The river Cydnus, which was mentioned a short time ago, flows through the middle of Tarsus; it was then summer, the heat of which burns no other shore more than that of Cilicia with the sun's fires, and the hottest time of the day had begun. The clear water of the river tempted the king, who was covered with dust and at the same time with sweat, to bathe his body when it was still heated; accordingly, laying off his clothing in the sight of the army - thinking that it would also be fitting if he should show his men that he was content with attention to his person which was simple and easily attained — he went down into the river. But hardly had he entered it when his limbs began to stiffen with a sudden chill, then he lost his colour, and the vital warmth left almost his entire body. His attendants caught him in their arms, looking like a dying man, and carried him almost unconscious into his tent.
There was great anxiety, and already almost mourning in the camp; with tears they lamented that the most glorious king of any age or time, in the midst of so swift a career of success, had been laid low, not in battle (which would have been bad enough), not by the enemy, but had been taken off and done to death while bathing. Darius (they said) was close at hand, a victor before he had seen his enemy. As for them, they must go back to the same lands through which they had passed victorious, where everything had been laid waste by themselves or by the enemy. Marching through desert wastes, even if no one wished to pursue them, they could be vanquished by hunger and want. Who would direct them in their flight? Who would venture to succeed Alexander? Just suppose that they should reach the Hellespont in their flight, who would prepare a fleet in which to cross it? Then their pity turned again to the king himself and, forgetting themselves, they lamented that such flower of youth, so powerful a mind, at once their king and their fellow-soldier, was torn and wrested away from them.
Meanwhile the king's breath had begun to pass more freely, and he had raised his eyes; and as his senses began to return to him, he recognized his friends who stood about him, and the violence of his illness seemed to have abated for the sole reason that he felt the greatness of the disaster. However, trouble of mind oppressed his body; for it was announced that Darius would be in Cilicia in four days. Therefore he lamented that he was being handed over to him in bonds, that so great a victory was being snatched from his hands, and that he was being blotted out in his tent by an obscure and inglorious death. And so, having admitted his friends, as well as his physicians, he said: 'You see in what a crisis of my affairs Fortune has surprised me. Methinks I hear the din of hostile arms, and I who was the aggressor in war, am now challenged. Thus Darius, when he was writing those haughty letters, had regard to my fortune, but to no purpose, if I am allowed to be treated according to my desire. My exigency cannot wait for slow remedies and dilatory physicians; in my opinion it is better even to die speedily than to recover tardily. Therefore, if there is any help, if there is any skill, in physicians, let them know that I do not so much desire a remedy against death as one that will enable me to make war."
This headlong rashness of the king had smitten all with great anxiety. Hence each man individually began to entreat him not to increase his danger by haste but to submit to the control of his physicians; that they had good reason to suspect untried remedies, since his enemy was bribing someone to destroy him even from among his own intimates. And in fact Darius had ordered it to be proclaimed that he would give a thousand talents to the slayer of Alexander. Hence they thought that no one would venture even to try a remedy which on account of its novelty could be suspected.
Among the famous physicians who had followed the king from Macedonia was Philip, a native of Acarnania, most loyal to Alexander; made the king's comrade and the guardian of his health from boyhood, he loved him with extreme affection, not only as his king, but even as a foster-child. He promised to apply a remedy that was not sudden but effective, and to allay the violence of his illness, great as it was, with a medicated draught. His promise pleased no one except the very one at whose peril it was made. For the king could endure anything except delay; arms and armies were before his eyes, and he thought that victory depended merely upon his ability to take his place before the standards, impatient only because he was not to take the draught until the third day should have come - for so the physician had directed.
In the meantime he received a letter from Parmenion, the most faithful of his generals, in which he strongly warned the king not to trust his life to Philip; that he had been bribed by Darius with a thousand talents and the hope of marriage with the king's sister. This letter had filled Alexander's mind with great anxiety, and whatever fear or hope cast into either scale he weighed in secret calculation. Should I resolve to take the draught, with the result that if poison shall have been given me, it may seem that I deserved whatever shall have happened? Shall I distrust the loyalty of my physician? Shall I then allow myself to be overwhelmed in my tent? But it is better for me to die of another's crime than of my own fear." After having turned his thoughts in various directions for a long time, he revealed to no one what had been written, but impressed the seal of his ring upon the letter and put it under the pillow on which he was lying.
After he had spent two days in such thoughts as these, the day designated by the physician dawned, and Philip entered with the cup in which he had mixed the drug. On seeing him Alexander raised himself in bed and, holding the letter sent by Parmenion in his left hand, took the cup and drank fearlessly; then he bade Philip read the letter, and he did not turn his eyes from the physician's face as he read, thinking that he would be able to detect any signs of guilt in his very expression. But Philip, when he had read the letter through, showed more indignation than fear, and throwing his cloak and the letter before the couch: "My king," said he, "the breath of my life has always depended upon you, but now, I verily believe that it is drawn by your sacred and revered lips. The accusation of murder with which I have been charged your recovery will refute; when saved by me you will have given me life. I beg and beseech you, cease your fear; allow the remedy to be taken into your veins; free for a time your mind, which your friends, faithful indeed but, alas, officious, are disturbing by their ill-timed solicitude."
These words made the king, not only free from care, but even joyful and full of good hope. Accordingly he said: "If the gods, Philip, had granted you to test my feelings in the manner which you most desired, you would surely have chosen a different way, but you could not even have wished for a surer one than you experienced, since after receiving this letter I nevertheless drank the mixture you had prepared. And now, believe me, I am not less anxious to prove your loyalty than I am for my recovery." Having said this, he offered Philip his right hand. But so great was the strength of the drug that what followed seemed to support the calumny of Parmenion. The king's breath was impeded and passed with difficulty. But Philip left nothing untried; it was he that applied hot lotions to the king's body, he that roused him from languor by the odour now of food, now of wine. As soon as he perceived that Alexander was conscious, he did not cease to remind him, at one time of his mother and sisters, again of his approaching great victory. But as the drug spread into the king's veins and gradually its healing power could be felt in his whole body, at first his mind regained its vigour and then his body also, more speedily than could have been expected; for after the third day which he had spent in that condition, he appeared in sight of the soldiers.
Nor did the army look with more eagerness upon the king himself than upon Philip; each man individually grasped the physician's right hand and returned thanks, as if to an all-powerful god. For it is not easily expressed how great, apart from the native reverence of the Macedonians for their kings, was their admiring devotion to this particular king, or, I may say, their burning affection for him. For first of all, he seemed to undertake nothing without divine help; for since good fortune everywhere attended him, his very rashness had resulted in glory. His years too, which seemed hardly ripe for such great deeds, but had proved amply sufficient, enhanced all his exploits. Also things which are commonly regarded as trifling, are usually more pleasing to a crowd of soldiers: bodily exercise in their company, dress and bearing differing but little from those of a man in private station, a soldier's vigour; by these, whether they were natural gifts or consciously acquired, he had made himself alike beloved and worthy of deep respect.
But Darius, after having received news of Alexander's illness, with all the speed of which so heavy an army was capable hastened to the Euphrates, spanned it with a pontoon bridge, but still got his army across within five days, in his haste to obtain possession of Cilicia. Already Alexander had recovered his physical vigour and had arrived at the city of Soli; having taken possession of this, he exacted, by way of a fine, two hundred talents and placed a garrison of soldiers in the citadel. Then with sport and holiday he paid the vows that had been pledged for his safety, thus showing with what great confidence he scorned the barbarians; for he celebrated games in honour of Aesculapius and Minerva.
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