Philip II and Alexander the Great: Father and Son ... - Historia Antigua

HIERONYMUS OF CARDIA 147
completing the burial of the dead and leading his army to the wellsupplied
environs of Gabene (Diod. 19.33.1–34.7).
The description resembles, perhaps by intention, Herodotus’
description of the Thracian wives, who also competed for the honor
of joining their dead husbands. It might even have been partly
informed by Indian tales. 26 I wish to draw attention here to the Greek
rendering of the story. Hieronymus reports Hellenic criticism of the
practice, but the descriptors used for the wives’ conduct leave no
doubt about his admiration. They behaved piously, courageously,
nobly, honorably, heroically, and without a thought for themselves.
Could they have been more different from the troops in Eumenes’
army, who a few days earlier had prevented their leader from burying
the dead because they wanted to return to their baggage? On the one
hand, we are shown enthusiastic conformity and strict obedience to
the law, an exemplary self-control, a noble victory over fear and pain,
and the highest form of self-sacrifi ce. On the other, we see lack of
discipline and defi ance, an inability to overcome bodily wants, and
an unwillingness to do something for others. Ceteus’ wife paid her
dead husband the ultimate honor and gave away all her very precious
belongings. The troops would not even return to give the dead their
last honors, because they wished to be reunited with their personal,
and presumably far less valuable, belongings. Two Indian women,
who in good Greek elitist fashion competed for a good name in deference
to societal norms, thus put to shame the selfi sh, inconsiderate,
and lawless troops. That the contrast was not coincidental is indicated
fi rst by the context for the story of the Indian funeral, which
concerns the burial of the dead of Paraetacene, and also by the two
sentences that introduce and conclude the digression with references
to Eumenes’ giving a magnifi cent burial to the dead.
The fact that in both episodes barbarians behave better than the
Macedonians does not necessarily contradict the author’s elitist attitudes.
In Hieronymus, positive depictions of barbarians show them
conforming to traditional Greek ideals. This is true for the Indian
wives discussed above; for the Isaurians whom Perdiccas fought in
322 and who were willing to sacrifi ce themselves, their families, and
their possessions for the sake of liberty; for the young Pisidians who
in 319 honored Alcetas, Perdiccas’ brother and their benefactor, with
a magnifi cent burial after Antigonus abused his body for three days
and then discarded it unburied; and for the Nabatean Arabs in
Hieronymus’ famous digression. The latter were resourceful, manly,
eager to fi ght for their freedom, and steadfastly attached to their way
of life. 27 Barbarians who validated Greek values thus demonstrated
where the Macedonians and their leaders went wrong.