§2.68.1ὅθεν καὶ τὸν Ἀντίγονόν φασι μετὰ ταῦτα καταπειράζοντα πυνθάνεσθαι τοῦ ταχθέντος ἐπὶ τῶν ἱππέων Ἀλεξάνδρου διὰ τί πρὸ τοῦ παραδοθῆναι τὸ σύνθημα τοῦ κινδύνου κατάρξαιτο.
Hence they say that Antigonus afterwards, by way of testing him, asked Alexander, who had been placed in command of the cavalry, why he had begun the battle before the signal was given.
§2.68.2τοῦ δʼ ἀρνουμένου, φάσκοντος δὲ μειράκιόν τι Μεγαλοπολιτικὸν προεγχειρῆσαι παρὰ τὴν ἑαυτοῦ γνώμην, εἰπεῖν διότι τὸ μὲν μειράκιον ἡγεμόνος ἔργον ἀγαθοῦ ποιήσαι, συνθεασάμενον τὸν καιρόν, ἐκεῖνος δʼ ἡγεμὼν ὑπάρχων μειρακίου τοῦ τυχόντος.
When Alexander denied it, saying that a certain youth from Megalopolis had made the charge prematurely against his own judgment, Antigonus replied that the youth indeed, having observed the opportunity, had acted like a good general, while Alexander, though being a general, had acted like an ordinary youth.
§2.68.3οὐ μὴν ἀλλʼ οἵ γε περὶ τὸν Εὐκλείδαν ὁρῶντες προσβαινούσας τὰς σπείρας, ἀφέμενοι τοῦ χρῆσθαι ταῖς τῶν τόπων εὐκαιρίαις — §2.68.4τοῦτο δʼ ἦν ἐκ πολλοῦ συναντῶντας καὶ προσπίπτοντας τοῖς πολεμίοις τὰ μὲν ἐκείνων στίφη συνταράττειν καὶ διαλύειν, αὐτοὺς δʼ ὑποχωρεῖν ἐπὶ πόδα καὶ μεθίστασθαι πρὸς τοὺς ὑπερδεξίους ἀεὶ τόπους ἀσφαλῶς· §2.68.5οὕτω γὰρ ἂν προλυμηνάμενοι καὶ συγχέαντες τὸ τοῦ καθοπλισμοῦ καὶ τῆς συντάξεως ἰδίωμα τῶν ὑπεναντίων ῥᾳδίως αὐτοὺς ἐτρέψαντο διὰ τὴν τῶν τόπων εὐφυΐαν — §2.68.6τούτων μὲν οὐδὲν ἐποίησαν, καθάπερ δʼ ἐξ ἑτοίμου σφίσι τῆς νίκης ὑπαρχούσης τοὐναντίον ἔπραξαν.
However, Eucleidas and his men, seeing the cohorts ascending, neglected to make use of the advantages of the ground— which would have been to meet and fall upon the enemy from a distance, throwing their ranks into confusion and breaking them, while they themselves retreated step by step and safely withdrew to the higher positions as they became available; for by thus beforehand damaging and confounding the peculiar advantage of the enemy's heavy armor and formation, they would have easily routed them owing to the favorable nature of the ground— but they did none of these things, and acted in the opposite way, as if victory was already assured to them.
§2.68.7κατὰ γὰρ τὴν ἐξ ἀρχῆς στάσιν ἔμενον ἐπὶ τῶν ἄκρων, ὡς ἀνωτάτω σπεύδοντες λαβεῖν τοὺς ὑπεναντίους εἰς τὸ τὴν φυγὴν ἐπὶ πολὺ καταφερῆ καὶ κρημνώδη γενέσθαι τοῖς πολεμίοις.
For they remained at the summit on their original position, aiming to receive the enemy at the highest point possible, so that the flight of the enemy might be down a long and steep descent.
§2.68.8συνέβη δʼ, ὅπερ εἰκὸς ἦν, τοὐναντίον· οὐ γὰρ ἀπολιπόντες αὑτοῖς ἀναχώρησιν, προσδεξάμενοι δʼ ἀκεραίους ἅμα καὶ συνεστώσας τὰς σπείρας, εἰς τοῦτο δυσχρηστίας ἦλθον ὥστε διʼ αὐτῆς τῆς τοῦ λόφου κορυφῆς διαμάχεσθαι πρὸς τοὺς βιαζομένους.
But the contrary, as might be expected, happened; for by leaving themselves no way of retreat, and receiving the cohorts while still fresh and in close order, they fell into such difficulty that they had to fight against those forcing their way up on the very summit of the hill.
§2.68.9λοιπὸν ὅσον ἐκ ποδὸς ἐπιέσθησαν τῷ βάρει τοῦ καθοπλισμοῦ καὶ τῆς συντάξεως, εὐθέως οἱ μὲν Ἰλλυριοὶ τὴν κατάστασιν ἐλάμβανον, οἱ δὲ περὶ τὸν Εὐκλείδαν τὴν ὑπὸ πόδα διὰ τὸ μὴ καταλείπεσθαι τόπον εἰς ἀναχώρησιν καὶ μετάστασιν ἑαυτοῖς.
Finally, when they were pressed step by step by the weight of the enemy's heavy armor and formation, the Illyrians immediately gained a firm footing, while Eucleidas and his men began to give way, because no space was left for them to retreat or change their position.
§2.68.10ἐξ οὗ ταχέως συνέβη τραπέντας αὐτοὺς ὀλεθρίῳ χρήσασθαι φυγῇ, κρημνώδη καὶ δύσβατον ἐχόντων ἐπὶ πολὺ τὴν ἀναχώρησιν τῶν τόπων.
From which it quickly resulted that they were routed and met with a disastrous flight, the terrain of their retreat being steep and difficult to traverse for a long distance.