In the archonship of Chremes at Athens, the Romans elected as consuls Publius Cornelius and Aulus Postumius.2 In this year Alexander repaired his army in the land of Taxiles and then marched against Porus, the king of the neighbouring Indians.3 [2] He had more than fifty thousand infantry, about three thousand cavalry, more than a thousand chariots of war, and one hundred and thirty elephants.4 He had enlisted the support of a second king of the neighbouring regions, whose name was Embisarus5; he had an army little smaller than that of Porus. [3]
When Alexander received word that this king was four hundred furlongs away, he decided to attack Porus before the arrival of his ally. [4] As he approached the Indians, Porus learned of his advance and deployed his forces promptly. He stationed his cavalry upon both flanks, and arranged his elephants, arrayed so as to strike terror in an opponent, in a single line at equal intervals along his front. Between these beasts he placed the rest of his infantry, with the mission of helping them and preventing their being attacked with javelins from the sides. [5] His whole array looked very much like a city, for the elephants resembled towers, and the soldiers between them curtain walls.6 Alexander viewed the enemy's dispositions and arranged his own troops appropriately.
