The Anabasis of Alexander : $b or, The history of the wars and conquests of Alexander the GreatArrian
History
The Anabasis of Alexander : $b or, The history of the wars and conquests of Alexander the Great
Arrian
Alexander, the Great, 356 B.C.-323 B.C.; India -- History -- To 324 B.C.; Iran -- History -- To 640
Such were the orders he gave; and Ptolemy collected there as many
waggons as he could from those which had been left behind in the first
flight, and placed them athwart, so that there might seem to the
fugitives in the night to be many difficulties in their way; and as
the stockade had been knocked down, or had not been firmly fixed in
the ground, he ordered his men to heap up a mound of earth in various
places between the lake and the wall. This his soldiers effected in
the night. When it was about the fourth watch,[707] the barbarians,
just as Alexander had been informed, opened the gates towards the
lake, and made a run in that direction. However they did not escape
the notice of the guards there, nor that of Ptolemy, who had been
placed behind them to render aid. But at this moment the buglers gave
him the signal, and he advanced against the barbarians with his army
fully equipped and drawn up in battle array. Moreover the waggons and
the stockade which had been placed in the intervening space, were an
obstruction to them. When the bugle sounded and Ptolemy attacked them,
killing the men as they kept on stealing out through the waggons, then
indeed they were driven back again into the city; and in their retreat
500 of them were killed. In the meanwhile Porus arrived, bringing with
him the elephants that were left to him, and 5,000 Indians. Alexander
had constructed his military engines and they were being led up to the
wall; but before any of it was battered down, the Macedonians took the
city by storm, digging under the wall, which was made of brick, and
placing scaling ladders against it all round. In the capture 17,000 of
the Indians were killed, and above 70,000 were captured, besides 300
chariots and 500 cavalry. In the whole siege a little less than 100 of
Alexander’s army were killed; but the number of the wounded was greater
than the proportion of the slain, being more than 1,200, among whom
were Lysimachus, the confidential body-guard, and other officers. After
burying the dead according to his custom, Alexander sent Eumenes, the
secretary,[708] with 300 cavalry to the two cities which had joined
Sangala in revolt, to tell those who held them about the capture of
Sangala, and to inform them that they would receive no harsh treatment
from Alexander if they stayed there and received him as a friend; for
no harm had happened to any of the other independent Indians who had
surrendered to him of their own accord. But they had become frightened,
and had abandoned the cities and were fleeing; for the news had already
reached them that Alexander had taken Sangala by storm. When Alexander
was informed of their flight he pursued them with speed; but most of
them were too quick for him, and effected their escape, because the
pursuit began from a distant starting-place. But all those who were
left behind in the retreat from weakness, were seized by the army and
killed, to the number of about 500. Then, giving up the design of
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