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Diodorus Siculus · Bibliotheca Historica §17.87.1-17.87.5

March against King Porus and His Defense

Passage 692 of 723 · Greek

Summary

In the year of the new magistrates in Athens and Rome, Alexander advances to fight King Porus, who prepares a formidable defense by drawing up his large army and elephants in a city-like formation.

§17.87.1ἐπʼ ἄρχοντος δʼ Ἀθήνησι Χρέμητος Ῥωμαῖοι κατέστησαν ὑπάτους Πόπλιον Κορνήλιον καὶ Αὖλον Ποστούμιον.
At Athens, when Chremes was archon, the Romans appointed Publius Cornelius and Aulus Postumius as consuls.
ἐπὶ δὲ τούτων Ἀλέξανδρος ἐν τῇ Ταξίλου χώρᾳ προσαναλαβὼν τὴν δύναμιν ἐστράτευσεν ἐπὶ Πῶρον τὸν τῶν πλησιοχώρων Ἰνδῶν βασιλέα.
During their term of office, Alexander, having further refreshed his army in the territory of Taxiles, marched against Porus, the king of the neighboring Indians.
§17.87.2οὗτος δʼ εἶχε πεζοὺς μὲν πλείους τῶν πεντακισμυρίων, ἱππεῖς δὲ περὶ τρισχιλίους, ἅρματα δὲ πλείω τῶν χιλίων, ἐλέφαντας δὲ ἑκατὸν καὶ τριάκοντα.
He had more than fifty thousand infantry, about three thousand cavalry, more than one thousand chariots, and one hundred and thirty elephants.
ἐπεποίητο δὲ καὶ ἕτερον τῶν πλησιοχώρων βασιλέα σύμμαχον, ὃς ὠνομάζετο Ἐμβίσαρος, εἶχε δὲ δύναμιν οὐ πολὺ λειπομένην τῆς τοῦ Πώρου.
He had also made an ally of another of the neighboring kings, who was named Embisaros, and who had a force not much inferior to that of Porus.
§17.87.3ὁ δὲ Ἀλέξανδρος ἀκούσας τοῦτον τὸν βασιλέα τετρακοσίους ἀπέχειν σταδίους ἔκρινε πρὸ τῆς τούτου παρουσίας ἐπιβαλεῖν τῷ Πώρῳ.
And Alexander, hearing that this king was four hundred stades away, decided to attack Porus before his arrival.
§17.87.4ἐγγίσαντος δὲ αὐτοῦ τοῖς Ἰνδοῖς ὁ Πῶρος πυθόμενος πλησίον εἶναι τοὺς πολεμίους εὐθὺς ἐξέταξε τὴν δύναμιν καὶ τοὺς μὲν ἱππεῖς ἐπὶ τὰ κέρατα διεμέρισεν, τοὺς δʼ ἐλέφαντας καταπληκτικῶς κεκοσμημένους κατὰ μέτωπον ἐν ἴσοις διαστήμασιν ἔστησεν·
And when he drew near to the Indians, Porus, learning that the enemy was close at hand, immediately drew up his army; he distributed the cavalry on the wings, and placed the elephants, terrifyingly equipped, along the front at equal intervals.
ἀνὰ μέσον δὲ τῶν θηρίων τοὺς λοιποὺς ὁπλίτας ἔταξεν, οἷς συντεταγμένον ἦν παραβοηθεῖν τοῖς θηρίοις καὶ διακωλύειν ἐκ τῶν πλαγίων εἰσακοντίζειν.
Between the beasts he stationed the rest of the heavy infantry, who had orders to assist the beasts and prevent javelins from being thrown from the flanks.
§17.87.5ἡ μὲν οὖν ὅλη σύνταξις αὐτῶν ὑπῆρχε πόλει παραπλήσιος τὴν πρόσοψιν· ἡ μὲν γὰρ τῶν ἐλεφάντων στάσις τοῖς πύργοις, οἱ δὲ ἀνὰ μέσον τούτων στρατιῶται τοῖς μεσοπυργίοις ὡμοίωντο·
The whole layout of their array, then, resembled a city in appearance; for the positioning of the elephants resembled towers, while the soldiers between them were like the curtain walls.
ὁ δὲ Ἀλέξανδρος κατανοήσας τὴν τῶν πολεμίων τάξιν πρὸς ταύτην τὴν διακόσμησιν οἰκείως ἐξέταξε τὴν δύναμιν.
And Alexander, having observed the enemy's array, drew up his army in a manner suited to this arrangement.

Notes

  1. 17.87.1ἐπʼ ἄρχοντος ... Χρέμητος — A genitive absolute construction. A standard idiomatic expression used to indicate the Athenian calendar year by the name of the archon, meaning 'when Chremes was archon at Athens.'
  2. 17.87.1ἐπὶ δὲ τούτων — The preposition ἐπί with the genitive case indicating time, referring to the two Roman consuls mentioned in the previous sentence. It means 'during their term of office.'
  3. 17.87.2οὐ πολὺ λειπομένην τῆς τοῦ Πώρου — The participle λειπομένην (present middle/passive participle of λείπω) modifies δύναμιν, and with τῆς τοῦ Πώρου (genitive of comparison, with δυνάμεως omitted) means 'not much inferior to that of Porus.'
  4. 17.87.4οἷς συντεταγμένον ἦν — An impersonal perfect passive construction (neuter nominative participle with ἦν), where the dative relative pronoun οἷς represents the agents (the hoplites), and the following infinitive phrases (παραβοηθεῖν... and διακωλύειν...) function as the subject. It means 'who had been ordered to...'

Cite this passage

Diodorus Siculus, Bibliotheca Historica §17.87.1-17.87.5. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0060.tlg001.humanitext-grc4:17.87.1-17.87.5

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