The prose life of Alexander

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48 Alexander's Flight — His harangue to his men.
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48 Alexander's Flight — His harangue to his men.

48 Alexander s Flight — His harangue to his men.

forward. Now, Darius sat on his throne and thought of Alexander and how great his daring was. He saw a statue of gold of Xerxes the Persian king, who sat below the high-seat in the hall. And at once the statue broke and was all scattered assunder. And Darius seeing this was smitten with heaviness of heart and began to weep sorely and long. And he said: ' This foretokeneth the wasting of my life, and the utter downfall of the Persian kingdom.' Alexander, however, coming to the river Grancus, found it swollen, and leapt athwart it. But ere he was over the stream burst its banks, and swept his horse away ; with great hardship Alexander escaped and met Eumulus, his lord. And thus he went back to his army and told them of Darius, how he had dealt with him, and the torch with which he had fled away.

HOW ALEXANDER PUT HEART INTO HIS HOST ANEW.

And on the following day, he gathered his army, which told two hundred and twenty thousand of weaponed men. And he went up

*on a high place & comforthed his men and said un-to tham: 'The multitude of the persienes,' quoth he, 'may noghte be euend to the multitude of the greckes. For sewrly we are ma than thay. And if thay were one hundredth sythes maa then wee, late noghte your hertis faile tharefore. For I telle you a greete multitude of flyes may do na harme till a fewee waspes.' And when the Oste had herde thire wordes thay commendide him haleley wit a voyce.

Than the emperour Darius remowed his oste, and come to the river of Graunt on the nyghte, and went ouer on the yss, and thar he luged hym. The Oste of Darius was wonder grete and strange. For thay hadd in thaire oste X ͫ cartes ordaynd For the waerre, and grete multitude of Olyfantes, wit towres of tree on tham, stuffed wit feghtyng men. And sone after appon a day thir twa kynges wit thaire ostes mett samen on a faire felde, Darius wit his men, and Alexander wit his men.

Last edit 7 months ago by Meesharie27
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The great battle between Darius and Alexander.

Then Alexander lept upon his horse, that highest Bucephalus, and rode forth before all his army, and housed in the midways between the two armies. And when the Persians saw him, they had great wonder of him, and were right feard for him because he was so ugly. Nevertheless they marched up & went toward Alexander. And soon the battle joined, & fought together fiercely, and many men died on either party; there was so thick shot of arrows, that the air was covered, as it had been with a cloud. Some fought with swords, some with spears, some with axes, & some with arrows. The field lay full of folk, some dead, some half-dead, & some grievously wounded. They began for to fight at the sun's rising, and fought to the sun setting. But there died many more of the persians than there died of Macedonians.

And when Darius saw his men fall so thick in the field, he left the field, and fled, and the persians seeing that, they fled also. But then their [cartes] of war ran among the persians & slew of them folk without number & namely of footmen. For by that time it was darkening night, and they might not see for to escape them. When Darius come to the foresaid water he found it frozen, and over he went. And when he was over, the other lords of persia went upon the ice, so great a multitude that they covered the ice from the one bank to the tother, & that a great breadth, & then anon the ice broke as soon as Darius was passed over, & all that were on the ice were perished, each a mother's son, & drowned in the water. The remnant, when they come to the water, they might not win over. And then the Macedonians come, and [dange] them down. In this battle there was slain of the persians [cccm] without those that were drowned.

King Darius fled to the cite of Susis, & went unto his palace, & fell down to the ground, & sighed & wept with a sore heart, he said these words: 'Alas, full woe is me, unhappy wretch, that ever I was born, for the ire & the indignation of heaven is fallen on me. For I Darius that lifted myself up to the sterness, Now am I brought low to the earth. Now is Darius, that conquered all the East nations, & made them subject & tributaries unto him, fain for to flee from his enemies and submit him unto them. And it were

Last edit about 3 years ago by Gigi
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The letter of Darius to Alexander.

known unto the wretched man, what should fall to him afterward, he should have little thought of the time present, but on the time to come should his thoughts be. In a [poynte] of a day it falls, that the meek is raised up to the clouds, and the [prowde] is put to naught.' And when he had said these words, he raised up, & sat & wrote a letter unto Alexander, saying on these ways.

'To his lord Alexander, king of Macedonia, Darius, king of Persia, greeting & Joy. We have well understood by that that we have heard of thou and seen, that thee have in thou great wisdom & a high wit; so that not only thee know things that are present or past, but also things that are for to come, and therefore all things, that thee do: thee do it without any lack or reprieve. Nevertheless have in mind that right as we were, so were thee begotten & borne of a fleshly woman. And therefore raise not your heart to hie because of your prowess & your doubty deeds, so that forgets your last end. For oftimes, we see that the later end of a man discords with the first. It suffices to a warrior for to get the victory of his enemies, [those?] all he show not all the malice that he may. Remember thou of the worshipful king Xerxes our progenitor, that many victories gotten & [schane] in all prosperities, Before he raised he hear in pride [passand mesure]. All the worship that he had won before, he lost in Ellada, therefore remember thou, that all the worships & the victories that thee have gotten by the foresight of godd

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ye got this victory. To us then who beseech grant your mercy. Yield us our mother, our sons, and wife, and we will render unto you the treasures we have in Aydem and Susa and Batram, the which our fathers hoarded and hid in earthen cellars. And we will give you the kingship of the Medes and Persians, that thus ye may have and keep what victory Jove the almighty hath granted you.'

Last edit about 3 years ago by Gigi
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Alexander' s answer. The burying-places of Persia.

How the Messengers of Darius gave Alexander the Letter, and his Answer.

The messengers of Darius coming then to Alexander gave him the letter, which Alexander read soon before them all. Then one of his chieftains, called Parmerion, said to Alexander : 'Most mighty emperor, take all the wealth which Darius A noble of covenants unto thee, and give back to him his wife and sons.' And, hearing this, Alexander called to him the messengers of Darius, and before all spoke thus, saying : * Tell ye to your emperor we wonder first that he misdeemed his mother, wife, and sons to be betrayed by our hands. If he be overcome, bid him not promise us a reward. If he bow himself to our yoke, all his honours and the majesty of God shall be laid bare to our sway. If he be not overcome, let him do us battle once again.' This said, he gave them rich gifts and sent them forth away. Then he bade the soldiers take up and gather the bodies of the dead and bury them in graves; and he bade them heal those that were wounded.

How Alexander encamped by the stream Grancus.

Then he encamped with his host by the stream of Grancus, and wintered there some days. And there he offered up victims to the gods. And about the river there were palaces, and they were the fairest, raised up with greatest skill, and Xerxes the King of the Persians had built them. Alexander, seeing them, bade them be burned. And soon after this, stirred by ruth, he gave word none should dare touch them. And there too was a most fair and very wide field in which the Kings and Deemsters of Persia were of old buried. And digging into this field the Macedonians found in the graves gemmed vases. And there they found the grave of Ninus the King of Assyria and Persia, which was hollowed out of a single amethyst, and engraven on the outside with palm-leaves and sundry kinds of birds. And so bright was the amethyst that even from the outside the man's body appeared whole. And in this place was a narrow and evil tower on which stood many men, some with cut legs, some with broken thighs, some with torn hands, and some blinded. They hearing

Last edit about 3 years ago by Gigi
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Darius writes to Porus; the evil plot.

the noise of the armed men cried out to Alexander, who hearing their cries, bade them be taken thence. And seeing them was struck with ruth and wept, and bade each one be given ten thousand drachmas, and be restored every one to his own. For Darius kept them in prison, since they were of noble birth, and awarded all their possessions to his thralls. In the meantime the messengers from Alexander to Darius told all that Alexander had said. And Darius hearing this began to get ready for the fight. And he wrote another letter to Porus King of India, which runneth as follows : —

The Letter sent by Darius to Porus King of India.

Darius King of the Persians to Porus King of Our Indians joy. We asked but lately of you, and again we ask you to come and help against those who strive to overthrow our palace. We know well also that the like harm will light on you. For this Alexander, who fighteth thus, hath an unquenchable and wild soul, which like a lion ceaseth not, and is like the sea when stirred by mighty winds. Furthermore, unwillingly though it be, we have gathered numberless races, and we have taken our counsel to fight with him to the very death.

*better us is for to die manyly in the field than for to see mischief of our people & the desolation of our [rewme]. Wherefore, [hafand] reward and compassion of our disease, we beseech thou, that thee let our prayers settle in your heart, & help for to succor us now at our need, [hafand] in your mind the great nobility of our pregenitors. And I assure thou that [I shall] give each footman that comes with thou, three pieces of gold, And each horseman, five pieces of gold, And also meat & drink enough to thou & all your men. And whereso thee [lugge] thou, ye shall find thou a hundred & fourscore tents curiously wrought. And also we shall gift thou Alexander horse Bucephalus, and all apparel, & the array that [belongs?] to Alexander [happily?] shall be yours and also all the spoil of his folk shall be dealt amongst your folk. Wherefore we beseech thou that also as soon as this

Last edit about 3 years ago by Gigi
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