and his generals, appear to have answered, for the moment, their intended purpose. After having traversed the country, and reduced many forts, some by the sword, and some by treaty, the columns formed a junction at Maracanda. No resistance had been made to them in the field, and numbers of the inhabitants had fled from their homes. It being supposed that Spitamenes had taken refuge among the Scythians, a division, under Conus and Artabazus, was despatched to provide against danger in that quarter. In the meanwhile, in order to have the means of watching the Sogdians more effectually, and suppressing instantly any attempt to revolt, Hephæstion was commissioned to establish colonies in those cities from whence the natives had been expelled.

But, while Spitamenes was believed to be a fugitive beyond the Jaxartes, that active leader suddenly appeared on a far distant scene of action. At the head of his Sogdians, and of six hundred of the Massagetes, he penetrated into the very heart of Bactria, and with such secrecy that his march was unknown to the Grecian generals. Though, when Alexander opened the campaign, he left a large force to protect or overawe Bactria, it must subsequently have been withdrawn, for, on this occasion, we hear nothing of it. Spitamenes began by storming a fortress on the Bactrian frontier, the governor of which was taken prisoner, and the garrison put to the sword. He then advanced to the vicinity of Bactra, the capital, otherwise called Zariaspa. The place was feebly garrisoned, by some invalid soldiers, who had been sent thither for the recovery of their health; but to attack it seems not to have entered into his plan. He contented himself, therefore, with plundering the surrounding district. The only Macedonians in the capital who were of sufficient note to assume the command, were Pithon,

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the chief of the king's household, and Aristonicus, who was a minstrel, or singer to the harp. Taking advantage of the enemy's troops being divided, they fell upon a party of the Massagetes, and recovered the booty. As, however, they were returning negligently to the city, Spitamenes sallied forth from an ambush, and destroyed nearly the whole of them. Aristonicus fell, bravely fighting, and Pithon became the prisoner of the Sogdian chief.

This check was revenged by Craterus. As soon as he heard of it, he pursued the Massagetes, who were retiring towards the desert. Though they had been joined by a thousand of their companions, Craterus did not hesitate to attack them. The Scythians fought with determined spirit, but were eventually overthrown, and a hundred and fifty of them were slain. The victory was, however, barren of any ulterior advantage, as the Massagetes found a safe asylum in their own country.

The career of the brave and indefatigable Spitamenes was about to come to a fatal close. With his Persian followers, aided by three thousand Scythian cavalry, he again invaded Sogdiana. The defence of the eastern frontier of that province had been entrusted to Conus, and a considerable force was under his command. Conus, a prompt and watchful officer, had immediate intelligence of the irruption, and did not allow the Scythian chief time to make any progress, or to rally round him the malecontents. He attacked him without delay, and, after a severe conflict, the invaders were routed, and sustained a loss of eight hundred horse. Discouraged by this defeat, or shrinking, perhaps, from the prospect of a winter campaign, most of his Sogdian and Bactrian troops abandoned him, and made their submission to Conus. The Scythians effected their retreat; but, a report being spread that the Macedonian monarch in person was marching against

them, they cut off the head of Spitamenes, and sent it to Alexander, as a pledge of their intention to remain at peace with him in future.

The death of Spitamenes did not wholly suppress the spirit of resistance, but the inclemency of the season compelled both parties to suspend hostilities. The head-quarters of Alexander were established at Nautaca, in the vicinity of Maracanda. Artabazus, whose advanced age rendered it painful for him to support the toils and alarms of a disturbed satrapy like that of Bactria, solicited to be relieved from the burthen, and Amyntas was consequently appointed in his room. The Tapeirian and Median satraps, who had shown signs of disobedience, were superseded; Stasanor was placed over the Drangians; and the satrapy of Babylon was entrusted to Stamenes, it having become vacant by the death of Mazæus. So terminated the second year spent in the subjugation of the northern provinces.

VOL. VIII.

H

CHAPTER LVI.

THE CONQUEST OF THE PERSIAN EMPIRE COMPLETED. THE CONSPIRACY OF THE PAGES.

Commencement of the third Campaign in Bactria and Sogdiana. Persian Leaders in the northern Provinces. Hill Forts of Oxyartes in Sogdiana, and of Chorienes in Parætacene. The Sogdian Fort besieged by Alexander. Singular Stratagem employed by the Macedonian Monarch. Surrender of the Fort. Alexander marries Roxana, the Daughter of Oxyartes. Oxyartes submits to him. Alexander besieges the Rock of Chorienes. It is surrendered by Chorienes. Defeat of Catanes and Austanes, and Conclusion of the War in the northern Provinces. Alexander returns to the Bactrian Capital. Danger of Alexander from Treason. Disaffection among the Macedonians. Alexander attempts to introduce the Ceremony of Adoration. Speech of Anaxarchus. Reply of Callisthenes. Resentment of Alexander. Character of Callisthenes. Conspi racy of Hermolaus. It is discovered and punished. Fate of Callisthenes.

AT the commencement of Alexander's career in Asia, we have seen that, although he was opposed by all the yet unbroken resources of the Persian empire, two campaigns sufficed to make him master of the whole of Asia Minor and of two-thirds of Syria. Subsequently, a single campaign, or rather a single battle, gave to him all the wide dominions between the upper Euphrates and Persepolis, and rendered Darius a powerless fugitive. But circumstances were now changed. While his armies increased greatly in magnitude, resistance to them

increased in a more than equal proportion. Two toilsome years had already been spent in the northern provinces, and, notwithstanding victories had been gained, garrisons established, and active leaders cut off, the conquest of the refractory Sogdians and Bactrians was still incomplete. New chiefs started up, found willing followers, and, confiding in their mountain citadels, bade defiance to the Macedonian monarch. Eager as Alexander was to carry his arms farther eastward, he could not prudently do so till Bactria and Sogdiana were wholly subdued. He, therefore, put his army in motion at an early period of the year, with the view of ending his labours in this quarter soon enough to allow of his recrossing the Paropamisus, and directing his march towards India, before the close of the campaign.

From the scanty and dateless narrative of Arrian little can be gathered as to the time, and still less as to the place, of operations; nor is the deficiency supplied by Curtius. To discover the precise scene of action is often an enigma, which geographers and historians in vain endeavour to solve. Two instances now occur, in which the difficulty of fixing the site of important positions is insuperable.

Of those who persisted in their opposition to Alexander, one of the principal leaders was Oxyartes. He was a Bactrian chief, and had originally submitted to the Macedonian sway; but patriotism, or some less noble motive, prompted him to reespouse the cause of his countrymen. Keeping the field himself, he secured his wife and daughters in a Sogdian hill fort, which was supposed to be impregnable. Its situation is unknown. A fort of this description still exists on the Kara Tesse mountain, to the eastward of Samarcand. Another leader, Chorienes by name, occupied a post, of similar configuration and strength, in the province of Parætacene. This province, which must not be confounded