Following his victory over the Garaeans, Alexander marched down the Garaeus river, subduing the tribes of this region to tribute-paying status. From there he proceeded into the valley of the Suastos where there was a force of two thousand cavalry, thirty thousand infantry and thirty elephants. Alexander raced forward with the van, trying to do all he could to upset their preparations, while Craterus followed up at a more methodical pace with the main force.
Siege of Massaga Alexander then marched towards Massaga, the largest Assacenian fortified city and their capital. In pursuing the Macedonians, the Assacenians lost their discipline and became disordered due to their excitement at the prospect of having caught the Macedonians so off guard. However, when they finally came within range of the Macedonian bows, Alexander ordered his bowmen to fire on the Assacenians. with the professional mercenaries showing that they were worth the gold they were getting paid. The next day, Alexander ordered the siege equipment to be brought up and ordered a section of the wall to be battered down. The next day, the Macedonians built another bridge and attacked in a similar manner. Consequentially, the Assacenians decided to negotiate their surrender. Alexander's conditions for their surrender were that the Assacenians agree to serve under him and they surrender to him the Massagan king's family as hostages. However, Alcetas was easily able to drive this sortie back into the town. with his soldiers to interrupt the siege and assist Ora.
Siege of Aornus . Aornos (modern
Swat, Pakistan) was the site of
Alexander the Great's last siege, "the climax to Alexander's career as the greatest besieger in history" according to Alexander's biographer Robin Lane Fox. The siege took place in the winter of 327–326 BC. (The site has been identified as being near the Pir-Sar mountain in Swat by
Aurel Stein in 1926, and has been confirmed by archaeologists.) It offered the last threat to Alexander's supply line, which stretched in a dangerously vulnerable manner, over the
Hindu Kush back to
Balkh. The site lies north of
Attock in
Punjab, on a strongly reinforced mountain spur above the narrow gorges in a bend of the upper
Indus River. It had a flat summit well supplied with natural springs and wide enough to grow crops. Therefore, it could not be starved into submission. Neighbouring tribesmen who surrendered to Alexander offered to lead him to the best point of access.
Ptolemy and Alexander's secretary
Eumenes, whose account provided material for all later records of the event, reconnoitred and reinforced a neighbouring spur to the west with a stockade and ditch. Their signal fire to Alexander also alerted the defenders of Pir-Sar, and it took two days of skirmishing in the narrow ravines for Alexander to regroup. At the vulnerable north side leading to the fort, Alexander and his catapults were stopped by a deep ravine. To bring the siege engines within reach, an earthwork mound was constructed to bridge the ravine with carpentry, brush and earth. The first day's work brought the siege mound 50 metres (60 yards) closer, but as the sides of the ravine fell away steeply below, progress rapidly slowed. Nevertheless, at the end of the third day, a low hill connected to the nearest tip of Pir-Sar was within reach and was taken, after Alexander, in the vanguard and his first force were repelled by boulders rolled down from above. Three days of drumbeats marked the defenders' celebration of the initial repulse, followed by a surprise retreat. Alexander hauled himself up the last rock face on a rope. Alexander cleared the summit, slaying some fugitives (inflated by Arrian to a massacre), and erected altars to
Athena Nike, Athena of Victory, traces of which were identified by Stein.
Siege of Nysa When Alexander arrived at the city of
Nysa, which was between the rivers Cophen and Indus, the city's citizens sent out to him their president, whose name was Acuphis (Ἄκουφις), and thirty of their most distinguished men as envoys. When they entered Alexander's tent and saw him, they made a
Proskynesis. When Alexander told them to rise, the Acuphis started his speech. In his speech he said that the god
Dionysus founded the city and named it Nysa and the land Nysaea (Νυσαία) after
his nurse and also he named the mountain near the city, Meron (Μηρὸν) (i.e. thigh), because he grew in the thigh of
Zeus and Alexander should leave their city independent for the sake of the god. Alexander believed them and left the city self governed but asked from the Acuphis to send his own son, his daughter's son and some horsemen to accompany him. Then, together with his
Companion cavalry went to the mountain and they made ivy garlands and crowned themselves with them, as they were, singing hymns in honor of Dionysus. Alexander also offered sacrifices to Dionysus, and feasted in company with his companions. ==Notes==