In tribute to his ancestor Achilles, Alexander was struck by an arrow to ankle during the Siege of Massaga (327 BCE), breaking the bone. The Indian fort was then reduced to rubble and its inhabitants massacred.
Decided he'd had his fill. The general bristled, turned to Alexander, and told him that he would be nothing without the accomplishments of Philip, and all that he now possessed was earned by the blood and sacrifice of Macedonians. Alexander, more petulant than entirely regal in his fury, threw an apple at the general's head, called for his guards and then for a dagger or spear, but wary of escalation, those present quickly began bustling Cleitus from the room and tried to calm their monarch. Either Cleitus wasn't fully removed or then returned, but having clearly passed the point of no return, continued to vent his spleen, until Alexander, finally grabbing hold of a javelin, threw it clean through the old warhorse's heart.
Cleitus was one of the first to challenge the king, but he wasn't the last. In 327 BCE, a plot against him was betrayed, and the conspirators - his own royal pages - stoned to death. Then, later that year he struck another body blow against his traditional supporters. Callisthenes, grand-nephew of Alexander's tutor Aristotle and one of the many historians in Alexander's retinue, had become increasingly critical of his delusions of grandeur, and taunted him with a line from his beloved Iliad: ”A better man than you by far was Patroclus, and still death did not escape him." In short - you're no god, and you'll die just like the rest of us. Alexander accused Callisthenes of collusion in the pages' conspiracy, and had him put to death.
It was the beginning of the end. Convinced he was a god, it would be the needs of men that would bring the conquests of Alexander to heel. Adamant that they were at the edge of the world and expecting to see the great sea that the Ancient Greeks believed ringed their continent from which they could return home, Alexander pushed his increasingly mutinous army into India. Confronted with valley after valley of new lands to conquer and battles to wage, they drove on - winning a costly victory against 200 war elephants fielded by King Porus on the banks of the Indus River. Battered and broken after 22,000 kilometres and eight years, monsoon season arrived and drenched the army in water and disease. Rumours also reached the camp that India was a bigger than they had previously heard, and contained armies even greater than that of Porus.
Alexander's generals, mindful of the fate that had befallen other critics of their king, approached cautiously and appealed to his nobility. Coenus
- one of Alexander's most trusted commanders
- implored him to let them return home to their families, saying so eloquently, ”We have achieved
Battle Of The Hydaspes (326 BCE)
Alexander's battle for the Punjab opens up India to the Greeks
Despite leaving him with 1,000 Greek dead, Alexander was eventually able to overcome the numerically superior force and deadly war elephants of King Porus.
He managed to do this by using a classic pincer movement and refusal to bow down to nature - in this case, the fast-moving waters of the Hydaspes River.
Porus' defeat left the Punjab region of northern India open to the Greek invaders, but the death toll would add to rumblings of mutiny in Alexander's ranks.
World History
