192. Alexander Confirms His Authority
Mortuō Philippō cum nōnnūllās ē cīvitātibus lībertātī studēre allātum esset, Alexander cōpiīs in Peloponnēsum ductīs potestātis suae ubi specimen dedit, conciliō Graecōrum convocātō in locum patris imperātor dēsignātus est. Inde dēvictīs Thrācibus, flūmine Istrō trāiectō Getās Illyriōsque suae ditiōnis fēcit. Eō absente Thēbānī, cum falsus percrebuisset rūmor vīctō ā barbarīs exercitū interiisse rēgem, initā coniūrātiōne praesidium Macedonum quod arcem obtinēbat obsēdērunt. Quam ad sēditiōnem reprimendam, certior etiam factus et aliās cīvitātēs exemplō Thēbānōrum sollicitātās novandīs rēbus studēre, Alexander mīrā celeritāte reversus, Thēbās contendit praesidiumque obsidiōne līberāvit. Inde versā in Thēbānōs īrā, urbem solō aequāvit, hominēs sub corōnā vēndidit. Quā clāde exterritī Graecī in officium rediērunt, neque quisquam in posterum sēditiōnem inīre ausus est.
libertati studere—‘were anxious to assert their liberty.’
Istro--Ister, the Danube.
Getas Illyriosque--barbarous tribes much resembling the Thracians.
et alias civitates--‘that other states also.’
Istro--Ister, the Danube.
Getas Illyriosque--barbarous tribes much resembling the Thracians.
et alias civitates--‘that other states also.’
193. The Conquest of Asia Minor
Pācātā Graeciā Alexander trāiectō Hellēspontō cōpiās in Asiam dūxit. Persae autem veritī ut barbarī Macedonibus resistere possent auxilia Graecōrum mercēde condūxerant. Quōrum dux Memnōn vir bellī perītissimus Persīs vehementer suādēbat nē cum Alexandrō iūstō proeliō dīmicārētur: angustiās montium potius occupārent, urbēsque satis firmīs praesidiīs obtinērent. Īdem classis in Graeciam mittendae auctor fuit, cuius adventū fore ut Graecī contrā Macedonēs ērigerentur docēbat. Quibus cōnsiliīs ā Persārum ducibus sprētīs ad flūmen Grānīcum cōnsertā aciē dīmicātum est. Vīctīs Persīs Alexander fīnēs hostium lātē populātus, multās urbēs in dēditiōnem accēpit.
Hellesponto—the Dardanelles.
veriti ut—Verbs of fearing take an unusual construction. The clauses they govern must be regarded as substantival, though grammatically adverbial.
Granicum--The Granicus flows into the Propontis (Sea of Marmora).
veriti ut—Verbs of fearing take an unusual construction. The clauses they govern must be regarded as substantival, though grammatically adverbial.
Granicum--The Granicus flows into the Propontis (Sea of Marmora).
194. The Cutting of the Gordian Knot
Alexander oppidō, cui Gordiō nōmen erat, in ditiōnem suam redāctō, Iovis templum intrat. Vehiculum, quō Gordium, Midae patrem, vectum esse cōnstābat, aspexit. Notābile erat iugum, astrictum complūribus nōdīs in sēmetipsōs implicātis et cēlantibus nexūs. Incolīs deinde affirmantibus, ēditam esse ōrāculō sortem, Asiae potītūrum, quī inexplicābile vinculum solvisset, cupīdō incessit animō sortis eius implendae. Circā rēgem erat et Phrygum turba et Macedonum, illa exspectātiōne suspēnsa, haec sollicita ex temerāriā rēgis fīdūciā. Nam sēriē vinculōrum ita astricta, ut, unde nexus inciperet quōve sē conderet, nec ratiōne nec vīsū percipī posset, solvere cōnātus iniēcerat cūram nē in ōmen verterētur irritum inceptum. Ille nēquicquam diū cum latentibus nōdīs luctātus, Nihil, inquit, interest, quōmodo solvantur: gladiōque ruptīs omnibus lōrīs ōrāculī sortem vel ēlūsit vel implēvit.
Gordium—the capital of Phrygia.
Midae--Midas, according to the legend, prayed that everything he touched might be turned into gold. His prayer was granted, and he soon had to pray that the fatal power might be taken from him, as he was in danger of starvation. His ears were changed into those of an ass by Apollo for deciding against him in a musical contest.
Phrygum--the inhabitants of Phrygia.
illa—haec--‘the former--the latter.’
iniecerat curam--‘had caused anxiety.’
omen—‘a bad omen.’
Midae--Midas, according to the legend, prayed that everything he touched might be turned into gold. His prayer was granted, and he soon had to pray that the fatal power might be taken from him, as he was in danger of starvation. His ears were changed into those of an ass by Apollo for deciding against him in a musical contest.
Phrygum--the inhabitants of Phrygia.
illa—haec--‘the former--the latter.’
iniecerat curam--‘had caused anxiety.’
omen—‘a bad omen.’
195. Illness of Alexander
Posteā rēx cum pulvere et sūdōre perfūsus in flūmen gelidissimum dēscendisset, gravī morbō correptus aegrōtāvit. Erat inter nōbilēs medicōs ex Macedoniā rēgem secūtus Philippus. Quī cum prōmīsisset sē post diem tertium pōtiōne medicātā tantam vim morbī levātūrum esse, rēx ā Parmeniōne, fīdissimō ē ducibus, līterās accēpit, quibus eī dēnūntiābat nē salūtem suam Philippō committeret: mīlle talentīs ā Dārīō esse corruptum. Quae līterae quamvīs ingentem animō sollicitūdinem incuterent, rēx nūllī quid scrīptum esset ēnūntiat epistolamque, sigillō ānulī suī impressō, pulvīnō, cui incumbēbat, subiēcit.
196. The Doctor and His Patient
Inter hās cōgitātiōnēs bīduō absūmptō, illūxit ā medicō dēstinātus diēs, et ille cum pōculō intrāvit. Quō vīsō Alexander, epistolam ā Parmeniōne missam sinistrā manū tenēns, accipit pōculum et haurit interritus: tum epistolam Philippum legere iubet: nec ā vultū legentis mōvit oculōs. Ille, epistola perlēcta, plūs īrae quam pavōris ubi ostendit, Rēx, inquit, crīmen parricīdiī, quod mihi obiectum est, tua salūs dīluet: servātus ā mē vītam mihi dederīs. Ōrō quaesōque, omissō metū, patēre medicāmentum concipī venīs: laxā paullisper animum, quem intempestīvā sollicitūdine amīcī sānē fidēlēs, sed molestē sēdulī turbant. Nōn sēcūrum modo haec vōx, sed etiam laetum rēgem fēcit. Hāc, inquit, epistolā acceptā, pōculum hausī: et nunc crēde mē nōn minus prō tuā fide quam prō meā salūte esse sollicitum. Haec locūtus dextram Philippō offert. Neque ita multō post rēx sēdāta morbī vī in cōnspectum mīlitum venit. Nec avidius ipsum rēgem quam Philippum intuēbātur exercitus: prō sē quisque dextram eius amplexī grātēs agēbant velut praesentī deō.
crimen—‘the charge.’
tua salus diluet--‘shall be cleared away by your recovery.’ Notice the preference shown by the Latins for using the active rather than the passive voice, So in French, ‘He was punished by his father’ is better rendered by ‘Son père l'a puni’ than by ‘Il a été’ puni par son père.’
dederis--notice again the superior exactness of Latin, ‘shall have given,’ rather than ‘shall give,’ as we say.
concipi--‘to be absorbed.’
laxa--‘free from anxiety.’
pro se quisque--Pro se strengthens quisque—‘each on his own account.’
tua salus diluet--‘shall be cleared away by your recovery.’ Notice the preference shown by the Latins for using the active rather than the passive voice, So in French, ‘He was punished by his father’ is better rendered by ‘Son père l'a puni’ than by ‘Il a été’ puni par son père.’
dederis--notice again the superior exactness of Latin, ‘shall have given,’ rather than ‘shall give,’ as we say.
concipi--‘to be absorbed.’
laxa--‘free from anxiety.’
pro se quisque--Pro se strengthens quisque—‘each on his own account.’
197. The Eve of the Battle of Issus
Issōn deinde rēx cōpiās admōvit: ubi cōnsiliō habitō utrum ultrā prōgrediendum foret an ibi opperiendī essent novī mīlitēs, quōs ex Macedoniā adventāre cōnstābat, Parmeniō nōn alium locum proeliō aptiōrem esse cēnsēbat. Nam illīc utriusque rēgis cōpiās numerō futūrās parēs, cum angustiae multitūdinem nōn caperent: plānitiem sibi campōsque esse vītandōs, ubi circumīrī, ubi ancipitī aciē opprimī possent. Facile ratiō tam salūbris cōnsiliī acceptā est. Itaque rēx inter angustiās saltūs hostem opperīrī cōnstituit.
Isson—Issus in Cilicia, at the entrance of a mountain pass called the Syrian Gates.
198. Alexander Harangues His Army
Cum iam in cōnspectū sed extrā tēlī iactum utrāque aciēs esset, Alexander ante prīma signa ībat, variāque ōrātiōne ut cuiusque animīs aptum erat mīlitēs alloquēbātur: Macedonēs totiēs in Eurōpā victōrēs ad subigendam Asiam profectī prīstinae virtūtis reminīscerentur. Eōs nōn Persīs modo sed etiam omnibus gentibus impositūrōs iugum; Macedonum prōvinciās Bactra et Indōs fore. Nōn in praeruptīs Illyriōrum et Thrācum montibus sterilem labōrem futūrum: spoliā tōtīus orientis offerrī. Vix gladiō futūrum opus: tōtam aciem suō pavōre fluctuantem umbōnibus posse prōpellī. Ecquem Philippī patris domitaeque Boeōtiae nōn meminisse? An nōn eundem ad Issōn ēventum pugnae futūrum quī ad Grānīcum amnem dēvictīs Persīs fuisset! Īrent et imbellibus fēminīs aurum virī ēriperent. Aspera montium suōrum iuga nūdāsque vallēs et perpetuō rigentēs gelū dītibus Persārum campīs agrīsque mūtārent.
Bactra—the Capital of Bactria (Bokhara, to the N. of the Hindu Kush mountains).
Illyriorum--the inhabitants of what is now Albania, to the N.W. of Greece.
mutarent--mutare takes accusative of the thing given and ablative of the thing received in exchange, or the exact opposite.
Illyriorum--the inhabitants of what is now Albania, to the N.W. of Greece.
mutarent--mutare takes accusative of the thing given and ablative of the thing received in exchange, or the exact opposite.
199. Battle of Issus. Rout of Darius
Iam ad tēlī iactum pervēnerant, cum Persārum equitēs ferōciter in laevum cornū hostium invectī sunt, nam Darīus equestrī proeliō dēcernere optābat, phalangem Macedonicī exercitūs rōbur ratus. Tum Alexander veritus nē circumīrētur, duābus ālīs equitum ad iugum montis iussīs subsistere, cēterōs adversus hostem dūxit. Nōn timidō, nōn ignāvō cessāre tum licuit: collātō pede, quasi singulī inter sē dīmicārent, in eōdem vestīgiō stābant, dōnec vincendō locum sibi facerent. Alexander nōn dūcis magis quam mīlitis mūnus exsequēbātur, opīmum decus caesō rēge expetēns: Macedonēs mūtua adhortātiōne firmātī in equitum agmen irrumpunt. Neque sēgnius ab hoste resistitur. Circā currum Dārīī iacēbant nōbilissimī ducēs, omnēs in ōra prōnī, sīcut dīmicantēs prōcubuerant, adversō corpore vulneribus acceptīs. Macedonum quoque nōn quidem multī sed prōmptissimī caesī sunt; inter quōs Alexandrī dextrum femur leviter mucrōne perstrictum est. Dārīus tandem veritus nē in hostium potestātem venīret in fugam sē recēpit. Tum vērō cēterī dissipantur, īnstantibus equitibus ā Parmeniōne missīs.
collato pede—‘foot to foot.’
opimum decus--The spoils taken by one general from another in single combat were called spolia opima.
in ora proni--‘on their faces.’
adverso corpore--‘in front,’ abl. abs.
Parmenione—Parmenio, one of Alexander’s generals.
opimum decus--The spoils taken by one general from another in single combat were called spolia opima.
in ora proni--‘on their faces.’
adverso corpore--‘in front,’ abl. abs.
Parmenione—Parmenio, one of Alexander’s generals.
200. The Captive Queens
Captīs hostium castrīs ingēns aurī argentīque pondus mīles dīripuit. Posteā Alexander mātrem coniugemque Dārīī captās esse certior factus, praemittit ad eās quī nūntiārent venīre sēsē, inhibitaque comitantium turbā tabernāculum cum Hēphaestiōne intrat. Is longē omnium amīcōrum cārissimus erat rēgī, cum ipsō pariter ēducātus, sēcrētōrum omnium arbiter: lībertātis quoque in admonendō eō nōn alīus iūs habēbat, quod tamen ita ūsūrpābat ut magis ā rēge permissum quam vindicātum ab eō vidērētur: et sīcut aetāte pār erat rēgī, ita corporis habitū praestābat. Ergō rēgīnae illum esse rēgem ratae suō mōre venerātae sunt. Inde nōnnūllīs ex captīvīs quis Alexander esset mōnstrantibus, māter Dārīī eī ad pedēs sē prōiēcit veniamque ōrāvit. Quam manū allevāns rēx, Nōn errāstī, inquit, nam et hic Alexander est.
arbiter—‘a witness,’
ius--‘right.’
usurpabat--‘used.’
corporis habitu--‘in personal appearance.’
ei ad pedes—‘at his feet.’ Notice the idiomatic use of the dative.
ius--‘right.’
usurpabat--‘used.’
corporis habitu--‘in personal appearance.’
ei ad pedes—‘at his feet.’ Notice the idiomatic use of the dative.