ↑ Cf. Alciphron (Epistolae, i. 30, 1), with Bergler and Wagner's notes.