Alexander : a history of the origin and growth of the art of war from ...

398 CURTIUS' ACCOUNT.edly upon these barbarians, destroyed their villages, and capturedmuch booty. And having demoralized them, so thatthey were unprepared to act, he anticipated them by a forcedmarch to the defile they had proposed to defend, reaching theplace well ahead of any considerable body of the Uxians.When the Uxian warriors put in their appearance they foundthe defile occupied, and theand ready to advance upon them.Macedonians drawn up in orderUtterly nonplussed by Alexander'scelerity, and by the surrounding of their chosenposition, the Uxians did not pretend to sustain themselves,but fled. Many were slain ; many in their flight were thrustover the precipices ; many sought refuge in the mountains,and were captured or killed by Craterus. Their defeat wastotal.This is Arrian's account, who mentions no particidarlyhard fighting ;but Quintus Curtius and some other authoritiesstate that the Macedonians laid regular siege to theUxian stronghold, while the light troops took it in the rear.There was such stanch defense that the siege threatened tobe a failure. On one occasion, in fact, the shower of arrowsand darts was so heavy that the troops were on the point offalling back, and had formed a tortoise, under the protectionof which they were seeking to force even the king to fall tothe rear. For a moment Alexander was helpless to controlhis men. He was reduced to shaming them into their usualvigor by recalling their past deeds. Stung by his vigorousreproaches, the phalangites recovered their courage. Theladders and engines were got intoposition, and Craterus nowappearing in the rear of the barbarians, the works were eventuallycarried. Only the bald details of this interesting manoeuvreare narrated by the old historians.Alexander founded his courseon the well-known habit ofmany barbarians to fight and prepare for action only by day.