Page:History of Greece Vol XII.djvu/56

 24 HISTORY or UREECE. eluded pursuit by means of the wood, so that they lost few pris- oners. The loss of the Macedonians Avas only eleven horsemen and forty foot slain ; according to the statement of Ptolemy, son of Lagus, then one of Alexander's confidential officers, and after- wards founder of the dynasty of Greco-Egyptian kings.' Three days' march, from the scene of action, brought Alexan- der to the Danube, where he found some armed ships which had been previously ordered to sail (probably with stores of provis- ion) from Byzantium round by the Euxine and up the river. He first employed these ships in trying to land a body of troops on the island of Peuke ; but his attempt was frustrated by the steep banks, the rapid stream, and the resolute front of the de- fenders on shore. To compensate for this disappointment, Alex- ander resolved to make a display of his strength by crossing the Danube and attacking the GetiE ; tribes, chiefly horsemen armed with bows,'^ analogous to the Thracians in habits and language. They occupied the left bank of the river, from which their town was about four miles distant. The terror of the Macedonian successes had brought together a body of 4000 Getae, visible from the opposite shore, to resist any crossing. Accordingly Alexander got together a quantity of the rude boats (hollowed out of a single trunk) employed for transport on the river, and caused the tent-skins of the army to be stuffed with hay hi order to support rafts. He then put himself on shipboard during the night, and contrived to carry across the river a body of 4000 in- fantry, and 1500 cavalry; landing on a part of the bank where there was high standing wheat and no enemy's post. The GeVx, intimidated not less by this successful passage than by the excel- lent array of Alexander's army, hardly stayed to sustain a chai-ge of cavalry, but hastened to abandon their poorly fortified town and retire farther away from the river. Enteruig the town Avithout resistance, he destroyed it, carried away such movables as he found, and then returned to the river without delay. Before he quitted the northern bank, he offered sacrifice to Zeus the Pre- server — to Herakles — and to the god Ister (Danube) himself, iv-liom he thanked for having shown himself not impassable.^ On ' Arrian, i. 2. * Strabo, vii p. 303. ' Arrian, i. 4, 2-7.