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FReeper Canteen ~ Alexander The Great: Conquest of Syria, Phoenicia, Egypt ~ January 6, 2004
Alexander The Great of Macedon ^ | January 6, 2004 | LaDivaLoca

Posted on 01/06/2004 3:57:57 AM PST by LaDivaLoca

 
 
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ANCIENT WARFARE

Part III: Ancient Greek Military:
 

Continuation: Alexander The Great

 
Conquest of Syria, Phoenicia and Egypt
332BC
With the intention to isolate the Persian fleet from its maritime bases and so to destroy it as an effective fighting
force, from Issus Alexander marched south into Syria and Phoenicia. The Phoenician cities Marathus and Aradus came over to Alexander with no resistance. In reply to a letter from Darius offering peace, Alexander replied with determination, demanding unconditional surrender to himself as lord of Asia.

The siege of Tyre

After taking Byblos and Sidon, he met serious resistance at Tyre, where he was refused entry into the island city. It was one of those obstinate sieges which often mark the history of the Semitic races. The Tyrians walled them-selves inside their island fortress. Alexander could not leave them to attack his rear and he could not attack by sea so he decided to build a land bridge, which still exists. He succeeded finally only after seven months, not on land but in a very brutal naval battle; the Tyrians fired red hot sand at Alexander's fleet. The storming of Tyre in July 332 When it fell, Alexander had the old Tyrian people scattered to the winds, 30,000 sold as slaves.

In the meantime (winter 333-332) the Persians had counterattacked by land in Asia Minor, but they were defeated by Antigonus, the satrap of Greater Phrygia. In the meantime, at sea, the Persians succeeded in recapturing various Ionian cities and islands.

During the siege of Tyre, Darius opened negotiations in which he ultimately went so far as to offer a partition of the empire, sending a letter with his offer: he wanted to pay ransom of 10,000 talents for his family and cede all his lands west of the Euphrates. Darius Alexander refused the bargain and definitely claimed the whole. On that occasion Alexander's general Parmenio advised him to accept.

"I would accept, were I Alexander." Parmenio said ;
"I too, were I Parmenio!" was Alexander's famous retort;
 
Leaving Parmenio in Syria, Alexander advanced south without opposition until he reached Gaza on its high mound; there bitter resistance halted him for two months, and he sustained a serious shoulder wound during a sortie. The occupation of the rest of Syria and Palestine proceeded smoothly, and after the fall of Gaza Alexander's way lay open into Egypt.





 

Alexander in Egypt

In November 332 he reached Egypt, and the Egyptians welcomed him as their liberator. The Persian satrap Mazaces surrendered with no resistance. At Memphis Alexander was sacrificed to Apis, (Hapi) , and was crowned with the traditional double crown of the pharaohs of Egypt; the Egyptian priests were placated and their religion encouraged.

The winter (332-331) which Alexander spent in Egypt saw two memorable actions on his part:

  • the problematic expedition to the oracle of Zeus Ammon (Oasis of Siwa)
  • the foundation of Alexandria at the Canopic mouth of the Nile

Alexander reorganized Egypt employing Egyptian governors, while keeping the army under a separate Macedonian command. He founded the city of Alexandria near the western arm of the Nile between the sea and Lake Mareotis, protected by the island of Pharos, having it planned by the famous Rhodian architect Deinocrates. From Alexandria he marched along the coast to Paraetonium and from there inland to visit the celebrated oracle of Amon at Siwah. About 570 B.C., the Pharaoh Amasis rebuilt a temple in Siwa dedicated to the Amon (also Amun, Ammon, Hammon).

Tradition claims that in Egypt Dionysus founded the oracle of Ammon. One day he was wandering in the waterless desert with his followers when they saw a solitary ram. As they followed the animal it disappeared, but a spring of water was found where it had been. There the god placed the oracle, and set the ram in in heaven as the constellation of Aries. ...When the gods fled to Egypt from the monstrous Typhon, Dionysus changed himself into goat...
The temple oracle was one of the most famous in antiquity and was famed for being able to answer difficult question. According tradition he was descended from the heroes Heracles and Perseus. Both of these heroes had visited the oracle in their lifetime, and Alexander thought it appropriate that he should visit it as well. When he reached the oracle in its oasis, the priest gave him the traditional salutation of a pharaoh, as son of Ammon; Alexander consulted the oracle and:
Oracle proclaimed Alexander the son of Deus - Amon (Zeus). It changed his life for ever.

 
Alexander in Mesopotamia
331
In the spring of 331 Alexander could at last leave the Mediterranean to strike into the heart of the Persian empire, for by his occupation of all Mediterranean harbors the Persian command of the sea had inevitably collapsed, without having any significant maritime battle.  He returned to Phoenicia, nominated a Macedonian satrap for Syria, and prepared to advance into Mesopotamia, toward Babylon. Early in July 331 Alexander was at Thapsacus on the river Euphrates, then he advanced across northern Mesopotamia toward the Tigris. Darius sent his general Mazaeus, who marched up the Tigris to oppose him.

The Battle of Gaugamela
The last army gathered by an Achaemenian king was shattered in the battle called popularly after the city of Arbela some 100 km distant, or more precisely after the village of Gaugamela hard by. The Battle of Gaugamela (or Arabela as it is also called in Assyria), was the last big battle of the war, which took the place on the plain of Gaugamela between Nineveh and Arbela on the 1st October 331 BC. The happy coincidence of a lunar eclipse gives us the 1st October 331 BC as the exact day upon which the Macedonian army crossed the Tigris. Darius III succeeded to escape with his Bactrian cavalry and Greek mercenaries into Media before the battle was over. Alexander remained till he had secured the provinces to the south. He followed the Tigris into Babylonia. Babylon welcomes Alexander as new "King of Asia"; Mazaeus, who wisely surrendered Babylon was confirmed by Alexander as satrap. Alexander with Mazaeus was so generous that he granted him the right to have his coin. The same as in Egypt, the local religion and priests was encouraged. From Babylon went on to seize the riches which the Persian kings had amassed in their spring residence, Susa. Susa, also surrendered, releasing fabulous amounts of silver and gold which corresponds to 120.000 talents, when the gold was estimated in terms of silver.

Thence he at last ascended upon the Iranian plateau. The mountain tribes on the road (the Oxii, Pers, Huzha), accustomed to exact blackmail even from the king's train, learnt by a bitter lesson that a stronger hand had come to wield the empire. Reducing to obedience the mountain tribe of the Oxians, he now continued over the Zagros range into Persia, and successfully took the Pass the Persian Gates, held by the satrap Ariobarzanes. Alexander had become Lord of Asia.

Alexander entered in the capital of Persia, Persepolis and Pasargadae, the cradle of the Achaemenian dynasty, and came upon new masses of treasure in the royal city, Persepolis. As a symbol that the Panhellenic war was terminated, Alexander ceremonially burned down the palace of Xerxes; solemn revenge for the destruction of Greek temples by Xerxes generations ago, Dionysiastic act that was inspired by the Athenian courtesan Thaïs.

330
Later in spring 330 Alexander marched north into Media and occupied its capital Ecbatana. Panhellenic war was over, the Thessalians and Greek allies were sent home; since then he was conducting a purely personal war. Since the Panhellenic war of revenge came to an end, Alexander's political and ideological views on the empire were changing: He had come to new political idea of two jointly ruling people: Macedonians and Persians. That new politics created the opposition and misunderstanding between Alexander and Macedonians.

Alexander was prepared for further pursuit. Darius fled northwards from Ecbatana upon his approach. At Ecbatana new masses of treasure were seized, but when once the necessary measures which its disposal and the occupation of the Median capital entailed were taken. Before continuing to pursuit Darius, who had escaped into Bactria, he collected all the Persian treasure and entrusted it to Harpalus, who was to keep it at Ecbatana as chief treasurer. Parmenio was also left behind in Media to control communication lines.

Summer 330 Darius Death

Alexander with his fastest troops chased Darius for 12 days and nights and has passed over 800 km. Meanwhile Darius troop strength was reduced to 6000 foot and 3000 horse. Darius had moved to Bactria, to Bessus - the satrap of Bactria. It was an thrilling chase of king by king, in which each covered the ground by barely credible exertions, past Rhagae (Rai) and the Caspian gates, till early one morning Alexander came in sight of the broken train which still clung to the fallen king. His cousin Bessus and the Persian magnates staged a coup d'etat and had betrayed and imprisoned Darius, at Skirmish (near modern Shahrud, after a the Caspian Gates), the usurper Bessus finally had stabbed his king Darius III and left him to die in agony.
Bessus preferred Darius dead than imprisoned. If Darius had surrendered, Alexander would leave him alive. Alexander organized an imperial funeral with all honors for the last Persian emperor. Alexander, later, captured satarp Bessus, new pretender to the Persian throne. Darius' murder was punished and Bessus was humiliated with a public flogging before execution.

 

Campaign eastward, to Central Asia

After the Darius' death there was no obstacle to Alexander's claim to be Great King, and a Rhodian inscription of the year 330 BC. calls him "lord of Asia", in sense of the Persian Empire; soon afterward his Asian coins have the title of king. Crossing the Elburz Mountains to the south of the Caspian which connects western Iran with the provinces to the east of the great central desert, he seized Zadracarta in Hyrcania and received the submission of a group of satraps and Persian notables. To conquer this remaining portion of the empire, Alexander now went on through the mountain belt, teaching the power of his arms to the mountain people who inhabited the Elburz Mountains, Tapyri and Mardi, till he came, passing through Zadracarta (Asterabad), to Parthia and thence to Aria. Darius' Greek mercenaries were surrenders as well. His advance eastward was fast. In Aria he reduced to obedience Satibarzanes. In these further provinces of Iran the Macedonian King had for the first time to encounter a serious local opposition, for in the west the Iranian rule had been merely the domination of an foreign power over native populations indifferent or hostile. Here the ruling race was at home. He founded yet another Alexandria of the Aryans (modern Herat).

329
From Phrada during the winter of 330-329, Alexander moves to south through
Arachosia toward valley of the Helmand River, and crossed the country of the Paropamisadae, where he founded another cities Alexandria in Aracosia and Alexandria by the Caucasus. The ordinarily chronology makes Alexander reach the Kabul valley in the winter of 330-329. That to fit the actions and distances covered by Alexander into such a scheme, assuming that he went by Seistan and Kandahar, would involve physical impossibilities. In the meantime Bessus in Bactria was organizing a revolt in the eastern satrapies with the usurped title of Great King. In Central Asia to Alexander has reached the information that Bessus had taken the diadem, as Darius' successor in Bactria, but so soon as he marched against him Aria rose in his rear, and Alexander had to return in all rush to bring the revolt under. Nor did he, when this was accomplished, again strike directly at Bactria, but made a large turning movement through Seistan over Kandahar into the Kabul valley. Crossing the mountains of Hindu Kush, Alexander marches northward over the Khawak Pass (over 3000m), Alexander brought his troops, despite food shortages, snow and very cold climate to Drapsaca (modern Banu ).

It was on the way, in Seistan at Prophthasia (mod. Farrah), that the alienation between Alexander and his Macedonian followers, which becomes sensible in the latter part of his career, first showed itself in an ugly form. Alexander had come to merge the characters of Macedonian king and Hellenic captain-general, with which he had set out, in that of Oriental despot. He wore on occasions of state the Persian dress. A discontent began to work among the Macedonians, and at Prophtniasia the commander of the Macedonian cavalry the son of Parmenio, and certain others were arraigned before the army on the charge of conspiring against the king's life. They were condemned and put to death. Not satisfied with procuring this, Alexander had Parmenio himself, who had been left in command in Media, put to death by secret orders.

Philotas, Parmenio's son, commander of the elite Companion cavalry, took a part in a plot against Alexander. He was condemned by the army, and executed; and a secret message was sent to Cleander, Parmenio's second in command, who obediently assassinated him. This brutal action diffused horror but strengthened Alexander's position. All Parmenio's men were eliminated and men close to Alexander promoted. The Companion cavalry was reorganized in two sections, each containing four squadrons (since then known as hipparchies); one group was commanded by Alexander's oldest friend, Hephaestion, the other by Cleitus, an older man.

328

In the spring of 328 Alexander crossed westward the Hindu Kush into Bactria Bactra-Zariaspa (modern Balkh/Wazirabad in Afghanistan), appointed loyal satraps in Bactria and Aria, and followed the retreat of Bessus across the Oxus and into Sogdiana (Bokhara) Crossing the Oxus, he sent his general Ptolemy in pursuit of Bessus, who had meanwhile been overthrown by the Sogdian Spitamenes. In the July, Bessus was captured, flogged, and sent to Bactria, where he was later mutilated after the Persian manner (losing his nose and ears); several months later he was publicly executed at Ecbatana. They fastened him to a couple of trees which were bound down so as to meet, and then being let loose, with a great force returned to their places, each of them carrying that part of the body along with it that was tied to it. The Bessus was treated with the barbaric cruelty which the rule of the old Persian monarchy prescribed for rebels.

Alexander occupies Maracanda (modern Samarkand). From there Alexander marched to north by way of Cyropolis to the Jaxartes (modern Syrdarya), at the extreme limits of the Persian Empire. There he broke the rebellion of the Scythian nomads, who had massacred Macedonian soldiers. At the site of modern Khojent on the Jaxartes, he founded a city, Alexandria Eschate, "the last Alexandria" In the mean time Spitamenes, prince of Sogdiana had raised in revolt, who had escaped in the hart of Asiatic Russia raising the Massagetai against the Macedons. He now made one raid across the frontier river, the Jaxartes (Sir Dana), to teach the fear of his name to the outlying peoples of the steppe (summer 328). It took Alexander until the autumn of 328 to crush the most rigid opponent he encountered in his campaigns. In the autumn, Alexander’s general Craterus triumphed over the Massagetai; who then have killed Spitamenes, offering his head to Alexander, asking for the peace. It is interesting fact that Spitamenes daughter, Apame had become the wife of Seleuco, who had later founded the Seleucid dynasty. At Maracanda in the autumn of 328 BC, during the dyonisiastic feasts, Alexander murdered Cleitus, one of his most trusted commanders. That event widened the detachment between Alexander and many Macedonians. Alexander occupies Maracanda (modern Samarkand). From there Alexander marched to north by way of Cyropolis to the Jaxartes (modern Syrdarya), at the extreme limits of the Persian Empire. There he broke the rebellion of the Scythian nomads, who had massacred Macedonian soldiers. At the site of modern Khojent on the Jaxartes, he founded a city, Alexandria Eschate, "the last Alexandria" In the mean time Spitamenes, prince of Sogdiana had raised in revolt, who had escaped in the hart of Asiatic Russia raising the Massagetai against the Macedons. It took Alexander until the autumn of 328 to crush the most rigid opponent he encountered in his campaigns. In the autumn, Alexander’s general Craterus triumphed over the Massagetai; who then have killed Spitamenes, offering his head to Alexander, asking for the peace. It is interesting fact that Spitamenes daughter, Apame had become the wife of Seleuco, who had later founded the Seleucid dynasty.

Spring 327

Till the spring of 327 Alexander was moving to and from in Bactria and Sogdiana, beating down the recurrent rebellions and planting Greek cities. On his march towards India through Afghanistan, he attacked Oxyartes and the remaining three princes (Corienes, Catanes and Austanes) who controlled the hills of Paraetacene (modern Tadzhikistan). One of his splendid moves was the capture of the Sogdian Rock. At the top of the rock was Oxyartes, who felt protected because of the vertical cliffs on each side. He provoked Alexander to send up men with wings to take the fortress. Alexander did exactly what Oxyartes ironically proposed. He sent up 300 experienced climbers during the night with the assurance of spectacular wealth if they succeed. The climb - a "very severe" in alpinistic manner of speech was concluded by the majority of the soldiers. Next morning Oxyartes was shocked to see these men "with wings" waving down at him. He surrendered with no resistance. Alexander and Oxyartes became good friends. Alexander married his sister (according some authors his daughter) Roxanne. In one of them he captured Roxana, the daughter of Oxyartes, whom he made his wife. Before the summer of 327 he had once more crossed the Hindu Kush on his way to India (see F. von Schwarz, Alex. d. Grossen Feldzuge in Turkestan, 1893, v.).

In the meantime the rift between Alexander and his European troops continued to show itself in dark incidents. Shortly afterward, at Bactra, he tried to impose the Persian court ceremonial, the prostration (proskynesis, genuflexsion) on the Greeks and Macedonians too. This custom which was normal for Persians entering the king's presence, to them was intolerable and unacceptable. Even Callisthenes, historian and nephew of Aristotle and an old friend of Alexander, refused to abase himself. Several weeks later Callisthenes was held to be involved in conspiracy among the royal pages at Bactria and was arrested (he was executed or died in prison according some authors). It was now that Alexander completed the conquest of the provinces north of the Hindu Kush by the reduction of the last mountain strongholds of the native princes.

 

Invasion of India

Summer 327 - Winter 326

Before Alexander crossed into India in early summer 327 BC, he felt the necessity to reorganize the army that he had led through Persia and to it adapt the different climate and terrain. He burned all of the baggage wagons of Persian booty that impeded his mobility, and he dismissed a large number of his soldiers, reshaping his army with several thousand east Iranian cavalrymen. The fighting forces were about 40,000, while the troops with auxiliary services were 120,000 men. Crossing again the Hindu Kush mountain, this time without snow, by Bamian and the Ghorband Valley, Alexander split his forces. Whilst the heavier troops with the luggage moved down the Kabul valley to Pencelaotis (Charsadda) under Perdiccas and Hephaestion, both cavalry commanders, was sent through the Khyber Pass, Alexander led a body of lighter-armed troops and cavalry pushed up the valleys which join the Kabul from the north through the regions now known as Bajour, Swat and Buner, inhabited by Indian hill peoples. A number of their "cities" were reduced by Alexander. Ancient walled mountain villages can be in some cases identified with places where the clans are established today. The crowning exploit was the reduction of Aornus, a stronghold perched on a precipitous summit above the Indus, which it was said that Heracles had failed to take. We cannot say how much of the story of Alexander's discovery of the sacred mountain of the Nysa and the traces of Dionysus is due to the Aristobulus and Clitarchus invention.

Meantime Perdiccas and Hephaestion had built a bridge over the Indus, and by this in the spring of 326 Alexander passed into the Punjab (at Ohind, m. above Attock, according to Foucher, Notes sur la geogr. ane. di' Gandhara, 1902). The country into which he came was dominated by three principalities, that of Ambhi between the Indus and the Hydaspes (Jhelum, Jehlam), centered in the great city of Takkasila (Gr. Taxila), that of the Paurara rajah (Gr. Porus) between the Hydaspes and Acesines (Chenaf), and that of Abhisara (Gr. Alisares) between the same two rivers higher up, on the confines of Kashmir.

In spring 326, crossing the river Cofen, Alexander entered Taxila, and
King Taxiles equipped Alexander with elephants and troops in return for aid against his rival Porus, who ruled the lands between the Hydaspes and the Acesines. The kings of Taxila and Porus were at enmity, and for this cause the invader could reckon upon Omphis as a firm ally. Porus was prepared to contest the passage of the Hydaspes with all his strength. Abisares preferred to play a double game and wait upon events. Alexander reached the Hydaspes just as the rains broke, when the river was already swollen. In June 326 BC. on the left bank of the Hydaspes against Porus, one of the most powerful Indian kings, Alexander fought the fourth and last of his pitched battles in Asia, the one which put to proof more shrewdly than any of the others the quality of the Macedonian army as an instrument of war, and yet again emerged victorious. Porus held the opposite bank with a potent army, including 200 elephants. Alexander's army crossed the heavily defended river in dramatic manner during a night of torrential rain. The Indians were defeated in a brutal battle, although they fought with elephants. Porus fell deeply wounded into his hands. Alexander captured Porus and, like the other kings he had defeated, allowed him to continue to reign his country. Alexander even conquered an autonomous province and granted it to Porus as a gift. He founded two cities there, Alexandria Nicaea (to celebrate his victory) and Bucephala (named after his horse Bucephalus, who died there); and Porus became his friend and ally. When he continued his progress eastwards across the Acesines, Porus was an active ally. Alexander moved along close under the hills. After crossing the Hydraotes (Ritvi) he once more came into contact with hostile tribes, and the work of

November 326 - Spring 325

Alexander's next goal was to reach the Ganges River, which was actually 400 kilometers away. He was impatient to continue farther, but when the Hyphasis (Beas) was reached, his army exhausted in body and spirit denied to go farther in the tropical rain. Then the Hyphasis was reached, it was a bitter mortification to Alexander, before whose imagination new vistas had just opened out eastwards, where there beckoned the unknown world of the Ganges and its splendid kings. For three days the will of king and people were locked in antagonism; Coenus, one of Alexander's four chief commanders, acted as their speaker. His soldiers had heard stories of the powerful Indian tribes that lived on the Ganges and remembered the difficulty of the battle with Porus, they refused to proceed any farther. On finding the army insistent, although he was extremely disappointed, he accepted their decision, but persuaded them to travel south down the rivers Hydaspes and Indus so that they might reach the Ocean. On the Hyphasis he erected 12 altars to the 12 Olympian gods. On the Hydaspes Phoenician and Egyptian sailors built a fleet of 800 ships. He then proceeded down the river and into the Indus, with half his forces on shipboard and half marching in three columns down the two banks, leaded by Craterus, Hephesteion and him. The fleet was commanded by Nearchus, and Alexander's own captain was Onesicritus; both of them later wrote the memoirs of the campaign. The march was attended with much fighting and heavy, merciless massacre; at the invasion of one town of the Malli near the Hydraotes (Ravi) River, Alexander was heavily wounded. During this journey, Alexander sought out the Indian philosophers, the Brahmins, who were famous for their wisdom, and debated them on philosophical issues. He became legendary for centuries in India for being both a wise philosopher and a courageous conqueror.

Alexander and his army reached the mouth of the Indus in July 325 B.C. Alexander left the conquered portion of India east of the Indus to be governed under Porus, Omphis of Taxila, and Abisares; the country west of the Indus under Macedonian governors, and set out to explore the great river to its mouth (for the organization of the Indian provinces, see especially Niese, vol. i. pp. 500 f.). The fleet prepared on the Hydaspes sailed in October, while a land army moved along the bank. The confluence of the Hydaspes and Acesines passed, the Macedonians were once more in a region of hostile tribes with towns to be stormed.

It was at one of these, a village of the Malli, that a memorable incident occurred, such as characterized the personality of Alexander for all succeeding time. One of the villages in which the army stopped belonged to the Malli, who were said to be one of the most warlike of the Indian tribes. Alexander was wounded several times in this attack, most seriously when an arrow pierced his breastplate and his ribcage. He leapt from the wall with only three companions into the hostile environment, and, before the army behind him could effect an entrance, lay wounded almost to death. The Macedonian officers rescued him in a narrow escape from the village. He recovered and beat down the resistance of the tribes, leaving them annexed to the Macedonian satrapy west of the Indus. Below the confluence of the Punjab rivers into the single stream of the Indus the territory of loose tribes was succeeded by another group of regular principalities, under the rajahs called by the Greeks Musicanus, Oxycanus and Sambus. These opposed a national resistance to the Macedonians, the fires of which were fanned by the Brahmins, but still the strong arm of the western people prevailed.

Summer 325

The rajah of Patala abandoned his country and fled. It was the high summer of 325 when Alexander reached Patala, situated at the apex of the Indus delta, built a harbor and explored both arms of the Indus, which then ran into the Rann of Kutch. From here he explored both arms of the delta to the ocean, now seen by the Macedonians for the first time.

He had determined that the Indus fleet should be used to explore this new world and try to find a water way between the Indus and the Persian Gulf. A great part of the land-forces had been already sent off under Craterus in the earlier summer to return west by Kandahar and Seistan; the fleet was to sail under the Nearchus from the Indus mouth toward Persian Gulf; Nearchus, a Cretan with naval experience, who made a exploration voyage along the Persian Gulf. was put in command of a fleet of 150 ships that took the sea route. Nearchus sailed westwards with northeast monsoon in late October 325 BC. Alexander himself intended to lead land-forces, across the dangerous, coast of Baluchistan, through the terrible sand-wastes of the Gedrosian Desert (Mekran).

September - October 325

Alexander marched along the coast through Gedrosia (modern Baluchistan), but he was soon forced by mountainous country to turn inland. Craterus, a high ranking officer, already had been sent off with the baggage and siege train, the elephants, and the sick and wounded, together with three battalions of the phalanx, by way of the Mulla Pass, Quetta, and Kandahar into the Helmand Valley; from there he marched through Drangiana in order to rejoin the main army on the Amanis (modern Minab) River in Carmania. Alexander, on land, lost nearly three quarters of his army because of the severe conditions of the desert, and in a unexpected monsoon flood while they were encamped in a Wadi many of them died.

Autumn - Winter 325

When the survivors reached the region called Carmania, their fortune changed radically as they were welcomed into the prosperous country. Alexander and his men celebrated the end of their calamities in the desert and traveled in luxury to Harmezeia, where they rejoined to Nearchus' fleet, which also had suffered losses. Then the joined army marched to Persis to take rest.

 

Next Tuesday, conclusion of Ancient Greek Military:
Alexander the Great: Consolidation of the Empire



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KEYWORDS: alexanderthegreat; ancientwarfare; egypt; godsgravesglyphs; military; phoecinia; syria
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To: Old Sarge
ABout your tagline...are you going?
421 posted on 01/06/2004 9:53:50 PM PST by StarCMC (God protect the 969th in Iraq and their Captain, my brother...God protect them all!)
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To: Kathy in Alaska; LaDivaLoca
Here's a fitting end for an al-Qaeda drug smuggling ship:


040104-N-5070K-002 North Arabian Sea (Jan. 4, 2004) -- U.S. Navy and Marine Corps Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) personnel destroy a captured dhow after a successful interception mission by ships from Expeditionary Strike Group One (ESG-1) on January 1, 2004. The stateless vessel’s 15 crewmembers and 2,800 pounds of hashish, worth approximately $11 million street value, were intercepted and detained as part the ESG’s continuing support to expanded maritime interception operations (MIO) and the global war on terrorism. ESG 1’s interception was the third in two weeks by coalition maritime forces in the region. USS Decatur (DDG 73) detained a dhow and its 12 crewmembers and seized upward of $10 million in hashish Dec. 15; USS Philippine Sea (CG 58) detained two dhows and their 21 crewmembers and seized 85 pounds of heroin and 150 pounds of methamphetamines Dec. 20. Of the total 33 crewmembers originally detained in the first two interceptions, 10 have been transferred to a secret, undisclosed facility for further questioning by U.S. officials. They were transferred after initial interrogations revealed possible al Qaeda connections. The remaining 23 crewmembers were turned over to officials of a country in the region. The detainees from the Jan. 1 seizure remain with U.S. officials aboard U.S. warships in the region for further questioning. Of the previously seized dhows, one was sunk by coalition maritime forces due its lack of seaworthiness, and two others were turned over to other countries in the region. With the exception of small amounts kept as evidence and for analysis, all contraband has been destroyed. U.S. Navy photo by Photographer’s Mate Airman Jeffrey Klemm. (RELEASED)

422 posted on 01/06/2004 9:57:04 PM PST by Excuse_My_Bellicosity (Bad spellers of the world untie!!)
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To: StarCMC
They left Friday.

Without me.

423 posted on 01/06/2004 9:57:19 PM PST by Old Sarge (149th Armd' Bde, KyARNG: Bosnia-bound. Remember us.)
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To: Old Sarge; Kathy in Alaska; bentfeather; blackie; All
One day a father of a very wealthy family took his son on a trip to the
country with the firm purpose of showing his son how poor people live. They
spent a couple of days and nights on the farm of what would be considered
a very poor family.

On their return from their trip, the father asked his son, "How was the
trip?"

"It was great, Dad."

"Did you see how poor people live?" the father asked.

"Oh yeah," said the son.

"So, tell me, what did you learn from the trip?" asked the father.

The son answered: "I saw that we have one dog and they had four. We have a
pool that reaches to the middle of our garden and they have a creek that
has no end. We have imported lanterns in our garden and they have the stars
at night. Our patio reaches to the front yard and they have the whole
horizon. We have a small piece of land to live on and they have fields that go
beyond our sight. We have servants who serve us, but they serve others. We
buy our food, but they grow theirs. We have walls around our property to
protect us, they have friends to protect them."

The boy's father was speechless.

Then his son added, "Thanks, Dad, for showing me how poor we are."

Too many times, we forget what we have and concentrate on what we don't
have. What is one's person's worthless object is another's prize possession.
It is all based on one's perspective. Makes you wonder what would happen
if we all gave thanks for all the bounty we have instead of worrying about
wanting more. Take joy and appreciate every single thing you have,
especially your friends!
424 posted on 01/06/2004 9:57:35 PM PST by StarCMC (God protect the 969th in Iraq and their Captain, my brother...God protect them all!)
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To: Excuse_My_Bellicosity
Oooh, see the pretty candles!
425 posted on 01/06/2004 9:58:34 PM PST by Old Sarge (149th Armd' Bde, KyARNG: Bosnia-bound. Remember us.)
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To: Old Sarge
You gotta have some mixed feelings about that.
426 posted on 01/06/2004 10:00:07 PM PST by StarCMC (God protect the 969th in Iraq and their Captain, my brother...God protect them all!)
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To: Old Sarge
Back home, finally.
Thanks for Standing the Watch in the Canteen.
427 posted on 01/06/2004 10:01:16 PM PST by 68-69TonkinGulfYachtClub (Same Canteen! Just a different Name!)
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To: Old Sarge; Kathy in Alaska; fatima; StarCMC; MoJo2001; Long Cut; txradioguy; LaDivaLoca; All

Good night Troops and Canteen Crew
If you wish click the graphic.
Remember ~ Dream a Little ~ Love a Lot~

428 posted on 01/06/2004 10:01:25 PM PST by Soaring Feather (I do Poetry and ~Dream a Lot~)
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To: Excuse_My_Bellicosity
Hi EMB - I don't think we;ve met, but I have enjoyed your posts! Glad to finally "meet" you!


429 posted on 01/06/2004 10:04:11 PM PST by StarCMC (God protect the 969th in Iraq and their Captain, my brother...God protect them all!)
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To: bentfeather
Sweet Dreams
God Bless You
430 posted on 01/06/2004 10:04:41 PM PST by 68-69TonkinGulfYachtClub (Same Canteen! Just a different Name!)
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To: StarCMC
I do indeed.
431 posted on 01/06/2004 10:04:48 PM PST by Old Sarge (149th Armd' Bde, KyARNG: Bosnia-bound. Remember us.)
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To: bentfeather
Thank you, Feathers, for making me sprint to catch up to you. I become a better man for it.
432 posted on 01/06/2004 10:05:40 PM PST by Old Sarge (149th Armd' Bde, KyARNG: Bosnia-bound. Remember us.)
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To: Old Sarge
Didja send the guys (& gals?) with the url for the Canteen? Hope they stop by!
433 posted on 01/06/2004 10:06:40 PM PST by StarCMC (God protect the 969th in Iraq and their Captain, my brother...God protect them all!)
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To: 68-69TonkinGulfYachtClub; LindaSOG; Kathy in Alaska; MoJo2001; bentfeather; Bethbg79; tomkow6; ...

Well, FRiends, it's time to hit the rack. Thank all y'all for yet another good Canteen evening.

Let's do it again tomorrow!

SARGE

434 posted on 01/06/2004 10:07:44 PM PST by Old Sarge (149th Armd' Bde, KyARNG: Bosnia-bound. Remember us.)
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To: StarCMC
I'll check out the petition link in a bit.
Need to take care of some things.
Thanks for posting it.
435 posted on 01/06/2004 10:08:37 PM PST by 68-69TonkinGulfYachtClub (Same Canteen! Just a different Name!)
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To: 68-69TonkinGulfYachtClub
Hiya Tonk - welcome back! What's the good word? Lots of good looking heroes in the making inducted (commissioned??) tonight?
436 posted on 01/06/2004 10:08:44 PM PST by StarCMC (God protect the 969th in Iraq and their Captain, my brother...God protect them all!)
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To: StarCMC
Hey, good to see ya!
437 posted on 01/06/2004 10:11:33 PM PST by Excuse_My_Bellicosity (Bad spellers of the world untie!!)
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To: StarCMC
"What's the good word? Lots of good looking heroes in the making inducted"

Just us old timer Auxiliary members.
438 posted on 01/06/2004 10:12:51 PM PST by 68-69TonkinGulfYachtClub (Same Canteen! Just a different Name!)
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To: Excuse_My_Bellicosity
Thanks for your pics!
439 posted on 01/06/2004 10:14:21 PM PST by 68-69TonkinGulfYachtClub (Same Canteen! Just a different Name!)
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To: bentfeather
Night beautuful.
440 posted on 01/06/2004 10:18:17 PM PST by fatima (Karen is home ,Thank you for your prayers,2 weeks leave,4 ID)
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