English
Section 17: Alexander's Iron Army
When the reply reached Alexander, he at once picked chieftains from his army,
men who were worthy and fit to lead, both seasoned by experience and young in vigor.
He marched an army toward Porus of India, for no land was left on earth but that bounded by the sea.
The army pressed forward in every direction, as if there were no other road on earth.
Mountains, seas, and rough roads had killed the fire of war in the warriors' hearts.
The whole army grew weary of the march, from that hard road and the fierce fighting.
As soon as the army reached its camp, a group went to the king,
and said: Caesar of Rome, commander of China, the earth cannot bear your army.
Porus of India does not seek war with you, nor does the emperor of China, nor the lord of Sind.
Why must the army be destroyed in this worthless border land and on such a road?
We cannot find a single sound horse in the whole army fit to charge swiftly into battle.
If the army wants to turn back from this war, neither rider nor foot soldier will find a way home.
Until now we have been victorious, though everywhere the army was uneasy and doubtful.
Now there are only mountains and seas ahead, and no one has grown tired of their own life.
Do not turn our whole name into shame; no one goes to war against water and stone.
Alexander grew grieved at their words, flared up in anger, and shattered their bargaining.
He said: In the war against the Persians, no Roman came to any harm.
It was Darius' own base servants who struck him down; not one of you even saw the dust of danger.
I will pass along this road without you, and trample the heart of the dragon underfoot.
Then you will see that once Porus is worn down, he will never rise again to war or to feast.
God is my ally, and the army of Iran; I do not want the Romans as my well-wishers.
When the king grew furious at this talk, the army turned toward apology,
saying: We are all Caesar's servants to the last man; we tread no land but at his command.
We will fight on, and when the horses are lost, the army will go into battle on foot.
Even if they turn the sea's floor to earth with our blood and pile the slain into a high mound,
no one will see our backs on the day of war, even if the heavens rained down a mountain of stone.
We are all your servants, and the command is yours; if you choose to strike, our lives are yours.
When Alexander heard their words, he laid the foundation for another kind of war.
He chose thirty thousand of the Persians, all equipped with the tools of battle.
Battle-tested chieftains set out, armored men and hardened warriors.
Behind them rode the Roman horsemen, another core force, forty thousand strong.
Behind them the horsemen of Egypt, the brave and dagger-wielding men of Egypt.
Forty thousand swordsmen marched out, everyone fit for the work of war.
From the kin of Darius and the Persians, everyone of royal Kayanid blood,
from the Romans, the Egyptians, and the Berbers, worthy horsemen and soldiers,
Caesar chose twelve thousand, all seekers of battle and all renowned,
so that at his rear, from this host, the gate and plain would stand firm like a mountain.
From among the astrologers and priests, worldly-wise and famous sages,
he took sixty men with him, students of the fortunes of war.
When Porus learned the army was coming, he chose his ground for the battlefield.
The army swarmed across the plain, and the earth beneath the elephants rose like a mountain.
They drew up the army over four miles, the warriors behind and the elephants in front.
Scouts from India also went to the king of the world,
and told him much about the war-elephant: that it could throw a horse from two miles off.
No rider dares approach it, and once he does, there is no way back.
Its trunk rises higher than the air; Saturn itself is its helper from the sky.
They drew the elephant on paper and set it before the eyes of the world-seeker.
He ordered the philosophers of Rome, and they made him an elephant out of wax.
He said: Now let pure reason find some remedy for this.
The seekers of knowledge sat together and searched, more or less, for a solution.
He gathered an assembly of blacksmiths, everyone who was a master of the craft.
From Romans, Egyptians, and Persians, the men numbered more than twelve hundred.
They built a steed of iron, its rider of iron, and its saddle of iron too.
They joined the seams with nails and copper, and made the rider and the horse's body gleam.
They wheeled it before the king on a cart, its inside filled with black naphtha.
Alexander saw it and was pleased; the wise man found it useful.
He ordered that more than a thousand of these horses and riders be made of iron,
of dappled grey, white, chestnut, and black; who has ever seen a king with an army of iron?
He drove an army of iron onto carts, one that resembled nothing but real war-riders.