§12.17.1ἵνα δὲ μὴ δόξωμεν τῶν τηλικούτων ἀνδρῶν καταξιοπιστεῖσθαι, μνησθησόμεθα μιᾶς παρατάξεως, ἣν ἅμα μὲν οἵαν ἐπιφανεστάτην εἶναι συμβέβηκεν, ἅμα δὲ τοῖς καιροῖς οὐ μακρὰν ἀπηρτῆσθαι, τὸ δὲ μέγιστον, παρατετευχέναι τὸν Καλλισθένη.
In order that we may not seem to be overwhelmed by the authority of such great men, we shall make mention of a single battle, which happens to be at once most famous and not far removed in point of time, and, what is most important, one with which Callisthenes was associated.
§12.17.2λέγω δὲ περὶ τῆς ἐν Κιλικίᾳ γενομένης Ἀλεξάνδρῳ πρὸς Δαρεῖον, ἐν ᾗ φησὶ μὲν Ἀλέξανδρον ἤδη διαπεπορεῦσθαι τὰ στενὰ καὶ τὰς λεγομένας ἐν τῇ Κιλικίᾳ Πύλας, Δαρεῖον δὲ χρησάμενον τῇ διὰ τῶν Ἀμανίδων λεγομένων Πυλῶν πορείᾳ κατᾶραι μετὰ τῆς δυνάμεως εἰς Κιλικίαν· §12.17.3πυθόμενον δὲ παρὰ τῶν ἐγχωρίων προάγειν τὸν Ἀλέξανδρον ὡς ἐπὶ Συρίαν, ἀκολουθεῖν, καὶ συνεγγίσαντα τοῖς στενοῖς στρατοπεδεῦσαι παρὰ τὸν Πίναρον ποταμόν.
I mean the battle that took place in Cilicia between Alexander and Darius, in which he says that Alexander had already passed through the narrow passes and the so-called Gates in Cilicia, while Darius, having made his march through the so-called Amanic Gates, had descended with his force into Cilicia; and that when he learned from the inhabitants that Alexander was advancing towards Syria, he followed him, and on approaching the narrow passes, encamped by the river Pinarus.
§12.17.4εἶναι δὲ τοῦ μὲν τόπου τὸ διάστημʼ οὐ πλείω τῶν τεττάρων καὶ δέκα σταδίων ἀπὸ θαλάττης ἕως πρὸς τὴν παρώρειαν· §12.17.5διὰ δὲ τούτου φέρεσθαι τὸν προειρημένον ποταμὸν ἐπικάρσιον, ἀπὸ μὲν τῶν ὀρῶν εὐθέως ἐκρήγματα τῶν πλευρῶν, διὰ δὲ τῶν ἐπιπέδων ἕως εἰς θάλατταν ἀποτόμους ἔχοντα καὶ δυσβάτους λόφους.
And he says that the width of the place was not more than fourteen stades from the sea to the foot of the mountains; and that through this place the aforementioned river flowed transversely, having immediately from the mountains clefts in its banks, and through the plains all the way to the sea steep and difficult hills.
§12.17.6ταῦτα δʼ ὑποθέμενος, ἐπεὶ συνεγγίζοιεν οἱ περὶ τὸν Ἀλέξανδρον ἐξ ὑποστροφῆς ἐπʼ αὐτοὺς ἀναχωροῦντες, κρῖναί φησι Δαρεῖον καὶ τοὺς ἡγεμόνας τὴν μὲν φάλαγγα τάξαι πᾶσαν ἐν αὐτῇ τῇ στρατοπεδείᾳ, καθάπερ ἐξ ἀρχῆς εἶχε, χρήσασθαι δὲ τῷ ποταμῷ προβλήματι διὰ τὸ παρʼ αὐτὴν ῥεῖν τὴν στρατοπεδείαν.
Having made these assumptions, when Alexander and his men, turning back, were approaching them, he says that Darius and his generals decided to draw up the whole phalanx in the camp itself, just as it had been from the beginning, and to use the river as a defense because it flowed right by the camp.
§12.17.7μετὰ δὲ ταῦτά φησι τοὺς μὲν ἱππεῖς τάξαι παρὰ θάλατταν, τοὺς δὲ μισθοφόρους ἑξῆς τούτοις παρʼ αὐτὸν τὸν ποταμόν, ἐχομένους τούτων τοὺς πελταστὰς συνάπτοντας τοῖς ὄρεσι.
After this, he says that they stationed the cavalry by the sea, and the mercenaries next to them along the river itself, and next to these the peltasts reaching as far as the mountains.