30.7
but if, then, a fated time has now come, due to divine jealousy and the vicissitudes of things, and the sway of the Persians must cease, grant that no other man may sit upon the throne of Cyrus but Alexander. That these things were thus done and said is the testimony of most historians.Cf. Arrian, Anab. iv. 20.
31.1
But to return to Alexander, when he had subdued all the country on this side of the Euphrates, he marched against Dareius,In June or July of 331 B.C. who was coming down to meet him with a million men. On this march one of his companions told him, as a matter worth laughing at, that the camp-followers, in sport, had divided themselves into two bands, and set a general and commander over each of them, one of whom they called Alexander, and the other Dareius;
31.2
and that they had begun by pelting one another with clods of earth, then had fought with their fists, and finally, heated with the desire of battle, had taken to stones and sticks, being now many and hard to quell. When he heard this, Alexander ordered the leaders themselves to fight in single combat; to the one called Alexander he himself gave armour, and to the one called Dareius, Philotas. The army were spectators of the combat, counting the issue as in some measure an omen of the future. After a strenuous battle, the one called Alexander was victorious, and received as a reward twelve villages and the right to wear Persian dress. This, at any rate, is what we are told by Eratosthenes.
31.3
Now, the great battle against Dareius was not fought at Arbela, as most writers state, but at Gaugamela.Cf. Arrian, Anab. iii. 8, 7. The word signifies, we are told, camel’s house, since one of the ancient kings of the country, after escaping from his enemies on a swift camel, gave the animal a home here, assigning certain villages and revenues for its maintenance.
