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which had lasted 204 years from Cyrus, and having set fire to the cities and seized the wealth in them, he went against the Mardians and Cedrusians and Hyrcanians and those called the Arimaspians, from whom he received Thalestris the Amazon as an ally, and he went to the Parapanitae and those around the Thermodon and the so-called Aornus rock, and to the land of the Indians, of which Porus was king, a man greatest in both appearance and deed, who, having engaged in battle with Alexander, and having suffered the loss of many Indians and been wounded in the elbow, fell with his elephant, and having received much care, became an ally of Alexander. And having crossed from there into the further parts of India and the kingdom of Candace the widow, he was captured by her in the following manner. 1.267 It was the custom of Alexander, changing his royal attire, to go on embassies with his own officers and to learn the appearance and customs and ways of the barbarians in their lands. When Candace heard of this, and had received a description of his face, she detained him in the palace, and said, "Alexander, king, you have taken the world, and a woman has captured you." But he, astonished at her wisdom, made peace with her, and kept her kingdom and her country unharmed. From there, having come to Apharsis and Gadeira and the Brettanisian peoples, and having built a thousand merchant ships, he himself sailed along the right part of the Indian river, while entrusting the other to Hephaestion, he went up to the Ocean. And having made war against king Xandames and having routed him, he came to the Brahmans, whose wonderful and superhuman life and piety and worship toward the God of all, having learned of them, he was utterly astonished, and he fell in love with the philosophy of those men. In which place, having set up a pillar, he inscribed, "I, Alexander the great king, have reached this far." For in that island dwell the so-called long-lived; for most of them live for about one hundred and fifty years because of the great purity and temperate quality of the air. For in it, every kind of fruit is never lacking the whole year round; for here one is in blossom, another is unripe, and another is being harvested. And indeed there are the largest Indian nuts and the spices that are hard for us to get and most desirable, and the magnetic stone. 1.268 The Brahmans, then, are a most pious nation, possessing a life utterly without possessions, and living naked, they always glorify God. Among whom there is no quadruped, no agriculture, no iron, no building, no fire, no gold, no silver, no bread, no wine, no clothing, no eating of meat, nor anything else contributing to work or tending toward enjoyment; but drawing in the moist and sweet and exceedingly temperate and most beautiful air, free from all sickness and corruption, and enjoying a little fruit and the clearest water, they genuinely worship God and pray without ceasing. And the men dwell near the part of the ocean, but the women on the other side of the Ganges river that flows past into the ocean, toward the part of India. So the men cross over to the women in the months of July and August, which for them are colder, since the sun is high in our direction and to the north; which, becoming more temperate, they say moves them to passion, just as indeed they say the Nile does not flood and flow at the same time as the other rivers, but floods Egypt in the middle of summer, since the sun is running across the more northern zone and troubling and diminishing the other rivers, but is furthest from this one. And having spent 40 days with their wives, they cross back again. But when a wife has borne two children, the husband no longer crosses over to her, 1.269 nor does she approach another man, because of their great piety. But if it happens that a barren woman is found among them, her husband crosses over for up to five years and has relations with her, if not

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διαρκέσασαν ἀπὸ Κύρου ἔτη σδʹ, τάς τε πόλεις πυρπολήσας καὶ τὸν ἐν αὐταῖς ἀφελόμενος πλοῦτον, πρὸς Μάρδους καὶ Κεδρουσίους καὶ Ὑρκανοὺς καὶ τοὺς λεγομέ νους Ἀριμασπούς, ἐξ ὧν Θαλευτὴν τὴν Ἀμαζόνα σύμμαχον ἐδέξατο, Παραπανίταις τε καὶ τοῖς περὶ τὸν Θερμώδοντα καὶ τὴν λεγομένην ἄορνον πέτραν ἐπεφοίτησε, πρός τε τὴν Ἰνδῶν χώραν, ἧς Πῶρος ἐβασίλευσεν, ἀνὴρ εἴδει τε καὶ ἔργῳ μέγιστος, ὃς καὶ εἰς χεῖρας ἐλθὼν Ἀλεξάνδρου, πολλούς τε τῶν Ἰνδῶν ζημιωθεὶς καὶ τρωθεὶς τὸν ἀγκῶνα, σὺν τῷ ἐλέφαντι κατέπεσε, πολλῆς τε θεραπείας τυχὼν σύμμαχος Ἀλεξάνδρου γέγονεν. ἐκεῖθέν τε διαβὰς εἰς τὰ πρόσω τῆς Ἰνδίας μέρη καὶ τὴν βασιλείαν Κανδά κης τῆς χήρας, ὑπ' αὐτῆς συνελήφθη τρόπῳ τοιῷδε. ἔθος ἦν 1.267 Ἀλεξάνδρῳ ἀλλάσσοντι τὸ βασιλικὸν σχῆμα τὰς πρεσβείας ποιεῖ σθαι ἅμα τοῖς ἰδίοις ἐξάρχοις καὶ καταμανθάνειν τὰ εἴδη καὶ ἔθη καὶ τρόπους τῶν ἐν ταῖς χώραις βαρβάρων. ὅπερ ἀκούσασα ἡ Κανδάκη, καὶ σημεῖα τοῦ προσώπου λαβοῦσα, συνέσχεν αὐτὸν ἐν τοῖς βασιλείοις, καὶ εἶπεν "Ἀλέξανδρε βασιλεῦ, τὸν κόσμον παρέλαβες, καὶ γυνή σε ἐκράτησεν." ὁ δὲ καταπλαγεὶς ἐπὶ τῇ ταύτης φρονήσει εἰρήνην πρὸς αὐτὴν ἐποίησεν, καὶ τὴν βασιλείαν αὐτῆς καὶ τὴν χώραν ἀβλαβῆ διεφύλαξεν. ἐκεῖθεν δὲ πρὸς Ἄφα σιν καὶ Γάδειρα καὶ τὰ Βρεττανήσια ἔθνη γενόμενος, χιλίας τε ὁλκάδας κατασκευασάμενος, αὐτὸς μὲν τὸ δεξιὸν τοῦ Ἰνδικοῦ πο ταμοῦ διέπλει μέρος, Ἡφαιστίωνι δὲ τὸ ἕτερον ἐγχειρίσας ἐπὶ τὸν Ὠκεανὸν ἀνῆλθε. τῷ δὲ βασιλεῖ Ξανδάμῃ πολεμήσας καὶ τοῦτον τροπωσάμενος πρὸς τοὺς Βραχμᾶνας ἀφίκετο, ὧν καὶ τὸν θαυ μάσιον καὶ ὑπὲρ ἄνθρωπον βίον καὶ τὴν εἰς τὸν πάντων θεὸν εὐ σέβειάν τε καὶ λατρείαν μεμαθηκὼς κατεπλάγη πάνυ, καὶ ἠράσθη τὴν τῶν ἀνδρῶν ἐκείνων φιλοσοφίαν. ἐν ᾧ τόπῳ καὶ στήλην στήσας ἐπέγραψεν "ἐγὼ μέγας Ἀλέξανδρος βασιλεὺς ἔφθασα μέχρι τούτου." ἐν ἐκείνῃ γὰρ τῇ νήσῳ κατοικοῦσιν οἱ λεγόμενοι μακρόβιοι· ζῶσι γὰρ οἱ πλείους αὐτῶν περὶ τὰ ἑκατὸν πεντήκοντα ἔτη διὰ πολλὴν καθαρότητα καὶ εὐκρασίαν τοῦ ἀέρος. οὐδέποτε γὰρ ἐν αὐτῇ λείπει ὀπώρα παντοία τὸν ὅλον χρόνον· ἐν ταύτῃ γὰρ ἡ μὲν ἀνθεῖ, ἡ δὲ ὀμφακίζει, ἡ δὲ τρυγᾶται. καί γε καὶ τὰ μέ γιστα Ἰνδικὰ γίνονται κάρυα καὶ τὰ δυσπόριστα ἡμῖν καὶ πανεπέ ραστα ἀρώματα καὶ ἡ μαγνῆτις λίθος. 1.268 Οἱ τοίνυν Βραχμᾶνες ἔθνος εἰσὶν εὐσεβέστατον, βίον ἀκτή μονα σφόδρα κεκτημένοι, καὶ γυμνῶς διαζῶντες ἀεὶ τὸν θεὸν δοξάζουσι. παρ' οἷς οὐ τετράποδον ἔστιν, οὐ γεώργιον, οὐ σί δηρος, οὐκ οἰκοδομή, οὐ πῦρ, οὐ χρυσός, οὐκ ἄργυρος, οὐκ ἄρτος, οὐκ οἶνος, οὐχ ἱμάτιον, οὐ κρεωφαγία, οὐκ ἄλλο τι τῶν εἰς ἐργασίαν συντελούντων ἢ πρὸς ἀπόλαυσιν συντεινόντων· ἀλλὰ τὸν ὑγρὸν καὶ γλυκὺν καὶ εὔκρατον ἄγαν καὶ κάλλιστον ἀέρα καὶ πάσης ἀρρωστίας καὶ φθορᾶς ἀπηλλαγμένον σπῶντες, καὶ μικρᾶς ὀπώρας καὶ διειδεστάτου ὕδατος ἀπολαύοντες, σέβονται γνησίως τὸν θεὸν καὶ ἀδιαλείπτως προσεύχονται. καὶ οἱ μὲν ἄν δρες εἰς τὸ τοῦ ὠκεανοῦ μέρος παροικοῦσιν, αἱ δὲ γυναῖκες ἐντεῦ θεν τοῦ ποταμοῦ Γάγγου τοῦ παραρρέοντος εἰς τὸν ὠκεανόν, ἐπὶ τὸ τῆς Ἰνδίας μέρος. οἱ γοῦν ἄνδρες περῶσι πρὸς τὰς γυναῖκας Ἰουλίῳ καὶ Αὐγούστῳ μηνί, παρ' οἷς ὑπάρχουσι ψυχρότεροι, τοῦ ἡλίου πρὸς ἡμᾶς καὶ πρὸς βορρᾶν ὑψωθέντος· οἵ γε καὶ εὐ κρατότεροι γινόμενοι πρὸς οἶστρον αὐτοὺς κινεῖν λέγουσιν, ὥσπερ δὴ καὶ τὸν Νεῖλόν φασιν οὐ κατὰ τὸν αὐτὸν καὶ τοῖς ἄλλοις πλημ μυρεῖν καὶ ῥεῖν ποταμοῖς, ἀλλὰ καὶ μεσοῦντος τοῦ θέρους ἐπικλύ ζειν τὴν Αἴγυπτον, ὡς τοῦ γε πάντως ἡλίου τὴν βορειοτέραν δια θέοντος ζώνην καὶ τοῖς ἄλλοις παρενοχλοῦντος ποταμοῖς καὶ σμι κρύνοντος, τούτου δὲ πλεῖστον ἀπέχοντος. καὶ ποιήσαντες μετὰ τῶν γυναικῶν αὐτῶν ἡμέρας μʹ πάλιν ἀντιπερῶσι. τῆς δὲ γυναι κὸς δύο παιδία γεννησάσης οὐκέτι ὁ ἀνὴρ ἀντιπερᾷ πρὸς αὐτήν, 1.269 οὔτε μὴν ἐκείνη πλησιάζει ἑτέρῳ ἀνδρὶ διὰ πολλὴν εὐλάβειαν. εἰ δὲ συμβῇ στεῖραν ἐν αὐταῖς εὑρεθῆναι, μέχρι πενταετίας διαπερῶν ὁ ἀνὴρ αὐτῆς καὶ συγγινόμενος αὐτῇ, ἐὰν οὐ