Читать книгу The Battles of the World or, cyclopedia of battles, sieges, and important military events онлайн

41 страница из 144

ANTOIGN.—This battle was fought between the central army of the French and the Allies, August 13th, 1792, in which 4500 Austrians and Prussians were killed, 3,500 taken prisoners, and 600 emigrants shut up in Longwy; 900 French were killed in the action; 30 pieces of battering cannon and howitzers, with all the baggage of the combined army, were captured.

AQUILEIA.—In the first battle fought there, Constantine II was slain by Constans towards the close of March, A.D. 340. In the second, Maximus was defeated and slain by Theodosius, July 28th. A.D. 388. In the third, Theodosius defeated Eugenius and Arbogastes, the Gaul, and remained sole emperor of the Roman world, September 6th, A.D. 394. Eugenius was put to death, and Arbogastes died by his own hand, mortified by his overthrow.

ARBELA.—The third and decisive battle fought between Alexander the Great and Darius Codomanus, king of Persia, which decided the fate of Persia, B.C. 331. The army of Darius consisted of 1,000,000 of foot and 100,000 horse; the Macedonian army amounted to only 40,000 foot and 7,000 horse. The gold and silver found in the cities of Susa, Babylon, and Persepolis, which fell into the hands of Alexander, after this victory, amounted to £30,000,000, and the jewels and other precious spoil, belonging to Darius, sufficed to load 20,000 mules and 5,000 camels. At the battle of Arbela, the Persians lost 300,000, or as some, with greater probability, say 40,000, whilst the Macedonians had only 500 slain. Darius betook himself to flight, and was slain by Bessus, Governor of Bactria, who was punished for his perfidy in the following manner:—He was taken and bound naked, hand and foot, and four trees having been by main force bent down to the ground, and one of the criminal’s limbs tied to each of them, the trees, as they were suffered to return to their natural position, flew back with prodigious violence, each carrying with it one of the limbs.