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

462 BESSUS SURRENDERED.Before crossing, Alexander allowed a number of old andworn-out Macedonians, and the reenlisted Thessalians whosetime was up, to return to Macedonia. Each horseman is saidto have received a sum equivalent to two thousand two hundreddollars, each foot-soldier five hundred dollars. Thesebounties vary so considerably that no rule of distribution canbe deduced from them. He also sent Stasanor, a Companion,into Aria, to displace Arsames, the viceroy, whom he thoughtdisaffected ; for Bessus had been tampering with him.After crossing,Alexander made a forced march towardsBessus. The latter had quite lost the confidence of his associatesby his constant retreats, and by his weak managementsince the murder of Darius. The king had gone but partway when he was met by messengers from Bessus' chief abettors,Spitamenes, Dataphernes, Catanes and Oxyartes, who,probably overawed by Alexander's evidently offensive intentionin crossing the Oxus, and anxious to make their peacewith the conqueror, had deemed any treachery justifiable, andhad revolted from Bessus and seized his person, as he haddone Darius. They now promised to surrender him if Alexanderwould send them a force to aid in the work. Alexandersent Ptolemy, son of Lagus, with three squadrons of theCompanion cavalry, the lancers, the infantry ofPhilotas, onethousand shield-bearing guards, the Agrianians and half thearchers, — some six thousand men all told, — by forcedmarches towards Sogdiana, he himself following more slowlyto rest his men. This force seemed ample to compel the surrenderif declined.Ptolemy made what is stated as a ten days'march in four (i. e. one hundred and fifty miles in four days,or thirty-seven miles a day) and reached the camp where thebarbarians had been the day before. Spitamenes and Datapherneswere loath to make the surrender of their late companionthemselves, but arranged the matter so as to isolate