- Source
- Polybius. Vols. 1-4. Büttner-Wobst, Theodor, editor. Leipzig: Teubner, 1893.
- Translation
- AI-generated (gemini-3.5-flash) — machine translation; may contain errors
- Languages
- 日本語 · English · 简体中文 · 한국어
- CTS URN
- urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0543.tlg001.humanitext-grc2:12.18.1-12.18.12
- Generated
- Humanitext Reader · reader.humanitext.ai · 2026-11-07
Polybius points out the inconsistencies in Callisthenes' description of Darius' battle array at the Battle of Issus. He mathematically and tactically demonstrates the impossibility of deploying so many cavalry and mercenaries in a narrow space, and criticizes the description of the battle for ignoring the presence of the river.
πῶς δὲ προέταξε τούτους πρὸ τῆς φάλαγγος, τοῦ ποταμοῦ ῥέοντος παρʼ αὐτὴν τὴν στρατοπεδείαν, δυσχερὲς κατανοῆσαι, καὶ ταῦτα τῷ πλήθει τοσούτων ὑπαρχόντων.1
But how he stationed these in front of the phalanx, when the river was flowing right by the camp itself, is difficult to understand, especially since they were so great in number.
τρισμύριοι μὲν γὰρ ἱππεῖς ὑπῆρχον, ὡς αὐτὸς ὁ Καλλισθένης φησί, τρισμύριοι δὲ μισθοφόροι· πόσου δʼ εἶχον οὗτοι τόπου χρείαν, εὐχερὲς καταμαθεῖν.
For there were thirty thousand cavalry, as Callisthenes himself says, and thirty thousand mercenaries; and how much space these required is easy to perceive.
πλεῖστον μὲν γὰρ ἱππέων τάττεται βάθος ἐπʼ ὀκτὼ πρὸς ἀληθινὴν χρείαν, καὶ μεταξὺ τῶν ἰλῶν ἑκάστης ἴσον ὑπάρχειν δεῖ διάστημα τοῖς μετώποις πρὸς τὸ ταῖς ἐπιστροφαῖς δύνασθαι καὶ τοῖς περισπασμοῖς εὐχρηστεῖν.
For the greatest depth in which cavalry is drawn up for actual service is eight deep, and between each squadron there must be a distance equal to the front of the squadron, in order that they may be able to wheel and turn without confusion.
ἐξ ὧν τὸ στάδιον ὀκτακοσίους λαμβάνει, τὰ δὲ δέκα τοὺς ὀκτακισχιλίους, τὰ δὲ τέτταρα τρισχιλίους διακοσίους, ὥστʼ ἀπὸ τῶν μυρίων χιλίων διακοσίων πεπληρῶσθαι τὸν τῶν τετταρεσκαίδεκα σταδίων τόπον.2
Consequently, one stade holds eight hundred, ten stades hold eight thousand, and four stades hold three thousand two hundred, so that the space of fourteen stades is filled by eleven thousand two hundred men.
ἐὰν δὲ πάντας ἐκτάττῃ τοὺς τρισμυρίους, βραχὺ λείπει τοῦ τριφαλαγγίαν ἐπάλληλον εἶναι3 τῶν ἱππέων αὐτῶν.
And if he draws up all thirty thousand, they fall but little short of being a triple phalanx of cavalry, one behind the other.
εἰς ποῖον οὖν τόπον ἐτάττετο τὸ τῶν μισθοφόρων πλῆθος; εἰ μὴ νὴ Δία κατόπιν τῶν ἱππέων.4 ἀλλʼ οὔ φησιν, ἀλλὰ συμπεπτωκέναι τούτους τοῖς Μακεδόσι κατὰ τὴν ἐπαγωγήν.
In what place, then, was the multitude of mercenaries stationed? Unless, by Zeus, it was behind the cavalry. But he does not say so; rather, he says that they collided with the Macedonians during the charge.
ἐξ ὧν ἀνάγκη ποιεῖσθαι τὴν ἐκδοχὴν διότι τὸ μὲν ἥμισυ τοῦ τόπου τὸ παρὰ θάλατταν ἡ τῶν ἱππέων ἐπεῖχε τάξις, τὸ δʼ ἥμισυ τὸ πρὸς τοῖς ὄρεσιν ἡ τῶν μισθοφόρων.
From which we must of necessity accept the interpretation that the cavalry division occupied the half of the place near the sea, and that of the mercenaries the half near the mountains.
ἐκ δὲ τούτων εὐσυλλόγιστον πόσον ὑπῆρχε τὸ βάθος τῶν ἱππέων καὶ ποῖον ἔδει τόπον ἀπέχειν τὸν ποταμὸν ἀπὸ τῆς στρατοπεδείας.
And from this it is easy to calculate how great the depth of the cavalry was, and at what distance the river must have been from the camp.
μετὰ δὲ ταῦτα συνεγγιζόντων τῶν πολεμίων φησὶ τὸν Δαρεῖον αὐτόν, κατὰ μέσην ὑπάρχοντα τὴν τάξιν, καλεῖν τοὺς μισθοφόρους ἀπὸ τοῦ κέρατος πρὸς αὑτόν.
After this, as the enemy was approaching, he says that Darius himself, who was in the center of the line, called the mercenaries to him from the wing.
πῶς δὲ λέγεται τοῦτο, διαπορεῖν ἔστι· τῶν γὰρ μισθοφόρων ἀνάγκη καὶ τῶν ἱππέων τὴν συναφὴν κατὰ μέσον ὑπάρχειν τὸν τόπον,5 ὥστʼ ἐν αὐτοῖς ὢν τοῖς μισθοφόροις ὁ Δαρεῖος ποῦ καὶ πρὸς τί καὶ πῶς ἐκάλει τοὺς μισθοφόρους;
But how this can be said, one may well wonder; for the junction of the mercenaries and the cavalry must have been in the middle of the place, so that Darius, being among the mercenaries themselves, where, for what purpose, and how did he call the mercenaries?
τὸ δὲ τελευταῖόν φησι τοὺς ἀπὸ τοῦ δεξιοῦ κέρατος ἱππεῖς ἐπαγαγόντας ἐμβαλεῖν τοῖς περὶ τὸν Ἀλέξανδρον, τοὺς δὲ γενναίως δεξαμένους ἀντεπάγειν καὶ ποιεῖν μάχην ἰσχυράν.
And finally, he says that the cavalry from the right wing charged and fell upon Alexander’s men, who, receiving them bravely, charged in turn and fought a fierce battle.
ὅτι δὲ ποταμὸς ἦν ἐν μέσῳ, καὶ ποταμὸς οἷον ἀρτίως εἶπεν, ἐπελάθετο.
But he forgot that there was a river in the middle, and a river such as he had just described.
- 12.18.1καὶ ταῦτα τῷ πλήθει τοσούτων ὑπαρχόντων
The construction with καὶ ταῦτα ("especially," "and that too"). τῷ πλήθει is a dative of respect ("in number"), and ὑπαρχόντων is a genitive absolute with τοσούτων as its subject ("since so many were present"). This emphasizes the physical difficulty of deploying such a large force in front of the phalanx.
- 12.18.4ὥστʼ ἀπὸ τῶν μυρίων χιλίων διακοσίων πεπληρῶσθαι τὸν τῶν τετταρεσκαίδεκα σταδίων τόπον
A consecutive clause introduced by ὥστε. The preposition ἀπό indicates the source or material ("by means of," "with a number of"), meaning that 11,200 cavalrymen alone would completely fill the entire space of fourteen stades.
- 12.18.5βραχὺ λείπει τοῦ τριφαλαγγίαν ἐπάλληλον εἶναι
The impersonal construction βραχὺ λείπει followed by the genitive infinitive clause τοῦ ... εἶναι. Literally "it lacks little from being...", meaning "it is within a little of being..." or "it almost forms a triple phalanx."
- 12.18.6εἰ μὴ νὴ Δία κατόπιν τῶν ἱππέων
An ironical assumption countering a potential objection. The particle of oath νὴ Δία ("by Zeus!") is inserted into εἰ μή ("unless indeed"), presenting an impossible deployment (stationing thirty thousand mercenaries behind thirty thousand cavalry) with sharp irony.
- 12.18.10τῶν γὰρ μισθοφόρων ἀνάγκη καὶ τῶν ἱππέων τὴν συναφὴν κατὰ μέσον ὑπάρχειν τὸν τόπον
A sentence of critical deduction. The noun ἀνάγκη ("it is necessary/inevitable") takes the accusative phrase τὴν συναφήν ("the junction") as the subject of the infinitive ὑπάρχειν, modified by the two genitives τῶν μισθοφόρων and τῶν ἱππέων. It shows the physical logic that the boundary between the two forces must lie in the center of the space.