Posts Tagged With: Satibarzanes

Loose Tongues and Empty Stomachs

Posted on September 23, 2014 by M J Mann

The Nature of Curtius
Book Seven Chapter 4
For other posts in the series click here

Chapter Four
Bactria and Beyond
I am accustomed to reading about Alexander’s booziness, not so much about the Persians’. It is with a little surprise, therefore, that we begin this chapter with Bessus and his friends in the middle of a drinking session that, very surprisingly, is also a council of war. ‘Sodden with drink’ Bessus criticised Darius for confronting Alexander

in the narrowest defiles of Cilicia when retreat would have enabled him to lead them on into naturally protected areas without their realising it. There were so many rivers to serve as obstacles and so many hiding-places in the mountains, he said; caught among these, the enemy would have had no chance to escape, much less offer resistance.

As I understand it, Bessus is criticising Darius for confronting Alexander in the ‘narrowest defiles’ when he - Darius - could have retreated to more ‘naturally protected areas’, leading Alexander to follow him without realising what the Great King was doing. Had Darius done this, according to Bessus, the rivers and ‘many hiding-places in the mountains’ would have prevented Alexander from either escaping or offering resistance to the Persian Army.

What confuses me a little is that, while I understand how the presence of rivers might be considered an obstacle to Alexander, I can’t see how mountainous hiding places could be thought of in the same way. Surely they would be ideal for escape and resistance?

Perhaps it was just the drink speaking. Maybe, but if so it didn’t stop Bessus from going on to enunciate his own strategy, which was a fairly sensible one. It was, ‘to draw back into the territory of the Sogdians and to use the river Oxus as a barrier… until strong reinforcements could amalgamate from the neighbouring tribes’.

Bessus was satrap of Bactria and had 8,000 of its men in his army. They ‘faithfully carried out his orders as long as they thought that their intemperate climate would make the Macedonians head for India’. On the day they learnt that the climate had failed to divert their enemy, however, ‘they all slipped off to their villages’.

We aren’t told what Bessus made of this betrayal, only that he crossed the Oxus just as he intended. On the far side he burnt his boats and began recruiting Sogdian soldiers.

Alexander, meanwhile, brought his men out of the Caucasus Mountains in a state of near starvation and, it seems, uncleanliness. In both cases the men made do. Without oil to wash themselves with, they used pressed sesame. And in the absence of grain*, they ate fish and herbs. At least there was fresh water to be had from the mountain streams. When the food ran out, the Macedonians were obliged to start slaughtering their pack animals. This continued until they entered Bactria.

Curtius describes Bactria as being an environmentally diverse country. It is, he says, is both fertile and barren. Where the country is fertile, there is ‘rich soil’, ‘plentiful trees and vines’, wheat crops and grazing grounds.

Where it is barren, nothing grows. In fact, it is desert, and as ever a dangerous desert at that. Winds blow in from the Pontic Sea (i.e. the Caspian) creating sand dunes and destroying the road. People crossing the desert do so by night so that they can use the stars to navigate.

The city of Bactra (aka Zariaspa, modern day Balkh) stood at the foot of the Caucasus - which Curtius calls Mt Parapanisus**. The river Bactrus, he says, follows the example of the Araxes River*** by flowing past Bactra rather than through it.

The chapter concludes with news of a revolt in Greece†, the march of the Scythians to Bessus’ camp and Erygius’ duel with Satibarzanes††, which was won by the Macedonian officer.

*there were grain stores around, but the natives had hidden them too well for the Macedonians to find

** As compared to Diodorus who calls it the Paropanisum

*** At Persepolis

† By the Peloponnesians and Laconians. This revolt concluded with the Battle of Megalopolis between Antipater and King Agis that we saw at the start of Book Six

†† Still only one of three that I know to have taken place during either Alexander’s life or the diadoch period. The other two are Dioxippus vs Coragus (c. 326/5 B.C. My post on Diodorus’ account of it is here) and Eumenes vs Neoptolemus in 320 B.C.

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Death in a Cold Climate

Posted on September 22, 2014 by M J Mann

The Nature of Curtius
Book Seven Chapters 1-3
For other posts in the series click here

Chapter One
Old Scores Are Settled
Following Philotas’ execution, Alexander Lyncestes was put on trial and executed. Alexander Lyncestes’ brothers had been killed by Alexander III in the purge following the latter’s accession to the throne. Alexander Lyncestes had saved his skin on that occasion by being ‘the first to salute Alexander as king’. Now, however, stage fright overtook the Lyncestian and rendered him unable to give a defence of himself. Curtius presents his death as little less than a summary execution during the trial.

The chapter continues with the trial of Amyntas and Simmias (the sons of Andromenes) who were charged with being part of Philotas’ conspiracy and as well as with other minor misdemeanours. Despite the fact that a third brother, Polemon, had deserted after hearing about Philotas’ torture, Amyntas was able to put up a very good defence.

As with the trial of Philotas, those of Alexander Lyncestes and Andromenes’ sons all took place indoors.

Chapter Two
Parmenion’s Downfall
The trial of Amyntas and Simmias was halted when guards brought in Polemon who had just been caught. Amyntas took his brother’s arrival in hand and succeeded in winning over not only the Assembly but Alexander, too. As a result, the trial ended with all the brothers’ acquittal.

After the trial, Alexander turned his thoughts to Parmenion. He ordered the general’s friend, Polydamas, to ride to Ecbatana with three letters - two for Parmenion (one in Alexander’s name and one written as if by Philotas*) and one for the other generals there. The latter contained the order to murder his friend.

Knowing how quickly rumour could travel, and how fatal it would be for him if Parmenion were to hear of Philotas’ death, Alexander ordered Polydamas to make haste. When the latter left the Macedonian camp, therefore, he did so on camelback**. In order to shorten their journey, Polydamas and his Arab guides (or guards) rode across ‘stretches of arid desert’. After ten days, they arrived in Ecbatana.

The letters were handed over to their recipients. The next day, Parmenion was stabbed to death in a grove.

* Presumably to make sure that Parmenion was distracted while the generals unsheathed their weapons

** And, Curtius says, dressed as an Arab. As Arabia was not on Polydamas’ route, perhaps this is an example of Curtius not knowing his geography (see below) or of him knowing that Arabs did indeed travel across the desert between Drangiana and Media.

Chapter Three
Mountain Bound
With Parmenion’s death, the Philotas Affair was finally over. Alexander now struck camp and led his army out of Drangiana and into Arimaspia - the land of the Euergetae, the Benefactors, whose kindness had once saved the army of Cyrus the Great.

Four days into his march across Arimaspia, the king learnt that Satibarzanes had returned to Aria. Rather than go back to confront the traitor himself, Alexander sent his friend Erygius along with Caranus, Artabazus and Andronicus to do so for him.

As for Alexander, he stayed in Arimaspia long enough to reward the natives for helping Cyrus, before proceeding to Arachosia. There, he subdued the natives (‘whose territory extends to the Pontic Sea’ Curtius says, inaccurately*) and met Parmenion’s soldiers who had been brought out as reinforcements. There was no backlash between them.

With his army now strengthened, Alexander moved on to the land of the Parapamisadae - ‘a backward tribe, extremely uncivilized even for barbarians’. Their country ‘touches Bactria to the west and extends as far as the Indian Ocean in the south’. In Alexander’s day, Bactria lay due north ( and Aria to the west) while Arachosia and the Oreitae stood between the Parapamisadae and the ocean.

Curtius writes that Paropamisus** is such a cold and barren land few trees grow there, and there is ‘no trace… of birds or any other animal of the wild’. It seems that even the sun rarely comes that way for the ‘overcast daylight, which would be more accurately called a shadow of the sky, resembles night and hangs so close to the earth that near-by objects are barely visible’.

The cold caused the Macedonian army great suffering as it trudged eastwards. Men suffered from frost-bite, snow-blindness and exhaustion; those who stopped to rest became too stiff to get up again.

Alexander did his best to help his men, and he lifted them up and supported them with his own body. ‘At one moment he was at the front, at another at the centre or rear of the column, multiplying for himself the hardships of the march’. That is why, despite all, they loved him so much.

Presently, the army came to ‘a more cultivated area’ where it set up camp.

The soldiers needed to rest - before them lay the Caucausus Mountains (i.e. the Hindu Kush)

In one direction it faces the sea that washes Cilicia, in another the Caspian, the river Araxes and also the desert areas of Scythia. The Taurus range, which is of lesser height, joins the Caucasus, rising in Cappadocia, skirting Cilicia and merging into the mountains of Armenia. Thus interconnected in a series, these ranges form an unbroken chain, which is the source for practically all the rivers of Asia, some flowing into the Red***, some into the Caspian, and others into the Hyrcanian**** and Pontic Seas.

Obviously, Curtius’ geography is inaccurate. What the above quotation shows, however, is how much smaller the world was for him. That’s not something I dwell upon often enough so I record it here as much for my benefit as anyone else’s.

Curtius says that the Macedonian army crossed the Caucasus in seventeen days. Along the way, it passed the ‘rocky crag’ where ‘Prometheus was bound’. At the foot of the Caucasus Alexander decided to build a new city.

* The Pontic Sea is the Caspian. In Alexander’s day, and surely afterwards?, a number of countries separated Arachosia from the Pontic. For example, Drangiana, Aria, Parthia and Hyrcania.

** Curtius doesn’t give us the name of the Parapamisadae’s land; ‘Paropamisus’ is what Diodorus calls it

*** The Persian Gulf

**** The Hyrcanian, Caspian and Pontic Sea are, of course, all one. The Notes suggest that Curtius is ‘mistakenly’ talking about different parts of the same water

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Zephyros Lends A Hand

Posted on September 21, 2014 by M J Mann

The Nature of Curtius
Book Six Chapters 6-11
For other posts in the series click here

Chapter Six
Outcrop Siege
After killing Darius, Bessus fled to his home satrapy of Bactria (Bactriana to Curtius). There, he declared himself to be the Great King’s successor and renamed himself Artaxerxes IV. Satibarzanes, the satrap of Areia, brought news of this to Alexander. He was rewarded for his help by being confirmed in his office.

Alexander’s next move was to set off for Bactria so that he could confront Bessus. While he was on the road, Parmenion’s son, Nicanor, died. Short of supplies, the king left Nicanor’s brother, Philotas, to conduct the appropriate funeral rites.

Meanwhile, letters arrived from various satraps informing Alexander that Bessus was riding out to meet him and that Satibarzanes had defected to the pretender’s side.

Alexander decided to deal with Satibarzanes first. Unfortunately, he was not able to catch up with him before the traitor was able to flee to Bactria with 2,000 cavalrymen. He would still get a fight, though, for the rest of Satibarzanes’ army fled no further than the nearby hills.

13,000 Arians took refuge on a ‘rocky outcrop’ that was 32 stades in circumference. Curtius describes it as being ‘sheer on the west side but with a gentler gradient towards the east’. It benefitted from ‘dense tree-cover and a year-round spring with a generous flow of water’. The rebels were located on the outcrop’s ‘grassy plateau’.

Alexander ordered Craterus to lay siege to Artacana* while he rode after Satibarzanes. After realising that the satrap was too far ahead he made his way to the outcrop.

Things did not go easily there. Alexander ordered the ground to be cleared but was obliged to stop when he came to ‘impassable crags and sheer precipices’. This sounds like he was on the west side of the outcrop - Curtius doesn’t say why Alexander could not attempt an assault on it from the east. Perhaps the forest was too thick? Or the gentle gradient ended in broken land?

Whatever the reason, Alexander now set himself to working out how to overcome the natural barrier. Many plans passed through his mind but none seemed satisfactory. In the end, nature came to his aid.

It was a breezy day with the wind coming in ‘strong from the west’. While they waited for their king to decide what to do, the Macedonians cut the fallen trees up, perhaps for future as firewood. Seeing this, Alexander had a plan. He ordered his men to build a great bonfire. It rose, Curtius says with a little hyperbole, ‘to equal the height of the mountain**’ When it was lit, the wind blew the flames directly ‘into the faces of the enemy’. The fire burned so fiercely that the sky was covered by thick, black smoke.

Curtius doesn’t say it but sparks from the fire must have travelled across the space between the bonfire and plateau. The Arians did their best to escape the flames but to no avail. Some committed suicide by throwing themselves into the fire, others by jumping over the edge of the outcrop to be smashed upon the rocks below. Some prepared to fight to the death while the remainder, ‘half-burnt’, surrendered.

Once the outcrop was taken, Alexander rode to Artacana to lead the siege against the city. Upon seeing the Macedonian siege towers, the Artacanians surrendered.

From Artacana, Alexander proceeded to Drangiana to confront its satrap, Barzanaentes, who was a Bessus-loyalist and who had taken part in Darius’ murder. ‘Fearing the punishment he deserved, Barzaentes fled into India’.

* Artacoana in Arrian, Chortacana in Diodorus; ‘probably Herat’ today, according to the Notes

** By ‘the mountain’ I assume Curtius is referring to the outcrop

Chapter Seven - Eleven
Mainly Speeches to Boot
These chapters cover the Philotas Affair and take place indoors - in the royal tent, which turns out to be able to accommodate over 6,000 people. Either the royal tent was rather bigger than I imagined or else Curtius is not quite correct.

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Across Mount Paropanisum

Posted on August 6, 2014 by M J Mann

Daily Diodorus
Vol. VIII. Book XVII Ch. 82, 83 (Loeb Classical Library)
Read the other posts in this series here

The Headlines
The Paropanisadae: A Hidden People
Alexander Crosses the Paropanisum
Erygius Defeats Satibarzanes in a Duel
Bessus Betrayed and Executed

The Story
Chapter 82
Diodorus doesn’t say when exactly Alexander sent Erygius and Stasanor to deal with Satibarzanes but it is the last action of 329 B.C. - according to his reckoning - that he describes. Chapter 82 opens at the start of 328 B.C. I say by his reckoning because the Footnotes state that it was now the summer of 330 B.C.

‘In this year Alexander marched against the so-called Paropanisadae’ who lived in the far north (in a land named Paropamisus - Wikipedia).

Diodorus describes Paropamisus as being ‘snow-covered and not easily approached’. The land is ‘plain and woodless’. The parapanisadae live in homes with conical roofs that are open at the top so that smoke can escape through them. Due to the heavy snow, they are confined to their homes for much of the year. Indeed, when the Macedonians passed through Paropamisus, they only became aware that there were people living there when smoke rose out of the ground underneath them.

Diodorus paints an evocative picture, but again, he appears to be in error. The Footnotes advise that Paropamisus was ‘neither in the north nor a plain’.

As far as Diodorus is concerned, though, Paropamisus was bad news for Alexander. The sun shone so brightly that the snow dazzled the Macedonians’ eyes, causing some to be blinded. For others, the march was so exhausting that they ‘became exhausted and were left behind’.

Fortunately, relief came when the Macedonians realised they were standing on top of the Paropanisadae homes. The country was made subject to Alexander, and food taken or bought from the natives’ supplies.

Per the Footnotes, Alexander met the Paropanisadae in the winter of 330 B.C.and wintered there that year.

Chapter 83
Continuing his journey, Alexander next ‘encamped near the Caucasus, which some call Mt. Paropanisum’, and which we call the Hindu Kush.

The journey over the mountain took sixteen days to complete. On the way, Alexander’s guides showed him the cave where, they said, Prometheus had been bound. The guides were even able to show the king marks left by Prometheus’ chains, and where the eagle that ate Prometheus’ liver every day had its nest.

On the eastern side of the Paropanisum, Alexander stopped to found another Alexandria. It was settled with 7,000 natives, 3,000 ‘camp followers’, and mercenaries. ‘It is interesting,’ say the Footnotes, that the city ‘received no Macedonian settlers’.

Once Alexandria had been established, Alexander marched into Bactria - news had now reached him ‘that Bessus had assumed the diadem and was enrolling an army’.

***

As Alexander made his way into Bactria, Erygius and Stasanor entered Areia (Aria). They camped near to Satibarzanes’ army, and for a while the two armies skirmished and engaged each other in small numbers. Having sized each other up, the three generals but their armies into battle formation for the final showdown.

Unfortunately, Diodorus tells us nothing of the battle except that Satibarzanes’ men ‘were holding their own’ when Satibarzanes challenged any Macedonian general who dared to a duel. Erygius dared. He came forward, and the two men fought until Satibarzanes fell to the ground, dead.

The loss of their commander demoralised the Persian soldiers and they surrendered themselves. The battle was over.

***

Chapter 83 concludes with Bessus’ downfall. During a banquet with his friends, he got into an argument with one named Bagodaras. Bessus wanted to execute Bagodaras but was persuaded by his friends to let him live (does this sound familiar?). Unlike Black Cleitus, Bagodaras wisely decided he was better off somewhere that Bessus was not. He chose Alexander’s camp.

Alexander greeted Bagodaras warmly, and word was sent to Bessus’ generals that if they also came over to the Alexander’s side, they too would be given safe passage and gifts. This message did not fall on deaf ears. In fact, not only did Bessus’ generals switch sides, but they arrested Bessus and brought him as well.

Alexander kept his side of the bargain and gave the generals ‘substantial gifts’. As for Bessus, he gave him to Darius’ family to be punished as they saw fit. They subjected the pretender to the Great King’s throne to ‘humiliation and abuse’ before ‘cutting his body up into little pieces’ and scattering them.

A lacuna in the manuscript means we lose the ‘end of Diodorus’ year 328/7 and the beginning of 327/6′. Chapter 84 will commence in ‘the autumn of 327′. This information comes from the Footnotes, which also note that Diodorus’ account of the following events are lost,

  • Alexander’s ‘Scythian, Bactrian and Sogdian campaigns’
  • The Death of Black Cleitus
  • Introduction of Proskynesis
  • The arrest of Callisthenes
  • The Page’s Conspiracy
  • Alexander’s marriage to Roxane

Comments
When I read Chapter 82, I thought it very rum that Alexander left the exhausted of his people behind during their march through Paropamisus. Looking at it from his perspective, though, I suppose he did not have a choice. Delaying would have meant even more deaths in the awful conditions.

Why did no Macedonians settle in the new Alexandria? Perhaps the territory was too rough even for them.

Erygius’ duel with Satibarzanes is one of only two duels that I know to have taken place during Alexander’s lifetime or during the Successor period. The other involved Eumenes versus Neoptolemus during the First War of the Successors in 320 B.C., which Eumenes won (I wrote about both the war and duel here). A duel must be about the only thing that Alexander didn’t fight in his lifetime!

The list of events missed due to the gap in the manuscript is a big shame. I would especially, though, have liked to see how Alexander spoke to his men after Bessus had been captured. That was, after all, why they had continued east following the destruction of the royal palaces at Persepolis and the death of Darius (see here). More honeyed words, no doubt.

The Macedonian army can be seen bottom left
hindu_kush

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

(You may need a magnifying glass Hubble telescope)

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The Benefactors

Posted on August 5, 2014 by M J Mann

Daily Diodorus
Vol. VIII. Book XVII Ch. 81 (Loeb Classical Library)
Read the other posts in this series here

The Headlines
The Benefactors live up to their name
Gedrosia falls into line
Satibarzanes returns to Aria
Erygius and Stasanor lead army against outlaw satrap
Alexander conquers Arachosia with ease

The Story
After Philotas’ execution, Alexander stayed in Dranginê (Drangianê) just long enough to ‘settle’ the region before moving on. He next entered the country of the Arimaspians, also known as the Benefactors. This name had been bestowed on them by Alexander’s hero, Cyrus the Great (600/576 - 530 B.C.).

As Diodorus relates it, the founder of the Persian Empire had been campaigning ‘in the desert’ when he ran out of provisions. Desperate for food, his soldiers began eating each other. For reasons Diodorus does not explain, the Arimaspians came to Cyrus’ aid with no less than thirty thousand wagons filled with food. In gratitude, Cyrus exempted the tribe from paying taxes as well as giving it ‘other marks of honour’. He also abolished their name, replacing it with ‘Benefactors’.

I suppose it is possible that the Benefactors acted out of the goodness of their hearts, though it is - admittedly - more likely that they were ordered to help, or else did so to secure political advantage. If the latter, the two hundred years since Cyrus’ death had seen no diminution in the tribe’s political acumen. For when Alexander entered Arimaspia, they ‘received him kindly’. No doubt eager to emulate his hero as much out of gratitude for the welcome Alexander ‘honoured the tribe with suitable gifts’. This pattern was repeated with the Cedrosians (aka Gedrosians). Finally, Alexander appointed a man named Tiridates to govern both peoples.

***

As is his wont, Diodorus now changes tack completely and returns to the subject of Satibarzanes. While Alexander was occupied with the Benefactors and Cedrosians, word came to him that the errant satrap ‘had returned from Bactria with a large force of cavalry to Areia [Aria]’.

Perhaps because he was eager to continue east, Alexander opted not to turn back himself in order to deal with the traitor. Instead, he appointed one of his long-time friend, Erygius, and Stasanor to lead an army against him.

For his part, Alexander continued east, entered Arachosia, and conquered it in a matter of days.

Comments
Diodorus’ account of the Benefactors is a lovely feel-good story. Of course the Arimaspians acted towards both Alexander and Cyrus out of self-interest but we shouldn’t let that detract from the sweetness of the moment. The fact is, both kings could easily have responded violently had they wished. But both were better than that and all was well that ended well.

In case the name of Erygius is not familiar to you - he was one of Alexander’s friends who took part in the Pixodarus Affair in 337 B.C. (and which I wrote about as part of my series on Plutarch’s Women here).

cyrus_the_great
“You mean we had food all along, it was just on my head?”

Picture from Wikipedia

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Satibarzanes’ Betrayal

Posted on August 3, 2014 by M J Mann

Daily Diodorus
Vol. VIII. Book XVII Ch. 78 (Loeb Classical Library)
Read the other posts in this series here

The Headlines
Satibarzanes Revolts
Artacoana Chosen For Showdown
Satibarzanes Flees To Bessus - Men to Mountains
Alexander Subdues Aria

The Story
Diodorus begins Chapter 78 by finishing Chapter 77. He notes that even though Alexander adopted Persian customs and dress only ‘sparingly’ some people still complained. They were ‘silenced… with gifts’. I’ve made that sound very dramatic but the ellipsis really does only signify that I have missed a word out.

Meanwhile, Satibarzanes, the satrap of Aria, ‘made common cause with Bessus’, murdered his Macedonian guard and fled to Chortacana (aka Artacoana), a city of ‘great natural strength’ where he intended to hold out against Alexander.

This is Satibarzanes’ first appearance in Diodorus’ narrative. He holds an important position within it, however, as one of Darius’ murderers. The Footnotes appear to suggest that Satibarzanes and Alexander first met on the battlefield as they refer to Alexander defeating before confirming him in his satrapy. After doing so, he sent Satibarzanes on his way with a detachment of Macedonian soldiers to make sure he behaved.

On hearing of Satibarzanes’ betrayal, Alexander set out against him. The two never met, however, for as the Macedonian army approached, the satrap took fright at its size and reputation. He leapt onto his horse and with two thousand men rode for Bactria. Those followers who did not ride with him were told to hide in an unknown mountain.

We never found out what happened to the last people who ran into the mountains to escape Alexander but this time, Diodorus says that the king followed Satibarzanes’ men to their destination, laid siege to the place and brought about their surrender. A month later, all of Aria was under his control.

Once this was done, it seems that Alexander returned to Hyrcania again as Diodorus has him leaving there and moving on ‘to the capital of Dranginê [aka Drangianê], where he paused and rested his army’.

Comments
Why did Satibarzanes rebel against Alexander? Did he really think that Bessus would be able to do what Darius could not? Bessus must have been a very charismatic man to persuade him otherwise. I imagine that Satibarzanes was also swayed by Bessus’ rank. Bactria was the satrapy of kings. It’s where the heirs to the Archaemenid empire learned their trade before succeeding to the throne (See Livius here). Darius may not have had Bessus in mind to be his successor - he had a son, after all - but now that Codomannus was dead and Ochus was in Alexander’s hands - perhaps Bessus satrapal importance, the fact (?) that he had royal blood in him, and all that charisma made an irresistible combination.

As mentioned above, the Footnotes say that Alexander confirmed Satibarzanes as satrap of Aria ‘after defeating him’. I don’t know in what sense they mean this. Arrian says that the two men met in the Arian town of Susia where the confirmation took place. Curtius has Alexander confirming him after Satibarzanes enters the Macedonian camp and reports Bessus’ rebellion.

Opening This Week at an Amphitheatre Near You

Catch Me If You Can
A play about a satrap who conned his followers
into thinking he had any guts before doing a
runner.
archaemenid_horseman

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Image from the British Museum

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