Page 563 After the King had mov'd from thence, he was inform'd that Porus, a neighbouring Prince, Nephew of Porus lately vanquish'd, was fled out of his Kingdom, and run to the Gangarides. At which Alexander was not a little troubled, and thereupon sent Hephestion with a considerable Body of Men into his Dominion, and order'd him to reduce it into the nature of a Province, and to deliver it into the hands of his Friend Porus. He himself march'd into the Country of the Andrastians, and gain'd some of their Cities by assault, and others by surrender.
Thence he came into the Country of the Catheri, where by the Law the living Wives are burnt together with their dead Husbands; and the Wickedness and Treachery of one Woman, who poison'd her Husband, was the occasion of this Law. There the King burnt down to the Ground the greatest and strongest Town of all others in those Parts after he had with great difficulty and hazard taken it by assault. The Inhabitants of another Town, which he was ready to assault, came forth, and humbly submitted themselves to him, upon which he spar'd them.
Thence he led his Army to the Cities belonging to Sophithes, which were govern'd by most excellent Laws; amongst the rest they strictly observe this, To value their Beauty andand comely Proportion above all other Things; and therefore they carefully examine every part of the Child when it is in the Cradle, and such as are sound and perfect in every Limb and Member, and likely to be strong and comely, they nurse and bring up; but such as are lame and deficient, and of a weak Habit of Body, they kill, as not worth the rearing. They have the same regard to their Marriages; for without any respect to Portion, or any other Advantages, they only mind the Beauty of the Person, and the Health and Strength of their Bodies. Hence it is, that those who live in those Cities, are for the most part more Beautiful and Comely than others. But Sophithes the King surpass'd all the rest of his Subjects for admirable Beauty and stately Proportion; for he was above four Cubits high: He came forth of his Royal City, and gave up himself and Kingdom into the hands of Alexander; and from the Bounty of the Victor forthwith receiv'd it back again; and thereupon he nobly feasted Alexander and all his Army for several Days together. And after many rich Presents made to him, he presented him with an hundred and fifty Dogs of a wonderful Strength and Bigness, and of other most remarkable Properties. It was said they were brought forth by Tygars, who had coupled with Dogs. Alexander minding by an Experiment to try their Strength and Courage, caus'd an exceeding great Lion to be brought into the Circus, and then loos'd at him two of the weakest of the Dogs; which proving too weak, he let go other two. The Lion being now surrounded by four, and over-power'd, Sophithes sent one with a Sword, who began to cut off the right Thigh of one of the Dogs: Upon which, the King call'd out, and thereupon the Squires of his Body ran to the Indian, and held his Hand: But Sophithes wish'd 'em to let him alone, and promis'd to give three for that one. The Huntsman theresore laid hold again on the Dog's Thigh, and cut it off by little and little; and all that while the Dog neither how • 'd nor made the least noise; but held fast his Hold till he fell down dead upon the Lion.
In the mean time Hephestion return'd with those Troops before sent along with him, having subdu'd a great part of India where-ever he came, and was hereupon honour'd by the King with all deserv'd Praises.
Next Alexander march'd into the Kingdom of Phigeus, where all the Macedonians were welcom'd by the Inhabitants, and Phigeus himself meeting him with Gifts and Presents, willing to receive from him his Kingdom as a Gift of his Bounty; which Alexander accordingly restor'd to him: And both he and his Army being entertain'd by Phigeus for two days, he then mov'd forward to the River Hyphasis, which is seven Furlongs over, and six Fathoms deep, of a very fierce Stream, and difficult to pass. He had learn'd from Phigeus, that beyond Indus there was a vast Desart of twelve Days Journey; and at the farthest Borders thereof ran the Ganges Two and twenty Furlongs broad, and the deepest of all the Rivers in India: And that beyond this River, there dwelt the Tabresians, the Gandarides, whose King's Name was Xandrames, who had an Army of Twenty thousand Horse, and Two hundred thousand Foot, Two thousand Chariots, and Foursand Elephants. The King could not believe this to be true, and therefore sent for Porus, and enquir'd of him whether it were so or not. He told him all was certainly true; but that the present King of the Gandarides was but of a mean and obscure Extract, accounted to be a Barber's Son. For his Father being a very beautiful and handsome Man, the Queen fell in love with him, and then murther'd her Husband; and so the Kingdom devolv'd upon the present King.
The Histories of Herodotus written in 440 BC is considered to be the founding work of history in Western literature. His history included stories and fables but he claimed to have traveled extensively and learned about many countries through direct observation.
The thesis of Stolen Legacy is that the Egyptians created what is wrongly called Greek philosophy. Dr. James argues that the African origin of Greek Philosophy is well known but rarely discussed. Ancient Greek historians such as Herodotus and Diodorus the Sicilian wrote in significant detail about the contributions of Egypt. Egyptian technology and libraries were unmatched and Greek philosophers such as Pythagoras and Plato studied there. The contribution of Africa to the intellectual foundation of modern knowledge is tremendous but unacknowledged.
The Library of History by Diodorus the Sicilian is one of the most highly regarded universal histories in antiquities. His work includes the history of Egypt, Asia, Africa, Greece and Europe. His book is a must read for research of ancient history.
Bible Study The King James Bible (kjv), World English Bible (web) and Bible in Basic English (bbe) are all examples of public domain books. The King James Bible (kjv) online uses the content from these books and open source software to enhance Bible study capabilities. The site includes the verse of the day, search tools, christian literature and links to related content. It demonstrates the use of open source to create a valuable service.