§17.110.1ἐπʼ ἄρχοντος δʼ Ἀθήνησιν Ἀντικλέους Ῥωμαῖοι κατέστησαν ὑπάτους Λεύκιον Κορνήλιον καὶ Κόιντον Ποπίλλιον.
When Anticles was archon in Athens, the Romans established Lucius Cornelius and Quintus Popillius as consuls.
ἐπὶ δὲ τούτων Ἀλέξανδρος εἰς τὸν τῶν ἀπολελυμένων ἀριθμὸν ἀνεπλήρωσεν ἐκ τῶν Περσῶν καὶ χιλίους αὐτῶν εἰς τοὺς περὶ τὴν αὐλὴν ἔταξεν ὑπασπιστὰς καὶ τὸ σύνολον οὐχ ἥττους εἰς πίστιν τῶν Μακεδόνων ὑπέλαβεν.
In their term, Alexander replenished the number of those who had been discharged with Persians, and appointed one thousand of them as shield-bearers around the court, and in general deemed them no less loyal than the Macedonians.
§17.110.2ἧκεν δὲ κατὰ τοῦτον τὸν καιρὸν καὶ Πευκέστης ἄγων Πέρσας τοξότας καὶ σφενδονήτας δισμυρίους· καταμίξας δὲ τούτους τοῖς προϋπάρχουσι στρατιώταις τῇ καινότητι τῆς καινοτομίας κατεσκεύασε τὴν ὅλην δύναμιν κεκραμένην καὶ ἁρμόζουσαν τῇ ἰδίᾳ προαιρέσει.
At this time Peucestes also arrived, leading twenty thousand Persian archers and slingers; and by mixing these with the pre-existing soldiers, he fashioned the entire force, through the novelty of this innovation, into one blended and adapted to his own purpose.
§17.110.3τῶν δὲ Μακεδόνων ἐκ τῶν αἰχμαλωτίδων γεγεννηκότων υἱοὺς τὸν ἀριθμὸν τῶν παίδων ἀκριβῶς ἐσκέψατο, ὄντων δʼ αὐτῶν σχεδὸν μυρίων ἅπασι τὰς ἁρμοζούσας πρὸς τροφὴν ἐλευθέριον συντάξεις ἀπομερίσας τούτοις μὲν παιδευτὰς ἐπέστησε τοὺς διδάξοντας τὴν ἁρμόζουσαν παιδείαν, αὐτὸς δὲ ἀναλαβὼν τὴν δύναμιν προῆγεν ἐκ τῶν Σούσων καὶ διαβὰς τὸν Τίγριν ἐν ταῖς Κάραις καλουμέναις κώμαις κατεστρατοπέδευσεν.
And since the Macedonians had begotten sons by their captive women, he accurately investigated the number of the children; and as they were nearly ten thousand, he allotted to all of them appropriate allowances for a liberal upbringing, and appointed teachers over them to instruct them in the fitting education.
§17.110.4ἑξῆς δʼ ἐν ἡμέραις τέτταρσι τὴν Σιττακινὴν διανύσας ἧκεν εἰς τὰ καλούμενα Σάμβανα.
He himself, taking up his army, advanced from Susa, and having crossed the Tigris, encamped in the villages called Carae.
ἐνταῦθα δὲ μείνας ἡμέρας ἑπτὰ καὶ προσαναλαβὼν τὴν δύναμιν τριταῖος εἰς τοὺς Κέλωνας προσαγορευομένους ἧκεν, ἐν ᾧ μέχρι νῦν διαμένει γένος Βοιώτιον, κατὰ μὲν τὴν Ξέρξου στρατείαν ἀνάστατον γεγονός, μεμνημένον δʼ ἔτι τῶν πατρίων νόμων·
Next, having traversed Sittacene in four days, he came to the place called Sambana.
§17.110.5ὄντες γὰρ οὗτοι δίφωνοι τῇ μὲν ἑτέρᾳ διαλέκτῳ ἐξωμοιώθησαν τοῖς ἐγχωρίοις, τῇ δʼ ἑτέρᾳ πλείστας τῶν Ἑλληνικῶν λέξεων διετήρουν καὶ τῶν ἐπιτηδευμάτων ἔνια διεφύλαττον.
Remaining there for seven days and resting his army, on the third day he arrived at the people called Celonae, where even until now a Boeotian race remains, which had been uprooted during the expedition of Xerxes, but still remembered their ancestral laws.
τέλος δὲ προσμείνας ἡμέρας ἀνέζευξε καὶ παρεγκλίνας τὴν ὑποκειμένην ὁδὸν θέας ἕνεκεν ἦλθεν εἰς τὴν ὀνομαζομένην Βαγιστάνην, θεοπρεπεστάτην τε χώραν οὖσαν καὶ πλήρη καρπίμων δένδρων καὶ τῶν ἄλλων ἁπάντων τῶν πρὸς ἀπόλαυσιν ἀνηκόντων.
For being bilingual, in one of their languages they had become like the locals, but in the other they preserved most of their Greek words and kept safe some of their customs.
§17.110.6μετὰ δὲ ταῦτα παρελθὼν εἴς τινα χώραν δυναμένην ἐκτρέφειν ἀγέλας παμπληθεῖς ἵππων, ἐν ᾗ τὸ παλαιὸν ἔφασαν ἑκκαίδεκα μυριάδας ἵππων γεγονέναι φορβάδων, κατὰ δὲ τὴν Ἀλεξάνδρου παρουσίαν ἓξ μόναι μυριάδες ἠριθμήθησαν, ἐνταῦθα διαμείνας ἡμέρας τριάκοντα ἑβδομαῖος διήνυσεν εἰς Ἐκβάτανα τῆς Μηδείας.
Finally, having stayed for a few days, he broke camp, and turning aside from the direct road for the sake of sightseeing, he came to the place named Bagistane, which was a land most fit for a god, full of fruit-bearing trees and all other things tending to enjoyment.
§17.110.7ταύτης δέ φασι διακοσίων μὲν καὶ πεντήκοντα σταδίων τὴν περίμετρον ὑπάρχειν, βασίλεια δʼ ἔχειν τῆς ὅλης Μηδείας καὶ θησαυροὺς πολλῶν χρημάτων.
After this, he passed into a region capable of nurturing immense herds of horses, where in ancient times they said there had been sixteen hundred thousand brood-mares, but at the time of Alexander's presence only sixty thousand were counted; remaining there for thirty days, he completed his journey to Ecbatana of Media in seven days.
ἔνθα δὴ χρόνον τινὰ τὴν δύναμιν ἀναλαβὼν ἀγῶνάς τε θυμελικοὺς ἐποίει καὶ πότους συνεχεῖς τῶν φίλων,
This city, they say, has a circumference of two hundred and fifty stades, and possesses the palaces of all Media and treasuries of much wealth.
§17.110.8ἐν οἷς Ἡφαιστίων ἀκαίροις μέθαις χρησάμενος καὶ περιπεσὼν ἀρρωστίᾳ τὸν βίον ἐξέλιπεν·
There, having rested his force for some time, he held dramatic contests and continuous drinking-parties with his friends, during which Hephaestion, indulging in untimely drinking and falling into an illness, departed this life.
ὁ δὲ βασιλεὺς χαλεπῶς ἐνέγκας τὸ συμβὰν τὸ σῶμα τοῦ τετελευτηκότος Περδίκκᾳ παρέδωκεν εἰς Βαβυλῶνα κομίσαι, βουλόμενος ἐπιφανεστάτην αὐτοῦ ποιήσασθαι τὴν ταφήν.
The king, bearing the event heavily, delivered the body of the deceased to Perdiccas to convey to Babylon, wishing to make his burial most magnificent.