]
[Footnote 11: See the previous description of the Persian amour.
[Footnote 11: See the previous description of the Persian amour.
Scriptori Erotici Graeci
Every one missed the Persian whom he had
lodged in his house, and the sight of the planks laid over the mud,
confirmed them in their suspicions, and explained the manner of it.
They were thrown into great consternation at this discovery; expecting,
with reason, a severe punishment, as for a second offence, fearing
they should be thought to have abused the clemency of their conqueror,
and to have connived at the escape of the Persians. They determined
therefore, after some consultation, to go out of the city in a body,
to deliver themselves up to Hydaspes, to attest their innocence with
oaths, and implore his mercy. Collecting together then all ranks and
ages, with the air of suppliants, they marched in procession, over
the bridge of planks. Some carried boughs of trees, others tapers and
torches, the sacred ensigns and images of their gods preceding them as
messengers of peace.
When they approached the camp of the Ethiopians, they fell down on
their knees, raising, as with one consent, a plaintive and mournful
cry; and deprecating, by the most humble gestures, the victor's wrath.
They laid their infants on the ground before them, seemingly leaving
them to wander whither chance might lead; intending to pacify the wrath
of the Ethiopians by the sight of their innocent and guiltless age.
The poor children, frightened at the behaviour and outcries of their
parents, crept (some of them) towards the adverse army; and with their
tottering steps and wailing voices, presented an affecting scene,
Fortune, as it were, converting them into instruments of supplication.
Hydaspes observing this uncommon spectacle, and conceiving that they
were reiterating their former entreaties and imploring pardon for their
crime, sent to know what they meant, and why they came alone, and
without the Persians.
They related all which had happened--the flight of the Persians, their
own entire ignorance of it,--the festival they had been celebrating,
and the opportunity secretly taken by the garrison to leave them,
when they were buried in sleep, after their feastings and fatigues;
although, had they been awake, and had they seen them, it would have
been out of their power, unarmed as they were, to hinder the retreat of
men in arms.
Hydaspes from this relation suspected, as was really the case, that
Oroondates had some secret design and stratagem against him; summoning
the Egyptian priests therefore, and for the sake of greater solemnity,
adoring the images of the gods which they carried with them, he
inquired if they could give him any further information about the
Persians. He asked whither they were gone, and what were their hopes
and intentions. They replied, "That they were ignorant of their
schemes; but supposed them to be gone to Elephantine," where the
principal part of the army was assembled, Oroondates placing his chief
confidence in his barbed cavalry. They concluded by beseeching him, if
he had conceived any resentment against them to lay it aside, and to
enter their city, as if it were his own.
Hydaspes did not choose to make his entry for the present, but sent two
troops of soldiers to search every place where he suspected an ambush
might be laid; if they found nothing of that sort, destining them as a
garrison for the city. He dismissed the inhabitants of it with kindness
and gracious promises, and drew out his army ready to receive the
attack of the Persians, should they advance; or, to march against them
himself if they delayed.
His troops were hardly formed in order of march when his scouts
informed him that the Persians were advancing towards him to give
battle: Oroondates had assembled an army at Elephantine, just at the
time when as we have seen, he was forced, by the sudden approach of
the Ethiopians, to throw himself into Syene with a few troops; being
then reduced to imminent danger by the contrivance of Hydaspes; he
secured the preservation of the place, and his own safety, by a method
which stamped him with the deepest perfidy. The two Persians sent to
Elephantine, under pretence of inquiring on what terms the troops there
were willing to submit, were really dispatched with a view of informing
him whether they were ready and disposed to resist and fight, if by any
means he could escape, and put himself at their head.
He now proceeded to put into practice his treacherous intent, for upon
his arrival at Elephantine, finding them in such a disposition as he
could wish, he led them out without delay, and proceeded with all
expedition against the enemy; relying chiefly for success on the hope
that by the rapidity of his movements he should surprise them while
unprepared. He was now in sight, attracting every eye by the Persian
pomp of his host; the whole plain glistening as he moved along, with
gold and silver armour. The rays of the rising sun falling directly
upon the advancing Persians, shed an indiscribable brightness to the
most distant parts, their own armour flashing back a rival brightness.
The right wing was composed of native Medes and Persians--the heavy
armed in front--behind them the archers, unincumbered with defensive
arms, that they might with more ease and readiness perform their
evolutions, protected by those who were before them. The Egyptians,
the Africans, and all the auxiliaries were in the left wing. To these
likewise were assigned a band of light troops, slingers and archers,
who were ordered to make sallies, and to discharge their weapons
from the flanks. Oroondates himself was in the centre, splendidly
accoutred and mounted on a scythed chariot. [6] He was surrounded on
either side by a body of troops, and in front were the barbed cavalry,
his confidence in whom had principally induced him to hazard an
engagement. These are the most warlike in the Persian service, and are
always first opposed, like a firm wall, to the enemy. The following is
the description of their armour--A man, picked out for strength and
stature, puts on a helmet which fits his head and face exactly, like
a mask; covered completely down to the neck with this, except a small
opening left for the eyes, in his right hand he brandishes a long
spear--his left remains at liberty to guide the reins--a scimitar is
suspended at his side; and not his breast alone, but his whole body
also, is sheathed in mail, which is composed of a number of square
separate plates of brass or steel, a span in length, fitting over each
other at each of the four sides, and hooked or sewn together beneath,
the upper lapping over the under; the side of each over that next to
it in order. Thus the whole body is inclosed in an imbricated scaly
tunic, which fits it closely, yet by contraction and expansion allows
ample play for all the limbs. It is sleeved, and reaches from neck to
knee,[7] the only part left unarmed being under the cuishes, necessity
for the seat on horseback so requiring. The greave extends from the
feet to the knee, and is connected with the coat. This defence is
sufficient to turn aside all darts, and to resist the stroke of any
weapon. The horse is as well protected as his rider; greaves cover
his legs, and a frontal[8] confines his head. From his back to his
belly, on either side, hangs a sheet of the mail, which I have been
describing, which guards his body, while its looseness does not impede
his motions.
Thus accoutred and as it were fitted[9] into his armour, this ponderous
soldier sits his horse, unable to mount himself on account of his
weight, but lifted on by another. When the time for charging arrives,
giving the reins, and setting spurs to his horse, he is carried
with all his force against the enemy, wearing the appearance of a
hammer-wrought statue, or of an iron man. His long and pointed spear
extends far before him, and is sustained by a rest at the horse's neck,
the butt being fixed in another at his croupe. Thus the spear does not
give way in the conflict, but assists the hand of the horseman, who has
merely to direct the weapon, which pressing onwards with mighty power
pierces every obstacle, sometimes transfixing and bearing off by its
impulse two men at once.
With such a force of cavalry and in such order, Oroondates marched
against the enemy, keeping the river still behind him, to prevent his
being surrounded by the Ethiopians, who far exceeded him in number.
Hydaspes, on the other hand, advanced to meet him. He opposed, to
the Medes and Persians in the right wing, his forces from Meröe, who
were well accoutred, and accustomed to close fighting. The swift and
light-armed Troglodites, who were good archers, and the inhabitants of
the cinnamon region,[10] he drew up to give employment to those posted
on the left. In opposition to the centre, boasting as they did of their
barbed cavalry, he placed himself, with the tower-bearing elephants,
the Blemmyæ, and the Seres, giving them instructions what they were to
do when they came to engage. Both armies now approached near, and gave
the signal for battle; the Persians with trumpets, the Ethiopians with
drums and gongs. Oroondates, cheering on his men, charged with his body
of horse. Hydaspes ordered his troops to advance very slowly, that they
might not leave their elephants, and that the enemy's cavalry, having
a longer course to take, might become exhausted before the conflict.
When the Blemmyæ saw them within reach of a spear's cast, the horsemen
urging on their horses for the charge, they proceeded to execute their
monarch's instructions.
Leaving the Seres to guard the elephants, they sprang out of the ranks,
and advanced swiftly towards the enemy. The Persians thought they had
lost their senses, seeing a few foot presume to oppose themselves to so
numerous and so formidable a body of horse. These latter galloped on
all the faster, glad to take advantage of their rashness, and confident
that they should sweep them away at the first onset. But the Blemmyæ,
when now the phalanx had almost reached them, and they were all but
touched by their spears, on a sudden, at a signal, threw themselves on
one knee, and thrust their heads and backs under the horses, running no
danger by this attempt, but that of being trampled on: this manœuvre
was quite unexpected, many of the horses they wounded in the belly
as they passed, so that they no longer obeyed the bridle, but became
furious, and threw their riders; whom, as they lay like logs, the
Blemmyæ pierced in the only vulnerable part, the Persian cuirassier
being incapable of moving without help.
Those whose horses were not wounded proceeded to charge the Seres, who
at their approach retired behind the elephants, as behind a wall or
bulwark. Here an almost total slaughter of the cavalry took place. For
the horses of the Persians, as soon as the sudden retreat of the Seres
had discovered these enormous beasts, astonished at their unusual and
formidable appearance, either turned short round and galloped off,
or fell back upon the rest, so that the whole body was thrown into
confusion. They who were stationed in the towers upon the elephants
(six in number, two on either side, except towards the beast's hind
quarters), discharged their arrows as from a bulwark, so continuously
and with such true aim, that they appeared to the Persians like a cloud.
Fighting upon unequal terms against mailed warriors, and depending
upon their skill in archery, so unfailing was their aim at the sight
holes[11] of the enemy, that you might see many galloping in confusion
through the throng, with arrows projecting from their eyes.
Some, carried away by the unruliness of their horses to the elephants,
were either trampled under foot or attacked by the Seres and the
Blemmyæ, who rushing out as from an ambush, wounded some, and pulled
others from their horses, in the melée. They who escaped unhurt
retreated in disorder, not having done the smallest injury to the
elephants: for these beasts are armed with mail when led out to battle,
and have, besides, a natural defence in a hard and rugged skin, which
will resist and turn the point of any spear.
Oroondates, when he saw the remainder routed, set the example of a
shameful flight; and descending from his chariot, and mounting a
Nysæan horse,[12] galloped from the field. The Egyptians and Africans
in the left wing were ignorant of this, and continued still bravely
fighting, receiving, however, more injury than they inflicted, which
they bore with great fortitude and perseverance; for the inhabitants of
the cinnamon region, who were opposed to them, pressed and confounded
them by the irregularity and activity of their attacks, flying as the
Egyptians advanced, and discharging their arrows[13] backward as they
fled. When the Africans retreated, they attacked them, galling them
on all the flanks, either with slings or little poisoned[14] arrows.
These they fixed around their turbans, the feathers next their heads,
the points radiating outwards; and drawing them thence as from a
quiver, they, after taking a sudden spring forward, shot them against
the enemy, their own bodies being naked, and their only clothing
this crown of arrows. These arrows require no iron point; they take
a serpent's back bone, about a foot and a half in length, and after
straightening it, sharpen the end into a natural point, which may
perhaps account for the origin of the word arrow. [15]
The Egyptians resisted a long time, defending themselves from the
darts by interlocking shields--being naturally patient, and bravely
prodigal of their lives, not merely for pay but glory; perhaps, too,
dreading the punishment of runaways. But when they heard that the
barbed cavalry, the strength and right hand[16] of their army, was
defeated--that the viceroy had left the field, and that the Medes and
Persians, the flower of their foot, having done little against, and
suffered much from, those to whom they were opposed, had followed his
example, they likewise, at last, gave up the contest, turned about,
and retreated. Hydaspes, from an elephant's back, as from a watch
tower, was spectator of his victory; which when he saw decided, he sent
messengers after the pursuers, to stop the slaughter, and to order them
to take as many prisoners as they could, and particularly, were it
possible, Oroondates.
Success crowned his wishes, for the Ethiopians extending their numerous
lines to a great length on each side, and curving the extremities till
they surrounded the Persians, left them no way to escape but to the
river. Thus the stratagem which Oroondates had devised against the
enemy they found turned against themselves, multitudes being forced
into the river by the horses and scythed chariots, and the confusion
of the crowd. The viceroy had never reflected, that by having the
river in his rear he was cutting off his own means of escape. He was
taken prisoner with Achæmenes the son of Cybele. This latter informed
of what had happened at Memphis, and dreading the resentment of
Oroondates, for having made an accusation against Arsace which he was
not able to prove, (the witnesses who would have enabled him to do so
being removed,) endeavoured to slay his master in the tumult. He did
not, however, give him a mortal wound, and the attempt was instantly
revenged, for he was transfixed with an arrow by an Ethiopian, who
watched, as he had been commanded, over the safety of the viceroy; and
who saw, with indignation, the treacherous attempt of one, who, having
escaped the enemy, took the opportunity presented by fortune, to wreak
his revenge against his commander.
Oroondates was brought before Hydaspes, faint and bleeding; but
his wound was soon staunched by the remedies applied, the king
being resolved, if possible, to save him, and himself giving him
encouragement.
"Friend," said he, "I grant your life. I hold it honourable to overcome
my enemies by my arms while they resist; and by my good offices when
they are fallen: but why have you shewn such perfidy towards me? "
"Towards you, I own," replied the Persian, "I have been perfidious; but
to my master I have been faithful. "--"As vanquished, then," replied
Hydaspes, "what punishment, think you, that you deserve? "--"The
same," returned the other, "which my master would inflict upon one of
your captains who had fallen into his power, after having proved his
fidelity to you. "--"If your master," replied the Ethiopian, "were truly
royal, and not a tyrant, he would praise and reward him; and excite the
emulation of his own people, by commending the good qualities of an
enemy: but it seems to me, good sir, that you praise your fidelity at
the expence of your prudence, after having adventured yourself against
so many myriads of my troops. "--"Perhaps," replied Oroondates, "in
regard to myself, I have not been so imprudent as may at first appear.
I knew the disposition of my sovereign--to punish cowards, rather than
to reward the brave. I determined therefore to hazard every thing,
and trust to Fortune, who sometimes affords unexpected and improbable
successes in war. If I failed and escaped with life, I should at least
have it to say, that nothing in my power had been left untried. "
Hydaspes, after listening to his words, praised him, sent him to Syene,
ordered his physicians to attend him, and all possible care to be taken
of him. He himself soon after made his public entry into the city, with
the flower of his army. The inhabitants of all ranks and ages went out
in procession to meet him, strewed crowns and flowers[17] of the Nile,
in his path, greeting him with songs of victory.
He entered the city on an elephant, as on a triumphal chariot, and
immediately turned his thoughts to holy matters and thanksgivings
to the gods. He made inquiries concerning everything worthy of his
curiosity, particularly about the origin of the feasts of the Nile.
They shewed him a tank which served as a nilometer, like that which
is at Memphis, lined with polished stone, and marked with degrees at
the interval of every cubit. The water flows into it under ground, and
the height to which it rises in the tank, shews the general excess, or
deficiency, of the inundation, according as the degrees are covered or
left bare. They shewed him dials, which, at a certain season of the
year, cast no shade at noon; for, at the summer solstice, the sun is
vertical at Syene, and darts its rays perpendicularly down, so that the
water,[18] at the bottom of the deepest wells, is light.
This, however, raised no great astonishment in Hydaspes; for the
same phenomenon happens at the Ethiopian Meröe. The people of Syene
loudly praised their festival and extolled the Nile, calling it Horus
(the year), the fertilizer of their plains--the preserver of Upper
Egypt--the father, and, in a manner, the creator of the Lower--as it
brings annually new soil into it, and is from thence, possibly, called
Nile,[19] by the Greeks.
It points out, they said, the annual vicissitudes of time--summer by
the increase, and autumn by the retiring of its waters--spring by
the flowers which grow on it, and by the breeding of the crocodiles.
The Nile then, is, they say, nothing else but the year, its very
appellation confirming this, since the numeral letters which compose
its name, amount to 365 units, the number of days which make up the
year. [20] They extolled also its peculiar plants and flowers, and
animals, and added a thousand other encomiums. "All these praises,"
said Hydaspes, "belong more to Ethiopia, than to Egypt. If you esteem
this river as the father of waters, and exalt it to the rank of a
deity, Ethiopia ought surely to be worshipped, which is the mother of
your god? "
"We do worship it," replied the priests, "both on many other accounts,
and because it has sent you to us, as a preserver and a god. " After
recommending them to be less lavish in their praises, he retired to
a tent which had been prepared for him, and devoted the rest of the
day to ease and refreshment. He entertained, at his own table, his
principal officers, and the priests of Syene, and encouraged all ranks
to make merry. The inhabitants of Syene furnished herds of oxen, flocks
of sheep, goats and swine, together with store of wine, partly by way
of gift, partly for sale. The next day he mounted a lofty seat; and,
ordering the spoil to be brought out, which had been collected in the
city, and on the field of battle, distributed it amongst his army, in
such proportions as he thought their merit deserved. When the soldier
appeared who took Oroondates, "Ask what you please," said the king. --"I
have no occasion to ask anything," he replied. "If you will allow me
to keep what I have already taken from the Viceroy, I am sufficiently
rewarded for having made him prisoner, and preserved him alive,
according to your commands. " And with this he shewed a sword belt, a
scimitar richly jewelled of great value, and worth many talents; so
that many cried out, it was a gift too precious for a private man, a
treasure worthy of a monarch's acceptance. Hydaspes smilingly replied--
"What can be more kingly than that my magnanimity should be superior
to this man's avarice? Besides, the captor has a right to the personal
spoils of his prisoner. Let him then, receive as a gift from me, what
he might easily have taken to himself, without my knowledge. "
Presently those who had taken Theagenes and Chariclea appeared. "Our
spoil, Ο king! " said they, "is not gold and jewels, things of little
estimation among the Ethiopians, and which lie in heaps in the royal
treasures; but we bring you a youth and a maiden, a Grecian pair,
excelling all mortals in grace and beauty, except yourself, and we
expect from your liberality a proportionate reward. "--"You recall them
seasonably to my memory," replied Hydaspes. "When I first saw them, in
the hurry and confusion in which I was engaged, I took but a cursory
view of them. Let some one bring them now before me, together with the
rest of the captives. "
An officer was immediately despatched for them to the place of their
confinement, which was among the baggage, at some distance from the
town. They inquired, in their way to the city, of one of their guards,
whither they were being conducted. They were told that the king
Hydaspes desired to see the prisoners. On hearing the name, they cried
out together, with one voice--"Ο ye gods! " fearing till that hour lest
some other might be the reigning king; and Theagenes said softly to
Chariclea--"You will surely now discover to the king everything which
relates to us, since you have frequently told me that Hydaspes was your
father. "
"Important matters," replied Chariclea, "require great preparation.
Where the deity has caused intricate beginnings, there must needs be
intricate unravellings. Besides, a tale like ours is not to be told in
a moment; nor do I think it advisable to enter upon it in the absence
of my mother Persina, upon whose support, and testimony, the foundation
of our story, and the whole of our credit, must depend; and she, thanks
to the gods I hear, is yet alive. "
"What if we should be sacrificed," returned Theagenes; "or, presented
to some one as a gift, how shall we ever get into Ethiopia? "--"Nothing
is less likely," said Chariclea. "Our guards have told us that we are
to be reserved as victims, to be offered to the deities of Meröe.
There is no likelihood that we, who are solemnly devoted to the gods,
should be destroyed, or otherwise disposed of; such a vow no religious
mind would break. Were we to give way to the incautious joy with which
this sudden gleam of good fortune transports us, and discover our
condition, and relate our adventures, in the absence of those who
alone can acknowledge us, and confirm what we say, we run the greatest
risk of raising the indignation of the king; who would regard it as
a mockery and insult, that we, captives and slaves as we are, should
endeavour to pass ourselves off upon him, as his children. "
"But the tokens," said Theagenes, "which I know you always carry
about you, will give credit to our relation, and shew that we are not
impostors. "--"These things," replied Chariclea, "are real tokens to
those who know them, and who exposed them with me; but to those who
are ignorant of this, they are nothing but bracelets, and precious
stones; and may possibly induce a suspicion of our having stolen them.
Supposing even that Hydaspes should recollect any of these trinkets,
who shall persuade him that they were presented to me by Persina, and
still more, that they were the gifts of a mother to her daughter? The
most incontrovertible token, my dear Theagenes, is a mother's nature,
through which the parent at first sight feels affection towards her
offspring,--an affection stirred up by secret sympathy. Shall we
deprive ourselves, then, by our precipitation, of this most favourable
opening, upon which depends the credit of all we have to say? "
Discoursing in this manner, they arrived near the tribunal of the king.
Bagoas was led after them. When Hydaspes saw them, rising suddenly from
his throne--"May the gods be propitious to me! " he exclaimed, and sat
down again, lost in thought. They who were near him inquired the reason
of this sudden emotion. Recollecting himself, he said--"Methought that
I had a daughter born to me this day, who at once reached her prime,
and perfectly resembled this young maiden, whom I see before me. I
disregarded, and had almost forgotten my dream, when this remarkable
resemblance recalled it to my memory. "
His officers replied--"That it was some fancy of the mind bodying forth
future events;" upon which the king, laying aside for the present any
farther thought upon the subject, proceeded to examine his prisoners.
He asked them--"Who, and from whence, they were? " Chariclea was silent.
Theagenes replied, "That they were Grecians, and that the maiden was
his sister. "
"All honour to Greece," said Hydaspes--"the mother of brave and
beautiful mortals, for affording us such noble victims for the
celebration of our triumphal sacrifices. " And turning to his
attendants, he said--"Why had I not a son as well as a daughter born
to me in my dream, since this youth, being the maiden's brother, ought
according to your observation, to have been shadowed forth to me in my
vision? "
He then directed his discourse to Chariclea, speaking in Greek;
a language known and studied by the Gymnosophists, and kings of
Ethiopia--"And you, Ο maiden," said he, "why do you make no answer to
my questions? "--"At the altars of the gods," replied she, "to whom
we are destined as victims, you shall know who I am, and who are my
parents. "
"And what part of the world do they inhabit? " said the king. --"They
are present now," said she, "and will assuredly be present, when we
are sacrificed. " Again Hydaspes smiled. --"This dream-born daughter of
mine," he observed, "is certainly herself dreaming, when she imagines
that her parents are to be brought from the middle of Greece into
Meröe. Let them be taken away and served with the usual care and
abundance, to fit them for the sacrifices. But who is this standing
near, and in person like an eunuch? "[21]--"He is an eunuch," replied
one of the bystanders; "his name is Bagoas; he was in great favour with
Oroondates. "
"Let him too," said the king, "follow and be kept with the Grecian
pair; not as a future victim, but that he may attend upon, and watch
over the virgin victim, whom it is necessary to preserve in the utmost
purity for the sacrifice; and whose beauty is such, that her virtue,
unguarded, may be exposed to much danger and temptation. Eunuchs are
a jealous race; and fitly employed for debarring others from the
enjoyments of which they are themselves deprived. " He then proceeded to
examine and decide the fate of the remaining prisoners, who appeared in
order; distributing among his followers those who were slaves before;
dismissing with liberty those who were free and noble: but he selected
ten young men, and as many virgins, in the bloom of youth and beauty,
whom he ordered to be preserved for the same purpose to which he had
destined Theagenes and Chariclea. And having answered every complaint
and application, at last he sent for Oroondates, who was brought in
lying on a litter.
"I," said he to him, "now that I have obtained the object of my going
to war, feel not the common passion of ambitious minds. I am not going
to make my good fortune the minister of covetousness; my victory
creates in me no wish to extend my empire. I am content with the limits
which nature seems to have placed between Egypt and Ethiopia--the
cataracts. Having recovered then what I think my right, I revere what
is just and equitable, and shall return peacefully to my own dominions.
Do you, if your life be spared, remain viceroy of the same province as
before: and write to your master, the Persian king, to this effect,
'Thy brother Hydaspes has conquered by might of hand; but restores
all through moderation of mind; he wishes to preserve thy friendship,
esteeming it the most valuable of all possessions: at the same time,
if desirous of renewing the contest, thou wilt not find him backward. '
As to the Syenæans I remit their tribute for ten years; and command
thee to do the same. " Loud acclamations, both from the soldiers and
citizens, followed his last words.
Oroondates crossing his hands, and inclining his body, adored him; a
compliment not usual for a Persian to pay to any prince, except his
own. --"Ο ye who hear me," said he, "I do not think that I violate the
customs of my country, as to my own sovereign, in adoring the most just
of kings, who has restored to me my government; who instead of putting
me to death has granted me my life; who, able to act as a despotic
lord, permits me to remain a viceroy. Should I recover, I pledge myself
to promote a solid peace and lasting friendship between the Persians
and Ethiopians, and to procure for the Syenæans that remission of
tribute which has been enjoined; but should I not survive, may the gods
recompense Hydaspes, his family, and remotest descendants, for all the
benefits which he has conferred upon me! "
[Footnote 1: "πᾶν μοι φοβερὸν ὸ προσέρπον. "--Æsch. P. V. 127. ]
[Footnote 2: See note to vol. i. , p. 265, of Blakesley's Herodotus. ]
[Footnote 3: The brother and murderer of Osiris, whose death was
avenged by his son Horus. ]
[Footnote 4: Literally--"more clearly initiating them with the fiery
torch of realities. "--Tῇ πυρφόρῳ τῶν ὂντων λαμπάδι φaνότερoν τελoύντων. ]
[Footnote 5: Δεκαδάρχος. ]
[Footnote 6: The following passage in Ammianus Marcellinus illustrates
the account here given of the Καταφράκτοι ἳπποι--or barbed cavalry of
the Persians.
"Erant autem omnes catervæ ferratæ, ita per singula membra densis
laminis tectæ, ut juncturæ rigentes compagibus artuum convenirent:
humanorumque vultuum sumulacra ita capitibus diligenter aptata, ut
imbracteatis corporibus solidis, ibi tantum incidentia tela possint
hærere, quà per cavernas minutas et orbibus oculorum affixas, parcius
visitur, vel per supremitates narium angusti spiritus emittuntur.
Quorum pars contis dimicatura, stabat immobilis, ut retinaculis æreis
fixam existimares. "--Book xxv.
Thus, by an anticipation of 600 years, we have brought before us a
picture of the times, when,
"_Their limbs all iron_, and their souls all flame,
A countless host, the red-cross warriors came. "
]
[Footnote 7: Herod. B. vii. 61. thus speaks of these
tunics:--"Κιθῶινας-Ιωτοΰς χειριδoτoὺς ποικίλους λεπίδος σιδηρέης όψιν
ἰχθυoειδέος. "]
[Footnote 8: τὴν κεφαλὴν δι' ὃλου σφηκοῦντες--literally pinching in
like a wasp; the frontal fitting closely to the shape of the horse's
head and face. ]
[Footnote 9: oἷον ἐμβεβλημένος. ]
[Footnote 10: See Herod. B. iii. 111.
]
[Footnote 11: See the previous description of the Persian amour. ]
[Footnote 12: See note in Blakesley's Herod. vii. 40. ]
[Footnote 13: Like the Parthians--
". . . versis animosum equis
Parthum. "--Hor. I Od. xix 10.
]
[Footnote 14: Arrows somewhat resembling these are used by the wild
Bushmen of Africa for destroying the ostrich and other kinds of
game. "These insignificant looking arrows are about two feet six
inches in length; they consist of a slender reed, with a sharp bone
head, thoroughly poisoned with a composition of which the principal
ingredients are obtained, sometimes from a succulent herb, having thick
leaves, yielding a poisonous milky juice, and sometimes from the jaws
of snakes. "--Wood's Nat. Hist. ]
[Footnote 15: Όστέον, a bone; Όΐστός, an arrow. ]
[Footnote 16: χεῖρα. ]·
[Footnote 17: Ανθεσιν Νειλώοις. --The water lily of the Nile. ]
[Footnote 18: "At Syene there was, in later times a well, the bottom of
which, the sun was believed to illuminate at one time of the year, it
being supposed that Syene was under the Tropic. "--Blackesley's Herod. ,
vol. 1. p. 187. ]
[Footnote 19: Nἕιλος, from νέη ἰλύς, new soil. ]
[Footnote 20: ν = 50; ε = 5; ι: = 10; λ = 30; o = 70; σ = 200; total,
365. ]
[Footnote 21:
. . . "vetus, vietus, veternosus, senex
Colore mustellino. "--Terence.
]
BOOK X.
We have now said sufficient about Syene, which, from the brink of
danger, was at once restored to security and happiness, by one man's
clemency.
Hydaspes, having sent the greater part of his army forward, proceeded
in person towards Ethiopia, followed by the applauses and blessings
both of Persians and Syenæans. At first he marched along the Nile, or
the parts bordering upon that river; but when he reached the cataracts,
having sacrificed to the river, and to the gods of the boundaries, he
turned aside, and travelled through the inland country.
When he arrived at Philœ, he rested, and refreshed his army there for
two days; and then as before, sending part of it forward, together with
the captives, he stayed some little time behind them, to direct the
repair of the walls, and to place a garrison, and soon afterwards set
out himself. He dispatched an express consisting of two troopers, who
changing their horses at every station, and using all speed, were to
announce his victory at Meröe. [1]
He sent the following message to the wise men of his country, who are
called Gymnosophists, and who are the assessors and privy councillors
of the Ethiopian kings in affairs of moment.
"Hydaspes to the most holy Council.
"I acquaint you with my victory over the Persians. I do not boast of
my success, for I know and fear the mutability of fortune; but I would
greet your holy order, which I have always found wise and faithful. I
invite and command your attendance at the usual place, in order that
the thanksgiving sacrifices for victory, may, by your presence, be
rendered more august and solemn in the sight of the Ethiopian people. "
To his consort, Persina, he wrote as follows:--
"Know that I am returning a conqueror, and, what you will still
more rejoice at, unhurt. Make therefore preparations for the most
sumptuous processions and sacrifices, that we may give thanks to the
gods, for the blessings which they have bestowed. In accordance with
my letters, assist in summoning the Gymnosophists; and hasten to
attend, with them, in the consecrated field before the city, which is
dedicated to our country's gods--the Sun, the Moon, and Bacchus. "
When this letter was delivered to Persina--"I now see," said she,
"the interpretation of a dream which I had last night. Methought I
was pregnant, and in labour, and that I brought forth a daughter in
the full bloom of youth and beauty. I see, that by my throes, were
signified the travails of war; and by my daughter, this victory. "
"Go," continued she, "and fill the city with these joyful tidings. "
The expresses obeyed her commands; and mounting their horses, having
crowned their heads with the lotus of the Nile, and waving branches
of palm in their hands, rode through the principal parts of the city,
disclosing by their very appearance, the joyous news.
Meröe resounded with rejoicings; night and day the inhabitants,
in every family, and street, and tribe, made processions, offered
sacrifices, and suspended garlands in the temples; not more out of
gratitude for the victory, than for the safety of Hydaspes; whose
justice and clemency, mildness and affability, had made him beloved,
like a father, by his subjects. The queen, on her side, collected
together from all parts, quantities of sheep and oxen, of horses and
wild asses, of hippogriffs,[2] and all sorts of animals, and sent
them into the sacred field, partly to furnish a hecatomb of each, for
sacrifice, partly to provide from the remainder, an entertainment for
all the people.
She next visited the Gymnosophists, who inhabit the grove of Pan, and
exhorted them to obey the summons of their king, as also to gratify her
by adorning and sanctifying the solemnity with their presence. They,
entreating her to wait a few moments, while they consulted the gods, as
they are used to do on any new undertaking, entered their temple, and
after a short time returned, when Sisimithres, their president, thus
addressed her:--"Ο queen! we will attend you, the gods order us to do
so; but, at the same time, they signify to us, that this sacrifice
will be attended with much disturbance and tumult, which, however, will
have an agreeable and happy end. A limb of your body, or a member of
the state, seems to have been lost; which will be restored by fate. "
"Your presence," said Persina, "will avert every threatening presage,
and change it into good; I will take care to inform you when Hydaspes
arrives. "
"You will have no occasion to do that," replied Sisimithres: "he will
arrive to-morrow, and you will presently receive letters to that
effect. " His prediction was fulfilled. Persina, on her return to the
palace, found a messenger with letters from the king, announcing his
intended arrival for the following day.
The heralds dispersed the news through the city, and at the same time,
made proclamation, that the men alone should be suffered to go out
and meet him, but that the women should keep within their houses;
for, as the sacrifice was destined to be offered to the purest of all
deities--the Sun and Moon--the presence of females was forbidden, lest
the victims should acquire even an involuntary contamination.
The priestess of the Moon was the only woman suffered to attend
the ceremony, and she was Persina; for by the law and custom of
the country, the queens of Ethiopia are always priestesses of that
divinity, as the kings are of the Sun. Chariclea, also was to be
present at the ceremonial, not as a spectatress, but as a victim to the
Moon.
The eagerness and curiosity of the citizens was incredible. Before they
knew the appointed day, they poured in multitudes out of the city,
crossed the river Astabora, some over the bridge; some who dwelt at a
distance from it, in boats made of canes, many of which lay near the
banks, affording an expeditious means of passage.
These little skiffs are very swift, both on account of the materials of
which they are composed, and the slight burden which they carry, which
never exceeds two or three men: for one cane is split in two, and each
section forms a boat. [3]
Meröe, the metropolis of Ethiopia, is situated in a sort of triangular
island, formed by the confluence of three navigable rivers; the Nile,
the Astabora, and the Asasoba. The former flows towards it from above,
where it forms two branches; the others, flowing round it on either
side, unite their waters, and hasten to mingle their stream, and lose
their names, in the channel of the Nile.
This island, which is almost a continent, (being in length three
thousand furlongs, in width one thousand), abounds in animals of every
kind, and, among the rest, with elephants. It is especially fertile
in producing trees. The palm trees rise to an unusual height, bearing
dates of large size and delicious flavour. The stalks of wheat and
barley are so tall, as to cover and conceal a man when mounted on a
horse or camel, and they multiply their fruit three hundred fold. The
canes are of the size which I have before mentioned.
All the night were the inhabitants employed in crossing the river; they
met, received, and congratulated Hydaspes, extolling him as a god. They
had gone a considerable way to meet him. The Gymnosophists went only a
little beyond the sacred field, when, taking his hand, they kissed him.
Next appeared Persina at the vestibule, and within the precincts of the
temple.
After worshipping the gods, and returning thanks for his victory and
safety, they left the precincts, and prepared to attend the approaching
sacrifice, repairing for that purpose to a tent, which had been erected
for them on the plain. Four canes, newly cut down, were fixed in the
ground, one at each corner, serving as a pillar, supported the vaulted
roof, which was covered with the branches of palm and other trees. Near
this another tent was erected, raised considerably from the ground,
in which were placed the images of the gods of the country--Memnon,
Perseus, and Andromeda--whom the kings of Ethiopia boasted to be
the founders of their race: under these, on a lower story, having
their gods above them, sat the Gymnosophists. A large portion of the
ground was surrounded by the soldiers; who in close order, and with
their shields joined, kept off the multitude, and afforded a clear
space sufficient for the priests to perform their sacrifice, without
confusion or disturbance.
Hydaspes, after speaking briefly upon the victory which he had gained,
and the advantages obtained by it to the state, commanded the sacred
ministers to begin their rites.
Three lofty altars were erected, two in close proximity to the Sun and
Moon; a third, at some distance, to Bacchus: to him they sacrificed
animals of every kind, as being a common deity, gracious and bountiful
to all. To the Sun they offered four white horses, the swiftest of
animals to the swiftest of the gods;[4] to the Moon, a yoke of oxen,
consecrating to her, as being nearest the earth, their assistants in
agriculture.
While these things were transacting, a loud confused murmur began to
rise as among a promiscuous multitude; "Let our country's rites be
performed--let the appointed sacrifice be made--let the first-fruits of
war be offered to our gods. "
Hydaspes understood that it was a human victim whom they demanded,
which it was customary to offer from among the prisoners taken only in
a foreign war. Making a motion for silence, with his hand, he intimated
to them, by gestures, that they should soon have what they required,
and ordered those who had the charge of the captives to bring them
forward. They obeyed, and led them forth, guarded, but freed from their
chains.
The generality were, as may be imagined, dejected and sorrowful.
Theagenes, however, appeared much less so than the others; but the
countenance of Chariclea was cheerful and elate. She fixed her eyes
upon Persina with a fixed and steady glance, so as to cause in her
considerable emotion; she could not help sighing, as she said--"Ο
husband! what a maiden have you destined for sacrifice! I never
remember to have seen such beauty. How noble is her presence! with what
spirit and fortitude does she seem to meet her impending fate! How
worthy is she of compassion, owing to the flower of her age. If my only
and unfortunately lost daughter were living, she would be about the
same age. Ο that it were possible to save this maiden from destruction;
it would be a great satisfaction to me to have her in my service. She
is probably Grecian, for she has not at all the air of an Egyptian. "
"She is from Greece," replied Hydaspes: "who are her parents she will
presently declare; shew them she cannot, though such has been her
promise. To deliver her from sacrifice is impossible: were it in my
power, I should be very glad to do so; for I feel, I know not why,
great compassion and affection for her. But you are aware that the law
requires a male to be offered to the Sun, and a female to the Moon; and
she being the first captive presented to me, and having been allotted
for the sacrifice, the disappointment of the people's wishes would
admit of no excuse. One only chance can favour her escape, and that is,
if she should be found when she ascends the pile, not to have preserved
her chastity inviolate; for the law demands a pure victim to be offered
to the goddess as well as to the god--the condition of those offered on
the altar of Bacchus is indifferent. But should she be found unchaste,
reflect whether it would be proper that she should be received into
your family. "
"Let her," replied Persina, "be found unchaste, provided only
she be preserved. Captivity and war, absence from friends, and a
wandering life, furnish an excuse for guilt, particularly in her,
whose transcendent beauty must have exposed her to more than common
temptations. "
While she was weeping and striving to conceal her weakness from the
people, Hydaspes ordered the fire-altar[5] to be prepared, and brought
out. A number of young children, collected by the officials from among
the multitude, brought it from the temple (they alone being permitted
to touch it), and placed it in the midst. Each of the captives was then
ordered to ascend it. It was furnished with golden bars of such mystic
virtue, that whenever any unchaste or perjured person placed his foot
upon it, it burnt him immediately, and he was obliged to retire: the
pure, on the contrary, and the uncontaminated, could mount it uninjured.
The greatest part of the prisoners failed in the trial, and were
destined as victims to Bacchus, and the other gods--save two or three
Grecian maidens whose virginity was found intact. Theagenes at length
ascended it, and was found pure. It raised great admiration in the
assembly, that with his beauty, stature, and in the flower of youth, he
should be a stranger to the power of love--accordingly he was destined
as an offering to the Sun. He said softly to Chariclea--"Is death then,
and sacrifice, the reward which the Ethiopians bestow upon purity and
integrity? But why, my dearest life, do you not discover yourself? How
long will you delay? Until the sacrificer's knife is at your throat?
Speak, I beseech you, and disclose your condition. Perhaps when you
are known, your intercession may preserve me; but if that should
not happen, you will be safe, and then I shall die with comfort and
satisfaction. "
"Our trial," said Chariclea, "now approaches--our fate trembles in the
balance. "[6]--So saying, and without awaiting any command, she drew
from out of a scrip which she had with her, and put on, her sacred
Delphic robe, interwoven and glittering with rays of light. She let her
hair fall dishevelled upon her shoulders, and as under the influence
of inspiration, leaped upon the altar, and remained there a long time,
unhurt.
Dazzling every beholder with more than ever resplendent beauty; visible
to all from this elevated place, and with her peculiar dress, she
resembled an image of the goddess, more than a mere mortal maiden. An
inarticulate murmur of applause ran through the multitude, expressive
of their surprise and admiration, that with charms so superhuman,
she should have preserved her honour, enhancing her beauty by her
chastity. [7] Yet they were almost sorry that she was found a pure
and fitting victim for the goddess. Notwithstanding their religious
reverence they would have been glad could she by any means escape. But
Persina felt more for her than all the rest. She could not help saying
to Hydaspes--"How miserable and ill-fated is this poor maiden! To no
purpose giving token of her purity! Receiving for her many virtues only
an untimely death! Can nothing be done to save her? "
"Nothing, I fear," replied the king: "your wishes and pity are
unavailable. It seems that the gods have from the beginning selected
by reason of her very excellence this perfect victim for themselves. "
And then directing his discourse to the Gymnosophists: "Sages,"
said he, "since every thing is ready, why do you not begin the
sacrifice? "--"Far be it from us," said Sisimithres (speaking in
Greek, that the multitude might not understand him) "to assist at such
rites; our eyes and ears have already been sufficiently wounded by the
preparations. We will retire into the temple, abhorring ourselves the
detestable offering of a human victim, and believing too that the gods
do not approve it. Would that the sacrifices even of brute animals
might cease; those consisting of prayers and incense being, to our
mind, sufficient. [8] Do you, however, remain; for the presence of a
ruler is sometimes necessary to stay the turbulence of the multitude.
Go on with this unhallowed sacrifice, since the inveterate custom
of the people has made it unavoidable; remembering that when it is
performed, yourself will stand in need of expiation, though perhaps,
you will not need it, for I think this rite will never be brought to
consummation. I judge from various divine tokens, and particularly
from a kind of glory shed around these strangers, signifying that they
are under the peculiar protection of the gods;"--having said this, he
arose, and was about to retire with his brethren.
At this instant Chariclea leapt down from the altar; rushed towards
Sisimithres, and fell at his feet. The officials would have hindered
her, supposing that she was deprecating death, but she exclaimed "Stay,
Sages, I beseech you! I have a cause to plead before the king and
queen; you are the only judges, in such a presence; you must decide in
this, the trial for my life. You will find that it is neither possible
nor just that I should be sacrificed to the gods. " They listened to
her readily, and addressing the king, said,--"Do you hear, Ο king, the
challenge and averment of this foreign maiden. "
Hydaspes smiling, replied, "What controversy can she have with me?
From what pretext, or from what right, can it arise? "--"That, her
own relation will discover," said Sisimithres. --"But will it not be
an indignity, rather than an act of justice," rejoined the monarch,
"for a king to enter into a judicial dispute with a slave? "--"Equity
regards not lofty rank," said the sage. "He is king in judgment
who prevails by strength of arguments. "--"But," returned Hydaspes,
"your office gives you a right of deciding only when a controversy
arises between the king and his own subjects, not between him and
foreigners. "--"Justice," said Sisimithres, "is weighed among the wise,
not by mere appearances, but by facts. "--"It is clear that she can have
nothing serious to advance," said the king, "but some mere idle pretext
to delay her fate, as is the case with those who are in fear of their
lives. Let her, however, speak, since Sisimithres would have it so. "
Chariclea, who had always been sanguine, in expecting her deliverance,
was now inspired with additional confidence when she heard the name of
Sisimithres. He was the person to whose care she had been committed
ten years before, and who delivered her to Charicles at Catadupa, when
he was sent ambassador to Oroondates in the matter of the emerald
mines--he was then one of the ordinary Gymnosophists: but now, he
was their president. Chariclea did not call to mind his face (having
been parted from him when only seven years' old), but recollected and
rejoiced at hearing his name, trusting that she should find in him a
support and an advocate. Stretching out then her hands towards heaven,
and speaking audibly,--"O Sun! " she exclaimed, "author of my family;
and you, ye gods and heroes who adorn my race! I call you to witness
the truth of what I say. Be you my supporters and assistants in the
trial which I am about to undergo--my cause is just, and thus I enter
upon it:--Does the law, Ο king, command you to sacrifice natives or
foreigners? "
"Foreigners only," replied Hydaspes. --"You must then seek another
victim," said she, "for you will find me a native. " The king seemed
surprised, declaring it to be a figment. "Do you wonder at this? " said
she; "you will hear much stranger things. I am not only a native, but
closely allied to the royal family. " This assertion was received with
contempt, as so much idle speech: when she added--"Cease, my father, to
despise and reject your daughter! "
By this time the king began to appear not only contemptuous, but
indignant, taking the matter as a personal insult to himself. He said,
therefore, to Sisimithres,--"Behold the reward of my endurance! Is
not the maiden downright mad! Endeavouring with wild and incredible
fictions to escape the fate awaiting her! desperately feigning herself
to be my daughter, as in some sudden appearance and discovery upon
the stage--mine, who was never so fortunate as to have any offspring.
Once, indeed, I heard of a daughter's birth, only, however, to learn
her death. Let then some one lead her away, that the sacrifice may be
no longer deferred. "--"No one shall lead me away," cried out Chariclea,
"till the judges have given sentence. You are in this affair a party,
not a judge; the law perhaps permits you to sacrifice foreigners, but
to sacrifice your children, neither law nor nature allows; and the
gods shall this day declare you to be my father, however unwilling
you appear to own me. Every cause, Ο king, which comes for judgment,
leans principally upon two kinds of proof, written evidence, and that
of living witnesses: both these will I bring forward to prove myself
your child. I shall appeal to no common witness, but to my judge
himself (the consciousness of the judge is the prisoner's best ground
of confidence); as to my written evidence it shall be a history of my
own and your misfortunes. " So saying, she loosened from her waist the
fillet[9] which had been exposed with her, unrolled, and presented it
to Persina. She, as soon as it met her sight, appeared struck dumb with
astonishment; she continued a considerable time casting her eyes first
on the writing, then again on the maiden. A cold sweat bedewed her
limbs, and convulsive tremblings shook her frame.
Her first emotions were those of joy and hope; but anxiety and doubt
succeeded. Dread of the suspicions of Hydaspes followed; of his
incredulity, and perhaps of his anger and vengeance.
The king observing her agitation and astonishment, said to her,
"Persina! what is it which ails you? from what cause has this writing
such effect upon you? "--"My king, my lord, and my husband! " she
replied, "I know not what to answer you: take and read it yourself:
let this fillet explain everything. " She gave it him, and remained
trembling, in anxious silence.
He took the fillet, and began to read it, calling to the Gymnosophists
to read it with him. As he proceeded, he was struck with doubt
and amazement; but Sisimithres was still more astonished: his
ever-changing colour betrayed the various emotions of his mind: he
fixed his eyes now on the fillet, and now on Chariclea.
At length Hydaspes, when he came to the account of the exposing of the
infant, and the cause of it, broke silence, and said, "I know that I
had once a daughter born to me, having been told that it died almost as
soon as it was born. This writing now informs me that it was exposed:
but who took it up, who preserved, who educated it? who brought it into
Egypt? Was that person, whoever he were, taken captive at the same
time with her? How shall I be satisfied that this is the real child
that was exposed? May she not have perished? May not these tokens have
fallen into the hands of some one, who takes advantage of this chance?
lodged in his house, and the sight of the planks laid over the mud,
confirmed them in their suspicions, and explained the manner of it.
They were thrown into great consternation at this discovery; expecting,
with reason, a severe punishment, as for a second offence, fearing
they should be thought to have abused the clemency of their conqueror,
and to have connived at the escape of the Persians. They determined
therefore, after some consultation, to go out of the city in a body,
to deliver themselves up to Hydaspes, to attest their innocence with
oaths, and implore his mercy. Collecting together then all ranks and
ages, with the air of suppliants, they marched in procession, over
the bridge of planks. Some carried boughs of trees, others tapers and
torches, the sacred ensigns and images of their gods preceding them as
messengers of peace.
When they approached the camp of the Ethiopians, they fell down on
their knees, raising, as with one consent, a plaintive and mournful
cry; and deprecating, by the most humble gestures, the victor's wrath.
They laid their infants on the ground before them, seemingly leaving
them to wander whither chance might lead; intending to pacify the wrath
of the Ethiopians by the sight of their innocent and guiltless age.
The poor children, frightened at the behaviour and outcries of their
parents, crept (some of them) towards the adverse army; and with their
tottering steps and wailing voices, presented an affecting scene,
Fortune, as it were, converting them into instruments of supplication.
Hydaspes observing this uncommon spectacle, and conceiving that they
were reiterating their former entreaties and imploring pardon for their
crime, sent to know what they meant, and why they came alone, and
without the Persians.
They related all which had happened--the flight of the Persians, their
own entire ignorance of it,--the festival they had been celebrating,
and the opportunity secretly taken by the garrison to leave them,
when they were buried in sleep, after their feastings and fatigues;
although, had they been awake, and had they seen them, it would have
been out of their power, unarmed as they were, to hinder the retreat of
men in arms.
Hydaspes from this relation suspected, as was really the case, that
Oroondates had some secret design and stratagem against him; summoning
the Egyptian priests therefore, and for the sake of greater solemnity,
adoring the images of the gods which they carried with them, he
inquired if they could give him any further information about the
Persians. He asked whither they were gone, and what were their hopes
and intentions. They replied, "That they were ignorant of their
schemes; but supposed them to be gone to Elephantine," where the
principal part of the army was assembled, Oroondates placing his chief
confidence in his barbed cavalry. They concluded by beseeching him, if
he had conceived any resentment against them to lay it aside, and to
enter their city, as if it were his own.
Hydaspes did not choose to make his entry for the present, but sent two
troops of soldiers to search every place where he suspected an ambush
might be laid; if they found nothing of that sort, destining them as a
garrison for the city. He dismissed the inhabitants of it with kindness
and gracious promises, and drew out his army ready to receive the
attack of the Persians, should they advance; or, to march against them
himself if they delayed.
His troops were hardly formed in order of march when his scouts
informed him that the Persians were advancing towards him to give
battle: Oroondates had assembled an army at Elephantine, just at the
time when as we have seen, he was forced, by the sudden approach of
the Ethiopians, to throw himself into Syene with a few troops; being
then reduced to imminent danger by the contrivance of Hydaspes; he
secured the preservation of the place, and his own safety, by a method
which stamped him with the deepest perfidy. The two Persians sent to
Elephantine, under pretence of inquiring on what terms the troops there
were willing to submit, were really dispatched with a view of informing
him whether they were ready and disposed to resist and fight, if by any
means he could escape, and put himself at their head.
He now proceeded to put into practice his treacherous intent, for upon
his arrival at Elephantine, finding them in such a disposition as he
could wish, he led them out without delay, and proceeded with all
expedition against the enemy; relying chiefly for success on the hope
that by the rapidity of his movements he should surprise them while
unprepared. He was now in sight, attracting every eye by the Persian
pomp of his host; the whole plain glistening as he moved along, with
gold and silver armour. The rays of the rising sun falling directly
upon the advancing Persians, shed an indiscribable brightness to the
most distant parts, their own armour flashing back a rival brightness.
The right wing was composed of native Medes and Persians--the heavy
armed in front--behind them the archers, unincumbered with defensive
arms, that they might with more ease and readiness perform their
evolutions, protected by those who were before them. The Egyptians,
the Africans, and all the auxiliaries were in the left wing. To these
likewise were assigned a band of light troops, slingers and archers,
who were ordered to make sallies, and to discharge their weapons
from the flanks. Oroondates himself was in the centre, splendidly
accoutred and mounted on a scythed chariot. [6] He was surrounded on
either side by a body of troops, and in front were the barbed cavalry,
his confidence in whom had principally induced him to hazard an
engagement. These are the most warlike in the Persian service, and are
always first opposed, like a firm wall, to the enemy. The following is
the description of their armour--A man, picked out for strength and
stature, puts on a helmet which fits his head and face exactly, like
a mask; covered completely down to the neck with this, except a small
opening left for the eyes, in his right hand he brandishes a long
spear--his left remains at liberty to guide the reins--a scimitar is
suspended at his side; and not his breast alone, but his whole body
also, is sheathed in mail, which is composed of a number of square
separate plates of brass or steel, a span in length, fitting over each
other at each of the four sides, and hooked or sewn together beneath,
the upper lapping over the under; the side of each over that next to
it in order. Thus the whole body is inclosed in an imbricated scaly
tunic, which fits it closely, yet by contraction and expansion allows
ample play for all the limbs. It is sleeved, and reaches from neck to
knee,[7] the only part left unarmed being under the cuishes, necessity
for the seat on horseback so requiring. The greave extends from the
feet to the knee, and is connected with the coat. This defence is
sufficient to turn aside all darts, and to resist the stroke of any
weapon. The horse is as well protected as his rider; greaves cover
his legs, and a frontal[8] confines his head. From his back to his
belly, on either side, hangs a sheet of the mail, which I have been
describing, which guards his body, while its looseness does not impede
his motions.
Thus accoutred and as it were fitted[9] into his armour, this ponderous
soldier sits his horse, unable to mount himself on account of his
weight, but lifted on by another. When the time for charging arrives,
giving the reins, and setting spurs to his horse, he is carried
with all his force against the enemy, wearing the appearance of a
hammer-wrought statue, or of an iron man. His long and pointed spear
extends far before him, and is sustained by a rest at the horse's neck,
the butt being fixed in another at his croupe. Thus the spear does not
give way in the conflict, but assists the hand of the horseman, who has
merely to direct the weapon, which pressing onwards with mighty power
pierces every obstacle, sometimes transfixing and bearing off by its
impulse two men at once.
With such a force of cavalry and in such order, Oroondates marched
against the enemy, keeping the river still behind him, to prevent his
being surrounded by the Ethiopians, who far exceeded him in number.
Hydaspes, on the other hand, advanced to meet him. He opposed, to
the Medes and Persians in the right wing, his forces from Meröe, who
were well accoutred, and accustomed to close fighting. The swift and
light-armed Troglodites, who were good archers, and the inhabitants of
the cinnamon region,[10] he drew up to give employment to those posted
on the left. In opposition to the centre, boasting as they did of their
barbed cavalry, he placed himself, with the tower-bearing elephants,
the Blemmyæ, and the Seres, giving them instructions what they were to
do when they came to engage. Both armies now approached near, and gave
the signal for battle; the Persians with trumpets, the Ethiopians with
drums and gongs. Oroondates, cheering on his men, charged with his body
of horse. Hydaspes ordered his troops to advance very slowly, that they
might not leave their elephants, and that the enemy's cavalry, having
a longer course to take, might become exhausted before the conflict.
When the Blemmyæ saw them within reach of a spear's cast, the horsemen
urging on their horses for the charge, they proceeded to execute their
monarch's instructions.
Leaving the Seres to guard the elephants, they sprang out of the ranks,
and advanced swiftly towards the enemy. The Persians thought they had
lost their senses, seeing a few foot presume to oppose themselves to so
numerous and so formidable a body of horse. These latter galloped on
all the faster, glad to take advantage of their rashness, and confident
that they should sweep them away at the first onset. But the Blemmyæ,
when now the phalanx had almost reached them, and they were all but
touched by their spears, on a sudden, at a signal, threw themselves on
one knee, and thrust their heads and backs under the horses, running no
danger by this attempt, but that of being trampled on: this manœuvre
was quite unexpected, many of the horses they wounded in the belly
as they passed, so that they no longer obeyed the bridle, but became
furious, and threw their riders; whom, as they lay like logs, the
Blemmyæ pierced in the only vulnerable part, the Persian cuirassier
being incapable of moving without help.
Those whose horses were not wounded proceeded to charge the Seres, who
at their approach retired behind the elephants, as behind a wall or
bulwark. Here an almost total slaughter of the cavalry took place. For
the horses of the Persians, as soon as the sudden retreat of the Seres
had discovered these enormous beasts, astonished at their unusual and
formidable appearance, either turned short round and galloped off,
or fell back upon the rest, so that the whole body was thrown into
confusion. They who were stationed in the towers upon the elephants
(six in number, two on either side, except towards the beast's hind
quarters), discharged their arrows as from a bulwark, so continuously
and with such true aim, that they appeared to the Persians like a cloud.
Fighting upon unequal terms against mailed warriors, and depending
upon their skill in archery, so unfailing was their aim at the sight
holes[11] of the enemy, that you might see many galloping in confusion
through the throng, with arrows projecting from their eyes.
Some, carried away by the unruliness of their horses to the elephants,
were either trampled under foot or attacked by the Seres and the
Blemmyæ, who rushing out as from an ambush, wounded some, and pulled
others from their horses, in the melée. They who escaped unhurt
retreated in disorder, not having done the smallest injury to the
elephants: for these beasts are armed with mail when led out to battle,
and have, besides, a natural defence in a hard and rugged skin, which
will resist and turn the point of any spear.
Oroondates, when he saw the remainder routed, set the example of a
shameful flight; and descending from his chariot, and mounting a
Nysæan horse,[12] galloped from the field. The Egyptians and Africans
in the left wing were ignorant of this, and continued still bravely
fighting, receiving, however, more injury than they inflicted, which
they bore with great fortitude and perseverance; for the inhabitants of
the cinnamon region, who were opposed to them, pressed and confounded
them by the irregularity and activity of their attacks, flying as the
Egyptians advanced, and discharging their arrows[13] backward as they
fled. When the Africans retreated, they attacked them, galling them
on all the flanks, either with slings or little poisoned[14] arrows.
These they fixed around their turbans, the feathers next their heads,
the points radiating outwards; and drawing them thence as from a
quiver, they, after taking a sudden spring forward, shot them against
the enemy, their own bodies being naked, and their only clothing
this crown of arrows. These arrows require no iron point; they take
a serpent's back bone, about a foot and a half in length, and after
straightening it, sharpen the end into a natural point, which may
perhaps account for the origin of the word arrow. [15]
The Egyptians resisted a long time, defending themselves from the
darts by interlocking shields--being naturally patient, and bravely
prodigal of their lives, not merely for pay but glory; perhaps, too,
dreading the punishment of runaways. But when they heard that the
barbed cavalry, the strength and right hand[16] of their army, was
defeated--that the viceroy had left the field, and that the Medes and
Persians, the flower of their foot, having done little against, and
suffered much from, those to whom they were opposed, had followed his
example, they likewise, at last, gave up the contest, turned about,
and retreated. Hydaspes, from an elephant's back, as from a watch
tower, was spectator of his victory; which when he saw decided, he sent
messengers after the pursuers, to stop the slaughter, and to order them
to take as many prisoners as they could, and particularly, were it
possible, Oroondates.
Success crowned his wishes, for the Ethiopians extending their numerous
lines to a great length on each side, and curving the extremities till
they surrounded the Persians, left them no way to escape but to the
river. Thus the stratagem which Oroondates had devised against the
enemy they found turned against themselves, multitudes being forced
into the river by the horses and scythed chariots, and the confusion
of the crowd. The viceroy had never reflected, that by having the
river in his rear he was cutting off his own means of escape. He was
taken prisoner with Achæmenes the son of Cybele. This latter informed
of what had happened at Memphis, and dreading the resentment of
Oroondates, for having made an accusation against Arsace which he was
not able to prove, (the witnesses who would have enabled him to do so
being removed,) endeavoured to slay his master in the tumult. He did
not, however, give him a mortal wound, and the attempt was instantly
revenged, for he was transfixed with an arrow by an Ethiopian, who
watched, as he had been commanded, over the safety of the viceroy; and
who saw, with indignation, the treacherous attempt of one, who, having
escaped the enemy, took the opportunity presented by fortune, to wreak
his revenge against his commander.
Oroondates was brought before Hydaspes, faint and bleeding; but
his wound was soon staunched by the remedies applied, the king
being resolved, if possible, to save him, and himself giving him
encouragement.
"Friend," said he, "I grant your life. I hold it honourable to overcome
my enemies by my arms while they resist; and by my good offices when
they are fallen: but why have you shewn such perfidy towards me? "
"Towards you, I own," replied the Persian, "I have been perfidious; but
to my master I have been faithful. "--"As vanquished, then," replied
Hydaspes, "what punishment, think you, that you deserve? "--"The
same," returned the other, "which my master would inflict upon one of
your captains who had fallen into his power, after having proved his
fidelity to you. "--"If your master," replied the Ethiopian, "were truly
royal, and not a tyrant, he would praise and reward him; and excite the
emulation of his own people, by commending the good qualities of an
enemy: but it seems to me, good sir, that you praise your fidelity at
the expence of your prudence, after having adventured yourself against
so many myriads of my troops. "--"Perhaps," replied Oroondates, "in
regard to myself, I have not been so imprudent as may at first appear.
I knew the disposition of my sovereign--to punish cowards, rather than
to reward the brave. I determined therefore to hazard every thing,
and trust to Fortune, who sometimes affords unexpected and improbable
successes in war. If I failed and escaped with life, I should at least
have it to say, that nothing in my power had been left untried. "
Hydaspes, after listening to his words, praised him, sent him to Syene,
ordered his physicians to attend him, and all possible care to be taken
of him. He himself soon after made his public entry into the city, with
the flower of his army. The inhabitants of all ranks and ages went out
in procession to meet him, strewed crowns and flowers[17] of the Nile,
in his path, greeting him with songs of victory.
He entered the city on an elephant, as on a triumphal chariot, and
immediately turned his thoughts to holy matters and thanksgivings
to the gods. He made inquiries concerning everything worthy of his
curiosity, particularly about the origin of the feasts of the Nile.
They shewed him a tank which served as a nilometer, like that which
is at Memphis, lined with polished stone, and marked with degrees at
the interval of every cubit. The water flows into it under ground, and
the height to which it rises in the tank, shews the general excess, or
deficiency, of the inundation, according as the degrees are covered or
left bare. They shewed him dials, which, at a certain season of the
year, cast no shade at noon; for, at the summer solstice, the sun is
vertical at Syene, and darts its rays perpendicularly down, so that the
water,[18] at the bottom of the deepest wells, is light.
This, however, raised no great astonishment in Hydaspes; for the
same phenomenon happens at the Ethiopian Meröe. The people of Syene
loudly praised their festival and extolled the Nile, calling it Horus
(the year), the fertilizer of their plains--the preserver of Upper
Egypt--the father, and, in a manner, the creator of the Lower--as it
brings annually new soil into it, and is from thence, possibly, called
Nile,[19] by the Greeks.
It points out, they said, the annual vicissitudes of time--summer by
the increase, and autumn by the retiring of its waters--spring by
the flowers which grow on it, and by the breeding of the crocodiles.
The Nile then, is, they say, nothing else but the year, its very
appellation confirming this, since the numeral letters which compose
its name, amount to 365 units, the number of days which make up the
year. [20] They extolled also its peculiar plants and flowers, and
animals, and added a thousand other encomiums. "All these praises,"
said Hydaspes, "belong more to Ethiopia, than to Egypt. If you esteem
this river as the father of waters, and exalt it to the rank of a
deity, Ethiopia ought surely to be worshipped, which is the mother of
your god? "
"We do worship it," replied the priests, "both on many other accounts,
and because it has sent you to us, as a preserver and a god. " After
recommending them to be less lavish in their praises, he retired to
a tent which had been prepared for him, and devoted the rest of the
day to ease and refreshment. He entertained, at his own table, his
principal officers, and the priests of Syene, and encouraged all ranks
to make merry. The inhabitants of Syene furnished herds of oxen, flocks
of sheep, goats and swine, together with store of wine, partly by way
of gift, partly for sale. The next day he mounted a lofty seat; and,
ordering the spoil to be brought out, which had been collected in the
city, and on the field of battle, distributed it amongst his army, in
such proportions as he thought their merit deserved. When the soldier
appeared who took Oroondates, "Ask what you please," said the king. --"I
have no occasion to ask anything," he replied. "If you will allow me
to keep what I have already taken from the Viceroy, I am sufficiently
rewarded for having made him prisoner, and preserved him alive,
according to your commands. " And with this he shewed a sword belt, a
scimitar richly jewelled of great value, and worth many talents; so
that many cried out, it was a gift too precious for a private man, a
treasure worthy of a monarch's acceptance. Hydaspes smilingly replied--
"What can be more kingly than that my magnanimity should be superior
to this man's avarice? Besides, the captor has a right to the personal
spoils of his prisoner. Let him then, receive as a gift from me, what
he might easily have taken to himself, without my knowledge. "
Presently those who had taken Theagenes and Chariclea appeared. "Our
spoil, Ο king! " said they, "is not gold and jewels, things of little
estimation among the Ethiopians, and which lie in heaps in the royal
treasures; but we bring you a youth and a maiden, a Grecian pair,
excelling all mortals in grace and beauty, except yourself, and we
expect from your liberality a proportionate reward. "--"You recall them
seasonably to my memory," replied Hydaspes. "When I first saw them, in
the hurry and confusion in which I was engaged, I took but a cursory
view of them. Let some one bring them now before me, together with the
rest of the captives. "
An officer was immediately despatched for them to the place of their
confinement, which was among the baggage, at some distance from the
town. They inquired, in their way to the city, of one of their guards,
whither they were being conducted. They were told that the king
Hydaspes desired to see the prisoners. On hearing the name, they cried
out together, with one voice--"Ο ye gods! " fearing till that hour lest
some other might be the reigning king; and Theagenes said softly to
Chariclea--"You will surely now discover to the king everything which
relates to us, since you have frequently told me that Hydaspes was your
father. "
"Important matters," replied Chariclea, "require great preparation.
Where the deity has caused intricate beginnings, there must needs be
intricate unravellings. Besides, a tale like ours is not to be told in
a moment; nor do I think it advisable to enter upon it in the absence
of my mother Persina, upon whose support, and testimony, the foundation
of our story, and the whole of our credit, must depend; and she, thanks
to the gods I hear, is yet alive. "
"What if we should be sacrificed," returned Theagenes; "or, presented
to some one as a gift, how shall we ever get into Ethiopia? "--"Nothing
is less likely," said Chariclea. "Our guards have told us that we are
to be reserved as victims, to be offered to the deities of Meröe.
There is no likelihood that we, who are solemnly devoted to the gods,
should be destroyed, or otherwise disposed of; such a vow no religious
mind would break. Were we to give way to the incautious joy with which
this sudden gleam of good fortune transports us, and discover our
condition, and relate our adventures, in the absence of those who
alone can acknowledge us, and confirm what we say, we run the greatest
risk of raising the indignation of the king; who would regard it as
a mockery and insult, that we, captives and slaves as we are, should
endeavour to pass ourselves off upon him, as his children. "
"But the tokens," said Theagenes, "which I know you always carry
about you, will give credit to our relation, and shew that we are not
impostors. "--"These things," replied Chariclea, "are real tokens to
those who know them, and who exposed them with me; but to those who
are ignorant of this, they are nothing but bracelets, and precious
stones; and may possibly induce a suspicion of our having stolen them.
Supposing even that Hydaspes should recollect any of these trinkets,
who shall persuade him that they were presented to me by Persina, and
still more, that they were the gifts of a mother to her daughter? The
most incontrovertible token, my dear Theagenes, is a mother's nature,
through which the parent at first sight feels affection towards her
offspring,--an affection stirred up by secret sympathy. Shall we
deprive ourselves, then, by our precipitation, of this most favourable
opening, upon which depends the credit of all we have to say? "
Discoursing in this manner, they arrived near the tribunal of the king.
Bagoas was led after them. When Hydaspes saw them, rising suddenly from
his throne--"May the gods be propitious to me! " he exclaimed, and sat
down again, lost in thought. They who were near him inquired the reason
of this sudden emotion. Recollecting himself, he said--"Methought that
I had a daughter born to me this day, who at once reached her prime,
and perfectly resembled this young maiden, whom I see before me. I
disregarded, and had almost forgotten my dream, when this remarkable
resemblance recalled it to my memory. "
His officers replied--"That it was some fancy of the mind bodying forth
future events;" upon which the king, laying aside for the present any
farther thought upon the subject, proceeded to examine his prisoners.
He asked them--"Who, and from whence, they were? " Chariclea was silent.
Theagenes replied, "That they were Grecians, and that the maiden was
his sister. "
"All honour to Greece," said Hydaspes--"the mother of brave and
beautiful mortals, for affording us such noble victims for the
celebration of our triumphal sacrifices. " And turning to his
attendants, he said--"Why had I not a son as well as a daughter born
to me in my dream, since this youth, being the maiden's brother, ought
according to your observation, to have been shadowed forth to me in my
vision? "
He then directed his discourse to Chariclea, speaking in Greek;
a language known and studied by the Gymnosophists, and kings of
Ethiopia--"And you, Ο maiden," said he, "why do you make no answer to
my questions? "--"At the altars of the gods," replied she, "to whom
we are destined as victims, you shall know who I am, and who are my
parents. "
"And what part of the world do they inhabit? " said the king. --"They
are present now," said she, "and will assuredly be present, when we
are sacrificed. " Again Hydaspes smiled. --"This dream-born daughter of
mine," he observed, "is certainly herself dreaming, when she imagines
that her parents are to be brought from the middle of Greece into
Meröe. Let them be taken away and served with the usual care and
abundance, to fit them for the sacrifices. But who is this standing
near, and in person like an eunuch? "[21]--"He is an eunuch," replied
one of the bystanders; "his name is Bagoas; he was in great favour with
Oroondates. "
"Let him too," said the king, "follow and be kept with the Grecian
pair; not as a future victim, but that he may attend upon, and watch
over the virgin victim, whom it is necessary to preserve in the utmost
purity for the sacrifice; and whose beauty is such, that her virtue,
unguarded, may be exposed to much danger and temptation. Eunuchs are
a jealous race; and fitly employed for debarring others from the
enjoyments of which they are themselves deprived. " He then proceeded to
examine and decide the fate of the remaining prisoners, who appeared in
order; distributing among his followers those who were slaves before;
dismissing with liberty those who were free and noble: but he selected
ten young men, and as many virgins, in the bloom of youth and beauty,
whom he ordered to be preserved for the same purpose to which he had
destined Theagenes and Chariclea. And having answered every complaint
and application, at last he sent for Oroondates, who was brought in
lying on a litter.
"I," said he to him, "now that I have obtained the object of my going
to war, feel not the common passion of ambitious minds. I am not going
to make my good fortune the minister of covetousness; my victory
creates in me no wish to extend my empire. I am content with the limits
which nature seems to have placed between Egypt and Ethiopia--the
cataracts. Having recovered then what I think my right, I revere what
is just and equitable, and shall return peacefully to my own dominions.
Do you, if your life be spared, remain viceroy of the same province as
before: and write to your master, the Persian king, to this effect,
'Thy brother Hydaspes has conquered by might of hand; but restores
all through moderation of mind; he wishes to preserve thy friendship,
esteeming it the most valuable of all possessions: at the same time,
if desirous of renewing the contest, thou wilt not find him backward. '
As to the Syenæans I remit their tribute for ten years; and command
thee to do the same. " Loud acclamations, both from the soldiers and
citizens, followed his last words.
Oroondates crossing his hands, and inclining his body, adored him; a
compliment not usual for a Persian to pay to any prince, except his
own. --"Ο ye who hear me," said he, "I do not think that I violate the
customs of my country, as to my own sovereign, in adoring the most just
of kings, who has restored to me my government; who instead of putting
me to death has granted me my life; who, able to act as a despotic
lord, permits me to remain a viceroy. Should I recover, I pledge myself
to promote a solid peace and lasting friendship between the Persians
and Ethiopians, and to procure for the Syenæans that remission of
tribute which has been enjoined; but should I not survive, may the gods
recompense Hydaspes, his family, and remotest descendants, for all the
benefits which he has conferred upon me! "
[Footnote 1: "πᾶν μοι φοβερὸν ὸ προσέρπον. "--Æsch. P. V. 127. ]
[Footnote 2: See note to vol. i. , p. 265, of Blakesley's Herodotus. ]
[Footnote 3: The brother and murderer of Osiris, whose death was
avenged by his son Horus. ]
[Footnote 4: Literally--"more clearly initiating them with the fiery
torch of realities. "--Tῇ πυρφόρῳ τῶν ὂντων λαμπάδι φaνότερoν τελoύντων. ]
[Footnote 5: Δεκαδάρχος. ]
[Footnote 6: The following passage in Ammianus Marcellinus illustrates
the account here given of the Καταφράκτοι ἳπποι--or barbed cavalry of
the Persians.
"Erant autem omnes catervæ ferratæ, ita per singula membra densis
laminis tectæ, ut juncturæ rigentes compagibus artuum convenirent:
humanorumque vultuum sumulacra ita capitibus diligenter aptata, ut
imbracteatis corporibus solidis, ibi tantum incidentia tela possint
hærere, quà per cavernas minutas et orbibus oculorum affixas, parcius
visitur, vel per supremitates narium angusti spiritus emittuntur.
Quorum pars contis dimicatura, stabat immobilis, ut retinaculis æreis
fixam existimares. "--Book xxv.
Thus, by an anticipation of 600 years, we have brought before us a
picture of the times, when,
"_Their limbs all iron_, and their souls all flame,
A countless host, the red-cross warriors came. "
]
[Footnote 7: Herod. B. vii. 61. thus speaks of these
tunics:--"Κιθῶινας-Ιωτοΰς χειριδoτoὺς ποικίλους λεπίδος σιδηρέης όψιν
ἰχθυoειδέος. "]
[Footnote 8: τὴν κεφαλὴν δι' ὃλου σφηκοῦντες--literally pinching in
like a wasp; the frontal fitting closely to the shape of the horse's
head and face. ]
[Footnote 9: oἷον ἐμβεβλημένος. ]
[Footnote 10: See Herod. B. iii. 111.
]
[Footnote 11: See the previous description of the Persian amour. ]
[Footnote 12: See note in Blakesley's Herod. vii. 40. ]
[Footnote 13: Like the Parthians--
". . . versis animosum equis
Parthum. "--Hor. I Od. xix 10.
]
[Footnote 14: Arrows somewhat resembling these are used by the wild
Bushmen of Africa for destroying the ostrich and other kinds of
game. "These insignificant looking arrows are about two feet six
inches in length; they consist of a slender reed, with a sharp bone
head, thoroughly poisoned with a composition of which the principal
ingredients are obtained, sometimes from a succulent herb, having thick
leaves, yielding a poisonous milky juice, and sometimes from the jaws
of snakes. "--Wood's Nat. Hist. ]
[Footnote 15: Όστέον, a bone; Όΐστός, an arrow. ]
[Footnote 16: χεῖρα. ]·
[Footnote 17: Ανθεσιν Νειλώοις. --The water lily of the Nile. ]
[Footnote 18: "At Syene there was, in later times a well, the bottom of
which, the sun was believed to illuminate at one time of the year, it
being supposed that Syene was under the Tropic. "--Blackesley's Herod. ,
vol. 1. p. 187. ]
[Footnote 19: Nἕιλος, from νέη ἰλύς, new soil. ]
[Footnote 20: ν = 50; ε = 5; ι: = 10; λ = 30; o = 70; σ = 200; total,
365. ]
[Footnote 21:
. . . "vetus, vietus, veternosus, senex
Colore mustellino. "--Terence.
]
BOOK X.
We have now said sufficient about Syene, which, from the brink of
danger, was at once restored to security and happiness, by one man's
clemency.
Hydaspes, having sent the greater part of his army forward, proceeded
in person towards Ethiopia, followed by the applauses and blessings
both of Persians and Syenæans. At first he marched along the Nile, or
the parts bordering upon that river; but when he reached the cataracts,
having sacrificed to the river, and to the gods of the boundaries, he
turned aside, and travelled through the inland country.
When he arrived at Philœ, he rested, and refreshed his army there for
two days; and then as before, sending part of it forward, together with
the captives, he stayed some little time behind them, to direct the
repair of the walls, and to place a garrison, and soon afterwards set
out himself. He dispatched an express consisting of two troopers, who
changing their horses at every station, and using all speed, were to
announce his victory at Meröe. [1]
He sent the following message to the wise men of his country, who are
called Gymnosophists, and who are the assessors and privy councillors
of the Ethiopian kings in affairs of moment.
"Hydaspes to the most holy Council.
"I acquaint you with my victory over the Persians. I do not boast of
my success, for I know and fear the mutability of fortune; but I would
greet your holy order, which I have always found wise and faithful. I
invite and command your attendance at the usual place, in order that
the thanksgiving sacrifices for victory, may, by your presence, be
rendered more august and solemn in the sight of the Ethiopian people. "
To his consort, Persina, he wrote as follows:--
"Know that I am returning a conqueror, and, what you will still
more rejoice at, unhurt. Make therefore preparations for the most
sumptuous processions and sacrifices, that we may give thanks to the
gods, for the blessings which they have bestowed. In accordance with
my letters, assist in summoning the Gymnosophists; and hasten to
attend, with them, in the consecrated field before the city, which is
dedicated to our country's gods--the Sun, the Moon, and Bacchus. "
When this letter was delivered to Persina--"I now see," said she,
"the interpretation of a dream which I had last night. Methought I
was pregnant, and in labour, and that I brought forth a daughter in
the full bloom of youth and beauty. I see, that by my throes, were
signified the travails of war; and by my daughter, this victory. "
"Go," continued she, "and fill the city with these joyful tidings. "
The expresses obeyed her commands; and mounting their horses, having
crowned their heads with the lotus of the Nile, and waving branches
of palm in their hands, rode through the principal parts of the city,
disclosing by their very appearance, the joyous news.
Meröe resounded with rejoicings; night and day the inhabitants,
in every family, and street, and tribe, made processions, offered
sacrifices, and suspended garlands in the temples; not more out of
gratitude for the victory, than for the safety of Hydaspes; whose
justice and clemency, mildness and affability, had made him beloved,
like a father, by his subjects. The queen, on her side, collected
together from all parts, quantities of sheep and oxen, of horses and
wild asses, of hippogriffs,[2] and all sorts of animals, and sent
them into the sacred field, partly to furnish a hecatomb of each, for
sacrifice, partly to provide from the remainder, an entertainment for
all the people.
She next visited the Gymnosophists, who inhabit the grove of Pan, and
exhorted them to obey the summons of their king, as also to gratify her
by adorning and sanctifying the solemnity with their presence. They,
entreating her to wait a few moments, while they consulted the gods, as
they are used to do on any new undertaking, entered their temple, and
after a short time returned, when Sisimithres, their president, thus
addressed her:--"Ο queen! we will attend you, the gods order us to do
so; but, at the same time, they signify to us, that this sacrifice
will be attended with much disturbance and tumult, which, however, will
have an agreeable and happy end. A limb of your body, or a member of
the state, seems to have been lost; which will be restored by fate. "
"Your presence," said Persina, "will avert every threatening presage,
and change it into good; I will take care to inform you when Hydaspes
arrives. "
"You will have no occasion to do that," replied Sisimithres: "he will
arrive to-morrow, and you will presently receive letters to that
effect. " His prediction was fulfilled. Persina, on her return to the
palace, found a messenger with letters from the king, announcing his
intended arrival for the following day.
The heralds dispersed the news through the city, and at the same time,
made proclamation, that the men alone should be suffered to go out
and meet him, but that the women should keep within their houses;
for, as the sacrifice was destined to be offered to the purest of all
deities--the Sun and Moon--the presence of females was forbidden, lest
the victims should acquire even an involuntary contamination.
The priestess of the Moon was the only woman suffered to attend
the ceremony, and she was Persina; for by the law and custom of
the country, the queens of Ethiopia are always priestesses of that
divinity, as the kings are of the Sun. Chariclea, also was to be
present at the ceremonial, not as a spectatress, but as a victim to the
Moon.
The eagerness and curiosity of the citizens was incredible. Before they
knew the appointed day, they poured in multitudes out of the city,
crossed the river Astabora, some over the bridge; some who dwelt at a
distance from it, in boats made of canes, many of which lay near the
banks, affording an expeditious means of passage.
These little skiffs are very swift, both on account of the materials of
which they are composed, and the slight burden which they carry, which
never exceeds two or three men: for one cane is split in two, and each
section forms a boat. [3]
Meröe, the metropolis of Ethiopia, is situated in a sort of triangular
island, formed by the confluence of three navigable rivers; the Nile,
the Astabora, and the Asasoba. The former flows towards it from above,
where it forms two branches; the others, flowing round it on either
side, unite their waters, and hasten to mingle their stream, and lose
their names, in the channel of the Nile.
This island, which is almost a continent, (being in length three
thousand furlongs, in width one thousand), abounds in animals of every
kind, and, among the rest, with elephants. It is especially fertile
in producing trees. The palm trees rise to an unusual height, bearing
dates of large size and delicious flavour. The stalks of wheat and
barley are so tall, as to cover and conceal a man when mounted on a
horse or camel, and they multiply their fruit three hundred fold. The
canes are of the size which I have before mentioned.
All the night were the inhabitants employed in crossing the river; they
met, received, and congratulated Hydaspes, extolling him as a god. They
had gone a considerable way to meet him. The Gymnosophists went only a
little beyond the sacred field, when, taking his hand, they kissed him.
Next appeared Persina at the vestibule, and within the precincts of the
temple.
After worshipping the gods, and returning thanks for his victory and
safety, they left the precincts, and prepared to attend the approaching
sacrifice, repairing for that purpose to a tent, which had been erected
for them on the plain. Four canes, newly cut down, were fixed in the
ground, one at each corner, serving as a pillar, supported the vaulted
roof, which was covered with the branches of palm and other trees. Near
this another tent was erected, raised considerably from the ground,
in which were placed the images of the gods of the country--Memnon,
Perseus, and Andromeda--whom the kings of Ethiopia boasted to be
the founders of their race: under these, on a lower story, having
their gods above them, sat the Gymnosophists. A large portion of the
ground was surrounded by the soldiers; who in close order, and with
their shields joined, kept off the multitude, and afforded a clear
space sufficient for the priests to perform their sacrifice, without
confusion or disturbance.
Hydaspes, after speaking briefly upon the victory which he had gained,
and the advantages obtained by it to the state, commanded the sacred
ministers to begin their rites.
Three lofty altars were erected, two in close proximity to the Sun and
Moon; a third, at some distance, to Bacchus: to him they sacrificed
animals of every kind, as being a common deity, gracious and bountiful
to all. To the Sun they offered four white horses, the swiftest of
animals to the swiftest of the gods;[4] to the Moon, a yoke of oxen,
consecrating to her, as being nearest the earth, their assistants in
agriculture.
While these things were transacting, a loud confused murmur began to
rise as among a promiscuous multitude; "Let our country's rites be
performed--let the appointed sacrifice be made--let the first-fruits of
war be offered to our gods. "
Hydaspes understood that it was a human victim whom they demanded,
which it was customary to offer from among the prisoners taken only in
a foreign war. Making a motion for silence, with his hand, he intimated
to them, by gestures, that they should soon have what they required,
and ordered those who had the charge of the captives to bring them
forward. They obeyed, and led them forth, guarded, but freed from their
chains.
The generality were, as may be imagined, dejected and sorrowful.
Theagenes, however, appeared much less so than the others; but the
countenance of Chariclea was cheerful and elate. She fixed her eyes
upon Persina with a fixed and steady glance, so as to cause in her
considerable emotion; she could not help sighing, as she said--"Ο
husband! what a maiden have you destined for sacrifice! I never
remember to have seen such beauty. How noble is her presence! with what
spirit and fortitude does she seem to meet her impending fate! How
worthy is she of compassion, owing to the flower of her age. If my only
and unfortunately lost daughter were living, she would be about the
same age. Ο that it were possible to save this maiden from destruction;
it would be a great satisfaction to me to have her in my service. She
is probably Grecian, for she has not at all the air of an Egyptian. "
"She is from Greece," replied Hydaspes: "who are her parents she will
presently declare; shew them she cannot, though such has been her
promise. To deliver her from sacrifice is impossible: were it in my
power, I should be very glad to do so; for I feel, I know not why,
great compassion and affection for her. But you are aware that the law
requires a male to be offered to the Sun, and a female to the Moon; and
she being the first captive presented to me, and having been allotted
for the sacrifice, the disappointment of the people's wishes would
admit of no excuse. One only chance can favour her escape, and that is,
if she should be found when she ascends the pile, not to have preserved
her chastity inviolate; for the law demands a pure victim to be offered
to the goddess as well as to the god--the condition of those offered on
the altar of Bacchus is indifferent. But should she be found unchaste,
reflect whether it would be proper that she should be received into
your family. "
"Let her," replied Persina, "be found unchaste, provided only
she be preserved. Captivity and war, absence from friends, and a
wandering life, furnish an excuse for guilt, particularly in her,
whose transcendent beauty must have exposed her to more than common
temptations. "
While she was weeping and striving to conceal her weakness from the
people, Hydaspes ordered the fire-altar[5] to be prepared, and brought
out. A number of young children, collected by the officials from among
the multitude, brought it from the temple (they alone being permitted
to touch it), and placed it in the midst. Each of the captives was then
ordered to ascend it. It was furnished with golden bars of such mystic
virtue, that whenever any unchaste or perjured person placed his foot
upon it, it burnt him immediately, and he was obliged to retire: the
pure, on the contrary, and the uncontaminated, could mount it uninjured.
The greatest part of the prisoners failed in the trial, and were
destined as victims to Bacchus, and the other gods--save two or three
Grecian maidens whose virginity was found intact. Theagenes at length
ascended it, and was found pure. It raised great admiration in the
assembly, that with his beauty, stature, and in the flower of youth, he
should be a stranger to the power of love--accordingly he was destined
as an offering to the Sun. He said softly to Chariclea--"Is death then,
and sacrifice, the reward which the Ethiopians bestow upon purity and
integrity? But why, my dearest life, do you not discover yourself? How
long will you delay? Until the sacrificer's knife is at your throat?
Speak, I beseech you, and disclose your condition. Perhaps when you
are known, your intercession may preserve me; but if that should
not happen, you will be safe, and then I shall die with comfort and
satisfaction. "
"Our trial," said Chariclea, "now approaches--our fate trembles in the
balance. "[6]--So saying, and without awaiting any command, she drew
from out of a scrip which she had with her, and put on, her sacred
Delphic robe, interwoven and glittering with rays of light. She let her
hair fall dishevelled upon her shoulders, and as under the influence
of inspiration, leaped upon the altar, and remained there a long time,
unhurt.
Dazzling every beholder with more than ever resplendent beauty; visible
to all from this elevated place, and with her peculiar dress, she
resembled an image of the goddess, more than a mere mortal maiden. An
inarticulate murmur of applause ran through the multitude, expressive
of their surprise and admiration, that with charms so superhuman,
she should have preserved her honour, enhancing her beauty by her
chastity. [7] Yet they were almost sorry that she was found a pure
and fitting victim for the goddess. Notwithstanding their religious
reverence they would have been glad could she by any means escape. But
Persina felt more for her than all the rest. She could not help saying
to Hydaspes--"How miserable and ill-fated is this poor maiden! To no
purpose giving token of her purity! Receiving for her many virtues only
an untimely death! Can nothing be done to save her? "
"Nothing, I fear," replied the king: "your wishes and pity are
unavailable. It seems that the gods have from the beginning selected
by reason of her very excellence this perfect victim for themselves. "
And then directing his discourse to the Gymnosophists: "Sages,"
said he, "since every thing is ready, why do you not begin the
sacrifice? "--"Far be it from us," said Sisimithres (speaking in
Greek, that the multitude might not understand him) "to assist at such
rites; our eyes and ears have already been sufficiently wounded by the
preparations. We will retire into the temple, abhorring ourselves the
detestable offering of a human victim, and believing too that the gods
do not approve it. Would that the sacrifices even of brute animals
might cease; those consisting of prayers and incense being, to our
mind, sufficient. [8] Do you, however, remain; for the presence of a
ruler is sometimes necessary to stay the turbulence of the multitude.
Go on with this unhallowed sacrifice, since the inveterate custom
of the people has made it unavoidable; remembering that when it is
performed, yourself will stand in need of expiation, though perhaps,
you will not need it, for I think this rite will never be brought to
consummation. I judge from various divine tokens, and particularly
from a kind of glory shed around these strangers, signifying that they
are under the peculiar protection of the gods;"--having said this, he
arose, and was about to retire with his brethren.
At this instant Chariclea leapt down from the altar; rushed towards
Sisimithres, and fell at his feet. The officials would have hindered
her, supposing that she was deprecating death, but she exclaimed "Stay,
Sages, I beseech you! I have a cause to plead before the king and
queen; you are the only judges, in such a presence; you must decide in
this, the trial for my life. You will find that it is neither possible
nor just that I should be sacrificed to the gods. " They listened to
her readily, and addressing the king, said,--"Do you hear, Ο king, the
challenge and averment of this foreign maiden. "
Hydaspes smiling, replied, "What controversy can she have with me?
From what pretext, or from what right, can it arise? "--"That, her
own relation will discover," said Sisimithres. --"But will it not be
an indignity, rather than an act of justice," rejoined the monarch,
"for a king to enter into a judicial dispute with a slave? "--"Equity
regards not lofty rank," said the sage. "He is king in judgment
who prevails by strength of arguments. "--"But," returned Hydaspes,
"your office gives you a right of deciding only when a controversy
arises between the king and his own subjects, not between him and
foreigners. "--"Justice," said Sisimithres, "is weighed among the wise,
not by mere appearances, but by facts. "--"It is clear that she can have
nothing serious to advance," said the king, "but some mere idle pretext
to delay her fate, as is the case with those who are in fear of their
lives. Let her, however, speak, since Sisimithres would have it so. "
Chariclea, who had always been sanguine, in expecting her deliverance,
was now inspired with additional confidence when she heard the name of
Sisimithres. He was the person to whose care she had been committed
ten years before, and who delivered her to Charicles at Catadupa, when
he was sent ambassador to Oroondates in the matter of the emerald
mines--he was then one of the ordinary Gymnosophists: but now, he
was their president. Chariclea did not call to mind his face (having
been parted from him when only seven years' old), but recollected and
rejoiced at hearing his name, trusting that she should find in him a
support and an advocate. Stretching out then her hands towards heaven,
and speaking audibly,--"O Sun! " she exclaimed, "author of my family;
and you, ye gods and heroes who adorn my race! I call you to witness
the truth of what I say. Be you my supporters and assistants in the
trial which I am about to undergo--my cause is just, and thus I enter
upon it:--Does the law, Ο king, command you to sacrifice natives or
foreigners? "
"Foreigners only," replied Hydaspes. --"You must then seek another
victim," said she, "for you will find me a native. " The king seemed
surprised, declaring it to be a figment. "Do you wonder at this? " said
she; "you will hear much stranger things. I am not only a native, but
closely allied to the royal family. " This assertion was received with
contempt, as so much idle speech: when she added--"Cease, my father, to
despise and reject your daughter! "
By this time the king began to appear not only contemptuous, but
indignant, taking the matter as a personal insult to himself. He said,
therefore, to Sisimithres,--"Behold the reward of my endurance! Is
not the maiden downright mad! Endeavouring with wild and incredible
fictions to escape the fate awaiting her! desperately feigning herself
to be my daughter, as in some sudden appearance and discovery upon
the stage--mine, who was never so fortunate as to have any offspring.
Once, indeed, I heard of a daughter's birth, only, however, to learn
her death. Let then some one lead her away, that the sacrifice may be
no longer deferred. "--"No one shall lead me away," cried out Chariclea,
"till the judges have given sentence. You are in this affair a party,
not a judge; the law perhaps permits you to sacrifice foreigners, but
to sacrifice your children, neither law nor nature allows; and the
gods shall this day declare you to be my father, however unwilling
you appear to own me. Every cause, Ο king, which comes for judgment,
leans principally upon two kinds of proof, written evidence, and that
of living witnesses: both these will I bring forward to prove myself
your child. I shall appeal to no common witness, but to my judge
himself (the consciousness of the judge is the prisoner's best ground
of confidence); as to my written evidence it shall be a history of my
own and your misfortunes. " So saying, she loosened from her waist the
fillet[9] which had been exposed with her, unrolled, and presented it
to Persina. She, as soon as it met her sight, appeared struck dumb with
astonishment; she continued a considerable time casting her eyes first
on the writing, then again on the maiden. A cold sweat bedewed her
limbs, and convulsive tremblings shook her frame.
Her first emotions were those of joy and hope; but anxiety and doubt
succeeded. Dread of the suspicions of Hydaspes followed; of his
incredulity, and perhaps of his anger and vengeance.
The king observing her agitation and astonishment, said to her,
"Persina! what is it which ails you? from what cause has this writing
such effect upon you? "--"My king, my lord, and my husband! " she
replied, "I know not what to answer you: take and read it yourself:
let this fillet explain everything. " She gave it him, and remained
trembling, in anxious silence.
He took the fillet, and began to read it, calling to the Gymnosophists
to read it with him. As he proceeded, he was struck with doubt
and amazement; but Sisimithres was still more astonished: his
ever-changing colour betrayed the various emotions of his mind: he
fixed his eyes now on the fillet, and now on Chariclea.
At length Hydaspes, when he came to the account of the exposing of the
infant, and the cause of it, broke silence, and said, "I know that I
had once a daughter born to me, having been told that it died almost as
soon as it was born. This writing now informs me that it was exposed:
but who took it up, who preserved, who educated it? who brought it into
Egypt? Was that person, whoever he were, taken captive at the same
time with her? How shall I be satisfied that this is the real child
that was exposed? May she not have perished? May not these tokens have
fallen into the hands of some one, who takes advantage of this chance?
