Quintus Curtius Rufus [Curtius]
41-54 AD
Trans RMBullard
Latin (Imperial Era)
I. Inter haec Alexander, ad conducendum ex Peloponneso militem Cleandro cum pecunia misso, Lyciae Pamphyliaeque rebus conpositis ad urbem Celaenas exercitum admovit।
[As these events were going on, Alexander*, in order to the lead his army out of the Peloponnesus, and since he sent out Cleander with a sum of money, he advances his forces to the city of Celaenas, and at the same time, he organized the state affairs of Lycia and Pamphylia.]
*Alexander Magnus, i.e. the Great
Media illa tempestate moenia interfluebat Marsyas amnis, fabulosis Graecorum carminibus inclitus.
[The Marsia River flooded the walls of the city, in the middle of that rainy season, an well-known event according the mythical poems of the Greeks.]
Fons eius ex summo montis cacumine excurrens in subiectam petram magno strepitu aquarum cadit; inde diffusus circumiectos rigat campos liquidus et suas dumtaxat udas trahens.
[Its fount, rushing out from the very top peak of the mountain, falls upon a boulder lying below with loud crash of broken water; after that, the water, exploding, floods the surrounding fields, and drags along its waves.]
Itaque color eius placido mari similis locum poetarum mendacio fecit:
[And so, its color, which was similar to the tranquil sea, gave an excuse for the poetic license of artists later.]
quippe traditum est nymphas amore amnis retentas in illa rupe considere.
[Actually, they say that nymphs, seized with passion for the river, sit upon its well-known cliff.]
Ceterum, quamdiu intra muros fluit, nomen suum retinet;
[However, it retains its name for the distance it flows between the city walls.]
at, cum extra munimenta se evolvit, maiore vi ac mole agentem undas Lycum appellant.
[But, when it flows outside the buildings, people call it the Lycos, which builds up its waves with greater speed and mass.]
Alexander, quidem urbem destitutam a suis intrat, arcem vero, in quam confugerant, oppugnare adortus caduceatorem praemisit, qui denuntiaret, ni dederent, ipsos ultima esse passuros.
[Alexander, in fact, entered the city, now destroyed by his own men, and he sent a soothsayer ahead his seige to the city's citadel--where the people had fled in mass--and the soothsayer announced to these people that should they not surrender, they would met the very end of their life.]
