Ancient writers about Macedonia – Arrian
ARRIAN - THE CAMPAIGNS OF ALEXANDER
Penguin Classics, Translated by Aubrey De Selincourt
[1] At Athens too there was a certain amount of trouble; but resistance collapsed the moment Alexander approached and he was granted even greater honours than his father Philip before him.
Arrian, The Campaigns of Alexander Book 1, page 42
[2] They then presented themselves in the Assembly and incited the Thebans to rebel against Alexander, making great play with the grand old words “liberty” and “autonomy“, and urging the at long last to throw off the burden of the Macedonian yoke.
Arrian, The Campaigns of Alexander Book 1, page 55
[3] Alexander, however, made no move, but continued to wait; for he still hoped to remain in terms with Thebans and to avoid action against them. In these circumstances all who had their city’s interest most at heart were anxious to approach Alexander and gain from him a general pardon for the revolt; but the exiles and the party responsible for their recall, especially as some of them were officers of the Boeotian Confederacy, refused to recognize the possibility of humane treatment by Alexander and urged war by every means in their power. But still Alexander waited and did not attack.
Arrian, The Campaigns of Alexander Book 1, page 56
[4] In what followed it was not so much the Macedonians as the Phocians, Plateans, and men from other Boeotian towns who, in the lust of battle, indiscriminately slaughtered the Thebans who no longer put up andy organised resistance. They burst into houses and killed the occupants;
Arrian, The Campaigns of Alexander Book 1, page 59
[5] With Thebes on the contrary it was a different matter: the lack of planning, the rapid movement of events which led to the revolt, the suddenness and ease with which the city fell, the slaughter, so appalling and so inevitable where men of kindred stock are paying off old scores,
Arrian, The Campaigns of Alexander Book 1, page 61
[6] The allies troops who took part in the fighting were entrusted by Alexander with the final settlement of the fate of Thebes. They decided to garrison the Cadmeia but to raze the city to the ground .
Arrian, The Campaigns of Alexander Book 1, page 61
[7]At Troy his sailing-master, Menoetius, crowned him with gold, as did Chares the Athenian, who came from Sigeium with a number of others, either Greeks or natives. One account says that Hephaestion laid a wreath on the tomb of Patroclus; another that Alexander laid one on the tomb of Achilles, calling him a lucky man, in that he had Homer to proclaim his deeds and preserve his memory.
Arrian, The Campaigns of Alexander Book 1, page 67
[8] As an offering to the goddess Athena, he sent to Athens 300 full suits of Persian armour with the following inscription : Alexander, son of Philip, and the Greeks (except the Lacedaemonians) dedicated these spoils, taken from the Persians who dwell in Asia.
Arrian, The Campaigns of Alexander Book 1, page 76
[9] To the people of Zeleia he gave a free pardon, because he knew that they had fought with the Persians only under Pressure.
Arrian, The Campaigns of Alexander Book 1, page 76
[10] It occured to him to build here a temple and altar in honour of Olympius Zeus, and while he was considering the best site a summer storm, breaking suddenly with violent thunder and a fall of rain over the palace of the Lydian Kings, persuaded that Zeus himself had indicated the spot where his temple should be raised;
Arrian, The Campaigns of Alexander Book 1, page 77
[11] Calas and Alexander, son of Aeropus, were sent to Memnon’s part of the country with the Peloponnesians and most of the allied troops,
Arrian, The Campaigns of Alexander Book 1, page 77
[12] The mercenaries who formed the garrison of the town seized two warships and made their escape, accompanied by Amyntas, son of Antiochus, who had left Macedonia in order to avoid Alexander. He had not, to be sure, anything to complain of in Alexander’s treatment; he merely disliked him and was disinclined to be made uncomfortable by his presence.
Arrian, The Campaigns of Alexander Book 1, page 78
[13] All dues previously paid to Persia he transferred to the temple of Artemis.
Arrian, The Campaigns of Alexander Book 1, page 78
[14] Throughout the country he dispossessed the ruling cliques and established popular government in their place, allowing every community to enjoy its own laws and customs and discontinue payment of the taxes it had previously paid to the Persians. Meanwhile he rremained in Ephesus, offered sacrifice to Artemis and held a ceremonial parade of his troops, full equipped and in battle order.
Arrian, The Campaigns of Alexander Book 1, page 79
[15] For Alexander felf that, with the war against Persia still on his hands it would be dangerous to relax his severity towards anyone of Greek nationality who had considented to fight for Asia against his own country.
Arrian, The Campaigns of Alexander Book 1, page 100
[16] Then they sent a demand to the islanders for the abrogation of their agreements with Alexander and the Greeks, and the observance of the terms of the Peace of Antalkidas, which they had concluded with Persia.
the people of Tenedos would have liked nothing better than to remain on good terms with Alexander and the Greeks;
Arrian “the campaigns of Alexander”, book 2 page 103
[17] To celebrate this success Alexander offered sacrifice to Asclepius and held a ceremonial parade of all his troops..
Arrian “the campaigns of Alexander”, book 2 page 109
[18] With the infantry and the Royal Squadron of horse he then went to Magarsus, whence after offerring sacrifice to the local Athene, he proceeded to Mallus, where he performed all proper ceremonies in honour of the demi-god Amphilochus. In this latter place he found political troubles in progress, and settled them, remitting the tribute which the town paid to Darius on the ground that Mallus was a colony of Argos and he himself claimed to be descended from the Argive Heracleide
Arrian “the campaigns of Alexander”, Book 2 page 109
[19]Amyntas, son of Antiochus, a deserter from Alexander’s army urged him [Darius] not to move from such favourable ground, for plenty of space was precisely what the Persian army most needed, its numbers and equipment being what they were. Darius took Amyntas’ advice
Arrian “the campaigns of Alexander”, book 2 page 110
[20]There are Greek troops, to be sure, in Persian service -but how different is theirs cause from ours ! They will be fighting for pay— and not much of it at that; we on the contrary shall fight for Greece, and our hearts will be in it. As for our FOREIGN troops —Thracians, Paeonians, Illyrians, Agrianes — they are the best and stouder soldiers of Europe, and they will find as their opponents the slackest and softest of the tribes of Asia.
Arrian “the campaigns of Alexander”, book 2 page 112
[21]Hephaestion stepped back, and one of the Queen’s attendant’s rectified her mistake by pointing to Alexander; the Queen withdrew in profound embarassment, but Alexander merely remarked that her error was of no account, for Hephaestion too, was an Alexander - a “protector of men”
Arrian “the campaigns of Alexander”, book 2 page 123
[22]Iphicrates, from affection for Athens and the memory of his father’s faith, he retained in his personal suite, treating him with ever mark of honour, and when he fell ill and died sent his bones to his relatives in Athens.
Arrian “the campaigns of Alexander”, book 2 page 129
[23]The Egyptians also worship a Heracles, but not the Heracles of Tyre or Greece; according to Herodotus he is regarded by the Egyptians as one of the twelve gods.
Arrian “the campaigns of Alexander”, book 2 page 130
[24]he [Alexander] himself designed the general layout of the new town, indicating the position of the market square, the number of temples to be built, and what gods they should serve - the gods of Greece and the Egyptian Isis - and the precise limits of its outer defences. He offered sacrifice for a blessing on the work; and the sacrifice proved favourable.
[25]Meanwhile Hegelochus arrived in Egypt by sea with the news that Tenedos, which had been forcibly annexed by Persia, had now revolted and come over to Macedon. Chios, too in spite of the puppet government introduced by Autophradates and Pharnabazus, had invited the Macedonian in; [..]Amphoterus had been dispatched with sixty ships to Cos, at the invitation of its people.Alexander longed to equal the fame of Perseus and Heracles; the blood of both flowed in his veins
[26]At Memphis he was visited by a number of deputations from Greece and not a man of them did he send away without a favourable answer to his requests.
Arrian “the campaigns of Alexander”, book 3 page 151
[27]The governnorship of the neighbouring country of Libya was given to Apollonius, son of Charinus and of Arabia by Heroopolis to Cleomenes of Naucratis
Arrian “the campaigns of Alexander”, book 3 page 154-155
[28]At Tyre he found the fleet awaiting him, and here, once again, he did honour to Heracles by religious celebrations and games.
Arrian “the campaigns of Alexander”, book 3 page 155
[29]and his brother Laomedon who happened to be as fluent in the Persian language as in Greek, was put in charge of prisoners of war
Arrian “the campaigns of Alexander”, book 3 page 157
[30]for there fell into Alexander’s hands all the treasures which Xerxes had brought there from Greece, among them bronze statues of Harmodius and Aristogeiton. These statues Alexander sent back to Athens, where they now stand in Cerameicus
Arrian “the campaigns of Alexander”, book 3 page 174
[31]Alexander’s answer was that he wished to punich the Persians for their invasion of Greece; his present act was retribution for the destrucion of Athens, the burning of the temples, and all the other crimes hey had commited against the Greeks.
Arrian “the campaigns of Alexander”, book 3 page 179
[32]The Greek delegates asked for terms for all Greek mercenaries now prisoners of war; this, however Alexander caterigorically refused: Greek soldiers, he maintained, who fought for Persia against their own country were little better than criminals and had acted contrary to the resolution of the Greeks.
Arrian “the campaigns of Alexander”, book 3 page 187
[33] There Alexander sacrificed to Apollo- and arrested one of his personal guards named Demetrius on suspicion of complicity with Philotas’s plot.