Page:History of Greece Vol XII.djvu/152

 120 mSTORY OF GREFXE. Asiatic hoplites, yet not formed into any body of reserve, or kept disposable for assisting in case of need. When his line wa« thoroughly formed, he recalled to the left bank of the Pinarus the 30,000 cavalry and 20,000 infantry which he had sent across as a protecting force. A part of this cavalry were sent to his extreme left wing, but the mountain ground Avas found unsuita- ble for them to act, so that they were forced to cross the right wing, where accordingly the great mass of the Persian cavalry became assembled. Darius himself in his chariot was in the centre of the line, behind tiie Grecian hoplites. In the front of his whole line ran the river or rivulet Pinarus ; the banks of which, in many parts naturally steep, he obstructed in some places by embankments.^ As soon as Alexander, by the retirement of the Persian cov- ering detachment, was enabled to perceive the final dispositions of Darius, he made some alteration in his own, transferring his Thessalian cavalry by a rear movement from his right to his left wing, and bringing forward the lancer-cavalry or sarissophori, as well as the light infantry, Pa;onians, and archers, to the fi-ont of his right. The Agrianians, together with some cavalry and an- other body of archers, were detached from the general line to form an oblique front against the 20,000 Persians posted on the hill to outflank him. As these 20,000 men came near enough to threaten his flank, Alexander directed the Agrianians to at- tack them, and to drive them farther away on the hills. They manifested so little firmness, and gave way so easily, that he felt no dread of any serious aggressive movement from them. He therefore contented himself with holding back in reserve against them a body of 300 heavy cavalry ; while he placed the Agrian- ians and the rest on the right of his main line, in order to make his front equal to that of his enemies.^ 1 Anian, ii. 10, 2. Kallisthenes appears to have reckoned the mercenaries composing the Tersian phalanx at 30,000 — and the cavah-y at 30,000. lie docs not seem to have taken account of the Kardakes. Yet Polybius in his criticism tries to make out that there was not room for an array of even G0,000 ; wliile Arrian enumerates 90,000 hoplites, not inchiding cav ah-y (Polyb. xii. 18). - Arrian, ii. 9 ; Kallisthenes ap. Polyb. xii. 17. The slackness of this Persian corps on the flank, and the ease with which Alexander drove them