§12.19.1τούτοις δʼ ἐστὶ παραπλήσια τὰ κατὰ τὸν Ἀλέξανδρον.
Very similar to this are the statements about Alexander.
φησὶ γὰρ αὐτὸν ποιήσασθαι τὴν εἰς τὴν Ἀσίαν διάβασιν, πεζῶν μὲν ἔχοντα τέτταρας μυριάδας, ἱππεῖς δὲ τετρακισχιλίους καὶ πεντακοσίους, §12.19.2μέλλοντι δʼ εἰς Κιλικίαν ἐμβάλλειν ἄλλους ἐλθεῖν ἐκ Μακεδονίας πεζοὺς μὲν πεντακισχιλίους, ἱππεῖς δʼ ὀκτακοσίους.
For he says that when he made the crossing into Asia, he had forty thousand infantry and four thousand five hundred cavalry, and that when he was about to invade Cilicia, there came to him from Macedonia another five thousand infantry and eight hundred cavalry.
§12.19.3ἀφʼ ὧν εἴ τις ἀφέλοι τρισχιλίους μὲν πεζούς, τριακοσίους δʼ ἱππεῖς, ἐπὶ τὸ πλεῖον ποιῶν τὴν ἀπουσίαν πρὸς τὰς γεγενημένας χρείας, ὅμως πεζοὶ μὲν ἀπολειφθήσονται τετρακισμύριοι δισχίλιοι, πεντακισχίλιοι δʼ ἱππεῖς.
Even if one subtracts three thousand infantry and three hundred cavalry from these, making a generous allowance for those absent on various duties that arose, there will still remain forty-two thousand infantry and five thousand cavalry.
§12.19.4τούτων οὖν ὑποκειμένων, φησὶ τὸν Ἀλέξανδρον πυθέσθαι τὴν Δαρείου παρουσίαν εἰς Κιλικίαν ἑκατὸν ἀπέχοντα σταδίους ἀπʼ αὐτοῦ, διαπεπορευμένον ἤδη τὰ στενά·
These being the assumptions, he says that Alexander, when he had already passed through the pass and was a hundred stades away from Darius, learned of Darius's arrival in Cilicia.
§12.19.5διόπερ ἐξ ὑποστροφῆς πάλιν ποιεῖσθαι τὴν πορείαν διὰ τῶν στενῶν, ἄγοντα πρῶτον μὲν τὴν φάλαγγα, μετὰ δὲ ταῦτα τοὺς ἱππεῖς, ἐπὶ πᾶσι τὸ σκευοφόρον.
For this reason he retraced his steps and marched back through the pass, leading first the phalanx, then the cavalry, and last of all the baggage train.
ἅμα δὲ τῷ πρῶτον εἰς τὰς εὐρυχωρίας ἐκπεσεῖν, §12.19.6διασκευάζεσθαι παραγγείλαντα πᾶσιν ἐπιπαρεμβαλεῖν τὴν φάλαγγα, καὶ ποιῆσαι τὸ βάθος αὐτῆς ἐπὶ τριάκοντα καὶ δύο, μετὰ δὲ ταῦτα πάλιν εἰς ἑκκαίδεκα, τὸ δὲ τελευταῖον, ἐγγίζοντα τοῖς πολεμίοις, εἰς ὀκτώ.
And as soon as he first emerged into the open country, he ordered all to prepare for battle and deployed the phalanx, making its depth thirty-two deep, then again sixteen, and finally, as he neared the enemy, eight deep.
§12.19.7ταῦτα δʼ ἐστὶ μείζω τῶν προειρημένων ἀλογήματα.
These are even greater absurdities than what was said before.
τοῦ γὰρ σταδίου λαμβάνοντος ἄνδρας ἐν τοῖς πορευτικοῖς διαστήμασιν, ὅταν εἰς ἑκκαίδεκα τὸ βάθος ὦσι, χιλίους ἑξακοσίους, ἑκάστου τῶν ἀνδρῶν ἓξ πόδας ἐπέχοντος, §12.19.8φανερὸν ὅτι τὰ δέκα στάδια λήψεται μυρίους ἑξακισχιλίους, τὰ δʼ εἴκοσι τοὺς διπλασίους.
For since one stade holds sixteen hundred men in marching intervals when they are sixteen deep, each man occupying six feet, it is clear that ten stades will hold sixteen thousand, and twenty stades twice as many.
§12.19.9ἐκ δὲ τούτων εὐθεώρητον ὅτι καθʼ ὃν καιρὸν ἐποίησε τὴν δύναμιν Ἀλέξανδρος ἑκκαίδεκα τὸ βάθος, ἀναγκαῖον ἦν εἴκοσι σταδίων ὑπάρχειν τὸ τοῦ τόπου διάστημα καὶ περιττεύειν ἔτι τοὺς μὲν ἱππεῖς πάντας, τῶν δὲ πεζῶν μυρίους.
From this it is easy to see that at the moment when Alexander made his force sixteen deep, the width of the place must have been twenty stades, and even then all the cavalry and ten thousand of the infantry would still be left over.