Page:History of Greece Vol XII.djvu/261

MARCH ACROSS THE PUNJAB. 229 Alexander celebrated his victory by sacrifices to the gods, and festivities ou the banks of the Hydaspes ; where he also gave directions for the foundation of two cities — Nikaea, on the east- ern bank ; and Bukephalia, on the western, so named in com- memoration of his favorite horse, who died here of age and fa- tigue.* Leaving Ki'aterus to lay out and erect these new estab- frora the Indus now cross the Hydaspes. Each of these points have been assigned by different writers, as the probable scene of the crossing of the river by Alexander. Of the two Jelum (rather higher up the river than Julalpoor) seems the more probable. Burnes points out that near Jelura the river is divided into five or six channels with islands (Travels, vol. ii. ch. 2. p. .50, 2nd ed.). Captain Abbott (in the Journal of the Asiatic Society, Calcutta, Dec. 1848) has given an interesting memoir on the features and course of the Hydaspes a little above Jelum, comparing them with the par- ticulars stated by Arrian, and showing highly plausible reasons in support of this hypothesis — that the crossing took place near Jelum. Diodorus mentions a halt of thirty days, after the victory (xvii. 89), which seems not probable. Both he and Curtius allude to numerous serpents, by which the army was annoyed between the Akesines and the Hydraotes (Curtius, ix. 1, 11). • Arrian states (v. 19, 5) that the victory over Porus was gained in the month Munychion of the archon Hegemon at Athens — that is, about the end of April, 326 b. c. This date is not to be reconciled with another pas- sage, V. 9, 6 — where he says that the summer solstice had already passed, and that all the rivers of the Punjab were full of water, turbid and violent. This swelling of the rivers begins about June ; they do not attain their full height until August. Moreover, the description of the battle, as given both by Arrian and by Curtius, implies that it took place after the rainy season had begun (Arrian, v. 9, 7 ; v. 12, 5. Curtius, viii. 14, 4). Some critics have proposed to read Metageitnion (July-August) as the month, instead of J/un^cAwn ; an alteration approved by Mr. Clinton and re- ceived into the text by Schmieder. But if this alteration be admitted, the name of the Athenian archon must be altered also ; for Metageitnion of the archon Hegemon would be eight months earlier (July-August, 327 b. c.) ; and at this date Alexander had not as yet crossed the Indus, as the pas- sage of Aristobulus (ap. Strabo. xv. p. 691) plainly shows — and as Droy- sen and Miitzel remark. Alexander did not cross the Indus before the spring of 326 B.C. If, in place of the archon Hegemon, we substitute the next following archon Chremes (and it is remarkable that Diodorus assigns the battle to this later archonship, xvii. 87), this would be July-August 326 B. c. ; which would be a more admissible date for the battle than the preced- ing month of Munychion. At the same time, the substitution of Metage- itnion IS mere conjecture ; and seems to leave hardly time enough for the subsequent events. As far as an opinion can be formed, it would secmthut VOL. XII. 20