And so it proved; for he encountered many perils in the battles which he fought, and received very severe wounds; but the greatest losses which his army suffered were caused by lack of necessary provisions and severity of weather. Still, he was eager to overcome fortune by boldness and force by valour, and thought nothing invincible for the courageous, and nothing secure for the cowardly.
It is said that when he was besieging the citadel of Sisimithres, which
was steep and inaccessible, so that his soldiers were disheartened, he
asked Oxyartes what sort of a man Sisimithres himself was in point of
spirit. And when Oxyartes replied that he was most cowardly of men,
Thy words mean,
said Alexander, that we can take the
citadel, since he who commands it is a weak thing.
And indeed he did take the citadel by frightening Sisimithres. Again,
after attacking another citadel equally precipitous, he was urging on
the younger Macedonians, and addressing one who bore the name of
Alexander, said: It behooves thee, at least, to be a brave man, even
for thy name’s sake.
And when the young man, fighting
gloriously, fell, the king was pained beyond measure.
And at another time, when his Macedonians hesitated to advance upon the
citadel called Nysa because there was a deep river in front of it,
Alexander, halting on the bank, cried: Most miserable man that I am,
why, pray, have I not learned to swim?
and at once, carrying his
shield, he would have tried to cross. And when, after he had put a stop
to the fighting, ambassadors came from the beleaguered cities to beg for
terms, they were amazed, to begin with, to see him in full armour and
without an attendant; and besides, when a cushion was brought him for
his use, he ordered the eldest of the ambassadors, Acuphis by name, to
take it for his seat.
Acuphis, accordingly, astonished at his magnanimity and courtesy, asked
what he wished them to do in order to be his friends. Thy
countrymen,
said Alexander, must make thee their ruler, and
send me a hundred of their best men.
At this Acuphis laughed,
and said: Nay, O King, I shall rule better if I send to thee the
worst men rather than the best.