Greek Texts & Translations

Then he called a meeting at Corinth of envoys and delegates, and when the usual representatives came, he spoke to them in moderate terms and had them pass a resolution appointing him general plenipotentiary of the Greeks and undertaking themselves to join in an expedition against Persia seeking satisfaction for the offences which the Persians had committed against Greece. ^note Successful in this, the king returned to Macedonia with his army.

ch. 5 17.5.1Now that we have described what took place in Greece, we shall shift our account to the events in Asia. Here, immediately after the death of Philip, Attalus actually had set his hand to revolt and had agreed with the Athenians to undertake joint action against Alexander, but later he changed his mind. Preserving the letter which had been brought to him from Demosthenes, ^note he sent it off to Alexander and tried by expressions of loyalty to remove from himself any possible suspicion. 17.5.2Hecataeus, however, following the instructions of the king literally, had him killed by treachery, ^note and thereafter the Macedonian forces in Asia were free from any incitement to revolution, Attalus being dead and Parmenion completely devoted to Alexander.

17.5.3As our narrative is now to treat of the kingdom of the Persians, we must go back a little to pick up the thread. ^note While Philip was still king, Ochus ^note ruled the Persians and oppressed his subjects cruelly and harshly. Since his savage disposition made him hated, the chiliarch Bagoas, a eunuch in physical fact but a militant rogue in disposition, killed him by poison administered by a certain physician and placed upon the throne the youngest of his sons, Arses. 17.5.4He similarly made away with the brothers of the new king, who were barely of age, in order that the young man might be isolated and tractable to his control. But the young king let it be known that he was offended at Bagoas's previous outrageous behaviour and was prepared to punish the author of these crimes, so Bagoas anticipated his intentions and killed Arses and his children also while he was still in the third year of his reign. ^note 17.5.5The royal house was thus extinguished, and there was no one in the direct line of descent to claim the throne. Instead Bagoas selected a certain Dareius, a member of the court circle, and secured the throne for him. He was the son of Arsanes, and grandson of that Ostanes who was a brother of Artaxerxes, who had been king. ^note 17.5.6As to Bagoas, an odd thing happened to him and one to point a moral. Pursuing his habitual savagery he attempted to remove Dareius by poison. The plan leaked out, however, and the king, calling upon Bagoas, as it were, to drink to him a toast and handing him his own cup compelled him to take his own medicine.

ch. 6 17.6.1Dareius's selection for the throne was based on his known bravery, in which quality he far surpassed the other Persians. Once when King Artaxerxes ^note was campaigning against the Cadusians, one of them with a wide reputation for strength and courage challenged a volunteer among the Persians to fight in single combat with him. No other dared accept, but Dareius alone entered the contest and slew the challenger, being honoured in consequence by the king with rich gifts, while among the Persians he was conceded the first place in prowess. 17.6.2It was because of this prowess that he was thought worthy to take over the kingship. This happened about the same time as Philip died and Alexander became king.

17.6.3Such was the man whom fate had selected to be the antagonist of Alexander's genius, and they opposed one another in many and great struggles for the supremacy. These our detailed narrative will describe in each case. And we may now proceed with our story.

ch. 7 17.7.1Dareius became king before the death of Philip and thought to turn the coming war back upon Macedonia, but when Philip died, Dareius was relieved of his anxiety and despised the youth of Alexander. 17.7.2Soon, however, when Alexander's vigour and rapidity of action had secured for him the leadership of all Greece and made evident the ability of the young man, then Dareius took warning and began to pay serious attention to his forces. He fitted out a large number of ships of war and assembled numerous strong armies, choosing at the same time his best commanders, among whom was Memnon of Rhodes, ^note outstanding in courage and in strategic grasp. 17.7.3The king gave him five thousand ^note mercenaries and ordered him to march to Cyzicus and to try to get possession of it. With this force, accordingly, Memnon marched on across the range of Mt. Ida.