211. Ineffectual Negotiations for Peace
Dārīus tamen, frūstrā pāce bis petīta, ōrātōrēs iterum dē pāce mīsit, quī partem rēgnī Alexandrō offerrent, multum etiam pecūniae adiicerent sī prō captīvīs pretium redēmptiōnis vellet accipere. Cuius pecūniae accipiendae suāsor fuit Parmeniō, īdem monēbat nē viārum per loca dēserta oblīvīscerētur, neu quot mīlibus passuum ā Macedoniā distinērētur exercitus. Ingrāta ōrātiō rēgī fuit. Itaque ut fīnem dīcendī fēcit, Et ego, inquit, pecūniam quam glōriam māllem, sī Parmeniō essem. Nunc Alexander dē paupertāte sēcūrus sum et mē nōn mercātōrem meminī esse, sed rēgem. Nihil quidem habeō vēnāle, sed fortūnam meam utique nōn vēndō: captīvōs sī placet reddī, honestius dōnō dabimus, quam cum pretiō remittēmus. Intrōductīs deinde lēgātīs negāvit ūllās sē conditiōnēs accipere velle. Aut dēditiōnem aut bellum parāret rēx.
securus--‘careless,’ (se=sine--cura)
pararet—indirect form of imperative.
pararet—indirect form of imperative.
212. The Council of War
Cum iam in cōnspectū essent hostīlēs exercitūs, Alexander conciliō convocātō ducēs cōnsuluit quid optimum factū esset, Parmeniō fūrtō nōn proeliō opus esse cēnsēbat. Intempestā nocte opprimī posse hostēs: discordēs mōribus, linguīs, ad hōc somnō et imprōvīsō perīculō territōs quandō ex nocturnā trepidātiōne coitūrōs? At interdiū terribilēs occursūrās faciēs Scythārum; hirta illīs ōra et intōnsās comās esse, eximiam vastōrum magnitūdinem corporum. Vānīs et inānibus mīlitem magis quam iūstīs formīdinis causīs movērī. Contrā rēx, Fūrum, inquit, ista sollertia est. Palam lūce aggredī certum est. Mē meae fortūnae potius poeniteat quam victōriae pudeat. Ad haec illud quoque accēdit, ut vigiliās agant barbarī et in armīs stent, ut nē dēcipī quidem possint. Itaque ad proelium vōs parāte. Sīc incitātōs ad corpora cūranda dīmīsit.
factu—supine used as ablative of respect.
intempesta nocte--‘at dead of night.’
ad hoc--‘moreover.’
Scytharum--The name of Scythae was loosely given to the hordes of Central Asia. The true Scythae lived to the N. of the Danube.
vanis et inanibus--‘false and groundless.’
certum est--‘I am resolved.’
accedit--‘is added.’
ad corpora curanda—‘to attend to their bodily wants.’
intempesta nocte--‘at dead of night.’
ad hoc--‘moreover.’
Scytharum--The name of Scythae was loosely given to the hordes of Central Asia. The true Scythae lived to the N. of the Danube.
vanis et inanibus--‘false and groundless.’
certum est--‘I am resolved.’
accedit--‘is added.’
ad corpora curanda—‘to attend to their bodily wants.’
213. Battle of Gaugamela
Prīmā lūce ducēs ad praetōrium frequentēs coeunt. Tum rēx ā Parmeniōne excitātus signum pugnae tubā darī iussit. Aciē cōnsertā currus hostium in Macedōnās invectī magnam strāgem ēdidēre, neque multum abfuit quīn eō diē Dārīus dē Alexandrō triumphāret. Sed fortissimē ā Graecīs resistēbātur, hortantibus ducibus nē prīmō impetū funderentur, neu spērātam praedam dīmitterent. Currū Darīus, Alexander equō vehēbātur; utrumque dēlēctī tuēbantur suī immemorēs, nam āmissō rēge nec volēbant salvī esse nec poterant. Crūdēscente pugnā, quī circā Alexandrum erant, vīdisse sē crēdidērunt paululum super caput rēgis placidē volantem aquilam, nōn sonō armōrum nōn gemitū morientium territam Certē vātēs Aristander albā veste indūtus et dextrā praeferēns lauream mīlitibus avem mōnstrābat, haud dubium victōriae auspicium. Ingēns ergō alacritās et fīdūcia paulō ante territōs accendit ad pugnam. Iamque nōn pugna sed caedēs erat, cum Dārīus currum suum in fugam vertit.
Gaugamela—a village in Assyria. Not far from it is the town of Arbela. The battle is named after both towns.
214. Narrow Escape of Alexander
Neque ūllum eō diē maius perīculum adiit Alexander quam dum cōpiās in castra redūcit. Paucī eum et incompositī sequēbantur, ovantēs victōriā, nam omnēs hostēs aut in fugam effūsōs aut in aciē cecidisse crēdēbant, cum repente ex adversō appāruit agmen equitum, quī prīmō inhibuēre cursum, deinde Macedonum paucitāte cōnspecta, turmās in obviōs concitāvērunt. Ante signa rēx ībat, dissimulātō magis perīculō quam sprētō. Nec dēfuit eī perpetuā in dubiīs rēbus fēlīcitās: namque praefectum equitum avidum certāminis et ob id ipsum incautius in sē ruentem hastā trānsfīxit; quō ex equō lāpsō proximum ac dein plūrēs eōdem tēlō cōnfōdit. Invāsēre turbātōs amīcī quoque: nec Persae inultī cadēbant. Tandem barbarī, cum obscūrā lūce tūtior fuga vidērētur esse quam pugna, in tūtum sē recēpēre. Quod perīculum fēlīciter ēluctātus rēx suōs in castra incolumēs redūxit.
in obvios—‘against their opponents.’
dissimulato—‘pretending to disregard.’
dissimulato—‘pretending to disregard.’
215. Entry into Babylon
Inde Babylōna urbem dītissimam pulcherrimamque contendit. Quō ubi perventum est, Mazaeus ē Dārīī ducibus quī ex aciē eō cōnfūgerat, cum adultīs līberīs supplex occurrit, urbem sēque ipsum dēdēns. Et magna pars cīvium cōnstiterat in mūrīs avida cognōscendī novī rēgis: plūrēs obviam ēgressī sunt. Tōtum iter flōribus cōnstrāvērunt, argenteīs altāribus utrōque latēre dispositīs, quae nōn tūre modō sed omnibus odōribus cumulāverant. Dōna sequēbantur gregēs pecorum equōrumque, leōnēs quoque et pardalēs caveīs praeferēbantur. Magī deinde suō mōre carmen canentēs, post hōs nōn vātēs modo sed etiam artificēs cum fidibus, equitēs deinde Babylōniī ultimī ībant. Rēx armātīs stīpātus oppidānōrum turbam post ultimōs peditēs īre iussit: ipse cum currū urbem ac deinde rēgiam intrāvit. Posterō diē supellectilem Dārīī et omnem pecūniam recognōvit.
Babylon—(Babel), on the Euphrates.
artifices—‘actors.’
artifices—‘actors.’
216. The Walls and the Hanging Gardens
Cēterum urbis pulchritūdō ac vetustās nōn rēgis modo, sed etiam omnium oculōs in sē convertit. Semīramis eam condiderat, nōn, ut plērīque crēdidēre, Bēlus, cuius rēgia ostenditur. Mūrus altissimus et lātissimus amplectitur; quadrīgae inter sē occurrentēs sine perīculō commeāre dīcuntur. Super arcem pēnsilēs hortī sunt summam mūrōrum altitūdinem aequantēs multārumque arborum umbrā et prōcēritāte amoenī. Saxō pilae, quae tōtum onus sustinent, īnstrūctae sunt: super pilās lapide quadrātō sōlum strātum est, patiēns terrae, quam altam iniiciunt, et hūmōris, quō rigant terram. Id opus rēgem aliquem antīquitus esse molitum memoriae prōditum est, amōre coniugis vīctum, quae dēsīderiō nemorum silvārumque virum compulit amoenitātem nātūrae eiusmodī opere imitārī.
Semiramis—a mythical queen, the daughter of the fish-goddess Derceto.
Belus--a mythical king, son of Poseidon (Neptunus), the god of the sea.
patiens terrae--‘supporting the earth.’
molitum esse—‘built.’ Moliri conveys the notion of doing a thing with great effort.
Belus--a mythical king, son of Poseidon (Neptunus), the god of the sea.
patiens terrae--‘supporting the earth.’
molitum esse—‘built.’ Moliri conveys the notion of doing a thing with great effort.
217. Susa
Cum aliquamdiū Babylōne commorātus esset rēx Sūsa contendit. Ut vērō urbem intrāvit incrēdibile ex thēsaurīs pondus aurī argentīque ēgessit, multī enim rēgēs hās tantās opēs cumulāverant posterīs, quās ūnā hōrā in externī rēgis manus intulit. Cōnsēdit deinde in rēgiā sellā multō excelsiōre quam prō habitū corporis. Itaque cum pedēs īmum gradum nōn contingerent, ūnus ē mīlitibus mēnsam subdidit pedibus. Quod cum fēcisset servumque, quī Dārīī fuerat, ingemīscentem cōnspexisset rēx, causam maestitiae quaesīvit. Ille contrā, Dārīum vēscī in eā solitum, sēque sacram mēnsam ad lūdibrium versam sine lacrimīs cōnspicere nōn posse. Subiit ergō rēgem verēcundiā violandī hospitālēs deōs; iamque subdūcī iubēbat, cum Philotās ūnus ē ducibus: Minimē vērō haec fēcerīs, rēx, sed ōmen quoque accipe, mēnsam, ex quā lībāvit hostis epulās, tuīs pedibus esse subiectam.
Susa—the Shushan of Scripture, the winter residence of the Persian kings.
quam pro habitu corporis--‘than suited his stature.’
feceris—perfect conjunctive, used in probibitions of the second person: the present being used with the first or third persons.
quam pro habitu corporis--‘than suited his stature.’
feceris—perfect conjunctive, used in probibitions of the second person: the present being used with the first or third persons.
218. Alexander's Feast
Posteā in Persidem contendentī obviam factīs hostibus ācriter resistendum fuit, viārum necnōn difficultātēs exsuperandae. Quibus in perīculīs īdem semper animus, eadem cōnstantia rēgī fuit, quem omnēs mīrābundī nōn dūcis modo sed etiam mīlitis mūnera quotīdiē obeuntem cōnspiciēbant. Cēterum illam indolem, illam in subeundīs perīculīs virtūtem, in dēditōs fidem, in captīvōs clēmentiam, haud tolerābilī vīnī cupiditāte foedāvit. Et inter alia flāgitia, Persēpolim caput Persīdis cum rēgia Dārīī, suādente Thāide, puella cuius amōre dēperībat, per vīnolentiam igne concremāvit. Forte omnēs merō incaluerant, et cum petīsset Thāis ut Graeciam ulcīscerētur incēnsa rēgia, prīmus rēx ignem domō iniēcit, deinde surgunt tēmulentī omnēs ad incendendam urbem cui armātī pepercerant.
Persidem—Persis, Persia, the mountainous region near the Persian Gulf.
resistendum fuit--‘had to be resisted.’
obeuntem--‘performing.’
cuius amore deperibat--‘with whom he was violently in love.’
per vinolentiam—‘in a drunken bout.’
resistendum fuit--‘had to be resisted.’
obeuntem--‘performing.’
cuius amore deperibat--‘with whom he was violently in love.’
per vinolentiam—‘in a drunken bout.’
219. Plots Against Darius
Inde Alexander ubi novōrum ē Ciliciā mīlitum, quibus praeerat Platōn Athēniēnsis, supplēmentum accēpit, Dārīum persequī statuit. Is iam tum Ecbatana pervēnerat, Bactra deinde adīre in animō habēbat. Bessus autem et Nabarzānēs, quī ē ducibus erant, inaudītī anteā facinoris societāte initā, rēgem suum per mīlitēs, quibus praeerant, comprehendere et vincīre cōnstituērunt, eō cōnsiliō, ut, sī Alexander ipsōs īnsecūtus foret, trāditō rēge vīvō, inīrent grātiam victōris, magnī profectō cēpisse Dārīum aestimātūrī: sīn autem eum effugere potuissent, interfectō Dārīō, rēgnum ipsī occupārent bellumque renovārent.
Cilicia—a province of Asia Minor.
inirent gratiam--‘might curry favour with."
magni--understand pretii.
aestimaturi--‘who was certain to value.’
occuparent—depending on ut.
inirent gratiam--‘might curry favour with."
magni--understand pretii.
aestimaturi--‘who was certain to value.’
occuparent—depending on ut.
220. A Treacherous Proposal
Quod parricīdium cum diū volūtāssent, Nabarzānēs, Sciō mē, inquit, ō rēx, sententiam nēquāquam grātam dictūrum esse. Sed medicī quoque graviōrēs morbōs asperīs remediīs cūrant, et gubernātor, ubi naufragium timet, iactūra, quicquid servārī potest, redimit. Auspicium et imperium interim aliī trāde, quī tamdiū rēx appellētur, dōnec Asiā dēcēdat hostis, victor deinde rēgnum tibi reddat. Proinde, Bactra, quod tūtissimum receptāculum est, petāmus, praefectum regiōnis eius Bessum rēgem statuāmus: is compositīs rēbus imperium tibi restituet. Quibus audītīs Dārīus īrā īnfēnsus strictō gladiō in Nabarzanem impetum fēcit, quī ē perīculō ēlāpsus cum Bessō idem cōnsiliī agit. Neque enim vī ūtī audēbant, Persās veritī, quōrum omnium eadem ferē fuit vōx, nefās esse dēserī rēgem.
idem consilii—‘the same plan;’ so, multum boni.