Battle of Issus

“ No victory recorded in history was ever more complete in itself, or more far-stretching in its consequences, than that of Issus. Not only was the Persian force destroyed or dispersed, but the efforts of Darius for recovery were paralysed by the capture of his family. Portions of the dissipated army of Issus may be traced, reappearing in different places for operations of detail, but we shall find no further resistance to Alexander, during almost two years, except from the brave freemen of two fortified cities. ”

“ See Menander, Menuthis Isium of Pompeii built 150 B.C., i. 53 Isopsephism. See Berossos, Iao, Number (of Beast) Israel, to enslave Gentiles, i. 165, 166, 167 n. 4; her monotheism, i. 184 Issus, the battle of, i. 7 Italy, break-up of Pythagorean school in, i. 122 Izates, King of Adiabene, his Jewish proclivities, ii. 278 n. 1 Izeds, the, or Yazatas of the Avesta, Mithras made chief of, in Sassanian reform, ii. 232, 270 n. 3 Jabezebuth, name of Beelzebuth in Magic Papyri, ii. 108 n. 1 Jabraôth, ruler of the obedient Aeons in Pistis Sophia and Bruce Papyrus, ii. ”

“ In modern times, when battles are not decided by personal bravery, but by the number and disposition of cannon, and the excellence of firearms, an army of one hundred thousand can generally overwhelm an army of fifty thousand, with the same destructive weapons. But in ancient times, the impetuous charge of twenty thousand men on a single point, followed by success, would produce a panic, and then a rout, when even flight is obstructed by numbers. Thus Alexander succeeded both at Issus and Arbela. ”

“ When hostilities were suspended, the congress re-appears, and the Greeks once more meet at the Isthmus to apportion the spoil and adjudge the prizes of valour. In the next year we hear of no common plan of operations, the fleet and army seeming to act independently of each other; yet we observe that the chiefs of the medizing Thebans were taken to the Isthmus (Corinth) to be tried, after the battle of Platæa. It appears then that, under the stress of the great Persian invasion, the Greeks were brought into an alliance or confederation ”

“ Now they came galloping down, brandishing their spears and uttering wild cries of defiance, till they had come within a bow-shot of the caravan. Had there been the slightest sign of confusion or panic, the feint would have been converted into a real attack. All troops would not have stood firm, for the assailants outnumbered the escort by at least two to one. But the men who had conquered at the Granīcus and at Issus were not to be terrified by a horde of marauders. ”

“ The students of strategy have especially admired his originality in the systematic following up of a victory, an element in successful warfare not dreamed of by the citizen generals of Greece. In the Peloponnesian war it never occurred to the Spartans when they had defeated the Athenians to besiege Athens. But after Issus, a most decisive victory, Alexander showed the utmost resourcefulness in the long seven months’ siege of Tyre, and finally took it by storm. ”

“ They in Jerusalem will attack the garrison there, others break open the armoury at Sepphoris and in Masada. On the same day our countrymen in Joppa, Cæsarea, and Ptolemais will attack and drive out the Greeks. Then will rise a flame of war from one end of Syria to the other. Our rich men, even the Herodians, seeing all the people to be of one mind, will stand with us; and having Israel with us as one man, doing battle for the name of the true God against the gods of the Gentiles, doubt not but we shall have also the sword of the Lord on our side, as in the days of Gideon. ”

“ In the first place, the prophecy of Isaiah is generally alleged, who says the time shall come, "when nations shall beat their swords into plow-shares, and turn their spears into pruning hooks. Nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more." ”

“ At Issus, Alexander the Great so manoeuvred that the Persian army of more than a million men was confined in a long valley not over three miles in width, having the sea on the left hand and the Amanus Mountains on the right, thus the Grecians had a battlefield fitted to the size of their army, and fought in Phalanxes in line, both wings covered by impassable natural barriers and retreat assured, by open ground in rear. ”

“ Such one's fancy forms young Isadas the Spartan; who, hearing the enemy's approach while at the baths, starts off unmindful of his own defenceless state, snatches a spear and shield from one he meets, flies at the foe, performs prodigies of valour, is looked on by both armies as a descended God, and returns home at last unhurt, to be fined by the Ephori for breach of discipline, at the same time that a statue was ordered to commemorate his exploits, and erected at the state's expence. ”

“ The fighting off Artemisium had shown the peril of attacking a greatly superior force in the open because of the danger of being outflanked. In the narrow straits between Salamis and the mainland the Greek line of battle would rest its flanks on the opposite shores. But it is one thing to choose a position and another to get the enemy to accept battle in that position. If the Persians ignored the Greek fleet and moved Page 32 to the Isthmus, the Greeks would be caught in an awkward predicament. ”

“ But well I ween, that spirits proud and strong
Like theirs, can never intermingle long.
And even now they half-reluctant go,
Hand link’d in hand, against a mutual foe,
To wage a mutual war.—They part awhile,
Moratcham hast’ning to Assyria’s soil,400
Fresh troops to raise; while to Armenia’s skies,
In warlike pride, Alvante’s banners rise,
And numbers daily to those banners came,
Or led by plunder, or arous’d by fame.
Meantime young Ismael hears the dread alarms,
Of his great enemy’s increasing arms. ”

“ For thee are the two, Isis and Nephthys—do thou strengthen us, for they ponder on thy image.
Thy limbs are as mutilated unto thee; they seek to bind together thy dead body.
No calamity cometh to them when approaching to thee with hair unbound!
Come thou to us entirely, for thou rememberest:
Thou comest with thy attributes before the land; modify thy power.
For thy peace is proclaimed to us, oh lord, heir of the two thrones, god alone excellent, designed of the gods: every god adoreth thee!
Thou comest; it is thy temple; fear not, beloved of Ra, beloved of thy two images ”

“ The god Esus of Western Europe—one of whose portraits is here given—was not only King Death, but he is identified by De Jubainville with Cuchulainn, the Achilles or Young Sun God of Ireland. [293] Esus, the counterpart of Isis, was probably the divinity worshipped at Uzes in Gaul, a coin of which town, representing a seven-rayed sprig springing from a brute, is here reproduced, and that King Esus or King Osis was the Lord of profound speculation, is somewhat implied by gnosis, the Greek word for knowledge. ”

“ A few minutes later the fog lifted, the sun came out, and we found ourselves within a couple of cannon shot of the Isis, a British war vessel of 64 guns, which was moored at the entrance to the river. We might have run ashore on the coast, and the Isis could not have come near us as the wind was against her, but our captain lost his head and gave no orders, so we drifted within range of the Isis, and then went aground near the shore. The British being now convinced we were enemies, began to fire on us. ”

“ He then commanded that all the gods who had any knowledge of magical spells should come to him, and when they came, Isis, the great lady of spells, the destroyer of diseases, and the reviver of the dead, came with them. Turning to Rā she said, “What hath happened, O divine Father?” and in answer the god told her that a serpent had bitten him, that he was hotter than fire and colder than water, that his limbs quaked, and that he was losing the power of sight. Then Isis said to him with guile, “Divine Father, tell me thy name, for he who uttereth his own name shall live.” ”

“ There, too, might Archidamus be seen in the thick of the fight, displaying the courage of a man, and the swiftness of a youth, as he ran to each point where the Spartans seemed likely to give way, and everywhere with a few followers resisted a multitude of the enemy. I think, however, that Isidas, the son of Phœbidas, must have been most admired both by his own countrymen and even by the enemy. He was remarkably tall and handsome, and was just of the age when boyhood merges into manhood. ”

“ As you know, the great war has begun. The mighty Tenes here, King of Sidon, my ally, by the help of the Greeks I sent him, has defeated the Persians and against these Cyprus also is in revolt. But now Artaxerxes Ochus has seized the throne of Persia, having murdered all who stood between it and him, with the help of Bagoas the eunuch, his counsellor and general. He has raised a countless host and is pouring down upon Sidon and upon Egypt. Therefore we would learn how the war shall go and to what gods we must sacrifice to secure the victory. ”

“ Yet the people do not return unto Him that smote them, neither seek they the Lord of hosts.
3. War and Defeat (ix. 13-17) .—The next consequent calamity passed from the land to the people themselves. A great battle is described, in which the nation is dismembered in one day. War and its horrors are told, and the apparent want of Divine pity and discrimination which they imply is explained. Israel has been led into these disasters by the folly of their leaders, whom Isaiah therefore singles out for blame. ”

“ The council of Isaac and Alexius breathed nothing but vengeance; and, on the return of the deputies, war was decided on in the council of the barons. The Latins determined to attack Constantinople; nothing could equal the hatred and fury of the Greeks; but fury and hatred cannot supply the place of courage: not daring to meet their enemy in the open field, they resolved to burn the fleet of the Venetians. The Greeks, on this occasion, had again recourse to that Greek fire, which had, more than once, served them instead of courage, and saved their capital. ”

“ For the Isaurians also, a people who were accustomed to frequent alternations of peace, and of turbulence which threw everything into confusion with sudden outbreaks—impunity having fostered their growing audacity and encouraged it to evil—broke out in a formidable war. Being especially excited, as they gave out by this indignity, that some of their allies, having been taken prisoners, were in an unprecedented manner exposed to wild beasts, and in the games of the amphitheatre, at Iconium, a town of Pisidia. ”

“ Moslems subject to enemies of faith, 139; education, 374; influence of mullās on government, 375; impression left by Alexander the Great, 9; persecution of Christians (see Christianity) . Isma`īl el-Muntazir, 118 note. Isma`īl ibn Ahmed, sent to Bokhārā, 106; defeat of Nasr, 107; Nasr succeeded by, 109; hostilities with `Amr, 110; campaign against Turks, 111; death, 112. Isma`īl, Shāh, the Safavī, 185, 186. Ispāhbād, definition, 56. Issus, overthrow of Darius II., 4. Istakhr, capital of Persia under Ardashīr, 23. ”

“ On the contrary, Isaiah is simply describing the plans which the enemy devised and pursued, and which they had no doubt formed from the very commencement of the war, and now that they were marching against Jerusalem, hoped to attain by the conquest of the capital. All that we can assume as certain is, that the war lasted longer than a year, since the invasion of Judah by these foes had already commenced before the death of Jotham, and that the greater battles (2Ch 28:5-6) were not fought till the time of Ahaz, and it was not till his reign that the enemy advanced to the siege of Jerusalem. ”

“ Isis is the great enchantress, and she delivers the sick and suffering from the gods and goddesses who afflict them, even as she delivered her son Horus from his wounds received in his battle with Set. The sun-god Rā had himself been ill, and the gods Shu, Tefnut, Seb, Nut and Isis, had prepared medicine for him. Even when no medicines are taken, palm-sprigs may serve as a charm, if a formula be pronounced relative to the palm-branch with which Horus defended himself against Set, and if Isis, the mother of Horus, be invoked. ”

“ The drawbridges are soon let down, and are covered with intrepid warriors, who threaten the invasion of the most lofty towers. The soldiers mount in file, and gain the battlements; the opponents seek, attack, and repulse each other in a thousand different places. Some, on the point of seizing victory, are overthrown by a mass of stone: others are consumed by the Greek fire; but they who are repulsed, again return to the charge, and the leaders everywhere set an example by mounting to the assault like common soldiers. ”

“ The usurper of the throne of Isaac immediately sought for means to avert the storm about to fall upon his states, and hastened to send ambassadors to the pope, whom he considered the arbiter of peace and war in the West. These ambassadors were ordered to declare to the sovereign pontiff that the prince who reigned at Constantinople was the only legitimate emperor; that the son of Isaac had no right to the empire; that an expedition against Greece would be an unjust enterprise, dangerous, and adverse to the great designs of the crusade. ”

“ Thou hast proclaimed thyself under thy signet as a king of the circle of the gods—the lord!
Thy priests surely come; thy father Ra smiteth that which hath evil designs.
The circle of the gods surroundeth thy pathway, and they meet with thee:
Destroy thou the evil ones and the great calamity which has fallen upon the two counterparts, Isis and Nephthys:
Thy house is holding festival for the calamity (of evil-doers) .
His enemies are cut off by disaster from him, when they behold him:
He overfloweth the land as is his custom. ”