Page:History of Greece Vol XII.djvu/177

 MARCH TO EGYPT. 145 upon whom therefore he resolved to inflict a punishment as novel as it was cruel. He directed the feet of Batis to be bored, and brazen rings to be passed through them ; after which the naked body of this brave man, yet surviving, was tied with cords to the tail of a chariot driven by Alexander himself, and dragged at full speed amidst the triumphant jeers and shouts of the army.' Herein Alexander, emulous even from childhood of the exploits of his legendary ancestor Achilles, copied the igno- minious treatment described in the Iliad as inflicted on the dead body of Hektor.^ This proceeding of Alexander, the product of Homeric remi- niscences operating upon an infuriated and vindictive tempera- ment, stands out in respect of barbarity from all that we read respecting the treatment of conquered towns in antiquity. His remaining measures were conformable to received usage. The wives and children of the Gazteans were sold into slavery. New inhabitants were admitted from the neighborhood, and a garrison was placed there to hold the town for the Macedonians.' The two sieges of Tyre and Gaza, which occupied both to- gether nine months,* were the hardest fighting that Alexander had ever encountered, or in fact ever did encounter throughout his life. After such toils, the march to Egypt, which he now 1 Curtius, iv. 6,25-30; Dionys. Hal. De Comp. Verbor. p. 123-125 — with the citation there given from Hegesias of Magnesia. Dioclorus (xvii. 48, 49) simply mentions Gaza in two sentences, but gives no details o/ any kind. Arrian says nothing about the treatment of Batis, nor did he probably find anything aI)out it in Ptolemy or Aristobulus. There are assignable reasons why they should pass it over in silence, as disgraceful to Alex- ander. But Arrian, at the same time, says nothing inconsistent with or contradicting the statement of Curtius ; while he himself recognizes how emulous Alexander was of the proceedings of Achilles (vii. 14, 7). The passage describing this scene, cited from the lost author Hegesias by Dionysius of Halikarnassus, as an example of bad rhythm and taste, has the merit of bringing out the details respecting the person of Batis, which were well calculated to disgust and aggravate the wrath of Alex- ander. The bad taste of Hegesias as a writer does not diminish his cred- ibility ns a witness. Arrian, vii. 14, 7. 'Arrian, ii. 27, 11. About the circumstances and siege of Gaza see tha work of Stark, Gaza und die Philisfaisehe Kiiste, p. 242, Leip. 1852. VOL. xir. 13
 * Diodor. xvii. 43 ; Josephus, Antiq. xi. 4.