Alexander : a history of the origin and growth of the art of war from the earliest times to the battle of Ipsus, , with a detailed account of the campaigns of the great Macedonian . the brigades of Polysperchon, Attains, Gor-gias and Meleager, now reinforced, in several detachmentsamong the Bactrians to hold them in subjection, and to re-duce to control that part of the land which was still in ques-tionable humor; and in order to cover as much ground in asshort a space as possible, and have done with the matter oncefor all, divided the entire rest of his army into five flyingcolumns, und
Alexander : a history of the origin and growth of the art of war from the earliest times to the battle of Ipsus, , with a detailed account of the campaigns of the great Macedonian . the brigades of Polysperchon, Attains, Gor-gias and Meleager, now reinforced, in several detachmentsamong the Bactrians to hold them in subjection, and to re-duce to control that part of the land which was still in ques-tionable humor; and in order to cover as much ground in asshort a space as possible, and have done with the matter oncefor all, divided the entire rest of his army into five flyingcolumns, under Hephaestion, Ptolemy, son of Lagus, Per-diccas, Artabazus and Coenus, and himself. There being 488 THE FIVE COLUMNS. none but isolated bodies to contend with, this was a safeenough proceeding. As the king approached the Oxus andcamped, a spring of water and oil (no doubt petroleum)sprang up or was discovered beside his tent. From this cir-cumstance the soothsayer, Aristander, foretold that victory,but dearly bought, would be his meed in the present under-taking. There are unfortunately few details of this campaign pre-served to us. The Sogdianians had again committed the fatal. BACTRA ^^ Five Column Campaign. imprudence of taking to their fortified towns instead of rely-ing on their usual desultory warfare, which it would havepuzzled the Macedonians infinitely more to meet. These fivecolumns swept to and fro across their land, very likely up anddown the Oxus and the Polytimetus and their affluents, redu-cing place after place, some by force and some by terms ofsurrender, going as far as the Margus River and beyond,and finally rendezvoused at Maracanda. According to Quin-tus Curtius, Alexanders column moved down the Oxus, and FINAL SOGDIAN CAMPAIGN, 489 thence up the Margus, as far as Marginia or Antiochia (mod-ern Merv). Here he built six fortresses, two facing southand four west, to hold in check the Daans from the vicinityof the Caspian Sea. These several insurrections fol
Size: 1976px × 1264px
Photo credit: © The Reading Room / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
Keywords: ., bookcentury1800, bookdecade189, booksubjectmilitaryartandscience
