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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6833f05 --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,3 @@ +* text=auto +*.txt text +*.md text diff --git a/30624-8.txt b/30624-8.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..d28abeb --- /dev/null +++ b/30624-8.txt @@ -0,0 +1,5796 @@ +The Project Gutenberg eBook, Alexander the Great, by Jacob Abbott + + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + + + + +Title: Alexander the Great + Makers of History + + +Author: Jacob Abbott + + + +Release Date: December 7, 2009 [eBook #30624] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + + +***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK ALEXANDER THE GREAT*** + + +E-text prepared by D Alexander and the Project Gutenberg Online +Distributed Proofreading Team (http://www.pgdp.net) + + + +Note: Project Gutenberg also has an HTML version of this + file which includes the original illustrations. + See 30624-h.htm or 30624-h.zip: + (http://www.gutenberg.org/files/30624/30624-h/30624-h.htm) + or + (http://www.gutenberg.org/files/30624/30624-h.zip) + + + + + +Makers of History + +ALEXANDER THE GREAT + +by + +JACOB ABBOTT + +With Engravings + + + + + + + +New York and London +Harper & Brothers Publishers +1902 + +Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year one thousand +eight hundred and forty-nine, by +Harper & Brothers, +in the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the Southern District +of New York. + +Copyright, 1876, by Jacob Abbott. + + + + +PREFACE. + + +The history of the life of every individual who has, for any reason, +attracted extensively the attention of mankind, has been written in a +great variety of ways by a multitude of authors, and persons sometimes +wonder why we should have so many different accounts of the same +thing. The reason is, that each one of these accounts is intended for +a different set of readers, who read with ideas and purposes widely +dissimilar from each other. Among the twenty millions of people in the +United States, there are perhaps two millions, between the ages of +fifteen and twenty-five, who wish to become acquainted, in general, +with the leading events in the history of the Old World, and of +ancient times, but who, coming upon the stage in this land and at this +period, have ideas and conceptions so widely different from those of +other nations and of other times, that a mere republication of +existing accounts is not what they require. The story must be told +expressly for them. The things that are to be explained, the points +that are to be brought out, the comparative degree of prominence to be +given to the various particulars, will all be different, on account of +the difference in the situation, the ideas, and the objects of these +new readers, compared with those of the various other classes of +readers which former authors have had in view. It is for this reason, +and with this view, that the present series of historical narratives +is presented to the public. The author, having had some opportunity to +become acquainted with the position, the ideas, and the intellectual +wants of those whom he addresses, presents the result of his labors to +them, with the hope that it may be found successful in accomplishing +its design. + + + + +CONTENTS. + + + Chapter Page + + I. ALEXANDER'S CHILDHOOD AND YOUTH 13 + + II. BEGINNING OF HIS REIGN 36 + + III. THE REACTION 57 + + IV. CROSSING THE HELLESPONT 78 + + V. CAMPAIGN IN ASIA MINOR 103 + + VI. DEFEAT OF DARIUS 128 + + VII. THE SIEGE OF TYRE 147 + + VIII. ALEXANDER IN EGYPT 169 + + IX. THE GREAT VICTORY 189 + + X. THE DEATH OF DARIUS 213 + + XI. DETERIORATION OF CHARACTER 234 + + XII. ALEXANDER'S END 251 + + + + + ENGRAVINGS. + + + Page + + MAP. EXPEDITION OF ALEXANDER _Frontispiece._ + + ALEXANDER AND BUCEPHALUS 27 + + MAP OF MACEDON AND GREECE 48 + + MAP OF MACEDON AND GREECE 58 + + MAP OF THE PLAIN OF TROY 88 + + PARIS AND HELEN 94 + + ACHILLES 97 + + MAP OF THE GRANICUS 104 + + THE BATHING IN THE RIVER CYDNUS 124 + + MAP OF THE PLAIN OF ISSUS 134 + + THE SIEGE OF TYRE 157 + + THE FOCUS 185 + + THE CALTROP 197 + + ALEXANDER AT THE PASS OF SUSA 211 + + PROPOSED IMPROVEMENT OF MOUNT ATHOS 261 + + + + +[Illustration: MAP. EXPEDITION OF ALEXANDER.] + + + + +ALEXANDER THE GREAT. + + + + +CHAPTER I. + +HIS CHILDHOOD AND YOUTH. + +B.C. 356-336 + +The briefness of Alexander's career.--His brilliant exploits.--Character +of Alexander.--Mental and physical qualities.--Character of the Asiatic +and European civilization.--Composition of Asiatic and European +armies.--King Philip.--Extent of Macedon.--Olympias.--The young +prince Alexander.--Ancient mode of warfare.--Ancient and +modern military officers.--Alexander's nurse.--Alexander's +education.--Lysimachus.--Homer.--Aristotle.--Alexander's copy +of Homer.--Alexander's energy and ambition.--The Persian +embassadors.--Stories of the embassadors.--Maturity of Alexander's +mind.--Secret of Alexander's success.--The story of Bucephalus.--Philip +condemns the horse.--Alexander desires to mount him.--Bucephalus +calmed.--An exciting ride.--Sagacity of Bucephalus.--Becomes Alexander's +favorite.--Fate of Bucephalus.--Alexander made regent.--Alexander's +first battle.--Chæronea.--Alexander's impetuosity.--Philip repudiates +Olympias.--Alexander's violent temper.--Philip's attempt on his +son.--Philip's power.--His plans of conquest.--Alexander's impatience +to reign. + + +Alexander the Great died when he was quite young. He was but +thirty-two years of age when he ended his career, and as he was about +twenty when he commenced it, it was only for a period of twelve years +that he was actually engaged in performing the work of his life. +Napoleon was nearly three times as long on the great field of human +action. + +Notwithstanding the briefness of Alexander's career, he ran through, +during that short period, a very brilliant series of exploits, which +were so bold, so romantic, and which led him into such adventures in +scenes of the greatest magnificence and splendor, that all the world +looked on with astonishment then, and mankind have continued to read +the story since, from age to age, with the greatest interest and +attention. + +The secret of Alexander's success was his character. He possessed a +certain combination of mental and personal attractions, which in +every age gives to those who exhibit it a mysterious and almost +unbounded ascendency over all within their influence. Alexander was +characterized by these qualities in a very remarkable degree. He was +finely formed in person, and very prepossessing in his manners. He +was active, athletic, and full of ardor and enthusiasm in all that +he did. At the same time, he was calm, collected, and considerate +in emergencies requiring caution, and thoughtful and far-seeing in +respect to the bearings and consequences of his acts. He formed strong +attachments, was grateful for kindnesses shown to him, considerate in +respect to the feelings of all who were connected with him in any way, +faithful to his friends, and generous toward his foes. In a word, he +had a noble character, though he devoted its energies unfortunately to +conquest and war. He lived, in fact, in an age when great personal and +mental powers had scarcely any other field for their exercise than +this. He entered upon his career with great ardor, and the position in +which he was placed gave him the opportunity to act in it with +prodigious effect. + +There were several circumstances combined, in the situation in which +Alexander was placed, to afford him a great opportunity for the +exercise of his vast powers. His native country was on the confines of +Europe and Asia. Now Europe and Asia were, in those days, as now, +marked and distinguished by two vast masses of social and civilized +life, widely dissimilar from each other. The Asiatic side was occupied +by the Persians, the Medes, and the Assyrians. The European side by +the Greeks and Romans. They were separated from each other by the +waters of the Hellespont, the Ægean Sea, and the Mediterranean, +as will be seen by the map. These waters constituted a sort of +natural barrier, which kept the two races apart. The races formed, +accordingly, two vast organizations, distinct and widely different +from each other, and of course rivals and enemies. + +It is hard to say whether the Asiatic or European civilization was the +highest. The two were so different that it is difficult to compare +them. On the Asiatic side there was wealth, luxury, and splendor; on +the European, energy, genius, and force. On the one hand were vast +cities, splendid palaces, and gardens which were the wonder of the +world; on the other, strong citadels, military roads and bridges, +and compact and well-defended towns. The Persians had enormous armies, +perfectly provided for, with beautiful tents, horses elegantly +caparisoned, arms and munitions of war of the finest workmanship, and +officers magnificently dressed, and accustomed to a life of luxury and +splendor. The Greeks and Romans, on the other hand, prided themselves +on their compact bodies of troops, inured to hardship and thoroughly +disciplined. Their officers gloried not in luxury and parade, but in +the courage, the steadiness, and implicit obedience of their troops, +and in their own science, skill, and powers of military calculation. +Thus there was a great difference in the whole system of social and +military organization in these two quarters of the globe. + +Now Alexander was born the heir to the throne of one of the Grecian +kingdoms. He possessed, in a very remarkable degree, the energy, and +enterprise, and military skill so characteristic of the Greeks and +Romans. He organized armies, crossed the boundary between Europe and +Asia, and spent the twelve years of his career in a most triumphant +military incursion into the very center and seat of Asiatic power, +destroying the Asiatic armies, conquering the most splendid cities, +defeating or taking captive the kings, and princes, and generals that +opposed his progress. The whole world looked on with wonder to see +such a course of conquest, pursued so successfully by so young a man, +and with so small an army, gaining continual victories, as it did, +over such vast numbers of foes, and making conquests of such +accumulated treasures of wealth and splendor. + +The name of Alexander's father was Philip. The kingdom over which +he reigned was called Macedon. Macedon was in the northern part +of Greece. It was a kingdom about twice as large as the State of +Massachusetts, and one third as large as the State of New York. The +name of Alexander's mother was Olympias. She was the daughter of the +King of Epirus, which was a kingdom somewhat smaller than Macedon, and +lying westward of it. Both Macedon and Epirus will be found upon the +map at the commencement of this volume. Olympias was a woman of very +strong and determined character. Alexander seemed to inherit her +energy, though in his case it was combined with other qualities of a +more attractive character, which his mother did not possess. + +He was, of course, as the young prince, a very important personage in +his father's court. Every one knew that at his father's death he would +become King of Macedon, and he was consequently the object of a great +deal of care and attention. As he gradually advanced in the years of +his boyhood, it was observed by all who knew him that he was endued +with extraordinary qualities of mind and of character, which seemed to +indicate, at a very early age, his future greatness. + +Although he was a prince, he was not brought up in habits of luxury +and effeminacy. This would have been contrary to all the ideas which +were entertained by the Greeks in those days. They had then no +fire-arms, so that in battle the combatants could not stand quietly, +as they can now, at a distance from the enemy, coolly discharging +musketry or cannon. In ancient battles the soldiers rushed toward each +other, and fought hand to hand, in close combat, with swords, or +spears, or other weapons requiring great personal strength, so that +headlong bravery and muscular force were the qualities which generally +carried the day. + +The duties of officers, too, on the field of battle, were very +different then from what they are now. An officer _now_ must be calm, +collected, and quiet. His business is to plan, to calculate, to +direct, and arrange. He has to do this sometimes, it is true, in +circumstances of the most imminent danger, so that he must be a man +of great self-possession and of undaunted courage. But there is very +little occasion for him to exert any great physical force. + +In ancient times, however, the great business of the officers, +certainly in all the subordinate grades, was to lead on the men, and +set them an example by performing themselves deeds in which their own +great personal prowess was displayed. Of course it was considered +extremely important that the child destined to be a general should +become robust and powerful in constitution from his earliest years, +and that he should be inured to hardship and fatigue. In the early +part of Alexander's life this was the main object of attention. + +The name of the nurse who had charge of our hero in his infancy was +Lannice. She did all in her power to give strength and hardihood to +his constitution, while, at the same time, she treated him with +kindness and gentleness. Alexander acquired a strong affection for +her, and he treated her with great consideration as long as he lived. +He had a governor, also, in his early years, named Leonnatus, who had +the general charge of his education. As soon as he was old enough to +learn, they appointed him a preceptor also, to teach him such branches +as were generally taught to young princes in those days. The name of +this preceptor was Lysimachus. + +They had then no printed books, but there were a few writings on +parchment rolls which young scholars were taught to read. Some of +these writings were treatises on philosophy, others were romantic +histories, narrating the exploits of the heroes of those days--of +course, with much exaggeration and embellishment. There were also some +poems, still more romantic than the histories, though generally on the +same themes. The greatest productions of this kind were the writings +of Homer, an ancient poet who lived and wrote four or five hundred +years before Alexander's day. The young Alexander was greatly +delighted with Homer's tales. These tales are narrations of the +exploits and adventures of certain great warriors at the siege of +Troy--a siege which lasted ten years--and they are written with so +much beauty and force, they contain such admirable delineations of +character, and such graphic and vivid descriptions of romantic +adventures, and picturesque and striking scenes, that they have been +admired in every age by all who have learned to understand the +language in which they are written. + +Alexander could understand them very easily, as they were written +in his mother tongue. He was greatly excited by the narrations +themselves, and pleased with the flowing smoothness of the verse +in which the tales were told. In the latter part of his course of +education he was placed under the charge of Aristotle, who was one +of the most eminent philosophers of ancient times. Aristotle had a +beautiful copy of Homer's poems prepared expressly for Alexander, +taking great pains to have it transcribed with perfect correctness, +and in the most elegant manner. Alexander carried this copy with him +in all his campaigns. Some years afterward, when he was obtaining +conquests over the Persians, he took, among the spoils of one of his +victories, a very beautiful and costly casket, which King Darius had +used for his jewelry or for some other rich treasures. Alexander +determined to make use of this box as a depository for his beautiful +copy of Homer, and he always carried it with him, thus protected, in +all his subsequent campaigns. + +Alexander was full of energy and spirit, but he was, at the same time, +like all who ever become truly great, of a reflective and considerate +turn of mind. He was very fond of the studies which Aristotle led him +to pursue, although they were of a very abstruse and difficult +character. He made great progress in metaphysical philosophy and +mathematics, by which means his powers of calculation and his judgment +were greatly improved. + +He early evinced a great degree of ambition. His father Philip was a +powerful warrior, and made many conquests in various parts of Greece, +though he did not cross into Asia. When news of Philip's victories +came into Macedon, all the rest of the court would be filled with +rejoicing and delight; but Alexander, on such occasions, looked +thoughtful and disappointed, and complained that his father would +conquer every country, and leave him nothing to do. + +At one time some embassadors from the Persian court arrived in Macedon +when Philip was away. These embassadors saw Alexander, of course, and +had opportunities to converse with him. They expected that he would be +interested in hearing about the splendors, and pomp, and parade of +the Persian monarchy. They had stories to tell him about the famous +hanging gardens, which were artificially constructed in the most +magnificent manner, on arches raised high in the air; and about a vine +made of gold, with all sorts of precious stones upon it instead of +fruit, which was wrought as an ornament over the throne on which the +King of Persia often gave audience; of the splendid palaces and vast +cities of the Persians; and the banquets, and fêtes, and magnificent +entertainments and celebrations which they used to have there. They +found, however, to their surprise, that Alexander was not interested +in hearing about any of these things. He would always turn the +conversation from them to inquire about the geographical position of +the different Persian countries, the various routes leading into the +interior, the organization of the Asiatic armies, their system of +military tactics, and, especially, the character and habits of +Artaxerxes, the Persian king. + +The embassadors were very much surprised at such evidences of maturity +of mind, and of far-seeing and reflective powers on the part of the +young prince. They could not help comparing him with Artaxerxes. +"Alexander," said they, "is _great_, while our king is only _rich_." +The truth of the judgment which these embassadors thus formed in +respect to the qualities of the young Macedonian, compared with those +held in highest estimation on the Asiatic side, was fully confirmed in +the subsequent stages of Alexander's career. + +In fact, this combination of a calm and calculating thoughtfulness, +with the ardor and energy which formed the basis of his character, was +one great secret of Alexander's success. The story of Bucephalus, his +famous horse, illustrates this in a very striking manner. This animal +was a war-horse of very spirited character, which had been sent as a +present to Philip while Alexander was young. They took the horse +out into one of the parks connected with the palace, and the king, +together with many of his courtiers, went out to view him. The horse +pranced about in a very furious manner, and seemed entirely +unmanageable. No one dared to mount him. Philip, instead of being +gratified at the present, was rather disposed to be displeased that +they had sent him an animal of so fiery and apparently vicious a +nature that nobody dared to attempt to subdue him. + +In the mean time, while all the other by-standers were joining in the +general condemnation of the horse, Alexander stood quietly by, +watching his motions, and attentively studying his character. He +perceived that a part of the difficulty was caused by the agitations +which the horse experienced in so strange and new a scene, and that he +appeared, also, to be somewhat frightened by his own shadow, which +happened at that time to be thrown very strongly and distinctly upon +the ground. He saw other indications, also, that the high excitement +which the horse felt was not viciousness, but the excess of noble and +generous impulses. It was courage, ardor, and the consciousness of +great nervous and muscular power. + +Philip had decided that the horse was useless, and had given orders to +have him sent back to Thessaly, whence he came. Alexander was very +much concerned at the prospect of losing so fine an animal. He begged +his father to allow him to make the experiment of mounting him. Philip +at first refused, thinking it very presumptuous for such a youth to +attempt to subdue an animal so vicious that all his experienced +horsemen and grooms condemned him; however, he at length consented. +Alexander went up to the horse and took hold of his bridle. He patted +him upon the neck, and soothed him with his voice, showing, at the +same time, by his easy and unconcerned manner, that he was not in the +least afraid of him. A spirited horse knows immediately when any one +approaches him in a timid or cautious manner. He appears to look with +contempt on such a master, and to determine not to submit to him. On +the contrary, horses seem to love to yield obedience to man, when the +individual who exacts the obedience possesses those qualities of +coolness and courage which their instincts enable them to appreciate. + +[Illustration: ALEXANDER AND BUCEPHALUS.] + +At any rate, Bucephalus was calmed and subdued by the presence of +Alexander. He allowed himself to be caressed. Alexander turned his +head in such a direction as to prevent his seeing his shadow. He +quietly and gently laid off a sort of cloak which he wore, and sprang +upon the horse's back. Then, instead of attempting to restrain him, +and worrying and checking him by useless efforts to hold him in, he +gave him the rein freely, and animated and encouraged him with his +voice, so that the horse flew across the plains at the top of his +speed, the king and the courtiers looking on, at first with fear and +trembling, but soon afterward with feelings of the greatest admiration +and pleasure. After the horse had satisfied himself with his run it +was easy to rein him in, and Alexander returned with him in safety to +the king. The courtiers overwhelmed him with their praises and +congratulations. Philip commended him very highly: he told him that he +deserved a larger kingdom than Macedon to govern. + +Alexander's judgment of the true character of the horse proved to +be correct. He became very tractable and docile, yielding a ready +submission to his master in every thing. He would kneel upon his fore +legs at Alexander's command, in order that he might mount more easily. +Alexander retained him for a long time, and made him his favorite war +horse. A great many stories are related by the historians of those +days of his sagacity and his feats of war. Whenever he was equipped +for the field with his military trappings, he seemed to be highly +elated with pride and pleasure, and at such times he would not allow +any one but Alexander to mount him. + +What became of him at last is not certainly known. There are two +accounts of his end. One is, that on a certain occasion Alexander got +carried too far into the midst of his enemies, on a battle field and +that, after fighting desperately for some time, Bucephalus made the +most extreme exertions to carry him away. He was severely wounded +again and again, and though his strength was nearly gone, he would not +stop, but pressed forward till he had carried his master away to a +place of safety, and that then he dropped down exhausted, and died. It +may be, however, that he did not actually die at this time, but slowly +recovered; for some historians relate that he lived to be thirty years +old--which is quite an old age for a horse--and that he then died. +Alexander caused him to be buried with great ceremony, and built a +small city upon the spot in honor of his memory. The name of this city +was Bucephalia. + +Alexander's character matured rapidly, and he began very early to act +the part of a man. When he was only sixteen years of age, his father, +Philip, made him regent of Macedon while he was absent on a great +military campaign among the other states of Greece. Without doubt +Alexander had, in this regency, the counsel and aid of high officers +of state of great experience and ability. He acted, however, himself, +in this high position, with great energy and with complete success; +and, at the same time, with all that modesty of deportment, and that +delicate consideration for the officers under him--who, though +inferior in rank, were yet his superiors in age and experience--which +his position rendered proper, but which few persons so young as he +would have manifested in circumstances so well calculated to awaken +the feelings of vanity and elation. + +Afterward, when Alexander was about eighteen years old, his father +took him with him on a campaign toward the south, during which Philip +fought one of his great battles at Chæronea, in Boeotia. In the +arrangements for this battle, Philip gave the command of one of the +wings of the army to Alexander, while he reserved the other for +himself. He felt some solicitude in giving his young son so important +a charge, but he endeavored to guard against the danger of an +unfortunate result by putting the ablest generals on Alexander's side, +while he reserved those on whom he could place less reliance for his +own. Thus organized, the army went into battle. + +Philip soon ceased to feel any solicitude for Alexander's part of the +duty. Boy as he was, the young prince acted with the utmost bravery, +coolness, and discretion. The wing which he commanded was victorious, +and Philip was obliged to urge himself and the officers with him to +greater exertions, to avoid being outdone by his son. In the end +Philip was completely victorious, and the result of this great battle +was to make his power paramount and supreme over all the states of +Greece. + +Notwithstanding, however, the extraordinary discretion and wisdom +which characterized the mind of Alexander in his early years, he was +often haughty and headstrong, and in cases where his pride or his +resentment were aroused, he was sometimes found very impetuous and +uncontrollable. His mother Olympias was of a haughty and imperious +temper, and she quarreled with her husband, King Philip; or, perhaps, +it ought rather to be said that he quarreled with her. Each is said +to have been unfaithful to the other, and, after a bitter contention, +Philip repudiated his wife and married another lady. Among the +festivities held on the occasion of this marriage, there was a great +banquet, at which Alexander was present, and an incident occurred +which strikingly illustrates the impetuosity of his character. + +One of the guests at this banquet, in saying something complimentary +to the new queen, made use of expressions which Alexander considered +as in disparagement of the character of his mother and of his own +birth. His anger was immediately aroused. He threw the cup from which +he had been drinking at the offender's head. Attalus, for this was his +name, threw his cup at Alexander in return; the guests at the table +where they were sitting rose, and a scene of uproar and confusion +ensued. + +Philip, incensed at such an interruption of the order and harmony of +the wedding feast, drew his sword and rushed toward Alexander but by +some accident he stumbled and fell upon the floor. Alexander looked +upon his fallen father with contempt and scorn, and exclaimed, "What a +fine hero the states of Greece have to lead their armies--a man that +can not get across the floor without tumbling down." He then turned +away and left the palace. Immediately afterward he joined his mother +Olympias, and went away with her to her native country, Epirus, where +the mother and son remained for a time in a state of open quarrel with +the husband and father. + +In the mean time Philip had been planning a great expedition into +Asia. He had arranged the affairs of his own kingdom, and had formed a +strong combination among the states of Greece, by which powerful +armies had been raised, and he had been designated to command them. +His mind was very intently engaged in this vast enterprise. He was in +the flower of his years, and at the height of his power. His own +kingdom was in a very prosperous and thriving condition, and his +ascendency over the other kingdoms and states on the European side had +been fully established. He was excited with ambition, and full of +hope. He was proud of his son Alexander, and was relying upon his +efficient aid in his schemes of conquest and aggrandizement. He had +married a youthful and beautiful bride, and was surrounded by scenes +of festivity, congratulation, and rejoicing. He was looking forward to +a very brilliant career considering all the deeds that he had done and +all the glory which he had acquired as only the introduction and +prelude to the far more distinguished and conspicuous part which he +was intending to perform. + +Alexander, in the mean time, ardent and impetuous, and eager for glory +as he was, looked upon the position and prospects of his father with +some envy and jealousy. He was impatient to be monarch himself. His +taking sides so promptly with his mother in the domestic quarrel was +partly owing to the feeling that his father was a hinderance and an +obstacle in the way of his own greatness and fame. He felt within +himself powers and capacities qualifying him to take his father's +place, and reap for himself the harvest of glory and power which +seemed to await the Grecian armies in the coming campaign. While +his father lived, however, he could be only a prince; influential, +accomplished, and popular, it is true, but still without any +substantial and independent power. He was restless and uneasy at the +thought that, as his father was in the prime and vigor of manhood, +many long years must elapse before he could emerge from this confined +and subordinate condition. His restlessness and uneasiness were, +however, suddenly ended by a very extraordinary occurrence, which +called him, with scarcely an hour's notice, to take his father's place +upon the throne. + + + + +CHAPTER II. + +BEGINNING OF HIS REIGN. + +B.C. 336 + +Philip is reconciled to Olympias and Alexander.--Olympias and Alexander +returned.--The great wedding.--Preparations for the wedding.--Costly +presents.--Celebration of the wedding.--Games and spectacles.--Statues +of the gods.--Military procession.--Appearance of Philip.--The +scene changed.--Assassination of Philip.--Alexander proclaimed +king.--Alexander's speech.--Demosthenes' Philippics.--The Greeks +suspected of the murder.--The Persians also.--Alexander's new +position.--His designs.--Murderers of Philip punished.--Alexander's +first acts.--Parmenio.--Cities of Southern Greece.--Map of Macedon and +Greece.--Athens and Corinth.--Thebes.--Sparta.--Conquests of +Philip.--Alexander marches southward.--Pass of Thermopylæ.--The +Amphictyonic Council.--March through Thessaly.--Alexander's traits of +character.--The Thessalians join Alexander.--He sits in the Amphictyonic +Council.--Thermopylæ.--Leonidas and his Spartans.--Death of +Leonidas.--Spartan valor.--Alexander made commander-in-chief.--He +returns to Macedon. + + +Alexander was suddenly called upon to succeed his father on the +Macedonian throne, in the most unexpected manner, and in the midst of +scenes of the greatest excitement and agitation. The circumstances +were these: + +Philip had felt very desirous, before setting out upon his great +expedition into Asia, to become reconciled to Alexander and Olympias. +He wished for Alexander's co-operation in his plans; and then, +besides, it would be dangerous to go away from his own dominions with +such a son left behind, in a state of resentment and hostility. + +So Philip sent kind and conciliatory messages to Olympias and +Alexander, who had gone, it will be recollected, to Epirus, where her +friends resided. The brother of Olympias was King of Epirus. He had +been at first incensed at the indignity which had been put upon his +sister by Philip's treatment of her; but Philip now tried to appease +his anger, also, by friendly negotiations and messages. At last he +arranged a marriage between this King of Epirus and one of his own +daughters, and this completed the reconciliation. Olympias and +Alexander returned to Macedon, and great preparations were made for a +very splendid wedding. + +Philip wished to make this wedding not merely the means of confirming +his reconciliation with his former wife and son, and establishing +friendly relations with the King of Epirus: he also prized it as an +occasion for paying marked and honorable attention to the princes and +great generals of the other states of Greece. He consequently made his +preparations on a very extended and sumptuous scale, and sent +invitations to the influential and prominent men far and near. + +These great men, on the other hand, and all the other public +authorities in the various Grecian states, sent compliments, +congratulations, and presents to Philip, each seeming ambitious to +contribute his share to the splendor of the celebration. They were not +wholly disinterested in this, it is true. As Philip had been made +commander-in-chief of the Grecian armies which were about to undertake +the conquest of Asia, and as, of course, his influence and power in +all that related to that vast enterprise would be paramount and +supreme; and as all were ambitious to have a large share in the glory +of that expedition, and to participate, as much as possible, in the +power and in the renown which seemed to be at Philip's disposal, all +were, of course, very anxious to secure his favor. A short time +before, they were contending against him; but now, since he had +established his ascendency, they all eagerly joined in the work of +magnifying it and making it illustrious. + +Nor could Philip justly complain of the hollowness and falseness of +these professions of friendship. The compliments and favors which he +offered to them were equally hollow and heartless. He wished to secure +_their_ favor as a means of aiding him up the steep path to fame and +power which he was attempting to climb. They wished for his, in order +that he might, as he ascended himself, help them up with him. There +was, however, the greatest appearance of cordial and devoted +friendship. Some cities sent him presents of golden crowns, +beautifully wrought, and of high cost. Others dispatched embassies, +expressing their good wishes for him, and their confidence in the +success of his plans. Athens, the city which was the great seat of +literature and science in Greece sent a _poem_, in which the history +of the expedition into Persia was given by anticipation. In this poem +Philip was, of course, triumphantly successful in his enterprise. He +conducted his armies in safety through the most dangerous passes and +defiles; he fought glorious battles, gained magnificent victories, and +possessed himself of all the treasures of Asiatic wealth and power. It +ought to be stated, however, in justice to the poet, that, in +narrating these imaginary exploits, he had sufficient delicacy to +represent Philip and the Persian monarch by fictitious names. + +The wedding was at length celebrated, in one of the cities of Macedon, +with great pomp and splendor. There were games, and shows, and +military and civic spectacles of all kinds to amuse the thousands of +spectators that assembled to witness them. In one of these spectacles +they had a procession of statues of the gods. There were twelve of +these statues, sculptured with great art, and they were borne along on +elevated pedestals, with censers, and incense, and various ceremonies +of homage, while vast multitudes of spectators lined the way. There +was a thirteenth statue, more magnificent than the other twelve, +which represented Philip himself in the character of a god. + +This was not, however, so impious as it would at first view seem, for +the gods whom the ancients worshiped were, in fact, only deifications +of old heroes and kings who had lived in early times, and had acquired +a reputation for supernatural powers by the fame of their exploits, +exaggerated in descending by tradition in superstitious times. The +ignorant multitude accordingly, in those days, looked up to a living +king with almost the same reverence and homage which they felt for +their deified heroes; and these deified heroes furnished them with all +the ideas they had of God. Making a monarch a god, therefore, was no +very extravagant flattery. + +After the procession of the statues passed along, there came bodies of +troops, with trumpets sounding and banners flying. The officers rode +on horses elegantly caparisoned, and prancing proudly. These troops +escorted princes, embassadors, generals, and great officers of state, +all gorgeously decked in their robes, and wearing their badges and +insignia. + +At length King Philip himself appeared in the procession. He had +arranged to have a large space left, in the middle of which he was to +walk. This was done in order to make his position the more +conspicuous, and to mark more strongly his own high distinction above +all the other potentates present on the occasion. Guards preceded and +followed him, though at considerable distance, as has been already +said. He was himself clothed with white robes, and his head was +adorned with a splendid crown. + +The procession was moving toward a great theater, where certain games +and spectacles were to be exhibited. The statues of the gods were to +be taken into the theater, and placed in conspicuous positions there, +in the view of the assembly, and then the procession itself was to +follow. All the statues had entered except that of Philip, which was +just at the door, and Philip himself was advancing in the midst of the +space left for him, up the avenue by which the theater was approached, +when an occurrence took place by which the whole character of the +scene, the destiny of Alexander, and the fate of fifty nations, was +suddenly and totally changed. It was this. An officer of the guards, +who had his position in the procession near the king, was seen +advancing impetuously toward him, through the space which separated +him from the rest, and, before the spectators had time even to wonder +what he was going to do, he stabbed him to the heart. Philip fell down +in the street and died. + +A scene of indescribable tumult and confusion ensued. The murderer was +immediately cut to pieces by the other guards. They found, however, +before he was dead, that it was Pausanias, a man of high standing and +influence, a general officer of the guards. He had had horses +provided, and other assistance ready, to enable him to make his +escape, but he was cut down by the guards before he could avail +himself of them. + +An officer of state immediately hastened to Alexander, and announced +to him his father's death and his own accession to the throne. An +assembly of the leading counselors and statesmen was called, in a +hasty and tumultuous manner, and Alexander was proclaimed king with +prolonged and general acclamations. Alexander made a speech in reply. +The great assembly looked upon his youthful form and face as he arose, +and listened with intense interest to hear what he had to say. He was +between nineteen and twenty years of age; but, though thus really a +boy, he spoke with all the decision and confidence of an energetic +man. He said that he should at once assume his father's position, and +carry forward his plans. He hoped to do this so efficiently that every +thing would go directly onward, just as if his father had continued to +live, and that the nation would find that the only change which had +taken place was in the _name_ of the king. + +The motive which induced Pausanias to murder Philip in this manner was +never fully ascertained. There were various opinions about it. One +was, that it was an act of private revenge, occasioned by some neglect +or injury which Pausanias had received from Philip. Others thought +that the murder was instigated by a party in the states of Greece, who +were hostile to Philip, and unwilling that he should command the +allied armies that were about to penetrate into Asia. Demosthenes, the +celebrated orator, was Philip's great enemy among the Greeks. Many of +his most powerful orations were made for the purpose of arousing his +countrymen to resist his ambitious plans and to curtail his power. +These orations were called his Philippics, and from this origin has +arisen the practice, which has prevailed ever since that day, of +applying the term philippics to denote, in general, any strongly +denunciatory harangues. + +Now Demosthenes, it is said, who was at this time in Athens, announced +the death of Philip in an Athenian assembly before it was possible +that the news could have been conveyed there. He accounted for his +early possession of the intelligence by saying it was communicated to +him by some of the gods. Many persons have accordingly supposed that +the plan of assassinating Philip was devised in Greece; that +Demosthenes was a party to it; that Pausanias was the agent for +carrying it into execution; and that Demosthenes was so confident of +the success of the plot, and exulted so much in this certainty, that +he could not resist the temptation of thus anticipating its +announcement. + +There were other persons who thought that the _Persians_ had plotted +and accomplished this murder, having induced Pausanias to execute the +deed by the promise of great rewards. As Pausanias himself, however, +had been instantly killed, there was no opportunity of gaining any +information from him on the motives of his conduct, even if he would +have been disposed to impart any. + +At all events, Alexander found himself suddenly elevated to one of the +most conspicuous positions in the whole political world. It was not +simply that he succeeded to the throne of Macedon; even this would +have been a lofty position for so young a man; but Macedon was a very +small part of the realm over which Philip had extended his power. The +ascendency which he had acquired over the whole Grecian empire, and +the vast arrangements he had made for an incursion into Asia, made +Alexander the object of universal interest and attention. The question +was, whether Alexander should attempt to take his father's place in +respect to all this general power, and undertake to sustain and carry +on his vast projects, or whether he should content himself with +ruling, in quiet, over his native country of Macedon. + +Most prudent persons would have advised a young prince, under such +circumstances, to have decided upon the latter course. But Alexander +had no idea of bounding his ambition by any such limits. He resolved +to spring at once completely into his father's seat, and not only to +possess himself of the whole of the power which his father had +acquired, but to commence, immediately, the most energetic and +vigorous efforts for a great extension of it. + +His first plan was to punish his father's murderers. He caused the +circumstances of the case to be investigated, and the persons +suspected of having been connected with Pausanias in the plot to be +tried. Although the designs and motives of the murderers could never +be fully ascertained, still several persons were found guilty of +participating in it, and were condemned to death and publicly +executed. + +Alexander next decided not to make any change in his father's +appointments to the great offices of state, but to let all the +departments of public affairs go on in the same hands as before. How +sagacious a line of conduct was this! Most ardent and enthusiastic +young men, in the circumstances in which he was placed, would have +been elated and vain at their elevation, and would have replaced the +old and well-tried servants of the father with personal favorites of +their own age, inexperienced and incompetent, and as conceited as +themselves. Alexander, however, made no such changes. He continued the +old officers in command, endeavoring to have every thing go on just as +if his father had not died. + +There were two officers in particular who were the ministers on whom +Philip had mainly relied. Their names were Antipater and Parmenio. +Antipater had charge of the civil, and Parmenio of military affairs. +Parmenio was a very distinguished general. He was at this time nearly +sixty years of age. Alexander had great confidence in his military +powers, and felt a strong personal attachment for him. Parmenio +entered into the young king's service with great readiness, and +accompanied him through almost the whole of his career. It seemed +strange to see men of such age, standing, and experience, obeying the +orders of such a boy; but there was something in the genius, the +power, and the enthusiasm of Alexander's character which inspired +ardor in all around him, and made every one eager to join his standard +and to aid in the execution of his plans. + +Macedon, as will be seen on the following map, was in the northern +part of the country occupied by the Greeks, and the most powerful +states of the confederacy and all the great and influential cities +were south of it. There was Athens, which was magnificently built, its +splendid citadel crowning a rocky hill in the center of it. It was the +great seat of literature, philosophy, and the arts, and was thus a +center of attraction for all the civilized world. There was Corinth, +which was distinguished for the gayety and pleasure which reigned +there. All possible means of luxury and amusement were concentrated +within its walls. The lovers of knowledge and of art, from all parts +of the earth, flocked to Athens, while those in pursuit of pleasure, +dissipation, and indulgence chose Corinth for their home. Corinth was +beautifully situated on the isthmus, with prospects of the sea on +either hand. It had been a famous city for a thousand years in +Alexander's day. + +[Illustration: MAP OF MACEDON AND GREECE.] + +There was also Thebes. Thebes was farther north than Athens and +Corinth. It was situated on an elevated plain, and had, like other +ancient cities, a strong citadel, where there was at this time a +Macedonian garrison, which Philip had placed there. Thebes was very +wealthy and powerful. It had also been celebrated as the birth-place +of many poets and philosophers, and other eminent men. Among these was +Pindar, a very celebrated poet who had flourished one or two centuries +before the time of Alexander. His descendants still lived in Thebes, +and Alexander, some time after this, had occasion to confer upon them +a very distinguished honor. + +There was Sparta also, called sometimes Lacedæmon. The inhabitants of +this city were famed for their courage, hardihood, and physical +strength, and for the energy with which they devoted themselves to the +work of war. They were nearly all soldiers, and all the arrangements +of the state and of society, and all the plans of education, were +designed to promote military ambition and pride among the officers and +fierce and indomitable courage and endurance in the men. + +These cities and many others, with the states which were attached to +them, formed a large, and flourishing, and very powerful community, +extending over all that part of Greece which lay south of Macedon. +Philip, as has been already said, had established his own ascendency +over all this region, though it had cost him many perplexing +negotiations and some hard-fought battles to do it. Alexander +considered it somewhat uncertain whether the people of all these +states and cities would be disposed to transfer readily, to so +youthful a prince as he, the high commission which his father, a very +powerful monarch and soldier, had extorted from them with so much +difficulty. What should he do in the case? Should he give up the +expectation of it? Should he send embassadors to them, presenting his +claims to occupy his father's place? Or should he not act at all, but +wait quietly at home in Macedon until they should decide the question? + +Instead of doing either of these things, Alexander decided on the very +bold step of setting out himself, at the head of an army, to march +into southern Greece, for the purpose of presenting in person, and, if +necessary, of enforcing his claim to the same post of honor and power +which had been conferred upon his father. Considering all the +circumstances of the case, this was perhaps one of the boldest and +most decided steps of Alexander's whole career. Many of his Macedonian +advisers counseled him not to make such an attempt; but Alexander +would not listen to any such cautions. He collected his forces, and +set forth at the head of them. + +Between Macedon and the southern states of Greece was a range of lofty +and almost impassable mountains. These mountains extended through the +whole interior of the country, and the main route leading into +southern Greece passed around to the eastward of them, where they +terminated in cliffs, leaving a narrow passage between the cliffs and +the sea. This pass was called the Pass of Thermopylæ, and it was +considered the key to Greece. There was a town named Anthela near the +pass, on the outward side. + +There was in those days a sort of general congress or assembly of the +states of Greece, which was held from time to time, to decide +questions and disputes in which the different states were continually +getting involved with each other. This assembly was called the +Amphictyonic Council, on account, as is said, of its having been +established by a certain king named Amphictyon. A meeting of this +council was appointed to receive Alexander. It was to be held at +Thermopylæ, or, rather, at Anthela, which was just without the pass, +and was the usual place at which the council assembled. This was +because the pass was in an intermediate position between the northern +and southern portions of Greece, and thus equally accessible from +either. + +In proceeding to the southward, Alexander had first to pass through +Thessaly, which was a very powerful state immediately south of +Macedon. He met with some show of resistance at first, but not much. +The country was impressed with the boldness and decision of character +manifested in the taking of such a course by so young a man. Then, +too, Alexander, so far as he became personally known, made a very +favorable impression upon every one. His manly and athletic form, his +frank and open manners, his spirit, his generosity, and a certain air +of confidence, independence, and conscious superiority, which were +combined, as they always are in the case of true greatness, with an +unaffected and unassuming modesty--these and other traits, which were +obvious to all who saw him, in the person and character of Alexander, +made every one his friend. Common men take pleasure in yielding to the +influence and ascendency of one whose spirit they see and feel stands +on a higher eminence and wields higher powers than their own. They +like a leader. It is true, they must feel confident of his +superiority; but when this superiority stands out so clearly and +distinctly marked, combined, too, with all the graces and attractions +of youth and manly beauty, as it was in the case of Alexander, the +minds of men are brought very easily and rapidly under its sway. + +The Thessalians gave Alexander a very favorable reception. They +expressed a cordial readiness to instate him in the position which his +father had occupied. They joined their forces to his, and proceeded +southward toward the Pass of Thermopylæ. + +Here the great council was held. Alexander took his place in it as a +member. Of course, he must have been an object of universal interest +and attention. The impression which he made here seems to have been +very favorable. After this assembly separated, Alexander proceeded +southward, accompanied by his own forces, and tended by the various +princes and potentates of Greece, with their attendants and +followers. The feelings of exultation and pleasure with which the +young king defiled through the Pass of Thermopylæ, thus attended, must +have been exciting in the extreme. + +The Pass of Thermopylæ was a scene strongly associated with ideas of +military glory and renown. It was here that, about a hundred and fifty +years before, Leonidas, a Spartan general, with only three hundred +soldiers, had attempted to withstand the pressure of an immense +Persian force which was at that time invading Greece. He was one of +the kings of Sparta, and he had the command, not only of his three +hundred Spartans, but also of all the allied forces of the Greeks that +had been assembled to repel the Persian invasion. With the help of +these allies he withstood the Persian forces for some time, and as the +pass was so narrow between the cliffs and the sea, he was enabled to +resist them successfully. At length, however, a strong detachment from +the immense Persian army contrived to find their way over the +mountains and around the pass, so as to establish themselves in a +position from which they could come down upon the small Greek army in +their rear. Leonidas, perceiving this, ordered all his allies from +the other states of Greece to withdraw, leaving himself and his three +hundred countrymen alone in the defile. + +He did not expect to repel his enemies or to defend the pass. He knew +that he must die, and all his brave followers with him, and that the +torrent of invaders would pour down through the pass over their +bodies. But he considered himself stationed there to defend the +passage, and he would not desert his post. When the battle came on he +was the first to fall. The soldiers gathered around him and defended +his dead body as long as they could. At length, overpowered by the +immense numbers of their foes, they were all killed but one man. He +made his escape and returned to Sparta. A monument was erected on the +spot with this inscription: "Go, traveler, to Sparta, and say that we +lie here, on the spot at which we were stationed to defend our +country." + +Alexander passed through the defile. He advanced to the great cities +south of it--to Athens, to Thebes, and to Corinth. Another great +assembly of all the monarchs and potentates of Greece was convened in +Corinth; and here Alexander attained the object of his ambition, in +having the command of the great expedition into Asia conferred upon +him. The impression which he made upon those with whom he came into +connection by his personal qualities must have been favorable in the +extreme. That such a youthful prince should be selected by so powerful +a confederation of nations as their leader in such an enterprise as +they were about to engage in, indicates a most extraordinary power on +his part of acquiring an ascendency over the minds of men, and of +impressing all with a sense of his commanding superiority. Alexander +returned to Macedon from his expedition to the southward in triumph, +and began at once to arrange the affairs of his kingdom, so as to be +ready to enter, unembarrassed, upon the great career of conquest which +he imagined was before him. + + + + +CHAPTER III. + +THE REACTION. + +B.C. 335 + +Mount Hæmus.--Thrace.--The Hebrus.--Thrace.--Valley of the +Danube.--Revolt among the northern nations.--Alexander marches +north.--Old Boreas.--Contest among the mountains.--The +loaded wagons.--Alexander's victorious march.--Mouths of the +Danube.--Alexander resolves to cross the Danube.--Preparations.--The +river crossed.--The landing.--Northern nations subdued.--Alexander +returns to Macedon.--Rebellion of Thebes.--Siege of the citadel.--Sudden +appearance of Alexander.--He invests Thebes.--The Thebans refuse +to surrender.--Storming a city.--Undermining.--Making a +breach.--Surrender.--Carrying a city by assault.--Scenes of +horror.--Thebes carried by assault.--Great loss of life.--Thebes +destroyed.--The manner of doing it.--Alexander's moderation and +forbearance.--Family of Pindar spared.--The number saved.--Efforts +of Demosthenes.--The boy proves to be a man.--All disaffection +subdued.--Moral effect of the destruction of Thebes.--Alexander +returns to Macedon.--Celebrates his victories. + + +The country which was formerly occupied by Macedon and the other +states of Greece is now Turkey in Europe. In the northern part of it +is a vast chain of mountains called now the Balkan. In Alexander's day +it was Mount Hæmus. This chain forms a broad belt of lofty and +uninhabitable land, and extends from the Black Sea to the Adriatic. + +A branch of this mountain range, called Rhodope, extends southwardly +from about the middle of its length, as may be seen by the map. +Rhodope separated Macedonia from a large and powerful country, which +was occupied by a somewhat rude but warlike race of men. This country +was Thrace. Thrace was one great fertile basin or valley, sloping +toward the center in every direction, so that all the streams from the +mountains, increased by the rains which fell over the whole surface of +the ground, flowed together into one river, which meandered through +the center of the valley, and flowed out at last into the Ægean Sea. +The name of this river was the Hebrus. All this may be seen +distinctly upon the map. + +[Illustration: MAP OF MACEDON AND GREECE.] + +The Balkan, or Mount Hæmus, as it was then called, formed the great +northern frontier of Macedon and Thrace. From the summits of the +range, looking northward, the eye surveyed a vast extent of land, +constituting one of the most extensive and fertile valleys on the +globe. It was the valley of the Danube. It was inhabited, in those +days, by rude tribes whom the Greeks and Romans always designated as +barbarians. They were, at any rate, wild and warlike, and, as they had +not the art of writing, they have left us no records of their +institutions or their history. We know nothing of them, or of the +other half-civilized nations that occupied the central parts of Europe +in those days, except what their inveterate and perpetual enemies have +thought fit to tell us. According to their story, these countries were +filled with nations and tribes of a wild and half-savage character, +who could be kept in check only by the most vigorous exertion of +military power. + +Soon after Alexander's return into Macedon, he learned that there were +symptoms of revolt among these nations. Philip had subdued them, and +established the kind of peace which the Greeks and Romans were +accustomed to enforce upon their neighbors. But now, as they had heard +that Philip, who had been so terrible a warrior, was no more, and that +his son, scarcely out of his teens, had succeeded to the throne, they +thought a suitable occasion had arrived to try their strength. +Alexander made immediate arrangements for moving northward with his +army to settle this question. + +He conducted his forces through a part of Thrace without meeting with +any serious resistance, and approached the mountains. The soldiers +looked upon the rugged precipices and lofty summits before them with +awe. These northern mountains were the seat and throne, in the +imaginations of the Greeks and Romans, of old Boreas, the hoary god of +the north wind. They conceived of him as dwelling among those cold and +stormy summits, and making excursions in winter, carrying with him his +vast stores of frost and snow, over the southern valleys and plains. +He had wings, a long beard, and white locks, all powdered with flakes +of snow. Instead of feet, his body terminated in tails of serpents, +which, as he flew along, lashed the air, writhing from under his +robes. He was violent and impetuous in temper, rejoicing in the +devastation of winter, and in all the sublime phenomena of tempests, +cold, and snow. The Greek conception of Boreas made an impression upon +the human mind that twenty centuries have not been able to efface. The +north wind of winter is personified as Boreas to the present day in +the literature of every nation of the Western world. + +The Thracian forces had assembled in the defiles, with other troops +from the northern countries, to arrest Alexander's march, and he had +some difficulty in repelling them. They had got, it is said, some sort +of loaded wagons upon the summit of an ascent, in the pass of the +mountains, up which Alexander's forces would have to march. These +wagons were to be run down upon them as they ascended. Alexander +ordered his men to advance, notwithstanding this danger. He directed +them, where it was practicable, to open to one side and the other, and +allow the descending wagon to pass through. When this could not be +done, they were to fall down upon the ground when they saw this +strange military engine coming, and locking their shields together +over their heads, allow the wagon to roll on over them, bracing up +energetically against its weight. Notwithstanding these precautions, +and the prodigious muscular power with which they were carried into +effect, some of the men were crushed. The great body of the army was, +however, unharmed; as soon as the force of the wagons was spent, they +rushed up the ascent, and attacked their enemies with their pikes. The +barbarians fled in all directions, terrified at the force and +invulnerability of men whom loaded wagons, rolling over their bodies +down a steep descent, could not kill. + +Alexander advanced from one conquest like this to another, moving +toward the northward and eastward after he had crossed the mountains, +until at length he approached the mouths of the Danube. Here one of +the great chieftains of the barbarian tribes had taken up his +position, with his family and court, and a principal part of his army, +upon an island called Peucé, which may be seen upon the map at the +beginning of this chapter. This island divided the current of the +stream, and Alexander, in attempting to attack it, found that it would +be best to endeavor to effect a landing upon the upper point of it. + +To make this attempt, he collected all the boats and vessels which he +could obtain, and embarked his troops in them above, directing them to +fall down with the current, and to land upon the island. This plan, +however, did not succeed very well; the current was too rapid for the +proper management of the boats. The shores, too, were lined with the +forces of the enemy, who discharged showers of spears and arrows at +the men, and pushed off the boats when they attempted to land. +Alexander at length gave up the attempt, and concluded to leave the +island, and to cross the river itself further above, and thus carry +the war into the very heart of the country. + +It is a serious undertaking to get a great body of men and horses +across a broad and rapid river, when the people of the country have +done all in their power to remove or destroy all possible means of +transit, and when hostile bands are on the opposite bank, to embarrass +and impede the operations by every mode in their power. Alexander, +however, advanced to the undertaking with great resolution. To cross +the Danube especially, with a military force, was, in those days, in +the estimation of the Greeks and Romans, a very great exploit. The +river was so distant, so broad and rapid, and its banks were bordered +and defended by such ferocious foes, that to cross its eddying tide, +and penetrate into the unknown and unexplored regions beyond, leaving +the broad, and deep, and rapid stream to cut off the hopes of retreat, +implied the possession of extreme self-reliance, courage, and +decision. + +Alexander collected all the canoes and boats which he could obtain up +and down the river. He built large rafts, attaching to them the skins +of beasts sewed together and inflated, to give them buoyancy. When +all was ready, they began the transportation of the army in the night, +in a place where the enemy had not expected that the attempt would +have been made. There were a thousand horses, with their riders, and +four thousand foot soldiers, to be conveyed across. It is customary, +in such cases, to swim the horses over, leading them by lines, the +ends of which are held by men in boats. The men themselves, with all +the arms, ammunition, and baggage, had to be carried over in the boats +or upon the rafts. Before morning the whole was accomplished. + +The army landed in a field of grain. This circumstance, which is +casually mentioned by historians, and also the story of the wagons in +the passes of Mount Hæmus, proves that these northern nations were not +absolute barbarians in the sense in which that term is used at the +present day. The arts of cultivation and of construction must have +made some progress among them, at any rate; and they proved, by some +of their conflicts with Alexander, that they were well-trained and +well-disciplined soldiers. + +The Macedonians swept down the waving grain with their pikes, to open +a way for the advance of the cavalry, and early in the morning +Alexander found and attacked the army of his enemies, who were +utterly astonished at finding him on their side of the river. As may +be easily anticipated, the barbarian army was beaten in the battle +that ensued. Their city was taken. The booty was taken back across the +Danube to be distributed among the soldiers of the army. The +neighboring nations and tribes were overawed and subdued by this +exhibition of Alexander's courage and energy. He made satisfactory +treaties with them all; took hostages, where necessary, to secure the +observance of the treaties, and then recrossed the Danube and set out +on his return to Macedon. + +He found that it was _time_ for him to return. The southern cities and +states of Greece had not been unanimous in raising him to the office +which his father had held. The Spartans and some others were opposed +to him. The party thus opposed were inactive and silent while +Alexander was in their country, on his first visit to southern Greece; +but after his return they began to contemplate more decisive action, +and afterward, when they heard of his having undertaken so desperate +an enterprise as going northward with his forces, and actually +crossing the Danube, they considered him as so completely out of the +way that they grew very courageous, and meditated open rebellion. + +The city of Thebes did at length rebel. Philip had conquered this city +in former struggles, and had left a Macedonian garrison there in the +citadel. The name of the citadel was Cadmeia. The officers of the +garrison, supposing that all was secure, left the soldiers in the +citadel, and came, themselves, down to the city to reside. Things were +in this condition when the rebellion against Alexander's authority +broke out. They killed the officers who were in the city, and summoned +the garrison to surrender. The garrison refused, and the Thebans +besieged it. + +This outbreak against Alexander's authority was in a great measure the +work of the great orator Demosthenes, who spared no exertions to +arouse the southern states of Greece to resist Alexander's dominion. +He especially exerted all the powers of his eloquence in Athens in the +endeavor to bring over the Athenians to take sides against Alexander. + +While things were in this state--the Thebans having understood that +Alexander had been killed at the north, and supposing that, at all +events, if this report should not be true, he was, without doubt, +still far away, involved in contentions with the barbarian nations, +from which it was not to be expected that he could be very speedily +extricated--the whole city was suddenly thrown into consternation by +the report that a large Macedonian army was approaching from the +north, with Alexander at its head, and that it was, in fact, close +upon them. + +It was now, however, too late for the Thebans to repent of what they +had done. They were far too deeply impressed with a conviction of the +decision and energy of Alexander's character, as manifested in the +whole course of his proceedings since he began to reign, and +especially by his sudden reappearance among them so soon after this +outbreak against his authority, to imagine that there was now any hope +for them except in determined and successful resistance. They shut +themselves up, therefore, in their city, and prepared to defend +themselves to the last extremity. + +Alexander advanced, and, passing round the city toward the southern +side, established his head-quarters there, so as to cut off +effectually all communication with Athens and the southern cities. He +then extended his posts all around the place so as to invest it +entirely. These preparations made, he paused before he commenced the +work of subduing the city, to give the inhabitants an opportunity to +submit, if they would, without compelling him to resort to force. The +conditions, however, which he imposed were such that the Thebans +thought it best to take their chance of resistance. They refused to +surrender, and Alexander began to prepare for the onset. + +He was very soon ready, and with his characteristic ardor and energy +he determined on attempting to carry the city at once by assault. +Fortified cities generally require a siege, and sometimes a very long +siege, before they can be subdued. The army within, sheltered behind +the parapets of the walls, and standing there in a position above that +of their assailants, have such great advantages in the contest that a +long time often elapses before they can be compelled to surrender. The +besiegers have to invest the city on all sides to cut off all supplies +of provisions, and then, in those days, they had to construct engines +to make a breach somewhere in the walls, through which an assaulting +party could attempt to force their way in. + +The time for making an assault upon a besieged city depends upon the +comparative strength of those within and without, and also, still +more, on the ardor and resolution of the besiegers. In warfare, an +army, in investing a fortified place, spends ordinarily a considerable +time in burrowing their way along in trenches, half under ground, +until they get near enough to plant their cannon where the balls can +take effect upon some part of the wall. Then some time usually elapses +before a breach is made, and the garrison is sufficiently weakened to +render an assault advisable. When, however, the time at length +arrives, the most bold and desperate portion of the army are +designated to lead the attack. Bundles of small branches of trees are +provided to fill up ditches with, and ladders for mounting embankments +and walls. The city, sometimes, seeing these preparations going on, +and convinced that the assault will be successful, surrenders before +it is made. When the besieged do thus surrender, they save themselves +a vast amount of suffering, for the carrying of a city by assault is +perhaps the most horrible scene which the passions and crimes of men +ever offer to the view of heaven. + +It is horrible, because the soldiers, exasperated to fury by the +resistance which they meet with, and by the awful malignity of the +passions always excited in the hour of battle, if they succeed, burst +suddenly into the precincts of domestic life, and find sometimes +thousands of families--mothers, and children, and defenseless +maidens--at the mercy of passions excited to phrensy. Soldiers, under +such circumstances, can not be restrained, and no imagination can +conceive the horrors of the sacking of a city, carried by assault, +after a protracted siege. Tigers do not spring upon their prey with +greater ferocity than man springs, under such circumstances, to the +perpetration of every possible cruelty upon his fellow man. After an +ordinary battle upon an open field, the conquerors have only men, +armed like themselves, to wreak their vengeance upon. The scene is +awful enough, however, here. But in carrying a city by storm, which +takes place usually at an unexpected time, and often in the night, the +maddened and victorious assaulter suddenly burst into the sacred +scenes of domestic peace, and seclusion, and love--the very worst of +men, filled with the worst of passions, stimulated by the resistance +they have encountered, and licensed by their victory to give all these +passions the fullest and most unrestricted gratification. To plunder, +burn, destroy, and kill, are the lighter and more harmless of the +crimes they perpetrate. + +Thebes was carried by assault. Alexander did not wait for the slow +operations of a siege. He watched a favorable opportunity, and burst +over and through the outer line of fortifications which defended the +city. The attempt to do this was very desperate, and the loss of life +great; but it was triumphantly successful. The Thebans were driven +back toward the inner wall, and began to crowd in, through the gates, +into the city, in terrible confusion. The Macedonians were close upon +them, and pursuers and pursued, struggling together, and trampling +upon and killing each other as they went, flowed in, like a boiling +and raging torrent which nothing could resist, through the open +arch-way. + +It was impossible to close the gates. The whole Macedonian force were +soon in full possession of the now defenseless houses, and for many +hours screams, and wailings, and cries of horror and despair testified +to the awful atrocity of the crimes attendant on the sacking of a +city. At length the soldiery were restrained. Order was restored. The +army retired to the posts assigned them, and Alexander began to +deliberate what he should do with the conquered town. + +He determined to destroy it--to offer, once for all, a terrible +example of the consequences of rebellion against him. The case was not +one, he considered, of the ordinary conquest of a _foe_. The states of +Greece--Thebes with the rest--had once solemnly conferred upon him the +authority against which the Thebans had now rebelled. They were +_traitors_, therefore, in his judgment, not mere enemies, and he +determined that the penalty should be utter destruction. + +But, in carrying this terrible decision into effect, he acted in a +manner so deliberate, discriminating, and cautious, as to diminish +very much the irritation and resentment which it would otherwise have +caused, and to give it its full moral effect as a measure, not of +angry resentment, but of calm and deliberate retribution--just and +proper, according to the ideas of the time. In the first place, he +released all the priests. Then, in respect to the rest of the +population, he discriminated carefully between those who had favored +the rebellion and those who had been true to their allegiance to him. +The latter were allowed to depart in safety. And if, in the case of +any family, it could be shown that one individual had been on the +Macedonian side, the single instance of fidelity outweighed the +treason of the other members, and the whole family was saved. + +And the officers appointed to carry out these provisions were liberal +in the interpretation and application of them, so as to save as many +as there could be any possible pretext for saving. The descendants and +family connections of Pindar, the celebrated poet, who has been +already mentioned as having been born in Thebes, were all pardoned +also, whichever side they may have taken in the contest. The truth +was, that Alexander, though he had the sagacity to see that he was +placed in circumstances where prodigious moral effect in strengthening +his position would be produced by an act of great severity, was swayed +by so many generous impulses, which raised him above the ordinary +excitements of irritation and revenge, that he had every desire to +make the suffering as light, and to limit it by as narrow bounds, as +the nature of the case would allow. He doubtless also had an +instinctive feeling that the moral effect itself of so dreadful a +retribution as he was about to inflict upon the devoted city would be +very much increased by forbearance and generosity, and by extreme +regard for the security and protection of those who had shown +themselves his friends. + +After all these exceptions had been made, and the persons to whom +they applied had been dismissed, the rest of the population were sold +into slavery, and then the city was utterly and entirely destroyed. +The number thus sold was about thirty thousand, and six thousand had +been killed in the assault and storming of the city. Thus Thebes was +made a ruin and a desolation, and it remained so, a monument of +Alexander's terrible energy and decision, for twenty years. + +The effect of the destruction of Thebes upon the other cities and +states of Greece was what might have been expected. It came upon them +like a thunder-bolt. Although Thebes was the only city which had +openly revolted, there had been strong symptoms of disaffection in +many other places. Demosthenes, who had been silent while Alexander +was present in Greece, during his first visit there, had again been +endeavoring to arouse opposition to Macedonian ascendency, and to +concentrate and bring out into action the influences which were +hostile to Alexander. He said in his speeches that Alexander was a +mere boy, and that it was disgraceful for such cities as Athens, +Sparta, and Thebes to submit to his sway. Alexander had heard of these +things, and, as he was coming down into Greece, through the Straits +of Thermopylæ, before the destruction of Thebes, he said, "They say I +am a boy. I am coming to teach them that I am a man." + +He did teach them that he was a man. His unexpected appearance, when +they imagined him entangled among the mountains and wilds of unknown +regions in the north; his sudden investiture of Thebes; the assault; +the calm deliberations in respect to the destiny of the city, and the +slow, cautious, discriminating, but inexorable energy with which the +decision was carried into effect, all coming in such rapid succession, +impressed the Grecian commonwealth with the conviction that the +personage they had to deal with was no boy in character, whatever +might be his years. All symptoms of disaffection against the rule of +Alexander instantly disappeared, and did not soon revive again. + +Nor was this effect due entirely to the terror inspired by the +retribution which had been visited upon Thebes. All Greece was +impressed with a new admiration for Alexander's character as they +witnessed these events, in which his impetuous energy, his cool and +calm decision, his forbearance, his magnanimity, and his faithfulness +to his friends, were all so conspicuous. His pardoning the priests, +whether they had been for him or against him, made every friend of +religion incline to his favor. The same interposition in behalf of the +poet's family and descendants spoke directly to the heart of every +poet, orator, historian, and philosopher throughout the country, and +tended to make all the lovers of literature his friends. His +magnanimity, also, in deciding that one single friend of his in a +family should save that family, instead of ordaining, as a more +short-sighted conqueror would have done, that a single enemy should +condemn it, must have awakened a strong feeling of gratitude and +regard in the hearts of all who could appreciate fidelity to friends +and generosity of spirit. Thus, as the news of the destruction of +Thebes, and the selling of so large a portion of the inhabitants into +slavery, spread over the land, its effect was to turn over so great a +part of the population to a feeling of admiration of Alexander's +character, and confidence in his extraordinary powers, as to leave +only a small minority disposed to take sides with the punished rebels, +or resent the destruction of the city. + +From Thebes Alexander proceeded to the southward. Deputations from the +cities were sent to him, congratulating him on his victories, and +offering their adhesion to his cause. His influence and ascendency +seemed firmly established now in the country of the Greeks, and in due +time he returned to Macedon, and celebrated at Ægæ, which was at this +time his capital, the establishment and confirmation of his power, by +games, shows, spectacles, illuminations, and sacrifices to the gods, +offered on a scale of the greatest pomp and magnificence. He was now +ready to turn his thoughts toward the long-projected plan of the +expedition into Asia. + + + + +CHAPTER IV. + +CROSSING THE HELLESPONT. + +B.C. 334 + +The expedition into Asia.--Debates upon it.--Objections of +Antipater and Parmenio.--Their foresight.--Alexander decides +to go.--Preparations.--Description of Thessaly.--Vale of +Tempe.--Olympus.--Pelion and Ossa.--Alexander's generosity.--Love +of money.--Religious sacrifices and spectacles.--Ancient forms +of worship.--Religious instincts.--The nine Muses.--Festivities +in honor of Jupiter.--Spectacles and shows.--Alexander's +route.--Alexander begins his march.--Romantic adventure.--The plain +of Troy.--Tenedos.--Mount Ida.--The Scamander.--The Trojan war.--Dream +of Priam's wife.--Exposure of Paris.--The apple of discord.--The +dispute about the apple.--Decided in favor of Venus.--The story +of the bull.--Paris restored to his parents.--Abduction of +Helen.--Destruction of Troy.--Homer's writings.--Achilles.--The +Styx.--Character of Achilles.--Agamemnon.--Death of Patroclus.--Hector +slain by Achilles.--Alexander proceeds to Troy.--Neptune.--Landing of +Alexander.--Sacrifices to the gods.--Alexander proceeds on his +march.--Alexander spares Lampsacus.--Arrival at the Granicus. + + +On Alexander's arrival in Macedon, he immediately began to turn his +attention to the subject of the invasion of Asia. He was full of ardor +and enthusiasm to carry this project into effect. Considering his +extreme youth, and the captivating character of the enterprise, it is +strange that he should have exercised so much deliberation and caution +as his conduct did really evince. He had now settled every thing in +the most thorough manner, both within his dominions and among the +nations on his borders, and, as it seemed to him, the time had come +when he was to commence active preparations for the great Asiatic +campaign. + +He brought the subject before his ministers and counselors. They, in +general, concurred with him in opinion. There were, however, two who +were in doubt, or rather who were, in fact, opposed to the plan, +though they expressed their non-concurrence in the form of doubts. +These two persons were Antipater and Parmenio, the venerable officers +who have been already mentioned as having served Philip so faithfully, +and as transferring, on the death of the father, their attachment and +allegiance at once to the son. + +Antipater and Parmenio represented to Alexander that if he were to go +to Asia at that time, he would put to extreme hazard all the interests +of Macedon. As he had no family, there was, of course, no direct heir +to the crown, and, in case of any misfortune happening by which his +life should be lost, Macedon would become at once the prey of +contending factions, which would immediately arise, each presenting +its own candidate for the vacant throne. The sagacity and foresight +which these statesmen evinced in these suggestions were abundantly +confirmed in the end. Alexander did die in Asia, his vast kingdom at +once fell into pieces, and it was desolated with internal commotions +and civil wars for a long period after his death. + +Parmenio and Antipater accordingly advised the king to postpone his +expedition. They advised him to seek a wife among the princesses of +Greece, and then to settle down quietly to the duties of domestic +life, and to the government of his kingdom for a few years; then, +when every thing should have become settled and consolidated in +Greece, and his family was established in the hearts of his +countrymen, he could leave Macedon more safely. Public affairs would +go on more steadily while he lived, and, in case of his death, the +crown would descend, with comparatively little danger of civil +commotion, to his heir. + +But Alexander was fully decided against any such policy as this. He +resolved to embark in the great expedition at once. He concluded to +make Antipater his vicegerent in Macedon during his absence, and to +take Parmenio with him into Asia. It will be remembered that Antipater +was the statesman and Parmenio the general; that is, Antipater had +been employed more by Philip in civil, and Parmenio in military +affairs, though in those days every body who was in public life was +more or less a soldier. + +Alexander left an army of ten or twelve thousand men with Antipater +for the protection of Macedon. He organized another army of about +thirty-five thousand to go with him. This was considered a very small +army for such a vast undertaking. One or two hundred years before this +time, Darius, a king of Persia, had invaded Greece with an army of +five hundred thousand men, and yet he had been defeated and driven +back, and now Alexander was undertaking to retaliate with a great deal +less than one tenth part of the force. + +Of Alexander's army of thirty-five thousand, thirty thousand were foot +soldiers, and about five thousand were horse. More than half the whole +army was from Macedon. The remainder was from the southern states of +Greece. A large body of the horse was from Thessaly, which, as will be +seen on the map,[A] was a country south of Macedon. It was, in fact, +one broad expanded valley, with mountains all around. Torrents +descended from these mountains, forming streams which flowed in +currents more and more deep and slow as they descended into the +plains, and combining at last into one central river, which flowed to +the eastward, and escaped from the environage of mountains through a +most celebrated dell called the Vale of Tempe. On the north of this +valley is Olympus, and on the south the two twin mountains Pelion and +Ossa. There was an ancient story of a war in Thessaly between the +giants who were imagined to have lived there in very early days, and +the gods. The giants piled Pelion upon Ossa to enable them to get up +to heaven in their assault upon their celestial enemies. The fable has +led to a proverb which prevails in every language in Europe, by which +all extravagant and unheard-of exertions to accomplish an end is said +to be a piling of Pelion upon Ossa. + +[Footnote A: At the commencement of Chapter iii.] + +Thessaly was famous for its horses and its horsemen. The slopes of the +mountains furnished the best of pasturage for the rearing of the +animals, and the plains below afforded broad and open fields for +training and exercising the bodies of cavalry formed by means of them. +The Thessalian horses were famous throughout all Greece. Bucephalus +was reared in Thessaly. + +Alexander, as king of Macedon, possessed extensive estates and +revenues, which were his own personal property, and were independent +of the revenues of the state. Before setting out on his expedition, he +apportioned these among his great officers and generals, both those +who were to go and those who were to remain. He evinced great +generosity in this, but it was, after all, the spirit of ambition, +more than that of generosity, which led him to do it. The two great +impulses which animated him were the pleasure of doing great deeds, +and the fame and glory of having done them. These two principles are +very distinct in their nature, though often conjoined. They were +paramount and supreme in Alexander's character, and every other human +principle was subordinate to them. Money was to him, accordingly, only +a means to enable him to accomplish these ends. His distributing his +estates and revenues in the manner above described was only a +judicious appropriation of the money to the promotion of the great +ends he wished to attain; it was expenditure, not gift. It answered +admirably the end he had in view. His friends all looked upon him as +extremely generous and self-sacrificing. They asked him what he had +reserved for himself. "Hope," said Alexander. + +At length all things were ready, and Alexander began to celebrate the +religious sacrifices, spectacles, and shows which, in those days, +always preceded great undertakings of this kind. There was a great +ceremony in honor of Jupiter and the nine Muses, which had long been +celebrated in Macedon as a sort of annual national festival. Alexander +now caused great preparations for this festival. + +In the days of the Greeks, public worship and public amusement were +combined in one and the same series of spectacles and ceremonies. All +worship was a theatrical show, and almost all shows were forms of +worship. The religious instincts of the human heart demand some sort +of sympathy and aid, real or imaginary, from the invisible world, in +great and solemn undertakings, and in every momentous crisis in its +history. It is true that Alexander's soldiers, about to leave their +homes to go to another quarter of the globe, and into scenes of danger +and death from which it was very improbable that many of them would +ever return, had no other celestial protection to look up to than the +spirits of ancient heroes, who, they imagined, had, somehow or other, +found their final home in a sort of heaven among the summits of the +mountains, where they reigned, in some sense, over human affairs; but +this, small as it seems to us, was a great deal to them. They felt, +when sacrificing to these gods, that they were invoking their presence +and sympathy. These deities having been engaged in the same +enterprises themselves, and animated with the same hopes and fears, +the soldiers imagined that the semi-human divinities invoked by them +would take an interest in their dangers, and rejoice is their success. + +The Muses, in honor of whom, as well as Jupiter, this great +Macedonian festival was held, were nine singing and dancing maidens, +beautiful in countenance and form, and enchantingly graceful in all +their movements. They came, the ancients imagined, from Thrace, in the +north, and went first to Jupiter upon Mount Olympus, who made them +goddesses. Afterward they went southward, and spread over Greece, +making their residence, at last, in a palace upon Mount Parnassus, +which will be found upon the map just north of the Gulf of Corinth and +west of Boeotia. They were worshiped all over Greece and Italy as +the goddesses of music and dancing. In later times particular sciences +and arts were assigned to them respectively, as history, astronomy, +tragedy, &c., though there was no distinction of this kind in early +days. + +The festivities in honor of Jupiter and the Muses were continued in +Macedon nine days, a number corresponding with that of the dancing +goddesses. Alexander made very magnificent preparations for the +celebration on this occasion. He had a tent made, under which, it is +said, a hundred tables could be spread; and here he entertained, day +after day, an enormous company of princes, potentates, and generals. +He offered sacrifices to such of the gods as he supposed it would +please the soldiers to imagine that they had propitiated. Connected +with these sacrifices and feastings, there were athletic and military +spectacles and shows--races and wrestlings--and mock contests, with +blunted spears. All these things encouraged and quickened the ardor +and animation of the soldiers. It aroused their ambition to +distinguish themselves by their exploits, and gave them an increased +and stimulated desire for honor and fame. Thus inspirited by new +desires for human praise, and trusting in the sympathy and protection +of powers which were all that they conceived of as divine, the army +prepared to set forth from their native land, bidding it a long, and, +as it proved to most of them, a final farewell. + +By following the course of Alexander's expedition upon the map at the +commencement of chapter iii., it will be seen that his route lay first +along the northern coasts of the Ægean Sea. He was to pass from Europe +into Asia by crossing the Hellespont between Sestos and Abydos. He +sent a fleet of a hundred and fifty galleys, of three banks of oars +each, over the Ægean Sea, to land at Sestos, and be ready to transport +his army across the straits. The army, in the mean time, marched by +land. They had to cross the rivers which flow into the Ægean Sea on +the northern side; but as these rivers were in Macedon, and no +opposition was encountered upon the banks of them, there was no +serious difficulty in effecting the passage. When they reached Sestos, +they found the fleet ready there, awaiting their arrival. + +It is very strikingly characteristic of the mingling of poetic +sentiment and enthusiasm with calm and calculating business +efficiency, which shone conspicuously so often in Alexander's career, +that when he arrived at Sestos, and found that the ships were there, +and the army safe, and that there was no enemy to oppose his landing +on the Asiatic shore, he left Parmenio to conduct the transportation +of the troops across the water, while he himself went away in a single +galley on an excursion of sentiment and romantic adventure. A little +south of the place where his army was to cross, there lay, on the +Asiatic shore, an extended plain, on which were the ruins of Troy. Now +Troy was the city which was the scene of Homer's poems--those poems +which had excited so much interest in the mind of Alexander in his +early years; and he determined, instead of crossing the Hellespont +with the main body of his army, to proceed southward in a single +galley, and land, himself, on the Asiatic shore, on the very spot +which the romantic imagination of his youth had dwelt upon so often +and so long. + +[Illustration: THE PLAIN OF TROY.] + +Troy was situated upon a plain. Homer describes an island off the +coast, named Tenedos, and a mountain near called Mount Ida. There was +also a river called the Scamander. The island, the mountain, and the +river remain, preserving their original names to the present day, +except that the river is now called the Mender, but, although various +vestiges of ancient ruins are found scattered about the plain, no spot +can be identified as the site of the city. Some scholars have +maintained that there probably never was such a city; that Homer +invented the whole, there being nothing real in all that he describes +except the river, the mountain, and the island. His story is, however, +that there was a great and powerful city there, with a kingdom +attached to it, and that this city was besieged by the Greeks for ten +years, at the end of which time it was taken and destroyed. + +The story of the origin of this war is substantially this. Priam was +king of Troy. His wife, a short time before her son was born, dreamed +that at his birth the child turned into a torch and set the palace on +fire. She told this dream to the soothsayers, and asked them what it +meant. They said it must mean that her son would be the means of +bringing some terrible calamities and disasters upon the family. The +mother was terrified, and, to avert these calamities, gave the child +to a slave as soon as it was born, and ordered him to destroy it. The +slave pitied the helpless babe, and, not liking to destroy it with his +own hand, carried it to Mount Ida, and left it there in the forests to +die. + +A she bear, roaming through the woods, found the child, and, +experiencing a feeling of maternal tenderness for it, she took care of +it, and reared it as if it had been her own offspring. The child was +found, at last, by some shepherds who lived upon the mountain, and +they adopted it as their own, robbing the brute mother of her charge. +They named the boy Paris. He grew in strength and beauty, and gave +early and extraordinary proofs of courage and energy, as if he had +imbibed some of the qualities of his fierce foster mother with the +milk she gave him. He was so remarkable for athletic beauty and manly +courage, that he not only easily won the heart of a nymph of Mount +Ida, named Oenone, whom he married, but he also attracted the +attention of the goddesses in the heavens. + +At length these goddesses had a dispute which they agreed to refer to +him. The origin of the dispute was this. There was a wedding among +them, and one of them, irritated at not having been invited, had a +golden apple made, on which were engraved the words, "TO BE GIVEN TO +THE MOST BEAUTIFUL." She threw this apple into the assembly: her +object was to make them quarrel for it. In fact, she was herself the +goddess of discord, and, independently of her cause of pique in this +case, she loved to promote disputes. It is in allusion to this ancient +tale that any subject of dispute, brought up unnecessarily among +friends, is called to this day an _apple_ of discord. + +Three of the goddesses claimed the apple, each insisting that she was +more beautiful than the others, and this was the dispute which they +agreed to refer to Paris. They accordingly exhibited themselves before +him in the mountains, that he might look at them and decide. They did +not, however, seem willing, either of them, to trust to an impartial +decision of the question, but each offered the judge a bribe to induce +him to decide in her favor. One promised him a kingdom, another great +fame, and the third, Venus, promised him the most beautiful woman in +the world for his wife. He decided in favor of Venus; whether because +she was justly entitled to the decision, or through the influence of +the bribe, the story does not say. + +All this time Paris remained on the mountain, a simple shepherd and +herdsman, not knowing his relationship to the monarch who reigned over +the city and kingdom on the plain below. King Priam, however, about +this time, in some games which he was celebrating, offered, as a +prize to the victor, the finest bull which could be obtained on Mount +Ida. On making examination, Paris was found to have the finest bull +and the king, exercising the despotic power which kings in those days +made no scruple of assuming in respect to helpless peasants, took it +away. Paris was very indignant. It happened, however, that a short +time afterward there was another opportunity to contend for the same +bull, and Paris, disguising himself as a prince, appeared in the +lists, conquered every competitor, and bore away the bull again to his +home in the fastnesses of the mountain. + +In consequence of this his appearance at court, the daughter of Priam, +whose name was Cassandra, became acquainted with him, and, inquiring +into his story, succeeded in ascertaining that he was her brother, the +long-lost child, that had been supposed to be put to death. King Priam +was convinced by the evidence which she brought forward, and Paris was +brought home to his father's house. After becoming established in his +new position, he remembered the promise of Venus that he should have +the most beautiful woman in the world for his wife, and he began, +accordingly, to inquire where he could find her. + +[Illustration: PARIS AND HELEN.] + +There was in Sparta, one of the cities of Southern Greece, a certain +king Menelaus, who had a youthful bride named Helen, who was famed far +and near for her beauty. Paris came to the conclusion that she was the +most lovely woman in the world, and that he was entitled, in virtue of +Venus's promise, to obtain possession of her, if he could do so by any +means whatever. He accordingly made a journey into Greece, visited +Sparta, formed an acquaintance with Helen, persuaded her to abandon +her husband and her duty, and elope with him to Troy. + +Menelaus was indignant at this outrage. He called on all Greece to +take up arms and join him in the attempt to recover his bride. They +responded to this demand. They first sent to Priam, demanding that he +should restore Helen to her husband. Priam refused to do so, taking +part with his son. The Greeks then raised a fleet and an army, and +came to the plains of Troy, encamped before the city, and persevered +for ten long years in besieging it, when at length it was taken and +destroyed. + +These stories relating to the origin of the war, however, marvelous +and entertaining as they are, were not the points which chiefly +interested the mind of Alexander. The portions of Homer's narratives +which most excited his enthusiasm were those relating to the +characters of the heroes who fought, on one side and on the other, at +the siege, their various adventures, and the delineations of their +motives and principles of conduct, and the emotions and excitements +they experienced in the various circumstances in which they were +placed. Homer described with great beauty and force the workings of +ambition, of resentment, of pride, of rivalry, and all those other +impulses of the human heart which would excite and control the action +of impetuous men in the circumstances in which his heroes were placed. + +Each one of the heroes whose history and adventures he gives, +possessed a well-marked and striking character, and differed in +temperament and action from the rest. Achilles was one. He was fiery, +impetuous, and implacable in character, fierce and merciless; and, +though perfectly undaunted and fearless, entirely destitute of +magnanimity. There was a river called the Styx, the waters of which +were said to have the property of making any one invulnerable. The +mother of Achilles dipped him into it in his infancy, holding him by +the heel. The heel, not having been immersed, was the only part which +could be wounded. Thus he was safe in battle, and was a terrible +warrior. He, however, quarreled with his comrades and withdrew from +their cause on slight pretexts, and then became reconciled again, +influenced by equally frivolous reasons. + +[Illustration: ACHILLES.] + +Agamemnon was the commander-in-chief of the Greek army. After a +certain victory, by which some captives were taken, and were to be +divided among the victors, Agamemnon was obliged to restore one, a +noble lady, who had fallen to his share, and he took away the one that +had been assigned to Achilles to replace her. This incensed Achilles, +and he withdrew for a long time from the contest; and, in consequence +of his absence, the Trojans gained great and continued victories +against the Greeks. For a long time nothing could induce Achilles to +return. + +At length, however, though he would not go himself, he allowed his +intimate friend, whose name was Patroclus, to take his armor and go +into battle. Patroclus was at first successful, but was soon killed by +Hector, the brother of Paris. This aroused anger and a spirit of +revenge in the mind of Achilles. He gave up his quarrel with Agamemnon +and returned to the combat. He did not remit his exertions till he had +slain Hector, and then he expressed his brutal exultation, and +satisfied his revenge, by dragging the dead body at the wheels of his +chariot around the walls of the city. He then sold the body to the +distracted father for a ransom. + +It was such stories as these, which are related in the poems of Homer +with great beauty and power, that had chiefly interested the mind of +Alexander. The subjects interested him; the accounts of the +contentions, the rivalries, the exploits of these warriors, the +delineations of their character and springs of action, and the +narrations of the various incidents and events to which such a war +gave rise, were all calculated to captivate the imagination of a young +martial hero. + +Alexander accordingly resolved that his first landing in Asia should +be at Troy. He left his army under the charge of Parmenio, to cross +from Sestos to Abydos, while he himself set forth in a single galley +to proceed to the southward. There was a port on the Trojan shore +where the Greeks had been accustomed to disembark, and he steered his +course for it. He had a bull on board his galley which he was going to +offer as a sacrifice to Neptune when half way from shore to shore. + +Neptune was the god of the sea. It is true that the Hellespont is not +the open ocean, but it is an arm of the sea, and thus belonged +properly to the dominions which the ancients assigned to the divinity +of the waters. Neptune was conceived of by the ancients as a monarch +dwelling on the seas or upon the coasts, and riding over the waves +seated in a great shell, or sometimes in a chariot, drawn by dolphins +or sea-horses. In these excursions he was attended by a train of +sea-gods and nymphs, who, half floating, half swimming, followed him +over the billows. Instead of a scepter Neptune carried a trident. A +trident was a sort of three-pronged harpoon, such as was used in those +days by the fishermen of the Mediterranean. It was from this +circumstance, probably, that it was chosen as the badge of authority +for the god of the sea. + +Alexander took the helm, and steered the galley with his own hands +toward the Asiatic shore. Just before he reached the land, he took his +place upon the prow, and threw a javelin at the shore as he approached +it, a symbol of the spirit of defiance and hostility with which he +advanced to the frontiers of the eastern world. He was also the first +to land. After disembarking his company, he offered sacrifices to the +gods, and then proceeded to visit the places which had been the scenes +of the events which Homer had described. + +Homer had written five hundred years before the time of Alexander, and +there is some doubt whether the ruins and the remains of cities which +our hero found there were really the scenes of the narratives which +had interested him so deeply. He, however, at any rate, believed them +to be so, and he was filled with enthusiasm and pride as he wandered +among them. He seems to have been most interested in the character of +Achilles, and he said that he envied him his happy lot in having such +a friend as Patroclus to help him perform his exploits, and such a +poet as Homer to celebrate them. + +After completing his visit upon the plain of Troy, Alexander moved +toward the northeast with the few men who had accompanied him in his +single galley. In the mean time Parmenio had crossed safely, with the +main body of the army, from Sestos to Abydos. Alexander overtook them +on their march, not far from the place of their landing. To the +northward of this place, on the left of the line of march which +Alexander was taking, was the city of Lampsacus. + +Now a large portion of Asia Minor, although for the most part under +the dominion of Persia, had been in a great measure settled by Greeks, +and, in previous wars between the two nations, the various cities had +been in possession, sometimes of one power and sometimes of the other. +In these contests the city of Lampsacus had incurred the high +displeasure of the Greeks by rebelling, as they said, on one occasion, +against them. Alexander determined to destroy it as he passed. The +inhabitants were aware of this intention, and sent an embassador to +Alexander to implore his mercy. When the embassador approached, +Alexander, knowing his errand, uttered a declaration in which he bound +himself by a solemn oath not to grant the request he was about to +make. "I have come," said the embassador, "to implore you to _destroy_ +Lampsacus." Alexander, pleased with the readiness of the embassador in +giving his language such a sudden turn, and perhaps influenced by his +oath, spared the city. + +He was now fairly in Asia. The Persian forces were gathering to attack +him, but so unexpected and sudden had been his invasion that they were +not prepared to meet him at his arrival, and he advanced without +opposition till he reached the banks of the little river Granicus. + + + + +CHAPTER V. + +CAMPAIGN IN ASIA MINOR. + +B.C. 334-333 + +Alexander hemmed in by Mount Ida and the Granicus.--The +Granicus.--Prodromi.--Alexander stopped at the Granicus.--Council +called.--Alexander resolves to advance.--His motives.--The Macedonian +phalanx.--Its organization.--Formidable character of the phalanx.--Is +irresistible.--Divisions of the phalanx.--Its position in +battle.--Battle of the Granicus.--Defeat of the Persians.--Alexander's +prowess.--His imminent danger.--Results of the battle.--Spoils sent to +Greece.--Memnon overruled.--Alexander visits the wounded.--Alexander +resumes his march.--The country surrenders.--Incidents.--Alexander's +generosity.--Omens.--The eagle on the mast.--Interpretations.--Approach +of winter.--The newly married permitted to go home.--A detachment of +bridegrooms.--Taurus.--Passage through the sea.--Hardships.--The +Meander.--Gordium.--Story of the Gordian knot.--Midas.--Gordius made +king.--Alexander cuts the knot.--He resumes his march.--Alexander's bath +in the Cydnus.--His sickness.--Alexander's physician Philip.--Suspicions +of poison.--Asia subdued.--The plain of Issus. + + +Although Alexander had landed safely on the Asiatic shore, the way was +not yet fairly open for him to advance into the interior of the +country. He was upon a sort of plain, which was separated from the +territory beyond by natural barriers. On the south was the range of +lofty land called Mount Ida. From the northeastern slopes of this +mountain there descended a stream which flowed north into the sea, +thus hemming Alexander's army in. He must either scale the mountain or +cross the river before he could penetrate into the interior. + +He thought it would be easiest to cross the river. It is very +difficult to get a large body of horsemen and of heavy-armed soldiers, +with all their attendants and baggage, over high elevations of land. +This was the reason why the army turned to the northward after landing +upon the Asiatic shore. Alexander thought the Granicus less of an +obstacle than Mount Ida. It was not a large stream, and was easily +fordable. + +[Illustration: THE GRANICUS.] + +It was the custom in those days, as it is now when armies are +marching, to send forward small bodies of men in every direction to +explore the roads, remove obstacles, and discover sources of danger. +These men are called, in modern times, _scouts_; in Alexander's day, +and in the Greek language, they were called _prodromi_, which means +forerunners. It is the duty of these pioneers to send messengers back +continually to the main body of the army, informing the officers of +every thing important which comes under their observation. + +In this case, when the army was gradually drawing near to the river, +the _prodromi_ came in with the news that they had been to the river, +and found the whole opposite shore, at the place of crossing, lined +with Persian troops, collected there to dispute the passage. The army +continued their advance, while Alexander called the leading generals +around him, to consider what was to be done. + +Parmenio recommended that they should not attempt to pass the river +immediately. The Persian army consisted chiefly of cavalry. Now +cavalry, though very terrible as an enemy on the field of battle by +day, are peculiarly exposed and defenseless in an encampment by night. +The horses are scattered, feeding or at rest. The arms of the men are +light, and they are not accustomed to fighting on foot; and on a +sudden incursion of an enemy at midnight into their camp, their horses +and their horsemanship are alike useless, and they fall an easy prey +to resolute invaders. Parmenio thought, therefore, that the Persians +would not dare to remain and encamp many days in the vicinity of +Alexander's army, and that, accordingly, if they waited a little, the +enemy would retreat, and Alexander could then cross the river without +incurring the danger of a battle. + +But Alexander was unwilling to adopt any such policy. He felt +confident that his army was courageous and strong enough to march on, +directly through the river, ascend the bank upon the other side, and +force their way through all the opposition which the Persians could +make. He knew, too, that if this were done it would create a strong +sensation throughout the whole country, impressing every one with a +sense of the energy and power of the army which he was conducting, and +would thus tend to intimidate the enemy, and facilitate all future +operations. But this was not all; he had a more powerful motive still +for wishing to march right on, across the river, and force his way +through the vast bodies of cavalry on the opposite shore, and this was +the pleasure of performing the exploit. + +Accordingly, as the army advanced to the banks, they maneuvered to +form in order of battle, and prepared to continue their march as if +there were no obstacle to oppose them. The general order of battle of +the Macedonian army was this. There was a certain body of troops, +armed and organized in a peculiar manner, called the Phalanx. This +body was placed in the center. The men composing it were very heavily +armed. They had shields upon the left arm, and they carried spears +sixteen feet long, and pointed with iron, which they held firmly in +their two hands, with the points projecting far before them. The men +were arranged in lines, one behind the other, and all facing the +enemy--sixteen lines, and a thousand in each line, or, as it is +expressed in military phrase, a thousand in rank and sixteen in file, +so that the phalanx contained sixteen thousand men. + +The spears were so long that when the men stood in close order, the +rear ranks being brought up near to those before them, the points of +the spears of eight or ten of the ranks projected in front, forming a +bristling wall of points of steel, each one of which was held in its +place by the strong arms of an athletic and well-trained soldier. This +wall no force which could in those days be brought against it could +penetrate. Men, horses, elephants, every thing that attempted to rush +upon it, rushed only to their own destruction. Every spear, feeling +the impulse of the vigorous arms which held it, seemed to be alive, +and darted into its enemy, when an enemy was at hand, as if it felt +itself the fierce hostility which directed it. If the enemy remained +at a distance, and threw javelins or darts at the phalanx, they fell +harmless, stopped by the shields which the soldiers wore upon the left +arm, and which were held in such a manner as to form a system of +scales, which covered and protected the whole mass, and made the men +almost invulnerable. The phalanx was thus, when only defending itself +and in a state of rest, an army and a fortification all in one, and it +was almost impregnable. But when it took an aggressive form, put +itself in motion, and advanced to an attack, it was infinitely more +formidable. It became then a terrible monster, covered with scales of +brass, from beneath which there projected forward ten thousand living, +darting points of iron. It advanced deliberately and calmly, but with +a prodigious momentum and force. There was nothing human in its +appearance at all. It was a huge animal, ferocious, dogged, stubborn, +insensible to pain, knowing no fear, and bearing down with resistless +and merciless destruction upon every thing that came in its way. The +phalanx was the center and soul of Alexander's army. Powerful and +impregnable as it was, however, in ancient days, it would be helpless +and defenseless on a modern battle-field. Solid balls of iron, flying +through the air with a velocity which makes them invisible, would tear +their way through the pikes and the shields, and the bodies of the men +who bore them, without even feeling the obstruction. + +The phalanx was subdivided into brigades, regiments, and battalions, +and regularly officered. In marching, it was separated into these its +constituent parts, and sometimes in battle it acted in divisions. It +was stationed in the center of the army on the field, and on the two +sides of it were bodies of cavalry and foot soldiers, more lightly +armed than the soldiers of the phalanx, who could accordingly move +with more alertness and speed, and carry their action readily wherever +it might be called for. Those troops on the sides were called the +wings. Alexander himself was accustomed to command one wing and +Parmenio the other, while the phalanx crept along slowly but terribly +between. + +The army, thus arranged and organized, advanced to the river. It was a +broad and shallow stream. The Persians had assembled in vast numbers +on the opposite shore. Some historians say there were one hundred +thousand men, others say two hundred thousand, and others six hundred +thousand. However this may be, there is no doubt their numbers were +vastly superior to those of Alexander's army, which it will be +recollected was less than forty thousand. There was a narrow plain on +the opposite side of the river, next to the shore, and a range of +hills beyond. The Persian cavalry covered the plain, and were ready to +dash upon the Macedonian troops the moment they should emerge from the +water and attempt to ascend the bank. + +The army, led by Alexander, descended into the stream, and moved on +through the water. They encountered the onset of their enemies on the +opposite shore. A terrible and a protracted struggle ensued, but the +coolness, courage, and strength of Alexander's army carried the day. +The Persians were driven back, the Greeks effected their landing, +reorganized and formed on the shore, and the Persians, finding that +all was lost, fled in all directions. + +Alexander himself took a conspicuous and a very active part in the +contest. He was easily recognized on the field of battle by his dress, +and by a white plume which he wore in his helmet. He exposed himself +to the most imminent danger. At one time, when desperately engaged +with a troop of horse, which had galloped down upon him, a Persian +horseman aimed a blow at his head with a sword. Alexander saved his +head from the blow, but it took off his plume and a part of his +helmet. Alexander immediately thrust his antagonist through the body. +At the same moment, another horseman, on another side, had his sword +raised, and would have killed Alexander before he could have turned to +defend himself, had no help intervened; but just at this instant a +third combatant, one of Alexander's friends, seeing the danger, +brought down so terrible a blow upon the shoulder of this second +assailant as to separate his arm from his body. + +Such are the stories that are told. They may have been literally and +fully true, or they may have been exaggerations of circumstances +somewhat resembling them which really occurred, or they may have been +fictitious altogether. Great generals, like other great men, have +often the credit of many exploits which they never perform. It is the +special business of poets and historians to magnify and embellish the +actions of the great, and this art was understood as well in ancient +days as it is now. + +We must remember, too, in reading the accounts of these transactions, +that it is only the Greek side of the story that we hear. The Persian +narratives have not come down to us. At any rate, the Persian army was +defeated, and that, too, without the assistance of the phalanx. The +horsemen and the light troops were alone engaged. The phalanx could +not be formed, nor could it act in such a position. The men, on +emerging from the water, had to climb up the banks, and rush on to the +attack of an enemy consisting of squadrons of horse ready to dash at +once upon them. + +The Persian army was defeated and driven away. Alexander did not +pursue them. He felt that he had struck a very heavy blow. The news of +this defeat of the Persians would go with the speed of the wind all +over Asia Minor, and operate most powerfully in his favor. He sent +home to Greece an account of the victory, and with the account he +forwarded three hundred suits of armor, taken from the Persian +horsemen killed on the field. These suits of armor were to be hung up +in the Parthenon, a great temple at Athens; the most conspicuous +position for them, perhaps, which all Europe could afford. + +The name of the Persian general who commanded at the battle of the +Granicus was Memnon. He had been opposed to the plan of hazarding a +battle. Alexander had come to Asia with no provisions and no money. He +had relied on being able to sustain his army by his victories. Memnon, +therefore, strongly urged that the Persians should retreat slowly, +carrying off all the valuable property, and destroying all that could +not be removed, taking especial care to leave no provisions behind +them. In this way he thought that the army of Alexander would be +reduced by privation and want, and would, in the end, fall an easy +prey. His opinion was, however, overruled by the views of the other +commanders, and the battle of the Granicus was the consequence. + +Alexander encamped to refresh his army and to take care of the +wounded. He went to see the wounded men one by one, inquired into the +circumstances of each case, and listened to each one who was able to +talk, while he gave an account of his adventures in the battle, and +the manner in which he received his wound. To be able thus to tell +their story to their general, and to see him listening to it with +interest and pleasure, filled their hearts with pride and joy; and +the whole army was inspired with the highest spirit of enthusiasm, and +with eager desires to have another opportunity occur in which they +could encounter danger and death in the service of such a leader. It +is in such traits as these that the true greatness of the soul of +Alexander shines. It must be remembered that all this time he was but +little more than twenty-one. He was but just of age. + +From his encampment on the Granicus Alexander turned to the southward, +and moved along on the eastern shores of the Ægean Sea. The country +generally surrendered to him without opposition. In fact, it was +hardly Persian territory at all. The inhabitants were mainly of Greek +extraction, and had been sometimes under Greek and sometimes under +Persian rule. The conquest of the country resulted simply in a change +of the executive officer of each province. Alexander took special +pains to lead the people to feel that they had nothing to fear from +him. He would not allow the soldiers to do any injury. He protected +all private property. He took possession only of the citadels, and of +such governmental property as he found there, and he continued the +same taxes, the same laws, and the same tribunals as had existed +before his invasion. The cities and the provinces accordingly +surrendered to him as he passed along, and in a very short time all +the western part of Asia Minor submitted peacefully to his sway. + +The narrative of this progress, as given by the ancient historians, is +diversified by a great variety of adventures and incidents, which give +great interest to the story, and strikingly illustrate the character +of Alexander and the spirit of the times. In some places there would +be a contest between the Greek and the Persian parties before +Alexander's arrival. At Ephesus the animosity had been so great that a +sort of civil war had broken out. The Greek party had gained the +ascendency, and were threatening a general massacre of the Persian +inhabitants. Alexander promptly interposed to protect them, though +they were his enemies. The intelligence of this act of forbearance and +generosity spread all over the land, and added greatly to the +influence of Alexander's name, and to the estimation in which he was +held. + +It was the custom in those days for the mass of the common soldiers to +be greatly influenced by what they called _omens_, that is, signs and +tokens which they observed in the flight or the actions of birds, and +other similar appearances. In one case, the fleet, which had come +along the sea, accompanying the march of the army on land, was pent up +in a harbor by a stronger Persian fleet outside. One of the vessels of +the Macedonian fleet was aground. An eagle lighted upon the mast, and +stood perched there for a long time, looking toward the sea. Parmenio +said that, as the eagle looked toward the sea, it indicated that +victory lay in that quarter, and he recommended that they should arm +their ships and push boldly out to attack the Persians. But Alexander +maintained that, as the eagle alighted on a ship which was aground, it +indicated that they were to look for their success on the shore. The +omens could thus almost always be interpreted any way, and sagacious +generals only sought in them the means of confirming the courage and +confidence of their soldiers, in respect to the plans which they +adopted under the influence of other considerations altogether. +Alexander knew very well that he was not a sailor, and had no desire +to embark in contests from which, however they might end, he would +himself personally obtain no glory. + +When the winter came on, Alexander and his army were about three or +four hundred miles from home; and, as he did not intend to advance +much farther until the spring should open, he announced to the army +that all those persons, both officers and soldiers who had been +married within the year, might go home if they chose, and spend the +winter with their brides, and return to the army in the spring. No +doubt this was an admirable stroke of policy; for, as the number could +not be large, their absence could not materially weaken his force, and +they would, of course, fill all Greece with tales of Alexander's +energy and courage, and of the nobleness and generosity of his +character. It was the most effectual way possible of disseminating +through Europe the most brilliant accounts of what he had already +done. + +Besides, it must have awakened a new bond of sympathy and +fellow-feeling between himself and his soldiers, and greatly increased +the attachment to him felt both by those who went and those who +remained. And though Alexander must have been aware of all these +advantages of the act, still no one could have thought of or adopted +such a plan unless he was accustomed to consider and regard, in his +dealings with others, the feelings and affections of the heart, and +to cherish a warm sympathy for them. The bridegroom soldiers, full of +exultation and pleasure, set forth on their return to Greece, in a +detachment under the charge of three generals, themselves bridegrooms +too. + +Alexander, however, had no idea of remaining idle during the winter. +He marched on from province to province, and from city to city, +meeting with every variety of adventures. He went first along the +southern coast, until at length he came to a place where a mountain +chain, called Taurus, comes down to the sea-coast, where it terminates +abruptly in cliffs and precipices, leaving only a narrow beach between +them and the water below. This beach was sometimes covered and +sometimes bare. It is true, there is very little tide in the +Mediterranean, but the level of the water along the shores is altered +considerably by the long-continued pressure exerted in one direction +or another by winds and storms. The water was _up_ when Alexander +reached this pass; still he determined to march his army through it. +There was another way, back among the mountains, but Alexander seemed +disposed to gratify the love of adventure which his army felt, by +introducing them to a novel scene of danger. They accordingly defiled +along under these cliffs, marching, as they say, sometimes up to the +waist in water, the swell rolling in upon them all the time from the +offing. + +Having at length succeeded in passing safely round this frowning +buttress of the mountains, Alexander turned northward, and advanced +into the very heart of Asia Minor. In doing this he had to pass _over_ +the range which he had come _round_ before; and, as it was winter, his +army were, for a time, enveloped in snows and storms among the wild +and frightful defiles. They had here, in addition to the dangers and +hardships of the way and of the season, to encounter the hostility of +their foes, as the tribes who inhabited these mountains assembled to +dispute the passage. Alexander was victorious, and reached a valley +through which there flows a river which has handed down its name to +the English language and literature. This river was the Meander. Its +beautiful windings through verdant and fertile valleys were so +renowned, that every stream which imitates its example is said to +_meander_ to the present day. + +During all this time Parmenio had remained in the western part of Asia +Minor with a considerable body of the army. As the spring approached, +Alexander sent him orders to go to Gordium, whither he was himself +proceeding, and meet him there. He also directed that the detachment +which had gone home should, on recrossing the Hellespont, on their +return, proceed eastward to Gordium, thus making that city the general +rendezvous for the commencement of his next campaign. + +One reason why Alexander desired to go to Gordium was that he wished +to untie the famous Gordian knot. The story of the Gordian knot was +this. Gordius was a sort of mountain farmer. One day he was plowing, +and an eagle came down and alighted upon his yoke, and remained there +until he had finished his plowing. This was an omen, but what was the +signification of it? Gordius did not know, and he accordingly went to +a neighboring town in order to consult the prophets and soothsayers. +On his way he met a damsel, who, like Rebecca in the days of Abraham, +was going forth to draw water. Gordius fell into conversation with +her, and related to her the occurrence which had interested him so +strongly. The maiden advised him to go back and offer a sacrifice to +Jupiter. Finally, she consented to go back with him and aid him. The +affair ended in her becoming his wife, and they lived together in +peace for many years upon their farm. + +They had a son named Midas. The father and mother were accustomed to +go out sometimes in their cart or wagon, drawn by the oxen, Midas +driving. One day they were going into the town in this way, at a time +when it happened that there was an assembly convened, which was in a +state of great perplexity on account of the civil dissensions and +contests which prevailed in the country. They had just inquired of an +oracle what they should do. The oracle said that "a cart would bring +them a king, who would terminate their eternal broils." Just then +Midas came up, driving the cart in which his father and mother were +seated. The assembly thought at once that this must be the cart meant +by the oracle, and they made Gordius king by acclamation. They took +the cart and the yoke to preserve as sacred relics, consecrating them +to Jupiter; and Gordius tied the yoke to the pole of the cart by a +thong of leather, making a knot so close and complicated that nobody +could untie it again. It was called the Gordian knot. The oracle +afterward said that whoever should untie this knot should become +monarch of all Asia. Thus far, nobody had succeeded. + +Alexander felt a great desire to see this knot and try what he could +do. He went, accordingly, into the temple where the sacred cart had +been deposited, and, after looking at the knot, and satisfying himself +that the task of untying it was hopeless, he cut it to pieces with his +sword. How far the circumstances of this whole story are true, and how +far fictitious, no one can tell; the story itself, however, as thus +related, has come down from generation to generation, in every country +of Europe, for two thousand years, and any extrication of one's self +from a difficulty by violent means has been called cutting the Gordian +knot to the present day. + +[Illustration: THE BATHING IN THE RIVER CYNDUS.] + +At length the whole army was assembled, and the king recommenced +his progress. He went on successfully for some weeks, moving in a +southeasterly direction, and bringing the whole country under his +dominion, until, at length, when he reached Tarsus, an event occurred +which nearly terminated his career. There were some circumstances +which caused him to press forward with the utmost effort in +approaching Tarsus, and, as the day was warm, he got very much +overcome with heat and fatigue. In this state, he went and plunged +suddenly into the River Cydnus to bathe. + +Now the Cydnus is a small stream, flowing by Tarsus, and it comes down +from Mount Taurus at a short distance back from the city. Such streams +are always very cold. Alexander was immediately seized with a very +violent chill, and was taken out of the water shivering excessively, +and, at length, fainted away. They thought he was dying. They bore him +to his tent, and, as tidings of their leader's danger spread through +the camp, the whole army, officers and soldiers, were thrown into the +greatest consternation and grief. + +A violent and protracted fever came on. In the course of it, an +incident occurred which strikingly illustrates the boldness and +originality of Alexander's character. The name of his physician was +Philip. Philip had been preparing a particular medicine for him, +which, it seems, required some days to make ready. Just before it was +presented, Alexander received a letter from Parmenio, informing him +that he had good reason to believe that Philip had been bribed by the +Persians to murder him, during his sickness, by administering poison +in the name of medicine. He wrote, he said, to put him on his guard +against any medicine which Philip might offer him. + +Alexander put the letter under his pillow, and communicated its +contents to no one. At length, when the medicine was ready, Philip +brought it in. Alexander took the cup containing it with one hand, and +with the other he handed Philip the communication which he had +received from Parmenio, saying, "Read that letter." As soon as Philip +had finished reading it, and was ready to look up, Alexander drank off +the draught in full, and laid down the cup with an air of perfect +confidence that he had nothing to fear. + +Some persons think that Alexander watched the countenance of his +physician while he was reading the letter, and that he was led to take +the medicine by his confidence in his power to determine the guilt or +the innocence of a person thus accused by his looks. Others suppose +that the act was an expression of his implicit faith in the integrity +and fidelity of his servant, and that he intended it as testimony, +given in a very pointed and decisive, and, at the same time, delicate +manner, that he was not suspicious of his friends, or easily led to +distrust their faithfulness. Philip was, at any rate, extremely +gratified at the procedure, and Alexander recovered. + +Alexander had now traversed the whole extent of Asia Minor, and had +subdued the entire country to his sway. He was now advancing to +another district, that of Syria and Palestine, which lies on the +eastern shores of the Mediterranean Sea. To enter this new territory, +he had to pass over a narrow plain which lay between the mountains and +the sea, at a place called Issus. Here he was met by the main body of +the Persian army, and the great battle of Issus was fought. This +battle will be the subject of the next chapter. + + + + +CHAPTER VI. + +DEFEAT OF DARIUS. + +B.C. 333 + +Darius's opinion of Alexander.--He prepares to meet him.--Greek +mercenaries.--Counsel of Charidemus.--Darius's displeasure at +Charidemus.--He condemns him to death.--Magnificence of Darius's +army.--Worship of the sun.--The Kinsmen.--The Immortals.--Appearance +of Darius.--Costly apparel of Darius.--His family.--Darius advances +to meet Alexander.--Map of the plain of Issus.--Mount Taurus.--Route +of Darius.--Situation of Issus.--The armies pass each +other.--Reconnoitering parties.--A camp at night.--The night +before the battle.--Sublime and solemn scenes.--Defeat of the +Persians.--Flight of Darius.--The mother and wife of Darius +taken captive.--Their grief.--Alexander's kindness to the +captives.--Hephæstion.--Alexander's interview with the queens.--A +mistake.--Boldness of Alexander's policy.--Number of Persians +slain.--Capture of immense treasure.--Negotiations.--Alexander's +message to Darius.--Grecian captives.--The Theban envoys.--Alexander's +victorious progress. + + +Thus far Alexander had had only the lieutenants and generals of the +Persian monarch to contend with. Darius had at first looked upon the +invasion of his vast dominions by such a mere boy, as he called him, +and by so small an army, with contempt. He sent word to his generals +in Asia Minor to seize the young fool, and send him to Persia bound +hand and foot. By the time, however, that Alexander had possessed +himself of all Asia Minor, Darius began to find that, though young, he +was no fool, and that it was not likely to be very easy to seize him. + +Accordingly, Darius collected an immense army himself, and advanced to +meet the Macedonians in person. Nothing could exceed the pomp and +magnificence of his preparations. There were immense numbers of +troops, and they were of all nations. There were even a great many +Greeks among his forces, many of them enlisted from the Greeks of Asia +Minor. There were some from Greece itself--mercenaries, as they were +called; that is, soldiers who fought for pay, and who were willing to +enter into any service which would pay them best. + +There were even some Greek officers and counselors in the family and +court of Darius. One of them, named Charidemus, offended the king very +much by the free opinion which he expressed of the uselessness of all +his pomp and parade in preparing for an encounter with such an enemy +as Alexander. "Perhaps," said Charidemus, "you may not be pleased with +my speaking to you plainly, but if I do not do it now, it will be too +late hereafter. This great parade and pomp, and this enormous +multitude of men, might be formidable to your Asiatic neighbors; but +such sort of preparation will be of little avail against Alexander and +his Greeks. Your army is resplendent with purple and gold. No one who +had not seen it could conceive of its magnificence; but it will not be +of any avail against the terrible energy of the Greeks. Their minds +are bent on something very different from idle show. They are intent +on securing the substantial excellence of their weapons, and on +acquiring the discipline and the hardihood essential for the most +efficient use of them. They will despise all your parade of purple and +gold. They will not even value it as plunder. They glory in their +ability to dispense with all the luxuries and conveniences of life. +They live upon the coarsest food. At night they sleep upon the bare +ground. By day they are always on the march. They brave hunger, cold, +and every species of exposure with pride and pleasure, having the +greatest contempt for any thing like softness and effeminacy of +character. All this pomp and pageantry, with inefficient weapons, and +inefficient men to wield them, will be of no avail against their +invincible courage and energy; and the best disposition that you can +make of all your gold, and silver, and other treasures, is to send it +away and procure good soldiers with it, if indeed gold and silver will +procure them." + +The Greeks were habituated to energetic speaking as well as acting, +but Charidemus did not sufficiently consider that the Persians were +not accustomed to hear such plain language as this. Darius was very +much displeased. In his anger he condemned him to death. "Very well," +said Charidemus, "I can die. But my avenger is at hand. My advice is +good, and Alexander will soon punish you for not regarding it." + +Very gorgeous descriptions are given of the pomp and magnificence of +the army of Darius, as he commenced his march from the Euphrates to +the Mediterranean. The Persians worship the sun and fire. Over the +king's tent there was an image of the sun in crystal, and supported in +such a manner as to be in the view of the whole army. They had also +silver altars, on which they kept constantly burning what they called +the sacred fire. These altars were borne by persons appointed for the +purpose, who were clothed in magnificent costumes. Then came a long +procession of priests and magi, who were dressed also in very splendid +robes. They performed the services of public worship. Following them +came a chariot consecrated to the sun. It was drawn by white horses, +and was followed by a single white horse of large size and noble form, +which was a sacred animal, being called the horse of the sun. The +equerries, that is, the attendants who had charge of this horse, were +also all dressed in white, and each carried a golden rod in his hand. + +There were bodies of troops distinguished from the rest, and occupying +positions of high honor, but these were selected and advanced above +the others, not on account of their courage, or strength, or superior +martial efficiency, but from considerations connected with their +birth, and rank, and other aristocratic qualities. There was one body +called the Kinsmen, who were the relatives of the king, or, at least, +so considered, though, as there were fifteen thousand of them, it +would seem that the relationship could not have been, in all cases, +very near. They were dressed with great magnificence, and prided +themselves on their rank, their wealth, and the splendor of their +armor. There was also a corps called the Immortals. They were ten +thousand in number. They wore a dress of gold tissue, which glittered +with spangles and precious stones. + +These bodies of men, thus dressed, made an appearance more like that +of a civic procession, on an occasion of ceremony and rejoicing, than +like the march of an army. The appearance of the king in his chariot +was still more like an exhibition of pomp and parade. The carriage was +very large, elaborately carved and gilded, and ornamented with statues +and sculptures. Here the king sat on a very elevated seat, in sight of +all. He was clothed in a vest of purple, striped with silver, and over +his vest he wore a robe glittering with gold and precious stones. +Around his waist was a golden girdle, from which was suspended his +cimeter--a species of sword--the scabbard of which was resplendent +with gems. He wore a tiara upon his head of very costly and elegant +workmanship, and enriched, like the rest of his dress, with brilliant +ornaments. The guards who preceded and followed him had pikes of +silver, mounted and tipped with gold. + +It is very extraordinary that King Darius took his wife and all his +family with him, and a large portion of his treasures, on this +expedition against Alexander. His mother, whose name was Sysigambis, +was in his family, and she and his wife came, each in her own chariot, +immediately after the king. Then there were fifteen carriages filled +with the children and their attendants, and three or four hundred +ladies of the court, all dressed like queens. After the family there +came a train of many hundreds of camels and mules, carrying the royal +treasures. + +It was in this style that Darius set out upon his expedition, and he +advanced by a slow progress toward the westward, until at length he +approached the shores of the Mediterranean Sea. He left his treasures +in the city of Damascus, where they were deposited under the charge +of a sufficient force to protect them, as he supposed. He then +advanced to meet Alexander, going himself from Syria toward Asia Minor +just at the time that Alexander was coming from Asia Minor into Syria. + +[Illustration: PLAIN OF ISSUS.] + +It will be observed by looking upon the map, that the chain of +mountains called Mount Taurus extends down near to the coast, at the +northeastern corner of the Mediterranean. Among these mountains there +are various tracts of open country, through which an army may march to +and fro, between Syria and Asia Minor. Now it happened that Darius, in +going toward the west, took a more inland route than Alexander, who, +on coming eastward, kept nearer to the sea. Alexander did not know +that Darius was so near; and as for Darius, he was confident that +Alexander was retreating before him; for, as the Macedonian army was +so small, and his own forces constituted such an innumerable host, the +idea that Alexander would remain to brave a battle was, in his +opinion, entirely out of the question. He had, therefore, no doubt +that Alexander was retreating. It is, of course, always difficult for +two armies, fifty miles apart, to obtain correct ideas of each other's +movements. All the ordinary intercommunications of the country are of +course stopped, and each general has his scouts out, with orders to +intercept all travelers, and to interrupt the communication of +intelligence by every means in their power. + +In consequence of these and other circumstances of a similar nature, +it happened that Alexander and Darius actually passed each other, +without either of them being aware of it. Alexander advanced into +Syria by the plains of Issus, marked _a_ upon the map, and a narrow +pass beyond, called the Gates of Syria, while Darius went farther to +the north, and arrived at Issus after Alexander had left it. Here each +army learned to their astonishment that their enemy was in their rear. +Alexander could not credit this report when he first heard it. He +dispatched a galley with thirty oars along the shore, up the Gulf of +Issus, to ascertain the truth. The galley soon came back and reported +that, beyond the Gates of Syria, they saw the whole country, which was +nearly level land, though gently rising from the sea, covered with the +vast encampments of the Persian army. + +The king then called his generals and counselors together, informed +them of the facts, and made known to them his determination to return +immediately through the Gates of Syria and attack the Persian army. +The officers received the intelligence with enthusiastic expressions +of joy. + +It was now near the evening. Alexander sent forward a strong +reconnoitering party, ordering them to proceed cautiously, to ascend +eminences and look far before them, to guard carefully against +surprise, and to send back word immediately if they came upon any +traces of the enemy. At the present day the operations of such a +reconnoitering party are very much aided by the use of spy-glasses, +which are made now with great care expressly for military purposes. +The instrument, however, was not known in Alexander's day. + +When the evening came on, Alexander followed the reconnoitering party +with the main body of the army. At midnight they reached the defile. +When they were secure in the possession of it, they halted. Strong +watches were stationed on all the surrounding heights to guard against +any possible surprise. Alexander himself ascended one of the +eminences, from whence he could look down upon the great plain beyond, +which was dimly illuminated in every part by the smouldering fires of +the Persian encampment. An encampment at night is a spectacle which is +always grand, and often sublime. It must have appeared sublime to +Alexander in the highest degree, on this occasion. To stand stealthily +among these dark and somber mountains, with the defiles and passes +below filled with the columns of his small but undaunted army, and to +look onward, a few miles beyond, and see the countless fires of the +vast hosts which had got between him and all hope of retreat to his +native land; to feel, as he must have done, that his fate, and that of +all who were with him, depended upon the events of the day that was +soon to dawn--to see and feel these things must have made this night +one of the most exciting and solemn scenes in the conqueror's life. He +had a soul to enjoy its excitement and sublimity. He gloried in it; +and, as if he wished to add to the solemnity of the scene, he caused +an altar to be erected, and offered a sacrifice, by torch-light, to +the deities on whose aid his soldiers imagined themselves most +dependent for success on the morrow. Of course a place was selected +where the lights of the torches would not attract the attention of the +enemy, and sentinels were stationed at every advantageous point to +watch the Persian camp for the slightest indications of movement or +alarm. + +In the morning, at break of day, Alexander commenced his march down to +the plain. In the evening, at sunset, all the valleys and defiles +among the mountains around the plain of Issus were thronged with vast +masses of the Persian army, broken, disordered, and in confusion, all +pressing forward to escape from the victorious Macedonians. They +crowded all the roads, they choked up the mountain passes, they +trampled upon one another, they fell, exhausted with fatigue and +mental agitation. Darius was among them, though his flight had been so +sudden that he had left his mother, and his wife, and all his family +behind. He pressed on in his chariot as far as the road allowed his +chariot to go, and then, leaving every thing behind, he mounted a +horse and rode on for his life. + +Alexander and his army soon abandoned the pursuit, and returned to +take possession of the Persian camp. The tents of King Darius and his +household were inconceivably splendid, and were filled with gold and +silver vessels, caskets, vases, boxes of perfumes, and every +imaginable article of luxury and show. The mother and wife of Darius +bewailed their hard fate with cries and tears, and continued all the +evening in an agony of consternation and despair. + +Alexander, hearing of this, sent Leonnatus, his former teacher, a man +of years and gravity, to quiet their fears and comfort them, so far as +it was possible to comfort them. In addition to their own captivity, +they supposed that Darius was killed, and the mother was mourning +bitterly for her son, and the wife for her husband. Leonnatus, +attended by some soldiers, advanced toward the tent where these +mourners were dwelling. The attendants at the door ran in and informed +them that a body of Greeks were coming. This threw them into the +greatest consternation. They anticipated violence and death, and threw +themselves upon the ground in agony. Leonnatus waited some time at the +door for the attendants to return. At length he entered the tent. This +renewed the terrors of the women. They began to entreat him to spare +their lives, at least until there should be time for them to see the +remains of the son and husband whom they mourned, and to pay the last +sad tribute to his memory. + +Leonnatus soon relieved their fears. He told them that he was charged +by Alexander to say to them that Darius was alive, having made his +escape in safety. As to themselves, Alexander assured them, he said, +that they should not be injured; that not only were their persons and +lives to be protected, but no change was to be made in their condition +or mode of life; they should continue to be treated like queens. He +added, moreover, that Alexander wished him to say that he felt no +animosity or ill will whatever against Darius. He was but technically +his enemy, being only engaged in a generous and honorable contest with +him for the empire of Asia. Saying these things, Leonnatus raised the +disconsolate ladies from the ground, and they gradually regained some +degree of composure. + +Alexander himself went to pay a visit to the captive princesses the +next day. He took with him Hephæstion. Hephæstion was Alexander's +personal friend. The two young men were of the same age, and, though +Alexander had the good sense to retain in power all the old and +experienced officers which his father had employed, both in the court +and army, he showed that, after all, ambition had not overwhelmed and +stifled all the kindlier feelings of the heart, by his strong +attachment to this young companion. Hephæstion was his confidant, his +associate, his personal friend. He did what very few monarchs have +done, either before or since; in securing for himself the pleasures of +friendship, and of intimate social communion with a heart kindred to +his own, without ruining himself by committing to a favorite powers +which he was not qualified to wield. Alexander left the wise and +experienced Parmenio to manage the camp, while he took the young and +handsome Hephæstion to accompany him on his visit to the captive +queens. + +When the two friends entered the tent, the ladies were, from some +cause, deceived, and mistook Hephæstion for Alexander, and addressed +him, accordingly, with tokens of high respect and homage. One of their +attendants immediately rectified the mistake, telling them that the +other was Alexander. The ladies were at first overwhelmed with +confusion, and attempted to apologize; but the king reassured them at +once by the easy and good-natured manner with which he passed over the +mistake, saying it was no mistake at all. "It is true," said he, "that +I am Alexander, but then he is Alexander too." + +The wife of Darius was young and very beautiful, and they had a little +son who was with them in the camp. It seems almost unaccountable that +Darius should have brought such a helpless and defenseless charge with +him into camps and fields of battle. But the truth was that he had no +idea of even a battle with Alexander, and as to defeat, he did not +contemplate the remotest possibility of it. He regarded Alexander as a +mere boy--energetic and daring it is true, and at the head of a +desperate band of adventurers; but he considered his whole force as +altogether too insignificant to make any stand against such a vast +military power as he was bringing against him. He presumed that he +would retreat as fast as possible before the Persian army came near +him. The idea of such a boy coming down at break of day, from narrow +defiles of the mountains, upon his vast encampment covering all the +plains, and in twelve hours putting the whole mighty mass to flight, +was what never entered his imagination at all. The exploit was, +indeed, a very extraordinary one. Alexander's forces may have +consisted of forty or fifty thousand men, and, if we may believe their +story, there were over a hundred thousand Persians left dead upon the +field. Many of these were, however, killed by the dreadful confusion +and violence of the retreat as vast bodies of horsemen, pressing +through the defiles, rode over and trampled down the foot soldiers who +were toiling in awful confusion along the way, having fled before the +horsemen left the field. + +Alexander had heard that Darius had left the greater part of his royal +treasures in Damascus, and he sent Parmenio there to seize them. This +expedition was successful. An enormous amount of gold and silver fell +into Alexander's hands. The plate was coined into money, and many of +the treasures were sent to Greece. + +Darius got together a small remnant of his army and continued his +flight. He did not stop until he had crossed the Euphrates. He then +sent an embassador to Alexander to make propositions for peace. He +remonstrated with him, in the communication which he made, for coming +thus to invade his dominions, and urged him to withdraw and be +satisfied with his own kingdom. He offered him any sum he might name +as a ransom for his mother, wife, and child, and agreed that if he +would deliver them up to him on the payment of the ransom, and depart +from his dominions, he would thenceforth regard him as an ally and a +friend. + +Alexander replied by a letter, expressed in brief but very decided +language. He said that the Persians had, under the ancestors of +Darius, crossed the Hellespont, invaded Greece, laid waste the +country, and destroyed cities and towns, and had thus done them +incalculable injury; and that Darius himself had been plotting against +his (Alexander's) life, and offering rewards to any one who would kill +him. "I am acting, then," continued Alexander, "only on the +defensive. The gods, who always favor the right, have given me the +victory. I am now monarch of a large part of Asia, and your sovereign +king. If you will admit this, and come to me as my subject, I will +restore to you your mother, your wife, and your child, without any +ransom. And, at any rate, whatever you decide in respect to these +proposals, if you wish to communicate with me on any subject +hereafter, I shall pay no attention to what you send unless you +address it to me as your king." + +One circumstance occurred at the close of this great victory which +illustrates the magnanimity of Alexander's character, and helps to +explain the very strong personal attachment which every body within +the circle of his influence so obviously felt for him. He found a +great number of envoys and embassadors from the various states of +Greece at the Persian court, and these persons fell into his hands +among the other captives. Now the states and cities of Greece, all +except Sparta and Thebes, which last city he had destroyed, were +combined ostensibly in the confederation by which Alexander was +sustained. It seems, however, that there was a secret enmity against +him in Greece, and various parties had sent messengers and agents to +the Persian court to aid in plots and schemes to interfere with and +defeat Alexander's plans. The Thebans, scattered and disorganized as +they were, had sent envoys in this way. Now Alexander, in considering +what disposition he should make of these emissaries from his own land, +decided to regard them all as traitors except the Thebans. All except +the Thebans were _traitors_, he maintained, for acting secretly +against him, while ostensibly, and by solemn covenants, they were his +friends. "The case of the Thebans is very different," said he. "I have +destroyed their city, and they have a right to consider me their +enemy, and to do all they can to oppose my progress, and to regain +their own lost existence and their former power." So he gave them +their liberty and sent them away with marks of consideration and +honor. + +As the vast army of the Persian monarch had now been defeated, of +course none of the smaller kingdoms or provinces thought of resisting. +They yielded one after another, and Alexander appointed governors of +his own to rule over them. He advanced in this manner along the +eastern shores of the Mediterranean Sea, meeting with no obstruction +until he reached the great and powerful city of Tyre. + + + + +CHAPTER VII. + +THE SIEGE OF TYRE. + +B.C. 333 + +The city of Tyre.--Its situation and extent.--Pursuits of the +Tyrians.--Their great wealth and resources.--The walls of +Tyre.--Influence and power of Tyre.--Alexander hesitates in regard +to Tyre.--Presents from the Tyrians.--Alexander refused admittance +into Tyre.--He resolves to attack it.--Alexander's plan.--Its +difficulties and dangers.--Enthusiasm of the army.--Construction +of the pier.--Progress of the work.--Counter operations of the +Tyrians.--Structures erected on the pier.--The Tyrians fit up a fire +ship.--The ship fired and set adrift.--The conflagration.--Effects +of the storm.--The work began anew.--Alexander collects a +fleet.--Warlike engines.--Double galleys.--The women removed from +Tyre.--The siege advances.--Undaunted courage of the Tyrians.--A +breach made.--The assault.--Storming the city.--Barbarous cruelties +of Alexander.--Changes in Alexander's character.--His harsh message +to Darius.--Alexander's reply to Parmenio.--The hero rises, but the +man sinks.--Lysimachus.--Alexander's adventure in the mountains.--What +credits to be given to the adventure. + + +The city of Tyre stood on a small island, three or four miles in +diameter,[B] on the eastern shores of the Mediterranean Sea. It was, +in those days, the greatest commercial city in the world, and it +exercised a great maritime power by means of its fleets and ships, +which traversed every part of the Mediterranean. + +[Footnote B: There are different statements in respect to the size of +this island, varying from three to nine miles in circumference.] + +Tyre had been built originally on the main-land; but in some of the +wars which it had to encounter with the kings of Babylon in the East, +this old city had been abandoned by the inhabitants, and a new one +built upon an island not far from the shore, which could be more +easily defended from an enemy. The old city had gone to ruin, and its +place was occupied by old walls, fallen towers, stones, columns, +arches, and other remains of the ancient magnificence of the place. + +The island on which the Tyre of Alexander's day had been built was +about half a mile from the shore. The water between was about eighteen +feet deep, and formed a harbor for the vessels. The great business of +the Tyrians was commerce. They bought and sold merchandise in all the +ports of the Mediterranean Sea, and transported it by their merchant +vessels to and fro. They had also fleets of war galleys, which they +used to protect their interests on the high seas, and in the various +ports which their merchant vessels visited. They were thus wealthy and +powerful, and yet they lived shut up upon their little island, and +were almost entirely independent of the main-land. + +The city itself, however, though contracted in extent on account of +the small dimensions of the island, was very compactly built and +strongly fortified, and it contained a vast number of stately and +magnificent edifices, which were filled with stores of wealth that had +been accumulated by the mercantile enterprise and thrift of many +generations. Extravagant stories are told by the historians and +geographers of those days, in respect to the scale on which the +structures of Tyre were built. It was said, for instance, that the +walls were one hundred and fifty feet high. It is true that the walls +rose directly from the surface of the water, and of course a +considerable part of their elevation was required to bring them up to +the level of the surface of the land; and then, in addition to this, +they had to be carried up the whole ordinary height of a city wall to +afford the usual protection to the edifices and dwellings within. +There might have been some places where the walls themselves, or +structures connected with them, were carried up to the elevation above +named, though it is scarcely to be supposed that such could have been +their ordinary dimensions. + +At any rate, Tyre was a very wealthy, magnificent, and powerful city, +intent on its commercial operations, and well furnished with means of +protecting them at sea, but feeling little interest, and taking little +part, in the contentions continually arising among the rival powers +which had possession of the land. Their policy was to retain their +independence, and yet to keep on good terms with all other powers, so +that their commercial intercourse with the ports of all nations might +go on undisturbed. + +It was, of course, a very serious question with Alexander, as his +route lay now through Phoenicia and in the neighborhood of Tyre, +what he should do in respect to such a port. He did not like to leave +it behind him and proceed to the eastward; for, in case of any +reverses happening to him, the Tyrians would be very likely to act +decidedly against him, and their power on the Mediterranean would +enable them to act very efficiently against him on all the coasts of +Greece and Asia Minor. On the other hand, it seemed a desperate +undertaking to attack the city. He had none but land forces, and the +island was half a mile from the shore. Besides its enormous walls, +rising perpendicularly out of the water, it was defended by ships well +armed and manned. It was not possible to surround the city and starve +it into submission, as the inhabitants had wealth to buy, and ships to +bring in, any quantity of provisions and stores by sea. Alexander, +however, determined not to follow Darius toward the east, and leave +such a stronghold as this behind him. + +The Tyrians wished to avoid a quarrel if it were possible. They sent +complimentary messages to Alexander, congratulating him on his +conquests, and disavowing all feelings of hostility to him. They also +sent him a golden crown, as many of the other states of Asia had done, +in token of their yielding a general submission to his authority. +Alexander returned very gracious replies, and expressed to them his +intention of coming to Tyre for the purpose of offering sacrifices, as +he said, to Hercules, a god whom the Tyrians worshiped. + +The Tyrians knew that wherever Alexander went he went at the head of +his army, and his coming into Tyre at all implied necessarily his +taking military possession of it. They thought it might, perhaps, be +somewhat difficult to dispossess such a visitor after he should once +get installed in their castles and palaces. So they sent him word that +it would not be in their power to receive him in the city itself, but +that he could offer the sacrifice which he intended on the main-land, +as there was a temple sacred to Hercules among the ruins there. + +Alexander then called a council of his officers, and stated to them +his views. He said that, on reflecting fully upon the subject, he had +come to the conclusion that it was best to postpone pushing his +expedition forward into the heart of Persia until he should have +subdued Tyre completely, and made himself master of the Mediterranean +Sea. He said, also, that he should take possession of Egypt before +turning his arms toward the forces that Darius was gathering against +him in the East. The generals of the army concurred in this opinion, +and Alexander advanced toward Tyre. The Tyrians prepared for their +defense. + +After examining carefully all the circumstances of the case, Alexander +conceived the very bold plan of building a broad causeway from the +main-land to the island on which the city was founded, out of the +ruins of old Tyre, and then marching his army over upon it to the +walls of the city, where he could then plant his engines and make a +breach. This would seem to be a very desperate undertaking. It is true +the stones remaining on the site of the old city afforded sufficient +materials for the construction of the pier, but then the work must go +on against a tremendous opposition, both from the walls of the city +itself and from the Tyrian ships in the harbor. It would seem to be +almost impossible to protect the men from these attacks so as to allow +the operations to proceed at all, and the difficulty and danger must +increase very rapidly as the work should approach the walls of the +city. But, notwithstanding these objections, Alexander determined to +proceed. Tyre must be taken, and this was obviously the only possible +mode of taking it. + +The soldiers advanced to undertake the work with great readiness. +Their strong personal attachment to Alexander; their confidence that +whatever he should plan and attempt would succeed; the novelty and +boldness of this design of reaching an island by building an isthmus +to it from the main-land--these and other similar considerations +excited the ardor and enthusiasm of the troops to the highest degree. + +In constructing works of this kind in the water, the material used is +sometimes stone and sometimes earth. So far as earth is employed, it +is necessary to resort to some means to prevent its spreading under +the water, or being washed away by the dash of the waves at its sides. +This is usually effected by driving what are called _piles_, which are +long beams of wood, pointed at the end, and driven into the earth by +means of powerful engines. Alexander sent parties of men into the +mountains of Lebanon, where were vast forests of cedars, which were +very celebrated in ancient times, and which are often alluded to in +the sacred scriptures. They cut down these trees, and brought the +stems of them to the shore, where they sharpened them at one end and +drove them into the sand, in order to protect the sides of their +embankment. Others brought stones from the ruins and tumbled them +into the sea in the direction where the pier was to be built. It was +some time before the work made such progress as to attract much +attention from Tyre. At length, however, when the people of the city +saw it gradually increasing in size and advancing toward them, they +concluded that they must engage in earnest in the work of arresting +its progress. + +They accordingly constructed engines on the walls to throw heavy darts +and stones over the water to the men upon the pier. They sent secretly +to the tribes that inhabited the valleys and ravines among the +mountains, to attack the parties at work there, and they landed forces +from the city at some distance from the pier, and then marched along +the shore, and attempted to drive away the men that were engaged in +carrying stones from the ruins. They also fitted up and manned some +galleys of large size, and brought them up near to the pier itself, +and attacked the men who were at work upon it with stones, darts, +arrows, and missiles of every description. + +But all was of no avail. The work, though impeded, still went on. +Alexander built large screens of wood upon the pier, covering them +with hides, which protected his soldiers from the weapons of the +enemy, so that they could carry on their operations safely behind +them. By these means the work advanced for some distance further. As +it advanced, various structures were erected upon it, especially along +the sides and at the end toward the city. These structures consisted +of great engines for driving piles, and machines for throwing stones +and darts, and towers carried up to a great height, to enable the men +to throw stones and heavy weapons down upon the galleys which might +attempt to approach them. + +At length the Tyrians determined on attempting to destroy all these +wooden works by means of what is called in modern times a _fire ship_. +They took a large galley, and filled it with combustibles of every +kind. They loaded it first with light dry wood, and they poured pitch, +and tar, and oil over all this wood to make it burn with fiercer +flames. They saturated the sails and the cordage in the same manner, +and laid trains of combustible materials through all parts of the +vessel, so that when fire should be set in one part it would +immediately spread every where, and set the whole mass in flames at +once. They towed this ship, on a windy day, near to the enemy's works, +and on the side from which the wind was blowing. They then put it in +motion toward the pier at a point where there was the greatest +collection of engines and machines, and when they had got as near as +they dared to go themselves, the men who were on board set the trains +on fire, and made their escape in boats. The flames ran all over the +vessel with inconceivable rapidity. The vessel itself drifted down +upon Alexander's works, notwithstanding the most strenuous exertions +of his soldiers to keep it away. The frames and engines, and the +enormous and complicated machines which had been erected, took fire, +and the whole mass was soon enveloped in a general conflagration. + +The men made desperate attempts to defend their works, but all in +vain. Some were killed by arrows and darts, some were burned to death, +and others, in the confusion, fell into the sea. Finally, the army was +obliged to draw back, and to abandon all that was combustible in the +vast construction they had reared, to the devouring flames. + +[Illustration: THE SIEGE OF TYRE.] + +Not long after this the sea itself came to the aid of the Tyrians. +There was a storm; and, as a consequence of it, a heavy swell rolled +in from the offing, which soon undermined and washed away a large +part of the pier. The effects of a heavy sea on the most massive and +substantial structures, when they are fairly exposed to its impulse, +are far greater than would be conceived possible by those who had not +witnessed them. The most ponderous stones are removed, the strongest +fastenings are torn asunder, and embankments the most compact and +solid are undermined and washed away. The storm, in this case, +destroyed in a few hours the work of many months, while the army of +Alexander looked on from the shore witnessing its ravages in dismay. + +When the storm was over, and the first shock of chagrin and +disappointment had passed from the minds of the men, Alexander +prepared to resume the work with fresh vigor and energy. The men +commenced repairing the pier and widening it, so as to increase its +strength and capacity. They dragged whole trees to the edges of it, +and sunk them, branches and all, to the bottom, to form a sort of +platform there, to prevent the stones from sinking into the slime. +They built new towers and engines, covering them with green hides to +make them fire-proof; and thus they were soon advancing again, and +gradually drawing nearer to the city, and in a more threatening and +formidable manner than ever. + +Alexander, finding that his efforts were impeded very much by the +ships of the Tyrians, determined on collecting and equipping a fleet +of his own. This he did at Sidon, which was a town a short distance +north of Tyre. He embarked on board this fleet himself, and came down +with it into the Tyrian seas. With this fleet he had various success. +He chained many of the ships together, two and two, at a little +distance apart, covering the inclosed space with a platform, on which +the soldiers could stand to fight. The men also erected engines on +these platforms to attack the city. These engines were of various +kinds. There was what they called the battering ram, which was a long +and very heavy beam of wood, headed with iron or brass. This beam was +suspended by a chain in the middle, so that it could be swung back and +forth by the soldiers, its head striking against the wall each time, +by which means the wall would sometimes be soon battered down. They +had also machines for throwing great stones, or beams of wood, by +means of the elastic force of strong bars of wood, or of steel, or +that of twisted ropes. The part of the machine upon which the stone +was placed would be drawn back by the united strength of many of the +soldiers, and then, as it recovered itself when released, the stone +would be thrown off into the air with prodigious velocity and force. + +Alexander's double galleys answered very well as long as the water was +smooth; but sometimes, when they were caught out in a swell, the +rolling of the waves would rack and twist them so as to tear the +platforms asunder, and sink the men in the sea. Thus difficulties +unexpected and formidable were continually arising. Alexander, +however, persevered through them all. The Tyrians, finding themselves +pressed more and more, and seeing that the dangers impending became +more and more formidable every day, at length concluded to send a +great number of the women and children away to Carthage, which was a +great commercial city in Africa. They were determined not to submit to +Alexander, but to carry their resistance to the very last extremity. +And as the closing scenes of a siege, especially if the place is at +last taken by storm, are awful beyond description, they wished to save +their wives, and daughters, and helpless babes from having to witness +them. + +In the mean time, as the siege advanced, the parties became more and +more incensed against each other. They treated the captives which they +took on either side with greater and greater cruelty, each thinking +that they were only retaliating worse injuries from the other. The +Macedonians approached nearer and nearer. The resources of the unhappy +city were gradually cut off and its strength worn away. The engines +approached nearer and nearer to the walls, until the battering rams +bore directly upon them, and breaches began to be made. At length one +great breach on the southern side was found to be "practicable," as +they call it. Alexander began to prepare for the final assault, and +the Tyrians saw before them the horrible prospect of being taken by +storm. + +Still they would not submit. Submission would now have done but little +good, though it might have saved some of the final horrors of the +scene. Alexander had become greatly exasperated by the long resistance +which the Tyrians had made. They probably could not now have averted +destruction, but they might, perhaps, have prevented its coming upon +them in so terrible a shape as the irruption of thirty thousand +frantic and infuriated soldiers through the breaches in their walls +to take their city by storm. + +The breach by which Alexander proposed to force his entrance was on +the southern side. He prepared a number of ships, with platforms +raised upon them in such a manner that, on getting near the walls, +they could be let down, and form a sort of bridge, over which the men +could pass to the broken fragments of the wall, and thence ascend +through the breach above. + +The plan succeeded. The ships advanced to the proposed place of +landing. The bridges were let down. The men crowded over them to the +foot of the wall. They clambered up through the breach to the +battlements above, although the Tyrians thronged the passage and made +the most desperate resistance. Hundreds were killed by darts, and +arrows, and falling stones, and their bodies tumbled into the sea. The +others, paying no attention to their falling comrades, and drowning +the horrid screams of the crushed and the dying with their own frantic +shouts of rage and fury, pressed on up the broken wall till they +reached the battlements above. The vast throng then rolled along upon +the top of the wall till they came to stairways and slopes by which +they could descend into the city, and, pouring down through all these +avenues, they spread over the streets, and satiated the hatred and +rage, which had been gathering strength for seven long months, in +bursting into houses, and killing and destroying all that came in +their way. Thus the city was stormed. + +After the soldiers were weary with the work of slaughtering the +wretched inhabitants of the city, they found that many still remained +alive, and Alexander tarnished the character for generosity and +forbearance for which he had thus far been distinguished by the +cruelty with which he treated them. Some were executed, some thrown +into the sea; and it is even said that two thousand were _crucified_ +along the sea-shore. This may mean that their bodies were placed upon +crosses after life had been destroyed by some more humane method than +crucifixion. At any rate, we find frequent indications from this time +that prosperity and power were beginning to exert their usual +unfavorable influence upon Alexander's character. He became haughty, +imperious, and cruel. He lost the modesty and gentleness which seemed +to characterize him in the earlier part of his life, and began to +assume the moral character, as well as perform the exploits, of a +military hero. + +A good illustration of this is afforded by the answer that he sent to +Darius, about the time of the storming of Tyre, in reply to a second +communication which he had received from him proposing terms of peace. +Darius offered him a very large sum of money for the ransom of his +mother, wife, and child, and agreed to give up to him all the country +he had conquered, including the whole territory west of the Euphrates. +He also offered him his daughter Statira in marriage. He recommended +to him to accept these terms, and be content with the possessions he +had already acquired; that he could not expect to succeed, if he +should try, in crossing the mighty rivers of the East, which were in +the way of his march toward the Persian dominions. + +Alexander replied, that if he wished to marry his daughter he could do +it without his consent; as to the ransom, he was not in want of money; +in respect to Darius's offering to give him up all west of the +Euphrates, it was absurd for a man to speak of giving what was no +longer his own; that he had crossed too many seas in his military +expeditions, since he left Macedon, to feel any concern about the +_rivers_ that he might find in his way; and that he should continue +to pursue Darius wherever he might retreat in search of safety and +protection, and he had no fear but that he should find and conquer him +at last. + +It was a harsh and cruel message to send to the unhappy monarch whom +he had already so greatly injured. Parmenio advised him to accept +Darius's offers. "I would," said he, "if I were Alexander." "Yes," +said Alexander, "and so would I if I were Parmenio." What a reply from +a youth of twenty-two to a venerable general of sixty, who had been so +tried and faithful a friend, and so efficient a coadjutor both to his +father and to himself, for so many years. + +The siege and storming of Tyre has always been considered one of the +greatest of Alexander's exploits. The boldness, the perseverance, the +indomitable energy which he himself and all his army manifested, +during the seven months of their Herculean toil, attracted the +admiration of the world. And yet we find our feelings of sympathy for +his character, and interest in his fate, somewhat alienated by the +indications of pride, imperiousness, and cruelty which begin to +appear. While he rises in our estimation as a military hero, he begins +to sink somewhat as a man. + +And yet the change was not sudden. He bore during the siege his part +in the privations and difficulties which the soldiers had to endure; +and the dangers to which they had to be exposed, he was always willing +to share. One night he was out with a party upon the mountains. Among +his few immediate attendants was Lysimachus, one of his former +teachers, who always loved to accompany him at such times. Lysimachus +was advanced in life, and somewhat infirm, and consequently could not +keep up with the rest in the march. Alexander remained with +Lysimachus, and ordered the rest to go on. The road at length became +so rugged that they had to dismount from their horses and walk. +Finally they lost their way, and found themselves obliged to stop for +the night. They had no fire. They saw, however, at a distance, some +camp fires blazing which belonged to the barbarian tribes against whom +the expedition was directed. Alexander went to the nearest one. There +were two men lying by it, who had been stationed to take care of it. +He advanced stealthily to them and killed them both, probably while +they were asleep. He then took a brand from their fire, carried it +back to his own encampment, where he made a blazing fire for himself +and Lysimachus, and they passed the night in comfort and safety. This +is the story. How far we are to give credit to it, each reader must +judge for himself. One thing is certain, however, that there are many +military heroes of whom such stories would not be even fabricated. + + + + +CHAPTER VIII. + +ALEXANDER IN EGYPT. + +B.C. 332 + +Alexander in Judea.--Josephus, and the character of his +writings.--Alexander's visit to Jerusalem.--Josephus's account of +it.--The high priest Jaddus.--His dreams.--The procession of +priests.--Alexander's account of his dream.--Alexander joins in the +Jewish ceremonies.--Prophecies of Daniel.--Doubts about Alexander's +visit.--Siege.--Alexander receives a wound.--Gaza taken by +storm.--Alexander's brutality to the brave Betis.--Rich +treasures.--Story of Alexander's youth.--Pelusium.--Memphis.--Fertility +of Egypt.--Deserts of Egypt.--Cause of their sterility.--The Great +Oasis.--Oasis of Siwah.--Temple of Jupiter Ammon.--Alexander aspires +to divine honors.--Alexander crosses the desert.--Its sublimity.--The +camel.--Scarcity of water.--Sand storms in the desert.--Arrival at the +Oasis.--Magnificent ceremonies.--Return to Memphis.--Alexander jokes +about his divinity.--Founding of Alexandria.--Island of Pharos.--The +light-house.--Alexandria the only remaining monument of Alexander's +greatness. + + +After completing the subjugation of Tyre, Alexander commenced his +march for Egypt. His route led him through Judea. The time was about +three hundred years before the birth of Christ, and, of course, this +passage of the great conqueror through the land of Israel took place +between the historical periods of the Old Testament and of the New, so +that no account of it is given in the sacred volume. + +There was a Jewish writer named Josephus, who lived and wrote a few +years after Christ, and, of course, more than three hundred years +after Alexander. He wrote a history of the Jews, which is a very +entertaining book to read; but he liked so much to magnify the +importance of the events in the history of his country, and to +embellish them with marvelous and supernatural incidents, that his +narratives have not always been received with implicit faith. Josephus +says that, as Alexander passed through Palestine, he went to pay a +visit to Jerusalem. The circumstances of this visit, according to his +account, were these. + +The city of Tyre, before Alexander besieged it, as it lived entirely +by commerce, and was surrounded by the sea, had to depend on the +neighboring countries for a supply of food. The people were +accordingly accustomed to purchase grain in Phoenicia, in Judea, and +in Egypt, and transport it by their ships to the island. Alexander, in +the same manner, when besieging the city, found that he must depend +upon the neighboring countries for supplies of food; and he +accordingly sent requisitions for such supplies to several places, +and, among others, to Judea. The Jews, as Josephus says, refused to +send any such supplies, saying that it would be inconsistent with +fidelity to Darius, under whose government they were. + +Alexander took no notice of this reply at the time, being occupied +with the siege of Tyre; but, as soon as that city was taken, and he +was ready to pass through Judea, he directed his march toward +Jerusalem with the intention of destroying the city. + +Now the chief magistrate at Jerusalem at this time, the one who had +the command of the city, ruling it, of course, under a general +responsibility to the Persian government, was the high priest. His +name was Jaddus. In the time of Christ, about three hundred years +after this, the name of the high-priest, as the reader will recollect, +was Caiaphas. Jaddus and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem were very +much alarmed. They knew not what to do. The siege and capture of Tyre +had impressed them all with a strong sense of Alexander's terrible +energy and martial power, and they began to anticipate certain +destruction. + +Jaddus caused great sacrifices to be offered to Almighty God, and +public and solemn prayers were made, to implore his guidance and +protection. The next day after these services, he told the people that +they had nothing to fear. God had appeared to him in a dream, and +directed him what to do. "We are not to resist the conqueror," said +he, "but to go forth to meet him and welcome him. We are to strew the +city with flowers, and adorn it as for a festive celebration. The +priests are to be dressed in their pontifical robes and go forth, and +the inhabitants are to follow them in a civic procession. In this way +we are to go out to meet Alexander as he advances--and all will be +well." + +These directions were followed. Alexander was coming on with a full +determination to destroy the city. When, however, he saw the +procession, and came near enough to distinguish the appearance and +dress of the high priest, he stopped, seemed surprised and pleased, +and advanced toward him with an air of the profoundest deference and +respect. He seemed to pay him almost religious homage and adoration. +Every one was astonished. Parmenio asked him for an explanation. +Alexander made the following extraordinary statement: + +"When I was in Macedon, before setting out on this expedition, while I +was revolving the subject in my mind, musing day after day on the +means of conquering Asia, one night I had a remarkable dream. In my +dream this very priest appeared before me, dressed just as he is now. +He exhorted me to banish every fear, to cross the Hellespont boldly, +and to push forward into the heart of Asia. He said that God would +march at the head of my army, and give me the victory over all the +Persians. I recognize this priest as the same person that appeared to +me then. He has the same countenance, the same dress, the same +stature, the same air. It is through his encouragement and aid that I +am here, and I am ready to worship and adore the God whose service he +administers." + +Alexander joined the high priest in the procession, and they returned +to Jerusalem together. There Alexander united with them and with the +Jews of the city in the celebration of religious rites, by offering +sacrifices and oblations in the Jewish manner. The writings which are +now printed together in our Bibles, as the Old Testament, were, in +those days, written separately on parchment rolls, and kept in the +temple. The priests produced from the rolls the one containing the +prophecies of Daniel, and they read and interpreted some of these +prophecies to Alexander, which they considered to have reference to +him, though written many hundred years before. Alexander was, as +Josephus relates, very much pleased at the sight of these ancient +predictions, and the interpretation put upon them by the priests. He +assured the Jews that they should be protected in the exercise of all +their rights, and especially in their religious worship, and he also +promised them that he would take their brethren who resided in Media +and Babylon under his special charge when he should come into +possession of those places. These Jews of Media and Babylon were the +descendants of captives which had been carried away from their native +land in former wars. + +Such is the story which Josephus relates. The Greek historians, on the +other hand, make no mention of this visit to Jerusalem; and some +persons think that it was never made, but that the story arose and was +propagated from generation to generation among the Jews, through the +influence of their desire to magnify the importance and influence of +their worship, and that Josephus incorporated the account into his +history without sufficiently verifying the facts. + +However it may be in regard to Jerusalem, Alexander was delayed at +Gaza, which, as may be seen upon the map, is on the shore of the +Mediterranean Sea. It was a place of considerable commerce and wealth, +and was, at this time, under the command of a governor whom Darius had +stationed there. His name was Betis. Betis refused to surrender the +place. Alexander stopped to besiege it, and the siege delayed him two +months. He was very much exasperated at this, both against Betis and +against the city. + +His unreasonable anger was very much increased by a wound which he +received. He was near a mound which his soldiers had been constructing +near the city, to place engines upon for an attack upon the walls, +when an arrow shot from one of the engines upon the walls struck him +in the breast. It penetrated his armor, and wounded him deeply in the +shoulder. The wound was very painful for some time, and the suffering +which he endured from it only added fuel to the flame of his anger +against the city. + +At last breaches were made in the walls, and the place was taken by +storm. Alexander treated the wretched captives with extreme cruelty. +He cut the garrison to pieces, and sold the inhabitants to slavery. As +for Betis, he dealt with him in a manner almost too horrible to be +described. The reader will recollect that Achilles, at the siege of +Troy, after killing Hector, dragged his dead body around the walls of +the city. Alexander, growing more cruel as he became more accustomed +to war and bloodshed, had been intending to imitate this example so +soon as he could find an enemy worthy of such a fate. He now +determined to carry his plan into execution with Betis. He ordered him +into his presence. A few years before, he would have rewarded him for +his fidelity in his master's service; but now, grown selfish, hard +hearted, and revengeful, he looked upon him with a countenance full of +vindictive exultation, and said, + +"You are not going to die the simple death that you desire. You have +got the worst torments that revenge can invent to suffer." + +Betis did not reply, but looked upon Alexander with a calm, and +composed, and unsubdued air, which incensed the conqueror more and +more. + +"Observe his dumb arrogance," said Alexander; "but I will conquer him. +I will show him that I can draw groans from him, if nothing else." + +He then ordered holes to be made through the heels of his unhappy +captive, and, passing a rope through them, had the body fastened to a +chariot, and dragged about the city till no life remained. + +Alexander found many rich treasures in Gaza. He sent a large part of +them to his mother Olympias, whom he had left in Macedon. Alexander's +affection for his mother seems to have been more permanent than almost +any other good trait in his character. He found, in addition to other +stores of valuable merchandise, a large quantity of frankincense and +myrrh. These are gums which were brought from Arabia, and were very +costly. They were used chiefly in making offerings and in burning +incense to the gods. + +When Alexander was a young man in Macedon, before his father's death, +he was one day present at the offering of sacrifices, and one of his +teachers and guardians, named Leonnatus, who was standing by, thought +he was rather profuse in his consumption of frankincense and myrrh. He +was taking it up by handfuls and throwing it upon the fire. Leonnatus +reproved him for this extravagance, and told him that when he became +master of the countries where these costly gums were procured, he +might be as prodigal of them as he pleased, but that in the mean time +it would be proper for him to be more prudent and economical. +Alexander remembered this reproof, and, finding vast stores of these +expensive gums in Gaza, he sent the whole quantity to Leonnatus, +telling him that he sent him this abundant supply that he might not +have occasion to be so reserved and sparing for the future in his +sacrifices to the gods. + +After this conquest and destruction of Gaza, Alexander continued his +march southward to the frontiers of Egypt. He reached these frontiers +at the city of Pelusium. The Egyptians had been under the Persian +dominion, but they abhorred it, and were very ready to submit to +Alexander's sway. They sent embassadors to meet him upon the +frontiers. The governors of the cities, as he advanced into the +country, finding that it would be useless to resist, and warned by the +terrible example of Thebes, Tyre, and Gaza, surrendered to him as fast +as he summoned them. + +He went to Memphis. Memphis was a great and powerful city, situated in +what was called Lower Egypt, on the Nile, just above where the +branches which form the mouths of the Nile separate from the main +stream. All that part of Egypt is flat country, having been formed by +the deposits brought down by the Nile. Such land is called _alluvial_; +it is always level, and, as it consists of successive deposits from +the turbid waters of the river, made in the successive inundations, it +forms always a very rich soil, deep and inexhaustible, and is, of +course, extremely fertile. Egypt has been celebrated for its +unexampled fertility from the earliest times. It waves with fields of +corn and grain, and is adorned with groves of the most luxuriant +growth and richest verdure. + +It is only, however, so far as the land is formed by the deposits of +the Nile, that this scene of verdure and beauty extends. On the east +it is bounded by ranges of barren and rocky hills, and on the west by +vast deserts, consisting of moving sands, from which no animal or +vegetable life can derive the means of existence. The reason of this +sterility seems to be the absence of water. The geological formation +of the land is such that it furnishes few springs of water, and no +streams, and in that climate it seldom or never rains. If there is +water, the most barren sands will clothe themselves with some species +of vegetation, which, in its decay, will form a soil that will nourish +more and more fully each succeeding generation of plants. But in the +absence of water, any surface of earth will soon become a barren sand. +The wind will drive away every thing imponderable, leaving only the +heavy sands, to drift in storms, like fields of snow. + +Among these African deserts, however, there are some fertile spots. +They are occasioned by springs which arise in little dells, and which +saturate the ground with moisture for some distance around them. The +water from these springs flows for some distance, in many cases, in a +little stream, before it is finally lost and absorbed in the sands. +The whole tract under the influence of this irrigation clothes itself +with verdure. Trees grow up to shade it. It forms a spot whose +beauty, absolutely great, is heightened by the contrast which it +presents to the gloomy and desolate desert by which it is surrounded. +Such a green spot in the desert is called an Oasis. They are the +resort and the refuge of the traveler and the pilgrim, who seek +shelter and repose upon them in their weary journeys over the +trackless wilds. + +Nor must it be supposed that these islands of fertility and verdure +are always _small_. Some of them are very extensive, and contain a +considerable population. There is one called the Great Oasis, which +consists of a chain of fertile tracts of about a hundred miles in +length. Another, called the Oasis of Siwah, has, in modern times, a +population of eight thousand souls. This last is situated not far from +the shores of the Mediterranean Sea--at least not very far: perhaps +two or three hundred miles--and it was a very celebrated spot in +Alexander's day. + +The cause of its celebrity was that it was the seat and center of the +worship of a famous deity called Jupiter Ammon. This god was said to +be the son of Jupiter, though there were all sorts of stories about +his origin and early history. He had the form of a ram, and was +worshiped by the people of Egypt, and also by the Carthaginians, and +by the people of Northern Africa generally. His temple was in this +Oasis, and it was surrounded by a considerable population, which was +supported, in a great degree, by the expenditures of the worshipers +who came as pilgrims, or otherwise, to sacrifice at his shrine. + +It is said that Alexander, finding that the various objects of human +ambition which he had been so rapidly attaining by his victories and +conquests for the past few years were insufficient to satisfy him, +began now to aspire for some supernatural honors, and he accordingly +conceived the design of having himself declared to be the son of a +god. The heroes of Homer were sons of the gods. Alexander envied them +the fame and honor which this distinction gave them in the opinion of +mankind. He determined to visit the temple of Jupiter Ammon in the +Oasis of Siwah, and to have the declaration of his divine origin made +by the priests there. + +He proceeded, accordingly, to the mouth of the Nile, where he found a +very eligible place, as he believed, for the foundation of a +commercial city, and he determined to build it on his return. Thence +he marched along the shores of the Mediterranean, toward the west, +until he reached a place called Parætonium, which will be found upon +the map. He then left the sea-shore and marched south, striking at +once into the desert when he left the sea. He was accompanied by a +small detachment of his army as an escort, and they journeyed eleven +days before they reached the Oasis. + +They had a variety of perilous adventures in crossing the desert. For +the first two days the soldiers were excited and pleased with the +novelty and romantic grandeur of the scene. The desert has, in some +degree, the sublimity of the ocean. There is the same boundless +expanse, the same vast, unbroken curve of the horizon, the same +tracklessness, the same solitude. There is, in addition, a certain +profound and awful stillness and repose, which imparts to it a new +element of impressiveness and grandeur. Its dread and solemn silence +is far more imposing and sublime than the loudest thunders of the +seas. + +The third day the soldiers began to be weary of such a march. They +seemed afraid to penetrate any further into such boundless and +terrible solitudes. They had been obliged to bring water with them in +goat-skins, which were carried by camels. The camel is the only beast +of burden which can be employed upon the deserts. There is a +peculiarity in the anatomical structure of this animal by which he can +take in, at one time, a supply of water for many days. He is formed, +in fact, for the desert. In his native state he lives in the oases and +in the valleys. He eats the herbage which grows among the rocks and +hills that alternate with the great sandy plains in all these +countries. In passing from one of his scanty pasturages to another, he +has long journeys to make across the sands, where, though he can find +food here and there, there is no water. Providence has formed him with +a structure adapted to this exigency, and by means of it he becomes +extremely useful to man. + +The soldiers of Alexander did not take a sufficient supply of water, +and were reduced, at one time, to great distress. They were relieved, +the story says, by a rain, though rain is extremely unusual in the +deserts. Alexander attributed this supply to the miraculous +interposition of Heaven. They catch the rain, in such cases, with +cloths, and afterward wring out the water; though in this instance, as +the historians of that day say, the soldiers did not wait for this +tardy method of supply, but the whole detachment held back their heads +and opened their mouths, to catch the drops of rain as they fell. + +There was another danger to which they were exposed in their march, +more terrible even than the scarcity of water. It was that of being +overwhelmed in the clouds of sand and dust which sometimes swept over +the desert in gales of wind. These were called sand-storms. The fine +sand flew, in such cases, in driving clouds, which filled the eyes and +stopped the breath of the traveler, and finally buried his body under +its drifts when he laid down to die. A large army of fifty thousand +men, under a former Persian king, had been overwhelmed and destroyed +in this way, some years before, in some of the Egyptian deserts. +Alexander's soldiers had heard of this calamity, and they were +threatened sometimes with the same fate. They, however, at length +escaped all the dangers of the desert, and began to approach the green +and fertile land of the Oasis. + +The change from the barren and dismal loneliness of the sandy plains +to the groves and the villages, the beauty and the verdure of the +Oasis, was delightful both to Alexander himself and to all his men. +The priests at the great temple of Jupiter Ammon received them all +with marks of great distinction and honor. The most solemn and +magnificent ceremonies were performed, with offerings, oblations, and +sacrifices. The priests, after conferring in secret with the god in +the temple, came out with the annunciation that Alexander was indeed +his son, and they paid him, accordingly, almost divine honors. He is +supposed to have bribed them to do this by presents and pay. Alexander +returned at length to Memphis, and in all his subsequent orders and +decrees he styled himself Alexander king, son of Jupiter Ammon. + +[Illustration: A FOCUS.] + +But, though Alexander was thus willing to impress his ignorant +soldiers with a mysterious veneration for his fictitious divinity, he +was not deceived himself on the subject; he sometimes even made his +pretensions to the divine character a subject of joke. For instance, +they one day brought him in too little fire in the _focus_. The focus, +or fire-place used in Alexander's day was a small metallic stand, on +which the fire was built. It was placed wherever convenient in the +tent, and the smoke escaped above. They had put upon the focus too +little fuel one day when they brought it in. Alexander asked the +officer to let him have either some wood or some frankincense; they +might consider him, he said, as a god or as a man, whichever they +pleased, but he wished to be treated either like one or the other. + +On his return from the Oasis Alexander carried forward his plan of +building a city at the mouth of the Nile. He drew the plan, it is +said, with his own hands. He superintended the constructions, and +invited artisans and mechanics from all nations to come and reside in +it. They accepted the invitation in great numbers, and the city soon +became large, and wealthy, and powerful. It was intended as a +commercial post, and the wisdom and sagacity which Alexander +manifested in the selection of the site, is shown by the fact that the +city rose immediately to the rank of the great seat of trade and +commerce for all those shores, and has continued to hold that rank now +for twenty centuries. + +There was an island near the coast, opposite the city, called the +island of Pharos. They built a most magnificent light-house upon one +extremity of this island, which was considered, in those days, one of +the wonders of the world. It was said to be five hundred feet high. +This may have been an exaggeration. At any rate, it was celebrated +throughout the world in its day, and its existence and its greatness +made an impression on the human mind which has not yet been effaced. +Pharos is the name for light-house, in many languages, to the present +day. + +In building the city of Alexandria, Alexander laid aside, for a time, +his natural and proper character, and assumed a mode of action in +strong contrast with the ordinary course of his life. He was, +throughout most of his career, a destroyer. He roamed over the world +to interrupt commerce, to break in upon and disturb the peaceful +pursuits of industry, to batter down city walls, and burn dwellings, +and kill men. This is the true vocation of a hero and a conqueror; but +at the mouth of the Nile Alexander laid aside this character. He +turned his energies to the work of planning means to do good. He +constructed a port; he built warehouses; he provided accommodations +and protection for merchants and artisans. The nations exchanged their +commodities far more easily and extensively in consequence of these +facilities, and the means of comfort and enjoyment were multiplied and +increased in thousands and thousands of huts in the great cities of +Egypt, and in the rural districts along the banks of the Nile. The +good, too, which he thus commenced, has perpetuated itself. Alexandria +has continued to fulfill its beneficent function for two thousand +years. It is the only monument of his greatness which remains. Every +thing else which he accomplished perished when he died. How much +better would it have been for the happiness of mankind, as well as for +his own true fame and glory, if doing good had been the rule of his +life instead of the exception. + + + + +CHAPTER IX. + +THE GREAT VICTORY. + +B.C. 331 + +Alexander makes Tyre his rendezvous.--Festivities.--Alexander prepares +to march east.--The captive queens.--Alexander's treatment of the +queens.--Death of Statira.--Agony of Sysigambis.--Grief of +Darius.--Alexander crosses the Euphrates.--Darius crosses the +Tigris.--Alexander reaches the Tigris.--He crosses the river.--Fording +the river.--The passage effected.--Plan of Darius.--The plain of +Arbela.--The caltrop.--Its use in war.--Eclipse of the +moon.--Consternation of Alexander's army.--Emotions produced by an +eclipse.--Its sublimity.--Measures taken by Alexander to allay the +fears of the soldiers.--Alexander approaches the Persian +army.--Preparations for the battle.--Alexander surveys the Persian +army.--Council of officers.--Number of the armies.--Alexander's +address.--Parmenio and Alexander.--Alexander's dress.--War +elephants.--The phalanx.--Defeat of the Persians.--Flight of +Darius.--Alexander driven from the field.--March to Babylon.--Surrender +of Susa.--Plunder of the palace.--Wholesale robbery and murder.--Immense +treasures.--Pass of Susa.--The mountaineers. + + +All the western part of Asia was now in Alexander's power. He was +undisputed master of Asia Minor, Phoenicia, Judea, and Egypt. He +returned from Egypt to Tyre, leaving governors to rule in his name in +all the conquered provinces. The injuries which had been done to Tyre, +during the siege and at the assault, were repaired, and it was again a +wealthy, powerful, and prosperous city. Alexander rested and refreshed +his army there, and spent some weeks in most splendid festivities and +rejoicings. The princes and potentates of all the neighboring +countries assembled to partake of his hospitality, to be entertained +by the games, the plays, the spectacles, and the feastings, and to +unite in swelling his court and doing him honor. In a word, he was the +general center of attraction for all eyes, and the object of universal +homage. + +All this time, however, he was very far from being satisfied, or +feeling that his work was done. Darius, whom he considered his great +enemy, was still in the field unsubdued. He had retreated across the +Euphrates, and was employed in assembling a vast collection of forces +from all the Eastern nations which were under his sway, to meet +Alexander in the final contest. Alexander therefore made arrangements +at Tyre for the proper government of the various kingdoms and +provinces which he had already conquered, and then began to prepare +for marching eastward with the main body of his army. + +During all this time the ladies of Darius's family, who had been taken +captive at Issus, had been retained in captivity, and made to +accompany Alexander's army in its marches. Alexander refused to accede +to any of the plans and propositions which Darius made and offered for +the redemption of his wife and mother, but insisted on retaining them +as his prisoners. He, however, treated them with respect and high +consideration. He provided them with royal tents of great +magnificence, and had them conveyed from place to place, when his army +moved, with all the royal state to which they had been accustomed when +in the court of Darius. + +It has been generally thought a proof of nobleness of spirit and +generosity in Alexander that he treated his captives in this manner. +It would seem, however, that true generosity would have prompted the +restoration of these unhappy and harmless prisoners to the husband and +father who mourned their separation from him, and their cruel +sufferings, with bitter grief. It is more probable, therefore, that +policy, and a regard for his own aggrandizement, rather than +compassion for the suffering, led him to honor his captive queens. It +was a great glory to him, in a martial point of view, to have such +trophies of his victory in his train; and, of course, the more highly +he honored the personages, the more glorious the trophy appeared. +Accordingly, Alexander did every thing in his power to magnify the +importance of his royal captives, by the splendor of their retinue, +and the pomp and pageantry with which he invested their movements. + +A short time after leaving Tyre, on the march eastward, Statira, the +wife of Darius, was taken suddenly ill and died.[C] The tidings were +immediately brought to Alexander, and he repaired without delay to +Sysigambis's tent. Sysigambis was the mother of Darius. She was in +the greatest agony of grief. She was lying upon the floor of her tent, +surrounded by the ladies of her court, and entirely overwhelmed with +sorrow. Alexander did all in his power to calm and comfort her. + +[Footnote C: It was the birth of an infant that caused her death, +exhausted and worn down as she doubtless was, by her captivity and her +sorrows.] + +One of the officers of Queen Statira's household[D] made his escape +from the camp immediately after his mistress's death, and fled across +the country to Darius, to carry him the heavy tidings. Darius was +overwhelmed with affliction. The officer, however, in farther +interviews, gave him such an account of the kind and respectful +treatment which the ladies had received from Alexander, during all the +time of their captivity, as greatly to relieve his mind, and to afford +him a high degree of comfort and consolation. He expressed a very +strong sense of gratitude to Alexander for his generosity and +kindness, and said that if his kingdom of Persia _must_ be conquered, +he sincerely wished that it might fall into the hands of such a +conqueror as Alexander. + +[Footnote D: A eunuch, a sort of officer employed in Eastern nations +in attendance upon ladies of high rank.] + +By looking at the map at the commencement of the volume, it will be +seen that the Tigris and the Euphrates are parallel streams, flowing +through the heart of the western part of Asia toward the southeast, +and emptying into the Persian Gulf. The country between these two +rivers, which was extremely populous and fertile, was called +Mesopotamia. Darius had collected an immense army here. The various +detachments filled all the plains of Mesopotamia. Alexander turned his +course a little northward, intending to pass the River Euphrates at a +famous ancient crossing at Thapsacus, which may be seen upon the map. +When he arrived at this place he found a small Persian army there. +They, however, retired as he approached. Alexander built two bridges +across the river, and passed his army safely over. + +In the mean time, Darius, with his enormous host, passed across the +Tigris, and moved toward the northward, along the eastern side of the +river. He had to cross the various branches of the Tigris as he +advanced. At one of them, called the Lycus, which may also be seen +upon the map, there was a bridge. It took the vast host which Darius +had collected _five days_ to pass this bridge. + +While Darius had been thus advancing to the northward into the +latitude where he knew that Alexander must cross the rivers, +Alexander himself, and his small but compact and fearless body of +Grecian troops, were moving eastward, toward the same region to which +Darius's line of march was tending. Alexander at length reached the +Tigris. He was obliged to ford this stream. The banks were steep and +the current was rapid, and the men were in great danger of being swept +away. To prevent this danger, the ranks, as they advanced, linked +their arms together, so that each man might be sustained by his +comrades. They held their shields above their heads to keep them from +the water. Alexander waded like the rest, though he kept in front, and +reached the bank before the others. Standing there, he indicated to +the advancing column, by gesticulation, where to land, the noise of +the water being too great to allow his voice to be heard. To see him +standing there, safely landed, and with an expression of confidence +and triumph in his attitude and air, awakened fresh energy in the +heart of every soldier in the columns which were crossing the stream. + +Notwithstanding this encouragement, however, the passage of the troops +and the landing on the bank produced a scene of great confusion. Many +of the soldiers had tied up a portion of their clothes in bundles, +which they held above their heads, together with their arms, as they +waded along through the swift current of the stream. They, however, +found it impossible to carry these bundles, but had to abandon them at +last in order to save themselves, as they staggered along through deep +and rapid water, and over a concealed bottom of slippery stones. +Thousands of these bundles, mingled with spears, darts, and every +other sort of weapon that would float, were swept down by the current, +to impede and embarrass the men who were passing below. + +At length, however, the men themselves succeeded in getting over in +safety, though a large quantity of arms and of clothing was lost. +There was no enemy upon the bank to oppose them. Darius could not, in +fact, well meet and oppose Alexander in his attempt to cross the +river, because he could not determine at what point he would probably +make the attempt, in season to concentrate so large an army to oppose +him. Alexander's troops, being a comparatively small and compact body, +and being accustomed to move with great promptness and celerity, could +easily evade any attempt of such an unwieldy mass of forces to oppose +his crossing at any particular point upon the stream. At any rate, +Darius did not make any such attempt, and Alexander had no +difficulties to encounter in crossing the Tigris other than the +physical obstacles presented by the current of the stream. + +Darius's plan was, therefore, not to intercept Alexander on his march, +but to choose some great and convenient battle-field, where he could +collect his forces, and marshal them advantageously, and so await an +attack there. He knew very well that his enemy would seek him out, +wherever he was, and, consequently, that he might choose his position. +He found such a field in an extensive plain at Guagamela, not far from +the city of Arbela. The spot has received historical immortality under +the name of the plain of Arbela. + +Darius was several days in concentrating his vast armies upon this +plain. He constructed encampments; he leveled the inequalities which +would interfere with the movements of his great bodies of cavalry; he +guarded the approaches, too, as much as possible. There is a little +instrument used in war called a _caltrop_.[E] It consists of a small +ball of iron, with several sharp points projecting from it one or two +inches each way. If these instruments are thrown upon the ground at +random, one of the points must necessarily be upward, and the horses +that tread upon them are lamed and disabled at once. Darius caused +caltrops to be scattered in the grass and along the roads, wherever +the army of Alexander would be likely to approach his troops on the +field of battle. + +[Footnote E: It receives its name from a kind of thistle called the +caltrop.] + +[Illustration: THE CALTROP.] + +Alexander, having crossed the river, encamped for a day or two on the +banks, to rest and refresh, and to rearrange his army. While here, the +soldiers were one night thrown into consternation by an eclipse of the +moon. Whenever an eclipse of the moon takes place, it is, of course, +when the moon is full, so that the eclipse is always a sudden, and, +among an ignorant people, an unexpected waning of the orb in the +height of its splendor; and as such people know not the cause of the +phenomenon, they are often extremely terrified. Alexander's soldiers +were thrown into consternation by the eclipse. They considered it the +manifestation of the displeasure of Heaven at their presumptuous +daring in crossing such rivers, and penetrating to such a distance to +invade the territories of another king. + +In fact, the men were predisposed to fear. Having wandered to a vast +distance from home, having passed over such mountains and deserts, and +now, at last, having crossed a deep and dangerous river, and thrown +themselves into the immediate vicinity of a foe ten times as numerous +as themselves, it was natural that they should feel some misgivings. +And when, at night, impressed with the sense of solemnity which night +always imparts to strange and novel scenes, they looked up to the +bright round moon, pleased with the expression of cheerfulness and +companionship which beams always in her light, to find her suddenly +waning, changing her form, withdrawing her bright beams, and looking +down upon them with a lurid and murky light, it was not surprising +that they felt an emotion of terror. In fact, there is always an +element of terror in the emotion excited by looking upon an eclipse, +which an instinctive feeling of the heart inspires. It invests the +spectacle with a solemn grandeur. It holds the spectator, however +cultivated and refined, in silence while he gazes at it. It mingles +with a scientific appreciation of the vastness of the movements and +magnitudes by which the effect is produced, and while the one occupies +the intellect, the other impresses the soul. The mind that has lost, +through its philosophy, the power of feeling this emotion of awe in +such scenes, has sunk, not risen. Its possessor has made himself +inferior, not superior, to the rest of his species, by having +paralyzed one of his susceptibilities of pleasure. To him an eclipse +is only curious and wonderful; to others it is sublime. + +The soldiers of Alexander were extremely terrified. A great panic +spread throughout the encampment. Alexander himself, instead of +attempting to allay their fears by reasoning, or treating them as of +no importance, immediately gave the subject his most serious +attention. He called together the soothsayers, and directed them to +consult together, and let him know what this great phenomenon +portended. This mere committing of the subject to the attention of the +soothsayers had a great effect among all the soldiers of the army. It +calmed them. It changed their agitation and terror into a feeling of +suspense, in awaiting the answer of the soothsayers, which was far +less painful and dangerous; and at length, when the answer came, it +allayed their anxiety and fear altogether. The soothsayers said that +the sun was on Alexander's side, and the moon on that of the Persians, +and that this sudden waning of her light foreshadowed the defeat and +destruction which the Persians were about to undergo. The army were +satisfied with this decision, and were inspired with new confidence +and ardor. It is often idle to attempt to oppose ignorance and +absurdity by such feeble instruments as truth and reason, and the +wisest managers of mankind have generally been most successful when +their plan has been to counteract one folly by means of the influence +of another. + +Alexander's army consisted of about fifty thousand men, with the +phalanx in the center. This army moved along down the eastern bank of +the Tigris, the scouts pressing forward as far as possible in every +direction in front of the main army, in order to get intelligence of +the foe. It is in this way that two great armies _feel_ after each +other, as it were, like insects creeping over the ground, exploring +the way before them with their _antennæ_. At length, after three days' +advance, the scouts came in with intelligence of the enemy. Alexander +pressed forward with a detachment of his army to meet them. They +proved to be, however, not the main body of Darius's army, but only a +single corps of a thousand men, in advance of the rest. They retreated +as Alexander approached. He, however, succeeded in capturing some +horsemen, who gave the information that Darius had assembled his vast +forces on the plain of Arbela, and was waiting there in readiness to +give his advancing enemy battle. + +Alexander halted his troops. He formed an encampment, and made +arrangements for depositing his baggage there. He refreshed the men, +examined and repaired their arms, and made the arrangements for +battle. These operations consumed several days. At the end of that +time, early one morning, long before day, the camp was in motion, and +the columns, armed and equipped for immediate contest, moved forward. + +They expected to have reached the camp of Darius at daybreak, but the +distance was greater than they had supposed. At length, however, the +Macedonians, in their march, came upon the brow of a range of hills, +from which they looked down upon numberless and endless lines of +infantry and cavalry, and ranges after ranges of tents, which filled +the plain. Here the army paused while Alexander examined the field, +studying for a long time, and with great attention, the numbers and +disposition of the enemy. They were four miles distant still, but the +murmuring sounds of their voices and movements came to the ears of the +Macedonians through the calm autumnal air. + +Alexander called the leading officers together, and held a +consultation on the question whether to march down and attack the +Persians on the plain that night, or to wait till the next day. +Parmenio was in favor of a night attack, in order to surprise the +enemy by coming upon them at an unexpected time. But Alexander said +no. He was sure of victory. He had got his enemies all before him; +they were fully in his power. He would, therefore, take no advantage, +but would attack them fairly and in open day. Alexander had fifty +thousand men; the Persians were variously estimated between five +hundred thousand and a million. There is something sublime in the idea +of such a pause, made by the Macedonian phalanx and its wings, on the +slopes of the hills, suspending its attack upon ten times its number, +to give the mighty mass of their enemies the chances of a fair and +equal contest. + +Alexander made congratulatory addresses to his soldiers on the +occasion of their having now at last before them, what they had so +long toiled and labored to attain, the whole concentrated force of the +Persian empire. They were now going to contend, not for single +provinces and kingdoms, as heretofore, but for general empire; and the +victory which they were about to achieve would place them on the +summit of human glory. In all that he said on the subject, the +unquestionable certainty of victory was assumed. + +Alexander completed his arrangements, and then retired to rest. He +went to sleep--at least he appeared to do so. Early in the morning +Parmenio arose, summoned the men to their posts, and arranged every +thing for the march. He then went to Alexander's tent. Alexander was +still asleep. He awoke him, and told him that all was ready. Parmenio +expressed surprise at his sleeping so quietly at a time when such vast +issues were at stake. "You seem as calm," said he, "as if you had had +the battle and gained the victory." "I have done so," said Alexander. +"I consider the whole work done when we have gained access to Darius +and his forces, and find him ready to give us battle." + +Alexander soon appeared at the head of his troops. Of course this day +was one of the most important ones of his life, and one of the +historians of the time has preserved an account of his dress as he +went into battle. He wore a short tunic, girt close around him, and +over it a linen breast-plate, strongly quilted. The belt by which the +tunic was held was embossed with figures of beautiful workmanship. +This belt was a present to him from some of the people of the +conquered countries through which he had passed, and it was very much +admired. He had a helmet upon his head, of polished steel, with a neck +piece, also of steel, ornamented with precious stones. His helmet was +surmounted with a white plume. His sword, which was a present to him +from the King of Cyprus, was very light and slender, and of the most +perfect temper. He carried, also, a shield and a lance, made in the +best possible manner for use, not for display. Thus his dress +corresponded with the character of his action. It was simple, compact, +and whatever of value it possessed consisted in those substantial +excellencies which would give the bearer the greatest efficiency on +the field of battle. + +The Persians were accustomed to make use of elephants in their wars. +They also had chariots, with scythes placed at the axles, which they +were accustomed to drive among their enemies and mow them down. +Alexander resorted to none of these contrivances. There was the +phalanx--the terrible phalanx--advancing irresistibly either in one +body or in detachments, with columns of infantry and flying troops of +horsemen on the wings. Alexander relied simply on the strength, the +courage, the energy, and the calm and steady, but resistless ardor of +his men, arranging them in simple combinations, and leading them +forward directly to their work. + +The Macedonians cut their way through the mighty mass of their enemies +with irresistible force. The elephants turned and fled. The foot +soldiers seized the horses of some of the scythe-armed chariots and +cut the traces. In respect to others, they opened to the right and +left and let them pass through, when they were easily captured by the +men in the rear. In the mean time the phalanx pressed on, enjoying a +great advantage in the level nature of the ground. The Persian troops +were broken in upon and driven away wherever they were attacked. In a +word, before night the whole mighty mass was scattering every where in +confusion, except some hundreds of thousands left trampled upon and +dead, or else writhing upon the ground, and groaning in their dying +agonies. Darius himself fled. Alexander pursued him with a troop of +horse as far as Arbela, which had been Darius's head-quarters, and +where he had deposited immense treasures. Darius had gone through and +escaped when Alexander arrived at Arbela, but the city and the +treasures fell into Alexander's hands. + +Although Alexander had been so completely victorious over his enemies +on the day of battle, and had maintained his ground against them with +such invincible power, he was, nevertheless, a few days afterward, +driven entirely off the field, and completely away from the region +where the battle had been fought. What the living men, standing erect +in arms, and full of martial vigor, could not do, was easily and +effectually accomplished by their dead bodies corrupting on the plain. +The corpses of three hundred thousand men, and an equal bulk of the +bodies of elephants and horses, was too enormous a mass to be buried. +It had to be abandoned; and the horrible effluvia and pestilence which +it emitted drove all the inhabitants of the country away. Alexander +marched his troops rapidly off the ground, leaving, as the direct +result of the battle, a wide extent of country depopulated and +desolate, with this vast mass of putrefaction and pestilence reigning +in awful silence and solitude in the midst of it. + +Alexander went to Babylon. The governor of the city prepared to +receive him as a conqueror. The people came out in throngs to meet +him, and all the avenues of approach were crowded with spectators. All +the city walls, too, were covered with men and women, assembled to +witness the scene. As for Alexander himself, he was filled with pride +and pleasure at thus arriving at the full accomplishment of his +earliest and long-cherished dreams of glory. + +The great store-house of the royal treasures of Persia was at Susa, a +strong city east of Babylon. Susa was the winter residence of the +Persian kings, as Ecbatana, further north, among the mountains, was +their summer residence. There was a magnificent palace and a very +strong citadel at Susa, and the treasures were kept in the citadel. It +is said that in times of peace the Persian monarchs had been +accustomed to collect coin, melt it down, and cast the gold in earthen +jars. The jars were afterward broken off from the gold, leaving the +bullion in the form of the interior of the jars. An enormous amount of +gold and silver, and of other treasures, had been thus collected. +Alexander was aware of this depository before he advanced to meet +Darius, and, on the day of the battle of Arbela, as soon as the +victory was decided, he sent an officer from the very field to summon +Susa to surrender. They obeyed the summons, and Alexander, soon after +his great public entrance into Babylon, marched to Susa, and took +possession of the vast stores of wealth accumulated there. The amount +was enormous, both in quantity and value, and the seizing of it was a +very magnificent act of plunder. In fact, it is probable that +Alexander's slaughter of the Persian army at Arbela, and subsequent +spoliation of Susa, constitute, taken together, the most gigantic +case of murder and robbery which was ever committed by man; so that, +in performing these deeds, the great hero attained at last to the +glory of having perpetrated the grandest and most imposing of all +human crimes. That these deeds were really crimes there can be no +doubt, when we consider that Alexander did not pretend to have any +other motive in this invasion than love of conquest, which is, in +other words, love of violence and plunder. They are only technically +shielded from being called crimes by the fact that the earth has no +laws and no tribunals high enough to condemn such enormous burglaries +as that of one quarter of the globe breaking violently and murderously +in upon and robbing the other. + +Besides the treasures, Alexander found also at Susa a number of +trophies which had been brought by Xerxes from Greece; for Xerxes had +invaded Greece some hundred years before Alexander's day, and had +brought to Susa the spoils and the trophies of his victories. +Alexander sent them all back to Greece again. + +From Susa the conqueror moved on to Persepolis, the great Persian +capital. On his march he had to pass through a defile of the +mountains. The mountaineers had been accustomed to exact tribute here +of all who passed, having a sort of right, derived from ancient usage, +to the payment of a toll. They sent to Alexander when they heard that +he was approaching, and informed him that he could not pass with his +army without paying the customary toll. Alexander sent back word that +he would meet them at the pass, and give them _their due_. + +They understood this, and prepared to defend the pass. Some Persian +troops joined them. They built walls and barricades across the narrow +passages. They collected great stones on the brinks of precipices, and +on the declivities of the mountains, to roll down upon the heads of +their enemies. By these and every other means they attempted to stop +Alexander's passage. But he had contrived to send detachments around +by circuitous and precipitous paths, which even the mountaineers had +deemed impracticable, and thus attack his enemies suddenly and +unexpectedly from above their own positions. As usual, his plan +succeeded. The mountaineers were driven away, and the conqueror +advanced toward the great Persian capital. + +[Illustration: ALEXANDER AT THE PASS OF SUSA.] + + + + +CHAPTER X. + +THE DEATH OF DARIUS. + +B.C. 330 + +March to Persepolis.--Reckless cruelty.--The banquet.--Thais +proposes to burn the Persian palace.--Conflagration of the +palace.--Sublimity of the scene.--Olympias.--Her letters to +Alexander.--Sysigambis.--Alexander's kindness to her.--Darius at +Ecbatana.--His speech to his army.--Conspiracy against Darius.--Bessus +and his confederates.--Advance of Alexander.--Retreat of Darius.--The +Caspian Gates.--Pursuit of Darius.--Foraging parties.--The pursuit +continued.--Alexander stops to rest his army.--Want of +water.--Disregarded by Alexander.--The pursuit grows more +exciting.--Guides employed.--The Persians overtaken.--Murder of +Darius.--Sufferings of Darius.--Treachery of friends.--Darius +found.--Sufferings from thirst.--Darius calls for water.--The +interpreter.--Darius's message to Alexander.--Affecting +scene.--Alexander's grief at Darius's death.--He sends the body +to Sysigambis.--Crossing the Oxus.--Capture of the traitor +Bessus.--Mutilation of Bessus.--He is sent to Sysigambis.--Terrible +punishment of Bessus. + + +Alexander's march from Susa to Persepolis was less a march than a +triumphal progress. He felt the pride and elation so naturally +resulting from success very strongly. The moderation and forbearance +which had characterized him in his earlier years, gradually +disappeared as he became great and powerful. He was intoxicated with +his success. He became haughty, vain, capricious, and cruel. As he +approached Persepolis, he conceived the idea that, as this city was +the capital and center of the Persian monarchy, and, as such, the +point from which had emanated all the Persian hostility to Greece, he +owed it some signal retribution. Accordingly, although the inhabitants +made no opposition to his entrance, he marched in with the phalanx +formed, and gave the soldiers liberty to kill and plunder as they +pleased. + +There was another very striking instance of the capricious +recklessness now beginning to appear in Alexander's character, which +occurred soon after he had taken possession of Persepolis. He was +giving a great banquet to his friends, the officers of the army, and +to Persians of distinction among those who had submitted to him. There +was, among other women at this banquet, a very beautiful and +accomplished female named Thais. Alexander made her his favorite and +companion, though she was not his wife. Thais did all in her power to +captivate and please Alexander during the feast by her vivacity, her +wit, her adroit attentions to him, and the display of her charms, and +at length, when he himself, as well as the other guests, were excited +with wine, she asked him to allow her to have the pleasure of going +herself and setting fire, with her own hands, to the great palace of +the Persian kings in the city. Thais was a native of Attica in Greece, +a kingdom of which Athens was the capital. Xerxes, who had built the +great palace of Persepolis, had formerly invaded Greece and had burned +Athens, and now Thais desired to burn his palace in Persepolis, to +gratify her revenge, by making of its conflagration an evening +spectacle to entertain the Macedonian party after their supper. +Alexander agreed to the proposal, and the whole company moved forward. +Taking the torches from the banqueting halls, they sallied forth, +alarming the city with their shouts, and with the flashing of the +lights they bore. The plan of Thais was carried fully into effect, +every half-intoxicated guest assisting, by putting fire to the immense +pile wherever they could get access to it. They performed the +barbarous deed with shouts of vengeance and exultation. + +There is, however, something very solemn and awful in a great +conflagration at night, and very few incendiaries can gaze upon the +fury of the lurid and frightful flames which they have caused to +ascend without some misgivings and some remorse. Alexander was sobered +by the grand and sublime, but terrible spectacle. He was awed by it. +He repented. He ordered the fire to be extinguished; but it was too +late. The palace was destroyed, and one new blot, which has never +since been effaced, was cast upon Alexander's character and fame. + +And yet, notwithstanding these increasing proofs of pride and cruelty, +which were beginning to be developed, Alexander still preserved some +of the early traits of character which had made him so great a +favorite in the commencement of his career. He loved his mother, and +sent her presents continually from the treasures which were falling +all the time into his possession. She was a woman of a proud, +imperious, and ungovernable character, and she made Antipater, whom +Alexander had left in command in Macedon, infinite trouble. She wanted +to exercise the powers of government herself, and was continually +urging this. Alexander would not comply with these wishes, but he paid +her personally every attention in his power, and bore all her +invectives and reproaches with great patience and good humor. At one +time he received a long letter from Antipater, full of complaints +against her; but Alexander, after reading it, said that they were +heavy charges it was true, but that a single one of his mother's tears +would outweigh ten thousand such accusations. + +Olympias used to write very frequently to Alexander, and in these +letters she would criticise and discuss his proceedings, and make +comments upon the characters and actions of his generals. Alexander +kept these letters very secret, never showing them to any one. One +day, however, when he was reading one of these letters, Hephæstion, +the personal friend and companion who has been already several times +mentioned, came up, half playfully, and began to look over his +shoulder. Alexander went on, allowing him to read, and then, when the +letter was finished he took the signet ring from his finger and +pressed it upon Hephæstion's lips, a signal for silence and secrecy. + +Alexander was very kind to Sysigambis, the mother of Darius, and also +to Darius's children. He would not give these unhappy captives their +liberty, but in every other respect he treated them with the greatest +possible kindness and consideration. He called Sysigambis mother, +loaded her with presents--presents, it is true, which he had plundered +from her son, but to which it was considered, in those days, that he +had acquired a just and perfect title. When he reached Susa, he +established Sysigambis and the children there in great state. This had +been their usual residence in most seasons of the year, when not at +Persepolis, so that here they were, as it were, at home. Ecbatana[F] +was, as has been already mentioned, further north, among the +mountains. After the battle of Arbela, while Alexander marched to +Babylon and to Susa, Darius had fled to Ecbatana, and was now there, +his family being thus at one of the royal palaces under the command of +the conqueror, and he himself independent, but insecure, in the +other. He had with him about forty thousand men, who still remained +faithful to his fallen fortunes. Among these were several thousand +Greeks, whom he had collected in Asia Minor and other Grecian +countries, and whom he had attached to his service by means of pay. + +[Footnote F: The modern Ispahan.] + +He called the officers of his army together, and explained to them the +determination that he had come to in respect to his future movements. +"A large part of those," said he, "who formerly served as officers of +my government have abandoned me in my adversity, and gone over to +Alexander's side. They have surrendered to him the towns, and +citadels, and provinces which I intrusted to their fidelity. You alone +remain faithful and true. As for myself, I might yield to the +conqueror, and have him assign to me some province or kingdom to +govern as his subordinate; but I will never submit to such a +degradation. I can die in the struggle, but never will yield. I will +wear no crown which another puts upon my brow, nor give up my right to +reign over the empire of my ancestors till I give up my life. If you +agree with me in this determination, let us act energetically upon it. +We have it in our power to terminate the injuries we are suffering, or +else to avenge them." + +The army responded most cordially to this appeal. They were ready, +they said, to follow him wherever he should lead. All this apparent +enthusiasm, however, was very delusive and unsubstantial. A general +named Bessus, combining with some other officers in the army, +conceived the plan of seizing Darius and making him a prisoner, and +then taking command of the army himself. If Alexander should pursue +him, and be likely to overtake and conquer him, he then thought that, +by giving up Darius as a prisoner, he could stipulate for liberty and +safety, and perhaps great rewards, both for himself and for those who +acted with him. If, on the other hand, they should succeed in +increasing their own forces so as to make head against Alexander, and +finally to drive him away, then Bessus was to usurp the throne, and +dispose of Darius by assassinating him, or imprisoning him for life in +some remote and solitary castle. + +Bessus communicated his plans, very cautiously at first, to the +leading officers of the army. The Greek soldiers were not included in +the plot. They, however, heard and saw enough to lead them to suspect +what was in preparation. They warned Darius, and urged him to rely +upon them more than he had done; to make them his body-guard; and to +pitch his tent in their part of the encampment. But Darius declined +these proposals. He would not, he said, distrust and abandon his +countrymen, who were his natural protectors, and put himself in the +hands of strangers. He would not betray and desert his friends in +anticipation of their deserting and betraying him. + +In the mean time, as Alexander advanced toward Ecbatana, Darius and +his forces retreated from it toward the eastward, through the great +tract of country lying south of the Caspian Sea. There is a +mountainous region here, with a defile traversing it, through which it +would be necessary for Darius to pass. This defile was called the +Caspian Gates,[G] the name referring to rocks on each side. The +marching of an army through a narrow and dangerous defile like this +always causes detention and delay, and Alexander hastened forward in +hopes to overtake Darius before he should reach it. He advanced with +such speed that only the strongest and most robust of his army could +keep up. Thousands, worn out with exertion and toil, were left behind, +and many of the horses sank down by the road side, exhausted with heat +and fatigue, to die. Alexander pressed desperately on with all who +were able to follow. + +[Footnote G: _Pylæ Caspiæ_ on the map, which means the Caspian Gates.] + +It was all in vain, however; it was too late when he arrived at the +pass. Darius had gone through with all his army. Alexander stopped to +rest his men, and to allow time for those behind to come up. He then +went on for a couple of days, when he encamped, in order to send out +foraging parties--that is to say, small detachments, dispatched to +explore the surrounding country in search of grain and other food for +the horses. Food for the horses of an army being too bulky to be +transported far, has to be collected day by day from the neighborhood +of the line of march. + +While halting for these foraging parties to return, a Persian nobleman +came into the camp, and informed Alexander that Darius and the forces +accompanying him were encamped about two days' march in advance, but +that Bessus was in command--the conspiracy having been successful, and +Darius having been deposed and made a prisoner. The Greeks, who had +adhered to their fidelity, finding that all the army were combined +against them, and that they were not strong enough to resist, had +abandoned the Persian camp, and had retired to the mountains, where +they were awaiting the result. + +Alexander determined to set forward immediately in pursuit of Bessus +and his prisoner. He did not wait for the return of the foraging +parties. He selected the ablest and most active, both of foot soldiers +and horsemen, ordered them to take two days' provisions, and then set +forth with them that very evening. The party pressed on all that +night, and the next day till noon. They halted till evening, and then +set forth again. Very early the next morning they arrived at the +encampment which the Persian nobleman had described. They found the +remains of the camp-fires, and all the marks usually left upon a spot +which has been used as the bivouac of an army. The army itself, +however, was gone. + +The pursuers were now too much fatigued to go any further without +rest. Alexander remained here, accordingly, through the day, to give +his men and his horses refreshment and repose. That night they set +forward again, and the next day at noon they arrived at another +encampment of the Persians, which they had left scarcely twenty-four +hours before. The officers of Alexander's army were excited and +animated in the highest degree, as they found themselves thus drawing +so near to the great object of their pursuit. They were ready for any +exertions, any privation and fatigue, any measures, however +extraordinary, to accomplish their end. + +Alexander inquired of the inhabitants of the place whether there were +not some shorter road than the one along which the enemy were moving. +There was one cross-road, but it led through a desolate and desert +tract of land, destitute of water. In the march of an army, as the men +are always heavily loaded with arms and provisions, and water can not +be carried, it is always considered essential to choose routes which +will furnish supplies of water by the way. Alexander, however, +disregarded this consideration here, and prepared at once to push into +the cross-road with a small detachment. He had been now two years +advancing from Macedon into the heart of Asia, always in quest of +Darius as his great opponent and enemy. He had conquered his armies, +taken his cities, plundered his palaces, and made himself master of +his whole realm. Still, so long as Darius himself remained at liberty +and in the field, no victories could be considered as complete. To +capture Darius himself would be the last and crowning act of his +conquest. He had now been pursuing him for eighteen hundred miles, +advancing slowly from province to province, and from kingdom to +kingdom. During all this time the strength of his flying foe had been +wasting away. His armies had been broken up, his courage and hope had +gradually failed, while the animation and hope of the pursuer had been +gathering fresh and increasing strength from his successes, and were +excited to wild enthusiasm now, as the hour for the final consummation +of all his desires seemed to be drawing nigh. + +Guides were ordered to be furnished by the inhabitants, to show the +detachment the way across the solitary and desert country. The +detachment was to consist of horsemen entirely, that they might +advance with the utmost celerity. To get as efficient a corps as +possible, Alexander dismounted five hundred of the cavalry, and gave +their horses to five hundred men--officers and others--selected for +their strength and courage from among the foot soldiers. All were +ambitious of being designated for this service. Besides the honor of +being so selected, there was an intense excitement, as usual toward +the close of a chase, to arrive at the end. + +This body of horsemen were ready to set out in the evening. Alexander +took the command, and, following the guides, they trotted off in the +direction which the guides indicated. They traveled all night. When +the day dawned, they saw, from an elevation to which they had +attained, the body of the Persian troops moving at a short distance +before them, foot soldiers, chariots, and horsemen pressing on +together in great confusion and disorder. + +As soon as Bessus and his company found that their pursuers were close +upon them, they attempted at first to hurry forward, in the vain hope +of still effecting their escape. Darius was in a chariot. They urged +this chariot on, but it moved heavily. Then they concluded to abandon +it, and they called upon Darius to mount a horse and ride off with +them, leaving the rest of the army and the baggage to its fate. But +Darius refused. He said he would rather trust himself in the hands of +Alexander than in those of such traitors as they. Rendered desperate +by their situation, and exasperated by this reply, Bessus and his +confederates thrust their spears into Darius's body, as he sat in his +chariot, and then galloped away. They divided into different parties, +each taking a different road. Their object in doing this was to +increase their chances of escape by confusing Alexander in his plans +for pursuing them. Alexander pressed on toward the ground which the +enemy were abandoning, and sent off separate detachments after the +various divisions of the flying army. + +In the mean time Darius remained in his chariot wounded and bleeding. +He was worn out and exhausted, both in body and mind, by his +complicated sufferings and sorrows. His kingdom lost; his family in +captivity; his beloved wife in the grave, where the sorrows and +sufferings of separation from her husband had borne her; his cities +sacked; his palaces and treasures plundered; and now he himself, in +the last hour of his extremity, abandoned and betrayed by all in whom +he had placed his confidence and trust, his heart sunk within him in +despair. At such a time the soul turns from traitorous friends to an +open foe with something like a feeling of confidence and attachment. +Darius's exasperation against Bessus was so intense, that his +hostility to Alexander became a species of friendship in comparison. +He felt that Alexander was a sovereign like himself, and would have +some sympathy and fellow-feeling for a sovereign's misfortunes. He +thought, too, of his mother, his wife, and his children, and the +kindness with which Alexander had treated them went to his heart. He +lay there, accordingly, faint and bleeding in his chariot, and looking +for the coming of Alexander as for that of a protector and friend, the +only one to whom he could now look for any relief in the extremity of +his distress. + +The Macedonians searched about in various places, thinking it possible +that in the sudden dispersion of the enemy Darius might have been left +behind. At last the chariot in which he was lying was found. Darius +was in it, pierced with spears. The floor of the chariot was covered +with blood. They raised him a little, and he spoke. He called for +water. + +Men wounded and dying on the field of battle are tormented always with +an insatiable and intolerable thirst, the manifestations of which +constitute one of the greatest horrors of the scene. They cry +piteously to all who pass to bring them water, or else to kill them. +They crawl along the ground to get at the canteens of their dead +companions, in hopes to find, remaining in them, some drops to drink; +and if there is a little brook meandering through the battle-field, +its bed gets filled and choked up with the bodies of those who crawled +there, in their agony, to quench their horrible thirst, and die. +Darius was suffering this thirst. It bore down and silenced, for the +time, every other suffering, so that his first cry, when his enemies +came around him with shouts of exultation, was not for his life, not +for mercy, not for relief from the pain and anguish of his wounds--he +begged them to give him some water. + +He spoke through an interpreter. The interpreter was a Persian +prisoner whom the Macedonian army had taken some time before, and who +had learned the Greek language in the Macedonian camp. Anticipating +some occasion for his services, they had brought him with them now, +and it was through him that Darius called for water. A Macedonian +soldier went immediately to get some. Others hurried away in search of +Alexander, to bring him to the spot where the great object of his +hostility, and of his long and protracted pursuit, was dying. + +Darius received the drink. He then said that he was extremely glad +that they had an interpreter with them, who could understand him, and +bear his message to Alexander. He had been afraid that he should have +had to die without being able to communicate what he had to say. "Tell +Alexander," said he, then, "that I feel under the strongest +obligations to him which I can now never repay, for his kindness to my +wife, my mother, and my children. He not only spared their lives, but +treated them with the greatest consideration and care, and did all in +his power to make them happy. The last feeling in my heart is +gratitude to him for these favors. I hope now that he will go on +prosperously, and finish his conquests as triumphantly as he has begun +them." He would have made one last request, he added, if he had +thought it necessary, and that was, that Alexander would pursue the +traitor Bessus, and avenge the murder he had committed; but he was +sure that Alexander would do this of his own accord, as the punishment +of such treachery was an object of common interest for every king. + +Darius then took Polystratus, the Macedonian who had brought him the +water, by the hand, saying, "Give Alexander thy hand as I now give +thee mine; it is the pledge of my gratitude and affection." + +Darius was too weak to say much more. They gathered around him, +endeavoring to sustain his strength until Alexander should arrive; but +it was all in vain. He sank gradually, and soon ceased to breathe. +Alexander came up a few minutes after all was over. He was at first +shocked at the spectacle before him, and then overwhelmed with grief. +He wept bitterly. Some compunctions of conscience may have visited his +heart at seeing thus before him the ruin he had made. Darius had never +injured him or done him any wrong, and yet here he lay, hunted to +death by a persevering and relentless hostility, for which his +conqueror had no excuse but his innate love of dominion over his +fellow-men. Alexander spread his own military cloak over the dead +body. He immediately made arrangements for having the body embalmed, +and then sent it to Susa, for Sysigambis, in a very costly coffin, and +with a procession of royal magnificence. He sent it to her that she +might have the satisfaction of seeing it deposited in the tombs of the +Persian kings. What a present! The killer of a son sending the dead +body, in a splendid coffin, to the mother, as a token of respectful +regard! + +Alexander pressed on to the northward and eastward in pursuit of +Bessus, who had soon collected the scattered remains of his army, and +was doing his utmost to get into a posture of defense. He did not, +however, overtake him till he had crossed the Oxus, a large river +which will be found upon the map, flowing to the northward and +westward into the Caspian Sea. He had great difficulty in crossing +this river, as it was too deep to be forded, and the banks and bottom +were so sandy and yielding that he could not make the foundations of +bridges stand. He accordingly made floats and rafts, which were +supported by skins made buoyant by inflation, or by being stuffed with +straw and hay. After getting his army, which had been in the mean time +greatly re-enforced and strengthened, across this river, he moved on. +The generals under Bessus, finding all hope of escape failing them, +resolved on betraying him as he had betrayed his commander. They sent +word to Alexander that if he would send forward a small force where +they should indicate, they would give up Bessus to his hands. +Alexander did so, intrusting the command to an officer named Ptolemy. +Ptolemy found Bessus in a small walled town whither he had fled for +refuge, and easily took him prisoner. He sent back word to Alexander +that Bessus was at his disposal, and asked for orders. The answer was, +"Put a rope around his neck and send him to me." + +When the wretched prisoner was brought into Alexander's presence, +Alexander demanded of him how he could have been so base as to have +seized, bound, and at last murdered his kinsman and benefactor. It is +a curious instance in proof of the permanence and stability of the +great characteristics of human nature, through all the changes of +civilization and lapses of time, that Bessus gave the same answer that +wrong-doers almost always give when brought to account for their +wrongs. He laid the fault upon his accomplices and friends. It was not +his act, it was theirs. + +Alexander ordered him to be publicly scourged; then he caused his face +to be mutilated in a manner customary in those days, when a tyrant +wished to stamp upon his victim a perpetual mark of infamy. In this +condition, and with a mind in an agony of suspense and fear at the +thought of worse tortures which he knew were to come, Alexander sent +him as a second present to Sysigambis, to be dealt with, at Susa, as +her revenge might direct. She inflicted upon him the most extreme +tortures, and finally, when satiated with the pleasure of seeing him +suffer, the story is that they chose four very elastic trees, growing +at a little distance from each other, and bent down the tops of them +toward the central point between them. They fastened the exhausted +and dying Bessus to these trees, one limb of his body to each, and +then releasing the stems from their confinement, they flew upward, +tearing the body asunder, each holding its own dissevered portion, as +if in triumph, far over the heads of the multitude assembled to +witness the spectacle. + + + + +CHAPTER XI. + +DETERIORATION OF CHARACTER. + +B.C. 329 + +Alexander at the summit of his ambition.--Sad changes.--Alexander +becomes dissipated.--His officers became estranged.--Character of +Parmenio.--His services to Alexander.--Parmenio's son, Philotas.--His +dissolute character.--Conspiracies.--Plot of Dymnus.--Dymnus destroys +himself.--Philotas suspected.--The council of officers.--Philotas +accused.--Arrest of Philotas.--The body of Dymnus.--Alexander's +address to the army.--Philotas brought to trial.--Defense of +Philotas.--He is put to the torture.--Confession of Philotas.--He +is stoned to death.--Parmenio condemned to death.--Mission of +Polydamas.--Precautions.--Brutal murder of Parmenio.--Story of +Clitus.--He saves Alexander's life.--Services of Clitus.--Occurrences +at the banquet.--Clitus reproaches Alexander.--Alexander's +rage.--Alexander assassinates Clitus.--His remorse. + + +Alexander was now twenty-six years of age. He had accomplished fully +the great objects which had been the aim of his ambition. Darius was +dead, and he was himself the undisputed master of all western Asia. +His wealth was almost boundless. His power was supreme over what was, +in his view, the whole known world. But, during the process of rising +to this ascendency, his character was sadly changed. He lost the +simplicity, the temperance, the moderation, and the sense of justice +which characterized his early years. He adopted the dress and the +luxurious manners of the Persians. He lived in the palaces of the +Persian kings, imitating all their state and splendor. He became very +fond of convivial entertainments and of wine, and often drank to +excess. He provided himself a seraglio of three hundred and sixty +young females, in whose company he spent his time, giving himself up +to every form of effeminacy and dissipation. In a word, he was no +longer the same man. The decision, the energy of character, the steady +pursuit of great ends by prudence, forethought, patient effort, and +self-denial, all disappeared; nothing now seemed to interest him but +banquets, carousals, parties of pleasure, and whole days and nights +spent in dissipation and vice. + +This state of things was a great cause of mortification and chagrin to +the officers of his army. Many of them were older than himself, and +better able to resist these temptations to luxury, effeminacy, and +vice. They therefore remained firm in their original simplicity and +integrity, and after some respectful but ineffectual remonstrances, +they stood aloof, alienated from their commander in heart, and +condemning very strongly, among themselves, his wickedness and folly. + +On the other hand, many of the _younger_ officers followed Alexander's +example, and became as vain, as irregular, and as fond of vicious +indulgence as he. But then, though they joined him in his pleasures, +there was no strong bond of union between him and them. The tie which +binds mere companions in pleasure together is always very slight and +frail. Thus Alexander gradually lost the confidence and affection of +his old friends, and gained no new ones. His officers either +disapproved his conduct, and were distant and cold, or else joined him +in his dissipation and vice, without feeling any real respect for his +character, or being bound to him by any principle of fidelity. + +Parmenio and his son Philotas were, respectively, striking examples of +these two kinds of character. Parmenio was an old general, now +considerably advanced in life. He had served, as has already been +stated, under Philip, Alexander's father, and had acquired great +experience and great fame before Alexander succeeded to the throne. +During the whole of Alexander's career Parmenio had been his principal +lieutenant general, and he had always placed his greatest reliance +upon him in all trying emergencies. He was cool, calm, intrepid, +sagacious. He held Alexander back from many rash enterprises, and was +the efficient means of his accomplishing most of his plans. It is the +custom among all nations to give kings the glory of all that is +effected by their generals and officers; and the writers of those days +would, of course, in narrating the exploits of the Macedonian army, +exaggerate the share which Alexander had in their performances, and +underrate those of Parmenio. But in modern times, many impartial +readers, in reviewing calmly these events, think that there is reason +to doubt whether Alexander, if he had set out on his great expedition +without Parmenio, would have succeeded at all. + +Philotas was the son of Parmenio, but he was of a very different +character. The difference was one which is very often, in all ages of +the world, to be observed between those who _inherit_ greatness and +those who acquire it for themselves. We see the same analogy reigning +at the present day, when the sons of the wealthy, who are _born_ to +fortune, substitute pride, and arrogance, and vicious self-indulgence +and waste for the modesty, and prudence, and virtue of their sires, by +means of which the fortune was acquired. Philotas was proud, boastful, +extravagant, and addicted, like Alexander his master, to every species +of indulgence and dissipation. He was universally hated. His father, +out of patience with his haughty airs, his boastings, and his pomp and +parade, advised him, one day, to "make himself less." But Parmenio's +prudent advice to his son was thrown away. Philotas spoke of himself +as Alexander's great reliance. "What would Philip have been or have +done," said he, "without my father Parmenio? and what would Alexander +have been or have done, without me?" These things were reported to +Alexander, and thus the mind of each was filled with suspicion, fear, +and hatred toward the other. + +Courts and camps are always the scenes of conspiracy and treason, and +Alexander was continually hearing of conspiracies and plots formed +against him. The strong sentiment of love and devotion with which he +inspired all around him at the commencement of his career, was now +gone, and his generals and officers were continually planning schemes +to depose him from the power which he seemed no longer to have the +energy to wield; or, at least, Alexander was continually suspecting +that such plans were formed, and he was kept in a continual state of +uneasiness and anxiety in discovering and punishing them. + +At last a conspiracy occurred in which Philotas was implicated. +Alexander was informed one day that a plot had been formed to depose +and destroy him; that Philotas had been made acquainted with it by a +friend of Alexander's, in order that he might make it known to the +king; that he had neglected to do so, thus making it probable that he +was himself in league with the conspirators. Alexander was informed +that the leader and originator of this conspiracy was one of his +generals named Dymnus. + +He immediately sent an officer to Dymnus to summon him into his +presence. Dymnus appeared to be struck with consternation at this +summons. Instead of obeying it, he drew his sword, thrust it into his +own heart, and fell dead upon the ground. + +Alexander then sent for Philotas, and asked him if it was indeed true +that he had been informed of this conspiracy, and had neglected to +make it known. + +Philotas replied that he had been told that such a plot was formed, +but that he did not believe it; that such stories were continually +invented by the malice of evil-disposed men, and that he had not +considered the report which came to his ears as worthy of any +attention. He was, however, now convinced, by the terror which Dymnus +had manifested, and by his suicide, that all was true, and he asked +Alexander's pardon for not having taken immediate measures for +communicating promptly the information he had received. + +Alexander gave him his hand, said that he was convinced that he was +innocent, and had acted as he did from disbelief in the existence of +the conspiracy, and not from any guilty participation in it. So +Philotas went away to his tent. + +Alexander, however, did not drop the subject here. He called a council +of his ablest and best friends and advisers, consisting of the +principal officers of his army, and laid the facts before them. They +came to a different conclusion from his in respect to the guilt of +Philotas. They believed him implicated in the crime, and demanded his +trial. Trial in such a case, in those days, meant putting the accused +to the torture, with a view of forcing him to confess his guilt. + +Alexander yielded to this proposal. Perhaps he had secretly instigated +it. The advisers of kings and conquerors, in such circumstances as +this, generally have the sagacity to discover what advice will be +agreeable. At all events, Alexander followed the advice of his +counselors, and made arrangements for arresting Philotas on that very +evening. + +These circumstances occurred at a time when the army was preparing for +a march, the various generals lodging in tents pitched for the +purpose. Alexander placed extra guards in various parts of the +encampment, as if to impress the whole army with a sense of the +importance and solemnity of the occasion. He then sent officers to the +tent of Philotas, late at night, to arrest him. The officers found +their unhappy victim asleep. They awoke him, and made known their +errand. Philotas arose, and obeyed the summons, dejected and +distressed, aware, apparently, that his destruction was impending. + +The next morning Alexander called together a large assembly, +consisting of the principal and most important portions of the army, +to the number of several thousands. They came together with an air of +impressive solemnity, expecting, from the preliminary preparations, +that business of very solemn moment was to come before them, though +they knew not what it was. + +These impressions of awe and solemnity were very much increased by the +spectacle which first met the eyes of the assembly after they were +convened. This spectacle was that of the dead body of Dymnus, bloody +and ghastly, which Alexander ordered to be brought in and exposed to +view. The death of Dymnus had been kept a secret, so that the +appearance of his body was an unexpected as well as a shocking sight. +When the first feeling of surprise and wonder had a little subsided, +Alexander explained to the assembly the nature of the conspiracy, and +the circumstances connected with the self-execution of one of the +guilty participators in it. The spectacle of the body, and the +statement of the king, produced a scene of great and universal +excitement in the assembly, and this excitement was raised to the +highest pitch by the announcement which Alexander now made, that he +had reason to believe that Philotas and his father Parmenio, officers +who had enjoyed his highest favor, and in whom he had placed the most +unbounded confidence, were the authors and originators of the whole +design. + +He then ordered Philotas to be brought in. He came guarded as a +criminal, with his hands tied behind him, and his head covered with a +coarse cloth. He was in a state of great dejection and despondency. It +is true that he was brought forward for trial, but he knew very well +that trial meant torture, and that there was no hope for him as to the +result. Alexander said that he would leave the accused to be dealt +with by the assembly, and withdrew. + +The authorities of the army, who now had the proud and domineering +spirit which had so long excited their hatred and envy completely in +their power, listened for a time to what Philotas had to say in his +own justification. He showed that there was no evidence whatever +against him, and appealed to their sense of justice not to condemn him +on mere vague surmises. In reply, they decided to put him to the +torture. There was no evidence, it was true, and they wished, +accordingly, to supply its place by his own confession, extorted by +pain. Of course, his most inveterate and implacable enemies were +appointed to conduct the operation. They put Philotas upon the rack. +The rack is an instrument of wheels and pulleys, into which the victim +is placed, and his limbs and tendons are stretched by it in a manner +which produces most excruciating pain. + +Philotas bore the beginning of his torture with great resolution and +fortitude. He made no complaint, he uttered no cry: this was the +signal to his executioners to increase the tension and the agony. Of +course, in such a trial as this, there was no question of guilt or +innocence at issue. The only question was, which could stand out the +longest, his enemies in witnessing horrible sufferings, or he himself +in enduring them. In this contest the unhappy Philotas was vanquished +at last. He begged them to release him from the rack, saying he would +confess whatever they required, on condition of being allowed to die +in peace. + +They accordingly released him, and, in answer to their questions, he +confessed that he himself and his father were involved in the plot. He +said yes to various other inquiries relating to the circumstances of +the conspiracy, and to the guilt of various individuals whom those +that managed the torture had suspected, or who, at any rate, they +wished to have condemned. The answers of Philotas to all these +questions were written down, and he was himself sentenced to be +stoned. The sentence was put in execution without any delay. + +During all this time Parmenio was in Media, in command of a very +important part of Alexander's army. It was decreed that he must die; +but some careful management was necessary to secure his execution +while he was at so great a distance, and at the head of so great a +force. The affair had to be conducted with great secrecy as well as +dispatch. The plan adopted was as follows: + +There was a certain man, named Polydamas, who was regarded as +Parmenio's particular friend. Polydamas was commissioned to go to +Media and see the execution performed. He was selected, because it +was supposed that if any enemy, or a stranger, had been sent, Parmenio +would have received him with suspicion or at least with caution, and +kept himself on his guard. They gave Polydamas several letters to +Parmenio, as if from his friends, and to one of them they attached the +seal of his son Philotas, the more completely to deceive the unhappy +father. Polydamas was eleven days on his journey into Media. He had +letters to Cleander, the governor of the province of Media, which +contained the king's warrant for Parmenio's execution. He arrived at +the house of Cleander in the night. He delivered his letters, and they +together concerted the plans for carrying the execution into effect. + +After having taken all the precautions necessary, Polydamas went, with +many attendants accompanying him, to the quarters of Parmenio. The old +general, for he was at this time eighty years of age, was walking in +his grounds. Polydamas being admitted, ran up to accost him, with +great appearance of cordiality and friendship. He delivered to him his +letters, and Parmenio read them. He seemed much pleased with their +contents, especially with the one which had been written in the name +of his son. He had no means of detecting the imposture, for it was +very customary in those days for letters to be written by secretaries, +and to be authenticated solely by the seal. + +Parmenio was much pleased to get good tidings from Alexander, and from +his son, and began conversing upon the contents of the letters, when +Polydamas, watching his opportunity, drew forth a dagger which he had +concealed upon his person, and plunged it into Parmenio's side. He +drew it forth immediately and struck it at his throat. The attendants +rushed on at this signal, and thrust their swords again and again into +the fallen body until it ceased to breathe. + +The death of Parmenio and of his son in this violent manner, when, +too, there was so little evidence of their guilt, made a very general +and a very unfavorable impression in respect to Alexander; and not +long afterward another case occurred, in some respects still more +painful, as it evinced still more strikingly that the mind of +Alexander, which had been in his earlier days filled with such noble +and lofty sentiments of justice and generosity, was gradually getting +to be under the supreme dominion of selfish and ungovernable passions: +it was the case of Clitus. + +Clitus was a very celebrated general of Alexander's army, and a great +favorite with the king. He had, in fact, on one occasion saved +Alexander's life. It was at the battle of the Granicus. Alexander had +exposed himself in the thickest of the combat, and was surrounded by +enemies. The sword of one of them was actually raised over his head, +and would have fallen and killed him on the spot, if Clitus had not +rushed forward and cut the man down just at the instant when he was +about striking the blow. Such acts of fidelity and courage as this had +given Alexander great confidence in Clitus. It happened, shortly after +the death of Parmenio, that the governor of one of the most important +provinces of the empire resigned his post. Alexander appointed Clitus +to fill the vacancy. + +The evening before his departure to take charge of his government, +Alexander invited him to a banquet, made, partly at least, in honor of +his elevation. Clitus and the other guests assembled. They drank wine, +as usual, with great freedom. Alexander became excited, and began to +speak, as he was now often accustomed to do, boastingly of his own +exploits, and to disparage those of his father Philip in comparison. + +Men half intoxicated are very prone to quarrel, and not the less so +for being excellent friends when sober. Clitus had served under +Philip. He was now an old man, and, like other old men, was very +tenacious of the glory that belonged to the exploits of his youth. He +was very restless and uneasy at hearing Alexander claim for himself +the merit of his father Philip's victory at Chæronea, and began to +murmur something to those who sat next to him about kings claiming and +getting a great deal of glory which did not belong to them. + +Alexander asked what it was that Clitus said. No one replied. Clitus, +however, went on talking, speaking more and more audibly as he became +gradually more and more excited. He praised the character of Philip, +and applauded his military exploits, saying that they were far +superior to any of the enterprises of _their_ day. The different +parties at the table took up the subject, and began to dispute, the +old men taking the part of Philip and former days, and the younger +defending Alexander. Clitus became more and more excited. He praised +Parmenio, who had been Philip's greatest general, and began to impugn +the justice of his late condemnation and death. + +Alexander retorted and Clitus, rising from his seat, and losing now +all self-command, reproached him with severe and bitter words. "Here +is the hand," said he, extending his arm, "that saved your life at the +battle of the Granicus, and the fate of Parmenio shows what sort of +gratitude and what rewards faithful servants are to expect at your +hands." Alexander, burning with rage, commanded Clitus to leave the +table. Clitus obeyed, saying, as he moved away, "He is right not to +bear freeborn men at his table who can only tell him the truth. He is +right. It is fitting for him to pass his life among barbarians and +slaves, who will be proud to pay their adoration to his Persian girdle +and his splendid robe." + +Alexander seized a javelin to hurl at Clitus's head. The guests rose +in confusion, and with many outcries pressed around him. Some seized +Alexander's arm, some began to hurry Clitus out of the room, and some +were engaged in loudly criminating and threatening each other. They +got Clitus out of the apartment, but as soon as he was in the hall he +broke away from them, returned by another door, and began to renew his +insults to Alexander. The king hurled his javelin and struck Clitus +down, saying, at the same time, "Go, then, and join Philip and +Parmenio." The company rushed to the rescue of the unhappy man, but +it was too late. He died almost immediately. + +Alexander, as soon as he came to himself was overwhelmed with remorse +and despair. He mourned bitterly, for many days, the death of his +long-tried and faithful friend, and execrated the intoxication and +passion, on his part, which had caused it. He could not, however, +restore Clitus to life, nor remove from his own character the +indelible stains which such deeds necessarily fixed upon it. + + + + +CHAPTER XII. + +ALEXANDER'S END. + +B.C. 326-319 + +Alexander's invasion of India.--Insubordination of the +army.--Alexander's address to the army.--Address made to him.--The +army refuses to go further.--Alexander's disappointment.--Alexander +resolves to return.--He is wounded in an assault.--Alexander's +excesses.--He abandons his old friends.--Entrance into +Babylon.--Magnificent spectacle.--The astrologers.--Study of the +stars.--Warning of the astrologers.--Alexander's perplexity.--Death +of Hephæstion.--Alexander's melancholy.--Funeral honors to +Hephæstion.--A stupendous project.--Alexander's depression.--Magnificent +plans.--A prolonged carousal.--Alexander's excesses.--Alexander's last +sickness.--His dying words.--Alexander's death.--Alexander and +Washington.--Calamitous results which followed Alexander's +death.--Stormy debates.--Aridæus appointed king.--Effects of the +news of Alexander's death.--Death of Sysigambis.--Rejoicings at +Athens.--Demosthenes.--Joy of the Athenians.--Phocion.--Measures of +the Athenians.--Triumphant return of Demosthenes.--Grand reception of +Demosthenes.--Preparations for the funeral.--Destination of Alexander's +body.--A funeral on a grand scale.--The funeral car.--Its construction +and magnitude.--Ornaments and basso relievos.--Column of mules.--Crowds +of spectators.--The body deposited at Alexandria.--Alexander's true +character.--Conclusion. + + +After the events narrated in the last chapter, Alexander continued, +for two or three years, his expeditions and conquests in Asia, and in +the course of them he met with a great variety of adventures which can +not be here particularly described. He penetrated into India as far as +the banks of the Indus, and, not content with this, was preparing +to cross the Indus and go on to the Ganges. His soldiers, however, +resisted this design. They were alarmed at the stories which they +heard of the Indian armies, with elephants bearing castles upon their +backs, and soldiers armed with strange and unheard-of weapons. These +rumors, and the natural desire of the soldiers not to go away any +further from their native land, produced almost a mutiny in the army. +At length, Alexander, learning how strong and how extensive the spirit +of insubordination was becoming, summoned his officers to his own +tent, and then ordering the whole army to gather around, he went out +to meet them. + +He made an address to them, in which he recounted all their past +exploits, praised the courage and perseverance which they had shown +thus far, and endeavored to animate them with a desire to proceed. +They listened in silence, and no one attempted to reply. This solemn +pause was followed by marks of great agitation throughout the +assembly. The army loved their commander, notwithstanding his faults +and failings. They were extremely unwilling to make any resistance to +his authority; but they had lost that extreme and unbounded confidence +in his energy and virtue which made them ready, in the former part of +his career, to press forward into any difficulties and dangers +whatever, where he led the way. + +At last one of the army approached the king and addressed him somewhat +as follows: + +"We are not changed, sir, in our affection for you. We still have, and +shall always retain, the same zeal and the same fidelity. We are ready +to follow you at the hazard of our lives, and to march wherever you +may lead us. Still we must ask you, most respectfully, to consider the +circumstances in which we are placed. We have done all for you that it +was possible for man to do. We have crossed seas and land. We have +marched to the end of the world, and you are now meditating the +conquest of another, by going in search of new Indias, unknown to the +Indians themselves. Such a thought may be worthy of your courage and +resolution, but it surpasses ours, and our strength still more. Look +at these ghastly faces, and these bodies covered with wounds and +scars. Remember how numerous we were when first we set out with you, +and see how few of us remain. The few who have escaped so many toils +and dangers have neither courage nor strength to follow you any +further. They all long to revisit their country and their homes, and +to enjoy, for the remainder of their lives, the fruits of all their +toils. Forgive them these desires, so natural to man." + +The expression of these sentiments confirmed and strengthened them in +the minds of all the soldiers. Alexander was greatly troubled and +distressed. A disaffection in a small part of an army may be put down +by decisive measures; but when the determination to resist is +universal, it is useless for any commander, however imperious and +absolute in temper, to attempt to withstand it. Alexander, however, +was extremely unwilling to yield. He remained two days shut up in his +tent, the prey to disappointment and chagrin. + +The result, however, was, that he abandoned plans of further conquest, +and turned his steps again toward the west. He met with various +adventures as he went on, and incurred many dangers, often in a rash +and foolish manner, and for no good end. At one time, while attacking +a small town, he seized a scaling ladder and mounted with the troops. +In doing this, however, he put himself forward so rashly and +inconsiderately that his ladder was broken, and while the rest +retreated he was left alone upon the wall, whence he descended into +the town, and was immediately surrounded by enemies. His friends +raised their ladders again, and pressed on desperately to find and +rescue him. Some gathered around him and defended him, while others +contrived to open a small gate, by which the rest of the army gained +admission. By this means Alexander was saved; though, when they +brought him out of the city, there was an arrow three feet long, which +could not be extracted, sticking into his side through his coat of +mail. + +The surgeons first very carefully cut off the wooden shaft of the +arrow, and then, enlarging the wound by incisions, they drew out the +barbed point. The soldiers were indignant that Alexander should +expose his person in such a fool-hardy way, only to endanger himself, +and to compel them to rush into danger to rescue him. The wound very +nearly proved fatal. The loss of blood was attended with extreme +exhaustion; still, in the course of a few weeks he recovered. + +Alexander's habits of intoxication and vicious excess of all kinds +were, in the mean time, continually increasing. He not only indulged +in such excesses himself, but he encouraged them in others. He would +offer prizes at his banquets to those who would drink the most. On one +of these occasions, the man who conquered drank, it is said, eighteen +or twenty pints of wine, after which he lingered in misery for three +days, and then died; and more than forty others, present at the same +entertainment, died in consequence of their excesses. + +Alexander returned toward Babylon. His friend Hephæstion was with him, +sharing with him every where in all the vicious indulgences to which +he had become so prone. Alexander gradually separated himself more and +more from his old Macedonian friends, and linked himself more and more +closely with Persian associates. He married Statira, the oldest +daughter of Darius, and gave the youngest daughter to Hephæstion. He +encouraged similar marriages between Macedonian officers and Persian +maidens, as far as he could. In a word, he seemed intent in merging, +in every way, his original character and habits of action in the +effeminacy, luxury, and vice of the Eastern world, which he had at +first so looked down upon and despised. + +Alexander's entrance into Babylon, on his return from his Indian +campaigns, was a scene of great magnificence and splendor. Embassadors +and princes had assembled there from almost all the nations of the +earth to receive and welcome him, and the most ample preparations were +made for processions, shows, parades, and spectacles to do him honor. +The whole country was in a state of extreme excitement, and the most +expensive preparations were made to give him a reception worthy of one +who was the conqueror and monarch of the world, and the son of a god. + +When Alexander approached the city, however, he was met by a +deputation of Chaldean astrologers. The astrologers were a class of +philosophers who pretended, in those days, to foretell human events by +means of the motions of the stars. The motions of the stars were +studied very closely in early times, and in those Eastern countries, +by the shepherds, who had often to remain in the open air, through the +summer nights, to watch their flocks. These shepherds observed that +nearly all the stars were _fixed_ in relation to each other, that is, +although they rose successively in the east, and, passing over, set in +the west, they did not change in relation to each other. There were, +however, a few that wandered about among the rest in an irregular and +unaccountable manner. They called these stars the wanderers--that is, +in their language, _the planets_--and they watched their mysterious +movements with great interest and awe. They naturally imagined that +these changes had some connection with human affairs, and they +endeavored to prognosticate from them the events, whether prosperous +or adverse, which were to befall mankind. Whenever a comet or an +eclipse appeared, they thought it portended some terrible calamity. +The study of the motions and appearances of the stars, with a view to +foretell the course of human affairs, was the science of astrology. + +The astrologers came, in a very solemn and imposing procession, to +meet Alexander on his march. They informed him that they had found +indubitable evidence in the stars that, if he came into Babylon, he +would hazard his life. They accordingly begged him not to approach any +nearer, but to choose some other city for his capital. Alexander was +very much perplexed by this announcement. His mind, weakened by +effeminacy and dissipation, was very susceptible to superstitious +fears. It was not merely by the debilitating influence of vicious +indulgence on the nervous constitution that this effect was produced. +It was, in part, the moral influence of conscious guilt. Guilt makes +men afraid. It not only increases the power of real dangers, but +predisposes the mind to all sorts of imaginary fears. + +Alexander was very much troubled at this announcement of the +astrologers. He suspended his march, and began anxiously to consider +what to do. At length the Greek philosophers came to him and reasoned +with him on the subject, persuading him that the science of astrology +was not worthy of any belief. The Greeks had no faith in astrology. +They foretold future events by the flight of birds, or by the +appearances presented in the dissection of beasts offered in +sacrifice! + +At length, however, Alexander's fears were so far allayed that he +concluded to enter the city. He advanced, accordingly, with his whole +army, and made his entry under circumstances of the greatest possible +parade and splendor. As soon, however, as the excitement of the first +few days had passed away, his mind relapsed again, and he became +anxious, troubled, and unhappy. + +Hephæstion, his great personal friend and companion, had died while +he was on the march toward Babylon. He was brought to the grave by +diseases produced by dissipation and vice. Alexander was very much +moved by his death. It threw him at once into a fit of despondency and +gloom. It was some time before he could at all overcome the melancholy +reflections and forebodings which this event produced. He determined +that, as soon as he arrived in Babylon, he would do all possible honor +to Hephæstion's memory by a magnificent funeral. + +He accordingly now sent orders to all the cities and kingdoms around, +and collected a vast sum for this purpose. He had a part of the city +wall pulled down to furnish a site for a monumental edifice. This +edifice was constructed of an enormous size and most elaborate +architecture. It was ornamented with long rows of prows of ships, +taken by Alexander in his victories, and by statues, and columns, and +sculptures, and gilded ornaments of every kind. There were images of +sirens on the entablatures near the roof, which, by means of a +mechanism concealed within, were made to sing dirges and mournful +songs. The expense of this edifice, and of the games, shows, and +spectacles connected with its consecration, is said by the historians +of the day to have been a sum which, on calculation, is found equal to +about ten millions of dollars. + +There were, however, some limits still to Alexander's extravagance and +folly. There was a mountain in Greece, Mount Athos, which a certain +projector said could be carved and fashioned into the form of a +man--probably in a recumbent posture. There was a city on one of the +declivities of the mountain, and a small river, issuing from springs +in the ground, came down on the other side. The artist who conceived +of this prodigious piece of sculpture said that he would so shape the +figure that the city should be in one of its hands, and the river +should flow out from the other. + +[Illustration: PROPOSED IMPROVEMENT OF MOUNT ATHOS.] + +Alexander listened to this proposal. The name Mount Athos recalled +to his mind the attempt of Xerxes, a former Persian king, who had +attempted to cut a road through the rocks upon a part of Mount Athos, +in the invasion of Greece. He did not succeed, but left the unfinished +work a lasting memorial both of the attempt and the failure. Alexander +concluded at length that he would not attempt such a sculpture. "Mount +Athos," said he, "is already the monument of one king's folly; I will +not make it that of another." + +As soon as the excitement connected with the funeral obsequies of +Hephæstion were over, Alexander's mind relapsed again into a state of +gloomy melancholy. This depression, caused, as it was, by previous +dissipation and vice, seemed to admit of no remedy or relief but in +new excesses. The traces, however, of his former energy so far +remained that he began to form magnificent plans for the improvement +of Babylon. He commenced the execution of some of these plans. His +time was spent, in short, in strange alternations: resolution and +energy in forming vast plans one day, and utter abandonment to all the +excesses of dissipation and vice the next. It was a mournful spectacle +to see his former greatness of soul still struggling on, though more +and more faintly, as it became gradually overborne by the resistless +inroads of intemperance and sin. The scene was at length suddenly +terminated in the following manner: + +On one occasion, after he had spent a whole night in drinking and +carousing, the guests, when the usual time arrived for separating, +proposed that, instead of this, they should begin anew, and commence +a second banquet at the end of the first. Alexander, half intoxicated +already, entered warmly into this proposal. They assembled, +accordingly, in a very short time. There were twenty present at this +new feast. Alexander, to show how far he was from having exhausted +his powers of drinking, began to pledge each one of the company +individually. Then he drank to them all together. There was a very +large cup, called the bowl of Hercules, which he now called for, and, +after having filled it to the brim, he drank it off to the health of +one of the company present, a Macedonian named Proteas. This feat +being received by the company with great applause, he ordered the +great bowl to be filled again, and drank it off as before. + +The work was now done. His faculties and his strength soon failed him, +and he sank down to the floor. They bore him away to his palace. A +violent fever intervened, which the physicians did all in their power +to allay. As soon as his reason returned a little, Alexander aroused +himself from his lethargy, and tried to persuade himself that he +should recover. He began to issue orders in regard to the army, and to +his ships, as if such a turning of his mind to the thoughts of power +and empire would help bring him back from the brink of the grave +toward which he had been so obviously tending. He was determined, in +fact, that he would not die. + +He soon found, however, notwithstanding his efforts to be vigorous and +resolute, that his strength was fast ebbing away. The vital powers had +received a fatal wound, and he soon felt that they could sustain +themselves but little longer. He came to the conclusion that he must +die. He drew his signet ring off from his finger; it was a token that +he felt that all was over. He handed the ring to one of his friends +who stood by his bed-side. "When I am gone," said he, "take my body to +the Temple of Jupiter Ammon, and inter it there." + +The generals who were around him advanced to his bed-side, and one +after another kissed his hand. Their old affection for him revived as +they saw him about to take leave of them forever. They asked him to +whom he wished to leave his empire. "To the most worthy," said he. He +meant, doubtless, by this evasion, that he was too weak and exhausted +to think of such affairs. He knew, probably, that it was useless for +him to attempt to control the government of his empire after his +death. He said, in fact, that he foresaw that the decision of such +questions would give rise to some strange funeral games after his +decease. Soon after this he died. + +The palaces of Babylon were immediately filled with cries of mourning +at the death of the prince, followed by bitter and interminable +disputes about the succession. It had not been the aim of Alexander's +life to establish firm and well-settled governments in the countries +that he conquered, to encourage order, and peace, and industry among +men, and to introduce system and regularity in human affairs, so as to +leave the world in a better condition than he found it. In this +respect his course of conduct presents a strong contrast with that +of Washington. It was Washington's aim to mature and perfect +organizations which would move on prosperously of themselves, without +him; and he was continually withdrawing his hand from action and +control in public affairs, taking a higher pleasure in the independent +working of the institutions which he had formed and protected, than in +exercising, himself, a high personal power. Alexander, on the other +hand, was all his life intent solely on enlarging and strengthening +his own personal power. _He_ was all in all. He wished to make himself +so. He never thought of the welfare of the countries which he had +subjected to his sway, or did any thing to guard against the anarchy +and civil wars which he knew full well would break out at once over +all his vast dominions, as soon as his power came to an end. + +The result was as might have been foreseen. The whole vast field of +his conquests became, for many long and weary years after Alexander's +death, the prey to the most ferocious and protracted civil wars. Each +general and governor seized the power which Alexander's death left in +his hands, and endeavored to defend himself in the possession of it +against the others. Thus the devastation and misery which the making +of these conquests brought upon Europe and Asia were continued for +many years, during the slow and terrible process of their return to +their original condition. + +In the exigency of the moment, however, at Alexander's death, the +generals who were in his court at the time assembled forthwith, and +made an attempt to appoint some one to take the immediate command. +They spent a week in stormy debates on this subject. Alexander had +left no legitimate heir, and he had declined when on his death-bed, as +we have already seen, to appoint a successor. Among his wives--if, +indeed, they may be called wives--there was one named Roxana, who had +a son not long after his death. This son was ultimately named his +successor; but, in the mean time, a certain relative named Aridæus was +chosen by the generals to assume the command. The selection of Aridæus +was a sort of compromise. He had no talents or capacity whatever, and +was chosen by the rest on that very account, each one thinking that if +such an imbecile as Aridæus was nominally the king, he could himself +manage to get possession of the real power. Aridæus accepted the +appointment, but he was never able to make himself king in any thing +but the name. + +In the mean time, as the tidings of Alexander's death spread over the +empire, it produced very various effects, according to the personal +feelings in respect to Alexander entertained by the various +personages and powers to which the intelligence came. Some, who had +admired his greatness, and the splendor of his exploits, without +having themselves experienced the bitter fruits of them, mourned and +lamented his death. Others, whose fortunes had been ruined, and whose +friends and relatives had been destroyed, in the course, or in the +sequel of his victories, rejoiced that he who had been such a scourge +and curse to others, had himself sunk, at last under the just judgment +of Heaven. + +We should have expected that Sysigambis, the bereaved and widowed +mother of Darius, would have been among those who would have exulted +most highly at the conqueror's death; but history tells us that, +instead of this, she mourned over it with a protracted and +inconsolable grief. Alexander had been, in fact, though the implacable +enemy of her son, a faithful and generous friend to her. He had +treated her, at all times, with the utmost respect and consideration, +had supplied all her wants, and ministered, in every way, to her +comfort and happiness. She had gradually learned to think of him and +to love him as a son; he, in fact, always called her mother; and +when she learned that he was gone, she felt as if her last earthly +protector was gone. Her life had been one continued scene of +affliction and sorrow, and this last blow brought her to her end. She +pined away, perpetually restless and distressed. She lost all desire +for food, and refused, like others who are suffering great mental +anguish, to take the sustenance which her friends and attendants +offered and urged upon her. At length she died. They said she starved +herself to death; but it was, probably, grief and despair at being +thus left, in her declining years, so hopelessly friendless and alone, +and not hunger, that destroyed her. + +In striking contrast to this mournful scene of sorrow in the palace of +Sysigambis, there was an exhibition of the most wild and tumultuous +joy in the streets, and in all the public places of resort in the city +of Athens, when the tidings of the death of the great Macedonian king +arrived there. The Athenian commonwealth, as well as all the other +states of Southern Greece, had submitted very reluctantly to the +Macedonian supremacy. They had resisted Philip, and they had resisted +Alexander. Their opposition had been at last suppressed and silenced +by Alexander's terrible vengeance upon Thebes, but it never was +really subdued. Demosthenes, the orator, who had exerted so powerful +an influence against the Macedonian kings, had been sent into +banishment, and all outward expressions of discontent were restrained. +The discontent and hostility existed still, however, as inveterate as +ever, and was ready to break out anew, with redoubled violence, the +moment that the terrible energy of Alexander himself was no longer to +be feared. + +When, therefore, the rumor arrived at Athens--for at first it was a +mere rumor--that Alexander was dead in Babylon, the whole city was +thrown into a state of the most tumultuous joy. The citizens assembled +in the public places, and congratulated and harangued each other with +expressions of the greatest exultation. They were for proclaiming +their independence and declaring war against Macedon on the spot. Some +of the older and more sagacious of their counselors were, however, +more composed and calm. They recommended a little delay, in order to +see whether the news was really true. Phocion, in particular, who was +one of the prominent statesmen of the city, endeavored to quiet the +excitement of the people. "Do not let us be so precipitate," said he. +"There is time enough. If Alexander is really dead to-day, he will be +dead to-morrow, and the next day, so that there will be time enough +for us to act with deliberation and discretion." + +Just and true as this view of the subject was, there was too much of +rebuke and satire in it to have much influence with those to whom +it was addressed. The people were resolved on war. They sent +commissioners into all the states of the Peloponnesus to organize a +league, offensive and defensive, against Macedon. They recalled +Demosthenes from his banishment, and adopted all the necessary +military measures for establishing and maintaining their freedom. The +consequences of all this would doubtless have been very serious, if +the rumor of Alexander's death had proved false; but, fortunately for +Demosthenes and the Athenians, it was soon abundantly confirmed. + +The return of Demosthenes to the city was like the triumphal entry of +a conqueror. At the time of his recall he was at the island of Ægina, +which is about forty miles southwest of Athens, in one of the gulfs of +the Ægean Sea. They sent a public galley to receive him, and to bring +him to the land. It was a galley of three banks of oars, and was +fitted up in a style to do honor to a public guest. Athens is +situated some distance back from the sea, and has a small port, called +the Piræus, at the shore--a long, straight avenue leading from the +port to the city. The galley by which Demosthenes was conveyed landed +at the Piræus. All the civil and religious authorities of the city +went down to the port, in a grand procession, to receive and welcome +the exile on his arrival, and a large portion of the population +followed in the train, to witness the spectacle, and to swell by their +acclamations the general expression of joy. + +In the mean time, the preparations for Alexander's funeral had been +going on, upon a great scale of magnificence and splendor. It was two +years before they were complete. The body had been given, first, to be +embalmed, according to the Egyptian and Chaldean art, and then had +been placed in a sort of sarcophagus, in which it was to be conveyed +to its long home. Alexander, it will be remembered, had given +directions that it should be taken to the temple of Jupiter Ammon, in +the Egyptian oasis, where he had been pronounced the son of a god. It +would seem incredible that such a mind as his could really admit such +an absurd superstition as the story of his divine origin, and we must +therefore suppose that he gave this direction in order that the place +of his interment might confirm the idea of his superhuman nature in +the general opinion of mankind. At all events, such were his orders, +and the authorities who were left in power at Babylon after his death, +prepared to execute them. + +It was a long journey. To convey a body by a regular funeral +procession, formed as soon after the death as the arrangements could +be made, from Babylon to the eastern frontiers of Egypt, a distance of +a thousand miles, was perhaps as grand a plan of interment as was ever +formed. It has something like a parallel in the removal of Napoleon's +body from St. Helena to Paris, though this was not really an +interment, but a transfer. Alexander's was a simple burial procession, +going from the palace where he died to the proper cemetery--a march +of a thousand miles, it is true, but all within his own dominions The +greatness of it resulted simply from the magnitude of the scale on +which every thing pertaining to the mighty here was performed, for +it was nothing but a simple passage from the dwelling to the +burial-ground on his own estates, after all. + +A very large and elaborately constructed carriage was built to convey +the body. The accounts of the richness and splendor of this vehicle +are almost incredible. The spokes and staves of the wheels were +overlaid with gold, and the extremities of the axles, where they +appeared outside at the centers of the wheels, were adorned with +massive golden ornaments. The wheels and axle-trees were so large, and +so far apart, that there was supported upon them a platform or floor +for the carriage twelve feet wide and eighteen feet long. Upon this +platform there was erected a magnificent pavilion, supported by Ionic +columns, and profusely ornamented, both within and without, with +purple and gold. The interior constituted an apartment, more or less +open at the sides, and resplendent within with gems and precious +stones. The space of twelve feet by eighteen forms a chamber of no +inconsiderable size, and there was thus ample room for what was +required within. There was a throne, raised some steps, and placed +back upon the platform, profusely carved and gilded. It was empty; but +crowns, representing the various nations over whom Alexander had +reigned, were hung upon it. At the foot of the throne was the coffin, +made, it is said, of solid gold, and containing, besides the body, a +large quantity of the most costly spices and aromatic perfumes, which +filled the air with their odor. The arms which Alexander wore were +laid out in view, also, between the coffin and the throne. + +On the four sides of the carriage were _basso relievos_, that is, +sculptured figures raised from a surface, representing Alexander +himself, with various military concomitants. There were Macedonian +columns, and Persian squadrons, and elephants of India, and troops of +horse, and various other emblems of the departed hero's greatness and +power. Around the pavilion, too, there was a fringe or net-work of +golden lace, to the pendents of which were attached bells, which +tolled continually, with a mournful sound, as the carriage moved +along. A long column of mules, sixty-four in number, arranged in sets +of four, drew this ponderous car. These mules were all selected for +their great size and strength, and were splendidly caparisoned. They +had collars and harnesses mounted with gold, and enriched with +precious stones. + +Before the procession set out from Babylon an army of pioneers and +workmen went forward to repair the roads, strengthen the bridges, and +remove the obstacles along the whole line of route over which the +train was to pass. At length, when all was ready, the solemn procession +began to move, and passed out through the gates of Babylon. No pen can +describe the enormous throngs of spectators that assembled to witness +its departure, and that gathered along the route, as it passed slowly +on from city to city, in its long and weary way. + +Notwithstanding all this pomp and parade, however, the body never +reached its intended destination. Ptolemy, the officer to whom Egypt +fell in the division of Alexander's empire, came forth with a grand +escort of troops to meet the funeral procession as it came into Egypt. +He preferred, for some reason or other, that the body should be +interred in the city of Alexandria. It was accordingly deposited +there, and a great monument was erected over the spot. This monument +is said to have remained standing for fifteen hundred years, but all +vestiges of it have now disappeared. The city of Alexandria itself, +however, is the conqueror's real monument; the greatest and best, +perhaps, that any conqueror ever left behind him. It is a monument, +too, that time will not destroy; its position and character, as +Alexander foresaw, by bringing it a continued renovation, secure +its perpetuity. + +Alexander earned well the name and reputation of THE GREAT. He was +truly great in all those powers and capacities which can elevate one +man above his fellows. We can not help applauding the extraordinary +energy of his genius, though we condemn the selfish and cruel ends to +which his life was devoted. He was simply a robber, but yet a robber +on so vast a scale, that mankind, in contemplating his career, have +generally lost sight of the wickedness of his crimes in their +admiration of the enormous magnitude of the scale on which they were +perpetrated. + + + + + + * * * * * + + + + +Transcriber's note: + +1. Minor changes have been made to correct typesetters' errors, and to +ensure consistent spelling and punctuation in this etext; otherwise, +every effort has been made to remain true to the original book. + +2. The chapter summaries in this text were originally published as +banners in the page headers, and have been moved to beginning of the +chapter for the reader's convenience. + + + +***END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK ALEXANDER THE GREAT*** + + +******* This file should be named 30624-8.txt or 30624-8.zip ******* + + +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: +http://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/3/0/6/2/30624 + + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. Special rules, +set forth in the General Terms of Use part of this license, apply to +copying and distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works to +protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm concept and trademark. 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You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at <a href = "http://www.gutenberg.org">www.gutenberg.org</a></pre> +<p>Title: Alexander the Great</p> +<p> Makers of History</p> +<p>Author: Jacob Abbott</p> +<p>Release Date: December 7, 2009 [eBook #30624]</p> +<p>Language: English</p> +<p>Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1</p> +<p>***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK ALEXANDER THE GREAT***</p> +<p> </p> +<h3>E-text prepared by D Alexander<br /> + and the Project Gutenberg Online Distributed Proofreading Team<br /> + (http://www.pgdp.net)</h3> +<p> </p> +<hr class="full" /> +<p> </p> +<p> </p> +<p> </p> + +<h2>Makers of History</h2> + +<hr class="tiny" /> + +<h1>Alexander the Great</h1> + +<h3>BY</h3> + +<h2>JACOB ABBOTT</h2> + +<p class="center">WITH ENGRAVINGS</p> + +<p class="gap"> </p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 124px;"> +<img src="images/i001.jpg" width="124" height="150" alt="" title="" /> +</div> + +<p class="smallgap"> </p> + +<p class="center">NEW YORK AND LONDON</p> + +<p class="center">HARPER & BROTHERS PUBLISHERS</p> + +<p class="center">1902 +</p> + +<hr class="large" /> + +<p class="center"> +Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year one thousand<br /> +eight hundred and forty-nine, by</p> + +<p class="center"><span class="smcap">Harper & Brothers</span>,</p> + +<p class="center">in the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the Southern District<br /> +of New York.</p> + +<p class="center">Copyright, 1876, by <span class="smcap">Jacob Abbott</span>.</p> + +<hr class="large" /> +<h2>PREFACE.</h2> + +<p>The history of the life of every individual who has, for any reason, +attracted extensively the attention of mankind, has been written in a +great variety of ways by a multitude of authors, and persons sometimes +wonder why we should have so many different accounts of the same +thing. The reason is, that each one of these accounts is intended for +a different set of readers, who read with ideas and purposes widely +dissimilar from each other. Among the twenty millions of people in the +United States, there are perhaps two millions, between the ages of +fifteen and twenty-five, who wish to become acquainted, in general, +with the leading events in the history of the Old World, and of +ancient times, but who, coming upon the stage in this land and at this +period, have ideas and conceptions so widely different from those of +other nations and of other times, that a mere republication of +existing accounts is not what they require. The story must be told +expressly for them. The things that are to be explained, the points +that are to be brought out, the comparative degree of prominence to be +given to the various particulars, will all be different, on account of +the difference in the situation, the ideas, and the objects of these +new readers, compared with those of the various other classes of +readers which former authors have had in view. It is for this reason, +and with this view, that the present series of historical narratives +is presented to the public. The author, having had some opportunity to +become acquainted with the position, the ideas, and the intellectual +wants of those whom he addresses, presents the result of his labors to +them, with the hope that it may be found successful in accomplishing +its design.</p> + +<hr class="large" /> +<h2>CONTENTS.</h2> + +<div class="centered"> +<table border="0" width="70%" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="1" summary="CONTENTS"> + +<tr> +<td align="right">Chapter</td> +<td align="left"> </td> +<td align="right">Page</td></tr> + +<tr> +<td align="right">I.</td> +<td align="left">ALEXANDER'S CHILDHOOD AND YOUTH</td> +<td align="right"><a href="#ALEXANDER_THE_GREAT">13</a></td></tr> + +<tr> +<td align="right">II.</td> +<td align="left">BEGINNING OF HIS REIGN</td> +<td align="right"><a href="#Chapter_II">36</a></td></tr> + +<tr> +<td align="right">III.</td> +<td align="left">THE REACTION</td> +<td align="right"><a href="#Chapter_III">57</a></td></tr> + +<tr> +<td align="right">IV.</td> +<td align="left">CROSSING THE HELLESPONT</td> +<td align="right"><a href="#Chapter_IV">78</a></td></tr> + +<tr> +<td align="right">V.</td> +<td align="left">CAMPAIGN IN ASIA MINOR</td> +<td align="right"><a href="#Chapter_V">103</a></td></tr> + +<tr> +<td align="right">VI.</td> +<td align="left">DEFEAT OF DARIUS</td> +<td align="right"><a href="#Chapter_VI">128</a></td></tr> + +<tr> +<td align="right">VII.</td> +<td align="left">THE SIEGE OF TYRE</td> +<td align="right"><a href="#Chapter_VII">147</a></td></tr> + +<tr> +<td align="right">VIII.</td> +<td align="left">ALEXANDER IN EGYPT</td> +<td align="right"><a href="#Chapter_VIII">169</a></td></tr> + +<tr> +<td align="right">IX.</td> +<td align="left">THE GREAT VICTORY</td> +<td align="right"><a href="#Chapter_IX">189</a></td></tr> + +<tr> +<td align="right">X.</td> +<td align="left">THE DEATH OF DARIUS</td> +<td align="right"><a href="#Chapter_X">213</a></td></tr> + +<tr> +<td align="right">XI.</td> +<td align="left">DETERIORATION OF CHARACTER</td> +<td align="right"><a href="#Chapter_XI">234</a></td></tr> + +<tr> +<td align="right">XII.</td> +<td align="left">ALEXANDER'S END</td> +<td align="right"><a href="#Chapter_XII">251</a></td></tr> +</table></div> + +<hr class="large" /> + +<h2>ENGRAVINGS</h2> +<div class="centered"> +<table border="0" width="70%" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="1" summary="ENGRAVINGS"> + +<tr> +<td align="left"> </td> +<td align="right">Page</td></tr> + +<tr> +<td align="left">MAP. EXPEDITION OF ALEXANDER</td> +<td align="right"><a href="#Frontispiece"><i>Frontispiece.</i></a></td></tr> + +<tr> +<td align="left">ALEXANDER AND BUCEPHALUS</td> +<td align="right"><a href="#Page_27">27</a></td></tr> + +<tr> +<td align="left">MAP OF MACEDON AND GREECE</td> +<td align="right"><a href="#Page_48">48</a></td></tr> + +<tr> +<td align="left">MAP OF MACEDON AND GREECE</td> +<td align="right"><a href="#Page_58">58</a></td></tr> + +<tr> +<td align="left">MAP OF THE PLAIN OF TROY</td> +<td align="right"><a href="#Page_88">88</a></td></tr> + +<tr> +<td align="left">PARIS AND HELEN</td> +<td align="right"><a href="#Page_94">94</a></td></tr> + +<tr> +<td align="left">ACHILLES</td> +<td align="right"><a href="#Page_97">97</a></td></tr> + +<tr> +<td align="left">MAP OF THE GRANICUS</td> +<td align="right"><a href="#Page_104">104</a></td></tr> + +<tr> +<td align="left">THE BATHING IN THE RIVER CYDNUS</td> +<td align="right"><a href="#Page_124">124</a></td></tr> + +<tr> +<td align="left">MAP OF THE PLAIN OF ISSUS</td> +<td align="right"><a href="#Page_134">134</a></td></tr> + +<tr> +<td align="left">THE SIEGE OF TYRE</td> +<td align="right"><a href="#Page_157">157</a></td></tr> + +<tr> +<td align="left">THE FOCUS</td> +<td align="right"><a href="#Page_185">185</a></td></tr> + +<tr> +<td align="left">THE CALTROP</td> +<td align="right"><a href="#Page_197">197</a></td></tr> + +<tr> +<td align="left">ALEXANDER AT THE PASS OF SUSA</td> +<td align="right"><a href="#Page_211">211</a></td></tr> + +<tr> +<td align="left">PROPOSED IMPROVEMENT OF MOUNT ATHOS</td> +<td align="right"><a href="#Page_261">261</a></td></tr> +</table></div> + +<hr class="large" /> +<p><a name="Frontispiece" id="Frontispiece"></a></p><div class="figcenter" style="width: 600px;"> +<img src="images/i007small.jpg" width="600" height="457" alt="" title="" /> +</div> + +<p class="center">[<a href="images/i007large.jpg">Enlarge</a>]</p> + +<hr class="large" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_13" id="Page_13">[Pg 13]</a></span></p> +<h2><a name="ALEXANDER_THE_GREAT" id="ALEXANDER_THE_GREAT"></a>ALEXANDER THE GREAT.</h2> + +<hr class="tiny" /> + +<h2><span class="smcap">Chapter I.</span></h2> + +<h2><span class="smcap">His Childhood and Youth.</span></h2> + +<p class="center">B.C. 356-336</p> + +<div class="sidenote">The briefness of Alexander's career.</div> + +<p class="n"><span style="float:left;font-size:50px;line-height:32px;padding-top:2px;padding-bottom:1px;">A</span><span style="margin-left:0%;">lexander</span> the Great died when he was quite young. He was but +thirty-two years of age when he ended his career, and as he was about +twenty when he commenced it, it was only for a period of twelve years +that he was actually engaged in performing the work of his life. +Napoleon was nearly three times as long on the great field of human +action.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">His brilliant exploits.</div> + +<p>Notwithstanding the briefness of Alexander's career, he ran through, +during that short period, a very brilliant series of exploits, which +were so bold, so romantic, and which led him into such adventures in +scenes of the greatest magnificence and splendor, that all the world +looked on with astonishment then, and mankind have continued to read +the story since, from age to age, with the greatest interest and +attention.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_14" id="Page_14">[Pg 14]</a></span></p><div class="sidenote">Character of Alexander.<br />Mental and physical qualities.</div> + +<p>The secret of Alexander's success was his character. He possessed a +certain combination of mental and personal attractions, which in every +age gives to those who exhibit it a mysterious and almost unbounded +ascendency over all within their influence. Alexander was +characterized by these qualities in a very remarkable degree. He was +finely formed in person, and very prepossessing in his manners. He was +active, athletic, and full of ardor and enthusiasm in all that he did. +At the same time, he was calm, collected, and considerate in +emergencies requiring caution, and thoughtful and far-seeing in +respect to the bearings and consequences of his acts. He formed strong +attachments, was grateful for kindnesses shown to him, considerate in +respect to the feelings of all who were connected with him in any way, +faithful to his friends, and generous toward his foes. In a word, he +had a noble character, though he devoted its energies unfortunately to +conquest and war. He lived, in fact, in an age when great personal and +mental powers had scarcely any other field for their exercise than +this. He entered upon his career with great ardor, and the position in +which he was placed gave him the opportunity to act in it with +prodigious effect.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_15" id="Page_15">[Pg 15]</a></span></p> +<div class="sidenote">Character of the Asiatic and European civilization.</div> + +<p>There were several circumstances combined, in the situation in which +Alexander was placed, to afford him a great opportunity for the +exercise of his vast powers. His native country was on the confines of +Europe and Asia. Now Europe and Asia were, in those days, as now, +marked and distinguished by two vast masses of social and civilized +life, widely dissimilar from each other. The Asiatic side was occupied +by the Persians, the Medes, and the Assyrians. The European side by +the Greeks and Romans. They were separated from each other by the +waters of the Hellespont, the Ægean Sea, and the Mediterranean, as +will be seen by the <a href="#Frontispiece">map</a>. These waters constituted a sort of natural +barrier, which kept the two races apart. The races formed, +accordingly, two vast organizations, distinct and widely different +from each other, and of course rivals and enemies.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">Composition of Asiatic and European armies.</div> + +<p>It is hard to say whether the Asiatic or European civilization was the +highest. The two were so different that it is difficult to compare +them. On the Asiatic side there was wealth, luxury, and splendor; on +the European, energy, genius, and force. On the one hand were vast +cities, splendid palaces, and gardens which were the wonder of the +world; on the other, <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_16" id="Page_16">[Pg 16]</a></span> strong citadels, military roads and bridges, +and compact and well-defended towns. The Persians had enormous armies, +perfectly provided for, with beautiful tents, horses elegantly +caparisoned, arms and munitions of war of the finest workmanship, and +officers magnificently dressed, and accustomed to a life of luxury and +splendor. The Greeks and Romans, on the other hand, prided themselves +on their compact bodies of troops, inured to hardship and thoroughly +disciplined. Their officers gloried not in luxury and parade, but in +the courage, the steadiness, and implicit obedience of their troops, +and in their own science, skill, and powers of military calculation. +Thus there was a great difference in the whole system of social and +military organization in these two quarters of the globe.</p> + +<p>Now Alexander was born the heir to the throne of one of the Grecian +kingdoms. He possessed, in a very remarkable degree, the energy, and +enterprise, and military skill so characteristic of the Greeks and +Romans. He organized armies, crossed the boundary between Europe and +Asia, and spent the twelve years of his career in a most triumphant +military incursion into the very center and seat of Asiatic <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_17" id="Page_17">[Pg 17]</a></span>power, +destroying the Asiatic armies, conquering the most splendid cities, +defeating or taking captive the kings, and princes, and generals that +opposed his progress. The whole world looked on with wonder to see +such a course of conquest, pursued so successfully by so young a man, +and with so small an army, gaining continual victories, as it did, +over such vast numbers of foes, and making conquests of such +accumulated treasures of wealth and splendor.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">King Philip.<br />Extent of Macedon.<br />Olympias.</div> + +<p>The name of Alexander's father was Philip. The kingdom over which he +reigned was called Macedon. Macedon was in the northern part of +Greece. It was a kingdom about twice as large as the State of +Massachusetts, and one third as large as the State of New York. The +name of Alexander's mother was Olympias. She was the daughter of the +King of Epirus, which was a kingdom somewhat smaller than Macedon, and +lying westward of it. Both Macedon and Epirus will be found upon the +<a href="#Frontispiece">map</a> at the commencement of this volume. Olympias was a woman of very +strong and determined character. Alexander seemed to inherit her +energy, though in his case it was combined with other qualities of a +more attractive character, which his mother did not possess.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_18" id="Page_18">[Pg 18]</a></span></p><div class="sidenote">The young prince Alexander.</div> + +<p>He was, of course, as the young prince, a very important personage in +his father's court. Every one knew that at his father's death he would +become King of Macedon, and he was consequently the object of a great +deal of care and attention. As he gradually advanced in the years of +his boyhood, it was observed by all who knew him that he was endued +with extraordinary qualities of mind and of character, which seemed to +indicate, at a very early age, his future greatness.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">Ancient mode of warfare.</div> + +<p>Although he was a prince, he was not brought up in habits of luxury +and effeminacy. This would have been contrary to all the ideas which +were entertained by the Greeks in those days. They had then no +fire-arms, so that in battle the combatants could not stand quietly, +as they can now, at a distance from the enemy, coolly discharging +musketry or cannon. In ancient battles the soldiers rushed toward each +other, and fought hand to hand, in close combat, with swords, or +spears, or other weapons requiring great personal strength, so that +headlong bravery and muscular force were the qualities which generally +carried the day.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">Ancient and modern military officers.</div> + +<p>The duties of officers, too, on the field of battle, were very +different then from what they are <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_19" id="Page_19">[Pg 19]</a></span>now. An officer <i>now</i> must be calm, +collected, and quiet. His business is to plan, to calculate, to +direct, and arrange. He has to do this sometimes, it is true, in +circumstances of the most imminent danger, so that he must be a man of +great self-possession and of undaunted courage. But there is very +little occasion for him to exert any great physical force.</p> + +<p>In ancient times, however, the great business of the officers, +certainly in all the subordinate grades, was to lead on the men, and +set them an example by performing themselves deeds in which their own +great personal prowess was displayed. Of course it was considered +extremely important that the child destined to be a general should +become robust and powerful in constitution from his earliest years, +and that he should be inured to hardship and fatigue. In the early +part of Alexander's life this was the main object of attention.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">Alexander's nurse.<br />Alexander's education.<br />Lysimachus.</div> + +<p>The name of the nurse who had charge of our hero in his infancy was +Lannice. She did all in her power to give strength and hardihood to +his constitution, while, at the same time, she treated him with +kindness and gentleness. Alexander acquired a strong affection for +her, and he treated her with great consideration as <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_20" id="Page_20">[Pg 20]</a></span>long as he lived. +He had a governor, also, in his early years, named Leonnatus, who had +the general charge of his education. As soon as he was old enough to +learn, they appointed him a preceptor also, to teach him such branches +as were generally taught to young princes in those days. The name of +this preceptor was Lysimachus.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">Homer.</div> + +<p>They had then no printed books, but there were a few writings on +parchment rolls which young scholars were taught to read. Some of +these writings were treatises on philosophy, others were romantic +histories, narrating the exploits of the heroes of those days—of +course, with much exaggeration and embellishment. There were also some +poems, still more romantic than the histories, though generally on the +same themes. The greatest productions of this kind were the writings +of Homer, an ancient poet who lived and wrote four or five hundred +years before Alexander's day. The young Alexander was greatly +delighted with Homer's tales. These tales are narrations of the +exploits and adventures of certain great warriors at the siege of +Troy—a siege which lasted ten years—and they are written with so +much beauty and force, they contain such admirable delineations of +character, <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_21" id="Page_21">[Pg 21]</a></span>and such graphic and vivid descriptions of romantic +adventures, and picturesque and striking scenes, that they have been +admired in every age by all who have learned to understand the +language in which they are written.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">Aristotle.<br />Alexander's copy of Homer.</div> + +<p>Alexander could understand them very easily, as they were written in +his mother tongue. He was greatly excited by the narrations +themselves, and pleased with the flowing smoothness of the verse in +which the tales were told. In the latter part of his course of +education he was placed under the charge of Aristotle, who was one of +the most eminent philosophers of ancient times. Aristotle had a +beautiful copy of Homer's poems prepared expressly for Alexander, +taking great pains to have it transcribed with perfect correctness, +and in the most elegant manner. Alexander carried this copy with him +in all his campaigns. Some years afterward, when he was obtaining +conquests over the Persians, he took, among the spoils of one of his +victories, a very beautiful and costly casket, which King Darius had +used for his jewelry or for some other rich treasures. Alexander +determined to make use of this box as a depository for his beautiful +copy of Homer, and he always carried it with him, thus protected, in +all his subsequent campaigns.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_22" id="Page_22">[Pg 22]</a></span></p><div class="sidenote">Alexander's energy and ambition.</div> + +<p>Alexander was full of energy and spirit, but he was, at the same time, +like all who ever become truly great, of a reflective and considerate +turn of mind. He was very fond of the studies which Aristotle led him +to pursue, although they were of a very abstruse and difficult +character. He made great progress in metaphysical philosophy and +mathematics, by which means his powers of calculation and his judgment +were greatly improved.</p> + +<p>He early evinced a great degree of ambition. His father Philip was a +powerful warrior, and made many conquests in various parts of Greece, +though he did not cross into Asia. When news of Philip's victories +came into Macedon, all the rest of the court would be filled with +rejoicing and delight; but Alexander, on such occasions, looked +thoughtful and disappointed, and complained that his father would +conquer every country, and leave him nothing to do.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">The Persian embassadors.<br />Stories of the embassadors.</div> + +<p>At one time some embassadors from the Persian court arrived in Macedon +when Philip was away. These embassadors saw Alexander, of course, and +had opportunities to converse with him. They expected that he would be +interested in hearing about the splendors, and pomp, and parade of the +Persian monarchy. They <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_23" id="Page_23">[Pg 23]</a></span>had stories to tell him about the famous +hanging gardens, which were artificially constructed in the most +magnificent manner, on arches raised high in the air; and about a vine +made of gold, with all sorts of precious stones upon it instead of +fruit, which was wrought as an ornament over the throne on which the +King of Persia often gave audience; of the splendid palaces and vast +cities of the Persians; and the banquets, and fêtes, and magnificent +entertainments and celebrations which they used to have there. They +found, however, to their surprise, that Alexander was not interested +in hearing about any of these things. He would always turn the +conversation from them to inquire about the geographical position of +the different Persian countries, the various routes leading into the +interior, the organization of the Asiatic armies, their system of +military tactics, and, especially, the character and habits of +Artaxerxes, the Persian king.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">Maturity of Alexander's mind.</div> + +<p>The embassadors were very much surprised at such evidences of maturity +of mind, and of far-seeing and reflective powers on the part of the +young prince. They could not help comparing him with Artaxerxes. +"Alexander," said they, "is <i>great</i>, while our king is only <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_24" id="Page_24">[Pg 24]</a></span><i>rich</i>." +The truth of the judgment which these embassadors thus formed in +respect to the qualities of the young Macedonian, compared with those +held in highest estimation on the Asiatic side, was fully confirmed in +the subsequent stages of Alexander's career.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">Secret of Alexander's success.<br />The story of Bucephalus.</div> + +<p>In fact, this combination of a calm and calculating thoughtfulness, +with the ardor and energy which formed the basis of his character, was +one great secret of Alexander's success. The story of Bucephalus, his +famous horse, illustrates this in a very striking manner. This animal +was a war-horse of very spirited character, which had been sent as a +present to Philip while Alexander was young. They took the horse out +into one of the parks connected with the palace, and the king, +together with many of his courtiers, went out to view him. The horse +pranced about in a very furious manner, and seemed entirely +unmanageable. No one dared to mount him. Philip, instead of being +gratified at the present, was rather disposed to be displeased that +they had sent him an animal of so fiery and apparently vicious a +nature that nobody dared to attempt to subdue him.</p> + +<p>In the mean time, while all the other by-standers were joining in the +general condemnation <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_25" id="Page_25">[Pg 25]</a></span>of the horse, Alexander stood quietly by, +watching his motions, and attentively studying his character. He +perceived that a part of the difficulty was caused by the agitations +which the horse experienced in so strange and new a scene, and that he +appeared, also, to be somewhat frightened by his own shadow, which +happened at that time to be thrown very strongly and distinctly upon +the ground. He saw other indications, also, that the high excitement +which the horse felt was not viciousness, but the excess of noble and +generous impulses. It was courage, ardor, and the consciousness of +great nervous and muscular power.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">Philip condemns the horse.<br />Alexander desires to mount him.</div> + +<p>Philip had decided that the horse was useless, and had given orders to +have him sent back to Thessaly, whence he came. Alexander was very +much concerned at the prospect of losing so fine an animal. He begged +his father to allow him to make the experiment of mounting him. Philip +at first refused, thinking it very presumptuous for such a youth to +attempt to subdue an animal so vicious that all his experienced +horsemen and grooms condemned him; however, he at length consented. +Alexander went up to the horse and took hold of his bridle. He patted +him upon the neck, and soothed him <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_26" id="Page_26">[Pg 26]</a></span>with his voice, showing, at the +same time, by his easy and unconcerned manner, that he was not in the +least afraid of him. A spirited horse knows immediately when any one +approaches him in a timid or cautious manner. He appears to look with +contempt on such a master, and to determine not to submit to him. On +the contrary, horses seem to love to yield obedience to man, when the +individual who exacts the obedience possesses those qualities of +coolness and courage which their instincts enable them to appreciate.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_27" id="Page_27">[Pg 27-8]</a></span></p><div class="figcenter" style="width: 500px;"> +<img src="images/i022.jpg" class="ispace jpg" width="500" height="288" alt="Alexander and Bucephalus." title="" /> +<span class="caption">Alexander and Bucephalus.</span> +</div> + +<div class="sidenote">Bucephalus calmed.<br />An exciting ride.</div> + +<p>At any rate, Bucephalus was calmed and subdued by the presence of +Alexander. He allowed himself to be caressed. Alexander turned his +head in such a direction as to prevent his seeing his shadow. He +quietly and gently laid off a sort of cloak which he wore, and sprang +upon the horse's back. Then, instead of attempting to restrain him, +and worrying and checking him by useless efforts to hold him in, he +gave him the rein freely, and animated and encouraged him with his +voice, so that the horse flew across the plains at the top of his +speed, the king and the courtiers looking on, at first with fear and +trembling, but soon afterward with feelings of the greatest admiration +and pleasure. After <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_29" id="Page_29">[Pg 29]</a></span>the horse had satisfied himself with his run it was easy to rein him +in, and Alexander returned with him in safety to the king. The +courtiers overwhelmed him with their praises and congratulations. +Philip commended him very highly: he told him that he deserved a +larger kingdom than Macedon to govern.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">Sagacity of Bucephalus.<br />Becomes Alexander's favorite.</div> + +<p>Alexander's judgment of the true character of the horse proved to be +correct. He became very tractable and docile, yielding a ready +submission to his master in every thing. He would kneel upon his fore +legs at Alexander's command, in order that he might mount more easily. +Alexander retained him for a long time, and made him his favorite war +horse. A great many stories are related by the historians of those +days of his sagacity and his feats of war. Whenever he was equipped +for the field with his military trappings, he seemed to be highly +elated with pride and pleasure, and at such times he would not allow +any one but Alexander to mount him.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">Fate of Bucephalus.</div> + +<p>What became of him at last is not certainly known. There are two +accounts of his end. One is, that on a certain occasion Alexander got +carried too far into the midst of his enemies, on a battle field and +that, after fighting desperately <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_30" id="Page_30">[Pg 30]</a></span>for some time, Bucephalus made the +most extreme exertions to carry him away. He was severely wounded +again and again, and though his strength was nearly gone, he would not +stop, but pressed forward till he had carried his master away to a +place of safety, and that then he dropped down exhausted, and died. It +may be, however, that he did not actually die at this time, but slowly +recovered; for some historians relate that he lived to be thirty years +old—which is quite an old age for a horse—and that he then died. +Alexander caused him to be buried with great ceremony, and built a +small city upon the spot in honor of his memory. The name of this city +was Bucephalia.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">Alexander made regent.</div> + +<p>Alexander's character matured rapidly, and he began very early to act +the part of a man. When he was only sixteen years of age, his father, +Philip, made him regent of Macedon while he was absent on a great +military campaign among the other states of Greece. Without doubt +Alexander had, in this regency, the counsel and aid of high officers +of state of great experience and ability. He acted, however, himself, +in this high position, with great energy and with complete success; +and, at the same time, with all that modesty of deportment, and <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_31" id="Page_31">[Pg 31]</a></span>that +delicate consideration for the officers under him—who, though +inferior in rank, were yet his superiors in age and experience—which +his position rendered proper, but which few persons so young as he +would have manifested in circumstances so well calculated to awaken +the feelings of vanity and elation.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">Alexander's first battle.<br />Chæronea.</div> + +<p>Afterward, when Alexander was about eighteen years old, his father +took him with him on a campaign toward the south, during which Philip +fought one of his great battles at Chæronea, in Bœotia. In the +arrangements for this battle, Philip gave the command of one of the +wings of the army to Alexander, while he reserved the other for +himself. He felt some solicitude in giving his young son so important +a charge, but he endeavored to guard against the danger of an +unfortunate result by putting the ablest generals on Alexander's side, +while he reserved those on whom he could place less reliance for his +own. Thus organized, the army went into battle.</p> + +<p>Philip soon ceased to feel any solicitude for Alexander's part of the +duty. Boy as he was, the young prince acted with the utmost bravery, +coolness, and discretion. The wing which he commanded was victorious, +and Philip was obliged <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_32" id="Page_32">[Pg 32]</a></span>to urge himself and the officers with him to +greater exertions, to avoid being outdone by his son. In the end +Philip was completely victorious, and the result of this great battle +was to make his power paramount and supreme over all the states of +Greece.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">Alexander's impetuosity.<br />Philip repudiates Olympias.</div> + +<p>Notwithstanding, however, the extraordinary discretion and wisdom +which characterized the mind of Alexander in his early years, he was +often haughty and headstrong, and in cases where his pride or his +resentment were aroused, he was sometimes found very impetuous and +uncontrollable. His mother Olympias was of a haughty and imperious +temper, and she quarreled with her husband, King Philip; or, perhaps, +it ought rather to be said that he quarreled with her. Each is said to +have been unfaithful to the other, and, after a bitter contention, +Philip repudiated his wife and married another lady. Among the +festivities held on the occasion of this marriage, there was a great +banquet, at which Alexander was present, and an incident occurred +which strikingly illustrates the impetuosity of his character.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">Alexander's violent temper.</div> + +<p>One of the guests at this banquet, in saying something complimentary +to the new queen, made use of expressions which Alexander considered +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_33" id="Page_33">[Pg 33]</a></span>as in disparagement of the character of his mother and of his own +birth. His anger was immediately aroused. He threw the cup from which +he had been drinking at the offender's head. Attalus, for this was his +name, threw his cup at Alexander in return; the guests at the table +where they were sitting rose, and a scene of uproar and confusion +ensued.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">Philip's attempt on his son.</div> + +<p>Philip, incensed at such an interruption of the order and harmony of +the wedding feast, drew his sword and rushed toward Alexander but by +some accident he stumbled and fell upon the floor. Alexander looked +upon his fallen father with contempt and scorn, and exclaimed, "What a +fine hero the states of Greece have to lead their armies—a man that +can not get across the floor without tumbling down." He then turned +away and left the palace. Immediately afterward he joined his mother +Olympias, and went away with her to her native country, Epirus, where +the mother and son remained for a time in a state of open quarrel with +the husband and father.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">Philip's power.<br />His plans of conquest.</div> + +<p>In the mean time Philip had been planning a great expedition into +Asia. He had arranged the affairs of his own kingdom, and had formed a +strong combination among the states of Greece, <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_34" id="Page_34">[Pg 34]</a></span>by which powerful +armies had been raised, and he had been designated to command them. +His mind was very intently engaged in this vast enterprise. He was in +the flower of his years, and at the height of his power. His own +kingdom was in a very prosperous and thriving condition, and his +ascendency over the other kingdoms and states on the European side had +been fully established. He was excited with ambition, and full of +hope. He was proud of his son Alexander, and was relying upon his +efficient aid in his schemes of conquest and aggrandizement. He had +married a youthful and beautiful bride, and was surrounded by scenes +of festivity, congratulation, and rejoicing. He was looking forward to +a very brilliant career considering all the deeds that he had done and +all the glory which he had acquired as only the introduction and +prelude to the far more distinguished and conspicuous part which he +was intending to perform.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">Alexander's impatience to reign.</div> + +<p>Alexander, in the mean time, ardent and impetuous, and eager for glory +as he was, looked upon the position and prospects of his father with +some envy and jealousy. He was impatient to be monarch himself. His +taking sides so promptly with his mother in the domestic <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_35" id="Page_35">[Pg 35]</a></span>quarrel was +partly owing to the feeling that his father was a hinderance and an +obstacle in the way of his own greatness and fame. He felt within +himself powers and capacities qualifying him to take his father's +place, and reap for himself the harvest of glory and power which +seemed to await the Grecian armies in the coming campaign. While his +father lived, however, he could be only a prince; influential, +accomplished, and popular, it is true, but still without any +substantial and independent power. He was restless and uneasy at the +thought that, as his father was in the prime and vigor of manhood, +many long years must elapse before he could emerge from this confined +and subordinate condition. His restlessness and uneasiness were, +however, suddenly ended by a very extraordinary occurrence, which +called him, with scarcely an hour's notice, to take his father's place +upon the throne.</p> + +<hr class="large" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_36" id="Page_36">[Pg 36]</a></span></p> +<h2><a name="Chapter_II" id="Chapter_II"></a><span class="smcap">Chapter II.</span></h2> + +<h2><span class="smcap">Beginning of His Reign.</span></h2> + +<p class="center">B.C. 336</p> + +<p class="n"><span style="float:left;font-size:50px;line-height:32px;padding-top:2px;padding-bottom:1px;">A</span><span style="margin-left:0%;">lexander</span> was suddenly called upon to succeed his father on the +Macedonian throne, in the most unexpected manner, and in the midst of +scenes of the greatest excitement and agitation. The circumstances +were these:</p> + +<div class="sidenote">Philip is reconciled to Olympias and Alexander.</div> + +<p>Philip had felt very desirous, before setting out upon his great +expedition into Asia, to become reconciled to Alexander and Olympias. +He wished for Alexander's co-operation in his plans; and then, +besides, it would be dangerous to go away from his own dominions with +such a son left behind, in a state of resentment and hostility.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">Olympias and Alexander returned.</div> + +<p>So Philip sent kind and conciliatory messages to Olympias and +Alexander, who had gone, it will be recollected, to Epirus, where her +friends resided. The brother of Olympias was King of Epirus. He had +been at first incensed at the indignity which had been put upon his +sister by Philip's treatment of her; but Philip now tried to appease +his anger, also, by friendly negotiations <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_37" id="Page_37">[Pg 37]</a></span>and messages. At last he +arranged a marriage between this King of Epirus and one of his own +daughters, and this completed the reconciliation. Olympias and +Alexander returned to Macedon, and great preparations were made for a +very splendid wedding.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">The great wedding.</div> + +<p>Philip wished to make this wedding not merely the means of confirming +his reconciliation with his former wife and son, and establishing +friendly relations with the King of Epirus: he also prized it as an +occasion for paying marked and honorable attention to the princes and +great generals of the other states of Greece. He consequently made his +preparations on a very extended and sumptuous scale, and sent +invitations to the influential and prominent men far and near.</p> + +<p>These great men, on the other hand, and all the other public +authorities in the various Grecian states, sent compliments, +congratulations, and presents to Philip, each seeming ambitious to +contribute his share to the splendor of the celebration. They were not +wholly disinterested in this, it is true. As Philip had been made +commander-in-chief of the Grecian armies which were about to undertake +the conquest of Asia, and as, of course, his influence and power in +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_38" id="Page_38">[Pg 38]</a></span>all that related to that vast enterprise would be paramount and +supreme; and as all were ambitious to have a large share in the glory +of that expedition, and to participate, as much as possible, in the +power and in the renown which seemed to be at Philip's disposal, all +were, of course, very anxious to secure his favor. A short time +before, they were contending against him; but now, since he had +established his ascendency, they all eagerly joined in the work of +magnifying it and making it illustrious.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">Preparations for the wedding.<br />Costly presents.</div> + +<p>Nor could Philip justly complain of the hollowness and falseness of +these professions of friendship. The compliments and favors which he +offered to them were equally hollow and heartless. He wished to secure +<i>their</i> favor as a means of aiding him up the steep path to fame and +power which he was attempting to climb. They wished for his, in order +that he might, as he ascended himself, help them up with him. There +was, however, the greatest appearance of cordial and devoted +friendship. Some cities sent him presents of golden crowns, +beautifully wrought, and of high cost. Others dispatched embassies, +expressing their good wishes for him, and their confidence in the +success of his plans. Athens, the city which was <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_39" id="Page_39">[Pg 39]</a></span>the great seat of +literature and science in Greece sent a <i>poem</i>, in which the history +of the expedition into Persia was given by anticipation. In this poem +Philip was, of course, triumphantly successful in his enterprise. He +conducted his armies in safety through the most dangerous passes and +defiles; he fought glorious battles, gained magnificent victories, and +possessed himself of all the treasures of Asiatic wealth and power. It +ought to be stated, however, in justice to the poet, that, in +narrating these imaginary exploits, he had sufficient delicacy to +represent Philip and the Persian monarch by fictitious names.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">Celebration of the wedding.<br />Games and spectacles.</div> + +<p>The wedding was at length celebrated, in one of the cities of Macedon, +with great pomp and splendor. There were games, and shows, and +military and civic spectacles of all kinds to amuse the thousands of +spectators that assembled to witness them. In one of these spectacles +they had a procession of statues of the gods. There were twelve of +these statues, sculptured with great art, and they were borne along on +elevated pedestals, with censers, and incense, and various ceremonies +of homage, while vast multitudes of spectators lined the way. There +was a thirteenth statue, more magnificent than <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_40" id="Page_40">[Pg 40]</a></span>the other twelve, +which represented Philip himself in the character of a god.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">Statues of the gods.</div> + +<p>This was not, however, so impious as it would at first view seem, for +the gods whom the ancients worshiped were, in fact, only deifications +of old heroes and kings who had lived in early times, and had acquired +a reputation for supernatural powers by the fame of their exploits, +exaggerated in descending by tradition in superstitious times. The +ignorant multitude accordingly, in those days, looked up to a living +king with almost the same reverence and homage which they felt for +their deified heroes; and these deified heroes furnished them with all +the ideas they had of God. Making a monarch a god, therefore, was no +very extravagant flattery.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">Military procession.</div> + +<p>After the procession of the statues passed along, there came bodies of +troops, with trumpets sounding and banners flying. The officers rode +on horses elegantly caparisoned, and prancing proudly. These troops +escorted princes, embassadors, generals, and great officers of state, +all gorgeously decked in their robes, and wearing their badges and +insignia.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">Appearance of Philip.</div> + +<p>At length King Philip himself appeared in the procession. He had +arranged to have a large space left, in the middle of which he was <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_41" id="Page_41">[Pg 41]</a></span>to +walk. This was done in order to make his position the more +conspicuous, and to mark more strongly his own high distinction above +all the other potentates present on the occasion. Guards preceded and +followed him, though at considerable distance, as has been already +said. He was himself clothed with white robes, and his head was +adorned with a splendid crown.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">The scene changed.<br />Assassination of Philip.</div> + +<p>The procession was moving toward a great theater, where certain games +and spectacles were to be exhibited. The statues of the gods were to +be taken into the theater, and placed in conspicuous positions there, +in the view of the assembly, and then the procession itself was to +follow. All the statues had entered except that of Philip, which was +just at the door, and Philip himself was advancing in the midst of the +space left for him, up the avenue by which the theater was approached, +when an occurrence took place by which the whole character of the +scene, the destiny of Alexander, and the fate of fifty nations, was +suddenly and totally changed. It was this. An officer of the guards, +who had his position in the procession near the king, was seen +advancing impetuously toward him, through the space which separated +him from the rest, and, before the spectators <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_42" id="Page_42">[Pg 42]</a></span>had time even to wonder +what he was going to do, he stabbed him to the heart. Philip fell down +in the street and died.</p> + +<p>A scene of indescribable tumult and confusion ensued. The murderer was +immediately cut to pieces by the other guards. They found, however, +before he was dead, that it was Pausanias, a man of high standing and +influence, a general officer of the guards. He had had horses +provided, and other assistance ready, to enable him to make his +escape, but he was cut down by the guards before he could avail +himself of them.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">Alexander proclaimed king.<br />Alexander's speech.</div> + +<p>An officer of state immediately hastened to Alexander, and announced +to him his father's death and his own accession to the throne. An +assembly of the leading counselors and statesmen was called, in a +hasty and tumultuous manner, and Alexander was proclaimed king with +prolonged and general acclamations. Alexander made a speech in reply. +The great assembly looked upon his youthful form and face as he arose, +and listened with intense interest to hear what he had to say. He was +between nineteen and twenty years of age; but, though thus really a +boy, he spoke with all the decision and confidence of an energetic +man. He said<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_43" id="Page_43">[Pg 43]</a></span> that he should at once assume his father's position, and +carry forward his plans. He hoped to do this so efficiently that every +thing would go directly onward, just as if his father had continued to +live, and that the nation would find that the only change which had +taken place was in the <i>name</i> of the king.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">Demosthenes' Philippics.</div> + +<p>The motive which induced Pausanias to murder Philip in this manner was +never fully ascertained. There were various opinions about it. One +was, that it was an act of private revenge, occasioned by some neglect +or injury which Pausanias had received from Philip. Others thought +that the murder was instigated by a party in the states of Greece, who +were hostile to Philip, and unwilling that he should command the +allied armies that were about to penetrate into Asia. Demosthenes, the +celebrated orator, was Philip's great enemy among the Greeks. Many of +his most powerful orations were made for the purpose of arousing his +countrymen to resist his ambitious plans and to curtail his power. +These orations were called his Philippics, and from this origin has +arisen the practice, which has prevailed ever since that day, of +applying the term philippics to denote, in general, any strongly +denunciatory harangues.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_44" id="Page_44">[Pg 44]</a></span></p><div class="sidenote">The Greeks suspected of the murder.</div> + +<p>Now Demosthenes, it is said, who was at this time in Athens, announced +the death of Philip in an Athenian assembly before it was possible +that the news could have been conveyed there. He accounted for his +early possession of the intelligence by saying it was communicated to +him by some of the gods. Many persons have accordingly supposed that +the plan of assassinating Philip was devised in Greece; that +Demosthenes was a party to it; that Pausanias was the agent for +carrying it into execution; and that Demosthenes was so confident of +the success of the plot, and exulted so much in this certainty, that +he could not resist the temptation of thus anticipating its +announcement.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">The Persians also.</div> + +<p>There were other persons who thought that the <i>Persians</i> had plotted +and accomplished this murder, having induced Pausanias to execute the +deed by the promise of great rewards. As Pausanias himself, however, +had been instantly killed, there was no opportunity of gaining any +information from him on the motives of his conduct, even if he would +have been disposed to impart any.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">Alexander's new position.</div> + +<p>At all events, Alexander found himself suddenly elevated to one of the +most conspicuous positions in the whole political world. It was <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_45" id="Page_45">[Pg 45]</a></span>not +simply that he succeeded to the throne of Macedon; even this would +have been a lofty position for so young a man; but Macedon was a very +small part of the realm over which Philip had extended his power. The +ascendency which he had acquired over the whole Grecian empire, and +the vast arrangements he had made for an incursion into Asia, made +Alexander the object of universal interest and attention. The question +was, whether Alexander should attempt to take his father's place in +respect to all this general power, and undertake to sustain and carry +on his vast projects, or whether he should content himself with +ruling, in quiet, over his native country of Macedon.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">His designs.</div> + +<p>Most prudent persons would have advised a young prince, under such +circumstances, to have decided upon the latter course. But Alexander +had no idea of bounding his ambition by any such limits. He resolved +to spring at once completely into his father's seat, and not only to +possess himself of the whole of the power which his father had +acquired, but to commence, immediately, the most energetic and +vigorous efforts for a great extension of it.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">Murderers of Philip punished.</div> + +<p>His first plan was to punish his father's murderers. He caused the +circumstances of the <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_46" id="Page_46">[Pg 46]</a></span>case to be investigated, and the persons +suspected of having been connected with Pausanias in the plot to be +tried. Although the designs and motives of the murderers could never +be fully ascertained, still several persons were found guilty of +participating in it, and were condemned to death and publicly +executed.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">Alexander's first acts.</div> + +<p>Alexander next decided not to make any change in his father's +appointments to the great offices of state, but to let all the +departments of public affairs go on in the same hands as before. How +sagacious a line of conduct was this! Most ardent and enthusiastic +young men, in the circumstances in which he was placed, would have +been elated and vain at their elevation, and would have replaced the +old and well-tried servants of the father with personal favorites of +their own age, inexperienced and incompetent, and as conceited as +themselves. Alexander, however, made no such changes. He continued the +old officers in command, endeavoring to have every thing go on just as +if his father had not died.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">Parmenio.</div> + +<p>There were two officers in particular who were the ministers on whom +Philip had mainly relied. Their names were Antipater and Parmenio. +Antipater had charge of the civil, and <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_47" id="Page_47">[Pg 47]</a></span>Parmenio of military affairs. +Parmenio was a very distinguished general. He was at this time nearly +sixty years of age. Alexander had great confidence in his military +powers, and felt a strong personal attachment for him. Parmenio +entered into the young king's service with great readiness, and +accompanied him through almost the whole of his career. It seemed +strange to see men of such age, standing, and experience, obeying the +orders of such a boy; but there was something in the genius, the +power, and the enthusiasm of Alexander's character which inspired +ardor in all around him, and made every one eager to join his standard +and to aid in the execution of his plans.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">Cities of Southern Greece.<br />Athens and Corinth.</div> + +<p>Macedon, as will be seen on the following map, was in the northern +part of the country occupied by the Greeks, and the most powerful +states of the confederacy and all the great and influential cities +were south of it. There was Athens, which was magnificently built, its +splendid citadel crowning a rocky hill in the center of it. It was the +great seat of literature, philosophy, and the arts, and was thus a +center of attraction for all the civilized world. There was Corinth, +which was distinguished for the gayety and pleasure which reigned +there. All possible <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_48" id="Page_48">[Pg 48]</a></span>means of luxury and amusement were concentrated +within its walls. The lovers of knowledge and of art, from all parts +of the earth, flocked to Athens, while those in pursuit of pleasure, +dissipation, and indulgence chose Corinth for their home. Corinth was +beautifully situated on the isthmus, with prospects of the sea on +either hand. It had been a famous city for a thousand years in +Alexander's day.</p> + +<p> </p> + +<div class="sidenote">Map of Macedon and Greece.</div> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 398px;"> +<img src="images/i043small.jpg" class="jpg" width="398" height="450" alt="" title="" /> +</div> + +<p class="center">[<a href="images/i043large.jpg">Enlarge</a>]</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_49" id="Page_49">[Pg 49]</a></span></p><div class="sidenote">Thebes.</div> + +<p>There was also Thebes. Thebes was farther north than Athens and +Corinth. It was situated on an elevated plain, and had, like other +ancient cities, a strong citadel, where there was at this time a +Macedonian garrison, which Philip had placed there. Thebes was very +wealthy and powerful. It had also been celebrated as the birth-place +of many poets and philosophers, and other eminent men. Among these was +Pindar, a very celebrated poet who had flourished one or two centuries +before the time of Alexander. His descendants still lived in Thebes, +and Alexander, some time after this, had occasion to confer upon them +a very distinguished honor.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">Sparta.</div> + +<p>There was Sparta also, called sometimes Lacedæmon. The inhabitants of +this city were famed for their courage, hardihood, and physical +strength, and for the energy with which they devoted themselves to the +work of war. They were nearly all soldiers, and all the arrangements +of the state and of society, and all the plans of education, were +designed to promote military ambition and pride among the officers and +fierce and indomitable courage and endurance in the men.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_50" id="Page_50">[Pg 50]</a></span></p><div class="sidenote">Conquests of Philip.</div> + +<p>These cities and many others, with the states which were attached to +them, formed a large, and flourishing, and very powerful community, +extending over all that part of Greece which lay south of Macedon. +Philip, as has been already said, had established his own ascendency +over all this region, though it had cost him many perplexing +negotiations and some hard-fought battles to do it. Alexander +considered it somewhat uncertain whether the people of all these +states and cities would be disposed to transfer readily, to so +youthful a prince as he, the high commission which his father, a very +powerful monarch and soldier, had extorted from them with so much +difficulty. What should he do in the case? Should he give up the +expectation of it? Should he send embassadors to them, presenting his +claims to occupy his father's place? Or should he not act at all, but +wait quietly at home in Macedon until they should decide the question?</p> + +<div class="sidenote">Alexander marches southward.</div> + +<p>Instead of doing either of these things, Alexander decided on the very +bold step of setting out himself, at the head of an army, to march +into southern Greece, for the purpose of presenting in person, and, if +necessary, of enforcing his claim to the same post of honor and <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_51" id="Page_51">[Pg 51]</a></span>power +which had been conferred upon his father. Considering all the +circumstances of the case, this was perhaps one of the boldest and +most decided steps of Alexander's whole career. Many of his Macedonian +advisers counseled him not to make such an attempt; but Alexander +would not listen to any such cautions. He collected his forces, and +set forth at the head of them.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">Pass of Thermopylæ.</div> + +<p>Between Macedon and the southern states of Greece was a range of lofty +and almost impassable mountains. These mountains extended through the +whole interior of the country, and the main route leading into +southern Greece passed around to the eastward of them, where they +terminated in cliffs, leaving a narrow passage between the cliffs and +the sea. This pass was called the Pass of Thermopylæ, and it was +considered the key to Greece. There was a town named Anthela near the +pass, on the outward side.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">The Amphictyonic Council.</div> + +<p>There was in those days a sort of general congress or assembly of the +states of Greece, which was held from time to time, to decide +questions and disputes in which the different states were continually +getting involved with each other. This assembly was called the +Amphictyonic Council, on account, as is said, of its having been +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_52" id="Page_52">[Pg 52]</a></span>established by a certain king named Amphictyon. A meeting of this +council was appointed to receive Alexander. It was to be held at +Thermopylæ, or, rather, at Anthela, which was just without the pass, +and was the usual place at which the council assembled. This was +because the pass was in an intermediate position between the northern +and southern portions of Greece, and thus equally accessible from +either.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">March through Thessaly.<br />Alexander's traits of character.</div> + +<p>In proceeding to the southward, Alexander had first to pass through +Thessaly, which was a very powerful state immediately south of +Macedon. He met with some show of resistance at first, but not much. +The country was impressed with the boldness and decision of character +manifested in the taking of such a course by so young a man. Then, +too, Alexander, so far as he became personally known, made a very +favorable impression upon every one. His manly and athletic form, his +frank and open manners, his spirit, his generosity, and a certain air +of confidence, independence, and conscious superiority, which were +combined, as they always are in the case of true greatness, with an +unaffected and unassuming modesty—these and other traits, which were +obvious to all who saw him, in the person and <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_53" id="Page_53">[Pg 53]</a></span>character of Alexander, +made every one his friend. Common men take pleasure in yielding to the +influence and ascendency of one whose spirit they see and feel stands +on a higher eminence and wields higher powers than their own. They +like a leader. It is true, they must feel confident of his +superiority; but when this superiority stands out so clearly and +distinctly marked, combined, too, with all the graces and attractions +of youth and manly beauty, as it was in the case of Alexander, the +minds of men are brought very easily and rapidly under its sway.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">The Thessalians join Alexander.</div> + +<p>The Thessalians gave Alexander a very favorable reception. They +expressed a cordial readiness to instate him in the position which his +father had occupied. They joined their forces to his, and proceeded +southward toward the Pass of Thermopylæ.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">He sits in the Amphictyonic Council.</div> + +<p>Here the great council was held. Alexander took his place in it as a +member. Of course, he must have been an object of universal interest +and attention. The impression which he made here seems to have been +very favorable. After this assembly separated, Alexander proceeded +southward, accompanied by his own forces, and tended by the various +princes and potentates <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_54" id="Page_54">[Pg 54]</a></span>of Greece, with their attendants and +followers. The feelings of exultation and pleasure with which the +young king defiled through the Pass of Thermopylæ, thus attended, must +have been exciting in the extreme.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">Thermopylæ.<br />Leonidas and his Spartans.</div> + +<p>The Pass of Thermopylæ was a scene strongly associated with ideas of +military glory and renown. It was here that, about a hundred and fifty +years before, Leonidas, a Spartan general, with only three hundred +soldiers, had attempted to withstand the pressure of an immense +Persian force which was at that time invading Greece. He was one of +the kings of Sparta, and he had the command, not only of his three +hundred Spartans, but also of all the allied forces of the Greeks that +had been assembled to repel the Persian invasion. With the help of +these allies he withstood the Persian forces for some time, and as the +pass was so narrow between the cliffs and the sea, he was enabled to +resist them successfully. At length, however, a strong detachment from +the immense Persian army contrived to find their way over the +mountains and around the pass, so as to establish themselves in a +position from which they could come down upon the small Greek army in +their rear. Leonidas, perceiving this, ordered all his allies <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_55" id="Page_55">[Pg 55]</a></span>from +the other states of Greece to withdraw, leaving himself and his three +hundred countrymen alone in the defile.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">Death of Leonidas.<br />Spartan valor.</div> + +<p>He did not expect to repel his enemies or to defend the pass. He knew +that he must die, and all his brave followers with him, and that the +torrent of invaders would pour down through the pass over their +bodies. But he considered himself stationed there to defend the +passage, and he would not desert his post. When the battle came on he +was the first to fall. The soldiers gathered around him and defended +his dead body as long as they could. At length, overpowered by the +immense numbers of their foes, they were all killed but one man. He +made his escape and returned to Sparta. A monument was erected on the +spot with this inscription: "Go, traveler, to Sparta, and say that we +lie here, on the spot at which we were stationed to defend our +country."</p> + +<div class="sidenote">Alexander made commander-in-chief.<br />He returns to Macedon.</div> + +<p>Alexander passed through the defile. He advanced to the great cities +south of it—to Athens, to Thebes, and to Corinth. Another great +assembly of all the monarchs and potentates of Greece was convened in +Corinth; and here Alexander attained the object of his ambition, in +having the command of the great expedition into <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_56" id="Page_56">[Pg 56]</a></span>Asia conferred upon +him. The impression which he made upon those with whom he came into +connection by his personal qualities must have been favorable in the +extreme. That such a youthful prince should be selected by so powerful +a confederation of nations as their leader in such an enterprise as +they were about to engage in, indicates a most extraordinary power on +his part of acquiring an ascendency over the minds of men, and of +impressing all with a sense of his commanding superiority. Alexander +returned to Macedon from his expedition to the southward in triumph, +and began at once to arrange the affairs of his kingdom, so as to be +ready to enter, unembarrassed, upon the great career of conquest which +he imagined was before him.</p> + +<hr class="large" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_57" id="Page_57">[Pg 57]</a></span></p> +<h2><a name="Chapter_III" id="Chapter_III"></a><span class="smcap">Chapter III.</span></h2> + +<h2><span class="smcap">The Reaction.</span></h2> + +<p class="center">B.C. 335</p> + +<div class="sidenote">Mount Hæmus.</div> + +<p class="n"><span style="float:left;font-size:50px;line-height:32px;padding-top:2px;padding-bottom:1px;">T</span><span style="margin-left:0%;">he</span> country which was formerly occupied by Macedon and the other +states of Greece is now Turkey in Europe. In the northern part of it +is a vast chain of mountains called now the Balkan. In Alexander's day +it was Mount Hæmus. This chain forms a broad belt of lofty and +uninhabitable land, and extends from the Black Sea to the Adriatic.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">Thrace.<br />The Hebrus.</div> + +<p>A branch of this mountain range, called Rhodope, extends southwardly +from about the middle of its length, as may be seen by the map. +Rhodope separated Macedonia from a large and powerful country, which +was occupied by a somewhat rude but warlike race of men. This country +was Thrace. Thrace was one great fertile basin or valley, sloping +toward the center in every direction, so that all the streams from the +mountains, increased by the rains which fell over the whole surface of +the ground, flowed together into one river, which meandered through +the center of the valley, and flowed out at last into the Ægean Sea. +The name of this river <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_58" id="Page_58">[Pg 58]</a></span>was the Hebrus. All this may be seen +distinctly upon the map.</p> + +<p><a name="map2" id="map2"></a></p> +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 398px;"> +<img src="images/i043small.jpg" class="ispace jpg" width="398" height="450" alt="" title="" /> +</div> + +<p class="center">[<a href="images/i043large.jpg">Enlarge</a>]</p> + +<div class="sidenote">Valley of the Danube.<br />Thrace.</div> + +<p>The Balkan, or Mount Hæmus, as it was then called, formed the great +northern frontier of Macedon and Thrace. From the summits of the +range, looking northward, the eye surveyed a vast extent of land, +constituting one of the most extensive and fertile valleys on the +globe. <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_59" id="Page_59">[Pg 59]</a></span>It was the valley of the Danube. It was inhabited, in those +days, by rude tribes whom the Greeks and Romans always designated as +barbarians. They were, at any rate, wild and warlike, and, as they had +not the art of writing, they have left us no records of their +institutions or their history. We know nothing of them, or of the +other half-civilized nations that occupied the central parts of Europe +in those days, except what their inveterate and perpetual enemies have +thought fit to tell us. According to their story, these countries were +filled with nations and tribes of a wild and half-savage character, +who could be kept in check only by the most vigorous exertion of +military power.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">Revolt among the northern nations.</div> + +<p>Soon after Alexander's return into Macedon, he learned that there were +symptoms of revolt among these nations. Philip had subdued them, and +established the kind of peace which the Greeks and Romans were +accustomed to enforce upon their neighbors. But now, as they had heard +that Philip, who had been so terrible a warrior, was no more, and that +his son, scarcely out of his teens, had succeeded to the throne, they +thought a suitable occasion had arrived to try their strength. +Alexander made immediate arrangements for moving northward with his +army to settle this question.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_60" id="Page_60">[Pg 60]</a></span></p> +<div class="sidenote">Alexander marches north.<br />Old Boreas.</div> + +<p>He conducted his forces through a part of Thrace without meeting with +any serious resistance, and approached the mountains. The soldiers +looked upon the rugged precipices and lofty summits before them with +awe. These northern mountains were the seat and throne, in the +imaginations of the Greeks and Romans, of old Boreas, the hoary god of +the north wind. They conceived of him as dwelling among those cold and +stormy summits, and making excursions in winter, carrying with him his +vast stores of frost and snow, over the southern valleys and plains. +He had wings, a long beard, and white locks, all powdered with flakes +of snow. Instead of feet, his body terminated in tails of serpents, +which, as he flew along, lashed the air, writhing from under his +robes. He was violent and impetuous in temper, rejoicing in the +devastation of winter, and in all the sublime phenomena of tempests, +cold, and snow. The Greek conception of Boreas made an impression upon +the human mind that twenty centuries have not been able to efface. The +north wind of winter is personified as Boreas to the present day in +the literature of every nation of the Western world.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">Contest among the mountains.<br />The loaded wagons.</div> + +<p>The Thracian forces had assembled in the defiles, <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_61" id="Page_61">[Pg 61]</a></span>with other troops +from the northern countries, to arrest Alexander's march, and he had +some difficulty in repelling them. They had got, it is said, some sort +of loaded wagons upon the summit of an ascent, in the pass of the +mountains, up which Alexander's forces would have to march. These +wagons were to be run down upon them as they ascended. Alexander +ordered his men to advance, notwithstanding this danger. He directed +them, where it was practicable, to open to one side and the other, and +allow the descending wagon to pass through. When this could not be +done, they were to fall down upon the ground when they saw this +strange military engine coming, and locking their shields together +over their heads, allow the wagon to roll on over them, bracing up +energetically against its weight. Notwithstanding these precautions, +and the prodigious muscular power with which they were carried into +effect, some of the men were crushed. The great body of the army was, +however, unharmed; as soon as the force of the wagons was spent, they +rushed up the ascent, and attacked their enemies with their pikes. The +barbarians fled in all directions, terrified at the force and +invulnerability of men whom loaded wagons, rolling <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_62" id="Page_62">[Pg 62]</a></span>over their bodies +down a steep descent, could not kill.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">Alexander's victorious march.<br />Mouths of the Danube.</div> + +<p>Alexander advanced from one conquest like this to another, moving +toward the northward and eastward after he had crossed the mountains, +until at length he approached the mouths of the Danube. Here one of +the great chieftains of the barbarian tribes had taken up his +position, with his family and court, and a principal part of his army, +upon an island called Peucé, which may be seen upon the <a href="#map2">map</a> at the +beginning of this chapter. This island divided the current of the +stream, and Alexander, in attempting to attack it, found that it would +be best to endeavor to effect a landing upon the upper point of it.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">Alexander resolves to cross the Danube.</div> + +<p>To make this attempt, he collected all the boats and vessels which he +could obtain, and embarked his troops in them above, directing them to +fall down with the current, and to land upon the island. This plan, +however, did not succeed very well; the current was too rapid for the +proper management of the boats. The shores, too, were lined with the +forces of the enemy, who discharged showers of spears and arrows at +the men, and pushed off the boats when they attempted to land. +Alexander at <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_63" id="Page_63">[Pg 63]</a></span>length gave up the attempt, and concluded to leave the +island, and to cross the river itself further above, and thus carry +the war into the very heart of the country.</p> + +<p>It is a serious undertaking to get a great body of men and horses +across a broad and rapid river, when the people of the country have +done all in their power to remove or destroy all possible means of +transit, and when hostile bands are on the opposite bank, to embarrass +and impede the operations by every mode in their power. Alexander, +however, advanced to the undertaking with great resolution. To cross +the Danube especially, with a military force, was, in those days, in +the estimation of the Greeks and Romans, a very great exploit. The +river was so distant, so broad and rapid, and its banks were bordered +and defended by such ferocious foes, that to cross its eddying tide, +and penetrate into the unknown and unexplored regions beyond, leaving +the broad, and deep, and rapid stream to cut off the hopes of retreat, +implied the possession of extreme self-reliance, courage, and +decision.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">Preparations.<br />The river crossed.</div> + +<p>Alexander collected all the canoes and boats which he could obtain up +and down the river. He built large rafts, attaching to them the skins +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_64" id="Page_64">[Pg 64]</a></span>of beasts sewed together and inflated, to give them buoyancy. When +all was ready, they began the transportation of the army in the night, +in a place where the enemy had not expected that the attempt would +have been made. There were a thousand horses, with their riders, and +four thousand foot soldiers, to be conveyed across. It is customary, +in such cases, to swim the horses over, leading them by lines, the +ends of which are held by men in boats. The men themselves, with all +the arms, ammunition, and baggage, had to be carried over in the boats +or upon the rafts. Before morning the whole was accomplished.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">The landing.</div> + +<p>The army landed in a field of grain. This circumstance, which is +casually mentioned by historians, and also the story of the wagons in +the passes of Mount Hæmus, proves that these northern nations were not +absolute barbarians in the sense in which that term is used at the +present day. The arts of cultivation and of construction must have +made some progress among them, at any rate; and they proved, by some +of their conflicts with Alexander, that they were well-trained and +well-disciplined soldiers.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">Northern nations subdued.</div> + +<p>The Macedonians swept down the waving grain with their pikes, to open +a way for the advance of the cavalry, and early in the morning +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_65" id="Page_65">[Pg 65]</a></span>Alexander found and attacked the army of his enemies, who were +utterly astonished at finding him on their side of the river. As may +be easily anticipated, the barbarian army was beaten in the battle +that ensued. Their city was taken. The booty was taken back across the +Danube to be distributed among the soldiers of the army. The +neighboring nations and tribes were overawed and subdued by this +exhibition of Alexander's courage and energy. He made satisfactory +treaties with them all; took hostages, where necessary, to secure the +observance of the treaties, and then recrossed the Danube and set out +on his return to Macedon.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">Alexander returns to Macedon.</div> + +<p>He found that it was <i>time</i> for him to return. The southern cities and +states of Greece had not been unanimous in raising him to the office +which his father had held. The Spartans and some others were opposed +to him. The party thus opposed were inactive and silent while +Alexander was in their country, on his first visit to southern Greece; +but after his return they began to contemplate more decisive action, +and afterward, when they heard of his having undertaken so desperate +an enterprise as going northward with his forces, and actually +crossing the Danube, they considered him as so completely <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_66" id="Page_66">[Pg 66]</a></span>out of the +way that they grew very courageous, and meditated open rebellion.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">Rebellion of Thebes.<br />Siege of the citadel.</div> + +<p>The city of Thebes did at length rebel. Philip had conquered this city +in former struggles, and had left a Macedonian garrison there in the +citadel. The name of the citadel was Cadmeia. The officers of the +garrison, supposing that all was secure, left the soldiers in the +citadel, and came, themselves, down to the city to reside. Things were +in this condition when the rebellion against Alexander's authority +broke out. They killed the officers who were in the city, and summoned +the garrison to surrender. The garrison refused, and the Thebans +besieged it.</p> + +<p>This outbreak against Alexander's authority was in a great measure the +work of the great orator Demosthenes, who spared no exertions to +arouse the southern states of Greece to resist Alexander's dominion. +He especially exerted all the powers of his eloquence in Athens in the +endeavor to bring over the Athenians to take sides against Alexander.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">Sudden appearance of Alexander.</div> + +<p>While things were in this state—the Thebans having understood that +Alexander had been killed at the north, and supposing that, at all +events, if this report should not be true, he was, without doubt, +still far away, involved in <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_67" id="Page_67">[Pg 67]</a></span>contentions with the barbarian nations, +from which it was not to be expected that he could be very speedily +extricated—the whole city was suddenly thrown into consternation by +the report that a large Macedonian army was approaching from the +north, with Alexander at its head, and that it was, in fact, close +upon them.</p> + +<p>It was now, however, too late for the Thebans to repent of what they +had done. They were far too deeply impressed with a conviction of the +decision and energy of Alexander's character, as manifested in the +whole course of his proceedings since he began to reign, and +especially by his sudden reappearance among them so soon after this +outbreak against his authority, to imagine that there was now any hope +for them except in determined and successful resistance. They shut +themselves up, therefore, in their city, and prepared to defend +themselves to the last extremity.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">He invests Thebes.<br />The Thebans refuse to surrender.</div> + +<p>Alexander advanced, and, passing round the city toward the southern +side, established his head-quarters there, so as to cut off +effectually all communication with Athens and the southern cities. He +then extended his posts all around the place so as to invest it +entirely. These preparations made, he paused before he commenced <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_68" id="Page_68">[Pg 68]</a></span>the +work of subduing the city, to give the inhabitants an opportunity to +submit, if they would, without compelling him to resort to force. The +conditions, however, which he imposed were such that the Thebans +thought it best to take their chance of resistance. They refused to +surrender, and Alexander began to prepare for the onset.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">Storming a city.</div> + +<p>He was very soon ready, and with his characteristic ardor and energy +he determined on attempting to carry the city at once by assault. +Fortified cities generally require a siege, and sometimes a very long +siege, before they can be subdued. The army within, sheltered behind +the parapets of the walls, and standing there in a position above that +of their assailants, have such great advantages in the contest that a +long time often elapses before they can be compelled to surrender. The +besiegers have to invest the city on all sides to cut off all supplies +of provisions, and then, in those days, they had to construct engines +to make a breach somewhere in the walls, through which an assaulting +party could attempt to force their way in.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">Undermining.<br />Making a breach.<br />Surrender.</div> + +<p>The time for making an assault upon a besieged city depends upon the +comparative strength of those within and without, and also, <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_69" id="Page_69">[Pg 69]</a></span>still +more, on the ardor and resolution of the besiegers. In warfare, an +army, in investing a fortified place, spends ordinarily a considerable +time in burrowing their way along in trenches, half under ground, +until they get near enough to plant their cannon where the balls can +take effect upon some part of the wall. Then some time usually elapses +before a breach is made, and the garrison is sufficiently weakened to +render an assault advisable. When, however, the time at length +arrives, the most bold and desperate portion of the army are +designated to lead the attack. Bundles of small branches of trees are +provided to fill up ditches with, and ladders for mounting embankments +and walls. The city, sometimes, seeing these preparations going on, +and convinced that the assault will be successful, surrenders before +it is made. When the besieged do thus surrender, they save themselves +a vast amount of suffering, for the carrying of a city by assault is +perhaps the most horrible scene which the passions and crimes of men +ever offer to the view of heaven.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">Carrying a city by assault.<br />Scenes of horror.</div> + +<p>It is horrible, because the soldiers, exasperated to fury by the +resistance which they meet with, and by the awful malignity of the +passions always <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_70" id="Page_70">[Pg 70]</a></span>excited in the hour of battle, if they succeed, burst +suddenly into the precincts of domestic life, and find sometimes +thousands of families—mothers, and children, and defenseless +maidens—at the mercy of passions excited to phrensy. Soldiers, under +such circumstances, can not be restrained, and no imagination can +conceive the horrors of the sacking of a city, carried by assault, +after a protracted siege. Tigers do not spring upon their prey with +greater ferocity than man springs, under such circumstances, to the +perpetration of every possible cruelty upon his fellow man. After an +ordinary battle upon an open field, the conquerors have only men, +armed like themselves, to wreak their vengeance upon. The scene is +awful enough, however, here. But in carrying a city by storm, which +takes place usually at an unexpected time, and often in the night, the +maddened and victorious assaulter suddenly burst into the sacred +scenes of domestic peace, and seclusion, and love—the very worst of +men, filled with the worst of passions, stimulated by the resistance +they have encountered, and licensed by their victory to give all these +passions the fullest and most unrestricted gratification. To plunder, +burn, destroy, and kill, are the lighter and more harmless of the +crimes they perpetrate.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_71" id="Page_71">[Pg 71]</a></span></p> +<div class="sidenote">Thebes carried by assault.<br />Great loss of life.</div> + +<p>Thebes was carried by assault. Alexander did not wait for the slow +operations of a siege. He watched a favorable opportunity, and burst +over and through the outer line of fortifications which defended the +city. The attempt to do this was very desperate, and the loss of life +great; but it was triumphantly successful. The Thebans were driven +back toward the inner wall, and began to crowd in, through the gates, +into the city, in terrible confusion. The Macedonians were close upon +them, and pursuers and pursued, struggling together, and trampling +upon and killing each other as they went, flowed in, like a boiling +and raging torrent which nothing could resist, through the open +arch-way.</p> + +<p>It was impossible to close the gates. The whole Macedonian force were +soon in full possession of the now defenseless houses, and for many +hours screams, and wailings, and cries of horror and despair testified +to the awful atrocity of the crimes attendant on the sacking of a +city. At length the soldiery were restrained. Order was restored. The +army retired to the posts assigned them, and Alexander began to +deliberate what he should do with the conquered town.</p> + +<p>He determined to destroy it—to offer, once for <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_72" id="Page_72">[Pg 72]</a></span>all, a terrible +example of the consequences of rebellion against him. The case was not +one, he considered, of the ordinary conquest of a <i>foe</i>. The states of +Greece—Thebes with the rest—had once solemnly conferred upon him the +authority against which the Thebans had now rebelled. They were +<i>traitors</i>, therefore, in his judgment, not mere enemies, and he +determined that the penalty should be utter destruction.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">Thebes destroyed.<br />The manner of doing it.</div> + +<p>But, in carrying this terrible decision into effect, he acted in a +manner so deliberate, discriminating, and cautious, as to diminish +very much the irritation and resentment which it would otherwise have +caused, and to give it its full moral effect as a measure, not of +angry resentment, but of calm and deliberate retribution—just and +proper, according to the ideas of the time. In the first place, he +released all the priests. Then, in respect to the rest of the +population, he discriminated carefully between those who had favored +the rebellion and those who had been true to their allegiance to him. +The latter were allowed to depart in safety. And if, in the case of +any family, it could be shown that one individual had been on the +Macedonian side, the single instance of fidelity outweighed the +treason of the other members, and the whole family was saved.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_73" id="Page_73">[Pg 73]</a></span></p> +<div class="sidenote">Alexander's moderation and forbearance.<br />Family of Pindar spared.</div> + +<p>And the officers appointed to carry out these provisions were liberal +in the interpretation and application of them, so as to save as many +as there could be any possible pretext for saving. The descendants and +family connections of Pindar, the celebrated poet, who has been +already mentioned as having been born in Thebes, were all pardoned +also, whichever side they may have taken in the contest. The truth +was, that Alexander, though he had the sagacity to see that he was +placed in circumstances where prodigious moral effect in strengthening +his position would be produced by an act of great severity, was swayed +by so many generous impulses, which raised him above the ordinary +excitements of irritation and revenge, that he had every desire to +make the suffering as light, and to limit it by as narrow bounds, as +the nature of the case would allow. He doubtless also had an +instinctive feeling that the moral effect itself of so dreadful a +retribution as he was about to inflict upon the devoted city would be +very much increased by forbearance and generosity, and by extreme +regard for the security and protection of those who had shown +themselves his friends.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">The number saved.</div> + +<p>After all these exceptions had been made, <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_74" id="Page_74">[Pg 74]</a></span>and the persons to whom +they applied had been dismissed, the rest of the population were sold +into slavery, and then the city was utterly and entirely destroyed. +The number thus sold was about thirty thousand, and six thousand had +been killed in the assault and storming of the city. Thus Thebes was +made a ruin and a desolation, and it remained so, a monument of +Alexander's terrible energy and decision, for twenty years.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">Efforts of Demosthenes.</div> + +<p>The effect of the destruction of Thebes upon the other cities and +states of Greece was what might have been expected. It came upon them +like a thunder-bolt. Although Thebes was the only city which had +openly revolted, there had been strong symptoms of disaffection in +many other places. Demosthenes, who had been silent while Alexander +was present in Greece, during his first visit there, had again been +endeavoring to arouse opposition to Macedonian ascendency, and to +concentrate and bring out into action the influences which were +hostile to Alexander. He said in his speeches that Alexander was a +mere boy, and that it was disgraceful for such cities as Athens, +Sparta, and Thebes to submit to his sway. Alexander had heard of these +things, and, as he was coming <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_75" id="Page_75">[Pg 75]</a></span>down into Greece, through the Straits +of Thermopylæ, before the destruction of Thebes, he said, "They say I +am a boy. I am coming to teach them that I am a man."</p> + +<div class="sidenote">The boy proves to be a man.<br />All disaffection subdued.</div> + +<p>He did teach them that he was a man. His unexpected appearance, when +they imagined him entangled among the mountains and wilds of unknown +regions in the north; his sudden investiture of Thebes; the assault; +the calm deliberations in respect to the destiny of the city, and the +slow, cautious, discriminating, but inexorable energy with which the +decision was carried into effect, all coming in such rapid succession, +impressed the Grecian commonwealth with the conviction that the +personage they had to deal with was no boy in character, whatever +might be his years. All symptoms of disaffection against the rule of +Alexander instantly disappeared, and did not soon revive again.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">Moral effect of the destruction of Thebes.</div> + +<p>Nor was this effect due entirely to the terror inspired by the +retribution which had been visited upon Thebes. All Greece was +impressed with a new admiration for Alexander's character as they +witnessed these events, in which his impetuous energy, his cool and +calm decision, his forbearance, his magnanimity, and his faithfulness +to his friends, were all so conspicuous. <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_76" id="Page_76">[Pg 76]</a></span>His pardoning the priests, +whether they had been for him or against him, made every friend of +religion incline to his favor. The same interposition in behalf of the +poet's family and descendants spoke directly to the heart of every +poet, orator, historian, and philosopher throughout the country, and +tended to make all the lovers of literature his friends. His +magnanimity, also, in deciding that one single friend of his in a +family should save that family, instead of ordaining, as a more +short-sighted conqueror would have done, that a single enemy should +condemn it, must have awakened a strong feeling of gratitude and +regard in the hearts of all who could appreciate fidelity to friends +and generosity of spirit. Thus, as the news of the destruction of +Thebes, and the selling of so large a portion of the inhabitants into +slavery, spread over the land, its effect was to turn over so great a +part of the population to a feeling of admiration of Alexander's +character, and confidence in his extraordinary powers, as to leave +only a small minority disposed to take sides with the punished rebels, +or resent the destruction of the city.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">Alexander returns to Macedon.<br />Celebrates his victories.</div> + +<p>From Thebes Alexander proceeded to the southward. Deputations from the +cities were <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_77" id="Page_77">[Pg 77]</a></span>sent to him, congratulating him on his victories, and +offering their adhesion to his cause. His influence and ascendency +seemed firmly established now in the country of the Greeks, and in due +time he returned to Macedon, and celebrated at Ægæ, which was at this +time his capital, the establishment and confirmation of his power, by +games, shows, spectacles, illuminations, and sacrifices to the gods, +offered on a scale of the greatest pomp and magnificence. He was now +ready to turn his thoughts toward the long-projected plan of the +expedition into Asia.</p> + +<hr class="large" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_78" id="Page_78">[Pg 78]</a></span></p> +<h2><a name="Chapter_IV" id="Chapter_IV"></a><span class="smcap">Chapter IV.</span></h2> + +<h2><span class="smcap">Crossing the Hellespont.</span></h2> + +<p class="center">B.C. 334</p> + +<div class="sidenote">The expedition into Asia.</div> + +<p class="n"><span style="float:left;font-size:50px;line-height:32px;padding-top:2px;padding-bottom:1px;">O</span><span style="margin-left:0%;">n</span> Alexander's arrival in Macedon, he immediately began to turn his +attention to the subject of the invasion of Asia. He was full of ardor +and enthusiasm to carry this project into effect. Considering his +extreme youth, and the captivating character of the enterprise, it is +strange that he should have exercised so much deliberation and caution +as his conduct did really evince. He had now settled every thing in +the most thorough manner, both within his dominions and among the +nations on his borders, and, as it seemed to him, the time had come +when he was to commence active preparations for the great Asiatic +campaign.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">Debates upon it.</div> + +<p>He brought the subject before his ministers and counselors. They, in +general, concurred with him in opinion. There were, however, two who +were in doubt, or rather who were, in fact, opposed to the plan, +though they expressed their non-concurrence in the form of doubts. +These two persons were Antipater and Parmenio, <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_79" id="Page_79">[Pg 79]</a></span>the venerable officers +who have been already mentioned as having served Philip so faithfully, +and as transferring, on the death of the father, their attachment and +allegiance at once to the son.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">Objections of Antipater and Parmenio.<br />Their foresight.</div> + +<p>Antipater and Parmenio represented to Alexander that if he were to go +to Asia at that time, he would put to extreme hazard all the interests +of Macedon. As he had no family, there was, of course, no direct heir +to the crown, and, in case of any misfortune happening by which his +life should be lost, Macedon would become at once the prey of +contending factions, which would immediately arise, each presenting +its own candidate for the vacant throne. The sagacity and foresight +which these statesmen evinced in these suggestions were abundantly +confirmed in the end. Alexander did die in Asia, his vast kingdom at +once fell into pieces, and it was desolated with internal commotions +and civil wars for a long period after his death.</p> + +<p>Parmenio and Antipater accordingly advised the king to postpone his +expedition. They advised him to seek a wife among the princesses of +Greece, and then to settle down quietly to the duties of domestic +life, and to the government of his kingdom for a few years; then, +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_80" id="Page_80">[Pg 80]</a></span>when every thing should have become settled and consolidated in +Greece, and his family was established in the hearts of his +countrymen, he could leave Macedon more safely. Public affairs would +go on more steadily while he lived, and, in case of his death, the +crown would descend, with comparatively little danger of civil +commotion, to his heir.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">Alexander decides to go.</div> + +<p>But Alexander was fully decided against any such policy as this. He +resolved to embark in the great expedition at once. He concluded to +make Antipater his vicegerent in Macedon during his absence, and to +take Parmenio with him into Asia. It will be remembered that Antipater +was the statesman and Parmenio the general; that is, Antipater had +been employed more by Philip in civil, and Parmenio in military +affairs, though in those days every body who was in public life was +more or less a soldier.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">Preparations.</div> + +<p>Alexander left an army of ten or twelve thousand men with Antipater +for the protection of Macedon. He organized another army of about +thirty-five thousand to go with him. This was considered a very small +army for such a vast undertaking. One or two hundred years before this +time, Darius, a king of Persia, had invaded Greece with an army of +five hundred thousand <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_81" id="Page_81">[Pg 81]</a></span>men, and yet he had been defeated and driven +back, and now Alexander was undertaking to retaliate with a great deal +less than one tenth part of the force.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">Description of Thessaly.<br />Vale of Tempe.<br />Olympus.<br />Pelion and Ossa.</div> + +<p>Of Alexander's army of thirty-five thousand, thirty thousand were foot +soldiers, and about five thousand were horse. More than half the whole +army was from Macedon. The remainder was from the southern states of +Greece. A large body of the horse was from Thessaly, which, as will be +seen on the <a href="#map2">map</a>,<a name="FNanchor_A_1" id="FNanchor_A_1"></a><a href="#Footnote_A_1" class="fnanchor">[A]</a> was a country south of Macedon. It was, in fact, +one broad expanded valley, with mountains all around. Torrents +descended from these mountains, forming streams which flowed in +currents more and more deep and slow as they descended into the +plains, and combining at last into one central river, which flowed to +the eastward, and escaped from the environage of mountains through a +most celebrated dell called the Vale of Tempe. On the north of this +valley is Olympus, and on the south the two twin mountains Pelion and +Ossa. There was an ancient story of a war in Thessaly between the +giants who were imagined to have lived there in very early days, and +the gods. The giants piled Pelion upon Ossa to <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_82" id="Page_82">[Pg 82]</a></span>enable them to get up +to heaven in their assault upon their celestial enemies. The fable has +led to a proverb which prevails in every language in Europe, by which +all extravagant and unheard-of exertions to accomplish an end is said +to be a piling of Pelion upon Ossa.</p> + +<p>Thessaly was famous for its horses and its horsemen. The slopes of the +mountains furnished the best of pasturage for the rearing of the +animals, and the plains below afforded broad and open fields for +training and exercising the bodies of cavalry formed by means of them. +The Thessalian horses were famous throughout all Greece. Bucephalus +was reared in Thessaly.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">Alexander's generosity.<br />Love of money.</div> + +<p>Alexander, as king of Macedon, possessed extensive estates and +revenues, which were his own personal property, and were independent +of the revenues of the state. Before setting out on his expedition, he +apportioned these among his great officers and generals, both those +who were to go and those who were to remain. He evinced great +generosity in this, but it was, after all, the spirit of ambition, +more than that of generosity, which led him to do it. The two great +impulses which animated him were the pleasure of doing great deeds, +and the fame and glory of having done them. These <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_83" id="Page_83">[Pg 83]</a></span>two principles are +very distinct in their nature, though often conjoined. They were +paramount and supreme in Alexander's character, and every other human +principle was subordinate to them. Money was to him, accordingly, only +a means to enable him to accomplish these ends. His distributing his +estates and revenues in the manner above described was only a +judicious appropriation of the money to the promotion of the great +ends he wished to attain; it was expenditure, not gift. It answered +admirably the end he had in view. His friends all looked upon him as +extremely generous and self-sacrificing. They asked him what he had +reserved for himself. "Hope," said Alexander.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">Religious sacrifices and spectacles.</div> + +<p>At length all things were ready, and Alexander began to celebrate the +religious sacrifices, spectacles, and shows which, in those days, +always preceded great undertakings of this kind. There was a great +ceremony in honor of Jupiter and the nine Muses, which had long been +celebrated in Macedon as a sort of annual national festival. Alexander +now caused great preparations for this festival.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">Ancient forms of worship.<br />Religious instincts.</div> + +<p>In the days of the Greeks, public worship and public amusement were +combined in one and the same series of spectacles and ceremonies. <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_84" id="Page_84">[Pg 84]</a></span>All +worship was a theatrical show, and almost all shows were forms of +worship. The religious instincts of the human heart demand some sort +of sympathy and aid, real or imaginary, from the invisible world, in +great and solemn undertakings, and in every momentous crisis in its +history. It is true that Alexander's soldiers, about to leave their +homes to go to another quarter of the globe, and into scenes of danger +and death from which it was very improbable that many of them would +ever return, had no other celestial protection to look up to than the +spirits of ancient heroes, who, they imagined, had, somehow or other, +found their final home in a sort of heaven among the summits of the +mountains, where they reigned, in some sense, over human affairs; but +this, small as it seems to us, was a great deal to them. They felt, +when sacrificing to these gods, that they were invoking their presence +and sympathy. These deities having been engaged in the same +enterprises themselves, and animated with the same hopes and fears, +the soldiers imagined that the semi-human divinities invoked by them +would take an interest in their dangers, and rejoice is their success.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">The nine Muses.</div> + +<p>The Muses, in honor of whom, as well as Jupiter,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_85" id="Page_85">[Pg 85]</a></span> this great +Macedonian festival was held, were nine singing and dancing maidens, +beautiful in countenance and form, and enchantingly graceful in all +their movements. They came, the ancients imagined, from Thrace, in the +north, and went first to Jupiter upon Mount Olympus, who made them +goddesses. Afterward they went southward, and spread over Greece, +making their residence, at last, in a palace upon Mount Parnassus, +which will be found upon the <a href="#map2">map</a> just north of the Gulf of Corinth and +west of Bœotia. They were worshiped all over Greece and Italy as +the goddesses of music and dancing. In later times particular sciences +and arts were assigned to them respectively, as history, astronomy, +tragedy, &c., though there was no distinction of this kind in early +days.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">Festivities in honor of Jupiter.<br />Spectacles and shows.</div> + +<p>The festivities in honor of Jupiter and the Muses were continued in +Macedon nine days, a number corresponding with that of the dancing +goddesses. Alexander made very magnificent preparations for the +celebration on this occasion. He had a tent made, under which, it is +said, a hundred tables could be spread; and here he entertained, day +after day, an enormous company of princes, potentates, and generals. +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_86" id="Page_86">[Pg 86]</a></span>He offered sacrifices to such of the gods as he supposed it would +please the soldiers to imagine that they had propitiated. Connected +with these sacrifices and feastings, there were athletic and military +spectacles and shows—races and wrestlings—and mock contests, with +blunted spears. All these things encouraged and quickened the ardor +and animation of the soldiers. It aroused their ambition to +distinguish themselves by their exploits, and gave them an increased +and stimulated desire for honor and fame. Thus inspirited by new +desires for human praise, and trusting in the sympathy and protection +of powers which were all that they conceived of as divine, the army +prepared to set forth from their native land, bidding it a long, and, +as it proved to most of them, a final farewell.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">Alexander's route.<br />Alexander begins his march.</div> + +<p>By following the course of Alexander's expedition upon the <a href="#map2">map</a> at the +commencement of chapter iii., it will be seen that his route lay first +along the northern coasts of the Ægean Sea. He was to pass from Europe +into Asia by crossing the Hellespont between Sestos and Abydos. He +sent a fleet of a hundred and fifty galleys, of three banks of oars +each, over the Ægean Sea, to land at Sestos, and be ready to transport +his army across the straits. The army, <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_87" id="Page_87">[Pg 87]</a></span>in the mean time, marched by +land. They had to cross the rivers which flow into the Ægean Sea on +the northern side; but as these rivers were in Macedon, and no +opposition was encountered upon the banks of them, there was no +serious difficulty in effecting the passage. When they reached Sestos, +they found the fleet ready there, awaiting their arrival.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">Romantic adventure.</div> + +<p>It is very strikingly characteristic of the mingling of poetic +sentiment and enthusiasm with calm and calculating business +efficiency, which shone conspicuously so often in Alexander's career, +that when he arrived at Sestos, and found that the ships were there, +and the army safe, and that there was no enemy to oppose his landing +on the Asiatic shore, he left Parmenio to conduct the transportation +of the troops across the water, while he himself went away in a single +galley on an excursion of sentiment and romantic adventure. A little +south of the place where his army was to cross, there lay, on the +Asiatic shore, an extended plain, on which were the ruins of Troy. Now +Troy was the city which was the scene of Homer's poems—those poems +which had excited so much interest in the mind of Alexander in his +early years; and he determined, instead of crossing the Hellespont +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_88" id="Page_88">[Pg 88]</a></span>with the main body of his army, to proceed southward in a single +galley, and land, himself, on the Asiatic shore, on the very spot +which the romantic imagination of his youth had dwelt upon so often +and so long.</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 485px;"> +<img src="images/i083small.jpg" class="ispace jpg" width="485" height="450" alt="The Plain of Troy." title="" /> +<span class="caption">The Plain of Troy.</span> +</div> + +<p class="center">[<a href="images/i083large.jpg">Enlarge</a>]</p> + +<div class="sidenote">The plain of Troy.<br />Tenedos.<br />Mount Ida.<br />The Scamander.</div> + +<p>Troy was situated upon a plain. Homer describes an island off the +coast, named Tenedos, and a mountain near called Mount Ida. There was +also a river called the Scamander. The island, the mountain, and the +river remain, preserving their original names to the present day, +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_89" id="Page_89">[Pg 89]</a></span>except that the river is now called the Mender, but, although various +vestiges of ancient ruins are found scattered about the plain, no spot +can be identified as the site of the city. Some scholars have +maintained that there probably never was such a city; that Homer +invented the whole, there being nothing real in all that he describes +except the river, the mountain, and the island. His story is, however, +that there was a great and powerful city there, with a kingdom +attached to it, and that this city was besieged by the Greeks for ten +years, at the end of which time it was taken and destroyed.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">The Trojan war.<br />Dream of Priam's wife.<br />Exposure of Paris.</div> + +<p>The story of the origin of this war is substantially this. Priam was +king of Troy. His wife, a short time before her son was born, dreamed +that at his birth the child turned into a torch and set the palace on +fire. She told this dream to the soothsayers, and asked them what it +meant. They said it must mean that her son would be the means of +bringing some terrible calamities and disasters upon the family. The +mother was terrified, and, to avert these calamities, gave the child +to a slave as soon as it was born, and ordered him to destroy it. The +slave pitied the helpless babe, and, not liking to destroy it with his +own hand, carried it to Mount Ida, and left it there in the forests to +die.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_90" id="Page_90">[Pg 90]</a></span></p><p>A she bear, roaming through the woods, found the child, and, +experiencing a feeling of maternal tenderness for it, she took care of +it, and reared it as if it had been her own offspring. The child was +found, at last, by some shepherds who lived upon the mountain, and +they adopted it as their own, robbing the brute mother of her charge. +They named the boy Paris. He grew in strength and beauty, and gave +early and extraordinary proofs of courage and energy, as if he had +imbibed some of the qualities of his fierce foster mother with the +milk she gave him. He was so remarkable for athletic beauty and manly +courage, that he not only easily won the heart of a nymph of Mount +Ida, named Œnone, whom he married, but he also attracted the +attention of the goddesses in the heavens.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">The apple of discord.</div> + +<p>At length these goddesses had a dispute which they agreed to refer to +him. The origin of the dispute was this. There was a wedding among +them, and one of them, irritated at not having been invited, had a +golden apple made, on which were engraved the words, "<span class="smcap">To be given to +the most beautiful.</span>" She threw this apple into the assembly: her +object was to make them quarrel for it. In fact, she was herself the +goddess of discord, and, independently of her cause <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_91" id="Page_91">[Pg 91]</a></span>of pique in this +case, she loved to promote disputes. It is in allusion to this ancient +tale that any subject of dispute, brought up unnecessarily among +friends, is called to this day an <i>apple</i> of discord.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">The dispute about the apple.<br />Decided in favor of Venus.</div> + +<p>Three of the goddesses claimed the apple, each insisting that she was +more beautiful than the others, and this was the dispute which they +agreed to refer to Paris. They accordingly exhibited themselves before +him in the mountains, that he might look at them and decide. They did +not, however, seem willing, either of them, to trust to an impartial +decision of the question, but each offered the judge a bribe to induce +him to decide in her favor. One promised him a kingdom, another great +fame, and the third, Venus, promised him the most beautiful woman in +the world for his wife. He decided in favor of Venus; whether because +she was justly entitled to the decision, or through the influence of +the bribe, the story does not say.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">The story of the bull.</div> + +<p>All this time Paris remained on the mountain, a simple shepherd and +herdsman, not knowing his relationship to the monarch who reigned over +the city and kingdom on the plain below. King Priam, however, about +this time, in some games which he was celebrating, offered, as a +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_92" id="Page_92">[Pg 92]</a></span>prize to the victor, the finest bull which could be obtained on Mount +Ida. On making examination, Paris was found to have the finest bull +and the king, exercising the despotic power which kings in those days +made no scruple of assuming in respect to helpless peasants, took it +away. Paris was very indignant. It happened, however, that a short +time afterward there was another opportunity to contend for the same +bull, and Paris, disguising himself as a prince, appeared in the +lists, conquered every competitor, and bore away the bull again to his +home in the fastnesses of the mountain.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">Paris restored to his parents.</div> + +<p>In consequence of this his appearance at court, the daughter of Priam, +whose name was Cassandra, became acquainted with him, and, inquiring +into his story, succeeded in ascertaining that he was her brother, the +long-lost child, that had been supposed to be put to death. King Priam +was convinced by the evidence which she brought forward, and Paris was +brought home to his father's house. After becoming established in his +new position, he remembered the promise of Venus that he should have +the most beautiful woman in the world for his wife, and he began, +accordingly, to inquire where he could find her.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_94" id="Page_94">[Pg 93-4]</a></span></p><div class="figcenter" style="width: 364px;"> +<img src="images/i089.jpg" class="ispace" width="364" height="500" alt="Paris and Helen." title="" /> +<span class="caption">Paris and Helen.</span> +</div> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_95" id="Page_95">[Pg 95]</a></span></p><div class="sidenote">Abduction of Helen.</div> + +<p>There was in Sparta, one of the cities of Southern Greece, a certain +king Menelaus, who had a youthful bride named Helen, who was famed far +and near for her beauty. Paris came to the conclusion that she was the +most lovely woman in the world, and that he was entitled, in virtue of +Venus's promise, to obtain possession of her, if he could do so by any +means whatever. He accordingly made a journey into Greece, visited +Sparta, formed an acquaintance with Helen, persuaded her to abandon +her husband and her duty, and elope with him to Troy.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">Destruction of Troy.</div> + +<p>Menelaus was indignant at this outrage. He called on all Greece to +take up arms and join him in the attempt to recover his bride. They +responded to this demand. They first sent to Priam, demanding that he +should restore Helen to her husband. Priam refused to do so, taking +part with his son. The Greeks then raised a fleet and an army, and +came to the plains of Troy, encamped before the city, and persevered +for ten long years in besieging it, when at length it was taken and +destroyed.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">Homer's writings.</div> + +<p>These stories relating to the origin of the war, however, marvelous +and entertaining as they are, were not the points which chiefly +interested the mind of Alexander. The portions of Ho<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_96" id="Page_96">[Pg 96]</a></span>mer's narratives +which most excited his enthusiasm were those relating to the +characters of the heroes who fought, on one side and on the other, at +the siege, their various adventures, and the delineations of their +motives and principles of conduct, and the emotions and excitements +they experienced in the various circumstances in which they were +placed. Homer described with great beauty and force the workings of +ambition, of resentment, of pride, of rivalry, and all those other +impulses of the human heart which would excite and control the action +of impetuous men in the circumstances in which his heroes were placed.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">Achilles.<br />The Styx.<br />Character of Achilles.</div> + +<p>Each one of the heroes whose history and adventures he gives, +possessed a well-marked and striking character, and differed in +temperament and action from the rest. Achilles was one. He was fiery, +impetuous, and implacable in character, fierce and merciless; and, +though perfectly undaunted and fearless, entirely destitute of +magnanimity. There was a river called the Styx, the waters of which +were said to have the property of making any one invulnerable. The +mother of Achilles dipped him into it in his infancy, holding him by +the heel. The heel, not having been immersed, was the only <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_97" id="Page_97">[Pg 97]</a></span>part which +could be wounded. Thus he was safe in battle, and was a terrible +warrior. He, however, quarreled with his comrades and withdrew from +their cause on slight pretexts, and then became reconciled again, +influenced by equally frivolous reasons.</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 218px;"> +<img src="images/i092.jpg" class="ispace" width="218" height="300" alt="Achilles." title="" /> +<span class="caption">Achilles.</span> +</div> + +<div class="sidenote2">Agamemnon.</div> + +<p>Agamemnon was the commander-in-chief of the Greek army. After a +certain victory, by which some captives were taken, and were to be +divided among the victors, Agamemnon was obliged to restore one, a +noble lady, who had fallen to his share, and he took away the one that +had been assigned to Achilles to replace her. This incensed Achilles, +and he withdrew <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_98" id="Page_98">[Pg 98]</a></span>for a long time from the contest; and, in consequence +of his absence, the Trojans gained great and continued victories +against the Greeks. For a long time nothing could induce Achilles to +return.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">Death of Patroclus.<br />Hector slain by Achilles.</div> + +<p>At length, however, though he would not go himself, he allowed his +intimate friend, whose name was Patroclus, to take his armor and go +into battle. Patroclus was at first successful, but was soon killed by +Hector, the brother of Paris. This aroused anger and a spirit of +revenge in the mind of Achilles. He gave up his quarrel with Agamemnon +and returned to the combat. He did not remit his exertions till he had +slain Hector, and then he expressed his brutal exultation, and +satisfied his revenge, by dragging the dead body at the wheels of his +chariot around the walls of the city. He then sold the body to the +distracted father for a ransom.</p> + +<p>It was such stories as these, which are related in the poems of Homer +with great beauty and power, that had chiefly interested the mind of +Alexander. The subjects interested him; the accounts of the +contentions, the rivalries, the exploits of these warriors, the +delineations of their character and springs of action, and the +narrations of the various incidents and events to <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_99" id="Page_99">[Pg 99]</a></span>which such a war +gave rise, were all calculated to captivate the imagination of a young +martial hero.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">Alexander proceeds to Troy.</div> + +<p>Alexander accordingly resolved that his first landing in Asia should +be at Troy. He left his army under the charge of Parmenio, to cross +from Sestos to Abydos, while he himself set forth in a single galley +to proceed to the southward. There was a port on the Trojan shore +where the Greeks had been accustomed to disembark, and he steered his +course for it. He had a bull on board his galley which he was going to +offer as a sacrifice to Neptune when half way from shore to shore.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">Neptune.</div> + +<p>Neptune was the god of the sea. It is true that the Hellespont is not +the open ocean, but it is an arm of the sea, and thus belonged +properly to the dominions which the ancients assigned to the divinity +of the waters. Neptune was conceived of by the ancients as a monarch +dwelling on the seas or upon the coasts, and riding over the waves +seated in a great shell, or sometimes in a chariot, drawn by dolphins +or sea-horses. In these excursions he was attended by a train of +sea-gods and nymphs, who, half floating, half swimming, followed him +over the billows. Instead of a scepter Neptune carried <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_100" id="Page_100">[Pg 100]</a></span>a trident. A +trident was a sort of three-pronged harpoon, such as was used in those +days by the fishermen of the Mediterranean. It was from this +circumstance, probably, that it was chosen as the badge of authority +for the god of the sea.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">Landing of Alexander.<br />Sacrifices to the gods.</div> + +<p>Alexander took the helm, and steered the galley with his own hands +toward the Asiatic shore. Just before he reached the land, he took his +place upon the prow, and threw a javelin at the shore as he approached +it, a symbol of the spirit of defiance and hostility with which he +advanced to the frontiers of the eastern world. He was also the first +to land. After disembarking his company, he offered sacrifices to the +gods, and then proceeded to visit the places which had been the scenes +of the events which Homer had described.</p> + +<p>Homer had written five hundred years before the time of Alexander, and +there is some doubt whether the ruins and the remains of cities which +our hero found there were really the scenes of the narratives which +had interested him so deeply. He, however, at any rate, believed them +to be so, and he was filled with enthusiasm and pride as he wandered +among them. He seems to have been most interested in the <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_101" id="Page_101">[Pg 101]</a></span>character of +Achilles, and he said that he envied him his happy lot in having such +a friend as Patroclus to help him perform his exploits, and such a +poet as Homer to celebrate them.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">Alexander proceeds on his march.</div> + +<p>After completing his visit upon the plain of Troy, Alexander moved +toward the northeast with the few men who had accompanied him in his +single galley. In the mean time Parmenio had crossed safely, with the +main body of the army, from Sestos to Abydos. Alexander overtook them +on their march, not far from the place of their landing. To the +northward of this place, on the left of the line of march which +Alexander was taking, was the city of Lampsacus.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">Alexander spares Lampsacus.</div> + +<p>Now a large portion of Asia Minor, although for the most part under +the dominion of Persia, had been in a great measure settled by Greeks, +and, in previous wars between the two nations, the various cities had +been in possession, sometimes of one power and sometimes of the other. +In these contests the city of Lampsacus had incurred the high +displeasure of the Greeks by rebelling, as they said, on one occasion, +against them. Alexander determined to destroy it as he passed. The +inhabitants were aware of this intention, and sent an embassador to +Alexander to implore his mercy. When the embassador <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_102" id="Page_102">[Pg 102]</a></span>approached, +Alexander, knowing his errand, uttered a declaration in which he bound +himself by a solemn oath not to grant the request he was about to +make. "I have come," said the embassador, "to implore you to <i>destroy</i> +Lampsacus." Alexander, pleased with the readiness of the embassador in +giving his language such a sudden turn, and perhaps influenced by his +oath, spared the city.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">Arrival at the Granicus.</div> + +<p>He was now fairly in Asia. The Persian forces were gathering to attack +him, but so unexpected and sudden had been his invasion that they were +not prepared to meet him at his arrival, and he advanced without +opposition till he reached the banks of the little river Granicus.</p> + +<hr class="large" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_103" id="Page_103">[Pg 103]</a></span></p> +<h2><a name="Chapter_V" id="Chapter_V"></a><span class="smcap">Chapter V.</span></h2> + +<h2><span class="smcap">Campaign in Asia Minor.</span></h2> + +<p class="center">B.C. 334-333</p> + +<div class="sidenote">Alexander hemmed in by Mount Ida and the Granicus.</div> + +<p class="n"><span style="float:left;font-size:50px;line-height:32px;padding-top:2px;padding-bottom:1px;">A</span><span style="margin-left:0%;">lthough</span> Alexander had landed safely on the Asiatic shore, the way was +not yet fairly open for him to advance into the interior of the +country. He was upon a sort of plain, which was separated from the +territory beyond by natural barriers. On the south was the range of +lofty land called Mount Ida. From the northeastern slopes of this +mountain there descended a stream which flowed north into the sea, +thus hemming Alexander's army in. He must either scale the mountain or +cross the river before he could penetrate into the interior.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">The Granicus.</div> + +<p>He thought it would be easiest to cross the river. It is very +difficult to get a large body of horsemen and of heavy-armed soldiers, +with all their attendants and baggage, over high elevations of land. +This was the reason why the army turned to the northward after landing +upon the Asiatic shore. Alexander thought the Granicus less of an +obstacle than Mount <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_104" id="Page_104">[Pg 104]</a></span>Ida. It was not a large stream, and was easily +fordable.</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 485px;"> +<img src="images/i083small.jpg" class="ispace jpg" width="485" height="450" alt="The Plain of Troy." title="" /> +<span class="caption">The Granicus.</span> +</div> + +<p class="center">[<a href="images/i083large.jpg">Enlarge</a>]</p> + +<div class="sidenote">Prodromi.</div> + +<p>It was the custom in those days, as it is now when armies are +marching, to send forward small bodies of men in every direction to +explore the roads, remove obstacles, and discover sources of danger. +These men are called, in modern times, <i>scouts</i>; in Alexander's day, +and in the Greek language, they were called <i>prodromi</i>, which means +forerunners. It is the duty of these pioneers to send messengers back +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_105" id="Page_105">[Pg 105]</a></span>continually to the main body of the army, informing the officers of +every thing important which comes under their observation.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">Alexander stopped at the Granicus.<br />Council called.</div> + +<p>In this case, when the army was gradually drawing near to the river, +the <i>prodromi</i> came in with the news that they had been to the river, +and found the whole opposite shore, at the place of crossing, lined +with Persian troops, collected there to dispute the passage. The army +continued their advance, while Alexander called the leading generals +around him, to consider what was to be done.</p> + +<p>Parmenio recommended that they should not attempt to pass the river +immediately. The Persian army consisted chiefly of cavalry. Now +cavalry, though very terrible as an enemy on the field of battle by +day, are peculiarly exposed and defenseless in an encampment by night. +The horses are scattered, feeding or at rest. The arms of the men are +light, and they are not accustomed to fighting on foot; and on a +sudden incursion of an enemy at midnight into their camp, their horses +and their horsemanship are alike useless, and they fall an easy prey +to resolute invaders. Parmenio thought, therefore, that the Persians +would not dare to remain and encamp many days in the vicinity <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_106" id="Page_106">[Pg 106]</a></span>of +Alexander's army, and that, accordingly, if they waited a little, the +enemy would retreat, and Alexander could then cross the river without +incurring the danger of a battle.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">Alexander resolves to advance.<br />His motives.</div> + +<p>But Alexander was unwilling to adopt any such policy. He felt +confident that his army was courageous and strong enough to march on, +directly through the river, ascend the bank upon the other side, and +force their way through all the opposition which the Persians could +make. He knew, too, that if this were done it would create a strong +sensation throughout the whole country, impressing every one with a +sense of the energy and power of the army which he was conducting, and +would thus tend to intimidate the enemy, and facilitate all future +operations. But this was not all; he had a more powerful motive still +for wishing to march right on, across the river, and force his way +through the vast bodies of cavalry on the opposite shore, and this was +the pleasure of performing the exploit.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">The Macedonian phalanx.<br />Its organization.</div> + +<p>Accordingly, as the army advanced to the banks, they maneuvered to +form in order of battle, and prepared to continue their march as if +there were no obstacle to oppose them. The general order of battle of +the Macedonian army <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_107" id="Page_107">[Pg 107]</a></span>was this. There was a certain body of troops, +armed and organized in a peculiar manner, called the Phalanx. This +body was placed in the center. The men composing it were very heavily +armed. They had shields upon the left arm, and they carried spears +sixteen feet long, and pointed with iron, which they held firmly in +their two hands, with the points projecting far before them. The men +were arranged in lines, one behind the other, and all facing the +enemy—sixteen lines, and a thousand in each line, or, as it is +expressed in military phrase, a thousand in rank and sixteen in file, +so that the phalanx contained sixteen thousand men.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">Formidable character of the phalanx.<br />Is irresistible.</div> + +<p>The spears were so long that when the men stood in close order, the +rear ranks being brought up near to those before them, the points of +the spears of eight or ten of the ranks projected in front, forming a +bristling wall of points of steel, each one of which was held in its +place by the strong arms of an athletic and well-trained soldier. This +wall no force which could in those days be brought against it could +penetrate. Men, horses, elephants, every thing that attempted to rush +upon it, rushed only to their own destruction. Every spear, feeling +the impulse of the vigorous arms which held it, seemed to <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_108" id="Page_108">[Pg 108]</a></span>be alive, +and darted into its enemy, when an enemy was at hand, as if it felt +itself the fierce hostility which directed it. If the enemy remained +at a distance, and threw javelins or darts at the phalanx, they fell +harmless, stopped by the shields which the soldiers wore upon the left +arm, and which were held in such a manner as to form a system of +scales, which covered and protected the whole mass, and made the men +almost invulnerable. The phalanx was thus, when only defending itself +and in a state of rest, an army and a fortification all in one, and it +was almost impregnable. But when it took an aggressive form, put +itself in motion, and advanced to an attack, it was infinitely more +formidable. It became then a terrible monster, covered with scales of +brass, from beneath which there projected forward ten thousand living, +darting points of iron. It advanced deliberately and calmly, but with +a prodigious momentum and force. There was nothing human in its +appearance at all. It was a huge animal, ferocious, dogged, stubborn, +insensible to pain, knowing no fear, and bearing down with resistless +and merciless destruction upon every thing that came in its way. The +phalanx was the center and soul of Alexander's army. Powerful <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_109" id="Page_109">[Pg 109]</a></span>and +impregnable as it was, however, in ancient days, it would be helpless +and defenseless on a modern battle-field. Solid balls of iron, flying +through the air with a velocity which makes them invisible, would tear +their way through the pikes and the shields, and the bodies of the men +who bore them, without even feeling the obstruction.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">Divisions of the phalanx.<br />Its position in battle.</div> + +<p>The phalanx was subdivided into brigades, regiments, and battalions, +and regularly officered. In marching, it was separated into these its +constituent parts, and sometimes in battle it acted in divisions. It +was stationed in the center of the army on the field, and on the two +sides of it were bodies of cavalry and foot soldiers, more lightly +armed than the soldiers of the phalanx, who could accordingly move +with more alertness and speed, and carry their action readily wherever +it might be called for. Those troops on the sides were called the +wings. Alexander himself was accustomed to command one wing and +Parmenio the other, while the phalanx crept along slowly but terribly +between.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">Battle of the Granicus.</div> + +<p>The army, thus arranged and organized, advanced to the river. It was a +broad and shallow stream. The Persians had assembled in vast numbers +on the opposite shore. Some historians <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_110" id="Page_110">[Pg 110]</a></span>say there were one hundred +thousand men, others say two hundred thousand, and others six hundred +thousand. However this may be, there is no doubt their numbers were +vastly superior to those of Alexander's army, which it will be +recollected was less than forty thousand. There was a narrow plain on +the opposite side of the river, next to the shore, and a range of +hills beyond. The Persian cavalry covered the plain, and were ready to +dash upon the Macedonian troops the moment they should emerge from the +water and attempt to ascend the bank.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">Defeat of the Persians.</div> + +<p>The army, led by Alexander, descended into the stream, and moved on +through the water. They encountered the onset of their enemies on the +opposite shore. A terrible and a protracted struggle ensued, but the +coolness, courage, and strength of Alexander's army carried the day. +The Persians were driven back, the Greeks effected their landing, +reorganized and formed on the shore, and the Persians, finding that +all was lost, fled in all directions.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">Alexander's prowess.<br />His imminent danger.</div> + +<p>Alexander himself took a conspicuous and a very active part in the +contest. He was easily recognized on the field of battle by his dress, +and by a white plume which he wore in his helmet. He exposed himself +to the most imminent danger. <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_111" id="Page_111">[Pg 111]</a></span>At one time, when desperately engaged +with a troop of horse, which had galloped down upon him, a Persian +horseman aimed a blow at his head with a sword. Alexander saved his +head from the blow, but it took off his plume and a part of his +helmet. Alexander immediately thrust his antagonist through the body. +At the same moment, another horseman, on another side, had his sword +raised, and would have killed Alexander before he could have turned to +defend himself, had no help intervened; but just at this instant a +third combatant, one of Alexander's friends, seeing the danger, +brought down so terrible a blow upon the shoulder of this second +assailant as to separate his arm from his body.</p> + +<p>Such are the stories that are told. They may have been literally and +fully true, or they may have been exaggerations of circumstances +somewhat resembling them which really occurred, or they may have been +fictitious altogether. Great generals, like other great men, have +often the credit of many exploits which they never perform. It is the +special business of poets and historians to magnify and embellish the +actions of the great, and this art was understood as well in ancient +days as it is now.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_112" id="Page_112">[Pg 112]</a></span></p><p>We must remember, too, in reading the accounts of these transactions, +that it is only the Greek side of the story that we hear. The Persian +narratives have not come down to us. At any rate, the Persian army was +defeated, and that, too, without the assistance of the phalanx. The +horsemen and the light troops were alone engaged. The phalanx could +not be formed, nor could it act in such a position. The men, on +emerging from the water, had to climb up the banks, and rush on to the +attack of an enemy consisting of squadrons of horse ready to dash at +once upon them.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">Results of the battle.<br />Spoils sent to Greece.</div> + +<p>The Persian army was defeated and driven away. Alexander did not +pursue them. He felt that he had struck a very heavy blow. The news of +this defeat of the Persians would go with the speed of the wind all +over Asia Minor, and operate most powerfully in his favor. He sent +home to Greece an account of the victory, and with the account he +forwarded three hundred suits of armor, taken from the Persian +horsemen killed on the field. These suits of armor were to be hung up +in the Parthenon, a great temple at Athens; the most conspicuous +position for them, perhaps, which all Europe could afford.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_113" id="Page_113">[Pg 113]</a></span></p><div class="sidenote">Memnon overruled.</div> + +<p>The name of the Persian general who commanded at the battle of the +Granicus was Memnon. He had been opposed to the plan of hazarding a +battle. Alexander had come to Asia with no provisions and no money. He +had relied on being able to sustain his army by his victories. Memnon, +therefore, strongly urged that the Persians should retreat slowly, +carrying off all the valuable property, and destroying all that could +not be removed, taking especial care to leave no provisions behind +them. In this way he thought that the army of Alexander would be +reduced by privation and want, and would, in the end, fall an easy +prey. His opinion was, however, overruled by the views of the other +commanders, and the battle of the Granicus was the consequence.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">Alexander visits the wounded.</div> + +<p>Alexander encamped to refresh his army and to take care of the +wounded. He went to see the wounded men one by one, inquired into the +circumstances of each case, and listened to each one who was able to +talk, while he gave an account of his adventures in the battle, and +the manner in which he received his wound. To be able thus to tell +their story to their general, and to see him listening to it with +interest and pleasure, filled their hearts with pride and joy; <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_114" id="Page_114">[Pg 114]</a></span>and +the whole army was inspired with the highest spirit of enthusiasm, and +with eager desires to have another opportunity occur in which they +could encounter danger and death in the service of such a leader. It +is in such traits as these that the true greatness of the soul of +Alexander shines. It must be remembered that all this time he was but +little more than twenty-one. He was but just of age.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">Alexander resumes his march.<br />The country surrenders.</div> + +<p>From his encampment on the Granicus Alexander turned to the southward, +and moved along on the eastern shores of the Ægean Sea. The country +generally surrendered to him without opposition. In fact, it was +hardly Persian territory at all. The inhabitants were mainly of Greek +extraction, and had been sometimes under Greek and sometimes under +Persian rule. The conquest of the country resulted simply in a change +of the executive officer of each province. Alexander took special +pains to lead the people to feel that they had nothing to fear from +him. He would not allow the soldiers to do any injury. He protected +all private property. He took possession only of the citadels, and of +such governmental property as he found there, and he continued the +same taxes, the same laws, and the same tribunals as had existed +before <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_115" id="Page_115">[Pg 115]</a></span>his invasion. The cities and the provinces accordingly +surrendered to him as he passed along, and in a very short time all +the western part of Asia Minor submitted peacefully to his sway.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">Incidents.<br />Alexander's generosity.</div> + +<p>The narrative of this progress, as given by the ancient historians, is +diversified by a great variety of adventures and incidents, which give +great interest to the story, and strikingly illustrate the character +of Alexander and the spirit of the times. In some places there would +be a contest between the Greek and the Persian parties before +Alexander's arrival. At Ephesus the animosity had been so great that a +sort of civil war had broken out. The Greek party had gained the +ascendency, and were threatening a general massacre of the Persian +inhabitants. Alexander promptly interposed to protect them, though +they were his enemies. The intelligence of this act of forbearance and +generosity spread all over the land, and added greatly to the +influence of Alexander's name, and to the estimation in which he was +held.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">Omens.<br />The eagle on the mast.<br />Interpretations.</div> + +<p>It was the custom in those days for the mass of the common soldiers to +be greatly influenced by what they called <i>omens</i>, that is, signs and +tokens which they observed in the flight or the <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_116" id="Page_116">[Pg 116]</a></span>actions of birds, and +other similar appearances. In one case, the fleet, which had come +along the sea, accompanying the march of the army on land, was pent up +in a harbor by a stronger Persian fleet outside. One of the vessels of +the Macedonian fleet was aground. An eagle lighted upon the mast, and +stood perched there for a long time, looking toward the sea. Parmenio +said that, as the eagle looked toward the sea, it indicated that +victory lay in that quarter, and he recommended that they should arm +their ships and push boldly out to attack the Persians. But Alexander +maintained that, as the eagle alighted on a ship which was aground, it +indicated that they were to look for their success on the shore. The +omens could thus almost always be interpreted any way, and sagacious +generals only sought in them the means of confirming the courage and +confidence of their soldiers, in respect to the plans which they +adopted under the influence of other considerations altogether. +Alexander knew very well that he was not a sailor, and had no desire +to embark in contests from which, however they might end, he would +himself personally obtain no glory.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">Approach of winter.<br />The newly married permitted to go home.</div> + +<p>When the winter came on, Alexander and <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_117" id="Page_117">[Pg 117]</a></span>his army were about three or +four hundred miles from home; and, as he did not intend to advance +much farther until the spring should open, he announced to the army +that all those persons, both officers and soldiers who had been +married within the year, might go home if they chose, and spend the +winter with their brides, and return to the army in the spring. No +doubt this was an admirable stroke of policy; for, as the number could +not be large, their absence could not materially weaken his force, and +they would, of course, fill all Greece with tales of Alexander's +energy and courage, and of the nobleness and generosity of his +character. It was the most effectual way possible of disseminating +through Europe the most brilliant accounts of what he had already +done.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">A detachment of bridegrooms.</div> + +<p>Besides, it must have awakened a new bond of sympathy and +fellow-feeling between himself and his soldiers, and greatly increased +the attachment to him felt both by those who went and those who +remained. And though Alexander must have been aware of all these +advantages of the act, still no one could have thought of or adopted +such a plan unless he was accustomed to consider and regard, in his +dealings with others, the feelings and affections of the heart, and +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_118" id="Page_118">[Pg 118]</a></span>to cherish a warm sympathy for them. The bridegroom soldiers, full of +exultation and pleasure, set forth on their return to Greece, in a +detachment under the charge of three generals, themselves bridegrooms +too.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">Taurus.<br />Passage through the sea.</div> + +<p>Alexander, however, had no idea of remaining idle during the winter. +He marched on from province to province, and from city to city, +meeting with every variety of adventures. He went first along the +southern coast, until at length he came to a place where a mountain +chain, called Taurus, comes down to the sea-coast, where it terminates +abruptly in cliffs and precipices, leaving only a narrow beach between +them and the water below. This beach was sometimes covered and +sometimes bare. It is true, there is very little tide in the +Mediterranean, but the level of the water along the shores is altered +considerably by the long-continued pressure exerted in one direction +or another by winds and storms. The water was <i>up</i> when Alexander +reached this pass; still he determined to march his army through it. +There was another way, back among the mountains, but Alexander seemed +disposed to gratify the love of adventure which his army felt, by +introducing them to a novel scene of danger. They accordingly <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_119" id="Page_119">[Pg 119]</a></span>defiled +along under these cliffs, marching, as they say, sometimes up to the +waist in water, the swell rolling in upon them all the time from the +offing.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">Hardships.<br />The Meander.</div> + +<p>Having at length succeeded in passing safely round this frowning +buttress of the mountains, Alexander turned northward, and advanced +into the very heart of Asia Minor. In doing this he had to pass <i>over</i> +the range which he had come <i>round</i> before; and, as it was winter, his +army were, for a time, enveloped in snows and storms among the wild +and frightful defiles. They had here, in addition to the dangers and +hardships of the way and of the season, to encounter the hostility of +their foes, as the tribes who inhabited these mountains assembled to +dispute the passage. Alexander was victorious, and reached a valley +through which there flows a river which has handed down its name to +the English language and literature. This river was the Meander. Its +beautiful windings through verdant and fertile valleys were so +renowned, that every stream which imitates its example is said to +<i>meander</i> to the present day.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">Gordium.</div> + +<p>During all this time Parmenio had remained in the western part of Asia +Minor with a considerable body of the army. As the spring approached, +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_120" id="Page_120">[Pg 120]</a></span>Alexander sent him orders to go to Gordium, whither he was himself +proceeding, and meet him there. He also directed that the detachment +which had gone home should, on recrossing the Hellespont, on their +return, proceed eastward to Gordium, thus making that city the general +rendezvous for the commencement of his next campaign.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">Story of the Gordian knot.</div> + +<p>One reason why Alexander desired to go to Gordium was that he wished +to untie the famous Gordian knot. The story of the Gordian knot was +this. Gordius was a sort of mountain farmer. One day he was plowing, +and an eagle came down and alighted upon his yoke, and remained there +until he had finished his plowing. This was an omen, but what was the +signification of it? Gordius did not know, and he accordingly went to +a neighboring town in order to consult the prophets and soothsayers. +On his way he met a damsel, who, like Rebecca in the days of Abraham, +was going forth to draw water. Gordius fell into conversation with +her, and related to her the occurrence which had interested him so +strongly. The maiden advised him to go back and offer a sacrifice to +Jupiter. Finally, she consented to go back with him and aid him. The +affair ended in her becoming his <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_121" id="Page_121">[Pg 121]</a></span>wife, and they lived together in +peace for many years upon their farm.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">Midas.<br />Gordius made king.</div> + +<p>They had a son named Midas. The father and mother were accustomed to +go out sometimes in their cart or wagon, drawn by the oxen, Midas +driving. One day they were going into the town in this way, at a time +when it happened that there was an assembly convened, which was in a +state of great perplexity on account of the civil dissensions and +contests which prevailed in the country. They had just inquired of an +oracle what they should do. The oracle said that "a cart would bring +them a king, who would terminate their eternal broils." Just then +Midas came up, driving the cart in which his father and mother were +seated. The assembly thought at once that this must be the cart meant +by the oracle, and they made Gordius king by acclamation. They took +the cart and the yoke to preserve as sacred relics, consecrating them +to Jupiter; and Gordius tied the yoke to the pole of the cart by a +thong of leather, making a knot so close and complicated that nobody +could untie it again. It was called the Gordian knot. The oracle +afterward said that whoever should untie this knot should become +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_122" id="Page_122">[Pg 122]</a></span>monarch of all Asia. Thus far, nobody had succeeded.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">Alexander cuts the knot.</div> + +<p>Alexander felt a great desire to see this knot and try what he could +do. He went, accordingly, into the temple where the sacred cart had +been deposited, and, after looking at the knot, and satisfying himself +that the task of untying it was hopeless, he cut it to pieces with his +sword. How far the circumstances of this whole story are true, and how +far fictitious, no one can tell; the story itself, however, as thus +related, has come down from generation to generation, in every country +of Europe, for two thousand years, and any extrication of one's self +from a difficulty by violent means has been called cutting the Gordian +knot to the present day.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_124" id="Page_124">[Pg 123-4]</a></span></p><div class="figcenter" style="width: 500px;"> +<img src="images/i119.jpg" class="ispace jpg" width="500" height="285" alt="The Bathing in the River Cyndus." title="" /> +<span class="caption">The Bathing in the River Cyndus.</span> +</div> + +<div class="sidenote2">He resumes his march.</div> + +<p>At length the whole army was assembled, and the king recommenced his +progress. He went on successfully for some weeks, moving in a +southeasterly direction, and bringing the whole country under his +dominion, until, at length, when he reached Tarsus, an event occurred +which nearly terminated his career. There were some circumstances +which caused him to press forward with the utmost effort in +approaching Tarsus, and, as the day was warm, he got very much +overcome with heat and fatigue. In <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_125" id="Page_125">[Pg 125]</a></span>this state, he went and plunged suddenly into the River Cydnus to +bathe.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">Alexander's bath in the Cydnus.</div> + +<p>Now the Cydnus is a small stream, flowing by Tarsus, and it comes down +from Mount Taurus at a short distance back from the city. Such streams +are always very cold. Alexander was immediately seized with a very +violent chill, and was taken out of the water shivering excessively, +and, at length, fainted away. They thought he was dying. They bore him +to his tent, and, as tidings of their leader's danger spread through +the camp, the whole army, officers and soldiers, were thrown into the +greatest consternation and grief.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">His sickness.<br />Alexander's physician Philip.<br />Suspicions of poison.</div> + +<p>A violent and protracted fever came on. In the course of it, an +incident occurred which strikingly illustrates the boldness and +originality of Alexander's character. The name of his physician was +Philip. Philip had been preparing a particular medicine for him, +which, it seems, required some days to make ready. Just before it was +presented, Alexander received a letter from Parmenio, informing him +that he had good reason to believe that Philip had been bribed by the +Persians to murder him, during his sickness, by administering poison +in the name of medicine. He wrote, he said, to put <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_126" id="Page_126">[Pg 126]</a></span>him on his guard +against any medicine which Philip might offer him.</p> + +<p>Alexander put the letter under his pillow, and communicated its +contents to no one. At length, when the medicine was ready, Philip +brought it in. Alexander took the cup containing it with one hand, and +with the other he handed Philip the communication which he had +received from Parmenio, saying, "Read that letter." As soon as Philip +had finished reading it, and was ready to look up, Alexander drank off +the draught in full, and laid down the cup with an air of perfect +confidence that he had nothing to fear.</p> + +<p>Some persons think that Alexander watched the countenance of his +physician while he was reading the letter, and that he was led to take +the medicine by his confidence in his power to determine the guilt or +the innocence of a person thus accused by his looks. Others suppose +that the act was an expression of his implicit faith in the integrity +and fidelity of his servant, and that he intended it as testimony, +given in a very pointed and decisive, and, at the same time, delicate +manner, that he was not suspicious of his friends, or easily led to +distrust their faithfulness. Philip was, at any rate, extremely +gratified at the procedure, and Alexander recovered.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_127" id="Page_127">[Pg 127]</a></span></p><div class="sidenote">Asia subdued.<br />The plain of Issus.</div> + +<p>Alexander had now traversed the whole extent of Asia Minor, and had +subdued the entire country to his sway. He was now advancing to +another district, that of Syria and Palestine, which lies on the +eastern shores of the Mediterranean Sea. To enter this new territory, +he had to pass over a narrow plain which lay between the mountains and +the sea, at a place called Issus. Here he was met by the main body of +the Persian army, and the great battle of Issus was fought. This +battle will be the subject of the next chapter.</p> + +<hr class="large" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_128" id="Page_128">[Pg 128]</a></span></p> +<h2><a name="Chapter_VI" id="Chapter_VI"></a><span class="smcap">Chapter VI.</span></h2> + +<h2><span class="smcap">Defeat of Darius.</span></h2> + +<p class="center">B.C. 333</p> + +<div class="sidenote">Darius's opinion of Alexander.</div> + +<p class="n"><span style="float:left;font-size:50px;line-height:32px;padding-top:2px;padding-bottom:1px;">T</span><span style="margin-left:0%;">hus</span> far Alexander had had only the lieutenants and generals of the +Persian monarch to contend with. Darius had at first looked upon the +invasion of his vast dominions by such a mere boy, as he called him, +and by so small an army, with contempt. He sent word to his generals +in Asia Minor to seize the young fool, and send him to Persia bound +hand and foot. By the time, however, that Alexander had possessed +himself of all Asia Minor, Darius began to find that, though young, he +was no fool, and that it was not likely to be very easy to seize him.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">He prepares to meet him.<br />Greek mercenaries.</div> + +<p>Accordingly, Darius collected an immense army himself, and advanced to +meet the Macedonians in person. Nothing could exceed the pomp and +magnificence of his preparations. There were immense numbers of +troops, and they were of all nations. There were even a great many +Greeks among his forces, many of them enlisted from the Greeks of Asia +Minor. There were some from Greece itself—mercenaries, <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_129" id="Page_129">[Pg 129]</a></span>as they were +called; that is, soldiers who fought for pay, and who were willing to +enter into any service which would pay them best.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">Counsel of Charidemus.</div> + +<p>There were even some Greek officers and counselors in the family and +court of Darius. One of them, named Charidemus, offended the king very +much by the free opinion which he expressed of the uselessness of all +his pomp and parade in preparing for an encounter with such an enemy +as Alexander. "Perhaps," said Charidemus, "you may not be pleased with +my speaking to you plainly, but if I do not do it now, it will be too +late hereafter. This great parade and pomp, and this enormous +multitude of men, might be formidable to your Asiatic neighbors; but +such sort of preparation will be of little avail against Alexander and +his Greeks. Your army is resplendent with purple and gold. No one who +had not seen it could conceive of its magnificence; but it will not be +of any avail against the terrible energy of the Greeks. Their minds +are bent on something very different from idle show. They are intent +on securing the substantial excellence of their weapons, and on +acquiring the discipline and the hardihood essential for the most +efficient use of them. They will despise all your parade of purple and +gold. <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_130" id="Page_130">[Pg 130]</a></span>They will not even value it as plunder. They glory in their +ability to dispense with all the luxuries and conveniences of life. +They live upon the coarsest food. At night they sleep upon the bare +ground. By day they are always on the march. They brave hunger, cold, +and every species of exposure with pride and pleasure, having the +greatest contempt for any thing like softness and effeminacy of +character. All this pomp and pageantry, with inefficient weapons, and +inefficient men to wield them, will be of no avail against their +invincible courage and energy; and the best disposition that you can +make of all your gold, and silver, and other treasures, is to send it +away and procure good soldiers with it, if indeed gold and silver will +procure them."</p> + +<div class="sidenote">Darius's displeasure at Charidemus.<br />He condemns him to death.</div> + +<p>The Greeks were habituated to energetic speaking as well as acting, +but Charidemus did not sufficiently consider that the Persians were +not accustomed to hear such plain language as this. Darius was very +much displeased. In his anger he condemned him to death. "Very well," +said Charidemus, "I can die. But my avenger is at hand. My advice is +good, and Alexander will soon punish you for not regarding it."</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_131" id="Page_131">[Pg 131]</a></span></p><div class="sidenote">Magnificence of Darius's army.<br />Worship of the sun.</div> + +<p>Very gorgeous descriptions are given of the pomp and magnificence of +the army of Darius, as he commenced his march from the Euphrates to +the Mediterranean. The Persians worship the sun and fire. Over the +king's tent there was an image of the sun in crystal, and supported in +such a manner as to be in the view of the whole army. They had also +silver altars, on which they kept constantly burning what they called +the sacred fire. These altars were borne by persons appointed for the +purpose, who were clothed in magnificent costumes. Then came a long +procession of priests and magi, who were dressed also in very splendid +robes. They performed the services of public worship. Following them +came a chariot consecrated to the sun. It was drawn by white horses, +and was followed by a single white horse of large size and noble form, +which was a sacred animal, being called the horse of the sun. The +equerries, that is, the attendants who had charge of this horse, were +also all dressed in white, and each carried a golden rod in his hand.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">The Kinsmen.<br />The Immortals.</div> + +<p>There were bodies of troops distinguished from the rest, and occupying +positions of high honor, but these were selected and advanced above +the others, not on account of their courage, <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_132" id="Page_132">[Pg 132]</a></span>or strength, or superior +martial efficiency, but from considerations connected with their +birth, and rank, and other aristocratic qualities. There was one body +called the Kinsmen, who were the relatives of the king, or, at least, +so considered, though, as there were fifteen thousand of them, it +would seem that the relationship could not have been, in all cases, +very near. They were dressed with great magnificence, and prided +themselves on their rank, their wealth, and the splendor of their +armor. There was also a corps called the Immortals. They were ten +thousand in number. They wore a dress of gold tissue, which glittered +with spangles and precious stones.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">Appearance of Darius.<br />Costly apparel of Darius.</div> + +<p>These bodies of men, thus dressed, made an appearance more like that +of a civic procession, on an occasion of ceremony and rejoicing, than +like the march of an army. The appearance of the king in his chariot +was still more like an exhibition of pomp and parade. The carriage was +very large, elaborately carved and gilded, and ornamented with statues +and sculptures. Here the king sat on a very elevated seat, in sight of +all. He was clothed in a vest of purple, striped with silver, and over +his vest he wore a robe glittering with gold and precious <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_133" id="Page_133">[Pg 133]</a></span>stones. +Around his waist was a golden girdle, from which was suspended his +cimeter—a species of sword—the scabbard of which was resplendent +with gems. He wore a tiara upon his head of very costly and elegant +workmanship, and enriched, like the rest of his dress, with brilliant +ornaments. The guards who preceded and followed him had pikes of +silver, mounted and tipped with gold.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">His family.</div> + +<p>It is very extraordinary that King Darius took his wife and all his +family with him, and a large portion of his treasures, on this +expedition against Alexander. His mother, whose name was Sysigambis, +was in his family, and she and his wife came, each in her own chariot, +immediately after the king. Then there were fifteen carriages filled +with the children and their attendants, and three or four hundred +ladies of the court, all dressed like queens. After the family there +came a train of many hundreds of camels and mules, carrying the royal +treasures.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">Darius advances to meet Alexander.</div> + +<p>It was in this style that Darius set out upon his expedition, and he +advanced by a slow progress toward the westward, until at length he +approached the shores of the Mediterranean Sea. He left his treasures +in the city of Damascus, <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_134" id="Page_134">[Pg 134]</a></span>where they were deposited under the charge +of a sufficient force to protect them, as he supposed. He then +advanced to meet Alexander, going himself from Syria toward Asia Minor +just at the time that Alexander was coming from Asia Minor into Syria.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">Map of the plain of Issus.</div> + +<p><a name="map3" id="map3"></a></p> +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 391px;"> +<img src="images/i129small.jpg" class="ispace jpg" width="391" height="450" alt="The Plain of Troy." title="" /> +<span class="caption">Plain of Issus.</span> +</div> + +<p class="center">[<a href="images/i129large.jpg">Enlarge</a>]</p> + +<div class="sidenote">Mount Taurus.<br />Route of Darius.</div> + +<p>It will be observed by looking upon the <a href="#map3">map</a>, <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_135" id="Page_135">[Pg 135]</a></span>that the chain of +mountains called Mount Taurus extends down near to the coast, at the +northeastern corner of the Mediterranean. Among these mountains there +are various tracts of open country, through which an army may march to +and fro, between Syria and Asia Minor. Now it happened that Darius, in +going toward the west, took a more inland route than Alexander, who, +on coming eastward, kept nearer to the sea. Alexander did not know +that Darius was so near; and as for Darius, he was confident that +Alexander was retreating before him; for, as the Macedonian army was +so small, and his own forces constituted such an innumerable host, the +idea that Alexander would remain to brave a battle was, in his +opinion, entirely out of the question. He had, therefore, no doubt +that Alexander was retreating. It is, of course, always difficult for +two armies, fifty miles apart, to obtain correct ideas of each other's +movements. All the ordinary intercommunications of the country are of +course stopped, and each general has his scouts out, with orders to +intercept all travelers, and to interrupt the communication of +intelligence by every means in their power.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">Situation of Issus.<br />The armies pass each other.</div> + +<p>In consequence of these and other circumstances <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_136" id="Page_136">[Pg 136]</a></span>of a similar nature, +it happened that Alexander and Darius actually passed each other, +without either of them being aware of it. Alexander advanced into +Syria by the plains of Issus, marked <i>a</i> upon the <a href="#map3">map</a>, and a narrow +pass beyond, called the Gates of Syria, while Darius went farther to +the north, and arrived at Issus after Alexander had left it. Here each +army learned to their astonishment that their enemy was in their rear. +Alexander could not credit this report when he first heard it. He +dispatched a galley with thirty oars along the shore, up the Gulf of +Issus, to ascertain the truth. The galley soon came back and reported +that, beyond the Gates of Syria, they saw the whole country, which was +nearly level land, though gently rising from the sea, covered with the +vast encampments of the Persian army.</p> + +<p>The king then called his generals and counselors together, informed +them of the facts, and made known to them his determination to return +immediately through the Gates of Syria and attack the Persian army. +The officers received the intelligence with enthusiastic expressions +of joy.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">Reconnoitering parties.</div> + +<p>It was now near the evening. Alexander sent forward a strong +reconnoitering party, ordering <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_137" id="Page_137">[Pg 137]</a></span>them to proceed cautiously, to ascend +eminences and look far before them, to guard carefully against +surprise, and to send back word immediately if they came upon any +traces of the enemy. At the present day the operations of such a +reconnoitering party are very much aided by the use of spy-glasses, +which are made now with great care expressly for military purposes. +The instrument, however, was not known in Alexander's day.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">A camp at night.<br />The night before the battle.<br />Sublime and solemn scenes.</div> + +<p>When the evening came on, Alexander followed the reconnoitering party +with the main body of the army. At midnight they reached the defile. +When they were secure in the possession of it, they halted. Strong +watches were stationed on all the surrounding heights to guard against +any possible surprise. Alexander himself ascended one of the +eminences, from whence he could look down upon the great plain beyond, +which was dimly illuminated in every part by the smouldering fires of +the Persian encampment. An encampment at night is a spectacle which is +always grand, and often sublime. It must have appeared sublime to +Alexander in the highest degree, on this occasion. To stand stealthily +among these dark and somber mountains, with the defiles and passes +below filled <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_138" id="Page_138">[Pg 138]</a></span>with the columns of his small but undaunted army, and to +look onward, a few miles beyond, and see the countless fires of the +vast hosts which had got between him and all hope of retreat to his +native land; to feel, as he must have done, that his fate, and that of +all who were with him, depended upon the events of the day that was +soon to dawn—to see and feel these things must have made this night +one of the most exciting and solemn scenes in the conqueror's life. He +had a soul to enjoy its excitement and sublimity. He gloried in it; +and, as if he wished to add to the solemnity of the scene, he caused +an altar to be erected, and offered a sacrifice, by torch-light, to +the deities on whose aid his soldiers imagined themselves most +dependent for success on the morrow. Of course a place was selected +where the lights of the torches would not attract the attention of the +enemy, and sentinels were stationed at every advantageous point to +watch the Persian camp for the slightest indications of movement or +alarm.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">Defeat of the Persians.<br />Flight of Darius.</div> + +<p>In the morning, at break of day, Alexander commenced his march down to +the plain. In the evening, at sunset, all the valleys and defiles +among the mountains around the plain of Issus <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_139" id="Page_139">[Pg 139]</a></span>were thronged with vast +masses of the Persian army, broken, disordered, and in confusion, all +pressing forward to escape from the victorious Macedonians. They +crowded all the roads, they choked up the mountain passes, they +trampled upon one another, they fell, exhausted with fatigue and +mental agitation. Darius was among them, though his flight had been so +sudden that he had left his mother, and his wife, and all his family +behind. He pressed on in his chariot as far as the road allowed his +chariot to go, and then, leaving every thing behind, he mounted a +horse and rode on for his life.</p> + +<p>Alexander and his army soon abandoned the pursuit, and returned to +take possession of the Persian camp. The tents of King Darius and his +household were inconceivably splendid, and were filled with gold and +silver vessels, caskets, vases, boxes of perfumes, and every +imaginable article of luxury and show. The mother and wife of Darius +bewailed their hard fate with cries and tears, and continued all the +evening in an agony of consternation and despair.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">The mother and wife of Darius taken captive.<br />Their grief.</div> + +<p>Alexander, hearing of this, sent Leonnatus, his former teacher, a man +of years and gravity, to quiet their fears and comfort them, so far as +it was possible to comfort them. In addition <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_140" id="Page_140">[Pg 140]</a></span>to their own captivity, +they supposed that Darius was killed, and the mother was mourning +bitterly for her son, and the wife for her husband. Leonnatus, +attended by some soldiers, advanced toward the tent where these +mourners were dwelling. The attendants at the door ran in and informed +them that a body of Greeks were coming. This threw them into the +greatest consternation. They anticipated violence and death, and threw +themselves upon the ground in agony. Leonnatus waited some time at the +door for the attendants to return. At length he entered the tent. This +renewed the terrors of the women. They began to entreat him to spare +their lives, at least until there should be time for them to see the +remains of the son and husband whom they mourned, and to pay the last +sad tribute to his memory.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">Alexander's kindness to the captives.</div> + +<p>Leonnatus soon relieved their fears. He told them that he was charged +by Alexander to say to them that Darius was alive, having made his +escape in safety. As to themselves, Alexander assured them, he said, +that they should not be injured; that not only were their persons and +lives to be protected, but no change was to be made in their condition +or mode of life; they should continue to be treated like queens. He +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_141" id="Page_141">[Pg 141]</a></span>added, moreover, that Alexander wished him to say that he felt no +animosity or ill will whatever against Darius. He was but technically +his enemy, being only engaged in a generous and honorable contest with +him for the empire of Asia. Saying these things, Leonnatus raised the +disconsolate ladies from the ground, and they gradually regained some +degree of composure.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">Hephæstion.</div> + +<p>Alexander himself went to pay a visit to the captive princesses the +next day. He took with him Hephæstion. Hephæstion was Alexander's +personal friend. The two young men were of the same age, and, though +Alexander had the good sense to retain in power all the old and +experienced officers which his father had employed, both in the court +and army, he showed that, after all, ambition had not overwhelmed and +stifled all the kindlier feelings of the heart, by his strong +attachment to this young companion. Hephæstion was his confidant, his +associate, his personal friend. He did what very few monarchs have +done, either before or since; in securing for himself the pleasures of +friendship, and of intimate social communion with a heart kindred to +his own, without ruining himself by committing to a favorite powers +which he was not qualified to wield. Alexander left <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_142" id="Page_142">[Pg 142]</a></span>the wise and +experienced Parmenio to manage the camp, while he took the young and +handsome Hephæstion to accompany him on his visit to the captive +queens.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">Alexander's interview with the queens.<br />A mistake.</div> + +<p>When the two friends entered the tent, the ladies were, from some +cause, deceived, and mistook Hephæstion for Alexander, and addressed +him, accordingly, with tokens of high respect and homage. One of their +attendants immediately rectified the mistake, telling them that the +other was Alexander. The ladies were at first overwhelmed with +confusion, and attempted to apologize; but the king reassured them at +once by the easy and good-natured manner with which he passed over the +mistake, saying it was no mistake at all. "It is true," said he, "that +I am Alexander, but then he is Alexander too."</p> + +<div class="sidenote">Boldness of Alexander's policy.<br />Number of Persians slain.</div> + +<p>The wife of Darius was young and very beautiful, and they had a little +son who was with them in the camp. It seems almost unaccountable that +Darius should have brought such a helpless and defenseless charge with +him into camps and fields of battle. But the truth was that he had no +idea of even a battle with Alexander, and as to defeat, he did not +contemplate the remotest possibility of it. He regarded Alexander as a +mere boy—energetic and daring <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_143" id="Page_143">[Pg 143]</a></span>it is true, and at the head of a +desperate band of adventurers; but he considered his whole force as +altogether too insignificant to make any stand against such a vast +military power as he was bringing against him. He presumed that he +would retreat as fast as possible before the Persian army came near +him. The idea of such a boy coming down at break of day, from narrow +defiles of the mountains, upon his vast encampment covering all the +plains, and in twelve hours putting the whole mighty mass to flight, +was what never entered his imagination at all. The exploit was, +indeed, a very extraordinary one. Alexander's forces may have +consisted of forty or fifty thousand men, and, if we may believe their +story, there were over a hundred thousand Persians left dead upon the +field. Many of these were, however, killed by the dreadful confusion +and violence of the retreat as vast bodies of horsemen, pressing +through the defiles, rode over and trampled down the foot soldiers who +were toiling in awful confusion along the way, having fled before the +horsemen left the field.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">Capture of immense treasure.</div> + +<p>Alexander had heard that Darius had left the greater part of his royal +treasures in Damascus, and he sent Parmenio there to seize them. <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_144" id="Page_144">[Pg 144]</a></span>This +expedition was successful. An enormous amount of gold and silver fell +into Alexander's hands. The plate was coined into money, and many of +the treasures were sent to Greece.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">Negotiations.</div> + +<p>Darius got together a small remnant of his army and continued his +flight. He did not stop until he had crossed the Euphrates. He then +sent an embassador to Alexander to make propositions for peace. He +remonstrated with him, in the communication which he made, for coming +thus to invade his dominions, and urged him to withdraw and be +satisfied with his own kingdom. He offered him any sum he might name +as a ransom for his mother, wife, and child, and agreed that if he +would deliver them up to him on the payment of the ransom, and depart +from his dominions, he would thenceforth regard him as an ally and a +friend.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">Alexander's message to Darius.</div> + +<p>Alexander replied by a letter, expressed in brief but very decided +language. He said that the Persians had, under the ancestors of +Darius, crossed the Hellespont, invaded Greece, laid waste the +country, and destroyed cities and towns, and had thus done them +incalculable injury; and that Darius himself had been plotting against +his (Alexander's) life, and offering rewards to any one who would kill +him. "I am <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_145" id="Page_145">[Pg 145]</a></span>acting, then," continued Alexander, "only on the +defensive. The gods, who always favor the right, have given me the +victory. I am now monarch of a large part of Asia, and your sovereign +king. If you will admit this, and come to me as my subject, I will +restore to you your mother, your wife, and your child, without any +ransom. And, at any rate, whatever you decide in respect to these +proposals, if you wish to communicate with me on any subject +hereafter, I shall pay no attention to what you send unless you +address it to me as your king."</p> + +<div class="sidenote">Grecian captives.<br />The Theban envoys.</div> + +<p>One circumstance occurred at the close of this great victory which +illustrates the magnanimity of Alexander's character, and helps to +explain the very strong personal attachment which every body within +the circle of his influence so obviously felt for him. He found a +great number of envoys and embassadors from the various states of +Greece at the Persian court, and these persons fell into his hands +among the other captives. Now the states and cities of Greece, all +except Sparta and Thebes, which last city he had destroyed, were +combined ostensibly in the confederation by which Alexander was +sustained. It seems, however, that there was a secret enmity against +him in Greece, and various <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_146" id="Page_146">[Pg 146]</a></span>parties had sent messengers and agents to +the Persian court to aid in plots and schemes to interfere with and +defeat Alexander's plans. The Thebans, scattered and disorganized as +they were, had sent envoys in this way. Now Alexander, in considering +what disposition he should make of these emissaries from his own land, +decided to regard them all as traitors except the Thebans. All except +the Thebans were <i>traitors</i>, he maintained, for acting secretly +against him, while ostensibly, and by solemn covenants, they were his +friends. "The case of the Thebans is very different," said he. "I have +destroyed their city, and they have a right to consider me their +enemy, and to do all they can to oppose my progress, and to regain +their own lost existence and their former power." So he gave them +their liberty and sent them away with marks of consideration and +honor.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">Alexander's victorious progress.</div> + +<p>As the vast army of the Persian monarch had now been defeated, of +course none of the smaller kingdoms or provinces thought of resisting. +They yielded one after another, and Alexander appointed governors of +his own to rule over them. He advanced in this manner along the +eastern shores of the Mediterranean Sea, meeting with no obstruction +until he reached the great and powerful city of Tyre.</p> + +<hr class="large" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_147" id="Page_147">[Pg 147]</a></span></p> +<h2><a name="Chapter_VII" id="Chapter_VII"></a><span class="smcap">Chapter VII.</span></h2> + +<h2><span class="smcap">The Siege of Tyre.</span></h2> + +<p class="center">B.C. 333</p> + +<div class="sidenote">The city of Tyre.</div> + +<p class="n"><span style="float:left;font-size:50px;line-height:32px;padding-top:2px;padding-bottom:1px;">T</span><span style="margin-left:0%;">he</span> city of Tyre stood on a small island, three or four miles in +diameter,<a name="FNanchor_B_2" id="FNanchor_B_2"></a><a href="#Footnote_B_2" class="fnanchor">[B]</a> on the eastern shores of the Mediterranean Sea. It was, +in those days, the greatest commercial city in the world, and it +exercised a great maritime power by means of its fleets and ships, +which traversed every part of the Mediterranean.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">Its situation and extent.</div> + +<p>Tyre had been built originally on the main-land; but in some of the +wars which it had to encounter with the kings of Babylon in the East, +this old city had been abandoned by the inhabitants, and a new one +built upon an island not far from the shore, which could be more +easily defended from an enemy. The old city had gone to ruin, and its +place was occupied by old walls, fallen towers, stones, columns, +arches, and other remains of the ancient magnificence of the place.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">Pursuits of the Tyrians.</div> + +<p>The island on which the Tyre of Alexander's <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_148" id="Page_148">[Pg 148]</a></span>day had been built was +about half a mile from the shore. The water between was about eighteen +feet deep, and formed a harbor for the vessels. The great business of +the Tyrians was commerce. They bought and sold merchandise in all the +ports of the Mediterranean Sea, and transported it by their merchant +vessels to and fro. They had also fleets of war galleys, which they +used to protect their interests on the high seas, and in the various +ports which their merchant vessels visited. They were thus wealthy and +powerful, and yet they lived shut up upon their little island, and +were almost entirely independent of the main-land.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">Their great wealth and resources.<br />The walls of Tyre.</div> + +<p>The city itself, however, though contracted in extent on account of +the small dimensions of the island, was very compactly built and +strongly fortified, and it contained a vast number of stately and +magnificent edifices, which were filled with stores of wealth that had +been accumulated by the mercantile enterprise and thrift of many +generations. Extravagant stories are told by the historians and +geographers of those days, in respect to the scale on which the +structures of Tyre were built. It was said, for instance, that the +walls were one hundred and fifty feet high. It is true that the walls +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_149" id="Page_149">[Pg 149]</a></span>rose directly from the surface of the water, and of course a +considerable part of their elevation was required to bring them up to +the level of the surface of the land; and then, in addition to this, +they had to be carried up the whole ordinary height of a city wall to +afford the usual protection to the edifices and dwellings within. +There might have been some places where the walls themselves, or +structures connected with them, were carried up to the elevation above +named, though it is scarcely to be supposed that such could have been +their ordinary dimensions.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">Influence and power of Tyre.</div> + +<p>At any rate, Tyre was a very wealthy, magnificent, and powerful city, +intent on its commercial operations, and well furnished with means of +protecting them at sea, but feeling little interest, and taking little +part, in the contentions continually arising among the rival powers +which had possession of the land. Their policy was to retain their +independence, and yet to keep on good terms with all other powers, so +that their commercial intercourse with the ports of all nations might +go on undisturbed.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">Alexander hesitates in regard to Tyre.</div> + +<p>It was, of course, a very serious question with Alexander, as his +route lay now through Phœnicia and in the neighborhood of Tyre, +what he should do in respect to such a port. He did <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_150" id="Page_150">[Pg 150]</a></span>not like to leave +it behind him and proceed to the eastward; for, in case of any +reverses happening to him, the Tyrians would be very likely to act +decidedly against him, and their power on the Mediterranean would +enable them to act very efficiently against him on all the coasts of +Greece and Asia Minor. On the other hand, it seemed a desperate +undertaking to attack the city. He had none but land forces, and the +island was half a mile from the shore. Besides its enormous walls, +rising perpendicularly out of the water, it was defended by ships well +armed and manned. It was not possible to surround the city and starve +it into submission, as the inhabitants had wealth to buy, and ships to +bring in, any quantity of provisions and stores by sea. Alexander, +however, determined not to follow Darius toward the east, and leave +such a stronghold as this behind him.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">Presents from the Tyrians.</div> + +<p>The Tyrians wished to avoid a quarrel if it were possible. They sent +complimentary messages to Alexander, congratulating him on his +conquests, and disavowing all feelings of hostility to him. They also +sent him a golden crown, as many of the other states of Asia had done, +in token of their yielding a general submission to his authority. +Alexander returned very gracious <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_151" id="Page_151">[Pg 151]</a></span>replies, and expressed to them his +intention of coming to Tyre for the purpose of offering sacrifices, as +he said, to Hercules, a god whom the Tyrians worshiped.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">Alexander refused admittance into Tyre.</div> + +<p>The Tyrians knew that wherever Alexander went he went at the head of +his army, and his coming into Tyre at all implied necessarily his +taking military possession of it. They thought it might, perhaps, be +somewhat difficult to dispossess such a visitor after he should once +get installed in their castles and palaces. So they sent him word that +it would not be in their power to receive him in the city itself, but +that he could offer the sacrifice which he intended on the main-land, +as there was a temple sacred to Hercules among the ruins there.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">He resolves to attack it.</div> + +<p>Alexander then called a council of his officers, and stated to them +his views. He said that, on reflecting fully upon the subject, he had +come to the conclusion that it was best to postpone pushing his +expedition forward into the heart of Persia until he should have +subdued Tyre completely, and made himself master of the Mediterranean +Sea. He said, also, that he should take possession of Egypt before +turning his arms toward the forces that Darius was gathering against +him in the East. The generals <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_152" id="Page_152">[Pg 152]</a></span>of the army concurred in this opinion, +and Alexander advanced toward Tyre. The Tyrians prepared for their +defense.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">Alexander's plan.<br />Its difficulties and dangers.</div> + +<p>After examining carefully all the circumstances of the case, Alexander +conceived the very bold plan of building a broad causeway from the +main-land to the island on which the city was founded, out of the +ruins of old Tyre, and then marching his army over upon it to the +walls of the city, where he could then plant his engines and make a +breach. This would seem to be a very desperate undertaking. It is true +the stones remaining on the site of the old city afforded sufficient +materials for the construction of the pier, but then the work must go +on against a tremendous opposition, both from the walls of the city +itself and from the Tyrian ships in the harbor. It would seem to be +almost impossible to protect the men from these attacks so as to allow +the operations to proceed at all, and the difficulty and danger must +increase very rapidly as the work should approach the walls of the +city. But, notwithstanding these objections, Alexander determined to +proceed. Tyre must be taken, and this was obviously the only possible +mode of taking it.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">Enthusiasm of the army.</div> + +<p>The soldiers advanced to undertake the work <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_153" id="Page_153">[Pg 153]</a></span>with great readiness. +Their strong personal attachment to Alexander; their confidence that +whatever he should plan and attempt would succeed; the novelty and +boldness of this design of reaching an island by building an isthmus +to it from the main-land—these and other similar considerations +excited the ardor and enthusiasm of the troops to the highest degree.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">Construction of the pier.<br />Progress of the work.</div> + +<p>In constructing works of this kind in the water, the material used is +sometimes stone and sometimes earth. So far as earth is employed, it +is necessary to resort to some means to prevent its spreading under +the water, or being washed away by the dash of the waves at its sides. +This is usually effected by driving what are called <i>piles</i>, which are +long beams of wood, pointed at the end, and driven into the earth by +means of powerful engines. Alexander sent parties of men into the +mountains of Lebanon, where were vast forests of cedars, which were +very celebrated in ancient times, and which are often alluded to in +the sacred scriptures. They cut down these trees, and brought the +stems of them to the shore, where they sharpened them at one end and +drove them into the sand, in order to protect the sides of their +embankment. Others brought stones from the ruins and tumbled <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_154" id="Page_154">[Pg 154]</a></span>them +into the sea in the direction where the pier was to be built. It was +some time before the work made such progress as to attract much +attention from Tyre. At length, however, when the people of the city +saw it gradually increasing in size and advancing toward them, they +concluded that they must engage in earnest in the work of arresting +its progress.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">Counter operations of the Tyrians.</div> + +<p>They accordingly constructed engines on the walls to throw heavy darts +and stones over the water to the men upon the pier. They sent secretly +to the tribes that inhabited the valleys and ravines among the +mountains, to attack the parties at work there, and they landed forces +from the city at some distance from the pier, and then marched along +the shore, and attempted to drive away the men that were engaged in +carrying stones from the ruins. They also fitted up and manned some +galleys of large size, and brought them up near to the pier itself, +and attacked the men who were at work upon it with stones, darts, +arrows, and missiles of every description.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">Structures erected on the pier.</div> + +<p>But all was of no avail. The work, though impeded, still went on. +Alexander built large screens of wood upon the pier, covering them +with hides, which protected his soldiers from the <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_155" id="Page_155">[Pg 155]</a></span>weapons of the +enemy, so that they could carry on their operations safely behind +them. By these means the work advanced for some distance further. As +it advanced, various structures were erected upon it, especially along +the sides and at the end toward the city. These structures consisted +of great engines for driving piles, and machines for throwing stones +and darts, and towers carried up to a great height, to enable the men +to throw stones and heavy weapons down upon the galleys which might +attempt to approach them.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">The Tyrians fit up a fire ship.<br />The ship fired and set adrift.<br />The conflagration.</div> + +<p>At length the Tyrians determined on attempting to destroy all these +wooden works by means of what is called in modern times a <i>fire ship</i>. +They took a large galley, and filled it with combustibles of every +kind. They loaded it first with light dry wood, and they poured pitch, +and tar, and oil over all this wood to make it burn with fiercer +flames. They saturated the sails and the cordage in the same manner, +and laid trains of combustible materials through all parts of the +vessel, so that when fire should be set in one part it would +immediately spread every where, and set the whole mass in flames at +once. They towed this ship, on a windy day, near to the enemy's works, +and on the side from <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_156" id="Page_156">[Pg 156]</a></span>which the wind was blowing. They then put it in +motion toward the pier at a point where there was the greatest +collection of engines and machines, and when they had got as near as +they dared to go themselves, the men who were on board set the trains +on fire, and made their escape in boats. The flames ran all over the +vessel with inconceivable rapidity. The vessel itself drifted down +upon Alexander's works, notwithstanding the most strenuous exertions +of his soldiers to keep it away. The frames and engines, and the +enormous and complicated machines which had been erected, took fire, +and the whole mass was soon enveloped in a general conflagration.</p> + +<p>The men made desperate attempts to defend their works, but all in +vain. Some were killed by arrows and darts, some were burned to death, +and others, in the confusion, fell into the sea. Finally, the army was +obliged to draw back, and to abandon all that was combustible in the +vast construction they had reared, to the devouring flames.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_157" id="Page_157">[Pg 157-8]</a></span></p><div class="figcenter" style="width: 500px;"> +<img src="images/i152.jpg" class="ispace jpg" width="500" height="289" alt="The Siege of Tyre." title="" /> +<span class="caption">The Siege of Tyre.</span> +</div> + +<div class="sidenote">Effects of the storm.</div> + +<p>Not long after this the sea itself came to the aid of the Tyrians. +There was a storm; and, as a consequence of it, a heavy swell rolled +in from the offing, which soon undermined and <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_159" id="Page_159">[Pg 159]</a></span>washed away a large part of the pier. The effects of a heavy sea on +the most massive and substantial structures, when they are fairly +exposed to its impulse, are far greater than would be conceived +possible by those who had not witnessed them. The most ponderous +stones are removed, the strongest fastenings are torn asunder, and +embankments the most compact and solid are undermined and washed away. +The storm, in this case, destroyed in a few hours the work of many +months, while the army of Alexander looked on from the shore +witnessing its ravages in dismay.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">The work began anew.</div> + +<p>When the storm was over, and the first shock of chagrin and +disappointment had passed from the minds of the men, Alexander +prepared to resume the work with fresh vigor and energy. The men +commenced repairing the pier and widening it, so as to increase its +strength and capacity. They dragged whole trees to the edges of it, +and sunk them, branches and all, to the bottom, to form a sort of +platform there, to prevent the stones from sinking into the slime. +They built new towers and engines, covering them with green hides to +make them fire-proof; and thus they were soon advancing again, and +gradually drawing nearer to the city, and in a <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_160" id="Page_160">[Pg 160]</a></span>more threatening and +formidable manner than ever.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">Alexander collects a fleet.<br />Warlike engines.</div> + +<p>Alexander, finding that his efforts were impeded very much by the +ships of the Tyrians, determined on collecting and equipping a fleet +of his own. This he did at Sidon, which was a town a short distance +north of Tyre. He embarked on board this fleet himself, and came down +with it into the Tyrian seas. With this fleet he had various success. +He chained many of the ships together, two and two, at a little +distance apart, covering the inclosed space with a platform, on which +the soldiers could stand to fight. The men also erected engines on +these platforms to attack the city. These engines were of various +kinds. There was what they called the battering ram, which was a long +and very heavy beam of wood, headed with iron or brass. This beam was +suspended by a chain in the middle, so that it could be swung back and +forth by the soldiers, its head striking against the wall each time, +by which means the wall would sometimes be soon battered down. They +had also machines for throwing great stones, or beams of wood, by +means of the elastic force of strong bars of wood, or of steel, or +that of twisted ropes. The part of the machine <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_161" id="Page_161">[Pg 161]</a></span>upon which the stone +was placed would be drawn back by the united strength of many of the +soldiers, and then, as it recovered itself when released, the stone +would be thrown off into the air with prodigious velocity and force.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">Double galleys.<br />The women removed from Tyre.</div> + +<p>Alexander's double galleys answered very well as long as the water was +smooth; but sometimes, when they were caught out in a swell, the +rolling of the waves would rack and twist them so as to tear the +platforms asunder, and sink the men in the sea. Thus difficulties +unexpected and formidable were continually arising. Alexander, +however, persevered through them all. The Tyrians, finding themselves +pressed more and more, and seeing that the dangers impending became +more and more formidable every day, at length concluded to send a +great number of the women and children away to Carthage, which was a +great commercial city in Africa. They were determined not to submit to +Alexander, but to carry their resistance to the very last extremity. +And as the closing scenes of a siege, especially if the place is at +last taken by storm, are awful beyond description, they wished to save +their wives, and daughters, and helpless babes from having to witness +them.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_162" id="Page_162">[Pg 162]</a></span></p><div class="sidenote">The siege advances.</div> + +<p>In the mean time, as the siege advanced, the parties became more and +more incensed against each other. They treated the captives which they +took on either side with greater and greater cruelty, each thinking +that they were only retaliating worse injuries from the other. The +Macedonians approached nearer and nearer. The resources of the unhappy +city were gradually cut off and its strength worn away. The engines +approached nearer and nearer to the walls, until the battering rams +bore directly upon them, and breaches began to be made. At length one +great breach on the southern side was found to be "practicable," as +they call it. Alexander began to prepare for the final assault, and +the Tyrians saw before them the horrible prospect of being taken by +storm.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">Undaunted courage of the Tyrians.</div> + +<p>Still they would not submit. Submission would now have done but little +good, though it might have saved some of the final horrors of the +scene. Alexander had become greatly exasperated by the long resistance +which the Tyrians had made. They probably could not now have averted +destruction, but they might, perhaps, have prevented its coming upon +them in so terrible a shape as the irruption of thirty thousand +frantic and infuriated soldiers through <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_163" id="Page_163">[Pg 163]</a></span>the breaches in their walls +to take their city by storm.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">A breach made.</div> + +<p>The breach by which Alexander proposed to force his entrance was on +the southern side. He prepared a number of ships, with platforms +raised upon them in such a manner that, on getting near the walls, +they could be let down, and form a sort of bridge, over which the men +could pass to the broken fragments of the wall, and thence ascend +through the breach above.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">The assault.<br />Storming the city.</div> + +<p>The plan succeeded. The ships advanced to the proposed place of +landing. The bridges were let down. The men crowded over them to the +foot of the wall. They clambered up through the breach to the +battlements above, although the Tyrians thronged the passage and made +the most desperate resistance. Hundreds were killed by darts, and +arrows, and falling stones, and their bodies tumbled into the sea. The +others, paying no attention to their falling comrades, and drowning +the horrid screams of the crushed and the dying with their own frantic +shouts of rage and fury, pressed on up the broken wall till they +reached the battlements above. The vast throng then rolled along upon +the top of the wall till they came to stairways and slopes by which +they could descend into the <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_164" id="Page_164">[Pg 164]</a></span>city, and, pouring down through all these +avenues, they spread over the streets, and satiated the hatred and +rage, which had been gathering strength for seven long months, in +bursting into houses, and killing and destroying all that came in +their way. Thus the city was stormed.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">Barbarous cruelties of Alexander.<br />Changes in Alexander's character.</div> + +<p>After the soldiers were weary with the work of slaughtering the +wretched inhabitants of the city, they found that many still remained +alive, and Alexander tarnished the character for generosity and +forbearance for which he had thus far been distinguished by the +cruelty with which he treated them. Some were executed, some thrown +into the sea; and it is even said that two thousand were <i>crucified</i> +along the sea-shore. This may mean that their bodies were placed upon +crosses after life had been destroyed by some more humane method than +crucifixion. At any rate, we find frequent indications from this time +that prosperity and power were beginning to exert their usual +unfavorable influence upon Alexander's character. He became haughty, +imperious, and cruel. He lost the modesty and gentleness which seemed +to characterize him in the earlier part of his life, and began to +assume the moral character, as well as perform the exploits, of a +military hero.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_165" id="Page_165">[Pg 165]</a></span></p><p>A good illustration of this is afforded by the answer that he sent to +Darius, about the time of the storming of Tyre, in reply to a second +communication which he had received from him proposing terms of peace. +Darius offered him a very large sum of money for the ransom of his +mother, wife, and child, and agreed to give up to him all the country +he had conquered, including the whole territory west of the Euphrates. +He also offered him his daughter Statira in marriage. He recommended +to him to accept these terms, and be content with the possessions he +had already acquired; that he could not expect to succeed, if he +should try, in crossing the mighty rivers of the East, which were in +the way of his march toward the Persian dominions.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">His harsh message to Darius.</div> + +<p>Alexander replied, that if he wished to marry his daughter he could do +it without his consent; as to the ransom, he was not in want of money; +in respect to Darius's offering to give him up all west of the +Euphrates, it was absurd for a man to speak of giving what was no +longer his own; that he had crossed too many seas in his military +expeditions, since he left Macedon, to feel any concern about the +<i>rivers</i> that he might find in his way; and that he <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_166" id="Page_166">[Pg 166]</a></span>should continue +to pursue Darius wherever he might retreat in search of safety and +protection, and he had no fear but that he should find and conquer him +at last.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">Alexander's reply to Parmenio.</div> + +<p>It was a harsh and cruel message to send to the unhappy monarch whom +he had already so greatly injured. Parmenio advised him to accept +Darius's offers. "I would," said he, "if I were Alexander." "Yes," +said Alexander, "and so would I if I were Parmenio." What a reply from +a youth of twenty-two to a venerable general of sixty, who had been so +tried and faithful a friend, and so efficient a coadjutor both to his +father and to himself, for so many years.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">The hero rises, but the man sinks.</div> + +<p>The siege and storming of Tyre has always been considered one of the +greatest of Alexander's exploits. The boldness, the perseverance, the +indomitable energy which he himself and all his army manifested, +during the seven months of their Herculean toil, attracted the +admiration of the world. And yet we find our feelings of sympathy for +his character, and interest in his fate, somewhat alienated by the +indications of pride, imperiousness, and cruelty which begin to +appear. While he rises in our estimation as a military hero, he begins +to sink somewhat as a man.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_167" id="Page_167">[Pg 167]</a></span></p> +<div class="sidenote">Lysimachus.<br />Alexander's adventure in the mountains.<br />What credits to be given to the adventure.</div> + +<p>And yet the change was not sudden. He bore during the siege his part +in the privations and difficulties which the soldiers had to endure; +and the dangers to which they had to be exposed, he was always willing +to share. One night he was out with a party upon the mountains. Among +his few immediate attendants was Lysimachus, one of his former +teachers, who always loved to accompany him at such times. Lysimachus +was advanced in life, and somewhat infirm, and consequently could not +keep up with the rest in the march. Alexander remained with +Lysimachus, and ordered the rest to go on. The road at length became +so rugged that they had to dismount from their horses and walk. +Finally they lost their way, and found themselves obliged to stop for +the night. They had no fire. They saw, however, at a distance, some +camp fires blazing which belonged to the barbarian tribes against whom +the expedition was directed. Alexander went to the nearest one. There +were two men lying by it, who had been stationed to take care of it. +He advanced stealthily to them and killed them both, probably while +they were asleep. He then took a brand from their fire, carried it +back to his own encampment, where he made a blazing <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_168" id="Page_168">[Pg 168]</a></span>fire for himself +and Lysimachus, and they passed the night in comfort and safety. This +is the story. How far we are to give credit to it, each reader must +judge for himself. One thing is certain, however, that there are many +military heroes of whom such stories would not be even fabricated.</p> + +<hr class="large" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_169" id="Page_169">[Pg 169]</a></span></p> +<h2><a name="Chapter_VIII" id="Chapter_VIII"></a><span class="smcap">Chapter VIII.</span></h2> + +<h2><span class="smcap">Alexander in Egypt.</span></h2> + +<p class="center">B.C. 332</p> + +<div class="sidenote">Alexander in Judea.</div> + +<p class="n"><span style="float:left;font-size:50px;line-height:32px;padding-top:2px;padding-bottom:1px;">A</span><span style="margin-left:0%;">fter</span> completing the subjugation of Tyre, Alexander commenced his +march for Egypt. His route led him through Judea. The time was about +three hundred years before the birth of Christ, and, of course, this +passage of the great conqueror through the land of Israel took place +between the historical periods of the Old Testament and of the New, so +that no account of it is given in the sacred volume.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">Josephus, and the character of his writings.</div> + +<p>There was a Jewish writer named Josephus, who lived and wrote a few +years after Christ, and, of course, more than three hundred years +after Alexander. He wrote a history of the Jews, which is a very +entertaining book to read; but he liked so much to magnify the +importance of the events in the history of his country, and to +embellish them with marvelous and supernatural incidents, that his +narratives have not always been received with implicit faith. Josephus +says that, as Alexander passed through Palestine, he went to pay a +visit to Jerusalem. <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_170" id="Page_170">[Pg 170]</a></span>The circumstances of this visit, according to his +account, were these.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">Alexander's visit to Jerusalem.<br />Josephus's account of it.</div> + +<p>The city of Tyre, before Alexander besieged it, as it lived entirely +by commerce, and was surrounded by the sea, had to depend on the +neighboring countries for a supply of food. The people were +accordingly accustomed to purchase grain in Phœnicia, in Judea, and +in Egypt, and transport it by their ships to the island. Alexander, in +the same manner, when besieging the city, found that he must depend +upon the neighboring countries for supplies of food; and he +accordingly sent requisitions for such supplies to several places, +and, among others, to Judea. The Jews, as Josephus says, refused to +send any such supplies, saying that it would be inconsistent with +fidelity to Darius, under whose government they were.</p> + +<p>Alexander took no notice of this reply at the time, being occupied +with the siege of Tyre; but, as soon as that city was taken, and he +was ready to pass through Judea, he directed his march toward +Jerusalem with the intention of destroying the city.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">The high priest Jaddus.</div> + +<p>Now the chief magistrate at Jerusalem at this time, the one who had +the command of the city, ruling it, of course, under a general +responsibility <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_171" id="Page_171">[Pg 171]</a></span>to the Persian government, was the high priest. His +name was Jaddus. In the time of Christ, about three hundred years +after this, the name of the high-priest, as the reader will recollect, +was Caiaphas. Jaddus and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem were very +much alarmed. They knew not what to do. The siege and capture of Tyre +had impressed them all with a strong sense of Alexander's terrible +energy and martial power, and they began to anticipate certain +destruction.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">His dreams.</div> + +<p>Jaddus caused great sacrifices to be offered to Almighty God, and +public and solemn prayers were made, to implore his guidance and +protection. The next day after these services, he told the people that +they had nothing to fear. God had appeared to him in a dream, and +directed him what to do. "We are not to resist the conqueror," said +he, "but to go forth to meet him and welcome him. We are to strew the +city with flowers, and adorn it as for a festive celebration. The +priests are to be dressed in their pontifical robes and go forth, and +the inhabitants are to follow them in a civic procession. In this way +we are to go out to meet Alexander as he advances—and all will be +well."</p> + +<div class="sidenote">The procession of priests.</div> + +<p>These directions were followed. Alexander <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_172" id="Page_172">[Pg 172]</a></span>was coming on with a full +determination to destroy the city. When, however, he saw the +procession, and came near enough to distinguish the appearance and +dress of the high priest, he stopped, seemed surprised and pleased, +and advanced toward him with an air of the profoundest deference and +respect. He seemed to pay him almost religious homage and adoration. +Every one was astonished. Parmenio asked him for an explanation. +Alexander made the following extraordinary statement:</p> + +<div class="sidenote">Alexander's account of his dream.</div> + +<p>"When I was in Macedon, before setting out on this expedition, while I +was revolving the subject in my mind, musing day after day on the +means of conquering Asia, one night I had a remarkable dream. In my +dream this very priest appeared before me, dressed just as he is now. +He exhorted me to banish every fear, to cross the Hellespont boldly, +and to push forward into the heart of Asia. He said that God would +march at the head of my army, and give me the victory over all the +Persians. I recognize this priest as the same person that appeared to +me then. He has the same countenance, the same dress, the same +stature, the same air. It is through his encouragement and aid that I +am here, and I am ready to worship and adore the God whose service he +administers."</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_173" id="Page_173">[Pg 173]</a></span></p> +<div class="sidenote">Alexander joins in the Jewish ceremonies.<br />Prophecies of Daniel.</div> + +<p>Alexander joined the high priest in the procession, and they returned +to Jerusalem together. There Alexander united with them and with the +Jews of the city in the celebration of religious rites, by offering +sacrifices and oblations in the Jewish manner. The writings which are +now printed together in our Bibles, as the Old Testament, were, in +those days, written separately on parchment rolls, and kept in the +temple. The priests produced from the rolls the one containing the +prophecies of Daniel, and they read and interpreted some of these +prophecies to Alexander, which they considered to have reference to +him, though written many hundred years before. Alexander was, as +Josephus relates, very much pleased at the sight of these ancient +predictions, and the interpretation put upon them by the priests. He +assured the Jews that they should be protected in the exercise of all +their rights, and especially in their religious worship, and he also +promised them that he would take their brethren who resided in Media +and Babylon under his special charge when he should come into +possession of those places. These Jews of Media and Babylon were the +descendants of captives which had been carried away from their native +land in former wars.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_174" id="Page_174">[Pg 174]</a></span></p><div class="sidenote">Doubts about Alexander's visit.</div> + +<p>Such is the story which Josephus relates. The Greek historians, on the +other hand, make no mention of this visit to Jerusalem; and some +persons think that it was never made, but that the story arose and was +propagated from generation to generation among the Jews, through the +influence of their desire to magnify the importance and influence of +their worship, and that Josephus incorporated the account into his +history without sufficiently verifying the facts.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">Siege.</div> + +<p>However it may be in regard to Jerusalem, Alexander was delayed at +Gaza, which, as may be seen upon the <a href="#Frontispiece">map</a>, is on the shore of the +Mediterranean Sea. It was a place of considerable commerce and wealth, +and was, at this time, under the command of a governor whom Darius had +stationed there. His name was Betis. Betis refused to surrender the +place. Alexander stopped to besiege it, and the siege delayed him two +months. He was very much exasperated at this, both against Betis and +against the city.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">Alexander receives a wound.</div> + +<p>His unreasonable anger was very much increased by a wound which he +received. He was near a mound which his soldiers had been constructing +near the city, to place engines upon for an attack upon the walls, +when an arrow <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_175" id="Page_175">[Pg 175]</a></span>shot from one of the engines upon the walls struck him +in the breast. It penetrated his armor, and wounded him deeply in the +shoulder. The wound was very painful for some time, and the suffering +which he endured from it only added fuel to the flame of his anger +against the city.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">Gaza taken by storm.</div> + +<p>At last breaches were made in the walls, and the place was taken by +storm. Alexander treated the wretched captives with extreme cruelty. +He cut the garrison to pieces, and sold the inhabitants to slavery. As +for Betis, he dealt with him in a manner almost too horrible to be +described. The reader will recollect that Achilles, at the siege of +Troy, after killing Hector, dragged his dead body around the walls of +the city. Alexander, growing more cruel as he became more accustomed +to war and bloodshed, had been intending to imitate this example so +soon as he could find an enemy worthy of such a fate. He now +determined to carry his plan into execution with Betis. He ordered him +into his presence. A few years before, he would have rewarded him for +his fidelity in his master's service; but now, grown selfish, hard +hearted, and revengeful, he looked upon him with a countenance full of +vindictive exultation, and said,</p> + +<div class="sidenote">Alexander's brutality to the brave Betis.</div> + +<p>"You are not going to die the simple death <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_176" id="Page_176">[Pg 176]</a></span>that you desire. You have +got the worst torments that revenge can invent to suffer."</p> + +<p>Betis did not reply, but looked upon Alexander with a calm, and +composed, and unsubdued air, which incensed the conqueror more and +more.</p> + +<p>"Observe his dumb arrogance," said Alexander; "but I will conquer him. +I will show him that I can draw groans from him, if nothing else."</p> + +<p>He then ordered holes to be made through the heels of his unhappy +captive, and, passing a rope through them, had the body fastened to a +chariot, and dragged about the city till no life remained.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">Rich treasures.</div> + +<p>Alexander found many rich treasures in Gaza. He sent a large part of +them to his mother Olympias, whom he had left in Macedon. Alexander's +affection for his mother seems to have been more permanent than almost +any other good trait in his character. He found, in addition to other +stores of valuable merchandise, a large quantity of frankincense and +myrrh. These are gums which were brought from Arabia, and were very +costly. They were used chiefly in making offerings and in burning +incense to the gods.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_177" id="Page_177">[Pg 177]</a></span></p><div class="sidenote">Story of Alexander's youth.</div> + +<p>When Alexander was a young man in Macedon, before his father's death, +he was one day present at the offering of sacrifices, and one of his +teachers and guardians, named Leonnatus, who was standing by, thought +he was rather profuse in his consumption of frankincense and myrrh. He +was taking it up by handfuls and throwing it upon the fire. Leonnatus +reproved him for this extravagance, and told him that when he became +master of the countries where these costly gums were procured, he +might be as prodigal of them as he pleased, but that in the mean time +it would be proper for him to be more prudent and economical. +Alexander remembered this reproof, and, finding vast stores of these +expensive gums in Gaza, he sent the whole quantity to Leonnatus, +telling him that he sent him this abundant supply that he might not +have occasion to be so reserved and sparing for the future in his +sacrifices to the gods.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">Pelusium.</div> + +<p>After this conquest and destruction of Gaza, Alexander continued his +march southward to the frontiers of Egypt. He reached these frontiers +at the city of Pelusium. The Egyptians had been under the Persian +dominion, but they abhorred it, and were very ready to submit to +Alexander's sway. They sent embassadors to <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_178" id="Page_178">[Pg 178]</a></span>meet him upon the +frontiers. The governors of the cities, as he advanced into the +country, finding that it would be useless to resist, and warned by the +terrible example of Thebes, Tyre, and Gaza, surrendered to him as fast +as he summoned them.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">Memphis.<br />Fertility of Egypt.</div> + +<p>He went to Memphis. Memphis was a great and powerful city, situated in +what was called Lower Egypt, on the Nile, just above where the +branches which form the mouths of the Nile separate from the main +stream. All that part of Egypt is flat country, having been formed by +the deposits brought down by the Nile. Such land is called <i>alluvial</i>; +it is always level, and, as it consists of successive deposits from +the turbid waters of the river, made in the successive inundations, it +forms always a very rich soil, deep and inexhaustible, and is, of +course, extremely fertile. Egypt has been celebrated for its +unexampled fertility from the earliest times. It waves with fields of +corn and grain, and is adorned with groves of the most luxuriant +growth and richest verdure.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">Deserts of Egypt.<br />Cause of their sterility.</div> + +<p>It is only, however, so far as the land is formed by the deposits of +the Nile, that this scene of verdure and beauty extends. On the east +it is bounded by ranges of barren and rocky hills, <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_179" id="Page_179">[Pg 179]</a></span>and on the west by +vast deserts, consisting of moving sands, from which no animal or +vegetable life can derive the means of existence. The reason of this +sterility seems to be the absence of water. The geological formation +of the land is such that it furnishes few springs of water, and no +streams, and in that climate it seldom or never rains. If there is +water, the most barren sands will clothe themselves with some species +of vegetation, which, in its decay, will form a soil that will nourish +more and more fully each succeeding generation of plants. But in the +absence of water, any surface of earth will soon become a barren sand. +The wind will drive away every thing imponderable, leaving only the +heavy sands, to drift in storms, like fields of snow.</p> + +<p>Among these African deserts, however, there are some fertile spots. +They are occasioned by springs which arise in little dells, and which +saturate the ground with moisture for some distance around them. The +water from these springs flows for some distance, in many cases, in a +little stream, before it is finally lost and absorbed in the sands. +The whole tract under the influence of this irrigation clothes itself +with verdure. Trees grow up to shade it. It <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_180" id="Page_180">[Pg 180]</a></span>forms a spot whose +beauty, absolutely great, is heightened by the contrast which it +presents to the gloomy and desolate desert by which it is surrounded. +Such a green spot in the desert is called an Oasis. They are the +resort and the refuge of the traveler and the pilgrim, who seek +shelter and repose upon them in their weary journeys over the +trackless wilds.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">The Great Oasis.<br />Oasis of Siwah.</div> + +<p>Nor must it be supposed that these islands of fertility and verdure +are always <i>small</i>. Some of them are very extensive, and contain a +considerable population. There is one called the Great Oasis, which +consists of a chain of fertile tracts of about a hundred miles in +length. Another, called the Oasis of Siwah, has, in modern times, a +population of eight thousand souls. This last is situated not far from +the shores of the Mediterranean Sea—at least not very far: perhaps +two or three hundred miles—and it was a very celebrated spot in +Alexander's day.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">Jupiter Ammon.<br />Temple of Jupiter Ammon.</div> + +<p>The cause of its celebrity was that it was the seat and center of the +worship of a famous deity called Jupiter Ammon. This god was said to +be the son of Jupiter, though there were all sorts of stories about +his origin and early history. He had the form of a ram, and was +worshiped by the people of Egypt, and also by the <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_181" id="Page_181">[Pg 181]</a></span>Carthaginians, and +by the people of Northern Africa generally. His temple was in this +Oasis, and it was surrounded by a considerable population, which was +supported, in a great degree, by the expenditures of the worshipers +who came as pilgrims, or otherwise, to sacrifice at his shrine.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">Alexander aspires to divine honors.</div> + +<p>It is said that Alexander, finding that the various objects of human +ambition which he had been so rapidly attaining by his victories and +conquests for the past few years were insufficient to satisfy him, +began now to aspire for some supernatural honors, and he accordingly +conceived the design of having himself declared to be the son of a +god. The heroes of Homer were sons of the gods. Alexander envied them +the fame and honor which this distinction gave them in the opinion of +mankind. He determined to visit the temple of Jupiter Ammon in the +Oasis of Siwah, and to have the declaration of his divine origin made +by the priests there.</p> + +<p>He proceeded, accordingly, to the mouth of the Nile, where he found a +very eligible place, as he believed, for the foundation of a +commercial city, and he determined to build it on his return. Thence +he marched along the shores of the Mediterranean, toward the west, +until <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_182" id="Page_182">[Pg 182]</a></span>he reached a place called Parætonium, which will be found upon +the <a href="#Frontispiece">map</a>. He then left the sea-shore and marched south, striking at +once into the desert when he left the sea. He was accompanied by a +small detachment of his army as an escort, and they journeyed eleven +days before they reached the Oasis.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">Alexander crosses the desert.<br />Its sublimity.</div> + +<p>They had a variety of perilous adventures in crossing the desert. For +the first two days the soldiers were excited and pleased with the +novelty and romantic grandeur of the scene. The desert has, in some +degree, the sublimity of the ocean. There is the same boundless +expanse, the same vast, unbroken curve of the horizon, the same +tracklessness, the same solitude. There is, in addition, a certain +profound and awful stillness and repose, which imparts to it a new +element of impressiveness and grandeur. Its dread and solemn silence +is far more imposing and sublime than the loudest thunders of the +seas.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">The camel.</div> + +<p>The third day the soldiers began to be weary of such a march. They +seemed afraid to penetrate any further into such boundless and +terrible solitudes. They had been obliged to bring water with them in +goat-skins, which were carried by camels. The camel is the only beast +of burden which can be employed upon the deserts. <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_183" id="Page_183">[Pg 183]</a></span>There is a +peculiarity in the anatomical structure of this animal by which he can +take in, at one time, a supply of water for many days. He is formed, +in fact, for the desert. In his native state he lives in the oases and +in the valleys. He eats the herbage which grows among the rocks and +hills that alternate with the great sandy plains in all these +countries. In passing from one of his scanty pasturages to another, he +has long journeys to make across the sands, where, though he can find +food here and there, there is no water. Providence has formed him with +a structure adapted to this exigency, and by means of it he becomes +extremely useful to man.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">Scarcity of water.</div> + +<p>The soldiers of Alexander did not take a sufficient supply of water, +and were reduced, at one time, to great distress. They were relieved, +the story says, by a rain, though rain is extremely unusual in the +deserts. Alexander attributed this supply to the miraculous +interposition of Heaven. They catch the rain, in such cases, with +cloths, and afterward wring out the water; though in this instance, as +the historians of that day say, the soldiers did not wait for this +tardy method of supply, but the whole detachment held back their heads +and opened <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_184" id="Page_184">[Pg 184]</a></span>their mouths, to catch the drops of rain as they fell.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">Sand storms in the desert.</div> + +<p>There was another danger to which they were exposed in their march, +more terrible even than the scarcity of water. It was that of being +overwhelmed in the clouds of sand and dust which sometimes swept over +the desert in gales of wind. These were called sand-storms. The fine +sand flew, in such cases, in driving clouds, which filled the eyes and +stopped the breath of the traveler, and finally buried his body under +its drifts when he laid down to die. A large army of fifty thousand +men, under a former Persian king, had been overwhelmed and destroyed +in this way, some years before, in some of the Egyptian deserts. +Alexander's soldiers had heard of this calamity, and they were +threatened sometimes with the same fate. They, however, at length +escaped all the dangers of the desert, and began to approach the green +and fertile land of the Oasis.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">Arrival at the Oasis.<br />Magnificent ceremonies.<br />Return to Memphis.</div> + +<p>The change from the barren and dismal loneliness of the sandy plains +to the groves and the villages, the beauty and the verdure of the +Oasis, was delightful both to Alexander himself and to all his men. +The priests at the great temple of Jupiter Ammon received them all +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_185" id="Page_185">[Pg 185]</a></span>with marks of great distinction and honor. The most solemn and +magnificent ceremonies were performed, with offerings, oblations, and +sacrifices. The priests, after conferring in secret with the god in +the temple, came out with the annunciation that Alexander was indeed +his son, and they paid him, accordingly, almost divine honors. He is +supposed to have bribed them to do this by presents and pay. Alexander +returned at length to Memphis, and in all his subsequent orders and +decrees he styled himself Alexander king, son of Jupiter Ammon.</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 327px;"> +<img src="images/i192.jpg" class="ispace" width="327" height="200" alt="A Focus." title="" /> +<span class="caption">A Focus.</span> +</div> + +<div class="sidenote2">Alexander jokes about his divinity.</div> + +<p>But, though Alexander was thus willing to impress his ignorant +soldiers with a mysterious veneration for his fictitious divinity, he +was not deceived himself on the subject; he sometimes even made his +pretensions to the divine character a subject of joke. For instance, +they one day brought him in too little fire in the <i>focus</i>. The focus, +or fire-place used in Alexander's day <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_186" id="Page_186">[Pg 186]</a></span>was a small metallic stand, on +which the fire was built. It was placed wherever convenient in the +tent, and the smoke escaped above. They had put upon the focus too +little fuel one day when they brought it in. Alexander asked the +officer to let him have either some wood or some frankincense; they +might consider him, he said, as a god or as a man, whichever they +pleased, but he wished to be treated either like one or the other.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">Founding of Alexandria.</div> + +<p>On his return from the Oasis Alexander carried forward his plan of +building a city at the mouth of the Nile. He drew the plan, it is +said, with his own hands. He superintended the constructions, and +invited artisans and mechanics from all nations to come and reside in +it. They accepted the invitation in great numbers, and the city soon +became large, and wealthy, and powerful. It was intended as a +commercial post, and the wisdom and sagacity which Alexander +manifested in the selection of the site, is shown by the fact that the +city rose immediately to the rank of the great seat of trade and +commerce for all those shores, and has continued to hold that rank now +for twenty centuries.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">Island of Pharos.<br />The light-house.</div> + +<p>There was an island near the coast, opposite the city, called the +island of Pharos. They <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_187" id="Page_187">[Pg 187]</a></span>built a most magnificent light-house upon one +extremity of this island, which was considered, in those days, one of +the wonders of the world. It was said to be five hundred feet high. +This may have been an exaggeration. At any rate, it was celebrated +throughout the world in its day, and its existence and its greatness +made an impression on the human mind which has not yet been effaced. +Pharos is the name for light-house, in many languages, to the present +day.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">Alexandria the only remaining monument of Alexander's +greatness.</div> + +<p>In building the city of Alexandria, Alexander laid aside, for a time, +his natural and proper character, and assumed a mode of action in +strong contrast with the ordinary course of his life. He was, +throughout most of his career, a destroyer. He roamed over the world +to interrupt commerce, to break in upon and disturb the peaceful +pursuits of industry, to batter down city walls, and burn dwellings, +and kill men. This is the true vocation of a hero and a conqueror; but +at the mouth of the Nile Alexander laid aside this character. He +turned his energies to the work of planning means to do good. He +constructed a port; he built warehouses; he provided accommodations +and protection for merchants and artisans. The nations exchanged their +commodities far more easily and extensively <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_188" id="Page_188">[Pg 188]</a></span>in consequence of these +facilities, and the means of comfort and enjoyment were multiplied and +increased in thousands and thousands of huts in the great cities of +Egypt, and in the rural districts along the banks of the Nile. The +good, too, which he thus commenced, has perpetuated itself. Alexandria +has continued to fulfill its beneficent function for two thousand +years. It is the only monument of his greatness which remains. Every +thing else which he accomplished perished when he died. How much +better would it have been for the happiness of mankind, as well as for +his own true fame and glory, if doing good had been the rule of his +life instead of the exception.</p> + +<hr class="large" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_189" id="Page_189">[Pg 189]</a></span></p> +<h2><a name="Chapter_IX" id="Chapter_IX"></a><span class="smcap">Chapter IX.</span></h2> + +<h2><span class="smcap">The Great Victory.</span></h2> + +<p class="center">B.C. 331</p> + +<div class="sidenote">Alexander makes Tyre his rendezvous.<br />Festivities.</div> + +<p class="n"><span style="float:left;font-size:50px;line-height:32px;padding-top:2px;padding-bottom:1px;">A</span><span style="margin-left:0%;">ll</span> the western part of Asia was now in Alexander's power. He was +undisputed master of Asia Minor, Phœnicia, Judea, and Egypt. He +returned from Egypt to Tyre, leaving governors to rule in his name in +all the conquered provinces. The injuries which had been done to Tyre, +during the siege and at the assault, were repaired, and it was again a +wealthy, powerful, and prosperous city. Alexander rested and refreshed +his army there, and spent some weeks in most splendid festivities and +rejoicings. The princes and potentates of all the neighboring +countries assembled to partake of his hospitality, to be entertained +by the games, the plays, the spectacles, and the feastings, and to +unite in swelling his court and doing him honor. In a word, he was the +general center of attraction for all eyes, and the object of universal +homage.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">Alexander prepares to march east.</div> + +<p>All this time, however, he was very far from being satisfied, or +feeling that his work was done. Darius, whom he considered his great +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_190" id="Page_190">[Pg 190]</a></span>enemy, was still in the field unsubdued. He had retreated across the +Euphrates, and was employed in assembling a vast collection of forces +from all the Eastern nations which were under his sway, to meet +Alexander in the final contest. Alexander therefore made arrangements +at Tyre for the proper government of the various kingdoms and +provinces which he had already conquered, and then began to prepare +for marching eastward with the main body of his army.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">The captive queens.</div> + +<p>During all this time the ladies of Darius's family, who had been taken +captive at Issus, had been retained in captivity, and made to +accompany Alexander's army in its marches. Alexander refused to accede +to any of the plans and propositions which Darius made and offered for +the redemption of his wife and mother, but insisted on retaining them +as his prisoners. He, however, treated them with respect and high +consideration. He provided them with royal tents of great +magnificence, and had them conveyed from place to place, when his army +moved, with all the royal state to which they had been accustomed when +in the court of Darius.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">Alexander's treatment of the queens.</div> + +<p>It has been generally thought a proof of nobleness of spirit and +generosity in Alexander <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_191" id="Page_191">[Pg 191]</a></span>that he treated his captives in this manner. +It would seem, however, that true generosity would have prompted the +restoration of these unhappy and harmless prisoners to the husband and +father who mourned their separation from him, and their cruel +sufferings, with bitter grief. It is more probable, therefore, that +policy, and a regard for his own aggrandizement, rather than +compassion for the suffering, led him to honor his captive queens. It +was a great glory to him, in a martial point of view, to have such +trophies of his victory in his train; and, of course, the more highly +he honored the personages, the more glorious the trophy appeared. +Accordingly, Alexander did every thing in his power to magnify the +importance of his royal captives, by the splendor of their retinue, +and the pomp and pageantry with which he invested their movements.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">Death of Statira.<br />Agony of Sysigambis.</div> + +<p>A short time after leaving Tyre, on the march eastward, Statira, the +wife of Darius, was taken suddenly ill and died.<a name="FNanchor_C_3" id="FNanchor_C_3"></a><a href="#Footnote_C_3" class="fnanchor">[C]</a> The tidings were +immediately brought to Alexander, and he repaired without delay to +Sysigambis's tent. <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_192" id="Page_192">[Pg 192]</a></span>Sysigambis was the mother of Darius. She was in +the greatest agony of grief. She was lying upon the floor of her tent, +surrounded by the ladies of her court, and entirely overwhelmed with +sorrow. Alexander did all in his power to calm and comfort her.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">Grief of Darius.</div> + +<p>One of the officers of Queen Statira's household<a name="FNanchor_D_4" id="FNanchor_D_4"></a><a href="#Footnote_D_4" class="fnanchor">[D]</a> made his escape +from the camp immediately after his mistress's death, and fled across +the country to Darius, to carry him the heavy tidings. Darius was +overwhelmed with affliction. The officer, however, in farther +interviews, gave him such an account of the kind and respectful +treatment which the ladies had received from Alexander, during all the +time of their captivity, as greatly to relieve his mind, and to afford +him a high degree of comfort and consolation. He expressed a very +strong sense of gratitude to Alexander for his generosity and +kindness, and said that if his kingdom of Persia <i>must</i> be conquered, +he sincerely wished that it might fall into the hands of such a +conqueror as Alexander.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">Alexander crosses the Euphrates.</div> + +<p>By looking at the <a href="#Frontispiece">map</a> at the commencement of the volume, it will be +seen that the Tigris <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_193" id="Page_193">[Pg 193]</a></span>and the Euphrates are parallel streams, flowing +through the heart of the western part of Asia toward the southeast, +and emptying into the Persian Gulf. The country between these two +rivers, which was extremely populous and fertile, was called +Mesopotamia. Darius had collected an immense army here. The various +detachments filled all the plains of Mesopotamia. Alexander turned his +course a little northward, intending to pass the River Euphrates at a +famous ancient crossing at Thapsacus, which may be seen upon the <a href="#Frontispiece">map</a>. +When he arrived at this place he found a small Persian army there. +They, however, retired as he approached. Alexander built two bridges +across the river, and passed his army safely over.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">Darius crosses the Tigris.</div> + +<p>In the mean time, Darius, with his enormous host, passed across the +Tigris, and moved toward the northward, along the eastern side of the +river. He had to cross the various branches of the Tigris as he +advanced. At one of them, called the Lycus, which may also be seen +upon the <a href="#Frontispiece">map</a>, there was a bridge. It took the vast host which Darius +had collected <i>five days</i> to pass this bridge.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">Alexander reaches the Tigris.<br />He crosses the river.</div> + +<p>While Darius had been thus advancing to the northward into the +latitude where he knew <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_194" id="Page_194">[Pg 194]</a></span>that Alexander must cross the rivers, +Alexander himself, and his small but compact and fearless body of +Grecian troops, were moving eastward, toward the same region to which +Darius's line of march was tending. Alexander at length reached the +Tigris. He was obliged to ford this stream. The banks were steep and +the current was rapid, and the men were in great danger of being swept +away. To prevent this danger, the ranks, as they advanced, linked +their arms together, so that each man might be sustained by his +comrades. They held their shields above their heads to keep them from +the water. Alexander waded like the rest, though he kept in front, and +reached the bank before the others. Standing there, he indicated to +the advancing column, by gesticulation, where to land, the noise of +the water being too great to allow his voice to be heard. To see him +standing there, safely landed, and with an expression of confidence +and triumph in his attitude and air, awakened fresh energy in the +heart of every soldier in the columns which were crossing the stream.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">Fording the river.</div> + +<p>Notwithstanding this encouragement, however, the passage of the troops +and the landing on the bank produced a scene of great confusion. <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_195" id="Page_195">[Pg 195]</a></span>Many +of the soldiers had tied up a portion of their clothes in bundles, +which they held above their heads, together with their arms, as they +waded along through the swift current of the stream. They, however, +found it impossible to carry these bundles, but had to abandon them at +last in order to save themselves, as they staggered along through deep +and rapid water, and over a concealed bottom of slippery stones. +Thousands of these bundles, mingled with spears, darts, and every +other sort of weapon that would float, were swept down by the current, +to impede and embarrass the men who were passing below.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">The passage effected.</div> + +<p>At length, however, the men themselves succeeded in getting over in +safety, though a large quantity of arms and of clothing was lost. +There was no enemy upon the bank to oppose them. Darius could not, in +fact, well meet and oppose Alexander in his attempt to cross the +river, because he could not determine at what point he would probably +make the attempt, in season to concentrate so large an army to oppose +him. Alexander's troops, being a comparatively small and compact body, +and being accustomed to move with great promptness and celerity, could +easily evade any attempt of <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_196" id="Page_196">[Pg 196]</a></span>such an unwieldy mass of forces to oppose +his crossing at any particular point upon the stream. At any rate, +Darius did not make any such attempt, and Alexander had no +difficulties to encounter in crossing the Tigris other than the +physical obstacles presented by the current of the stream.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">Plan of Darius.<br />The plain of Arbela.</div> + +<p>Darius's plan was, therefore, not to intercept Alexander on his march, +but to choose some great and convenient battle-field, where he could +collect his forces, and marshal them advantageously, and so await an +attack there. He knew very well that his enemy would seek him out, +wherever he was, and, consequently, that he might choose his position. +He found such a field in an extensive plain at Guagamela, not far from +the city of Arbela. The spot has received historical immortality under +the name of the plain of Arbela.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">The caltrop.<br />Its use in war.</div> + +<p>Darius was several days in concentrating his vast armies upon this +plain. He constructed encampments; he leveled the inequalities which +would interfere with the movements of his great bodies of cavalry; he +guarded the approaches, too, as much as possible. There is a little +instrument used in war called a <i>caltrop</i>.<a name="FNanchor_E_5" id="FNanchor_E_5"></a><a href="#Footnote_E_5" class="fnanchor">[E]</a> It <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_197" id="Page_197">[Pg 197]</a></span>consists of a small +ball of iron, with several sharp points projecting from it one or two +inches each way. If these instruments are thrown upon the ground at +random, one of the points must necessarily be upward, and the horses +that tread upon them are lamed and disabled at once. Darius caused +caltrops to be scattered in the grass and along the roads, wherever +the army of Alexander would be likely to approach his troops on the +field of battle.</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 324px;"> +<img src="images/i196.jpg" class="ispace" width="324" height="300" alt="The Caltrop." title="" /> +<span class="caption">The Caltrop.</span> +</div> + +<div class="sidenote2">Eclipse of the moon.<br />Consternation of Alexander's army.</div> + +<p>Alexander, having crossed the river, encamped for a day or two on the +banks, to rest and refresh, and to rearrange his army. While here, the +soldiers were one night thrown into consternation by an eclipse of the +moon. Whenever <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_198" id="Page_198">[Pg 198]</a></span>an eclipse of the moon takes place, it is, of course, +when the moon is full, so that the eclipse is always a sudden, and, +among an ignorant people, an unexpected waning of the orb in the +height of its splendor; and as such people know not the cause of the +phenomenon, they are often extremely terrified. Alexander's soldiers +were thrown into consternation by the eclipse. They considered it the +manifestation of the displeasure of Heaven at their presumptuous +daring in crossing such rivers, and penetrating to such a distance to +invade the territories of another king.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">Emotions produced by an eclipse.<br />Its sublimity.</div> + +<p>In fact, the men were predisposed to fear. Having wandered to a vast +distance from home, having passed over such mountains and deserts, and +now, at last, having crossed a deep and dangerous river, and thrown +themselves into the immediate vicinity of a foe ten times as numerous +as themselves, it was natural that they should feel some misgivings. +And when, at night, impressed with the sense of solemnity which night +always imparts to strange and novel scenes, they looked up to the +bright round moon, pleased with the expression of cheerfulness and +companionship which beams always in her light, to find her suddenly +waning, changing <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_199" id="Page_199">[Pg 199]</a></span>her form, withdrawing her bright beams, and looking +down upon them with a lurid and murky light, it was not surprising +that they felt an emotion of terror. In fact, there is always an +element of terror in the emotion excited by looking upon an eclipse, +which an instinctive feeling of the heart inspires. It invests the +spectacle with a solemn grandeur. It holds the spectator, however +cultivated and refined, in silence while he gazes at it. It mingles +with a scientific appreciation of the vastness of the movements and +magnitudes by which the effect is produced, and while the one occupies +the intellect, the other impresses the soul. The mind that has lost, +through its philosophy, the power of feeling this emotion of awe in +such scenes, has sunk, not risen. Its possessor has made himself +inferior, not superior, to the rest of his species, by having +paralyzed one of his susceptibilities of pleasure. To him an eclipse +is only curious and wonderful; to others it is sublime.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">Measures taken by Alexander to allay the fears of the +soldiers.</div> + +<p>The soldiers of Alexander were extremely terrified. A great panic +spread throughout the encampment. Alexander himself, instead of +attempting to allay their fears by reasoning, or treating them as of +no importance, immediately gave the subject his most serious +attention. He <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_200" id="Page_200">[Pg 200]</a></span>called together the soothsayers, and directed them to +consult together, and let him know what this great phenomenon +portended. This mere committing of the subject to the attention of the +soothsayers had a great effect among all the soldiers of the army. It +calmed them. It changed their agitation and terror into a feeling of +suspense, in awaiting the answer of the soothsayers, which was far +less painful and dangerous; and at length, when the answer came, it +allayed their anxiety and fear altogether. The soothsayers said that +the sun was on Alexander's side, and the moon on that of the Persians, +and that this sudden waning of her light foreshadowed the defeat and +destruction which the Persians were about to undergo. The army were +satisfied with this decision, and were inspired with new confidence +and ardor. It is often idle to attempt to oppose ignorance and +absurdity by such feeble instruments as truth and reason, and the +wisest managers of mankind have generally been most successful when +their plan has been to counteract one folly by means of the influence +of another.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">Alexander approaches the Persian army.</div> + +<p>Alexander's army consisted of about fifty thousand men, with the +phalanx in the center. This army moved along down the eastern bank <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_201" id="Page_201">[Pg 201]</a></span>of +the Tigris, the scouts pressing forward as far as possible in every +direction in front of the main army, in order to get intelligence of +the foe. It is in this way that two great armies <i>feel</i> after each +other, as it were, like insects creeping over the ground, exploring +the way before them with their <i>antennæ</i>. At length, after three days' +advance, the scouts came in with intelligence of the enemy. Alexander +pressed forward with a detachment of his army to meet them. They +proved to be, however, not the main body of Darius's army, but only a +single corps of a thousand men, in advance of the rest. They retreated +as Alexander approached. He, however, succeeded in capturing some +horsemen, who gave the information that Darius had assembled his vast +forces on the plain of Arbela, and was waiting there in readiness to +give his advancing enemy battle.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">Preparations for the battle.</div> + +<p>Alexander halted his troops. He formed an encampment, and made +arrangements for depositing his baggage there. He refreshed the men, +examined and repaired their arms, and made the arrangements for +battle. These operations consumed several days. At the end of that +time, early one morning, long before day, the camp was in motion, and +the columns, armed <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_202" id="Page_202">[Pg 202]</a></span>and equipped for immediate contest, moved forward.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">Alexander surveys the Persian army.</div> + +<p>They expected to have reached the camp of Darius at daybreak, but the +distance was greater than they had supposed. At length, however, the +Macedonians, in their march, came upon the brow of a range of hills, +from which they looked down upon numberless and endless lines of +infantry and cavalry, and ranges after ranges of tents, which filled +the plain. Here the army paused while Alexander examined the field, +studying for a long time, and with great attention, the numbers and +disposition of the enemy. They were four miles distant still, but the +murmuring sounds of their voices and movements came to the ears of the +Macedonians through the calm autumnal air.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">Council of officers.<br />Number of the armies.</div> + +<p>Alexander called the leading officers together, and held a +consultation on the question whether to march down and attack the +Persians on the plain that night, or to wait till the next day. +Parmenio was in favor of a night attack, in order to surprise the +enemy by coming upon them at an unexpected time. But Alexander said +no. He was sure of victory. He had got his enemies all before him; +they were fully in his power. He would, therefore, take no advantage, +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_203" id="Page_203">[Pg 203]</a></span>but would attack them fairly and in open day. Alexander had fifty +thousand men; the Persians were variously estimated between five +hundred thousand and a million. There is something sublime in the idea +of such a pause, made by the Macedonian phalanx and its wings, on the +slopes of the hills, suspending its attack upon ten times its number, +to give the mighty mass of their enemies the chances of a fair and +equal contest.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">Alexander's address.</div> + +<p>Alexander made congratulatory addresses to his soldiers on the +occasion of their having now at last before them, what they had so +long toiled and labored to attain, the whole concentrated force of the +Persian empire. They were now going to contend, not for single +provinces and kingdoms, as heretofore, but for general empire; and the +victory which they were about to achieve would place them on the +summit of human glory. In all that he said on the subject, the +unquestionable certainty of victory was assumed.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">Parmenio and Alexander.</div> + +<p>Alexander completed his arrangements, and then retired to rest. He +went to sleep—at least he appeared to do so. Early in the morning +Parmenio arose, summoned the men to their posts, and arranged every +thing for the march. He then went to Alexander's tent. Alexander <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_204" id="Page_204">[Pg 204]</a></span>was +still asleep. He awoke him, and told him that all was ready. Parmenio +expressed surprise at his sleeping so quietly at a time when such vast +issues were at stake. "You seem as calm," said he, "as if you had had +the battle and gained the victory." "I have done so," said Alexander. +"I consider the whole work done when we have gained access to Darius +and his forces, and find him ready to give us battle."</p> + +<div class="sidenote">Alexander's dress.</div> + +<p>Alexander soon appeared at the head of his troops. Of course this day +was one of the most important ones of his life, and one of the +historians of the time has preserved an account of his dress as he +went into battle. He wore a short tunic, girt close around him, and +over it a linen breast-plate, strongly quilted. The belt by which the +tunic was held was embossed with figures of beautiful workmanship. +This belt was a present to him from some of the people of the +conquered countries through which he had passed, and it was very much +admired. He had a helmet upon his head, of polished steel, with a neck +piece, also of steel, ornamented with precious stones. His helmet was +surmounted with a white plume. His sword, which was a present to him +from the King of Cyprus, was very light and slender, and of the most +perfect <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_205" id="Page_205">[Pg 205]</a></span>temper. He carried, also, a shield and a lance, made in the +best possible manner for use, not for display. Thus his dress +corresponded with the character of his action. It was simple, compact, +and whatever of value it possessed consisted in those substantial +excellencies which would give the bearer the greatest efficiency on +the field of battle.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">War elephants.<br />The phalanx.</div> + +<p>The Persians were accustomed to make use of elephants in their wars. +They also had chariots, with scythes placed at the axles, which they +were accustomed to drive among their enemies and mow them down. +Alexander resorted to none of these contrivances. There was the +phalanx—the terrible phalanx—advancing irresistibly either in one +body or in detachments, with columns of infantry and flying troops of +horsemen on the wings. Alexander relied simply on the strength, the +courage, the energy, and the calm and steady, but resistless ardor of +his men, arranging them in simple combinations, and leading them +forward directly to their work.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">Defeat of the Persians.<br />Flight of Darius.</div> + +<p>The Macedonians cut their way through the mighty mass of their enemies +with irresistible force. The elephants turned and fled. The foot +soldiers seized the horses of some of the <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_206" id="Page_206">[Pg 206]</a></span>scythe-armed chariots and +cut the traces. In respect to others, they opened to the right and +left and let them pass through, when they were easily captured by the +men in the rear. In the mean time the phalanx pressed on, enjoying a +great advantage in the level nature of the ground. The Persian troops +were broken in upon and driven away wherever they were attacked. In a +word, before night the whole mighty mass was scattering every where in +confusion, except some hundreds of thousands left trampled upon and +dead, or else writhing upon the ground, and groaning in their dying +agonies. Darius himself fled. Alexander pursued him with a troop of +horse as far as Arbela, which had been Darius's head-quarters, and +where he had deposited immense treasures. Darius had gone through and +escaped when Alexander arrived at Arbela, but the city and the +treasures fell into Alexander's hands.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">Alexander driven from the field.</div> + +<p>Although Alexander had been so completely victorious over his enemies +on the day of battle, and had maintained his ground against them with +such invincible power, he was, nevertheless, a few days afterward, +driven entirely off the field, and completely away from the region +where the battle had been fought. What the <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_207" id="Page_207">[Pg 207]</a></span>living men, standing erect +in arms, and full of martial vigor, could not do, was easily and +effectually accomplished by their dead bodies corrupting on the plain. +The corpses of three hundred thousand men, and an equal bulk of the +bodies of elephants and horses, was too enormous a mass to be buried. +It had to be abandoned; and the horrible effluvia and pestilence which +it emitted drove all the inhabitants of the country away. Alexander +marched his troops rapidly off the ground, leaving, as the direct +result of the battle, a wide extent of country depopulated and +desolate, with this vast mass of putrefaction and pestilence reigning +in awful silence and solitude in the midst of it.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">March to Babylon.</div> + +<p>Alexander went to Babylon. The governor of the city prepared to +receive him as a conqueror. The people came out in throngs to meet +him, and all the avenues of approach were crowded with spectators. All +the city walls, too, were covered with men and women, assembled to +witness the scene. As for Alexander himself, he was filled with pride +and pleasure at thus arriving at the full accomplishment of his +earliest and long-cherished dreams of glory.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">Surrender of Susa.<br />Plunder of the palace.<br />Wholesale robbery and murder.<br />Immense treasures.</div> + +<p>The great store-house of the royal treasures of Persia was at Susa, a +strong city east of Babylon. <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_208" id="Page_208">[Pg 208]</a></span>Susa was the winter residence of the +Persian kings, as Ecbatana, further north, among the mountains, was +their summer residence. There was a magnificent palace and a very +strong citadel at Susa, and the treasures were kept in the citadel. It +is said that in times of peace the Persian monarchs had been +accustomed to collect coin, melt it down, and cast the gold in earthen +jars. The jars were afterward broken off from the gold, leaving the +bullion in the form of the interior of the jars. An enormous amount of +gold and silver, and of other treasures, had been thus collected. +Alexander was aware of this depository before he advanced to meet +Darius, and, on the day of the battle of Arbela, as soon as the +victory was decided, he sent an officer from the very field to summon +Susa to surrender. They obeyed the summons, and Alexander, soon after +his great public entrance into Babylon, marched to Susa, and took +possession of the vast stores of wealth accumulated there. The amount +was enormous, both in quantity and value, and the seizing of it was a +very magnificent act of plunder. In fact, it is probable that +Alexander's slaughter of the Persian army at Arbela, and subsequent +spoliation of Susa, constitute, taken together, the <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_209" id="Page_209">[Pg 209]</a></span>most gigantic +case of murder and robbery which was ever committed by man; so that, +in performing these deeds, the great hero attained at last to the +glory of having perpetrated the grandest and most imposing of all +human crimes. That these deeds were really crimes there can be no +doubt, when we consider that Alexander did not pretend to have any +other motive in this invasion than love of conquest, which is, in +other words, love of violence and plunder. They are only technically +shielded from being called crimes by the fact that the earth has no +laws and no tribunals high enough to condemn such enormous burglaries +as that of one quarter of the globe breaking violently and murderously +in upon and robbing the other.</p> + +<p>Besides the treasures, Alexander found also at Susa a number of +trophies which had been brought by Xerxes from Greece; for Xerxes had +invaded Greece some hundred years before Alexander's day, and had +brought to Susa the spoils and the trophies of his victories. +Alexander sent them all back to Greece again.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">Pass of Susa.<br />The mountaineers.</div> + +<p>From Susa the conqueror moved on to Persepolis, the great Persian +capital. On his march he had to pass through a defile of the +mountains. The mountaineers had been accustomed <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_210" id="Page_210">[Pg 210]</a></span>to exact tribute here +of all who passed, having a sort of right, derived from ancient usage, +to the payment of a toll. They sent to Alexander when they heard that +he was approaching, and informed him that he could not pass with his +army without paying the customary toll. Alexander sent back word that +he would meet them at the pass, and give them <i>their due</i>.</p> + +<p>They understood this, and prepared to defend the pass. Some Persian +troops joined them. They built walls and barricades across the narrow +passages. They collected great stones on the brinks of precipices, and +on the declivities of the mountains, to roll down upon the heads of +their enemies. By these and every other means they attempted to stop +Alexander's passage. But he had contrived to send detachments around +by circuitous and precipitous paths, which even the mountaineers had +deemed impracticable, and thus attack his enemies suddenly and +unexpectedly from above their own positions. As usual, his plan +succeeded. The mountaineers were driven away, and the conqueror +advanced toward the great Persian capital.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_211" id="Page_211">[Pg 211-2]</a></span></p> +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 500px;"> +<img src="images/i206.jpg" width="500" class="ispace jpg" height="293" alt="Alexander at the Pass of Susa." title="" /> +<span class="caption">Alexander at the Pass of Susa.</span> +</div> + +<hr class="large" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_213" id="Page_213">[Pg 213]</a></span></p> +<h2><a name="Chapter_X" id="Chapter_X"></a><span class="smcap">Chapter X.</span></h2> + +<h2><span class="smcap">The Death of Darius.</span></h2> + +<p class="center">B.C. 330</p> + +<div class="sidenote">March to Persepolis.<br />Reckless cruelty.</div> + +<p class="n"><span style="float:left;font-size:50px;line-height:32px;padding-top:2px;padding-bottom:1px;">A</span><span style="margin-left:0%;">lexander's</span> march from Susa to Persepolis was less a march than a +triumphal progress. He felt the pride and elation so naturally +resulting from success very strongly. The moderation and forbearance +which had characterized him in his earlier years, gradually +disappeared as he became great and powerful. He was intoxicated with +his success. He became haughty, vain, capricious, and cruel. As he +approached Persepolis, he conceived the idea that, as this city was +the capital and center of the Persian monarchy, and, as such, the +point from which had emanated all the Persian hostility to Greece, he +owed it some signal retribution. Accordingly, although the inhabitants +made no opposition to his entrance, he marched in with the phalanx +formed, and gave the soldiers liberty to kill and plunder as they +pleased.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">The banquet.<br />Thais proposes to burn the Persian palace.</div> + +<p>There was another very striking instance of the capricious +recklessness now beginning to appear in Alexander's character, which +occurred <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_214" id="Page_214">[Pg 214]</a></span>soon after he had taken possession of Persepolis. He was +giving a great banquet to his friends, the officers of the army, and +to Persians of distinction among those who had submitted to him. There +was, among other women at this banquet, a very beautiful and +accomplished female named Thais. Alexander made her his favorite and +companion, though she was not his wife. Thais did all in her power to +captivate and please Alexander during the feast by her vivacity, her +wit, her adroit attentions to him, and the display of her charms, and +at length, when he himself, as well as the other guests, were excited +with wine, she asked him to allow her to have the pleasure of going +herself and setting fire, with her own hands, to the great palace of +the Persian kings in the city. Thais was a native of Attica in Greece, +a kingdom of which Athens was the capital. Xerxes, who had built the +great palace of Persepolis, had formerly invaded Greece and had burned +Athens, and now Thais desired to burn his palace in Persepolis, to +gratify her revenge, by making of its conflagration an evening +spectacle to entertain the Macedonian party after their supper. +Alexander agreed to the proposal, and the whole company moved forward. +Taking the torches from the banqueting <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_215" id="Page_215">[Pg 215]</a></span>halls, they sallied forth, +alarming the city with their shouts, and with the flashing of the +lights they bore. The plan of Thais was carried fully into effect, +every half-intoxicated guest assisting, by putting fire to the immense +pile wherever they could get access to it. They performed the +barbarous deed with shouts of vengeance and exultation.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">Conflagration of the palace.<br />Sublimity of the scene.</div> + +<p>There is, however, something very solemn and awful in a great +conflagration at night, and very few incendiaries can gaze upon the +fury of the lurid and frightful flames which they have caused to +ascend without some misgivings and some remorse. Alexander was sobered +by the grand and sublime, but terrible spectacle. He was awed by it. +He repented. He ordered the fire to be extinguished; but it was too +late. The palace was destroyed, and one new blot, which has never +since been effaced, was cast upon Alexander's character and fame.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">Olympias.</div> + +<p>And yet, notwithstanding these increasing proofs of pride and cruelty, +which were beginning to be developed, Alexander still preserved some +of the early traits of character which had made him so great a +favorite in the commencement of his career. He loved his mother, and +sent her presents continually from the treasures <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_216" id="Page_216">[Pg 216]</a></span>which were falling +all the time into his possession. She was a woman of a proud, +imperious, and ungovernable character, and she made Antipater, whom +Alexander had left in command in Macedon, infinite trouble. She wanted +to exercise the powers of government herself, and was continually +urging this. Alexander would not comply with these wishes, but he paid +her personally every attention in his power, and bore all her +invectives and reproaches with great patience and good humor. At one +time he received a long letter from Antipater, full of complaints +against her; but Alexander, after reading it, said that they were +heavy charges it was true, but that a single one of his mother's tears +would outweigh ten thousand such accusations.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">Her letters to Alexander.</div> + +<p>Olympias used to write very frequently to Alexander, and in these +letters she would criticise and discuss his proceedings, and make +comments upon the characters and actions of his generals. Alexander +kept these letters very secret, never showing them to any one. One +day, however, when he was reading one of these letters, Hephæstion, +the personal friend and companion who has been already several times +mentioned, came up, half playfully, and began to look over his +shoulder. Alexander went on, allowing <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_217" id="Page_217">[Pg 217]</a></span>him to read, and then, when the +letter was finished he took the signet ring from his finger and +pressed it upon Hephæstion's lips, a signal for silence and secrecy.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">Sysigambis.<br />Alexander's kindness to her.</div> + +<p>Alexander was very kind to Sysigambis, the mother of Darius, and also +to Darius's children. He would not give these unhappy captives their +liberty, but in every other respect he treated them with the greatest +possible kindness and consideration. He called Sysigambis mother, +loaded her with presents—presents, it is true, which he had plundered +from her son, but to which it was considered, in those days, that he +had acquired a just and perfect title. When he reached Susa, he +established Sysigambis and the children there in great state. This had +been their usual residence in most seasons of the year, when not at +Persepolis, so that here they were, as it were, at home. Ecbatana<a name="FNanchor_F_6" id="FNanchor_F_6"></a><a href="#Footnote_F_6" class="fnanchor">[F]</a> +was, as has been already mentioned, further north, among the +mountains. After the battle of Arbela, while Alexander marched to +Babylon and to Susa, Darius had fled to Ecbatana, and was now there, +his family being thus at one of the royal palaces under the command of +the conqueror, and he himself independent, but insecure, in the +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_218" id="Page_218">[Pg 218]</a></span>other. He had with him about forty thousand men, who still remained +faithful to his fallen fortunes. Among these were several thousand +Greeks, whom he had collected in Asia Minor and other Grecian +countries, and whom he had attached to his service by means of pay.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">Darius at Ecbatana.<br />His speech to his army.</div> + +<p>He called the officers of his army together, and explained to them the +determination that he had come to in respect to his future movements. +"A large part of those," said he, "who formerly served as officers of +my government have abandoned me in my adversity, and gone over to +Alexander's side. They have surrendered to him the towns, and +citadels, and provinces which I intrusted to their fidelity. You alone +remain faithful and true. As for myself, I might yield to the +conqueror, and have him assign to me some province or kingdom to +govern as his subordinate; but I will never submit to such a +degradation. I can die in the struggle, but never will yield. I will +wear no crown which another puts upon my brow, nor give up my right to +reign over the empire of my ancestors till I give up my life. If you +agree with me in this determination, let us act energetically upon it. +We have it in our power to terminate the injuries we are suffering, or +else to avenge them."</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_219" id="Page_219">[Pg 219]</a></span></p><div class="sidenote">Conspiracy against Darius.</div> + +<p>The army responded most cordially to this appeal. They were ready, +they said, to follow him wherever he should lead. All this apparent +enthusiasm, however, was very delusive and unsubstantial. A general +named Bessus, combining with some other officers in the army, +conceived the plan of seizing Darius and making him a prisoner, and +then taking command of the army himself. If Alexander should pursue +him, and be likely to overtake and conquer him, he then thought that, +by giving up Darius as a prisoner, he could stipulate for liberty and +safety, and perhaps great rewards, both for himself and for those who +acted with him. If, on the other hand, they should succeed in +increasing their own forces so as to make head against Alexander, and +finally to drive him away, then Bessus was to usurp the throne, and +dispose of Darius by assassinating him, or imprisoning him for life in +some remote and solitary castle.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">Bessus and his confederates.</div> + +<p>Bessus communicated his plans, very cautiously at first, to the +leading officers of the army. The Greek soldiers were not included in +the plot. They, however, heard and saw enough to lead them to suspect +what was in preparation. They warned Darius, and urged him to rely +upon them more than he had done; <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_220" id="Page_220">[Pg 220]</a></span>to make them his body-guard; and to +pitch his tent in their part of the encampment. But Darius declined +these proposals. He would not, he said, distrust and abandon his +countrymen, who were his natural protectors, and put himself in the +hands of strangers. He would not betray and desert his friends in +anticipation of their deserting and betraying him.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">Advance of Alexander.<br />Retreat of Darius.<br />The Caspian Gates.<br />Pursuit of Darius.</div> + +<p>In the mean time, as Alexander advanced toward Ecbatana, Darius and +his forces retreated from it toward the eastward, through the great +tract of country lying south of the Caspian Sea. There is a +mountainous region here, with a defile traversing it, through which it +would be necessary for Darius to pass. This defile was called the +Caspian Gates,<a name="FNanchor_G_7" id="FNanchor_G_7"></a><a href="#Footnote_G_7" class="fnanchor">[G]</a> the name referring to rocks on each side. The +marching of an army through a narrow and dangerous defile like this +always causes detention and delay, and Alexander hastened forward in +hopes to overtake Darius before he should reach it. He advanced with +such speed that only the strongest and most robust of his army could +keep up. Thousands, worn out with exertion and toil, were left behind, +and many of the horses sank down by the road side, exhausted with heat +and <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_221" id="Page_221">[Pg 221]</a></span>fatigue, to die. Alexander pressed desperately on with all who +were able to follow.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">Foraging parties.</div> + +<p>It was all in vain, however; it was too late when he arrived at the +pass. Darius had gone through with all his army. Alexander stopped to +rest his men, and to allow time for those behind to come up. He then +went on for a couple of days, when he encamped, in order to send out +foraging parties—that is to say, small detachments, dispatched to +explore the surrounding country in search of grain and other food for +the horses. Food for the horses of an army being too bulky to be +transported far, has to be collected day by day from the neighborhood +of the line of march.</p> + +<p>While halting for these foraging parties to return, a Persian nobleman +came into the camp, and informed Alexander that Darius and the forces +accompanying him were encamped about two days' march in advance, but +that Bessus was in command—the conspiracy having been successful, and +Darius having been deposed and made a prisoner. The Greeks, who had +adhered to their fidelity, finding that all the army were combined +against them, and that they were not strong enough to resist, had +abandoned the Persian camp, and had retired to the <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_222" id="Page_222">[Pg 222]</a></span>mountains, where +they were awaiting the result.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">The pursuit continued.</div> + +<p>Alexander determined to set forward immediately in pursuit of Bessus +and his prisoner. He did not wait for the return of the foraging +parties. He selected the ablest and most active, both of foot soldiers +and horsemen, ordered them to take two days' provisions, and then set +forth with them that very evening. The party pressed on all that +night, and the next day till noon. They halted till evening, and then +set forth again. Very early the next morning they arrived at the +encampment which the Persian nobleman had described. They found the +remains of the camp-fires, and all the marks usually left upon a spot +which has been used as the bivouac of an army. The army itself, +however, was gone.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">Alexander stops to rest his army.</div> + +<p>The pursuers were now too much fatigued to go any further without +rest. Alexander remained here, accordingly, through the day, to give +his men and his horses refreshment and repose. That night they set +forward again, and the next day at noon they arrived at another +encampment of the Persians, which they had left scarcely twenty-four +hours before. The officers of Alexander's army were excited and +animated in <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_223" id="Page_223">[Pg 223]</a></span>the highest degree, as they found themselves thus drawing +so near to the great object of their pursuit. They were ready for any +exertions, any privation and fatigue, any measures, however +extraordinary, to accomplish their end.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">Want of water.<br />Disregarded by Alexander.<br />The pursuit grows more exciting.</div> + +<p>Alexander inquired of the inhabitants of the place whether there were +not some shorter road than the one along which the enemy were moving. +There was one cross-road, but it led through a desolate and desert +tract of land, destitute of water. In the march of an army, as the men +are always heavily loaded with arms and provisions, and water can not +be carried, it is always considered essential to choose routes which +will furnish supplies of water by the way. Alexander, however, +disregarded this consideration here, and prepared at once to push into +the cross-road with a small detachment. He had been now two years +advancing from Macedon into the heart of Asia, always in quest of +Darius as his great opponent and enemy. He had conquered his armies, +taken his cities, plundered his palaces, and made himself master of +his whole realm. Still, so long as Darius himself remained at liberty +and in the field, no victories could be considered as complete. To +capture Darius himself would be the last and crowning <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_224" id="Page_224">[Pg 224]</a></span>act of his +conquest. He had now been pursuing him for eighteen hundred miles, +advancing slowly from province to province, and from kingdom to +kingdom. During all this time the strength of his flying foe had been +wasting away. His armies had been broken up, his courage and hope had +gradually failed, while the animation and hope of the pursuer had been +gathering fresh and increasing strength from his successes, and were +excited to wild enthusiasm now, as the hour for the final consummation +of all his desires seemed to be drawing nigh.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">Guides employed.</div> + +<p>Guides were ordered to be furnished by the inhabitants, to show the +detachment the way across the solitary and desert country. The +detachment was to consist of horsemen entirely, that they might +advance with the utmost celerity. To get as efficient a corps as +possible, Alexander dismounted five hundred of the cavalry, and gave +their horses to five hundred men—officers and others—selected for +their strength and courage from among the foot soldiers. All were +ambitious of being designated for this service. Besides the honor of +being so selected, there was an intense excitement, as usual toward +the close of a chase, to arrive at the end.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">The Persians overtaken.</div> + +<p>This body of horsemen were ready to set out <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_225" id="Page_225">[Pg 225]</a></span>in the evening. Alexander +took the command, and, following the guides, they trotted off in the +direction which the guides indicated. They traveled all night. When +the day dawned, they saw, from an elevation to which they had +attained, the body of the Persian troops moving at a short distance +before them, foot soldiers, chariots, and horsemen pressing on +together in great confusion and disorder.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">Murder of Darius.</div> + +<p>As soon as Bessus and his company found that their pursuers were close +upon them, they attempted at first to hurry forward, in the vain hope +of still effecting their escape. Darius was in a chariot. They urged +this chariot on, but it moved heavily. Then they concluded to abandon +it, and they called upon Darius to mount a horse and ride off with +them, leaving the rest of the army and the baggage to its fate. But +Darius refused. He said he would rather trust himself in the hands of +Alexander than in those of such traitors as they. Rendered desperate +by their situation, and exasperated by this reply, Bessus and his +confederates thrust their spears into Darius's body, as he sat in his +chariot, and then galloped away. They divided into different parties, +each taking a different road. Their object in doing this was to +increase their <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_226" id="Page_226">[Pg 226]</a></span>chances of escape by confusing Alexander in his plans +for pursuing them. Alexander pressed on toward the ground which the +enemy were abandoning, and sent off separate detachments after the +various divisions of the flying army.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">Sufferings of Darius.<br />Treachery of friends.</div> + +<p>In the mean time Darius remained in his chariot wounded and bleeding. +He was worn out and exhausted, both in body and mind, by his +complicated sufferings and sorrows. His kingdom lost; his family in +captivity; his beloved wife in the grave, where the sorrows and +sufferings of separation from her husband had borne her; his cities +sacked; his palaces and treasures plundered; and now he himself, in +the last hour of his extremity, abandoned and betrayed by all in whom +he had placed his confidence and trust, his heart sunk within him in +despair. At such a time the soul turns from traitorous friends to an +open foe with something like a feeling of confidence and attachment. +Darius's exasperation against Bessus was so intense, that his +hostility to Alexander became a species of friendship in comparison. +He felt that Alexander was a sovereign like himself, and would have +some sympathy and fellow-feeling for a sovereign's misfortunes. He +thought, too, of his mother, his wife, and his children, and <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_227" id="Page_227">[Pg 227]</a></span>the +kindness with which Alexander had treated them went to his heart. He +lay there, accordingly, faint and bleeding in his chariot, and looking +for the coming of Alexander as for that of a protector and friend, the +only one to whom he could now look for any relief in the extremity of +his distress.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">Darius found.</div> + +<p>The Macedonians searched about in various places, thinking it possible +that in the sudden dispersion of the enemy Darius might have been left +behind. At last the chariot in which he was lying was found. Darius +was in it, pierced with spears. The floor of the chariot was covered +with blood. They raised him a little, and he spoke. He called for +water.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">Sufferings from thirst.<br />Darius calls for water.</div> + +<p>Men wounded and dying on the field of battle are tormented always with +an insatiable and intolerable thirst, the manifestations of which +constitute one of the greatest horrors of the scene. They cry +piteously to all who pass to bring them water, or else to kill them. +They crawl along the ground to get at the canteens of their dead +companions, in hopes to find, remaining in them, some drops to drink; +and if there is a little brook meandering through the battle-field, +its bed gets filled and choked up with the bodies of those who crawled +there, in <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_228" id="Page_228">[Pg 228]</a></span>their agony, to quench their horrible thirst, and die. +Darius was suffering this thirst. It bore down and silenced, for the +time, every other suffering, so that his first cry, when his enemies +came around him with shouts of exultation, was not for his life, not +for mercy, not for relief from the pain and anguish of his wounds—he +begged them to give him some water.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">The interpreter.</div> + +<p>He spoke through an interpreter. The interpreter was a Persian +prisoner whom the Macedonian army had taken some time before, and who +had learned the Greek language in the Macedonian camp. Anticipating +some occasion for his services, they had brought him with them now, +and it was through him that Darius called for water. A Macedonian +soldier went immediately to get some. Others hurried away in search of +Alexander, to bring him to the spot where the great object of his +hostility, and of his long and protracted pursuit, was dying.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">Darius's message to Alexander.</div> + +<p>Darius received the drink. He then said that he was extremely glad +that they had an interpreter with them, who could understand him, and +bear his message to Alexander. He had been afraid that he should have +had to die without being able to communicate what he had to say. "Tell +Alexander," said he, then, "that <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_229" id="Page_229">[Pg 229]</a></span>I feel under the strongest +obligations to him which I can now never repay, for his kindness to my +wife, my mother, and my children. He not only spared their lives, but +treated them with the greatest consideration and care, and did all in +his power to make them happy. The last feeling in my heart is +gratitude to him for these favors. I hope now that he will go on +prosperously, and finish his conquests as triumphantly as he has begun +them." He would have made one last request, he added, if he had +thought it necessary, and that was, that Alexander would pursue the +traitor Bessus, and avenge the murder he had committed; but he was +sure that Alexander would do this of his own accord, as the punishment +of such treachery was an object of common interest for every king.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">Affecting scene.</div> + +<p>Darius then took Polystratus, the Macedonian who had brought him the +water, by the hand, saying, "Give Alexander thy hand as I now give +thee mine; it is the pledge of my gratitude and affection."</p> + +<div class="sidenote">Alexander's grief at Darius's death.<br />He sends the body to Sysigambis.</div> + +<p>Darius was too weak to say much more. They gathered around him, +endeavoring to sustain his strength until Alexander should arrive; but +it was all in vain. He sank gradually, and <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_230" id="Page_230">[Pg 230]</a></span>soon ceased to breathe. +Alexander came up a few minutes after all was over. He was at first +shocked at the spectacle before him, and then overwhelmed with grief. +He wept bitterly. Some compunctions of conscience may have visited his +heart at seeing thus before him the ruin he had made. Darius had never +injured him or done him any wrong, and yet here he lay, hunted to +death by a persevering and relentless hostility, for which his +conqueror had no excuse but his innate love of dominion over his +fellow-men. Alexander spread his own military cloak over the dead +body. He immediately made arrangements for having the body embalmed, +and then sent it to Susa, for Sysigambis, in a very costly coffin, and +with a procession of royal magnificence. He sent it to her that she +might have the satisfaction of seeing it deposited in the tombs of the +Persian kings. What a present! The killer of a son sending the dead +body, in a splendid coffin, to the mother, as a token of respectful +regard!</p> + +<div class="sidenote">Crossing the Oxus.<br />Capture of the traitor Bessus.</div> + +<p>Alexander pressed on to the northward and eastward in pursuit of +Bessus, who had soon collected the scattered remains of his army, and +was doing his utmost to get into a posture of defense. He did not, +however, overtake him till <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_231" id="Page_231">[Pg 231]</a></span>he had crossed the Oxus, a large river +which will be found upon the <a href="#Frontispiece">map</a>, flowing to the northward and +westward into the Caspian Sea. He had great difficulty in crossing +this river, as it was too deep to be forded, and the banks and bottom +were so sandy and yielding that he could not make the foundations of +bridges stand. He accordingly made floats and rafts, which were +supported by skins made buoyant by inflation, or by being stuffed with +straw and hay. After getting his army, which had been in the mean time +greatly re-enforced and strengthened, across this river, he moved on. +The generals under Bessus, finding all hope of escape failing them, +resolved on betraying him as he had betrayed his commander. They sent +word to Alexander that if he would send forward a small force where +they should indicate, they would give up Bessus to his hands. +Alexander did so, intrusting the command to an officer named Ptolemy. +Ptolemy found Bessus in a small walled town whither he had fled for +refuge, and easily took him prisoner. He sent back word to Alexander +that Bessus was at his disposal, and asked for orders. The answer was, +"Put a rope around his neck and send him to me."</p> + +<p>When the wretched prisoner was brought <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_232" id="Page_232">[Pg 232]</a></span>into Alexander's presence, +Alexander demanded of him how he could have been so base as to have +seized, bound, and at last murdered his kinsman and benefactor. It is +a curious instance in proof of the permanence and stability of the +great characteristics of human nature, through all the changes of +civilization and lapses of time, that Bessus gave the same answer that +wrong-doers almost always give when brought to account for their +wrongs. He laid the fault upon his accomplices and friends. It was not +his act, it was theirs.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">Mutilation of Bessus.<br />He is sent to Sysigambis.<br />Terrible punishment of Bessus.</div> + +<p>Alexander ordered him to be publicly scourged; then he caused his face +to be mutilated in a manner customary in those days, when a tyrant +wished to stamp upon his victim a perpetual mark of infamy. In this +condition, and with a mind in an agony of suspense and fear at the +thought of worse tortures which he knew were to come, Alexander sent +him as a second present to Sysigambis, to be dealt with, at Susa, as +her revenge might direct. She inflicted upon him the most extreme +tortures, and finally, when satiated with the pleasure of seeing him +suffer, the story is that they chose four very elastic trees, growing +at a little distance from each other, and bent down the tops of them +toward <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_233" id="Page_233">[Pg 233]</a></span>the central point between them. They fastened the exhausted +and dying Bessus to these trees, one limb of his body to each, and +then releasing the stems from their confinement, they flew upward, +tearing the body asunder, each holding its own dissevered portion, as +if in triumph, far over the heads of the multitude assembled to +witness the spectacle.</p> + +<hr class="large" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_234" id="Page_234">[Pg 234]</a></span></p> +<h2><a name="Chapter_XI" id="Chapter_XI"></a><span class="smcap">Chapter XI.</span></h2> + +<h2><span class="smcap">Deterioration of Character.</span></h2> + +<p class="center">B.C. 329</p> + +<div class="sidenote">Alexander at the summit of his ambition.<br />Sad changes.<br />Alexander becomes dissipated.</div> + +<p class="n"><span style="float:left;font-size:50px;line-height:32px;padding-top:2px;padding-bottom:1px;">A</span><span style="margin-left:0%;">lexander</span> was now twenty-six years of age. He had accomplished fully +the great objects which had been the aim of his ambition. Darius was +dead, and he was himself the undisputed master of all western Asia. +His wealth was almost boundless. His power was supreme over what was, +in his view, the whole known world. But, during the process of rising +to this ascendency, his character was sadly changed. He lost the +simplicity, the temperance, the moderation, and the sense of justice +which characterized his early years. He adopted the dress and the +luxurious manners of the Persians. He lived in the palaces of the +Persian kings, imitating all their state and splendor. He became very +fond of convivial entertainments and of wine, and often drank to +excess. He provided himself a seraglio of three hundred and sixty +young females, in whose company he spent his time, giving himself up +to every form of effeminacy and dissipation. In a <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_235" id="Page_235">[Pg 235]</a></span>word, he was no +longer the same man. The decision, the energy of character, the steady +pursuit of great ends by prudence, forethought, patient effort, and +self-denial, all disappeared; nothing now seemed to interest him but +banquets, carousals, parties of pleasure, and whole days and nights +spent in dissipation and vice.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">His officers became estranged.</div> + +<p>This state of things was a great cause of mortification and chagrin to +the officers of his army. Many of them were older than himself, and +better able to resist these temptations to luxury, effeminacy, and +vice. They therefore remained firm in their original simplicity and +integrity, and after some respectful but ineffectual remonstrances, +they stood aloof, alienated from their commander in heart, and +condemning very strongly, among themselves, his wickedness and folly.</p> + +<p>On the other hand, many of the <i>younger</i> officers followed Alexander's +example, and became as vain, as irregular, and as fond of vicious +indulgence as he. But then, though they joined him in his pleasures, +there was no strong bond of union between him and them. The tie which +binds mere companions in pleasure together is always very slight and +frail. Thus Alexander gradually lost the confidence and affection of +his <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_236" id="Page_236">[Pg 236]</a></span>old friends, and gained no new ones. His officers either +disapproved his conduct, and were distant and cold, or else joined him +in his dissipation and vice, without feeling any real respect for his +character, or being bound to him by any principle of fidelity.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">Character of Parmenio.<br />His services to Alexander.</div> + +<p>Parmenio and his son Philotas were, respectively, striking examples of +these two kinds of character. Parmenio was an old general, now +considerably advanced in life. He had served, as has already been +stated, under Philip, Alexander's father, and had acquired great +experience and great fame before Alexander succeeded to the throne. +During the whole of Alexander's career Parmenio had been his principal +lieutenant general, and he had always placed his greatest reliance +upon him in all trying emergencies. He was cool, calm, intrepid, +sagacious. He held Alexander back from many rash enterprises, and was +the efficient means of his accomplishing most of his plans. It is the +custom among all nations to give kings the glory of all that is +effected by their generals and officers; and the writers of those days +would, of course, in narrating the exploits of the Macedonian army, +exaggerate the share which Alexander had in their performances, and +underrate those <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_237" id="Page_237">[Pg 237]</a></span>of Parmenio. But in modern times, many impartial +readers, in reviewing calmly these events, think that there is reason +to doubt whether Alexander, if he had set out on his great expedition +without Parmenio, would have succeeded at all.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">Parmenio's son, Philotas.<br />His dissolute character.</div> + +<p>Philotas was the son of Parmenio, but he was of a very different +character. The difference was one which is very often, in all ages of +the world, to be observed between those who <i>inherit</i> greatness and +those who acquire it for themselves. We see the same analogy reigning +at the present day, when the sons of the wealthy, who are <i>born</i> to +fortune, substitute pride, and arrogance, and vicious self-indulgence +and waste for the modesty, and prudence, and virtue of their sires, by +means of which the fortune was acquired. Philotas was proud, boastful, +extravagant, and addicted, like Alexander his master, to every species +of indulgence and dissipation. He was universally hated. His father, +out of patience with his haughty airs, his boastings, and his pomp and +parade, advised him, one day, to "make himself less." But Parmenio's +prudent advice to his son was thrown away. Philotas spoke of himself +as Alexander's great reliance. "What would Philip have been <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_238" id="Page_238">[Pg 238]</a></span>or have +done," said he, "without my father Parmenio? and what would Alexander +have been or have done, without me?" These things were reported to +Alexander, and thus the mind of each was filled with suspicion, fear, +and hatred toward the other.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">Conspiracies.</div> + +<p>Courts and camps are always the scenes of conspiracy and treason, and +Alexander was continually hearing of conspiracies and plots formed +against him. The strong sentiment of love and devotion with which he +inspired all around him at the commencement of his career, was now +gone, and his generals and officers were continually planning schemes +to depose him from the power which he seemed no longer to have the +energy to wield; or, at least, Alexander was continually suspecting +that such plans were formed, and he was kept in a continual state of +uneasiness and anxiety in discovering and punishing them.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">Plot of Dymnus.</div> + +<p>At last a conspiracy occurred in which Philotas was implicated. +Alexander was informed one day that a plot had been formed to depose +and destroy him; that Philotas had been made acquainted with it by a +friend of Alexander's, in order that he might make it known to the +king; that he had neglected to do so, thus making <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_239" id="Page_239">[Pg 239]</a></span>it probable that he +was himself in league with the conspirators. Alexander was informed +that the leader and originator of this conspiracy was one of his +generals named Dymnus.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">Dymnus destroys himself.</div> + +<p>He immediately sent an officer to Dymnus to summon him into his +presence. Dymnus appeared to be struck with consternation at this +summons. Instead of obeying it, he drew his sword, thrust it into his +own heart, and fell dead upon the ground.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">Philotas suspected.</div> + +<p>Alexander then sent for Philotas, and asked him if it was indeed true +that he had been informed of this conspiracy, and had neglected to +make it known.</p> + +<p>Philotas replied that he had been told that such a plot was formed, +but that he did not believe it; that such stories were continually +invented by the malice of evil-disposed men, and that he had not +considered the report which came to his ears as worthy of any +attention. He was, however, now convinced, by the terror which Dymnus +had manifested, and by his suicide, that all was true, and he asked +Alexander's pardon for not having taken immediate measures for +communicating promptly the information he had received.</p> + +<p>Alexander gave him his hand, said that he was <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_240" id="Page_240">[Pg 240]</a></span>convinced that he was +innocent, and had acted as he did from disbelief in the existence of +the conspiracy, and not from any guilty participation in it. So +Philotas went away to his tent.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">The council of officers.<br />Philotas accused.</div> + +<p>Alexander, however, did not drop the subject here. He called a council +of his ablest and best friends and advisers, consisting of the +principal officers of his army, and laid the facts before them. They +came to a different conclusion from his in respect to the guilt of +Philotas. They believed him implicated in the crime, and demanded his +trial. Trial in such a case, in those days, meant putting the accused +to the torture, with a view of forcing him to confess his guilt.</p> + +<p>Alexander yielded to this proposal. Perhaps he had secretly instigated +it. The advisers of kings and conquerors, in such circumstances as +this, generally have the sagacity to discover what advice will be +agreeable. At all events, Alexander followed the advice of his +counselors, and made arrangements for arresting Philotas on that very +evening.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">Arrest of Philotas.</div> + +<p>These circumstances occurred at a time when the army was preparing for +a march, the various generals lodging in tents pitched for the +purpose. Alexander placed extra guards in various parts of the +encampment, as if to impress <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_241" id="Page_241">[Pg 241]</a></span>the whole army with a sense of the +importance and solemnity of the occasion. He then sent officers to the +tent of Philotas, late at night, to arrest him. The officers found +their unhappy victim asleep. They awoke him, and made known their +errand. Philotas arose, and obeyed the summons, dejected and +distressed, aware, apparently, that his destruction was impending.</p> + +<p>The next morning Alexander called together a large assembly, +consisting of the principal and most important portions of the army, +to the number of several thousands. They came together with an air of +impressive solemnity, expecting, from the preliminary preparations, +that business of very solemn moment was to come before them, though +they knew not what it was.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">The body of Dymnus.<br />Alexander's address to the army.</div> + +<p>These impressions of awe and solemnity were very much increased by the +spectacle which first met the eyes of the assembly after they were +convened. This spectacle was that of the dead body of Dymnus, bloody +and ghastly, which Alexander ordered to be brought in and exposed to +view. The death of Dymnus had been kept a secret, so that the +appearance of his body was an unexpected as well as a shocking sight. +When the first feeling of surprise and wonder had a little subsided, +Alexander explained to the <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_242" id="Page_242">[Pg 242]</a></span>assembly the nature of the conspiracy, and +the circumstances connected with the self-execution of one of the +guilty participators in it. The spectacle of the body, and the +statement of the king, produced a scene of great and universal +excitement in the assembly, and this excitement was raised to the +highest pitch by the announcement which Alexander now made, that he +had reason to believe that Philotas and his father Parmenio, officers +who had enjoyed his highest favor, and in whom he had placed the most +unbounded confidence, were the authors and originators of the whole +design.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">Philotas brought to trial.</div> + +<p>He then ordered Philotas to be brought in. He came guarded as a +criminal, with his hands tied behind him, and his head covered with a +coarse cloth. He was in a state of great dejection and despondency. It +is true that he was brought forward for trial, but he knew very well +that trial meant torture, and that there was no hope for him as to the +result. Alexander said that he would leave the accused to be dealt +with by the assembly, and withdrew.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">Defense of Philotas.<br />He is put to the torture.</div> + +<p>The authorities of the army, who now had the proud and domineering +spirit which had so long excited their hatred and envy completely in +their power, listened for a time to what Philotas <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_243" id="Page_243">[Pg 243]</a></span>had to say in his +own justification. He showed that there was no evidence whatever +against him, and appealed to their sense of justice not to condemn him +on mere vague surmises. In reply, they decided to put him to the +torture. There was no evidence, it was true, and they wished, +accordingly, to supply its place by his own confession, extorted by +pain. Of course, his most inveterate and implacable enemies were +appointed to conduct the operation. They put Philotas upon the rack. +The rack is an instrument of wheels and pulleys, into which the victim +is placed, and his limbs and tendons are stretched by it in a manner +which produces most excruciating pain.</p> + +<p>Philotas bore the beginning of his torture with great resolution and +fortitude. He made no complaint, he uttered no cry: this was the +signal to his executioners to increase the tension and the agony. Of +course, in such a trial as this, there was no question of guilt or +innocence at issue. The only question was, which could stand out the +longest, his enemies in witnessing horrible sufferings, or he himself +in enduring them. In this contest the unhappy Philotas was vanquished +at last. He begged them to release him from the rack, saying he would +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_244" id="Page_244">[Pg 244]</a></span>confess whatever they required, on condition of being allowed to die +in peace.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">Confession of Philotas.<br />He is stoned to death.</div> + +<p>They accordingly released him, and, in answer to their questions, he +confessed that he himself and his father were involved in the plot. He +said yes to various other inquiries relating to the circumstances of +the conspiracy, and to the guilt of various individuals whom those +that managed the torture had suspected, or who, at any rate, they +wished to have condemned. The answers of Philotas to all these +questions were written down, and he was himself sentenced to be +stoned. The sentence was put in execution without any delay.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">Parmenio condemned to death.</div> + +<p>During all this time Parmenio was in Media, in command of a very +important part of Alexander's army. It was decreed that he must die; +but some careful management was necessary to secure his execution +while he was at so great a distance, and at the head of so great a +force. The affair had to be conducted with great secrecy as well as +dispatch. The plan adopted was as follows:</p> + +<div class="sidenote">Mission of Polydamas.</div> + +<p>There was a certain man, named Polydamas, who was regarded as +Parmenio's particular friend. Polydamas was commissioned to go to +Media and see the execution performed. He <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_245" id="Page_245">[Pg 245]</a></span>was selected, because it +was supposed that if any enemy, or a stranger, had been sent, Parmenio +would have received him with suspicion or at least with caution, and +kept himself on his guard. They gave Polydamas several letters to +Parmenio, as if from his friends, and to one of them they attached the +seal of his son Philotas, the more completely to deceive the unhappy +father. Polydamas was eleven days on his journey into Media. He had +letters to Cleander, the governor of the province of Media, which +contained the king's warrant for Parmenio's execution. He arrived at +the house of Cleander in the night. He delivered his letters, and they +together concerted the plans for carrying the execution into effect.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">Precautions.</div> + +<p>After having taken all the precautions necessary, Polydamas went, with +many attendants accompanying him, to the quarters of Parmenio. The old +general, for he was at this time eighty years of age, was walking in +his grounds. Polydamas being admitted, ran up to accost him, with +great appearance of cordiality and friendship. He delivered to him his +letters, and Parmenio read them. He seemed much pleased with their +contents, especially with the one which had been written in the name +of his son. <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_246" id="Page_246">[Pg 246]</a></span>He had no means of detecting the imposture, for it was +very customary in those days for letters to be written by secretaries, +and to be authenticated solely by the seal.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">Brutal murder of Parmenio.</div> + +<p>Parmenio was much pleased to get good tidings from Alexander, and from +his son, and began conversing upon the contents of the letters, when +Polydamas, watching his opportunity, drew forth a dagger which he had +concealed upon his person, and plunged it into Parmenio's side. He +drew it forth immediately and struck it at his throat. The attendants +rushed on at this signal, and thrust their swords again and again into +the fallen body until it ceased to breathe.</p> + +<p>The death of Parmenio and of his son in this violent manner, when, +too, there was so little evidence of their guilt, made a very general +and a very unfavorable impression in respect to Alexander; and not +long afterward another case occurred, in some respects still more +painful, as it evinced still more strikingly that the mind of +Alexander, which had been in his earlier days filled with such noble +and lofty sentiments of justice and generosity, was gradually getting +to be under the supreme dominion of selfish and ungovernable passions: +it was the case of Clitus.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_247" id="Page_247">[Pg 247]</a></span></p><div class="sidenote">Story of Clitus.<br />He saves Alexander's life.</div> + +<p>Clitus was a very celebrated general of Alexander's army, and a great +favorite with the king. He had, in fact, on one occasion saved +Alexander's life. It was at the battle of the Granicus. Alexander had +exposed himself in the thickest of the combat, and was surrounded by +enemies. The sword of one of them was actually raised over his head, +and would have fallen and killed him on the spot, if Clitus had not +rushed forward and cut the man down just at the instant when he was +about striking the blow. Such acts of fidelity and courage as this had +given Alexander great confidence in Clitus. It happened, shortly after +the death of Parmenio, that the governor of one of the most important +provinces of the empire resigned his post. Alexander appointed Clitus +to fill the vacancy.</p> + +<p>The evening before his departure to take charge of his government, +Alexander invited him to a banquet, made, partly at least, in honor of +his elevation. Clitus and the other guests assembled. They drank wine, +as usual, with great freedom. Alexander became excited, and began to +speak, as he was now often accustomed to do, boastingly of his own +exploits, and to disparage those of his father Philip in comparison.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">Services of Clitus.</div> + +<p>Men half intoxicated are very prone to quarrel, <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_248" id="Page_248">[Pg 248]</a></span>and not the less so +for being excellent friends when sober. Clitus had served under +Philip. He was now an old man, and, like other old men, was very +tenacious of the glory that belonged to the exploits of his youth. He +was very restless and uneasy at hearing Alexander claim for himself +the merit of his father Philip's victory at Chæronea, and began to +murmur something to those who sat next to him about kings claiming and +getting a great deal of glory which did not belong to them.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">Occurrences at the banquet.</div> + +<p>Alexander asked what it was that Clitus said. No one replied. Clitus, +however, went on talking, speaking more and more audibly as he became +gradually more and more excited. He praised the character of Philip, +and applauded his military exploits, saying that they were far +superior to any of the enterprises of <i>their</i> day. The different +parties at the table took up the subject, and began to dispute, the +old men taking the part of Philip and former days, and the younger +defending Alexander. Clitus became more and more excited. He praised +Parmenio, who had been Philip's greatest general, and began to impugn +the justice of his late condemnation and death.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">Clitus reproaches Alexander.<br />Alexander's rage.</div> + +<p>Alexander retorted and Clitus, rising from <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_249" id="Page_249">[Pg 249]</a></span>his seat, and losing now +all self-command, reproached him with severe and bitter words. "Here +is the hand," said he, extending his arm, "that saved your life at the +battle of the Granicus, and the fate of Parmenio shows what sort of +gratitude and what rewards faithful servants are to expect at your +hands." Alexander, burning with rage, commanded Clitus to leave the +table. Clitus obeyed, saying, as he moved away, "He is right not to +bear freeborn men at his table who can only tell him the truth. He is +right. It is fitting for him to pass his life among barbarians and +slaves, who will be proud to pay their adoration to his Persian girdle +and his splendid robe."</p> + +<div class="sidenote">Alexander assassinates Clitus.</div> + +<p>Alexander seized a javelin to hurl at Clitus's head. The guests rose +in confusion, and with many outcries pressed around him. Some seized +Alexander's arm, some began to hurry Clitus out of the room, and some +were engaged in loudly criminating and threatening each other. They +got Clitus out of the apartment, but as soon as he was in the hall he +broke away from them, returned by another door, and began to renew his +insults to Alexander. The king hurled his javelin and struck Clitus +down, saying, at the same time, "Go, then, and join Philip and +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_250" id="Page_250">[Pg 250]</a></span>Parmenio." The company rushed to the rescue of the unhappy man, but +it was too late. He died almost immediately.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">His remorse.</div> + +<p>Alexander, as soon as he came to himself was overwhelmed with remorse +and despair. He mourned bitterly, for many days, the death of his +long-tried and faithful friend, and execrated the intoxication and +passion, on his part, which had caused it. He could not, however, +restore Clitus to life, nor remove from his own character the +indelible stains which such deeds necessarily fixed upon it.</p> + +<hr class="large" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_251" id="Page_251">[Pg 251]</a></span></p> +<h2><a name="Chapter_XII" id="Chapter_XII"></a><span class="smcap">Chapter XII.</span></h2> + +<h2><span class="smcap">Alexander's End.</span></h2> + +<p class="center">B.C. 326-319</p> + +<div class="sidenote">Alexander's invasion of India.<br />Insubordination of the army.</div> + +<p class="n"><span style="float:left;font-size:50px;line-height:32px;padding-top:2px;padding-bottom:1px;">A</span><span style="margin-left:0%;">fter</span> the events narrated in the last chapter, Alexander continued, +for two or three years, his expeditions and conquests in Asia, and in +the course of them he met with a great variety of adventures which can +not be here particularly described. He penetrated into India as far as +the banks of the Indus, and, not content with this, was preparing to +cross the Indus and go on to the Ganges. His soldiers, however, +resisted this design. They were alarmed at the stories which they +heard of the Indian armies, with elephants bearing castles upon their +backs, and soldiers armed with strange and unheard-of weapons. These +rumors, and the natural desire of the soldiers not to go away any +further from their native land, produced almost a mutiny in the army. +At length, Alexander, learning how strong and how extensive the spirit +of insubordination was becoming, summoned his officers to his own +tent, and then ordering the whole army to gather around, he went out +to meet them.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_252" id="Page_252">[Pg 252]</a></span></p><div class="sidenote">Alexander's address to the army.</div> + +<p>He made an address to them, in which he recounted all their past +exploits, praised the courage and perseverance which they had shown +thus far, and endeavored to animate them with a desire to proceed. +They listened in silence, and no one attempted to reply. This solemn +pause was followed by marks of great agitation throughout the +assembly. The army loved their commander, notwithstanding his faults +and failings. They were extremely unwilling to make any resistance to +his authority; but they had lost that extreme and unbounded confidence +in his energy and virtue which made them ready, in the former part of +his career, to press forward into any difficulties and dangers +whatever, where he led the way.</p> + +<p>At last one of the army approached the king and addressed him somewhat +as follows:</p> + +<div class="sidenote">Address made to him.<br />The army refuses to go further.</div> + +<p>"We are not changed, sir, in our affection for you. We still have, and +shall always retain, the same zeal and the same fidelity. We are ready +to follow you at the hazard of our lives, and to march wherever you +may lead us. Still we must ask you, most respectfully, to consider the +circumstances in which we are placed. We have done all for you that it +was possible for man to do. We have crossed seas <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_253" id="Page_253">[Pg 253]</a></span>and land. We have +marched to the end of the world, and you are now meditating the +conquest of another, by going in search of new Indias, unknown to the +Indians themselves. Such a thought may be worthy of your courage and +resolution, but it surpasses ours, and our strength still more. Look +at these ghastly faces, and these bodies covered with wounds and +scars. Remember how numerous we were when first we set out with you, +and see how few of us remain. The few who have escaped so many toils +and dangers have neither courage nor strength to follow you any +further. They all long to revisit their country and their homes, and +to enjoy, for the remainder of their lives, the fruits of all their +toils. Forgive them these desires, so natural to man."</p> + +<div class="sidenote">Alexander's disappointment.</div> + +<p>The expression of these sentiments confirmed and strengthened them in +the minds of all the soldiers. Alexander was greatly troubled and +distressed. A disaffection in a small part of an army may be put down +by decisive measures; but when the determination to resist is +universal, it is useless for any commander, however imperious and +absolute in temper, to attempt to withstand it. Alexander, however, +was extremely unwilling to yield. He remained two <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_254" id="Page_254">[Pg 254]</a></span>days shut up in his +tent, the prey to disappointment and chagrin.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">Alexander resolves to return.<br />He is wounded in an assault.</div> + +<p>The result, however, was, that he abandoned plans of further conquest, +and turned his steps again toward the west. He met with various +adventures as he went on, and incurred many dangers, often in a rash +and foolish manner, and for no good end. At one time, while attacking +a small town, he seized a scaling ladder and mounted with the troops. +In doing this, however, he put himself forward so rashly and +inconsiderately that his ladder was broken, and while the rest +retreated he was left alone upon the wall, whence he descended into +the town, and was immediately surrounded by enemies. His friends +raised their ladders again, and pressed on desperately to find and +rescue him. Some gathered around him and defended him, while others +contrived to open a small gate, by which the rest of the army gained +admission. By this means Alexander was saved; though, when they +brought him out of the city, there was an arrow three feet long, which +could not be extracted, sticking into his side through his coat of +mail.</p> + +<p>The surgeons first very carefully cut off the wooden shaft of the +arrow, and then, enlarging the wound by incisions, they drew out the +barbed <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_255" id="Page_255">[Pg 255]</a></span>point. The soldiers were indignant that Alexander should +expose his person in such a fool-hardy way, only to endanger himself, +and to compel them to rush into danger to rescue him. The wound very +nearly proved fatal. The loss of blood was attended with extreme +exhaustion; still, in the course of a few weeks he recovered.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">Alexander's excesses.</div> + +<p>Alexander's habits of intoxication and vicious excess of all kinds +were, in the mean time, continually increasing. He not only indulged +in such excesses himself, but he encouraged them in others. He would +offer prizes at his banquets to those who would drink the most. On one +of these occasions, the man who conquered drank, it is said, eighteen +or twenty pints of wine, after which he lingered in misery for three +days, and then died; and more than forty others, present at the same +entertainment, died in consequence of their excesses.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">He abandons his old friends.</div> + +<p>Alexander returned toward Babylon. His friend Hephæstion was with him, +sharing with him every where in all the vicious indulgences to which +he had become so prone. Alexander gradually separated himself more and +more from his old Macedonian friends, and linked himself more and more +closely with Persian associates. He married Statira, the oldest +daughter of Darius, <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_256" id="Page_256">[Pg 256]</a></span>and gave the youngest daughter to Hephæstion. He +encouraged similar marriages between Macedonian officers and Persian +maidens, as far as he could. In a word, he seemed intent in merging, +in every way, his original character and habits of action in the +effeminacy, luxury, and vice of the Eastern world, which he had at +first so looked down upon and despised.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">Entrance into Babylon.<br />Magnificent spectacle.</div> + +<p>Alexander's entrance into Babylon, on his return from his Indian +campaigns, was a scene of great magnificence and splendor. Embassadors +and princes had assembled there from almost all the nations of the +earth to receive and welcome him, and the most ample preparations were +made for processions, shows, parades, and spectacles to do him honor. +The whole country was in a state of extreme excitement, and the most +expensive preparations were made to give him a reception worthy of one +who was the conqueror and monarch of the world, and the son of a god.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">The astrologers.<br />Study of the stars.</div> + +<p>When Alexander approached the city, however, he was met by a +deputation of Chaldean astrologers. The astrologers were a class of +philosophers who pretended, in those days, to foretell human events by +means of the motions of the stars. The motions of the stars were +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_257" id="Page_257">[Pg 257]</a></span>studied very closely in early times, and in those Eastern countries, +by the shepherds, who had often to remain in the open air, through the +summer nights, to watch their flocks. These shepherds observed that +nearly all the stars were <i>fixed</i> in relation to each other, that is, +although they rose successively in the east, and, passing over, set in +the west, they did not change in relation to each other. There were, +however, a few that wandered about among the rest in an irregular and +unaccountable manner. They called these stars the wanderers—that is, +in their language, <i>the planets</i>—and they watched their mysterious +movements with great interest and awe. They naturally imagined that +these changes had some connection with human affairs, and they +endeavored to prognosticate from them the events, whether prosperous +or adverse, which were to befall mankind. Whenever a comet or an +eclipse appeared, they thought it portended some terrible calamity. +The study of the motions and appearances of the stars, with a view to +foretell the course of human affairs, was the science of astrology.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">Warning of the astrologers.<br />Alexander's perplexity.</div> + +<p>The astrologers came, in a very solemn and imposing procession, to +meet Alexander on his march. They informed him that they had <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_258" id="Page_258">[Pg 258]</a></span>found +indubitable evidence in the stars that, if he came into Babylon, he +would hazard his life. They accordingly begged him not to approach any +nearer, but to choose some other city for his capital. Alexander was +very much perplexed by this announcement. His mind, weakened by +effeminacy and dissipation, was very susceptible to superstitious +fears. It was not merely by the debilitating influence of vicious +indulgence on the nervous constitution that this effect was produced. +It was, in part, the moral influence of conscious guilt. Guilt makes +men afraid. It not only increases the power of real dangers, but +predisposes the mind to all sorts of imaginary fears.</p> + +<p>Alexander was very much troubled at this announcement of the +astrologers. He suspended his march, and began anxiously to consider +what to do. At length the Greek philosophers came to him and reasoned +with him on the subject, persuading him that the science of astrology +was not worthy of any belief. The Greeks had no faith in astrology. +They foretold future events by the flight of birds, or by the +appearances presented in the dissection of beasts offered in +sacrifice!</p> + +<p>At length, however, Alexander's fears were <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_259" id="Page_259">[Pg 259]</a></span>so far allayed that he +concluded to enter the city. He advanced, accordingly, with his whole +army, and made his entry under circumstances of the greatest possible +parade and splendor. As soon, however, as the excitement of the first +few days had passed away, his mind relapsed again, and he became +anxious, troubled, and unhappy.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">Death of Hephæstion.<br />Alexander's melancholy.</div> + +<p>Hephæstion, his great personal friend and companion, had died while he +was on the march toward Babylon. He was brought to the grave by +diseases produced by dissipation and vice. Alexander was very much +moved by his death. It threw him at once into a fit of despondency and +gloom. It was some time before he could at all overcome the melancholy +reflections and forebodings which this event produced. He determined +that, as soon as he arrived in Babylon, he would do all possible honor +to Hephæstion's memory by a magnificent funeral.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">Funeral honors to Hephæstion.</div> + +<p>He accordingly now sent orders to all the cities and kingdoms around, +and collected a vast sum for this purpose. He had a part of the city +wall pulled down to furnish a site for a monumental edifice. This +edifice was constructed of an enormous size and most elaborate +architecture. It was ornamented with long rows of <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_260" id="Page_260">[Pg 260]</a></span>prows of ships, +taken by Alexander in his victories, and by statues, and columns, and +sculptures, and gilded ornaments of every kind. There were images of +sirens on the entablatures near the roof, which, by means of a +mechanism concealed within, were made to sing dirges and mournful +songs. The expense of this edifice, and of the games, shows, and +spectacles connected with its consecration, is said by the historians +of the day to have been a sum which, on calculation, is found equal to +about ten millions of dollars.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">A stupendous project.</div> + +<p>There were, however, some limits still to Alexander's extravagance and +folly. There was a mountain in Greece, Mount Athos, which a certain +projector said could be carved and fashioned into the form of a +man—probably in a recumbent posture. There was a city on one of the +declivities of the mountain, and a small river, issuing from springs +in the ground, came down on the other side. The artist who conceived +of this prodigious piece of sculpture said that he would so shape the +figure that the city should be in one of its hands, and the river +should flow out from the other.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_261" id="Page_261">[Pg 261-2]</a></span></p> +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 500px;"> +<img src="images/i262.jpg" class="ispace jpg" width="500" height="289" alt="Proposed Improvement of Mount Athos." title="" /> +<span class="caption">Proposed Improvement of Mount Athos.</span> +</div> + +<p>Alexander listened to this proposal. The name Mount Athos recalled to +his mind the <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_263" id="Page_263">[Pg 263]</a></span>attempt of Xerxes, a former Persian king, who had attempted to cut a +road through the rocks upon a part of Mount Athos, in the invasion of +Greece. He did not succeed, but left the unfinished work a lasting +memorial both of the attempt and the failure. Alexander concluded at +length that he would not attempt such a sculpture. "Mount Athos," said +he, "is already the monument of one king's folly; I will not make it +that of another."</p> + +<div class="sidenote">Alexander's depression.<br />Magnificent plans.</div> + +<p>As soon as the excitement connected with the funeral obsequies of +Hephæstion were over, Alexander's mind relapsed again into a state of +gloomy melancholy. This depression, caused, as it was, by previous +dissipation and vice, seemed to admit of no remedy or relief but in +new excesses. The traces, however, of his former energy so far +remained that he began to form magnificent plans for the improvement +of Babylon. He commenced the execution of some of these plans. His +time was spent, in short, in strange alternations: resolution and +energy in forming vast plans one day, and utter abandonment to all the +excesses of dissipation and vice the next. It was a mournful spectacle +to see his former greatness of soul still struggling on, though more +and more faintly, as it became gradually <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_264" id="Page_264">[Pg 264]</a></span>overborne by the resistless +inroads of intemperance and sin. The scene was at length suddenly +terminated in the following manner:</p> + +<div class="sidenote">A prolonged carousal.<br />Alexander's excesses.</div> + +<p>On one occasion, after he had spent a whole night in drinking and +carousing, the guests, when the usual time arrived for separating, +proposed that, instead of this, they should begin anew, and commence a +second banquet at the end of the first. Alexander, half intoxicated +already, entered warmly into this proposal. They assembled, +accordingly, in a very short time. There were twenty present at this +new feast. Alexander, to show how far he was from having exhausted his +powers of drinking, began to pledge each one of the company +individually. Then he drank to them all together. There was a very +large cup, called the bowl of Hercules, which he now called for, and, +after having filled it to the brim, he drank it off to the health of +one of the company present, a Macedonian named Proteas. This feat +being received by the company with great applause, he ordered the +great bowl to be filled again, and drank it off as before.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">Alexander's last sickness.</div> + +<p>The work was now done. His faculties and his strength soon failed him, +and he sank down to the floor. They bore him away to his palace. <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_265" id="Page_265">[Pg 265]</a></span>A +violent fever intervened, which the physicians did all in their power +to allay. As soon as his reason returned a little, Alexander aroused +himself from his lethargy, and tried to persuade himself that he +should recover. He began to issue orders in regard to the army, and to +his ships, as if such a turning of his mind to the thoughts of power +and empire would help bring him back from the brink of the grave +toward which he had been so obviously tending. He was determined, in +fact, that he would not die.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">His dying words.</div> + +<p>He soon found, however, notwithstanding his efforts to be vigorous and +resolute, that his strength was fast ebbing away. The vital powers had +received a fatal wound, and he soon felt that they could sustain +themselves but little longer. He came to the conclusion that he must +die. He drew his signet ring off from his finger; it was a token that +he felt that all was over. He handed the ring to one of his friends +who stood by his bed-side. "When I am gone," said he, "take my body to +the Temple of Jupiter Ammon, and inter it there."</p> + +<div class="sidenote">Alexander's death.</div> + +<p>The generals who were around him advanced to his bed-side, and one +after another kissed his hand. Their old affection for him revived as +they saw him about to take leave of them forever. <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_266" id="Page_266">[Pg 266]</a></span>They asked him to +whom he wished to leave his empire. "To the most worthy," said he. He +meant, doubtless, by this evasion, that he was too weak and exhausted +to think of such affairs. He knew, probably, that it was useless for +him to attempt to control the government of his empire after his +death. He said, in fact, that he foresaw that the decision of such +questions would give rise to some strange funeral games after his +decease. Soon after this he died.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">Alexander and Washington.</div> + +<p>The palaces of Babylon were immediately filled with cries of mourning +at the death of the prince, followed by bitter and interminable +disputes about the succession. It had not been the aim of Alexander's +life to establish firm and well-settled governments in the countries +that he conquered, to encourage order, and peace, and industry among +men, and to introduce system and regularity in human affairs, so as to +leave the world in a better condition than he found it. In this +respect his course of conduct presents a strong contrast with that of +Washington. It was Washington's aim to mature and perfect +organizations which would move on prosperously of themselves, without +him; and he was continually withdrawing his hand from <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_267" id="Page_267">[Pg 267]</a></span>action and +control in public affairs, taking a higher pleasure in the independent +working of the institutions which he had formed and protected, than in +exercising, himself, a high personal power. Alexander, on the other +hand, was all his life intent solely on enlarging and strengthening +his own personal power. <i>He</i> was all in all. He wished to make himself +so. He never thought of the welfare of the countries which he had +subjected to his sway, or did any thing to guard against the anarchy +and civil wars which he knew full well would break out at once over +all his vast dominions, as soon as his power came to an end.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">Calamitous results which followed Alexander's death.</div> + +<p>The result was as might have been foreseen. The whole vast field of +his conquests became, for many long and weary years after Alexander's +death, the prey to the most ferocious and protracted civil wars. Each +general and governor seized the power which Alexander's death left in +his hands, and endeavored to defend himself in the possession of it +against the others. Thus the devastation and misery which the making +of these conquests brought upon Europe and Asia were continued for +many years, during the slow and terrible process of their return to +their original condition.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_268" id="Page_268">[Pg 268]</a></span></p><div class="sidenote">Stormy debates.<br />Aridæus appointed king.</div> + +<p>In the exigency of the moment, however, at Alexander's death, the +generals who were in his court at the time assembled forthwith, and +made an attempt to appoint some one to take the immediate command. +They spent a week in stormy debates on this subject. Alexander had +left no legitimate heir, and he had declined when on his death-bed, as +we have already seen, to appoint a successor. Among his wives—if, +indeed, they may be called wives—there was one named Roxana, who had +a son not long after his death. This son was ultimately named his +successor; but, in the mean time, a certain relative named Aridæus was +chosen by the generals to assume the command. The selection of Aridæus +was a sort of compromise. He had no talents or capacity whatever, and +was chosen by the rest on that very account, each one thinking that if +such an imbecile as Aridæus was nominally the king, he could himself +manage to get possession of the real power. Aridæus accepted the +appointment, but he was never able to make himself king in any thing +but the name.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">Effects of the news of Alexander's death.</div> + +<p>In the mean time, as the tidings of Alexander's death spread over the +empire, it produced very various effects, according to the personal +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_269" id="Page_269">[Pg 269]</a></span>feelings in respect to Alexander entertained by the various +personages and powers to which the intelligence came. Some, who had +admired his greatness, and the splendor of his exploits, without +having themselves experienced the bitter fruits of them, mourned and +lamented his death. Others, whose fortunes had been ruined, and whose +friends and relatives had been destroyed, in the course, or in the +sequel of his victories, rejoiced that he who had been such a scourge +and curse to others, had himself sunk, at last under the just judgment +of Heaven.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">Death of Sysigambis.</div> + +<p>We should have expected that Sysigambis, the bereaved and widowed +mother of Darius, would have been among those who would have exulted +most highly at the conqueror's death; but history tells us that, +instead of this, she mourned over it with a protracted and +inconsolable grief. Alexander had been, in fact, though the implacable +enemy of her son, a faithful and generous friend to her. He had +treated her, at all times, with the utmost respect and consideration, +had supplied all her wants, and ministered, in every way, to her +comfort and happiness. She had gradually learned to think of him and +to love him as a son; he, in fact, always called her mother; and when +she learned <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_270" id="Page_270">[Pg 270]</a></span>that he was gone, she felt as if her last earthly +protector was gone. Her life had been one continued scene of +affliction and sorrow, and this last blow brought her to her end. She +pined away, perpetually restless and distressed. She lost all desire +for food, and refused, like others who are suffering great mental +anguish, to take the sustenance which her friends and attendants +offered and urged upon her. At length she died. They said she starved +herself to death; but it was, probably, grief and despair at being +thus left, in her declining years, so hopelessly friendless and alone, +and not hunger, that destroyed her.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">Rejoicings at Athens.<br />Demosthenes.</div> + +<p>In striking contrast to this mournful scene of sorrow in the palace of +Sysigambis, there was an exhibition of the most wild and tumultuous +joy in the streets, and in all the public places of resort in the city +of Athens, when the tidings of the death of the great Macedonian king +arrived there. The Athenian commonwealth, as well as all the other +states of Southern Greece, had submitted very reluctantly to the +Macedonian supremacy. They had resisted Philip, and they had resisted +Alexander. Their opposition had been at last suppressed and silenced +by Alexander's terrible vengeance upon Thebes, but <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_271" id="Page_271">[Pg 271]</a></span>it never was +really subdued. Demosthenes, the orator, who had exerted so powerful +an influence against the Macedonian kings, had been sent into +banishment, and all outward expressions of discontent were restrained. +The discontent and hostility existed still, however, as inveterate as +ever, and was ready to break out anew, with redoubled violence, the +moment that the terrible energy of Alexander himself was no longer to +be feared.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">Joy of the Athenians.<br />Phocion.</div> + +<p>When, therefore, the rumor arrived at Athens—for at first it was a +mere rumor—that Alexander was dead in Babylon, the whole city was +thrown into a state of the most tumultuous joy. The citizens assembled +in the public places, and congratulated and harangued each other with +expressions of the greatest exultation. They were for proclaiming their +independence and declaring war against Macedon on the spot. Some of +the older and more sagacious of their counselors were, however, more +composed and calm. They recommended a little delay, in order to see +whether the news was really true. Phocion, in particular, who was one +of the prominent statesmen of the city, endeavored to quiet the +excitement of the people. "Do not let us be so precipitate," said he. +"There is time <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_272" id="Page_272">[Pg 272]</a></span>enough. If Alexander is really dead to-day, he will be +dead to-morrow, and the next day, so that there will be time enough +for us to act with deliberation and discretion."</p> + +<div class="sidenote">Measures of the Athenians.</div> + +<p>Just and true as this view of the subject was, there was too much of +rebuke and satire in it to have much influence with those to whom it +was addressed. The people were resolved on war. They sent +commissioners into all the states of the Peloponnesus to organize a +league, offensive and defensive, against Macedon. They recalled +Demosthenes from his banishment, and adopted all the necessary +military measures for establishing and maintaining their freedom. The +consequences of all this would doubtless have been very serious, if +the rumor of Alexander's death had proved false; but, fortunately for +Demosthenes and the Athenians, it was soon abundantly confirmed.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">Triumphant return of Demosthenes.<br />Grand reception of Demosthenes.</div> + +<p>The return of Demosthenes to the city was like the triumphal entry of +a conqueror. At the time of his recall he was at the island of Ægina, +which is about forty miles southwest of Athens, in one of the gulfs of +the Ægean Sea. They sent a public galley to receive him, and to bring +him to the land. It was a galley of three banks of oars, and was +fitted up in a style <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_273" id="Page_273">[Pg 273]</a></span>to do honor to a public guest. Athens is +situated some distance back from the sea, and has a small port, called +the Piræus, at the shore—a long, straight avenue leading from the +port to the city. The galley by which Demosthenes was conveyed landed +at the Piræus. All the civil and religious authorities of the city +went down to the port, in a grand procession, to receive and welcome +the exile on his arrival, and a large portion of the population +followed in the train, to witness the spectacle, and to swell by their +acclamations the general expression of joy.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">Preparations for the funeral.<br />Destination of Alexander's body.</div> + +<p>In the mean time, the preparations for Alexander's funeral had been +going on, upon a great scale of magnificence and splendor. It was two +years before they were complete. The body had been given, first, to be +embalmed, according to the Egyptian and Chaldean art, and then had +been placed in a sort of sarcophagus, in which it was to be conveyed +to its long home. Alexander, it will be remembered, had given +directions that it should be taken to the temple of Jupiter Ammon, in +the Egyptian oasis, where he had been pronounced the son of a god. It +would seem incredible that such a mind as his could really admit such +an absurd superstition as the story of his divine origin, and we must +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_274" id="Page_274">[Pg 274]</a></span>therefore suppose that he gave this direction in order that the place +of his interment might confirm the idea of his superhuman nature in +the general opinion of mankind. At all events, such were his orders, +and the authorities who were left in power at Babylon after his death, +prepared to execute them.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">A funeral on a grand scale.</div> + +<p>It was a long journey. To convey a body by a regular funeral +procession, formed as soon after the death as the arrangements could +be made, from Babylon to the eastern frontiers of Egypt, a distance of +a thousand miles, was perhaps as grand a plan of interment as was ever +formed. It has something like a parallel in the removal of Napoleon's +body from St. Helena to Paris, though this was not really an +interment, but a transfer. Alexander's was a simple burial procession, +going from the palace where he died to the proper cemetery—a march +of a thousand miles, it is true, but all within his own dominions The +greatness of it resulted simply from the magnitude of the scale on +which every thing pertaining to the mighty here was performed, for it +was nothing but a simple passage from the dwelling to the +burial-ground on his own estates, after all.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">The funeral car.<br />Its construction and magnitude.</div> + +<p>A very large and elaborately constructed carriage <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_275" id="Page_275">[Pg 275]</a></span>was built to convey +the body. The accounts of the richness and splendor of this vehicle +are almost incredible. The spokes and staves of the wheels were +overlaid with gold, and the extremities of the axles, where they +appeared outside at the centers of the wheels, were adorned with +massive golden ornaments. The wheels and axle-trees were so large, and +so far apart, that there was supported upon them a platform or floor +for the carriage twelve feet wide and eighteen feet long. Upon this +platform there was erected a magnificent pavilion, supported by Ionic +columns, and profusely ornamented, both within and without, with +purple and gold. The interior constituted an apartment, more or less +open at the sides, and resplendent within with gems and precious +stones. The space of twelve feet by eighteen forms a chamber of no +inconsiderable size, and there was thus ample room for what was +required within. There was a throne, raised some steps, and placed +back upon the platform, profusely carved and gilded. It was empty; but +crowns, representing the various nations over whom Alexander had +reigned, were hung upon it. At the foot of the throne was the coffin, +made, it is said, of solid gold, and containing, besides <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_276" id="Page_276">[Pg 276]</a></span>the body, a +large quantity of the most costly spices and aromatic perfumes, which +filled the air with their odor. The arms which Alexander wore were +laid out in view, also, between the coffin and the throne.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">Ornaments and basso relievos.<br />Column of mules.</div> + +<p>On the four sides of the carriage were <i>basso relievos</i>, that is, +sculptured figures raised from a surface, representing Alexander +himself, with various military concomitants. There were Macedonian +columns, and Persian squadrons, and elephants of India, and troops of +horse, and various other emblems of the departed hero's greatness and +power. Around the pavilion, too, there was a fringe or net-work of +golden lace, to the pendents of which were attached bells, which +tolled continually, with a mournful sound, as the carriage moved +along. A long column of mules, sixty-four in number, arranged in sets +of four, drew this ponderous car. These mules were all selected for +their great size and strength, and were splendidly caparisoned. They +had collars and harnesses mounted with gold, and enriched with +precious stones.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">Crowds of spectators.</div> + +<p>Before the procession set out from Babylon an army of pioneers and +workmen went forward to repair the roads, strengthen the bridges, and +remove the obstacles along the whole<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_277" id="Page_277">[Pg 277]</a></span> line of route over which the +train was to pass. At length, when all was ready, the solemn procession +began to move, and passed out through the gates of Babylon. No pen can +describe the enormous throngs of spectators that assembled to witness +its departure, and that gathered along the route, as it passed slowly +on from city to city, in its long and weary way.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">The body deposited at Alexandria.</div> + +<p>Notwithstanding all this pomp and parade, however, the body never +reached its intended destination. Ptolemy, the officer to whom Egypt +fell in the division of Alexander's empire, came forth with a grand +escort of troops to meet the funeral procession as it came into Egypt. +He preferred, for some reason or other, that the body should be +interred in the city of Alexandria. It was accordingly deposited +there, and a great monument was erected over the spot. This monument +is said to have remained standing for fifteen hundred years, but all +vestiges of it have now disappeared. The city of Alexandria itself, +however, is the conqueror's real monument; the greatest and best, +perhaps, that any conqueror ever left behind him. It is a monument, +too, that time will not destroy; its position and character, as +Alexander foresaw, by bringing it a continued renovation, secure its +perpetuity.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_278" id="Page_278">[Pg 278]</a></span></p><div class="sidenote">Alexander's true character.<br />Conclusion.</div> + +<p>Alexander earned well the name and reputation of <span class="smcap">the Great</span>. He was +truly great in all those powers and capacities which can elevate one +man above his fellows. We can not help applauding the extraordinary +energy of his genius, though we condemn the selfish and cruel ends to +which his life was devoted. He was simply a robber, but yet a robber +on so vast a scale, that mankind, in contemplating his career, have +generally lost sight of the wickedness of his crimes in their +admiration of the enormous magnitude of the scale on which they were +perpetrated.</p> + +<p> </p> + +<hr class="large" /> + +<h3><span class="smcap">Footnotes:</span ></h3> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_A_1" id="Footnote_A_1"></a><a href="#FNanchor_A_1"><span class="label">[A]</span></a> At the commencement of <a href="#map2">Chapter iii</a>.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_B_2" id="Footnote_B_2"></a><a href="#FNanchor_B_2"><span class="label">[B]</span></a> There are different statements in respect to the size of +this island, varying from three to nine miles in circumference.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_C_3" id="Footnote_C_3"></a><a href="#FNanchor_C_3"><span class="label">[C]</span></a> It was the birth of an infant that caused her death, +exhausted and worn down as she doubtless was, by her captivity and her +sorrows.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_D_4" id="Footnote_D_4"></a><a href="#FNanchor_D_4"><span class="label">[D]</span></a> A eunuch, a sort of officer employed in Eastern nations +in attendance upon ladies of high rank.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_E_5" id="Footnote_E_5"></a><a href="#FNanchor_E_5"><span class="label">[E]</span></a> It receives its name from a kind of thistle called the +caltrop.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_F_6" id="Footnote_F_6"></a><a href="#FNanchor_F_6"><span class="label">[F]</span></a> The modern Ispahan.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_G_7" id="Footnote_G_7"></a><a href="#FNanchor_G_7"><span class="label">[G]</span></a> <i>Pylæ Caspiæ</i> on the <a href="#Frontispiece">map</a>, which means the Caspian Gates.</p></div> + +<hr class="large" /> + +<h3><span class="smcap">Transcriber's note:</span ></h3> + +<p>1. Minor changes have been made to correct typesetters' errors, and to ensure consistent spelling and punctuation in this etext; otherwise, +every effort has been made to remain true to the original book.</p> + +<p>2. 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You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + + + + +Title: Alexander the Great + Makers of History + + +Author: Jacob Abbott + + + +Release Date: December 7, 2009 [eBook #30624] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-646-US (US-ASCII) + + +***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK ALEXANDER THE GREAT*** + + +E-text prepared by D Alexander and the Project Gutenberg Online +Distributed Proofreading Team (http://www.pgdp.net) + + + +Note: Project Gutenberg also has an HTML version of this + file which includes the original illustrations. + See 30624-h.htm or 30624-h.zip: + (http://www.gutenberg.org/files/30624/30624-h/30624-h.htm) + or + (http://www.gutenberg.org/files/30624/30624-h.zip) + + + + + +Makers of History + +ALEXANDER THE GREAT + +by + +JACOB ABBOTT + +With Engravings + + + + + + + +New York and London +Harper & Brothers Publishers +1902 + +Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year one thousand +eight hundred and forty-nine, by +Harper & Brothers, +in the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the Southern District +of New York. + +Copyright, 1876, by Jacob Abbott. + + + + +PREFACE. + + +The history of the life of every individual who has, for any reason, +attracted extensively the attention of mankind, has been written in a +great variety of ways by a multitude of authors, and persons sometimes +wonder why we should have so many different accounts of the same +thing. The reason is, that each one of these accounts is intended for +a different set of readers, who read with ideas and purposes widely +dissimilar from each other. Among the twenty millions of people in the +United States, there are perhaps two millions, between the ages of +fifteen and twenty-five, who wish to become acquainted, in general, +with the leading events in the history of the Old World, and of +ancient times, but who, coming upon the stage in this land and at this +period, have ideas and conceptions so widely different from those of +other nations and of other times, that a mere republication of +existing accounts is not what they require. The story must be told +expressly for them. The things that are to be explained, the points +that are to be brought out, the comparative degree of prominence to be +given to the various particulars, will all be different, on account of +the difference in the situation, the ideas, and the objects of these +new readers, compared with those of the various other classes of +readers which former authors have had in view. It is for this reason, +and with this view, that the present series of historical narratives +is presented to the public. The author, having had some opportunity to +become acquainted with the position, the ideas, and the intellectual +wants of those whom he addresses, presents the result of his labors to +them, with the hope that it may be found successful in accomplishing +its design. + + + + +CONTENTS. + + + Chapter Page + + I. ALEXANDER'S CHILDHOOD AND YOUTH 13 + + II. BEGINNING OF HIS REIGN 36 + + III. THE REACTION 57 + + IV. CROSSING THE HELLESPONT 78 + + V. CAMPAIGN IN ASIA MINOR 103 + + VI. DEFEAT OF DARIUS 128 + + VII. THE SIEGE OF TYRE 147 + + VIII. ALEXANDER IN EGYPT 169 + + IX. THE GREAT VICTORY 189 + + X. THE DEATH OF DARIUS 213 + + XI. DETERIORATION OF CHARACTER 234 + + XII. ALEXANDER'S END 251 + + + + + ENGRAVINGS. + + + Page + + MAP. EXPEDITION OF ALEXANDER _Frontispiece._ + + ALEXANDER AND BUCEPHALUS 27 + + MAP OF MACEDON AND GREECE 48 + + MAP OF MACEDON AND GREECE 58 + + MAP OF THE PLAIN OF TROY 88 + + PARIS AND HELEN 94 + + ACHILLES 97 + + MAP OF THE GRANICUS 104 + + THE BATHING IN THE RIVER CYDNUS 124 + + MAP OF THE PLAIN OF ISSUS 134 + + THE SIEGE OF TYRE 157 + + THE FOCUS 185 + + THE CALTROP 197 + + ALEXANDER AT THE PASS OF SUSA 211 + + PROPOSED IMPROVEMENT OF MOUNT ATHOS 261 + + + + +[Illustration: MAP. EXPEDITION OF ALEXANDER.] + + + + +ALEXANDER THE GREAT. + + + + +CHAPTER I. + +HIS CHILDHOOD AND YOUTH. + +B.C. 356-336 + +The briefness of Alexander's career.--His brilliant exploits.--Character +of Alexander.--Mental and physical qualities.--Character of the Asiatic +and European civilization.--Composition of Asiatic and European +armies.--King Philip.--Extent of Macedon.--Olympias.--The young +prince Alexander.--Ancient mode of warfare.--Ancient and +modern military officers.--Alexander's nurse.--Alexander's +education.--Lysimachus.--Homer.--Aristotle.--Alexander's copy +of Homer.--Alexander's energy and ambition.--The Persian +embassadors.--Stories of the embassadors.--Maturity of Alexander's +mind.--Secret of Alexander's success.--The story of Bucephalus.--Philip +condemns the horse.--Alexander desires to mount him.--Bucephalus +calmed.--An exciting ride.--Sagacity of Bucephalus.--Becomes Alexander's +favorite.--Fate of Bucephalus.--Alexander made regent.--Alexander's +first battle.--Chaeronea.--Alexander's impetuosity.--Philip repudiates +Olympias.--Alexander's violent temper.--Philip's attempt on his +son.--Philip's power.--His plans of conquest.--Alexander's impatience +to reign. + + +Alexander the Great died when he was quite young. He was but +thirty-two years of age when he ended his career, and as he was about +twenty when he commenced it, it was only for a period of twelve years +that he was actually engaged in performing the work of his life. +Napoleon was nearly three times as long on the great field of human +action. + +Notwithstanding the briefness of Alexander's career, he ran through, +during that short period, a very brilliant series of exploits, which +were so bold, so romantic, and which led him into such adventures in +scenes of the greatest magnificence and splendor, that all the world +looked on with astonishment then, and mankind have continued to read +the story since, from age to age, with the greatest interest and +attention. + +The secret of Alexander's success was his character. He possessed a +certain combination of mental and personal attractions, which in +every age gives to those who exhibit it a mysterious and almost +unbounded ascendency over all within their influence. Alexander was +characterized by these qualities in a very remarkable degree. He was +finely formed in person, and very prepossessing in his manners. He +was active, athletic, and full of ardor and enthusiasm in all that +he did. At the same time, he was calm, collected, and considerate +in emergencies requiring caution, and thoughtful and far-seeing in +respect to the bearings and consequences of his acts. He formed strong +attachments, was grateful for kindnesses shown to him, considerate in +respect to the feelings of all who were connected with him in any way, +faithful to his friends, and generous toward his foes. In a word, he +had a noble character, though he devoted its energies unfortunately to +conquest and war. He lived, in fact, in an age when great personal and +mental powers had scarcely any other field for their exercise than +this. He entered upon his career with great ardor, and the position in +which he was placed gave him the opportunity to act in it with +prodigious effect. + +There were several circumstances combined, in the situation in which +Alexander was placed, to afford him a great opportunity for the +exercise of his vast powers. His native country was on the confines of +Europe and Asia. Now Europe and Asia were, in those days, as now, +marked and distinguished by two vast masses of social and civilized +life, widely dissimilar from each other. The Asiatic side was occupied +by the Persians, the Medes, and the Assyrians. The European side by +the Greeks and Romans. They were separated from each other by the +waters of the Hellespont, the Aegean Sea, and the Mediterranean, +as will be seen by the map. These waters constituted a sort of +natural barrier, which kept the two races apart. The races formed, +accordingly, two vast organizations, distinct and widely different +from each other, and of course rivals and enemies. + +It is hard to say whether the Asiatic or European civilization was the +highest. The two were so different that it is difficult to compare +them. On the Asiatic side there was wealth, luxury, and splendor; on +the European, energy, genius, and force. On the one hand were vast +cities, splendid palaces, and gardens which were the wonder of the +world; on the other, strong citadels, military roads and bridges, +and compact and well-defended towns. The Persians had enormous armies, +perfectly provided for, with beautiful tents, horses elegantly +caparisoned, arms and munitions of war of the finest workmanship, and +officers magnificently dressed, and accustomed to a life of luxury and +splendor. The Greeks and Romans, on the other hand, prided themselves +on their compact bodies of troops, inured to hardship and thoroughly +disciplined. Their officers gloried not in luxury and parade, but in +the courage, the steadiness, and implicit obedience of their troops, +and in their own science, skill, and powers of military calculation. +Thus there was a great difference in the whole system of social and +military organization in these two quarters of the globe. + +Now Alexander was born the heir to the throne of one of the Grecian +kingdoms. He possessed, in a very remarkable degree, the energy, and +enterprise, and military skill so characteristic of the Greeks and +Romans. He organized armies, crossed the boundary between Europe and +Asia, and spent the twelve years of his career in a most triumphant +military incursion into the very center and seat of Asiatic power, +destroying the Asiatic armies, conquering the most splendid cities, +defeating or taking captive the kings, and princes, and generals that +opposed his progress. The whole world looked on with wonder to see +such a course of conquest, pursued so successfully by so young a man, +and with so small an army, gaining continual victories, as it did, +over such vast numbers of foes, and making conquests of such +accumulated treasures of wealth and splendor. + +The name of Alexander's father was Philip. The kingdom over which +he reigned was called Macedon. Macedon was in the northern part +of Greece. It was a kingdom about twice as large as the State of +Massachusetts, and one third as large as the State of New York. The +name of Alexander's mother was Olympias. She was the daughter of the +King of Epirus, which was a kingdom somewhat smaller than Macedon, and +lying westward of it. Both Macedon and Epirus will be found upon the +map at the commencement of this volume. Olympias was a woman of very +strong and determined character. Alexander seemed to inherit her +energy, though in his case it was combined with other qualities of a +more attractive character, which his mother did not possess. + +He was, of course, as the young prince, a very important personage in +his father's court. Every one knew that at his father's death he would +become King of Macedon, and he was consequently the object of a great +deal of care and attention. As he gradually advanced in the years of +his boyhood, it was observed by all who knew him that he was endued +with extraordinary qualities of mind and of character, which seemed to +indicate, at a very early age, his future greatness. + +Although he was a prince, he was not brought up in habits of luxury +and effeminacy. This would have been contrary to all the ideas which +were entertained by the Greeks in those days. They had then no +fire-arms, so that in battle the combatants could not stand quietly, +as they can now, at a distance from the enemy, coolly discharging +musketry or cannon. In ancient battles the soldiers rushed toward each +other, and fought hand to hand, in close combat, with swords, or +spears, or other weapons requiring great personal strength, so that +headlong bravery and muscular force were the qualities which generally +carried the day. + +The duties of officers, too, on the field of battle, were very +different then from what they are now. An officer _now_ must be calm, +collected, and quiet. His business is to plan, to calculate, to +direct, and arrange. He has to do this sometimes, it is true, in +circumstances of the most imminent danger, so that he must be a man +of great self-possession and of undaunted courage. But there is very +little occasion for him to exert any great physical force. + +In ancient times, however, the great business of the officers, +certainly in all the subordinate grades, was to lead on the men, and +set them an example by performing themselves deeds in which their own +great personal prowess was displayed. Of course it was considered +extremely important that the child destined to be a general should +become robust and powerful in constitution from his earliest years, +and that he should be inured to hardship and fatigue. In the early +part of Alexander's life this was the main object of attention. + +The name of the nurse who had charge of our hero in his infancy was +Lannice. She did all in her power to give strength and hardihood to +his constitution, while, at the same time, she treated him with +kindness and gentleness. Alexander acquired a strong affection for +her, and he treated her with great consideration as long as he lived. +He had a governor, also, in his early years, named Leonnatus, who had +the general charge of his education. As soon as he was old enough to +learn, they appointed him a preceptor also, to teach him such branches +as were generally taught to young princes in those days. The name of +this preceptor was Lysimachus. + +They had then no printed books, but there were a few writings on +parchment rolls which young scholars were taught to read. Some of +these writings were treatises on philosophy, others were romantic +histories, narrating the exploits of the heroes of those days--of +course, with much exaggeration and embellishment. There were also some +poems, still more romantic than the histories, though generally on the +same themes. The greatest productions of this kind were the writings +of Homer, an ancient poet who lived and wrote four or five hundred +years before Alexander's day. The young Alexander was greatly +delighted with Homer's tales. These tales are narrations of the +exploits and adventures of certain great warriors at the siege of +Troy--a siege which lasted ten years--and they are written with so +much beauty and force, they contain such admirable delineations of +character, and such graphic and vivid descriptions of romantic +adventures, and picturesque and striking scenes, that they have been +admired in every age by all who have learned to understand the +language in which they are written. + +Alexander could understand them very easily, as they were written +in his mother tongue. He was greatly excited by the narrations +themselves, and pleased with the flowing smoothness of the verse +in which the tales were told. In the latter part of his course of +education he was placed under the charge of Aristotle, who was one +of the most eminent philosophers of ancient times. Aristotle had a +beautiful copy of Homer's poems prepared expressly for Alexander, +taking great pains to have it transcribed with perfect correctness, +and in the most elegant manner. Alexander carried this copy with him +in all his campaigns. Some years afterward, when he was obtaining +conquests over the Persians, he took, among the spoils of one of his +victories, a very beautiful and costly casket, which King Darius had +used for his jewelry or for some other rich treasures. Alexander +determined to make use of this box as a depository for his beautiful +copy of Homer, and he always carried it with him, thus protected, in +all his subsequent campaigns. + +Alexander was full of energy and spirit, but he was, at the same time, +like all who ever become truly great, of a reflective and considerate +turn of mind. He was very fond of the studies which Aristotle led him +to pursue, although they were of a very abstruse and difficult +character. He made great progress in metaphysical philosophy and +mathematics, by which means his powers of calculation and his judgment +were greatly improved. + +He early evinced a great degree of ambition. His father Philip was a +powerful warrior, and made many conquests in various parts of Greece, +though he did not cross into Asia. When news of Philip's victories +came into Macedon, all the rest of the court would be filled with +rejoicing and delight; but Alexander, on such occasions, looked +thoughtful and disappointed, and complained that his father would +conquer every country, and leave him nothing to do. + +At one time some embassadors from the Persian court arrived in Macedon +when Philip was away. These embassadors saw Alexander, of course, and +had opportunities to converse with him. They expected that he would be +interested in hearing about the splendors, and pomp, and parade of +the Persian monarchy. They had stories to tell him about the famous +hanging gardens, which were artificially constructed in the most +magnificent manner, on arches raised high in the air; and about a vine +made of gold, with all sorts of precious stones upon it instead of +fruit, which was wrought as an ornament over the throne on which the +King of Persia often gave audience; of the splendid palaces and vast +cities of the Persians; and the banquets, and fetes, and magnificent +entertainments and celebrations which they used to have there. They +found, however, to their surprise, that Alexander was not interested +in hearing about any of these things. He would always turn the +conversation from them to inquire about the geographical position of +the different Persian countries, the various routes leading into the +interior, the organization of the Asiatic armies, their system of +military tactics, and, especially, the character and habits of +Artaxerxes, the Persian king. + +The embassadors were very much surprised at such evidences of maturity +of mind, and of far-seeing and reflective powers on the part of the +young prince. They could not help comparing him with Artaxerxes. +"Alexander," said they, "is _great_, while our king is only _rich_." +The truth of the judgment which these embassadors thus formed in +respect to the qualities of the young Macedonian, compared with those +held in highest estimation on the Asiatic side, was fully confirmed in +the subsequent stages of Alexander's career. + +In fact, this combination of a calm and calculating thoughtfulness, +with the ardor and energy which formed the basis of his character, was +one great secret of Alexander's success. The story of Bucephalus, his +famous horse, illustrates this in a very striking manner. This animal +was a war-horse of very spirited character, which had been sent as a +present to Philip while Alexander was young. They took the horse +out into one of the parks connected with the palace, and the king, +together with many of his courtiers, went out to view him. The horse +pranced about in a very furious manner, and seemed entirely +unmanageable. No one dared to mount him. Philip, instead of being +gratified at the present, was rather disposed to be displeased that +they had sent him an animal of so fiery and apparently vicious a +nature that nobody dared to attempt to subdue him. + +In the mean time, while all the other by-standers were joining in the +general condemnation of the horse, Alexander stood quietly by, +watching his motions, and attentively studying his character. He +perceived that a part of the difficulty was caused by the agitations +which the horse experienced in so strange and new a scene, and that he +appeared, also, to be somewhat frightened by his own shadow, which +happened at that time to be thrown very strongly and distinctly upon +the ground. He saw other indications, also, that the high excitement +which the horse felt was not viciousness, but the excess of noble and +generous impulses. It was courage, ardor, and the consciousness of +great nervous and muscular power. + +Philip had decided that the horse was useless, and had given orders to +have him sent back to Thessaly, whence he came. Alexander was very +much concerned at the prospect of losing so fine an animal. He begged +his father to allow him to make the experiment of mounting him. Philip +at first refused, thinking it very presumptuous for such a youth to +attempt to subdue an animal so vicious that all his experienced +horsemen and grooms condemned him; however, he at length consented. +Alexander went up to the horse and took hold of his bridle. He patted +him upon the neck, and soothed him with his voice, showing, at the +same time, by his easy and unconcerned manner, that he was not in the +least afraid of him. A spirited horse knows immediately when any one +approaches him in a timid or cautious manner. He appears to look with +contempt on such a master, and to determine not to submit to him. On +the contrary, horses seem to love to yield obedience to man, when the +individual who exacts the obedience possesses those qualities of +coolness and courage which their instincts enable them to appreciate. + +[Illustration: ALEXANDER AND BUCEPHALUS.] + +At any rate, Bucephalus was calmed and subdued by the presence of +Alexander. He allowed himself to be caressed. Alexander turned his +head in such a direction as to prevent his seeing his shadow. He +quietly and gently laid off a sort of cloak which he wore, and sprang +upon the horse's back. Then, instead of attempting to restrain him, +and worrying and checking him by useless efforts to hold him in, he +gave him the rein freely, and animated and encouraged him with his +voice, so that the horse flew across the plains at the top of his +speed, the king and the courtiers looking on, at first with fear and +trembling, but soon afterward with feelings of the greatest admiration +and pleasure. After the horse had satisfied himself with his run it +was easy to rein him in, and Alexander returned with him in safety to +the king. The courtiers overwhelmed him with their praises and +congratulations. Philip commended him very highly: he told him that he +deserved a larger kingdom than Macedon to govern. + +Alexander's judgment of the true character of the horse proved to +be correct. He became very tractable and docile, yielding a ready +submission to his master in every thing. He would kneel upon his fore +legs at Alexander's command, in order that he might mount more easily. +Alexander retained him for a long time, and made him his favorite war +horse. A great many stories are related by the historians of those +days of his sagacity and his feats of war. Whenever he was equipped +for the field with his military trappings, he seemed to be highly +elated with pride and pleasure, and at such times he would not allow +any one but Alexander to mount him. + +What became of him at last is not certainly known. There are two +accounts of his end. One is, that on a certain occasion Alexander got +carried too far into the midst of his enemies, on a battle field and +that, after fighting desperately for some time, Bucephalus made the +most extreme exertions to carry him away. He was severely wounded +again and again, and though his strength was nearly gone, he would not +stop, but pressed forward till he had carried his master away to a +place of safety, and that then he dropped down exhausted, and died. It +may be, however, that he did not actually die at this time, but slowly +recovered; for some historians relate that he lived to be thirty years +old--which is quite an old age for a horse--and that he then died. +Alexander caused him to be buried with great ceremony, and built a +small city upon the spot in honor of his memory. The name of this city +was Bucephalia. + +Alexander's character matured rapidly, and he began very early to act +the part of a man. When he was only sixteen years of age, his father, +Philip, made him regent of Macedon while he was absent on a great +military campaign among the other states of Greece. Without doubt +Alexander had, in this regency, the counsel and aid of high officers +of state of great experience and ability. He acted, however, himself, +in this high position, with great energy and with complete success; +and, at the same time, with all that modesty of deportment, and that +delicate consideration for the officers under him--who, though +inferior in rank, were yet his superiors in age and experience--which +his position rendered proper, but which few persons so young as he +would have manifested in circumstances so well calculated to awaken +the feelings of vanity and elation. + +Afterward, when Alexander was about eighteen years old, his father +took him with him on a campaign toward the south, during which Philip +fought one of his great battles at Chaeronea, in Boeotia. In the +arrangements for this battle, Philip gave the command of one of the +wings of the army to Alexander, while he reserved the other for +himself. He felt some solicitude in giving his young son so important +a charge, but he endeavored to guard against the danger of an +unfortunate result by putting the ablest generals on Alexander's side, +while he reserved those on whom he could place less reliance for his +own. Thus organized, the army went into battle. + +Philip soon ceased to feel any solicitude for Alexander's part of the +duty. Boy as he was, the young prince acted with the utmost bravery, +coolness, and discretion. The wing which he commanded was victorious, +and Philip was obliged to urge himself and the officers with him to +greater exertions, to avoid being outdone by his son. In the end +Philip was completely victorious, and the result of this great battle +was to make his power paramount and supreme over all the states of +Greece. + +Notwithstanding, however, the extraordinary discretion and wisdom +which characterized the mind of Alexander in his early years, he was +often haughty and headstrong, and in cases where his pride or his +resentment were aroused, he was sometimes found very impetuous and +uncontrollable. His mother Olympias was of a haughty and imperious +temper, and she quarreled with her husband, King Philip; or, perhaps, +it ought rather to be said that he quarreled with her. Each is said +to have been unfaithful to the other, and, after a bitter contention, +Philip repudiated his wife and married another lady. Among the +festivities held on the occasion of this marriage, there was a great +banquet, at which Alexander was present, and an incident occurred +which strikingly illustrates the impetuosity of his character. + +One of the guests at this banquet, in saying something complimentary +to the new queen, made use of expressions which Alexander considered +as in disparagement of the character of his mother and of his own +birth. His anger was immediately aroused. He threw the cup from which +he had been drinking at the offender's head. Attalus, for this was his +name, threw his cup at Alexander in return; the guests at the table +where they were sitting rose, and a scene of uproar and confusion +ensued. + +Philip, incensed at such an interruption of the order and harmony of +the wedding feast, drew his sword and rushed toward Alexander but by +some accident he stumbled and fell upon the floor. Alexander looked +upon his fallen father with contempt and scorn, and exclaimed, "What a +fine hero the states of Greece have to lead their armies--a man that +can not get across the floor without tumbling down." He then turned +away and left the palace. Immediately afterward he joined his mother +Olympias, and went away with her to her native country, Epirus, where +the mother and son remained for a time in a state of open quarrel with +the husband and father. + +In the mean time Philip had been planning a great expedition into +Asia. He had arranged the affairs of his own kingdom, and had formed a +strong combination among the states of Greece, by which powerful +armies had been raised, and he had been designated to command them. +His mind was very intently engaged in this vast enterprise. He was in +the flower of his years, and at the height of his power. His own +kingdom was in a very prosperous and thriving condition, and his +ascendency over the other kingdoms and states on the European side had +been fully established. He was excited with ambition, and full of +hope. He was proud of his son Alexander, and was relying upon his +efficient aid in his schemes of conquest and aggrandizement. He had +married a youthful and beautiful bride, and was surrounded by scenes +of festivity, congratulation, and rejoicing. He was looking forward to +a very brilliant career considering all the deeds that he had done and +all the glory which he had acquired as only the introduction and +prelude to the far more distinguished and conspicuous part which he +was intending to perform. + +Alexander, in the mean time, ardent and impetuous, and eager for glory +as he was, looked upon the position and prospects of his father with +some envy and jealousy. He was impatient to be monarch himself. His +taking sides so promptly with his mother in the domestic quarrel was +partly owing to the feeling that his father was a hinderance and an +obstacle in the way of his own greatness and fame. He felt within +himself powers and capacities qualifying him to take his father's +place, and reap for himself the harvest of glory and power which +seemed to await the Grecian armies in the coming campaign. While +his father lived, however, he could be only a prince; influential, +accomplished, and popular, it is true, but still without any +substantial and independent power. He was restless and uneasy at the +thought that, as his father was in the prime and vigor of manhood, +many long years must elapse before he could emerge from this confined +and subordinate condition. His restlessness and uneasiness were, +however, suddenly ended by a very extraordinary occurrence, which +called him, with scarcely an hour's notice, to take his father's place +upon the throne. + + + + +CHAPTER II. + +BEGINNING OF HIS REIGN. + +B.C. 336 + +Philip is reconciled to Olympias and Alexander.--Olympias and Alexander +returned.--The great wedding.--Preparations for the wedding.--Costly +presents.--Celebration of the wedding.--Games and spectacles.--Statues +of the gods.--Military procession.--Appearance of Philip.--The +scene changed.--Assassination of Philip.--Alexander proclaimed +king.--Alexander's speech.--Demosthenes' Philippics.--The Greeks +suspected of the murder.--The Persians also.--Alexander's new +position.--His designs.--Murderers of Philip punished.--Alexander's +first acts.--Parmenio.--Cities of Southern Greece.--Map of Macedon and +Greece.--Athens and Corinth.--Thebes.--Sparta.--Conquests of +Philip.--Alexander marches southward.--Pass of Thermopylae.--The +Amphictyonic Council.--March through Thessaly.--Alexander's traits of +character.--The Thessalians join Alexander.--He sits in the Amphictyonic +Council.--Thermopylae.--Leonidas and his Spartans.--Death of +Leonidas.--Spartan valor.--Alexander made commander-in-chief.--He +returns to Macedon. + + +Alexander was suddenly called upon to succeed his father on the +Macedonian throne, in the most unexpected manner, and in the midst of +scenes of the greatest excitement and agitation. The circumstances +were these: + +Philip had felt very desirous, before setting out upon his great +expedition into Asia, to become reconciled to Alexander and Olympias. +He wished for Alexander's co-operation in his plans; and then, +besides, it would be dangerous to go away from his own dominions with +such a son left behind, in a state of resentment and hostility. + +So Philip sent kind and conciliatory messages to Olympias and +Alexander, who had gone, it will be recollected, to Epirus, where her +friends resided. The brother of Olympias was King of Epirus. He had +been at first incensed at the indignity which had been put upon his +sister by Philip's treatment of her; but Philip now tried to appease +his anger, also, by friendly negotiations and messages. At last he +arranged a marriage between this King of Epirus and one of his own +daughters, and this completed the reconciliation. Olympias and +Alexander returned to Macedon, and great preparations were made for a +very splendid wedding. + +Philip wished to make this wedding not merely the means of confirming +his reconciliation with his former wife and son, and establishing +friendly relations with the King of Epirus: he also prized it as an +occasion for paying marked and honorable attention to the princes and +great generals of the other states of Greece. He consequently made his +preparations on a very extended and sumptuous scale, and sent +invitations to the influential and prominent men far and near. + +These great men, on the other hand, and all the other public +authorities in the various Grecian states, sent compliments, +congratulations, and presents to Philip, each seeming ambitious to +contribute his share to the splendor of the celebration. They were not +wholly disinterested in this, it is true. As Philip had been made +commander-in-chief of the Grecian armies which were about to undertake +the conquest of Asia, and as, of course, his influence and power in +all that related to that vast enterprise would be paramount and +supreme; and as all were ambitious to have a large share in the glory +of that expedition, and to participate, as much as possible, in the +power and in the renown which seemed to be at Philip's disposal, all +were, of course, very anxious to secure his favor. A short time +before, they were contending against him; but now, since he had +established his ascendency, they all eagerly joined in the work of +magnifying it and making it illustrious. + +Nor could Philip justly complain of the hollowness and falseness of +these professions of friendship. The compliments and favors which he +offered to them were equally hollow and heartless. He wished to secure +_their_ favor as a means of aiding him up the steep path to fame and +power which he was attempting to climb. They wished for his, in order +that he might, as he ascended himself, help them up with him. There +was, however, the greatest appearance of cordial and devoted +friendship. Some cities sent him presents of golden crowns, +beautifully wrought, and of high cost. Others dispatched embassies, +expressing their good wishes for him, and their confidence in the +success of his plans. Athens, the city which was the great seat of +literature and science in Greece sent a _poem_, in which the history +of the expedition into Persia was given by anticipation. In this poem +Philip was, of course, triumphantly successful in his enterprise. He +conducted his armies in safety through the most dangerous passes and +defiles; he fought glorious battles, gained magnificent victories, and +possessed himself of all the treasures of Asiatic wealth and power. It +ought to be stated, however, in justice to the poet, that, in +narrating these imaginary exploits, he had sufficient delicacy to +represent Philip and the Persian monarch by fictitious names. + +The wedding was at length celebrated, in one of the cities of Macedon, +with great pomp and splendor. There were games, and shows, and +military and civic spectacles of all kinds to amuse the thousands of +spectators that assembled to witness them. In one of these spectacles +they had a procession of statues of the gods. There were twelve of +these statues, sculptured with great art, and they were borne along on +elevated pedestals, with censers, and incense, and various ceremonies +of homage, while vast multitudes of spectators lined the way. There +was a thirteenth statue, more magnificent than the other twelve, +which represented Philip himself in the character of a god. + +This was not, however, so impious as it would at first view seem, for +the gods whom the ancients worshiped were, in fact, only deifications +of old heroes and kings who had lived in early times, and had acquired +a reputation for supernatural powers by the fame of their exploits, +exaggerated in descending by tradition in superstitious times. The +ignorant multitude accordingly, in those days, looked up to a living +king with almost the same reverence and homage which they felt for +their deified heroes; and these deified heroes furnished them with all +the ideas they had of God. Making a monarch a god, therefore, was no +very extravagant flattery. + +After the procession of the statues passed along, there came bodies of +troops, with trumpets sounding and banners flying. The officers rode +on horses elegantly caparisoned, and prancing proudly. These troops +escorted princes, embassadors, generals, and great officers of state, +all gorgeously decked in their robes, and wearing their badges and +insignia. + +At length King Philip himself appeared in the procession. He had +arranged to have a large space left, in the middle of which he was to +walk. This was done in order to make his position the more +conspicuous, and to mark more strongly his own high distinction above +all the other potentates present on the occasion. Guards preceded and +followed him, though at considerable distance, as has been already +said. He was himself clothed with white robes, and his head was +adorned with a splendid crown. + +The procession was moving toward a great theater, where certain games +and spectacles were to be exhibited. The statues of the gods were to +be taken into the theater, and placed in conspicuous positions there, +in the view of the assembly, and then the procession itself was to +follow. All the statues had entered except that of Philip, which was +just at the door, and Philip himself was advancing in the midst of the +space left for him, up the avenue by which the theater was approached, +when an occurrence took place by which the whole character of the +scene, the destiny of Alexander, and the fate of fifty nations, was +suddenly and totally changed. It was this. An officer of the guards, +who had his position in the procession near the king, was seen +advancing impetuously toward him, through the space which separated +him from the rest, and, before the spectators had time even to wonder +what he was going to do, he stabbed him to the heart. Philip fell down +in the street and died. + +A scene of indescribable tumult and confusion ensued. The murderer was +immediately cut to pieces by the other guards. They found, however, +before he was dead, that it was Pausanias, a man of high standing and +influence, a general officer of the guards. He had had horses +provided, and other assistance ready, to enable him to make his +escape, but he was cut down by the guards before he could avail +himself of them. + +An officer of state immediately hastened to Alexander, and announced +to him his father's death and his own accession to the throne. An +assembly of the leading counselors and statesmen was called, in a +hasty and tumultuous manner, and Alexander was proclaimed king with +prolonged and general acclamations. Alexander made a speech in reply. +The great assembly looked upon his youthful form and face as he arose, +and listened with intense interest to hear what he had to say. He was +between nineteen and twenty years of age; but, though thus really a +boy, he spoke with all the decision and confidence of an energetic +man. He said that he should at once assume his father's position, and +carry forward his plans. He hoped to do this so efficiently that every +thing would go directly onward, just as if his father had continued to +live, and that the nation would find that the only change which had +taken place was in the _name_ of the king. + +The motive which induced Pausanias to murder Philip in this manner was +never fully ascertained. There were various opinions about it. One +was, that it was an act of private revenge, occasioned by some neglect +or injury which Pausanias had received from Philip. Others thought +that the murder was instigated by a party in the states of Greece, who +were hostile to Philip, and unwilling that he should command the +allied armies that were about to penetrate into Asia. Demosthenes, the +celebrated orator, was Philip's great enemy among the Greeks. Many of +his most powerful orations were made for the purpose of arousing his +countrymen to resist his ambitious plans and to curtail his power. +These orations were called his Philippics, and from this origin has +arisen the practice, which has prevailed ever since that day, of +applying the term philippics to denote, in general, any strongly +denunciatory harangues. + +Now Demosthenes, it is said, who was at this time in Athens, announced +the death of Philip in an Athenian assembly before it was possible +that the news could have been conveyed there. He accounted for his +early possession of the intelligence by saying it was communicated to +him by some of the gods. Many persons have accordingly supposed that +the plan of assassinating Philip was devised in Greece; that +Demosthenes was a party to it; that Pausanias was the agent for +carrying it into execution; and that Demosthenes was so confident of +the success of the plot, and exulted so much in this certainty, that +he could not resist the temptation of thus anticipating its +announcement. + +There were other persons who thought that the _Persians_ had plotted +and accomplished this murder, having induced Pausanias to execute the +deed by the promise of great rewards. As Pausanias himself, however, +had been instantly killed, there was no opportunity of gaining any +information from him on the motives of his conduct, even if he would +have been disposed to impart any. + +At all events, Alexander found himself suddenly elevated to one of the +most conspicuous positions in the whole political world. It was not +simply that he succeeded to the throne of Macedon; even this would +have been a lofty position for so young a man; but Macedon was a very +small part of the realm over which Philip had extended his power. The +ascendency which he had acquired over the whole Grecian empire, and +the vast arrangements he had made for an incursion into Asia, made +Alexander the object of universal interest and attention. The question +was, whether Alexander should attempt to take his father's place in +respect to all this general power, and undertake to sustain and carry +on his vast projects, or whether he should content himself with +ruling, in quiet, over his native country of Macedon. + +Most prudent persons would have advised a young prince, under such +circumstances, to have decided upon the latter course. But Alexander +had no idea of bounding his ambition by any such limits. He resolved +to spring at once completely into his father's seat, and not only to +possess himself of the whole of the power which his father had +acquired, but to commence, immediately, the most energetic and +vigorous efforts for a great extension of it. + +His first plan was to punish his father's murderers. He caused the +circumstances of the case to be investigated, and the persons +suspected of having been connected with Pausanias in the plot to be +tried. Although the designs and motives of the murderers could never +be fully ascertained, still several persons were found guilty of +participating in it, and were condemned to death and publicly +executed. + +Alexander next decided not to make any change in his father's +appointments to the great offices of state, but to let all the +departments of public affairs go on in the same hands as before. How +sagacious a line of conduct was this! Most ardent and enthusiastic +young men, in the circumstances in which he was placed, would have +been elated and vain at their elevation, and would have replaced the +old and well-tried servants of the father with personal favorites of +their own age, inexperienced and incompetent, and as conceited as +themselves. Alexander, however, made no such changes. He continued the +old officers in command, endeavoring to have every thing go on just as +if his father had not died. + +There were two officers in particular who were the ministers on whom +Philip had mainly relied. Their names were Antipater and Parmenio. +Antipater had charge of the civil, and Parmenio of military affairs. +Parmenio was a very distinguished general. He was at this time nearly +sixty years of age. Alexander had great confidence in his military +powers, and felt a strong personal attachment for him. Parmenio +entered into the young king's service with great readiness, and +accompanied him through almost the whole of his career. It seemed +strange to see men of such age, standing, and experience, obeying the +orders of such a boy; but there was something in the genius, the +power, and the enthusiasm of Alexander's character which inspired +ardor in all around him, and made every one eager to join his standard +and to aid in the execution of his plans. + +Macedon, as will be seen on the following map, was in the northern +part of the country occupied by the Greeks, and the most powerful +states of the confederacy and all the great and influential cities +were south of it. There was Athens, which was magnificently built, its +splendid citadel crowning a rocky hill in the center of it. It was the +great seat of literature, philosophy, and the arts, and was thus a +center of attraction for all the civilized world. There was Corinth, +which was distinguished for the gayety and pleasure which reigned +there. All possible means of luxury and amusement were concentrated +within its walls. The lovers of knowledge and of art, from all parts +of the earth, flocked to Athens, while those in pursuit of pleasure, +dissipation, and indulgence chose Corinth for their home. Corinth was +beautifully situated on the isthmus, with prospects of the sea on +either hand. It had been a famous city for a thousand years in +Alexander's day. + +[Illustration: MAP OF MACEDON AND GREECE.] + +There was also Thebes. Thebes was farther north than Athens and +Corinth. It was situated on an elevated plain, and had, like other +ancient cities, a strong citadel, where there was at this time a +Macedonian garrison, which Philip had placed there. Thebes was very +wealthy and powerful. It had also been celebrated as the birth-place +of many poets and philosophers, and other eminent men. Among these was +Pindar, a very celebrated poet who had flourished one or two centuries +before the time of Alexander. His descendants still lived in Thebes, +and Alexander, some time after this, had occasion to confer upon them +a very distinguished honor. + +There was Sparta also, called sometimes Lacedaemon. The inhabitants of +this city were famed for their courage, hardihood, and physical +strength, and for the energy with which they devoted themselves to the +work of war. They were nearly all soldiers, and all the arrangements +of the state and of society, and all the plans of education, were +designed to promote military ambition and pride among the officers and +fierce and indomitable courage and endurance in the men. + +These cities and many others, with the states which were attached to +them, formed a large, and flourishing, and very powerful community, +extending over all that part of Greece which lay south of Macedon. +Philip, as has been already said, had established his own ascendency +over all this region, though it had cost him many perplexing +negotiations and some hard-fought battles to do it. Alexander +considered it somewhat uncertain whether the people of all these +states and cities would be disposed to transfer readily, to so +youthful a prince as he, the high commission which his father, a very +powerful monarch and soldier, had extorted from them with so much +difficulty. What should he do in the case? Should he give up the +expectation of it? Should he send embassadors to them, presenting his +claims to occupy his father's place? Or should he not act at all, but +wait quietly at home in Macedon until they should decide the question? + +Instead of doing either of these things, Alexander decided on the very +bold step of setting out himself, at the head of an army, to march +into southern Greece, for the purpose of presenting in person, and, if +necessary, of enforcing his claim to the same post of honor and power +which had been conferred upon his father. Considering all the +circumstances of the case, this was perhaps one of the boldest and +most decided steps of Alexander's whole career. Many of his Macedonian +advisers counseled him not to make such an attempt; but Alexander +would not listen to any such cautions. He collected his forces, and +set forth at the head of them. + +Between Macedon and the southern states of Greece was a range of lofty +and almost impassable mountains. These mountains extended through the +whole interior of the country, and the main route leading into +southern Greece passed around to the eastward of them, where they +terminated in cliffs, leaving a narrow passage between the cliffs and +the sea. This pass was called the Pass of Thermopylae, and it was +considered the key to Greece. There was a town named Anthela near the +pass, on the outward side. + +There was in those days a sort of general congress or assembly of the +states of Greece, which was held from time to time, to decide +questions and disputes in which the different states were continually +getting involved with each other. This assembly was called the +Amphictyonic Council, on account, as is said, of its having been +established by a certain king named Amphictyon. A meeting of this +council was appointed to receive Alexander. It was to be held at +Thermopylae, or, rather, at Anthela, which was just without the pass, +and was the usual place at which the council assembled. This was +because the pass was in an intermediate position between the northern +and southern portions of Greece, and thus equally accessible from +either. + +In proceeding to the southward, Alexander had first to pass through +Thessaly, which was a very powerful state immediately south of +Macedon. He met with some show of resistance at first, but not much. +The country was impressed with the boldness and decision of character +manifested in the taking of such a course by so young a man. Then, +too, Alexander, so far as he became personally known, made a very +favorable impression upon every one. His manly and athletic form, his +frank and open manners, his spirit, his generosity, and a certain air +of confidence, independence, and conscious superiority, which were +combined, as they always are in the case of true greatness, with an +unaffected and unassuming modesty--these and other traits, which were +obvious to all who saw him, in the person and character of Alexander, +made every one his friend. Common men take pleasure in yielding to the +influence and ascendency of one whose spirit they see and feel stands +on a higher eminence and wields higher powers than their own. They +like a leader. It is true, they must feel confident of his +superiority; but when this superiority stands out so clearly and +distinctly marked, combined, too, with all the graces and attractions +of youth and manly beauty, as it was in the case of Alexander, the +minds of men are brought very easily and rapidly under its sway. + +The Thessalians gave Alexander a very favorable reception. They +expressed a cordial readiness to instate him in the position which his +father had occupied. They joined their forces to his, and proceeded +southward toward the Pass of Thermopylae. + +Here the great council was held. Alexander took his place in it as a +member. Of course, he must have been an object of universal interest +and attention. The impression which he made here seems to have been +very favorable. After this assembly separated, Alexander proceeded +southward, accompanied by his own forces, and tended by the various +princes and potentates of Greece, with their attendants and +followers. The feelings of exultation and pleasure with which the +young king defiled through the Pass of Thermopylae, thus attended, must +have been exciting in the extreme. + +The Pass of Thermopylae was a scene strongly associated with ideas of +military glory and renown. It was here that, about a hundred and fifty +years before, Leonidas, a Spartan general, with only three hundred +soldiers, had attempted to withstand the pressure of an immense +Persian force which was at that time invading Greece. He was one of +the kings of Sparta, and he had the command, not only of his three +hundred Spartans, but also of all the allied forces of the Greeks that +had been assembled to repel the Persian invasion. With the help of +these allies he withstood the Persian forces for some time, and as the +pass was so narrow between the cliffs and the sea, he was enabled to +resist them successfully. At length, however, a strong detachment from +the immense Persian army contrived to find their way over the +mountains and around the pass, so as to establish themselves in a +position from which they could come down upon the small Greek army in +their rear. Leonidas, perceiving this, ordered all his allies from +the other states of Greece to withdraw, leaving himself and his three +hundred countrymen alone in the defile. + +He did not expect to repel his enemies or to defend the pass. He knew +that he must die, and all his brave followers with him, and that the +torrent of invaders would pour down through the pass over their +bodies. But he considered himself stationed there to defend the +passage, and he would not desert his post. When the battle came on he +was the first to fall. The soldiers gathered around him and defended +his dead body as long as they could. At length, overpowered by the +immense numbers of their foes, they were all killed but one man. He +made his escape and returned to Sparta. A monument was erected on the +spot with this inscription: "Go, traveler, to Sparta, and say that we +lie here, on the spot at which we were stationed to defend our +country." + +Alexander passed through the defile. He advanced to the great cities +south of it--to Athens, to Thebes, and to Corinth. Another great +assembly of all the monarchs and potentates of Greece was convened in +Corinth; and here Alexander attained the object of his ambition, in +having the command of the great expedition into Asia conferred upon +him. The impression which he made upon those with whom he came into +connection by his personal qualities must have been favorable in the +extreme. That such a youthful prince should be selected by so powerful +a confederation of nations as their leader in such an enterprise as +they were about to engage in, indicates a most extraordinary power on +his part of acquiring an ascendency over the minds of men, and of +impressing all with a sense of his commanding superiority. Alexander +returned to Macedon from his expedition to the southward in triumph, +and began at once to arrange the affairs of his kingdom, so as to be +ready to enter, unembarrassed, upon the great career of conquest which +he imagined was before him. + + + + +CHAPTER III. + +THE REACTION. + +B.C. 335 + +Mount Haemus.--Thrace.--The Hebrus.--Thrace.--Valley of the +Danube.--Revolt among the northern nations.--Alexander marches +north.--Old Boreas.--Contest among the mountains.--The +loaded wagons.--Alexander's victorious march.--Mouths of the +Danube.--Alexander resolves to cross the Danube.--Preparations.--The +river crossed.--The landing.--Northern nations subdued.--Alexander +returns to Macedon.--Rebellion of Thebes.--Siege of the citadel.--Sudden +appearance of Alexander.--He invests Thebes.--The Thebans refuse +to surrender.--Storming a city.--Undermining.--Making a +breach.--Surrender.--Carrying a city by assault.--Scenes of +horror.--Thebes carried by assault.--Great loss of life.--Thebes +destroyed.--The manner of doing it.--Alexander's moderation and +forbearance.--Family of Pindar spared.--The number saved.--Efforts +of Demosthenes.--The boy proves to be a man.--All disaffection +subdued.--Moral effect of the destruction of Thebes.--Alexander +returns to Macedon.--Celebrates his victories. + + +The country which was formerly occupied by Macedon and the other +states of Greece is now Turkey in Europe. In the northern part of it +is a vast chain of mountains called now the Balkan. In Alexander's day +it was Mount Haemus. This chain forms a broad belt of lofty and +uninhabitable land, and extends from the Black Sea to the Adriatic. + +A branch of this mountain range, called Rhodope, extends southwardly +from about the middle of its length, as may be seen by the map. +Rhodope separated Macedonia from a large and powerful country, which +was occupied by a somewhat rude but warlike race of men. This country +was Thrace. Thrace was one great fertile basin or valley, sloping +toward the center in every direction, so that all the streams from the +mountains, increased by the rains which fell over the whole surface of +the ground, flowed together into one river, which meandered through +the center of the valley, and flowed out at last into the Aegean Sea. +The name of this river was the Hebrus. All this may be seen +distinctly upon the map. + +[Illustration: MAP OF MACEDON AND GREECE.] + +The Balkan, or Mount Haemus, as it was then called, formed the great +northern frontier of Macedon and Thrace. From the summits of the +range, looking northward, the eye surveyed a vast extent of land, +constituting one of the most extensive and fertile valleys on the +globe. It was the valley of the Danube. It was inhabited, in those +days, by rude tribes whom the Greeks and Romans always designated as +barbarians. They were, at any rate, wild and warlike, and, as they had +not the art of writing, they have left us no records of their +institutions or their history. We know nothing of them, or of the +other half-civilized nations that occupied the central parts of Europe +in those days, except what their inveterate and perpetual enemies have +thought fit to tell us. According to their story, these countries were +filled with nations and tribes of a wild and half-savage character, +who could be kept in check only by the most vigorous exertion of +military power. + +Soon after Alexander's return into Macedon, he learned that there were +symptoms of revolt among these nations. Philip had subdued them, and +established the kind of peace which the Greeks and Romans were +accustomed to enforce upon their neighbors. But now, as they had heard +that Philip, who had been so terrible a warrior, was no more, and that +his son, scarcely out of his teens, had succeeded to the throne, they +thought a suitable occasion had arrived to try their strength. +Alexander made immediate arrangements for moving northward with his +army to settle this question. + +He conducted his forces through a part of Thrace without meeting with +any serious resistance, and approached the mountains. The soldiers +looked upon the rugged precipices and lofty summits before them with +awe. These northern mountains were the seat and throne, in the +imaginations of the Greeks and Romans, of old Boreas, the hoary god of +the north wind. They conceived of him as dwelling among those cold and +stormy summits, and making excursions in winter, carrying with him his +vast stores of frost and snow, over the southern valleys and plains. +He had wings, a long beard, and white locks, all powdered with flakes +of snow. Instead of feet, his body terminated in tails of serpents, +which, as he flew along, lashed the air, writhing from under his +robes. He was violent and impetuous in temper, rejoicing in the +devastation of winter, and in all the sublime phenomena of tempests, +cold, and snow. The Greek conception of Boreas made an impression upon +the human mind that twenty centuries have not been able to efface. The +north wind of winter is personified as Boreas to the present day in +the literature of every nation of the Western world. + +The Thracian forces had assembled in the defiles, with other troops +from the northern countries, to arrest Alexander's march, and he had +some difficulty in repelling them. They had got, it is said, some sort +of loaded wagons upon the summit of an ascent, in the pass of the +mountains, up which Alexander's forces would have to march. These +wagons were to be run down upon them as they ascended. Alexander +ordered his men to advance, notwithstanding this danger. He directed +them, where it was practicable, to open to one side and the other, and +allow the descending wagon to pass through. When this could not be +done, they were to fall down upon the ground when they saw this +strange military engine coming, and locking their shields together +over their heads, allow the wagon to roll on over them, bracing up +energetically against its weight. Notwithstanding these precautions, +and the prodigious muscular power with which they were carried into +effect, some of the men were crushed. The great body of the army was, +however, unharmed; as soon as the force of the wagons was spent, they +rushed up the ascent, and attacked their enemies with their pikes. The +barbarians fled in all directions, terrified at the force and +invulnerability of men whom loaded wagons, rolling over their bodies +down a steep descent, could not kill. + +Alexander advanced from one conquest like this to another, moving +toward the northward and eastward after he had crossed the mountains, +until at length he approached the mouths of the Danube. Here one of +the great chieftains of the barbarian tribes had taken up his +position, with his family and court, and a principal part of his army, +upon an island called Peuce, which may be seen upon the map at the +beginning of this chapter. This island divided the current of the +stream, and Alexander, in attempting to attack it, found that it would +be best to endeavor to effect a landing upon the upper point of it. + +To make this attempt, he collected all the boats and vessels which he +could obtain, and embarked his troops in them above, directing them to +fall down with the current, and to land upon the island. This plan, +however, did not succeed very well; the current was too rapid for the +proper management of the boats. The shores, too, were lined with the +forces of the enemy, who discharged showers of spears and arrows at +the men, and pushed off the boats when they attempted to land. +Alexander at length gave up the attempt, and concluded to leave the +island, and to cross the river itself further above, and thus carry +the war into the very heart of the country. + +It is a serious undertaking to get a great body of men and horses +across a broad and rapid river, when the people of the country have +done all in their power to remove or destroy all possible means of +transit, and when hostile bands are on the opposite bank, to embarrass +and impede the operations by every mode in their power. Alexander, +however, advanced to the undertaking with great resolution. To cross +the Danube especially, with a military force, was, in those days, in +the estimation of the Greeks and Romans, a very great exploit. The +river was so distant, so broad and rapid, and its banks were bordered +and defended by such ferocious foes, that to cross its eddying tide, +and penetrate into the unknown and unexplored regions beyond, leaving +the broad, and deep, and rapid stream to cut off the hopes of retreat, +implied the possession of extreme self-reliance, courage, and +decision. + +Alexander collected all the canoes and boats which he could obtain up +and down the river. He built large rafts, attaching to them the skins +of beasts sewed together and inflated, to give them buoyancy. When +all was ready, they began the transportation of the army in the night, +in a place where the enemy had not expected that the attempt would +have been made. There were a thousand horses, with their riders, and +four thousand foot soldiers, to be conveyed across. It is customary, +in such cases, to swim the horses over, leading them by lines, the +ends of which are held by men in boats. The men themselves, with all +the arms, ammunition, and baggage, had to be carried over in the boats +or upon the rafts. Before morning the whole was accomplished. + +The army landed in a field of grain. This circumstance, which is +casually mentioned by historians, and also the story of the wagons in +the passes of Mount Haemus, proves that these northern nations were not +absolute barbarians in the sense in which that term is used at the +present day. The arts of cultivation and of construction must have +made some progress among them, at any rate; and they proved, by some +of their conflicts with Alexander, that they were well-trained and +well-disciplined soldiers. + +The Macedonians swept down the waving grain with their pikes, to open +a way for the advance of the cavalry, and early in the morning +Alexander found and attacked the army of his enemies, who were +utterly astonished at finding him on their side of the river. As may +be easily anticipated, the barbarian army was beaten in the battle +that ensued. Their city was taken. The booty was taken back across the +Danube to be distributed among the soldiers of the army. The +neighboring nations and tribes were overawed and subdued by this +exhibition of Alexander's courage and energy. He made satisfactory +treaties with them all; took hostages, where necessary, to secure the +observance of the treaties, and then recrossed the Danube and set out +on his return to Macedon. + +He found that it was _time_ for him to return. The southern cities and +states of Greece had not been unanimous in raising him to the office +which his father had held. The Spartans and some others were opposed +to him. The party thus opposed were inactive and silent while +Alexander was in their country, on his first visit to southern Greece; +but after his return they began to contemplate more decisive action, +and afterward, when they heard of his having undertaken so desperate +an enterprise as going northward with his forces, and actually +crossing the Danube, they considered him as so completely out of the +way that they grew very courageous, and meditated open rebellion. + +The city of Thebes did at length rebel. Philip had conquered this city +in former struggles, and had left a Macedonian garrison there in the +citadel. The name of the citadel was Cadmeia. The officers of the +garrison, supposing that all was secure, left the soldiers in the +citadel, and came, themselves, down to the city to reside. Things were +in this condition when the rebellion against Alexander's authority +broke out. They killed the officers who were in the city, and summoned +the garrison to surrender. The garrison refused, and the Thebans +besieged it. + +This outbreak against Alexander's authority was in a great measure the +work of the great orator Demosthenes, who spared no exertions to +arouse the southern states of Greece to resist Alexander's dominion. +He especially exerted all the powers of his eloquence in Athens in the +endeavor to bring over the Athenians to take sides against Alexander. + +While things were in this state--the Thebans having understood that +Alexander had been killed at the north, and supposing that, at all +events, if this report should not be true, he was, without doubt, +still far away, involved in contentions with the barbarian nations, +from which it was not to be expected that he could be very speedily +extricated--the whole city was suddenly thrown into consternation by +the report that a large Macedonian army was approaching from the +north, with Alexander at its head, and that it was, in fact, close +upon them. + +It was now, however, too late for the Thebans to repent of what they +had done. They were far too deeply impressed with a conviction of the +decision and energy of Alexander's character, as manifested in the +whole course of his proceedings since he began to reign, and +especially by his sudden reappearance among them so soon after this +outbreak against his authority, to imagine that there was now any hope +for them except in determined and successful resistance. They shut +themselves up, therefore, in their city, and prepared to defend +themselves to the last extremity. + +Alexander advanced, and, passing round the city toward the southern +side, established his head-quarters there, so as to cut off +effectually all communication with Athens and the southern cities. He +then extended his posts all around the place so as to invest it +entirely. These preparations made, he paused before he commenced the +work of subduing the city, to give the inhabitants an opportunity to +submit, if they would, without compelling him to resort to force. The +conditions, however, which he imposed were such that the Thebans +thought it best to take their chance of resistance. They refused to +surrender, and Alexander began to prepare for the onset. + +He was very soon ready, and with his characteristic ardor and energy +he determined on attempting to carry the city at once by assault. +Fortified cities generally require a siege, and sometimes a very long +siege, before they can be subdued. The army within, sheltered behind +the parapets of the walls, and standing there in a position above that +of their assailants, have such great advantages in the contest that a +long time often elapses before they can be compelled to surrender. The +besiegers have to invest the city on all sides to cut off all supplies +of provisions, and then, in those days, they had to construct engines +to make a breach somewhere in the walls, through which an assaulting +party could attempt to force their way in. + +The time for making an assault upon a besieged city depends upon the +comparative strength of those within and without, and also, still +more, on the ardor and resolution of the besiegers. In warfare, an +army, in investing a fortified place, spends ordinarily a considerable +time in burrowing their way along in trenches, half under ground, +until they get near enough to plant their cannon where the balls can +take effect upon some part of the wall. Then some time usually elapses +before a breach is made, and the garrison is sufficiently weakened to +render an assault advisable. When, however, the time at length +arrives, the most bold and desperate portion of the army are +designated to lead the attack. Bundles of small branches of trees are +provided to fill up ditches with, and ladders for mounting embankments +and walls. The city, sometimes, seeing these preparations going on, +and convinced that the assault will be successful, surrenders before +it is made. When the besieged do thus surrender, they save themselves +a vast amount of suffering, for the carrying of a city by assault is +perhaps the most horrible scene which the passions and crimes of men +ever offer to the view of heaven. + +It is horrible, because the soldiers, exasperated to fury by the +resistance which they meet with, and by the awful malignity of the +passions always excited in the hour of battle, if they succeed, burst +suddenly into the precincts of domestic life, and find sometimes +thousands of families--mothers, and children, and defenseless +maidens--at the mercy of passions excited to phrensy. Soldiers, under +such circumstances, can not be restrained, and no imagination can +conceive the horrors of the sacking of a city, carried by assault, +after a protracted siege. Tigers do not spring upon their prey with +greater ferocity than man springs, under such circumstances, to the +perpetration of every possible cruelty upon his fellow man. After an +ordinary battle upon an open field, the conquerors have only men, +armed like themselves, to wreak their vengeance upon. The scene is +awful enough, however, here. But in carrying a city by storm, which +takes place usually at an unexpected time, and often in the night, the +maddened and victorious assaulter suddenly burst into the sacred +scenes of domestic peace, and seclusion, and love--the very worst of +men, filled with the worst of passions, stimulated by the resistance +they have encountered, and licensed by their victory to give all these +passions the fullest and most unrestricted gratification. To plunder, +burn, destroy, and kill, are the lighter and more harmless of the +crimes they perpetrate. + +Thebes was carried by assault. Alexander did not wait for the slow +operations of a siege. He watched a favorable opportunity, and burst +over and through the outer line of fortifications which defended the +city. The attempt to do this was very desperate, and the loss of life +great; but it was triumphantly successful. The Thebans were driven +back toward the inner wall, and began to crowd in, through the gates, +into the city, in terrible confusion. The Macedonians were close upon +them, and pursuers and pursued, struggling together, and trampling +upon and killing each other as they went, flowed in, like a boiling +and raging torrent which nothing could resist, through the open +arch-way. + +It was impossible to close the gates. The whole Macedonian force were +soon in full possession of the now defenseless houses, and for many +hours screams, and wailings, and cries of horror and despair testified +to the awful atrocity of the crimes attendant on the sacking of a +city. At length the soldiery were restrained. Order was restored. The +army retired to the posts assigned them, and Alexander began to +deliberate what he should do with the conquered town. + +He determined to destroy it--to offer, once for all, a terrible +example of the consequences of rebellion against him. The case was not +one, he considered, of the ordinary conquest of a _foe_. The states of +Greece--Thebes with the rest--had once solemnly conferred upon him the +authority against which the Thebans had now rebelled. They were +_traitors_, therefore, in his judgment, not mere enemies, and he +determined that the penalty should be utter destruction. + +But, in carrying this terrible decision into effect, he acted in a +manner so deliberate, discriminating, and cautious, as to diminish +very much the irritation and resentment which it would otherwise have +caused, and to give it its full moral effect as a measure, not of +angry resentment, but of calm and deliberate retribution--just and +proper, according to the ideas of the time. In the first place, he +released all the priests. Then, in respect to the rest of the +population, he discriminated carefully between those who had favored +the rebellion and those who had been true to their allegiance to him. +The latter were allowed to depart in safety. And if, in the case of +any family, it could be shown that one individual had been on the +Macedonian side, the single instance of fidelity outweighed the +treason of the other members, and the whole family was saved. + +And the officers appointed to carry out these provisions were liberal +in the interpretation and application of them, so as to save as many +as there could be any possible pretext for saving. The descendants and +family connections of Pindar, the celebrated poet, who has been +already mentioned as having been born in Thebes, were all pardoned +also, whichever side they may have taken in the contest. The truth +was, that Alexander, though he had the sagacity to see that he was +placed in circumstances where prodigious moral effect in strengthening +his position would be produced by an act of great severity, was swayed +by so many generous impulses, which raised him above the ordinary +excitements of irritation and revenge, that he had every desire to +make the suffering as light, and to limit it by as narrow bounds, as +the nature of the case would allow. He doubtless also had an +instinctive feeling that the moral effect itself of so dreadful a +retribution as he was about to inflict upon the devoted city would be +very much increased by forbearance and generosity, and by extreme +regard for the security and protection of those who had shown +themselves his friends. + +After all these exceptions had been made, and the persons to whom +they applied had been dismissed, the rest of the population were sold +into slavery, and then the city was utterly and entirely destroyed. +The number thus sold was about thirty thousand, and six thousand had +been killed in the assault and storming of the city. Thus Thebes was +made a ruin and a desolation, and it remained so, a monument of +Alexander's terrible energy and decision, for twenty years. + +The effect of the destruction of Thebes upon the other cities and +states of Greece was what might have been expected. It came upon them +like a thunder-bolt. Although Thebes was the only city which had +openly revolted, there had been strong symptoms of disaffection in +many other places. Demosthenes, who had been silent while Alexander +was present in Greece, during his first visit there, had again been +endeavoring to arouse opposition to Macedonian ascendency, and to +concentrate and bring out into action the influences which were +hostile to Alexander. He said in his speeches that Alexander was a +mere boy, and that it was disgraceful for such cities as Athens, +Sparta, and Thebes to submit to his sway. Alexander had heard of these +things, and, as he was coming down into Greece, through the Straits +of Thermopylae, before the destruction of Thebes, he said, "They say I +am a boy. I am coming to teach them that I am a man." + +He did teach them that he was a man. His unexpected appearance, when +they imagined him entangled among the mountains and wilds of unknown +regions in the north; his sudden investiture of Thebes; the assault; +the calm deliberations in respect to the destiny of the city, and the +slow, cautious, discriminating, but inexorable energy with which the +decision was carried into effect, all coming in such rapid succession, +impressed the Grecian commonwealth with the conviction that the +personage they had to deal with was no boy in character, whatever +might be his years. All symptoms of disaffection against the rule of +Alexander instantly disappeared, and did not soon revive again. + +Nor was this effect due entirely to the terror inspired by the +retribution which had been visited upon Thebes. All Greece was +impressed with a new admiration for Alexander's character as they +witnessed these events, in which his impetuous energy, his cool and +calm decision, his forbearance, his magnanimity, and his faithfulness +to his friends, were all so conspicuous. His pardoning the priests, +whether they had been for him or against him, made every friend of +religion incline to his favor. The same interposition in behalf of the +poet's family and descendants spoke directly to the heart of every +poet, orator, historian, and philosopher throughout the country, and +tended to make all the lovers of literature his friends. His +magnanimity, also, in deciding that one single friend of his in a +family should save that family, instead of ordaining, as a more +short-sighted conqueror would have done, that a single enemy should +condemn it, must have awakened a strong feeling of gratitude and +regard in the hearts of all who could appreciate fidelity to friends +and generosity of spirit. Thus, as the news of the destruction of +Thebes, and the selling of so large a portion of the inhabitants into +slavery, spread over the land, its effect was to turn over so great a +part of the population to a feeling of admiration of Alexander's +character, and confidence in his extraordinary powers, as to leave +only a small minority disposed to take sides with the punished rebels, +or resent the destruction of the city. + +From Thebes Alexander proceeded to the southward. Deputations from the +cities were sent to him, congratulating him on his victories, and +offering their adhesion to his cause. His influence and ascendency +seemed firmly established now in the country of the Greeks, and in due +time he returned to Macedon, and celebrated at Aegae, which was at this +time his capital, the establishment and confirmation of his power, by +games, shows, spectacles, illuminations, and sacrifices to the gods, +offered on a scale of the greatest pomp and magnificence. He was now +ready to turn his thoughts toward the long-projected plan of the +expedition into Asia. + + + + +CHAPTER IV. + +CROSSING THE HELLESPONT. + +B.C. 334 + +The expedition into Asia.--Debates upon it.--Objections of +Antipater and Parmenio.--Their foresight.--Alexander decides +to go.--Preparations.--Description of Thessaly.--Vale of +Tempe.--Olympus.--Pelion and Ossa.--Alexander's generosity.--Love +of money.--Religious sacrifices and spectacles.--Ancient forms +of worship.--Religious instincts.--The nine Muses.--Festivities +in honor of Jupiter.--Spectacles and shows.--Alexander's +route.--Alexander begins his march.--Romantic adventure.--The plain +of Troy.--Tenedos.--Mount Ida.--The Scamander.--The Trojan war.--Dream +of Priam's wife.--Exposure of Paris.--The apple of discord.--The +dispute about the apple.--Decided in favor of Venus.--The story +of the bull.--Paris restored to his parents.--Abduction of +Helen.--Destruction of Troy.--Homer's writings.--Achilles.--The +Styx.--Character of Achilles.--Agamemnon.--Death of Patroclus.--Hector +slain by Achilles.--Alexander proceeds to Troy.--Neptune.--Landing of +Alexander.--Sacrifices to the gods.--Alexander proceeds on his +march.--Alexander spares Lampsacus.--Arrival at the Granicus. + + +On Alexander's arrival in Macedon, he immediately began to turn his +attention to the subject of the invasion of Asia. He was full of ardor +and enthusiasm to carry this project into effect. Considering his +extreme youth, and the captivating character of the enterprise, it is +strange that he should have exercised so much deliberation and caution +as his conduct did really evince. He had now settled every thing in +the most thorough manner, both within his dominions and among the +nations on his borders, and, as it seemed to him, the time had come +when he was to commence active preparations for the great Asiatic +campaign. + +He brought the subject before his ministers and counselors. They, in +general, concurred with him in opinion. There were, however, two who +were in doubt, or rather who were, in fact, opposed to the plan, +though they expressed their non-concurrence in the form of doubts. +These two persons were Antipater and Parmenio, the venerable officers +who have been already mentioned as having served Philip so faithfully, +and as transferring, on the death of the father, their attachment and +allegiance at once to the son. + +Antipater and Parmenio represented to Alexander that if he were to go +to Asia at that time, he would put to extreme hazard all the interests +of Macedon. As he had no family, there was, of course, no direct heir +to the crown, and, in case of any misfortune happening by which his +life should be lost, Macedon would become at once the prey of +contending factions, which would immediately arise, each presenting +its own candidate for the vacant throne. The sagacity and foresight +which these statesmen evinced in these suggestions were abundantly +confirmed in the end. Alexander did die in Asia, his vast kingdom at +once fell into pieces, and it was desolated with internal commotions +and civil wars for a long period after his death. + +Parmenio and Antipater accordingly advised the king to postpone his +expedition. They advised him to seek a wife among the princesses of +Greece, and then to settle down quietly to the duties of domestic +life, and to the government of his kingdom for a few years; then, +when every thing should have become settled and consolidated in +Greece, and his family was established in the hearts of his +countrymen, he could leave Macedon more safely. Public affairs would +go on more steadily while he lived, and, in case of his death, the +crown would descend, with comparatively little danger of civil +commotion, to his heir. + +But Alexander was fully decided against any such policy as this. He +resolved to embark in the great expedition at once. He concluded to +make Antipater his vicegerent in Macedon during his absence, and to +take Parmenio with him into Asia. It will be remembered that Antipater +was the statesman and Parmenio the general; that is, Antipater had +been employed more by Philip in civil, and Parmenio in military +affairs, though in those days every body who was in public life was +more or less a soldier. + +Alexander left an army of ten or twelve thousand men with Antipater +for the protection of Macedon. He organized another army of about +thirty-five thousand to go with him. This was considered a very small +army for such a vast undertaking. One or two hundred years before this +time, Darius, a king of Persia, had invaded Greece with an army of +five hundred thousand men, and yet he had been defeated and driven +back, and now Alexander was undertaking to retaliate with a great deal +less than one tenth part of the force. + +Of Alexander's army of thirty-five thousand, thirty thousand were foot +soldiers, and about five thousand were horse. More than half the whole +army was from Macedon. The remainder was from the southern states of +Greece. A large body of the horse was from Thessaly, which, as will be +seen on the map,[A] was a country south of Macedon. It was, in fact, +one broad expanded valley, with mountains all around. Torrents +descended from these mountains, forming streams which flowed in +currents more and more deep and slow as they descended into the +plains, and combining at last into one central river, which flowed to +the eastward, and escaped from the environage of mountains through a +most celebrated dell called the Vale of Tempe. On the north of this +valley is Olympus, and on the south the two twin mountains Pelion and +Ossa. There was an ancient story of a war in Thessaly between the +giants who were imagined to have lived there in very early days, and +the gods. The giants piled Pelion upon Ossa to enable them to get up +to heaven in their assault upon their celestial enemies. The fable has +led to a proverb which prevails in every language in Europe, by which +all extravagant and unheard-of exertions to accomplish an end is said +to be a piling of Pelion upon Ossa. + +[Footnote A: At the commencement of Chapter iii.] + +Thessaly was famous for its horses and its horsemen. The slopes of the +mountains furnished the best of pasturage for the rearing of the +animals, and the plains below afforded broad and open fields for +training and exercising the bodies of cavalry formed by means of them. +The Thessalian horses were famous throughout all Greece. Bucephalus +was reared in Thessaly. + +Alexander, as king of Macedon, possessed extensive estates and +revenues, which were his own personal property, and were independent +of the revenues of the state. Before setting out on his expedition, he +apportioned these among his great officers and generals, both those +who were to go and those who were to remain. He evinced great +generosity in this, but it was, after all, the spirit of ambition, +more than that of generosity, which led him to do it. The two great +impulses which animated him were the pleasure of doing great deeds, +and the fame and glory of having done them. These two principles are +very distinct in their nature, though often conjoined. They were +paramount and supreme in Alexander's character, and every other human +principle was subordinate to them. Money was to him, accordingly, only +a means to enable him to accomplish these ends. His distributing his +estates and revenues in the manner above described was only a +judicious appropriation of the money to the promotion of the great +ends he wished to attain; it was expenditure, not gift. It answered +admirably the end he had in view. His friends all looked upon him as +extremely generous and self-sacrificing. They asked him what he had +reserved for himself. "Hope," said Alexander. + +At length all things were ready, and Alexander began to celebrate the +religious sacrifices, spectacles, and shows which, in those days, +always preceded great undertakings of this kind. There was a great +ceremony in honor of Jupiter and the nine Muses, which had long been +celebrated in Macedon as a sort of annual national festival. Alexander +now caused great preparations for this festival. + +In the days of the Greeks, public worship and public amusement were +combined in one and the same series of spectacles and ceremonies. All +worship was a theatrical show, and almost all shows were forms of +worship. The religious instincts of the human heart demand some sort +of sympathy and aid, real or imaginary, from the invisible world, in +great and solemn undertakings, and in every momentous crisis in its +history. It is true that Alexander's soldiers, about to leave their +homes to go to another quarter of the globe, and into scenes of danger +and death from which it was very improbable that many of them would +ever return, had no other celestial protection to look up to than the +spirits of ancient heroes, who, they imagined, had, somehow or other, +found their final home in a sort of heaven among the summits of the +mountains, where they reigned, in some sense, over human affairs; but +this, small as it seems to us, was a great deal to them. They felt, +when sacrificing to these gods, that they were invoking their presence +and sympathy. These deities having been engaged in the same +enterprises themselves, and animated with the same hopes and fears, +the soldiers imagined that the semi-human divinities invoked by them +would take an interest in their dangers, and rejoice is their success. + +The Muses, in honor of whom, as well as Jupiter, this great +Macedonian festival was held, were nine singing and dancing maidens, +beautiful in countenance and form, and enchantingly graceful in all +their movements. They came, the ancients imagined, from Thrace, in the +north, and went first to Jupiter upon Mount Olympus, who made them +goddesses. Afterward they went southward, and spread over Greece, +making their residence, at last, in a palace upon Mount Parnassus, +which will be found upon the map just north of the Gulf of Corinth and +west of Boeotia. They were worshiped all over Greece and Italy as +the goddesses of music and dancing. In later times particular sciences +and arts were assigned to them respectively, as history, astronomy, +tragedy, &c., though there was no distinction of this kind in early +days. + +The festivities in honor of Jupiter and the Muses were continued in +Macedon nine days, a number corresponding with that of the dancing +goddesses. Alexander made very magnificent preparations for the +celebration on this occasion. He had a tent made, under which, it is +said, a hundred tables could be spread; and here he entertained, day +after day, an enormous company of princes, potentates, and generals. +He offered sacrifices to such of the gods as he supposed it would +please the soldiers to imagine that they had propitiated. Connected +with these sacrifices and feastings, there were athletic and military +spectacles and shows--races and wrestlings--and mock contests, with +blunted spears. All these things encouraged and quickened the ardor +and animation of the soldiers. It aroused their ambition to +distinguish themselves by their exploits, and gave them an increased +and stimulated desire for honor and fame. Thus inspirited by new +desires for human praise, and trusting in the sympathy and protection +of powers which were all that they conceived of as divine, the army +prepared to set forth from their native land, bidding it a long, and, +as it proved to most of them, a final farewell. + +By following the course of Alexander's expedition upon the map at the +commencement of chapter iii., it will be seen that his route lay first +along the northern coasts of the Aegean Sea. He was to pass from Europe +into Asia by crossing the Hellespont between Sestos and Abydos. He +sent a fleet of a hundred and fifty galleys, of three banks of oars +each, over the Aegean Sea, to land at Sestos, and be ready to transport +his army across the straits. The army, in the mean time, marched by +land. They had to cross the rivers which flow into the Aegean Sea on +the northern side; but as these rivers were in Macedon, and no +opposition was encountered upon the banks of them, there was no +serious difficulty in effecting the passage. When they reached Sestos, +they found the fleet ready there, awaiting their arrival. + +It is very strikingly characteristic of the mingling of poetic +sentiment and enthusiasm with calm and calculating business +efficiency, which shone conspicuously so often in Alexander's career, +that when he arrived at Sestos, and found that the ships were there, +and the army safe, and that there was no enemy to oppose his landing +on the Asiatic shore, he left Parmenio to conduct the transportation +of the troops across the water, while he himself went away in a single +galley on an excursion of sentiment and romantic adventure. A little +south of the place where his army was to cross, there lay, on the +Asiatic shore, an extended plain, on which were the ruins of Troy. Now +Troy was the city which was the scene of Homer's poems--those poems +which had excited so much interest in the mind of Alexander in his +early years; and he determined, instead of crossing the Hellespont +with the main body of his army, to proceed southward in a single +galley, and land, himself, on the Asiatic shore, on the very spot +which the romantic imagination of his youth had dwelt upon so often +and so long. + +[Illustration: THE PLAIN OF TROY.] + +Troy was situated upon a plain. Homer describes an island off the +coast, named Tenedos, and a mountain near called Mount Ida. There was +also a river called the Scamander. The island, the mountain, and the +river remain, preserving their original names to the present day, +except that the river is now called the Mender, but, although various +vestiges of ancient ruins are found scattered about the plain, no spot +can be identified as the site of the city. Some scholars have +maintained that there probably never was such a city; that Homer +invented the whole, there being nothing real in all that he describes +except the river, the mountain, and the island. His story is, however, +that there was a great and powerful city there, with a kingdom +attached to it, and that this city was besieged by the Greeks for ten +years, at the end of which time it was taken and destroyed. + +The story of the origin of this war is substantially this. Priam was +king of Troy. His wife, a short time before her son was born, dreamed +that at his birth the child turned into a torch and set the palace on +fire. She told this dream to the soothsayers, and asked them what it +meant. They said it must mean that her son would be the means of +bringing some terrible calamities and disasters upon the family. The +mother was terrified, and, to avert these calamities, gave the child +to a slave as soon as it was born, and ordered him to destroy it. The +slave pitied the helpless babe, and, not liking to destroy it with his +own hand, carried it to Mount Ida, and left it there in the forests to +die. + +A she bear, roaming through the woods, found the child, and, +experiencing a feeling of maternal tenderness for it, she took care of +it, and reared it as if it had been her own offspring. The child was +found, at last, by some shepherds who lived upon the mountain, and +they adopted it as their own, robbing the brute mother of her charge. +They named the boy Paris. He grew in strength and beauty, and gave +early and extraordinary proofs of courage and energy, as if he had +imbibed some of the qualities of his fierce foster mother with the +milk she gave him. He was so remarkable for athletic beauty and manly +courage, that he not only easily won the heart of a nymph of Mount +Ida, named Oenone, whom he married, but he also attracted the +attention of the goddesses in the heavens. + +At length these goddesses had a dispute which they agreed to refer to +him. The origin of the dispute was this. There was a wedding among +them, and one of them, irritated at not having been invited, had a +golden apple made, on which were engraved the words, "TO BE GIVEN TO +THE MOST BEAUTIFUL." She threw this apple into the assembly: her +object was to make them quarrel for it. In fact, she was herself the +goddess of discord, and, independently of her cause of pique in this +case, she loved to promote disputes. It is in allusion to this ancient +tale that any subject of dispute, brought up unnecessarily among +friends, is called to this day an _apple_ of discord. + +Three of the goddesses claimed the apple, each insisting that she was +more beautiful than the others, and this was the dispute which they +agreed to refer to Paris. They accordingly exhibited themselves before +him in the mountains, that he might look at them and decide. They did +not, however, seem willing, either of them, to trust to an impartial +decision of the question, but each offered the judge a bribe to induce +him to decide in her favor. One promised him a kingdom, another great +fame, and the third, Venus, promised him the most beautiful woman in +the world for his wife. He decided in favor of Venus; whether because +she was justly entitled to the decision, or through the influence of +the bribe, the story does not say. + +All this time Paris remained on the mountain, a simple shepherd and +herdsman, not knowing his relationship to the monarch who reigned over +the city and kingdom on the plain below. King Priam, however, about +this time, in some games which he was celebrating, offered, as a +prize to the victor, the finest bull which could be obtained on Mount +Ida. On making examination, Paris was found to have the finest bull +and the king, exercising the despotic power which kings in those days +made no scruple of assuming in respect to helpless peasants, took it +away. Paris was very indignant. It happened, however, that a short +time afterward there was another opportunity to contend for the same +bull, and Paris, disguising himself as a prince, appeared in the +lists, conquered every competitor, and bore away the bull again to his +home in the fastnesses of the mountain. + +In consequence of this his appearance at court, the daughter of Priam, +whose name was Cassandra, became acquainted with him, and, inquiring +into his story, succeeded in ascertaining that he was her brother, the +long-lost child, that had been supposed to be put to death. King Priam +was convinced by the evidence which she brought forward, and Paris was +brought home to his father's house. After becoming established in his +new position, he remembered the promise of Venus that he should have +the most beautiful woman in the world for his wife, and he began, +accordingly, to inquire where he could find her. + +[Illustration: PARIS AND HELEN.] + +There was in Sparta, one of the cities of Southern Greece, a certain +king Menelaus, who had a youthful bride named Helen, who was famed far +and near for her beauty. Paris came to the conclusion that she was the +most lovely woman in the world, and that he was entitled, in virtue of +Venus's promise, to obtain possession of her, if he could do so by any +means whatever. He accordingly made a journey into Greece, visited +Sparta, formed an acquaintance with Helen, persuaded her to abandon +her husband and her duty, and elope with him to Troy. + +Menelaus was indignant at this outrage. He called on all Greece to +take up arms and join him in the attempt to recover his bride. They +responded to this demand. They first sent to Priam, demanding that he +should restore Helen to her husband. Priam refused to do so, taking +part with his son. The Greeks then raised a fleet and an army, and +came to the plains of Troy, encamped before the city, and persevered +for ten long years in besieging it, when at length it was taken and +destroyed. + +These stories relating to the origin of the war, however, marvelous +and entertaining as they are, were not the points which chiefly +interested the mind of Alexander. The portions of Homer's narratives +which most excited his enthusiasm were those relating to the +characters of the heroes who fought, on one side and on the other, at +the siege, their various adventures, and the delineations of their +motives and principles of conduct, and the emotions and excitements +they experienced in the various circumstances in which they were +placed. Homer described with great beauty and force the workings of +ambition, of resentment, of pride, of rivalry, and all those other +impulses of the human heart which would excite and control the action +of impetuous men in the circumstances in which his heroes were placed. + +Each one of the heroes whose history and adventures he gives, +possessed a well-marked and striking character, and differed in +temperament and action from the rest. Achilles was one. He was fiery, +impetuous, and implacable in character, fierce and merciless; and, +though perfectly undaunted and fearless, entirely destitute of +magnanimity. There was a river called the Styx, the waters of which +were said to have the property of making any one invulnerable. The +mother of Achilles dipped him into it in his infancy, holding him by +the heel. The heel, not having been immersed, was the only part which +could be wounded. Thus he was safe in battle, and was a terrible +warrior. He, however, quarreled with his comrades and withdrew from +their cause on slight pretexts, and then became reconciled again, +influenced by equally frivolous reasons. + +[Illustration: ACHILLES.] + +Agamemnon was the commander-in-chief of the Greek army. After a +certain victory, by which some captives were taken, and were to be +divided among the victors, Agamemnon was obliged to restore one, a +noble lady, who had fallen to his share, and he took away the one that +had been assigned to Achilles to replace her. This incensed Achilles, +and he withdrew for a long time from the contest; and, in consequence +of his absence, the Trojans gained great and continued victories +against the Greeks. For a long time nothing could induce Achilles to +return. + +At length, however, though he would not go himself, he allowed his +intimate friend, whose name was Patroclus, to take his armor and go +into battle. Patroclus was at first successful, but was soon killed by +Hector, the brother of Paris. This aroused anger and a spirit of +revenge in the mind of Achilles. He gave up his quarrel with Agamemnon +and returned to the combat. He did not remit his exertions till he had +slain Hector, and then he expressed his brutal exultation, and +satisfied his revenge, by dragging the dead body at the wheels of his +chariot around the walls of the city. He then sold the body to the +distracted father for a ransom. + +It was such stories as these, which are related in the poems of Homer +with great beauty and power, that had chiefly interested the mind of +Alexander. The subjects interested him; the accounts of the +contentions, the rivalries, the exploits of these warriors, the +delineations of their character and springs of action, and the +narrations of the various incidents and events to which such a war +gave rise, were all calculated to captivate the imagination of a young +martial hero. + +Alexander accordingly resolved that his first landing in Asia should +be at Troy. He left his army under the charge of Parmenio, to cross +from Sestos to Abydos, while he himself set forth in a single galley +to proceed to the southward. There was a port on the Trojan shore +where the Greeks had been accustomed to disembark, and he steered his +course for it. He had a bull on board his galley which he was going to +offer as a sacrifice to Neptune when half way from shore to shore. + +Neptune was the god of the sea. It is true that the Hellespont is not +the open ocean, but it is an arm of the sea, and thus belonged +properly to the dominions which the ancients assigned to the divinity +of the waters. Neptune was conceived of by the ancients as a monarch +dwelling on the seas or upon the coasts, and riding over the waves +seated in a great shell, or sometimes in a chariot, drawn by dolphins +or sea-horses. In these excursions he was attended by a train of +sea-gods and nymphs, who, half floating, half swimming, followed him +over the billows. Instead of a scepter Neptune carried a trident. A +trident was a sort of three-pronged harpoon, such as was used in those +days by the fishermen of the Mediterranean. It was from this +circumstance, probably, that it was chosen as the badge of authority +for the god of the sea. + +Alexander took the helm, and steered the galley with his own hands +toward the Asiatic shore. Just before he reached the land, he took his +place upon the prow, and threw a javelin at the shore as he approached +it, a symbol of the spirit of defiance and hostility with which he +advanced to the frontiers of the eastern world. He was also the first +to land. After disembarking his company, he offered sacrifices to the +gods, and then proceeded to visit the places which had been the scenes +of the events which Homer had described. + +Homer had written five hundred years before the time of Alexander, and +there is some doubt whether the ruins and the remains of cities which +our hero found there were really the scenes of the narratives which +had interested him so deeply. He, however, at any rate, believed them +to be so, and he was filled with enthusiasm and pride as he wandered +among them. He seems to have been most interested in the character of +Achilles, and he said that he envied him his happy lot in having such +a friend as Patroclus to help him perform his exploits, and such a +poet as Homer to celebrate them. + +After completing his visit upon the plain of Troy, Alexander moved +toward the northeast with the few men who had accompanied him in his +single galley. In the mean time Parmenio had crossed safely, with the +main body of the army, from Sestos to Abydos. Alexander overtook them +on their march, not far from the place of their landing. To the +northward of this place, on the left of the line of march which +Alexander was taking, was the city of Lampsacus. + +Now a large portion of Asia Minor, although for the most part under +the dominion of Persia, had been in a great measure settled by Greeks, +and, in previous wars between the two nations, the various cities had +been in possession, sometimes of one power and sometimes of the other. +In these contests the city of Lampsacus had incurred the high +displeasure of the Greeks by rebelling, as they said, on one occasion, +against them. Alexander determined to destroy it as he passed. The +inhabitants were aware of this intention, and sent an embassador to +Alexander to implore his mercy. When the embassador approached, +Alexander, knowing his errand, uttered a declaration in which he bound +himself by a solemn oath not to grant the request he was about to +make. "I have come," said the embassador, "to implore you to _destroy_ +Lampsacus." Alexander, pleased with the readiness of the embassador in +giving his language such a sudden turn, and perhaps influenced by his +oath, spared the city. + +He was now fairly in Asia. The Persian forces were gathering to attack +him, but so unexpected and sudden had been his invasion that they were +not prepared to meet him at his arrival, and he advanced without +opposition till he reached the banks of the little river Granicus. + + + + +CHAPTER V. + +CAMPAIGN IN ASIA MINOR. + +B.C. 334-333 + +Alexander hemmed in by Mount Ida and the Granicus.--The +Granicus.--Prodromi.--Alexander stopped at the Granicus.--Council +called.--Alexander resolves to advance.--His motives.--The Macedonian +phalanx.--Its organization.--Formidable character of the phalanx.--Is +irresistible.--Divisions of the phalanx.--Its position in +battle.--Battle of the Granicus.--Defeat of the Persians.--Alexander's +prowess.--His imminent danger.--Results of the battle.--Spoils sent to +Greece.--Memnon overruled.--Alexander visits the wounded.--Alexander +resumes his march.--The country surrenders.--Incidents.--Alexander's +generosity.--Omens.--The eagle on the mast.--Interpretations.--Approach +of winter.--The newly married permitted to go home.--A detachment of +bridegrooms.--Taurus.--Passage through the sea.--Hardships.--The +Meander.--Gordium.--Story of the Gordian knot.--Midas.--Gordius made +king.--Alexander cuts the knot.--He resumes his march.--Alexander's bath +in the Cydnus.--His sickness.--Alexander's physician Philip.--Suspicions +of poison.--Asia subdued.--The plain of Issus. + + +Although Alexander had landed safely on the Asiatic shore, the way was +not yet fairly open for him to advance into the interior of the +country. He was upon a sort of plain, which was separated from the +territory beyond by natural barriers. On the south was the range of +lofty land called Mount Ida. From the northeastern slopes of this +mountain there descended a stream which flowed north into the sea, +thus hemming Alexander's army in. He must either scale the mountain or +cross the river before he could penetrate into the interior. + +He thought it would be easiest to cross the river. It is very +difficult to get a large body of horsemen and of heavy-armed soldiers, +with all their attendants and baggage, over high elevations of land. +This was the reason why the army turned to the northward after landing +upon the Asiatic shore. Alexander thought the Granicus less of an +obstacle than Mount Ida. It was not a large stream, and was easily +fordable. + +[Illustration: THE GRANICUS.] + +It was the custom in those days, as it is now when armies are +marching, to send forward small bodies of men in every direction to +explore the roads, remove obstacles, and discover sources of danger. +These men are called, in modern times, _scouts_; in Alexander's day, +and in the Greek language, they were called _prodromi_, which means +forerunners. It is the duty of these pioneers to send messengers back +continually to the main body of the army, informing the officers of +every thing important which comes under their observation. + +In this case, when the army was gradually drawing near to the river, +the _prodromi_ came in with the news that they had been to the river, +and found the whole opposite shore, at the place of crossing, lined +with Persian troops, collected there to dispute the passage. The army +continued their advance, while Alexander called the leading generals +around him, to consider what was to be done. + +Parmenio recommended that they should not attempt to pass the river +immediately. The Persian army consisted chiefly of cavalry. Now +cavalry, though very terrible as an enemy on the field of battle by +day, are peculiarly exposed and defenseless in an encampment by night. +The horses are scattered, feeding or at rest. The arms of the men are +light, and they are not accustomed to fighting on foot; and on a +sudden incursion of an enemy at midnight into their camp, their horses +and their horsemanship are alike useless, and they fall an easy prey +to resolute invaders. Parmenio thought, therefore, that the Persians +would not dare to remain and encamp many days in the vicinity of +Alexander's army, and that, accordingly, if they waited a little, the +enemy would retreat, and Alexander could then cross the river without +incurring the danger of a battle. + +But Alexander was unwilling to adopt any such policy. He felt +confident that his army was courageous and strong enough to march on, +directly through the river, ascend the bank upon the other side, and +force their way through all the opposition which the Persians could +make. He knew, too, that if this were done it would create a strong +sensation throughout the whole country, impressing every one with a +sense of the energy and power of the army which he was conducting, and +would thus tend to intimidate the enemy, and facilitate all future +operations. But this was not all; he had a more powerful motive still +for wishing to march right on, across the river, and force his way +through the vast bodies of cavalry on the opposite shore, and this was +the pleasure of performing the exploit. + +Accordingly, as the army advanced to the banks, they maneuvered to +form in order of battle, and prepared to continue their march as if +there were no obstacle to oppose them. The general order of battle of +the Macedonian army was this. There was a certain body of troops, +armed and organized in a peculiar manner, called the Phalanx. This +body was placed in the center. The men composing it were very heavily +armed. They had shields upon the left arm, and they carried spears +sixteen feet long, and pointed with iron, which they held firmly in +their two hands, with the points projecting far before them. The men +were arranged in lines, one behind the other, and all facing the +enemy--sixteen lines, and a thousand in each line, or, as it is +expressed in military phrase, a thousand in rank and sixteen in file, +so that the phalanx contained sixteen thousand men. + +The spears were so long that when the men stood in close order, the +rear ranks being brought up near to those before them, the points of +the spears of eight or ten of the ranks projected in front, forming a +bristling wall of points of steel, each one of which was held in its +place by the strong arms of an athletic and well-trained soldier. This +wall no force which could in those days be brought against it could +penetrate. Men, horses, elephants, every thing that attempted to rush +upon it, rushed only to their own destruction. Every spear, feeling +the impulse of the vigorous arms which held it, seemed to be alive, +and darted into its enemy, when an enemy was at hand, as if it felt +itself the fierce hostility which directed it. If the enemy remained +at a distance, and threw javelins or darts at the phalanx, they fell +harmless, stopped by the shields which the soldiers wore upon the left +arm, and which were held in such a manner as to form a system of +scales, which covered and protected the whole mass, and made the men +almost invulnerable. The phalanx was thus, when only defending itself +and in a state of rest, an army and a fortification all in one, and it +was almost impregnable. But when it took an aggressive form, put +itself in motion, and advanced to an attack, it was infinitely more +formidable. It became then a terrible monster, covered with scales of +brass, from beneath which there projected forward ten thousand living, +darting points of iron. It advanced deliberately and calmly, but with +a prodigious momentum and force. There was nothing human in its +appearance at all. It was a huge animal, ferocious, dogged, stubborn, +insensible to pain, knowing no fear, and bearing down with resistless +and merciless destruction upon every thing that came in its way. The +phalanx was the center and soul of Alexander's army. Powerful and +impregnable as it was, however, in ancient days, it would be helpless +and defenseless on a modern battle-field. Solid balls of iron, flying +through the air with a velocity which makes them invisible, would tear +their way through the pikes and the shields, and the bodies of the men +who bore them, without even feeling the obstruction. + +The phalanx was subdivided into brigades, regiments, and battalions, +and regularly officered. In marching, it was separated into these its +constituent parts, and sometimes in battle it acted in divisions. It +was stationed in the center of the army on the field, and on the two +sides of it were bodies of cavalry and foot soldiers, more lightly +armed than the soldiers of the phalanx, who could accordingly move +with more alertness and speed, and carry their action readily wherever +it might be called for. Those troops on the sides were called the +wings. Alexander himself was accustomed to command one wing and +Parmenio the other, while the phalanx crept along slowly but terribly +between. + +The army, thus arranged and organized, advanced to the river. It was a +broad and shallow stream. The Persians had assembled in vast numbers +on the opposite shore. Some historians say there were one hundred +thousand men, others say two hundred thousand, and others six hundred +thousand. However this may be, there is no doubt their numbers were +vastly superior to those of Alexander's army, which it will be +recollected was less than forty thousand. There was a narrow plain on +the opposite side of the river, next to the shore, and a range of +hills beyond. The Persian cavalry covered the plain, and were ready to +dash upon the Macedonian troops the moment they should emerge from the +water and attempt to ascend the bank. + +The army, led by Alexander, descended into the stream, and moved on +through the water. They encountered the onset of their enemies on the +opposite shore. A terrible and a protracted struggle ensued, but the +coolness, courage, and strength of Alexander's army carried the day. +The Persians were driven back, the Greeks effected their landing, +reorganized and formed on the shore, and the Persians, finding that +all was lost, fled in all directions. + +Alexander himself took a conspicuous and a very active part in the +contest. He was easily recognized on the field of battle by his dress, +and by a white plume which he wore in his helmet. He exposed himself +to the most imminent danger. At one time, when desperately engaged +with a troop of horse, which had galloped down upon him, a Persian +horseman aimed a blow at his head with a sword. Alexander saved his +head from the blow, but it took off his plume and a part of his +helmet. Alexander immediately thrust his antagonist through the body. +At the same moment, another horseman, on another side, had his sword +raised, and would have killed Alexander before he could have turned to +defend himself, had no help intervened; but just at this instant a +third combatant, one of Alexander's friends, seeing the danger, +brought down so terrible a blow upon the shoulder of this second +assailant as to separate his arm from his body. + +Such are the stories that are told. They may have been literally and +fully true, or they may have been exaggerations of circumstances +somewhat resembling them which really occurred, or they may have been +fictitious altogether. Great generals, like other great men, have +often the credit of many exploits which they never perform. It is the +special business of poets and historians to magnify and embellish the +actions of the great, and this art was understood as well in ancient +days as it is now. + +We must remember, too, in reading the accounts of these transactions, +that it is only the Greek side of the story that we hear. The Persian +narratives have not come down to us. At any rate, the Persian army was +defeated, and that, too, without the assistance of the phalanx. The +horsemen and the light troops were alone engaged. The phalanx could +not be formed, nor could it act in such a position. The men, on +emerging from the water, had to climb up the banks, and rush on to the +attack of an enemy consisting of squadrons of horse ready to dash at +once upon them. + +The Persian army was defeated and driven away. Alexander did not +pursue them. He felt that he had struck a very heavy blow. The news of +this defeat of the Persians would go with the speed of the wind all +over Asia Minor, and operate most powerfully in his favor. He sent +home to Greece an account of the victory, and with the account he +forwarded three hundred suits of armor, taken from the Persian +horsemen killed on the field. These suits of armor were to be hung up +in the Parthenon, a great temple at Athens; the most conspicuous +position for them, perhaps, which all Europe could afford. + +The name of the Persian general who commanded at the battle of the +Granicus was Memnon. He had been opposed to the plan of hazarding a +battle. Alexander had come to Asia with no provisions and no money. He +had relied on being able to sustain his army by his victories. Memnon, +therefore, strongly urged that the Persians should retreat slowly, +carrying off all the valuable property, and destroying all that could +not be removed, taking especial care to leave no provisions behind +them. In this way he thought that the army of Alexander would be +reduced by privation and want, and would, in the end, fall an easy +prey. His opinion was, however, overruled by the views of the other +commanders, and the battle of the Granicus was the consequence. + +Alexander encamped to refresh his army and to take care of the +wounded. He went to see the wounded men one by one, inquired into the +circumstances of each case, and listened to each one who was able to +talk, while he gave an account of his adventures in the battle, and +the manner in which he received his wound. To be able thus to tell +their story to their general, and to see him listening to it with +interest and pleasure, filled their hearts with pride and joy; and +the whole army was inspired with the highest spirit of enthusiasm, and +with eager desires to have another opportunity occur in which they +could encounter danger and death in the service of such a leader. It +is in such traits as these that the true greatness of the soul of +Alexander shines. It must be remembered that all this time he was but +little more than twenty-one. He was but just of age. + +From his encampment on the Granicus Alexander turned to the southward, +and moved along on the eastern shores of the Aegean Sea. The country +generally surrendered to him without opposition. In fact, it was +hardly Persian territory at all. The inhabitants were mainly of Greek +extraction, and had been sometimes under Greek and sometimes under +Persian rule. The conquest of the country resulted simply in a change +of the executive officer of each province. Alexander took special +pains to lead the people to feel that they had nothing to fear from +him. He would not allow the soldiers to do any injury. He protected +all private property. He took possession only of the citadels, and of +such governmental property as he found there, and he continued the +same taxes, the same laws, and the same tribunals as had existed +before his invasion. The cities and the provinces accordingly +surrendered to him as he passed along, and in a very short time all +the western part of Asia Minor submitted peacefully to his sway. + +The narrative of this progress, as given by the ancient historians, is +diversified by a great variety of adventures and incidents, which give +great interest to the story, and strikingly illustrate the character +of Alexander and the spirit of the times. In some places there would +be a contest between the Greek and the Persian parties before +Alexander's arrival. At Ephesus the animosity had been so great that a +sort of civil war had broken out. The Greek party had gained the +ascendency, and were threatening a general massacre of the Persian +inhabitants. Alexander promptly interposed to protect them, though +they were his enemies. The intelligence of this act of forbearance and +generosity spread all over the land, and added greatly to the +influence of Alexander's name, and to the estimation in which he was +held. + +It was the custom in those days for the mass of the common soldiers to +be greatly influenced by what they called _omens_, that is, signs and +tokens which they observed in the flight or the actions of birds, and +other similar appearances. In one case, the fleet, which had come +along the sea, accompanying the march of the army on land, was pent up +in a harbor by a stronger Persian fleet outside. One of the vessels of +the Macedonian fleet was aground. An eagle lighted upon the mast, and +stood perched there for a long time, looking toward the sea. Parmenio +said that, as the eagle looked toward the sea, it indicated that +victory lay in that quarter, and he recommended that they should arm +their ships and push boldly out to attack the Persians. But Alexander +maintained that, as the eagle alighted on a ship which was aground, it +indicated that they were to look for their success on the shore. The +omens could thus almost always be interpreted any way, and sagacious +generals only sought in them the means of confirming the courage and +confidence of their soldiers, in respect to the plans which they +adopted under the influence of other considerations altogether. +Alexander knew very well that he was not a sailor, and had no desire +to embark in contests from which, however they might end, he would +himself personally obtain no glory. + +When the winter came on, Alexander and his army were about three or +four hundred miles from home; and, as he did not intend to advance +much farther until the spring should open, he announced to the army +that all those persons, both officers and soldiers who had been +married within the year, might go home if they chose, and spend the +winter with their brides, and return to the army in the spring. No +doubt this was an admirable stroke of policy; for, as the number could +not be large, their absence could not materially weaken his force, and +they would, of course, fill all Greece with tales of Alexander's +energy and courage, and of the nobleness and generosity of his +character. It was the most effectual way possible of disseminating +through Europe the most brilliant accounts of what he had already +done. + +Besides, it must have awakened a new bond of sympathy and +fellow-feeling between himself and his soldiers, and greatly increased +the attachment to him felt both by those who went and those who +remained. And though Alexander must have been aware of all these +advantages of the act, still no one could have thought of or adopted +such a plan unless he was accustomed to consider and regard, in his +dealings with others, the feelings and affections of the heart, and +to cherish a warm sympathy for them. The bridegroom soldiers, full of +exultation and pleasure, set forth on their return to Greece, in a +detachment under the charge of three generals, themselves bridegrooms +too. + +Alexander, however, had no idea of remaining idle during the winter. +He marched on from province to province, and from city to city, +meeting with every variety of adventures. He went first along the +southern coast, until at length he came to a place where a mountain +chain, called Taurus, comes down to the sea-coast, where it terminates +abruptly in cliffs and precipices, leaving only a narrow beach between +them and the water below. This beach was sometimes covered and +sometimes bare. It is true, there is very little tide in the +Mediterranean, but the level of the water along the shores is altered +considerably by the long-continued pressure exerted in one direction +or another by winds and storms. The water was _up_ when Alexander +reached this pass; still he determined to march his army through it. +There was another way, back among the mountains, but Alexander seemed +disposed to gratify the love of adventure which his army felt, by +introducing them to a novel scene of danger. They accordingly defiled +along under these cliffs, marching, as they say, sometimes up to the +waist in water, the swell rolling in upon them all the time from the +offing. + +Having at length succeeded in passing safely round this frowning +buttress of the mountains, Alexander turned northward, and advanced +into the very heart of Asia Minor. In doing this he had to pass _over_ +the range which he had come _round_ before; and, as it was winter, his +army were, for a time, enveloped in snows and storms among the wild +and frightful defiles. They had here, in addition to the dangers and +hardships of the way and of the season, to encounter the hostility of +their foes, as the tribes who inhabited these mountains assembled to +dispute the passage. Alexander was victorious, and reached a valley +through which there flows a river which has handed down its name to +the English language and literature. This river was the Meander. Its +beautiful windings through verdant and fertile valleys were so +renowned, that every stream which imitates its example is said to +_meander_ to the present day. + +During all this time Parmenio had remained in the western part of Asia +Minor with a considerable body of the army. As the spring approached, +Alexander sent him orders to go to Gordium, whither he was himself +proceeding, and meet him there. He also directed that the detachment +which had gone home should, on recrossing the Hellespont, on their +return, proceed eastward to Gordium, thus making that city the general +rendezvous for the commencement of his next campaign. + +One reason why Alexander desired to go to Gordium was that he wished +to untie the famous Gordian knot. The story of the Gordian knot was +this. Gordius was a sort of mountain farmer. One day he was plowing, +and an eagle came down and alighted upon his yoke, and remained there +until he had finished his plowing. This was an omen, but what was the +signification of it? Gordius did not know, and he accordingly went to +a neighboring town in order to consult the prophets and soothsayers. +On his way he met a damsel, who, like Rebecca in the days of Abraham, +was going forth to draw water. Gordius fell into conversation with +her, and related to her the occurrence which had interested him so +strongly. The maiden advised him to go back and offer a sacrifice to +Jupiter. Finally, she consented to go back with him and aid him. The +affair ended in her becoming his wife, and they lived together in +peace for many years upon their farm. + +They had a son named Midas. The father and mother were accustomed to +go out sometimes in their cart or wagon, drawn by the oxen, Midas +driving. One day they were going into the town in this way, at a time +when it happened that there was an assembly convened, which was in a +state of great perplexity on account of the civil dissensions and +contests which prevailed in the country. They had just inquired of an +oracle what they should do. The oracle said that "a cart would bring +them a king, who would terminate their eternal broils." Just then +Midas came up, driving the cart in which his father and mother were +seated. The assembly thought at once that this must be the cart meant +by the oracle, and they made Gordius king by acclamation. They took +the cart and the yoke to preserve as sacred relics, consecrating them +to Jupiter; and Gordius tied the yoke to the pole of the cart by a +thong of leather, making a knot so close and complicated that nobody +could untie it again. It was called the Gordian knot. The oracle +afterward said that whoever should untie this knot should become +monarch of all Asia. Thus far, nobody had succeeded. + +Alexander felt a great desire to see this knot and try what he could +do. He went, accordingly, into the temple where the sacred cart had +been deposited, and, after looking at the knot, and satisfying himself +that the task of untying it was hopeless, he cut it to pieces with his +sword. How far the circumstances of this whole story are true, and how +far fictitious, no one can tell; the story itself, however, as thus +related, has come down from generation to generation, in every country +of Europe, for two thousand years, and any extrication of one's self +from a difficulty by violent means has been called cutting the Gordian +knot to the present day. + +[Illustration: THE BATHING IN THE RIVER CYNDUS.] + +At length the whole army was assembled, and the king recommenced +his progress. He went on successfully for some weeks, moving in a +southeasterly direction, and bringing the whole country under his +dominion, until, at length, when he reached Tarsus, an event occurred +which nearly terminated his career. There were some circumstances +which caused him to press forward with the utmost effort in +approaching Tarsus, and, as the day was warm, he got very much +overcome with heat and fatigue. In this state, he went and plunged +suddenly into the River Cydnus to bathe. + +Now the Cydnus is a small stream, flowing by Tarsus, and it comes down +from Mount Taurus at a short distance back from the city. Such streams +are always very cold. Alexander was immediately seized with a very +violent chill, and was taken out of the water shivering excessively, +and, at length, fainted away. They thought he was dying. They bore him +to his tent, and, as tidings of their leader's danger spread through +the camp, the whole army, officers and soldiers, were thrown into the +greatest consternation and grief. + +A violent and protracted fever came on. In the course of it, an +incident occurred which strikingly illustrates the boldness and +originality of Alexander's character. The name of his physician was +Philip. Philip had been preparing a particular medicine for him, +which, it seems, required some days to make ready. Just before it was +presented, Alexander received a letter from Parmenio, informing him +that he had good reason to believe that Philip had been bribed by the +Persians to murder him, during his sickness, by administering poison +in the name of medicine. He wrote, he said, to put him on his guard +against any medicine which Philip might offer him. + +Alexander put the letter under his pillow, and communicated its +contents to no one. At length, when the medicine was ready, Philip +brought it in. Alexander took the cup containing it with one hand, and +with the other he handed Philip the communication which he had +received from Parmenio, saying, "Read that letter." As soon as Philip +had finished reading it, and was ready to look up, Alexander drank off +the draught in full, and laid down the cup with an air of perfect +confidence that he had nothing to fear. + +Some persons think that Alexander watched the countenance of his +physician while he was reading the letter, and that he was led to take +the medicine by his confidence in his power to determine the guilt or +the innocence of a person thus accused by his looks. Others suppose +that the act was an expression of his implicit faith in the integrity +and fidelity of his servant, and that he intended it as testimony, +given in a very pointed and decisive, and, at the same time, delicate +manner, that he was not suspicious of his friends, or easily led to +distrust their faithfulness. Philip was, at any rate, extremely +gratified at the procedure, and Alexander recovered. + +Alexander had now traversed the whole extent of Asia Minor, and had +subdued the entire country to his sway. He was now advancing to +another district, that of Syria and Palestine, which lies on the +eastern shores of the Mediterranean Sea. To enter this new territory, +he had to pass over a narrow plain which lay between the mountains and +the sea, at a place called Issus. Here he was met by the main body of +the Persian army, and the great battle of Issus was fought. This +battle will be the subject of the next chapter. + + + + +CHAPTER VI. + +DEFEAT OF DARIUS. + +B.C. 333 + +Darius's opinion of Alexander.--He prepares to meet him.--Greek +mercenaries.--Counsel of Charidemus.--Darius's displeasure at +Charidemus.--He condemns him to death.--Magnificence of Darius's +army.--Worship of the sun.--The Kinsmen.--The Immortals.--Appearance +of Darius.--Costly apparel of Darius.--His family.--Darius advances +to meet Alexander.--Map of the plain of Issus.--Mount Taurus.--Route +of Darius.--Situation of Issus.--The armies pass each +other.--Reconnoitering parties.--A camp at night.--The night +before the battle.--Sublime and solemn scenes.--Defeat of the +Persians.--Flight of Darius.--The mother and wife of Darius +taken captive.--Their grief.--Alexander's kindness to the +captives.--Hephaestion.--Alexander's interview with the queens.--A +mistake.--Boldness of Alexander's policy.--Number of Persians +slain.--Capture of immense treasure.--Negotiations.--Alexander's +message to Darius.--Grecian captives.--The Theban envoys.--Alexander's +victorious progress. + + +Thus far Alexander had had only the lieutenants and generals of the +Persian monarch to contend with. Darius had at first looked upon the +invasion of his vast dominions by such a mere boy, as he called him, +and by so small an army, with contempt. He sent word to his generals +in Asia Minor to seize the young fool, and send him to Persia bound +hand and foot. By the time, however, that Alexander had possessed +himself of all Asia Minor, Darius began to find that, though young, he +was no fool, and that it was not likely to be very easy to seize him. + +Accordingly, Darius collected an immense army himself, and advanced to +meet the Macedonians in person. Nothing could exceed the pomp and +magnificence of his preparations. There were immense numbers of +troops, and they were of all nations. There were even a great many +Greeks among his forces, many of them enlisted from the Greeks of Asia +Minor. There were some from Greece itself--mercenaries, as they were +called; that is, soldiers who fought for pay, and who were willing to +enter into any service which would pay them best. + +There were even some Greek officers and counselors in the family and +court of Darius. One of them, named Charidemus, offended the king very +much by the free opinion which he expressed of the uselessness of all +his pomp and parade in preparing for an encounter with such an enemy +as Alexander. "Perhaps," said Charidemus, "you may not be pleased with +my speaking to you plainly, but if I do not do it now, it will be too +late hereafter. This great parade and pomp, and this enormous +multitude of men, might be formidable to your Asiatic neighbors; but +such sort of preparation will be of little avail against Alexander and +his Greeks. Your army is resplendent with purple and gold. No one who +had not seen it could conceive of its magnificence; but it will not be +of any avail against the terrible energy of the Greeks. Their minds +are bent on something very different from idle show. They are intent +on securing the substantial excellence of their weapons, and on +acquiring the discipline and the hardihood essential for the most +efficient use of them. They will despise all your parade of purple and +gold. They will not even value it as plunder. They glory in their +ability to dispense with all the luxuries and conveniences of life. +They live upon the coarsest food. At night they sleep upon the bare +ground. By day they are always on the march. They brave hunger, cold, +and every species of exposure with pride and pleasure, having the +greatest contempt for any thing like softness and effeminacy of +character. All this pomp and pageantry, with inefficient weapons, and +inefficient men to wield them, will be of no avail against their +invincible courage and energy; and the best disposition that you can +make of all your gold, and silver, and other treasures, is to send it +away and procure good soldiers with it, if indeed gold and silver will +procure them." + +The Greeks were habituated to energetic speaking as well as acting, +but Charidemus did not sufficiently consider that the Persians were +not accustomed to hear such plain language as this. Darius was very +much displeased. In his anger he condemned him to death. "Very well," +said Charidemus, "I can die. But my avenger is at hand. My advice is +good, and Alexander will soon punish you for not regarding it." + +Very gorgeous descriptions are given of the pomp and magnificence of +the army of Darius, as he commenced his march from the Euphrates to +the Mediterranean. The Persians worship the sun and fire. Over the +king's tent there was an image of the sun in crystal, and supported in +such a manner as to be in the view of the whole army. They had also +silver altars, on which they kept constantly burning what they called +the sacred fire. These altars were borne by persons appointed for the +purpose, who were clothed in magnificent costumes. Then came a long +procession of priests and magi, who were dressed also in very splendid +robes. They performed the services of public worship. Following them +came a chariot consecrated to the sun. It was drawn by white horses, +and was followed by a single white horse of large size and noble form, +which was a sacred animal, being called the horse of the sun. The +equerries, that is, the attendants who had charge of this horse, were +also all dressed in white, and each carried a golden rod in his hand. + +There were bodies of troops distinguished from the rest, and occupying +positions of high honor, but these were selected and advanced above +the others, not on account of their courage, or strength, or superior +martial efficiency, but from considerations connected with their +birth, and rank, and other aristocratic qualities. There was one body +called the Kinsmen, who were the relatives of the king, or, at least, +so considered, though, as there were fifteen thousand of them, it +would seem that the relationship could not have been, in all cases, +very near. They were dressed with great magnificence, and prided +themselves on their rank, their wealth, and the splendor of their +armor. There was also a corps called the Immortals. They were ten +thousand in number. They wore a dress of gold tissue, which glittered +with spangles and precious stones. + +These bodies of men, thus dressed, made an appearance more like that +of a civic procession, on an occasion of ceremony and rejoicing, than +like the march of an army. The appearance of the king in his chariot +was still more like an exhibition of pomp and parade. The carriage was +very large, elaborately carved and gilded, and ornamented with statues +and sculptures. Here the king sat on a very elevated seat, in sight of +all. He was clothed in a vest of purple, striped with silver, and over +his vest he wore a robe glittering with gold and precious stones. +Around his waist was a golden girdle, from which was suspended his +cimeter--a species of sword--the scabbard of which was resplendent +with gems. He wore a tiara upon his head of very costly and elegant +workmanship, and enriched, like the rest of his dress, with brilliant +ornaments. The guards who preceded and followed him had pikes of +silver, mounted and tipped with gold. + +It is very extraordinary that King Darius took his wife and all his +family with him, and a large portion of his treasures, on this +expedition against Alexander. His mother, whose name was Sysigambis, +was in his family, and she and his wife came, each in her own chariot, +immediately after the king. Then there were fifteen carriages filled +with the children and their attendants, and three or four hundred +ladies of the court, all dressed like queens. After the family there +came a train of many hundreds of camels and mules, carrying the royal +treasures. + +It was in this style that Darius set out upon his expedition, and he +advanced by a slow progress toward the westward, until at length he +approached the shores of the Mediterranean Sea. He left his treasures +in the city of Damascus, where they were deposited under the charge +of a sufficient force to protect them, as he supposed. He then +advanced to meet Alexander, going himself from Syria toward Asia Minor +just at the time that Alexander was coming from Asia Minor into Syria. + +[Illustration: PLAIN OF ISSUS.] + +It will be observed by looking upon the map, that the chain of +mountains called Mount Taurus extends down near to the coast, at the +northeastern corner of the Mediterranean. Among these mountains there +are various tracts of open country, through which an army may march to +and fro, between Syria and Asia Minor. Now it happened that Darius, in +going toward the west, took a more inland route than Alexander, who, +on coming eastward, kept nearer to the sea. Alexander did not know +that Darius was so near; and as for Darius, he was confident that +Alexander was retreating before him; for, as the Macedonian army was +so small, and his own forces constituted such an innumerable host, the +idea that Alexander would remain to brave a battle was, in his +opinion, entirely out of the question. He had, therefore, no doubt +that Alexander was retreating. It is, of course, always difficult for +two armies, fifty miles apart, to obtain correct ideas of each other's +movements. All the ordinary intercommunications of the country are of +course stopped, and each general has his scouts out, with orders to +intercept all travelers, and to interrupt the communication of +intelligence by every means in their power. + +In consequence of these and other circumstances of a similar nature, +it happened that Alexander and Darius actually passed each other, +without either of them being aware of it. Alexander advanced into +Syria by the plains of Issus, marked _a_ upon the map, and a narrow +pass beyond, called the Gates of Syria, while Darius went farther to +the north, and arrived at Issus after Alexander had left it. Here each +army learned to their astonishment that their enemy was in their rear. +Alexander could not credit this report when he first heard it. He +dispatched a galley with thirty oars along the shore, up the Gulf of +Issus, to ascertain the truth. The galley soon came back and reported +that, beyond the Gates of Syria, they saw the whole country, which was +nearly level land, though gently rising from the sea, covered with the +vast encampments of the Persian army. + +The king then called his generals and counselors together, informed +them of the facts, and made known to them his determination to return +immediately through the Gates of Syria and attack the Persian army. +The officers received the intelligence with enthusiastic expressions +of joy. + +It was now near the evening. Alexander sent forward a strong +reconnoitering party, ordering them to proceed cautiously, to ascend +eminences and look far before them, to guard carefully against +surprise, and to send back word immediately if they came upon any +traces of the enemy. At the present day the operations of such a +reconnoitering party are very much aided by the use of spy-glasses, +which are made now with great care expressly for military purposes. +The instrument, however, was not known in Alexander's day. + +When the evening came on, Alexander followed the reconnoitering party +with the main body of the army. At midnight they reached the defile. +When they were secure in the possession of it, they halted. Strong +watches were stationed on all the surrounding heights to guard against +any possible surprise. Alexander himself ascended one of the +eminences, from whence he could look down upon the great plain beyond, +which was dimly illuminated in every part by the smouldering fires of +the Persian encampment. An encampment at night is a spectacle which is +always grand, and often sublime. It must have appeared sublime to +Alexander in the highest degree, on this occasion. To stand stealthily +among these dark and somber mountains, with the defiles and passes +below filled with the columns of his small but undaunted army, and to +look onward, a few miles beyond, and see the countless fires of the +vast hosts which had got between him and all hope of retreat to his +native land; to feel, as he must have done, that his fate, and that of +all who were with him, depended upon the events of the day that was +soon to dawn--to see and feel these things must have made this night +one of the most exciting and solemn scenes in the conqueror's life. He +had a soul to enjoy its excitement and sublimity. He gloried in it; +and, as if he wished to add to the solemnity of the scene, he caused +an altar to be erected, and offered a sacrifice, by torch-light, to +the deities on whose aid his soldiers imagined themselves most +dependent for success on the morrow. Of course a place was selected +where the lights of the torches would not attract the attention of the +enemy, and sentinels were stationed at every advantageous point to +watch the Persian camp for the slightest indications of movement or +alarm. + +In the morning, at break of day, Alexander commenced his march down to +the plain. In the evening, at sunset, all the valleys and defiles +among the mountains around the plain of Issus were thronged with vast +masses of the Persian army, broken, disordered, and in confusion, all +pressing forward to escape from the victorious Macedonians. They +crowded all the roads, they choked up the mountain passes, they +trampled upon one another, they fell, exhausted with fatigue and +mental agitation. Darius was among them, though his flight had been so +sudden that he had left his mother, and his wife, and all his family +behind. He pressed on in his chariot as far as the road allowed his +chariot to go, and then, leaving every thing behind, he mounted a +horse and rode on for his life. + +Alexander and his army soon abandoned the pursuit, and returned to +take possession of the Persian camp. The tents of King Darius and his +household were inconceivably splendid, and were filled with gold and +silver vessels, caskets, vases, boxes of perfumes, and every +imaginable article of luxury and show. The mother and wife of Darius +bewailed their hard fate with cries and tears, and continued all the +evening in an agony of consternation and despair. + +Alexander, hearing of this, sent Leonnatus, his former teacher, a man +of years and gravity, to quiet their fears and comfort them, so far as +it was possible to comfort them. In addition to their own captivity, +they supposed that Darius was killed, and the mother was mourning +bitterly for her son, and the wife for her husband. Leonnatus, +attended by some soldiers, advanced toward the tent where these +mourners were dwelling. The attendants at the door ran in and informed +them that a body of Greeks were coming. This threw them into the +greatest consternation. They anticipated violence and death, and threw +themselves upon the ground in agony. Leonnatus waited some time at the +door for the attendants to return. At length he entered the tent. This +renewed the terrors of the women. They began to entreat him to spare +their lives, at least until there should be time for them to see the +remains of the son and husband whom they mourned, and to pay the last +sad tribute to his memory. + +Leonnatus soon relieved their fears. He told them that he was charged +by Alexander to say to them that Darius was alive, having made his +escape in safety. As to themselves, Alexander assured them, he said, +that they should not be injured; that not only were their persons and +lives to be protected, but no change was to be made in their condition +or mode of life; they should continue to be treated like queens. He +added, moreover, that Alexander wished him to say that he felt no +animosity or ill will whatever against Darius. He was but technically +his enemy, being only engaged in a generous and honorable contest with +him for the empire of Asia. Saying these things, Leonnatus raised the +disconsolate ladies from the ground, and they gradually regained some +degree of composure. + +Alexander himself went to pay a visit to the captive princesses the +next day. He took with him Hephaestion. Hephaestion was Alexander's +personal friend. The two young men were of the same age, and, though +Alexander had the good sense to retain in power all the old and +experienced officers which his father had employed, both in the court +and army, he showed that, after all, ambition had not overwhelmed and +stifled all the kindlier feelings of the heart, by his strong +attachment to this young companion. Hephaestion was his confidant, his +associate, his personal friend. He did what very few monarchs have +done, either before or since; in securing for himself the pleasures of +friendship, and of intimate social communion with a heart kindred to +his own, without ruining himself by committing to a favorite powers +which he was not qualified to wield. Alexander left the wise and +experienced Parmenio to manage the camp, while he took the young and +handsome Hephaestion to accompany him on his visit to the captive +queens. + +When the two friends entered the tent, the ladies were, from some +cause, deceived, and mistook Hephaestion for Alexander, and addressed +him, accordingly, with tokens of high respect and homage. One of their +attendants immediately rectified the mistake, telling them that the +other was Alexander. The ladies were at first overwhelmed with +confusion, and attempted to apologize; but the king reassured them at +once by the easy and good-natured manner with which he passed over the +mistake, saying it was no mistake at all. "It is true," said he, "that +I am Alexander, but then he is Alexander too." + +The wife of Darius was young and very beautiful, and they had a little +son who was with them in the camp. It seems almost unaccountable that +Darius should have brought such a helpless and defenseless charge with +him into camps and fields of battle. But the truth was that he had no +idea of even a battle with Alexander, and as to defeat, he did not +contemplate the remotest possibility of it. He regarded Alexander as a +mere boy--energetic and daring it is true, and at the head of a +desperate band of adventurers; but he considered his whole force as +altogether too insignificant to make any stand against such a vast +military power as he was bringing against him. He presumed that he +would retreat as fast as possible before the Persian army came near +him. The idea of such a boy coming down at break of day, from narrow +defiles of the mountains, upon his vast encampment covering all the +plains, and in twelve hours putting the whole mighty mass to flight, +was what never entered his imagination at all. The exploit was, +indeed, a very extraordinary one. Alexander's forces may have +consisted of forty or fifty thousand men, and, if we may believe their +story, there were over a hundred thousand Persians left dead upon the +field. Many of these were, however, killed by the dreadful confusion +and violence of the retreat as vast bodies of horsemen, pressing +through the defiles, rode over and trampled down the foot soldiers who +were toiling in awful confusion along the way, having fled before the +horsemen left the field. + +Alexander had heard that Darius had left the greater part of his royal +treasures in Damascus, and he sent Parmenio there to seize them. This +expedition was successful. An enormous amount of gold and silver fell +into Alexander's hands. The plate was coined into money, and many of +the treasures were sent to Greece. + +Darius got together a small remnant of his army and continued his +flight. He did not stop until he had crossed the Euphrates. He then +sent an embassador to Alexander to make propositions for peace. He +remonstrated with him, in the communication which he made, for coming +thus to invade his dominions, and urged him to withdraw and be +satisfied with his own kingdom. He offered him any sum he might name +as a ransom for his mother, wife, and child, and agreed that if he +would deliver them up to him on the payment of the ransom, and depart +from his dominions, he would thenceforth regard him as an ally and a +friend. + +Alexander replied by a letter, expressed in brief but very decided +language. He said that the Persians had, under the ancestors of +Darius, crossed the Hellespont, invaded Greece, laid waste the +country, and destroyed cities and towns, and had thus done them +incalculable injury; and that Darius himself had been plotting against +his (Alexander's) life, and offering rewards to any one who would kill +him. "I am acting, then," continued Alexander, "only on the +defensive. The gods, who always favor the right, have given me the +victory. I am now monarch of a large part of Asia, and your sovereign +king. If you will admit this, and come to me as my subject, I will +restore to you your mother, your wife, and your child, without any +ransom. And, at any rate, whatever you decide in respect to these +proposals, if you wish to communicate with me on any subject +hereafter, I shall pay no attention to what you send unless you +address it to me as your king." + +One circumstance occurred at the close of this great victory which +illustrates the magnanimity of Alexander's character, and helps to +explain the very strong personal attachment which every body within +the circle of his influence so obviously felt for him. He found a +great number of envoys and embassadors from the various states of +Greece at the Persian court, and these persons fell into his hands +among the other captives. Now the states and cities of Greece, all +except Sparta and Thebes, which last city he had destroyed, were +combined ostensibly in the confederation by which Alexander was +sustained. It seems, however, that there was a secret enmity against +him in Greece, and various parties had sent messengers and agents to +the Persian court to aid in plots and schemes to interfere with and +defeat Alexander's plans. The Thebans, scattered and disorganized as +they were, had sent envoys in this way. Now Alexander, in considering +what disposition he should make of these emissaries from his own land, +decided to regard them all as traitors except the Thebans. All except +the Thebans were _traitors_, he maintained, for acting secretly +against him, while ostensibly, and by solemn covenants, they were his +friends. "The case of the Thebans is very different," said he. "I have +destroyed their city, and they have a right to consider me their +enemy, and to do all they can to oppose my progress, and to regain +their own lost existence and their former power." So he gave them +their liberty and sent them away with marks of consideration and +honor. + +As the vast army of the Persian monarch had now been defeated, of +course none of the smaller kingdoms or provinces thought of resisting. +They yielded one after another, and Alexander appointed governors of +his own to rule over them. He advanced in this manner along the +eastern shores of the Mediterranean Sea, meeting with no obstruction +until he reached the great and powerful city of Tyre. + + + + +CHAPTER VII. + +THE SIEGE OF TYRE. + +B.C. 333 + +The city of Tyre.--Its situation and extent.--Pursuits of the +Tyrians.--Their great wealth and resources.--The walls of +Tyre.--Influence and power of Tyre.--Alexander hesitates in regard +to Tyre.--Presents from the Tyrians.--Alexander refused admittance +into Tyre.--He resolves to attack it.--Alexander's plan.--Its +difficulties and dangers.--Enthusiasm of the army.--Construction +of the pier.--Progress of the work.--Counter operations of the +Tyrians.--Structures erected on the pier.--The Tyrians fit up a fire +ship.--The ship fired and set adrift.--The conflagration.--Effects +of the storm.--The work began anew.--Alexander collects a +fleet.--Warlike engines.--Double galleys.--The women removed from +Tyre.--The siege advances.--Undaunted courage of the Tyrians.--A +breach made.--The assault.--Storming the city.--Barbarous cruelties +of Alexander.--Changes in Alexander's character.--His harsh message +to Darius.--Alexander's reply to Parmenio.--The hero rises, but the +man sinks.--Lysimachus.--Alexander's adventure in the mountains.--What +credits to be given to the adventure. + + +The city of Tyre stood on a small island, three or four miles in +diameter,[B] on the eastern shores of the Mediterranean Sea. It was, +in those days, the greatest commercial city in the world, and it +exercised a great maritime power by means of its fleets and ships, +which traversed every part of the Mediterranean. + +[Footnote B: There are different statements in respect to the size of +this island, varying from three to nine miles in circumference.] + +Tyre had been built originally on the main-land; but in some of the +wars which it had to encounter with the kings of Babylon in the East, +this old city had been abandoned by the inhabitants, and a new one +built upon an island not far from the shore, which could be more +easily defended from an enemy. The old city had gone to ruin, and its +place was occupied by old walls, fallen towers, stones, columns, +arches, and other remains of the ancient magnificence of the place. + +The island on which the Tyre of Alexander's day had been built was +about half a mile from the shore. The water between was about eighteen +feet deep, and formed a harbor for the vessels. The great business of +the Tyrians was commerce. They bought and sold merchandise in all the +ports of the Mediterranean Sea, and transported it by their merchant +vessels to and fro. They had also fleets of war galleys, which they +used to protect their interests on the high seas, and in the various +ports which their merchant vessels visited. They were thus wealthy and +powerful, and yet they lived shut up upon their little island, and +were almost entirely independent of the main-land. + +The city itself, however, though contracted in extent on account of +the small dimensions of the island, was very compactly built and +strongly fortified, and it contained a vast number of stately and +magnificent edifices, which were filled with stores of wealth that had +been accumulated by the mercantile enterprise and thrift of many +generations. Extravagant stories are told by the historians and +geographers of those days, in respect to the scale on which the +structures of Tyre were built. It was said, for instance, that the +walls were one hundred and fifty feet high. It is true that the walls +rose directly from the surface of the water, and of course a +considerable part of their elevation was required to bring them up to +the level of the surface of the land; and then, in addition to this, +they had to be carried up the whole ordinary height of a city wall to +afford the usual protection to the edifices and dwellings within. +There might have been some places where the walls themselves, or +structures connected with them, were carried up to the elevation above +named, though it is scarcely to be supposed that such could have been +their ordinary dimensions. + +At any rate, Tyre was a very wealthy, magnificent, and powerful city, +intent on its commercial operations, and well furnished with means of +protecting them at sea, but feeling little interest, and taking little +part, in the contentions continually arising among the rival powers +which had possession of the land. Their policy was to retain their +independence, and yet to keep on good terms with all other powers, so +that their commercial intercourse with the ports of all nations might +go on undisturbed. + +It was, of course, a very serious question with Alexander, as his +route lay now through Phoenicia and in the neighborhood of Tyre, +what he should do in respect to such a port. He did not like to leave +it behind him and proceed to the eastward; for, in case of any +reverses happening to him, the Tyrians would be very likely to act +decidedly against him, and their power on the Mediterranean would +enable them to act very efficiently against him on all the coasts of +Greece and Asia Minor. On the other hand, it seemed a desperate +undertaking to attack the city. He had none but land forces, and the +island was half a mile from the shore. Besides its enormous walls, +rising perpendicularly out of the water, it was defended by ships well +armed and manned. It was not possible to surround the city and starve +it into submission, as the inhabitants had wealth to buy, and ships to +bring in, any quantity of provisions and stores by sea. Alexander, +however, determined not to follow Darius toward the east, and leave +such a stronghold as this behind him. + +The Tyrians wished to avoid a quarrel if it were possible. They sent +complimentary messages to Alexander, congratulating him on his +conquests, and disavowing all feelings of hostility to him. They also +sent him a golden crown, as many of the other states of Asia had done, +in token of their yielding a general submission to his authority. +Alexander returned very gracious replies, and expressed to them his +intention of coming to Tyre for the purpose of offering sacrifices, as +he said, to Hercules, a god whom the Tyrians worshiped. + +The Tyrians knew that wherever Alexander went he went at the head of +his army, and his coming into Tyre at all implied necessarily his +taking military possession of it. They thought it might, perhaps, be +somewhat difficult to dispossess such a visitor after he should once +get installed in their castles and palaces. So they sent him word that +it would not be in their power to receive him in the city itself, but +that he could offer the sacrifice which he intended on the main-land, +as there was a temple sacred to Hercules among the ruins there. + +Alexander then called a council of his officers, and stated to them +his views. He said that, on reflecting fully upon the subject, he had +come to the conclusion that it was best to postpone pushing his +expedition forward into the heart of Persia until he should have +subdued Tyre completely, and made himself master of the Mediterranean +Sea. He said, also, that he should take possession of Egypt before +turning his arms toward the forces that Darius was gathering against +him in the East. The generals of the army concurred in this opinion, +and Alexander advanced toward Tyre. The Tyrians prepared for their +defense. + +After examining carefully all the circumstances of the case, Alexander +conceived the very bold plan of building a broad causeway from the +main-land to the island on which the city was founded, out of the +ruins of old Tyre, and then marching his army over upon it to the +walls of the city, where he could then plant his engines and make a +breach. This would seem to be a very desperate undertaking. It is true +the stones remaining on the site of the old city afforded sufficient +materials for the construction of the pier, but then the work must go +on against a tremendous opposition, both from the walls of the city +itself and from the Tyrian ships in the harbor. It would seem to be +almost impossible to protect the men from these attacks so as to allow +the operations to proceed at all, and the difficulty and danger must +increase very rapidly as the work should approach the walls of the +city. But, notwithstanding these objections, Alexander determined to +proceed. Tyre must be taken, and this was obviously the only possible +mode of taking it. + +The soldiers advanced to undertake the work with great readiness. +Their strong personal attachment to Alexander; their confidence that +whatever he should plan and attempt would succeed; the novelty and +boldness of this design of reaching an island by building an isthmus +to it from the main-land--these and other similar considerations +excited the ardor and enthusiasm of the troops to the highest degree. + +In constructing works of this kind in the water, the material used is +sometimes stone and sometimes earth. So far as earth is employed, it +is necessary to resort to some means to prevent its spreading under +the water, or being washed away by the dash of the waves at its sides. +This is usually effected by driving what are called _piles_, which are +long beams of wood, pointed at the end, and driven into the earth by +means of powerful engines. Alexander sent parties of men into the +mountains of Lebanon, where were vast forests of cedars, which were +very celebrated in ancient times, and which are often alluded to in +the sacred scriptures. They cut down these trees, and brought the +stems of them to the shore, where they sharpened them at one end and +drove them into the sand, in order to protect the sides of their +embankment. Others brought stones from the ruins and tumbled them +into the sea in the direction where the pier was to be built. It was +some time before the work made such progress as to attract much +attention from Tyre. At length, however, when the people of the city +saw it gradually increasing in size and advancing toward them, they +concluded that they must engage in earnest in the work of arresting +its progress. + +They accordingly constructed engines on the walls to throw heavy darts +and stones over the water to the men upon the pier. They sent secretly +to the tribes that inhabited the valleys and ravines among the +mountains, to attack the parties at work there, and they landed forces +from the city at some distance from the pier, and then marched along +the shore, and attempted to drive away the men that were engaged in +carrying stones from the ruins. They also fitted up and manned some +galleys of large size, and brought them up near to the pier itself, +and attacked the men who were at work upon it with stones, darts, +arrows, and missiles of every description. + +But all was of no avail. The work, though impeded, still went on. +Alexander built large screens of wood upon the pier, covering them +with hides, which protected his soldiers from the weapons of the +enemy, so that they could carry on their operations safely behind +them. By these means the work advanced for some distance further. As +it advanced, various structures were erected upon it, especially along +the sides and at the end toward the city. These structures consisted +of great engines for driving piles, and machines for throwing stones +and darts, and towers carried up to a great height, to enable the men +to throw stones and heavy weapons down upon the galleys which might +attempt to approach them. + +At length the Tyrians determined on attempting to destroy all these +wooden works by means of what is called in modern times a _fire ship_. +They took a large galley, and filled it with combustibles of every +kind. They loaded it first with light dry wood, and they poured pitch, +and tar, and oil over all this wood to make it burn with fiercer +flames. They saturated the sails and the cordage in the same manner, +and laid trains of combustible materials through all parts of the +vessel, so that when fire should be set in one part it would +immediately spread every where, and set the whole mass in flames at +once. They towed this ship, on a windy day, near to the enemy's works, +and on the side from which the wind was blowing. They then put it in +motion toward the pier at a point where there was the greatest +collection of engines and machines, and when they had got as near as +they dared to go themselves, the men who were on board set the trains +on fire, and made their escape in boats. The flames ran all over the +vessel with inconceivable rapidity. The vessel itself drifted down +upon Alexander's works, notwithstanding the most strenuous exertions +of his soldiers to keep it away. The frames and engines, and the +enormous and complicated machines which had been erected, took fire, +and the whole mass was soon enveloped in a general conflagration. + +The men made desperate attempts to defend their works, but all in +vain. Some were killed by arrows and darts, some were burned to death, +and others, in the confusion, fell into the sea. Finally, the army was +obliged to draw back, and to abandon all that was combustible in the +vast construction they had reared, to the devouring flames. + +[Illustration: THE SIEGE OF TYRE.] + +Not long after this the sea itself came to the aid of the Tyrians. +There was a storm; and, as a consequence of it, a heavy swell rolled +in from the offing, which soon undermined and washed away a large +part of the pier. The effects of a heavy sea on the most massive and +substantial structures, when they are fairly exposed to its impulse, +are far greater than would be conceived possible by those who had not +witnessed them. The most ponderous stones are removed, the strongest +fastenings are torn asunder, and embankments the most compact and +solid are undermined and washed away. The storm, in this case, +destroyed in a few hours the work of many months, while the army of +Alexander looked on from the shore witnessing its ravages in dismay. + +When the storm was over, and the first shock of chagrin and +disappointment had passed from the minds of the men, Alexander +prepared to resume the work with fresh vigor and energy. The men +commenced repairing the pier and widening it, so as to increase its +strength and capacity. They dragged whole trees to the edges of it, +and sunk them, branches and all, to the bottom, to form a sort of +platform there, to prevent the stones from sinking into the slime. +They built new towers and engines, covering them with green hides to +make them fire-proof; and thus they were soon advancing again, and +gradually drawing nearer to the city, and in a more threatening and +formidable manner than ever. + +Alexander, finding that his efforts were impeded very much by the +ships of the Tyrians, determined on collecting and equipping a fleet +of his own. This he did at Sidon, which was a town a short distance +north of Tyre. He embarked on board this fleet himself, and came down +with it into the Tyrian seas. With this fleet he had various success. +He chained many of the ships together, two and two, at a little +distance apart, covering the inclosed space with a platform, on which +the soldiers could stand to fight. The men also erected engines on +these platforms to attack the city. These engines were of various +kinds. There was what they called the battering ram, which was a long +and very heavy beam of wood, headed with iron or brass. This beam was +suspended by a chain in the middle, so that it could be swung back and +forth by the soldiers, its head striking against the wall each time, +by which means the wall would sometimes be soon battered down. They +had also machines for throwing great stones, or beams of wood, by +means of the elastic force of strong bars of wood, or of steel, or +that of twisted ropes. The part of the machine upon which the stone +was placed would be drawn back by the united strength of many of the +soldiers, and then, as it recovered itself when released, the stone +would be thrown off into the air with prodigious velocity and force. + +Alexander's double galleys answered very well as long as the water was +smooth; but sometimes, when they were caught out in a swell, the +rolling of the waves would rack and twist them so as to tear the +platforms asunder, and sink the men in the sea. Thus difficulties +unexpected and formidable were continually arising. Alexander, +however, persevered through them all. The Tyrians, finding themselves +pressed more and more, and seeing that the dangers impending became +more and more formidable every day, at length concluded to send a +great number of the women and children away to Carthage, which was a +great commercial city in Africa. They were determined not to submit to +Alexander, but to carry their resistance to the very last extremity. +And as the closing scenes of a siege, especially if the place is at +last taken by storm, are awful beyond description, they wished to save +their wives, and daughters, and helpless babes from having to witness +them. + +In the mean time, as the siege advanced, the parties became more and +more incensed against each other. They treated the captives which they +took on either side with greater and greater cruelty, each thinking +that they were only retaliating worse injuries from the other. The +Macedonians approached nearer and nearer. The resources of the unhappy +city were gradually cut off and its strength worn away. The engines +approached nearer and nearer to the walls, until the battering rams +bore directly upon them, and breaches began to be made. At length one +great breach on the southern side was found to be "practicable," as +they call it. Alexander began to prepare for the final assault, and +the Tyrians saw before them the horrible prospect of being taken by +storm. + +Still they would not submit. Submission would now have done but little +good, though it might have saved some of the final horrors of the +scene. Alexander had become greatly exasperated by the long resistance +which the Tyrians had made. They probably could not now have averted +destruction, but they might, perhaps, have prevented its coming upon +them in so terrible a shape as the irruption of thirty thousand +frantic and infuriated soldiers through the breaches in their walls +to take their city by storm. + +The breach by which Alexander proposed to force his entrance was on +the southern side. He prepared a number of ships, with platforms +raised upon them in such a manner that, on getting near the walls, +they could be let down, and form a sort of bridge, over which the men +could pass to the broken fragments of the wall, and thence ascend +through the breach above. + +The plan succeeded. The ships advanced to the proposed place of +landing. The bridges were let down. The men crowded over them to the +foot of the wall. They clambered up through the breach to the +battlements above, although the Tyrians thronged the passage and made +the most desperate resistance. Hundreds were killed by darts, and +arrows, and falling stones, and their bodies tumbled into the sea. The +others, paying no attention to their falling comrades, and drowning +the horrid screams of the crushed and the dying with their own frantic +shouts of rage and fury, pressed on up the broken wall till they +reached the battlements above. The vast throng then rolled along upon +the top of the wall till they came to stairways and slopes by which +they could descend into the city, and, pouring down through all these +avenues, they spread over the streets, and satiated the hatred and +rage, which had been gathering strength for seven long months, in +bursting into houses, and killing and destroying all that came in +their way. Thus the city was stormed. + +After the soldiers were weary with the work of slaughtering the +wretched inhabitants of the city, they found that many still remained +alive, and Alexander tarnished the character for generosity and +forbearance for which he had thus far been distinguished by the +cruelty with which he treated them. Some were executed, some thrown +into the sea; and it is even said that two thousand were _crucified_ +along the sea-shore. This may mean that their bodies were placed upon +crosses after life had been destroyed by some more humane method than +crucifixion. At any rate, we find frequent indications from this time +that prosperity and power were beginning to exert their usual +unfavorable influence upon Alexander's character. He became haughty, +imperious, and cruel. He lost the modesty and gentleness which seemed +to characterize him in the earlier part of his life, and began to +assume the moral character, as well as perform the exploits, of a +military hero. + +A good illustration of this is afforded by the answer that he sent to +Darius, about the time of the storming of Tyre, in reply to a second +communication which he had received from him proposing terms of peace. +Darius offered him a very large sum of money for the ransom of his +mother, wife, and child, and agreed to give up to him all the country +he had conquered, including the whole territory west of the Euphrates. +He also offered him his daughter Statira in marriage. He recommended +to him to accept these terms, and be content with the possessions he +had already acquired; that he could not expect to succeed, if he +should try, in crossing the mighty rivers of the East, which were in +the way of his march toward the Persian dominions. + +Alexander replied, that if he wished to marry his daughter he could do +it without his consent; as to the ransom, he was not in want of money; +in respect to Darius's offering to give him up all west of the +Euphrates, it was absurd for a man to speak of giving what was no +longer his own; that he had crossed too many seas in his military +expeditions, since he left Macedon, to feel any concern about the +_rivers_ that he might find in his way; and that he should continue +to pursue Darius wherever he might retreat in search of safety and +protection, and he had no fear but that he should find and conquer him +at last. + +It was a harsh and cruel message to send to the unhappy monarch whom +he had already so greatly injured. Parmenio advised him to accept +Darius's offers. "I would," said he, "if I were Alexander." "Yes," +said Alexander, "and so would I if I were Parmenio." What a reply from +a youth of twenty-two to a venerable general of sixty, who had been so +tried and faithful a friend, and so efficient a coadjutor both to his +father and to himself, for so many years. + +The siege and storming of Tyre has always been considered one of the +greatest of Alexander's exploits. The boldness, the perseverance, the +indomitable energy which he himself and all his army manifested, +during the seven months of their Herculean toil, attracted the +admiration of the world. And yet we find our feelings of sympathy for +his character, and interest in his fate, somewhat alienated by the +indications of pride, imperiousness, and cruelty which begin to +appear. While he rises in our estimation as a military hero, he begins +to sink somewhat as a man. + +And yet the change was not sudden. He bore during the siege his part +in the privations and difficulties which the soldiers had to endure; +and the dangers to which they had to be exposed, he was always willing +to share. One night he was out with a party upon the mountains. Among +his few immediate attendants was Lysimachus, one of his former +teachers, who always loved to accompany him at such times. Lysimachus +was advanced in life, and somewhat infirm, and consequently could not +keep up with the rest in the march. Alexander remained with +Lysimachus, and ordered the rest to go on. The road at length became +so rugged that they had to dismount from their horses and walk. +Finally they lost their way, and found themselves obliged to stop for +the night. They had no fire. They saw, however, at a distance, some +camp fires blazing which belonged to the barbarian tribes against whom +the expedition was directed. Alexander went to the nearest one. There +were two men lying by it, who had been stationed to take care of it. +He advanced stealthily to them and killed them both, probably while +they were asleep. He then took a brand from their fire, carried it +back to his own encampment, where he made a blazing fire for himself +and Lysimachus, and they passed the night in comfort and safety. This +is the story. How far we are to give credit to it, each reader must +judge for himself. One thing is certain, however, that there are many +military heroes of whom such stories would not be even fabricated. + + + + +CHAPTER VIII. + +ALEXANDER IN EGYPT. + +B.C. 332 + +Alexander in Judea.--Josephus, and the character of his +writings.--Alexander's visit to Jerusalem.--Josephus's account of +it.--The high priest Jaddus.--His dreams.--The procession of +priests.--Alexander's account of his dream.--Alexander joins in the +Jewish ceremonies.--Prophecies of Daniel.--Doubts about Alexander's +visit.--Siege.--Alexander receives a wound.--Gaza taken by +storm.--Alexander's brutality to the brave Betis.--Rich +treasures.--Story of Alexander's youth.--Pelusium.--Memphis.--Fertility +of Egypt.--Deserts of Egypt.--Cause of their sterility.--The Great +Oasis.--Oasis of Siwah.--Temple of Jupiter Ammon.--Alexander aspires +to divine honors.--Alexander crosses the desert.--Its sublimity.--The +camel.--Scarcity of water.--Sand storms in the desert.--Arrival at the +Oasis.--Magnificent ceremonies.--Return to Memphis.--Alexander jokes +about his divinity.--Founding of Alexandria.--Island of Pharos.--The +light-house.--Alexandria the only remaining monument of Alexander's +greatness. + + +After completing the subjugation of Tyre, Alexander commenced his +march for Egypt. His route led him through Judea. The time was about +three hundred years before the birth of Christ, and, of course, this +passage of the great conqueror through the land of Israel took place +between the historical periods of the Old Testament and of the New, so +that no account of it is given in the sacred volume. + +There was a Jewish writer named Josephus, who lived and wrote a few +years after Christ, and, of course, more than three hundred years +after Alexander. He wrote a history of the Jews, which is a very +entertaining book to read; but he liked so much to magnify the +importance of the events in the history of his country, and to +embellish them with marvelous and supernatural incidents, that his +narratives have not always been received with implicit faith. Josephus +says that, as Alexander passed through Palestine, he went to pay a +visit to Jerusalem. The circumstances of this visit, according to his +account, were these. + +The city of Tyre, before Alexander besieged it, as it lived entirely +by commerce, and was surrounded by the sea, had to depend on the +neighboring countries for a supply of food. The people were +accordingly accustomed to purchase grain in Phoenicia, in Judea, and +in Egypt, and transport it by their ships to the island. Alexander, in +the same manner, when besieging the city, found that he must depend +upon the neighboring countries for supplies of food; and he +accordingly sent requisitions for such supplies to several places, +and, among others, to Judea. The Jews, as Josephus says, refused to +send any such supplies, saying that it would be inconsistent with +fidelity to Darius, under whose government they were. + +Alexander took no notice of this reply at the time, being occupied +with the siege of Tyre; but, as soon as that city was taken, and he +was ready to pass through Judea, he directed his march toward +Jerusalem with the intention of destroying the city. + +Now the chief magistrate at Jerusalem at this time, the one who had +the command of the city, ruling it, of course, under a general +responsibility to the Persian government, was the high priest. His +name was Jaddus. In the time of Christ, about three hundred years +after this, the name of the high-priest, as the reader will recollect, +was Caiaphas. Jaddus and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem were very +much alarmed. They knew not what to do. The siege and capture of Tyre +had impressed them all with a strong sense of Alexander's terrible +energy and martial power, and they began to anticipate certain +destruction. + +Jaddus caused great sacrifices to be offered to Almighty God, and +public and solemn prayers were made, to implore his guidance and +protection. The next day after these services, he told the people that +they had nothing to fear. God had appeared to him in a dream, and +directed him what to do. "We are not to resist the conqueror," said +he, "but to go forth to meet him and welcome him. We are to strew the +city with flowers, and adorn it as for a festive celebration. The +priests are to be dressed in their pontifical robes and go forth, and +the inhabitants are to follow them in a civic procession. In this way +we are to go out to meet Alexander as he advances--and all will be +well." + +These directions were followed. Alexander was coming on with a full +determination to destroy the city. When, however, he saw the +procession, and came near enough to distinguish the appearance and +dress of the high priest, he stopped, seemed surprised and pleased, +and advanced toward him with an air of the profoundest deference and +respect. He seemed to pay him almost religious homage and adoration. +Every one was astonished. Parmenio asked him for an explanation. +Alexander made the following extraordinary statement: + +"When I was in Macedon, before setting out on this expedition, while I +was revolving the subject in my mind, musing day after day on the +means of conquering Asia, one night I had a remarkable dream. In my +dream this very priest appeared before me, dressed just as he is now. +He exhorted me to banish every fear, to cross the Hellespont boldly, +and to push forward into the heart of Asia. He said that God would +march at the head of my army, and give me the victory over all the +Persians. I recognize this priest as the same person that appeared to +me then. He has the same countenance, the same dress, the same +stature, the same air. It is through his encouragement and aid that I +am here, and I am ready to worship and adore the God whose service he +administers." + +Alexander joined the high priest in the procession, and they returned +to Jerusalem together. There Alexander united with them and with the +Jews of the city in the celebration of religious rites, by offering +sacrifices and oblations in the Jewish manner. The writings which are +now printed together in our Bibles, as the Old Testament, were, in +those days, written separately on parchment rolls, and kept in the +temple. The priests produced from the rolls the one containing the +prophecies of Daniel, and they read and interpreted some of these +prophecies to Alexander, which they considered to have reference to +him, though written many hundred years before. Alexander was, as +Josephus relates, very much pleased at the sight of these ancient +predictions, and the interpretation put upon them by the priests. He +assured the Jews that they should be protected in the exercise of all +their rights, and especially in their religious worship, and he also +promised them that he would take their brethren who resided in Media +and Babylon under his special charge when he should come into +possession of those places. These Jews of Media and Babylon were the +descendants of captives which had been carried away from their native +land in former wars. + +Such is the story which Josephus relates. The Greek historians, on the +other hand, make no mention of this visit to Jerusalem; and some +persons think that it was never made, but that the story arose and was +propagated from generation to generation among the Jews, through the +influence of their desire to magnify the importance and influence of +their worship, and that Josephus incorporated the account into his +history without sufficiently verifying the facts. + +However it may be in regard to Jerusalem, Alexander was delayed at +Gaza, which, as may be seen upon the map, is on the shore of the +Mediterranean Sea. It was a place of considerable commerce and wealth, +and was, at this time, under the command of a governor whom Darius had +stationed there. His name was Betis. Betis refused to surrender the +place. Alexander stopped to besiege it, and the siege delayed him two +months. He was very much exasperated at this, both against Betis and +against the city. + +His unreasonable anger was very much increased by a wound which he +received. He was near a mound which his soldiers had been constructing +near the city, to place engines upon for an attack upon the walls, +when an arrow shot from one of the engines upon the walls struck him +in the breast. It penetrated his armor, and wounded him deeply in the +shoulder. The wound was very painful for some time, and the suffering +which he endured from it only added fuel to the flame of his anger +against the city. + +At last breaches were made in the walls, and the place was taken by +storm. Alexander treated the wretched captives with extreme cruelty. +He cut the garrison to pieces, and sold the inhabitants to slavery. As +for Betis, he dealt with him in a manner almost too horrible to be +described. The reader will recollect that Achilles, at the siege of +Troy, after killing Hector, dragged his dead body around the walls of +the city. Alexander, growing more cruel as he became more accustomed +to war and bloodshed, had been intending to imitate this example so +soon as he could find an enemy worthy of such a fate. He now +determined to carry his plan into execution with Betis. He ordered him +into his presence. A few years before, he would have rewarded him for +his fidelity in his master's service; but now, grown selfish, hard +hearted, and revengeful, he looked upon him with a countenance full of +vindictive exultation, and said, + +"You are not going to die the simple death that you desire. You have +got the worst torments that revenge can invent to suffer." + +Betis did not reply, but looked upon Alexander with a calm, and +composed, and unsubdued air, which incensed the conqueror more and +more. + +"Observe his dumb arrogance," said Alexander; "but I will conquer him. +I will show him that I can draw groans from him, if nothing else." + +He then ordered holes to be made through the heels of his unhappy +captive, and, passing a rope through them, had the body fastened to a +chariot, and dragged about the city till no life remained. + +Alexander found many rich treasures in Gaza. He sent a large part of +them to his mother Olympias, whom he had left in Macedon. Alexander's +affection for his mother seems to have been more permanent than almost +any other good trait in his character. He found, in addition to other +stores of valuable merchandise, a large quantity of frankincense and +myrrh. These are gums which were brought from Arabia, and were very +costly. They were used chiefly in making offerings and in burning +incense to the gods. + +When Alexander was a young man in Macedon, before his father's death, +he was one day present at the offering of sacrifices, and one of his +teachers and guardians, named Leonnatus, who was standing by, thought +he was rather profuse in his consumption of frankincense and myrrh. He +was taking it up by handfuls and throwing it upon the fire. Leonnatus +reproved him for this extravagance, and told him that when he became +master of the countries where these costly gums were procured, he +might be as prodigal of them as he pleased, but that in the mean time +it would be proper for him to be more prudent and economical. +Alexander remembered this reproof, and, finding vast stores of these +expensive gums in Gaza, he sent the whole quantity to Leonnatus, +telling him that he sent him this abundant supply that he might not +have occasion to be so reserved and sparing for the future in his +sacrifices to the gods. + +After this conquest and destruction of Gaza, Alexander continued his +march southward to the frontiers of Egypt. He reached these frontiers +at the city of Pelusium. The Egyptians had been under the Persian +dominion, but they abhorred it, and were very ready to submit to +Alexander's sway. They sent embassadors to meet him upon the +frontiers. The governors of the cities, as he advanced into the +country, finding that it would be useless to resist, and warned by the +terrible example of Thebes, Tyre, and Gaza, surrendered to him as fast +as he summoned them. + +He went to Memphis. Memphis was a great and powerful city, situated in +what was called Lower Egypt, on the Nile, just above where the +branches which form the mouths of the Nile separate from the main +stream. All that part of Egypt is flat country, having been formed by +the deposits brought down by the Nile. Such land is called _alluvial_; +it is always level, and, as it consists of successive deposits from +the turbid waters of the river, made in the successive inundations, it +forms always a very rich soil, deep and inexhaustible, and is, of +course, extremely fertile. Egypt has been celebrated for its +unexampled fertility from the earliest times. It waves with fields of +corn and grain, and is adorned with groves of the most luxuriant +growth and richest verdure. + +It is only, however, so far as the land is formed by the deposits of +the Nile, that this scene of verdure and beauty extends. On the east +it is bounded by ranges of barren and rocky hills, and on the west by +vast deserts, consisting of moving sands, from which no animal or +vegetable life can derive the means of existence. The reason of this +sterility seems to be the absence of water. The geological formation +of the land is such that it furnishes few springs of water, and no +streams, and in that climate it seldom or never rains. If there is +water, the most barren sands will clothe themselves with some species +of vegetation, which, in its decay, will form a soil that will nourish +more and more fully each succeeding generation of plants. But in the +absence of water, any surface of earth will soon become a barren sand. +The wind will drive away every thing imponderable, leaving only the +heavy sands, to drift in storms, like fields of snow. + +Among these African deserts, however, there are some fertile spots. +They are occasioned by springs which arise in little dells, and which +saturate the ground with moisture for some distance around them. The +water from these springs flows for some distance, in many cases, in a +little stream, before it is finally lost and absorbed in the sands. +The whole tract under the influence of this irrigation clothes itself +with verdure. Trees grow up to shade it. It forms a spot whose +beauty, absolutely great, is heightened by the contrast which it +presents to the gloomy and desolate desert by which it is surrounded. +Such a green spot in the desert is called an Oasis. They are the +resort and the refuge of the traveler and the pilgrim, who seek +shelter and repose upon them in their weary journeys over the +trackless wilds. + +Nor must it be supposed that these islands of fertility and verdure +are always _small_. Some of them are very extensive, and contain a +considerable population. There is one called the Great Oasis, which +consists of a chain of fertile tracts of about a hundred miles in +length. Another, called the Oasis of Siwah, has, in modern times, a +population of eight thousand souls. This last is situated not far from +the shores of the Mediterranean Sea--at least not very far: perhaps +two or three hundred miles--and it was a very celebrated spot in +Alexander's day. + +The cause of its celebrity was that it was the seat and center of the +worship of a famous deity called Jupiter Ammon. This god was said to +be the son of Jupiter, though there were all sorts of stories about +his origin and early history. He had the form of a ram, and was +worshiped by the people of Egypt, and also by the Carthaginians, and +by the people of Northern Africa generally. His temple was in this +Oasis, and it was surrounded by a considerable population, which was +supported, in a great degree, by the expenditures of the worshipers +who came as pilgrims, or otherwise, to sacrifice at his shrine. + +It is said that Alexander, finding that the various objects of human +ambition which he had been so rapidly attaining by his victories and +conquests for the past few years were insufficient to satisfy him, +began now to aspire for some supernatural honors, and he accordingly +conceived the design of having himself declared to be the son of a +god. The heroes of Homer were sons of the gods. Alexander envied them +the fame and honor which this distinction gave them in the opinion of +mankind. He determined to visit the temple of Jupiter Ammon in the +Oasis of Siwah, and to have the declaration of his divine origin made +by the priests there. + +He proceeded, accordingly, to the mouth of the Nile, where he found a +very eligible place, as he believed, for the foundation of a +commercial city, and he determined to build it on his return. Thence +he marched along the shores of the Mediterranean, toward the west, +until he reached a place called Paraetonium, which will be found upon +the map. He then left the sea-shore and marched south, striking at +once into the desert when he left the sea. He was accompanied by a +small detachment of his army as an escort, and they journeyed eleven +days before they reached the Oasis. + +They had a variety of perilous adventures in crossing the desert. For +the first two days the soldiers were excited and pleased with the +novelty and romantic grandeur of the scene. The desert has, in some +degree, the sublimity of the ocean. There is the same boundless +expanse, the same vast, unbroken curve of the horizon, the same +tracklessness, the same solitude. There is, in addition, a certain +profound and awful stillness and repose, which imparts to it a new +element of impressiveness and grandeur. Its dread and solemn silence +is far more imposing and sublime than the loudest thunders of the +seas. + +The third day the soldiers began to be weary of such a march. They +seemed afraid to penetrate any further into such boundless and +terrible solitudes. They had been obliged to bring water with them in +goat-skins, which were carried by camels. The camel is the only beast +of burden which can be employed upon the deserts. There is a +peculiarity in the anatomical structure of this animal by which he can +take in, at one time, a supply of water for many days. He is formed, +in fact, for the desert. In his native state he lives in the oases and +in the valleys. He eats the herbage which grows among the rocks and +hills that alternate with the great sandy plains in all these +countries. In passing from one of his scanty pasturages to another, he +has long journeys to make across the sands, where, though he can find +food here and there, there is no water. Providence has formed him with +a structure adapted to this exigency, and by means of it he becomes +extremely useful to man. + +The soldiers of Alexander did not take a sufficient supply of water, +and were reduced, at one time, to great distress. They were relieved, +the story says, by a rain, though rain is extremely unusual in the +deserts. Alexander attributed this supply to the miraculous +interposition of Heaven. They catch the rain, in such cases, with +cloths, and afterward wring out the water; though in this instance, as +the historians of that day say, the soldiers did not wait for this +tardy method of supply, but the whole detachment held back their heads +and opened their mouths, to catch the drops of rain as they fell. + +There was another danger to which they were exposed in their march, +more terrible even than the scarcity of water. It was that of being +overwhelmed in the clouds of sand and dust which sometimes swept over +the desert in gales of wind. These were called sand-storms. The fine +sand flew, in such cases, in driving clouds, which filled the eyes and +stopped the breath of the traveler, and finally buried his body under +its drifts when he laid down to die. A large army of fifty thousand +men, under a former Persian king, had been overwhelmed and destroyed +in this way, some years before, in some of the Egyptian deserts. +Alexander's soldiers had heard of this calamity, and they were +threatened sometimes with the same fate. They, however, at length +escaped all the dangers of the desert, and began to approach the green +and fertile land of the Oasis. + +The change from the barren and dismal loneliness of the sandy plains +to the groves and the villages, the beauty and the verdure of the +Oasis, was delightful both to Alexander himself and to all his men. +The priests at the great temple of Jupiter Ammon received them all +with marks of great distinction and honor. The most solemn and +magnificent ceremonies were performed, with offerings, oblations, and +sacrifices. The priests, after conferring in secret with the god in +the temple, came out with the annunciation that Alexander was indeed +his son, and they paid him, accordingly, almost divine honors. He is +supposed to have bribed them to do this by presents and pay. Alexander +returned at length to Memphis, and in all his subsequent orders and +decrees he styled himself Alexander king, son of Jupiter Ammon. + +[Illustration: A FOCUS.] + +But, though Alexander was thus willing to impress his ignorant +soldiers with a mysterious veneration for his fictitious divinity, he +was not deceived himself on the subject; he sometimes even made his +pretensions to the divine character a subject of joke. For instance, +they one day brought him in too little fire in the _focus_. The focus, +or fire-place used in Alexander's day was a small metallic stand, on +which the fire was built. It was placed wherever convenient in the +tent, and the smoke escaped above. They had put upon the focus too +little fuel one day when they brought it in. Alexander asked the +officer to let him have either some wood or some frankincense; they +might consider him, he said, as a god or as a man, whichever they +pleased, but he wished to be treated either like one or the other. + +On his return from the Oasis Alexander carried forward his plan of +building a city at the mouth of the Nile. He drew the plan, it is +said, with his own hands. He superintended the constructions, and +invited artisans and mechanics from all nations to come and reside in +it. They accepted the invitation in great numbers, and the city soon +became large, and wealthy, and powerful. It was intended as a +commercial post, and the wisdom and sagacity which Alexander +manifested in the selection of the site, is shown by the fact that the +city rose immediately to the rank of the great seat of trade and +commerce for all those shores, and has continued to hold that rank now +for twenty centuries. + +There was an island near the coast, opposite the city, called the +island of Pharos. They built a most magnificent light-house upon one +extremity of this island, which was considered, in those days, one of +the wonders of the world. It was said to be five hundred feet high. +This may have been an exaggeration. At any rate, it was celebrated +throughout the world in its day, and its existence and its greatness +made an impression on the human mind which has not yet been effaced. +Pharos is the name for light-house, in many languages, to the present +day. + +In building the city of Alexandria, Alexander laid aside, for a time, +his natural and proper character, and assumed a mode of action in +strong contrast with the ordinary course of his life. He was, +throughout most of his career, a destroyer. He roamed over the world +to interrupt commerce, to break in upon and disturb the peaceful +pursuits of industry, to batter down city walls, and burn dwellings, +and kill men. This is the true vocation of a hero and a conqueror; but +at the mouth of the Nile Alexander laid aside this character. He +turned his energies to the work of planning means to do good. He +constructed a port; he built warehouses; he provided accommodations +and protection for merchants and artisans. The nations exchanged their +commodities far more easily and extensively in consequence of these +facilities, and the means of comfort and enjoyment were multiplied and +increased in thousands and thousands of huts in the great cities of +Egypt, and in the rural districts along the banks of the Nile. The +good, too, which he thus commenced, has perpetuated itself. Alexandria +has continued to fulfill its beneficent function for two thousand +years. It is the only monument of his greatness which remains. Every +thing else which he accomplished perished when he died. How much +better would it have been for the happiness of mankind, as well as for +his own true fame and glory, if doing good had been the rule of his +life instead of the exception. + + + + +CHAPTER IX. + +THE GREAT VICTORY. + +B.C. 331 + +Alexander makes Tyre his rendezvous.--Festivities.--Alexander prepares +to march east.--The captive queens.--Alexander's treatment of the +queens.--Death of Statira.--Agony of Sysigambis.--Grief of +Darius.--Alexander crosses the Euphrates.--Darius crosses the +Tigris.--Alexander reaches the Tigris.--He crosses the river.--Fording +the river.--The passage effected.--Plan of Darius.--The plain of +Arbela.--The caltrop.--Its use in war.--Eclipse of the +moon.--Consternation of Alexander's army.--Emotions produced by an +eclipse.--Its sublimity.--Measures taken by Alexander to allay the +fears of the soldiers.--Alexander approaches the Persian +army.--Preparations for the battle.--Alexander surveys the Persian +army.--Council of officers.--Number of the armies.--Alexander's +address.--Parmenio and Alexander.--Alexander's dress.--War +elephants.--The phalanx.--Defeat of the Persians.--Flight of +Darius.--Alexander driven from the field.--March to Babylon.--Surrender +of Susa.--Plunder of the palace.--Wholesale robbery and murder.--Immense +treasures.--Pass of Susa.--The mountaineers. + + +All the western part of Asia was now in Alexander's power. He was +undisputed master of Asia Minor, Phoenicia, Judea, and Egypt. He +returned from Egypt to Tyre, leaving governors to rule in his name in +all the conquered provinces. The injuries which had been done to Tyre, +during the siege and at the assault, were repaired, and it was again a +wealthy, powerful, and prosperous city. Alexander rested and refreshed +his army there, and spent some weeks in most splendid festivities and +rejoicings. The princes and potentates of all the neighboring +countries assembled to partake of his hospitality, to be entertained +by the games, the plays, the spectacles, and the feastings, and to +unite in swelling his court and doing him honor. In a word, he was the +general center of attraction for all eyes, and the object of universal +homage. + +All this time, however, he was very far from being satisfied, or +feeling that his work was done. Darius, whom he considered his great +enemy, was still in the field unsubdued. He had retreated across the +Euphrates, and was employed in assembling a vast collection of forces +from all the Eastern nations which were under his sway, to meet +Alexander in the final contest. Alexander therefore made arrangements +at Tyre for the proper government of the various kingdoms and +provinces which he had already conquered, and then began to prepare +for marching eastward with the main body of his army. + +During all this time the ladies of Darius's family, who had been taken +captive at Issus, had been retained in captivity, and made to +accompany Alexander's army in its marches. Alexander refused to accede +to any of the plans and propositions which Darius made and offered for +the redemption of his wife and mother, but insisted on retaining them +as his prisoners. He, however, treated them with respect and high +consideration. He provided them with royal tents of great +magnificence, and had them conveyed from place to place, when his army +moved, with all the royal state to which they had been accustomed when +in the court of Darius. + +It has been generally thought a proof of nobleness of spirit and +generosity in Alexander that he treated his captives in this manner. +It would seem, however, that true generosity would have prompted the +restoration of these unhappy and harmless prisoners to the husband and +father who mourned their separation from him, and their cruel +sufferings, with bitter grief. It is more probable, therefore, that +policy, and a regard for his own aggrandizement, rather than +compassion for the suffering, led him to honor his captive queens. It +was a great glory to him, in a martial point of view, to have such +trophies of his victory in his train; and, of course, the more highly +he honored the personages, the more glorious the trophy appeared. +Accordingly, Alexander did every thing in his power to magnify the +importance of his royal captives, by the splendor of their retinue, +and the pomp and pageantry with which he invested their movements. + +A short time after leaving Tyre, on the march eastward, Statira, the +wife of Darius, was taken suddenly ill and died.[C] The tidings were +immediately brought to Alexander, and he repaired without delay to +Sysigambis's tent. Sysigambis was the mother of Darius. She was in +the greatest agony of grief. She was lying upon the floor of her tent, +surrounded by the ladies of her court, and entirely overwhelmed with +sorrow. Alexander did all in his power to calm and comfort her. + +[Footnote C: It was the birth of an infant that caused her death, +exhausted and worn down as she doubtless was, by her captivity and her +sorrows.] + +One of the officers of Queen Statira's household[D] made his escape +from the camp immediately after his mistress's death, and fled across +the country to Darius, to carry him the heavy tidings. Darius was +overwhelmed with affliction. The officer, however, in farther +interviews, gave him such an account of the kind and respectful +treatment which the ladies had received from Alexander, during all the +time of their captivity, as greatly to relieve his mind, and to afford +him a high degree of comfort and consolation. He expressed a very +strong sense of gratitude to Alexander for his generosity and +kindness, and said that if his kingdom of Persia _must_ be conquered, +he sincerely wished that it might fall into the hands of such a +conqueror as Alexander. + +[Footnote D: A eunuch, a sort of officer employed in Eastern nations +in attendance upon ladies of high rank.] + +By looking at the map at the commencement of the volume, it will be +seen that the Tigris and the Euphrates are parallel streams, flowing +through the heart of the western part of Asia toward the southeast, +and emptying into the Persian Gulf. The country between these two +rivers, which was extremely populous and fertile, was called +Mesopotamia. Darius had collected an immense army here. The various +detachments filled all the plains of Mesopotamia. Alexander turned his +course a little northward, intending to pass the River Euphrates at a +famous ancient crossing at Thapsacus, which may be seen upon the map. +When he arrived at this place he found a small Persian army there. +They, however, retired as he approached. Alexander built two bridges +across the river, and passed his army safely over. + +In the mean time, Darius, with his enormous host, passed across the +Tigris, and moved toward the northward, along the eastern side of the +river. He had to cross the various branches of the Tigris as he +advanced. At one of them, called the Lycus, which may also be seen +upon the map, there was a bridge. It took the vast host which Darius +had collected _five days_ to pass this bridge. + +While Darius had been thus advancing to the northward into the +latitude where he knew that Alexander must cross the rivers, +Alexander himself, and his small but compact and fearless body of +Grecian troops, were moving eastward, toward the same region to which +Darius's line of march was tending. Alexander at length reached the +Tigris. He was obliged to ford this stream. The banks were steep and +the current was rapid, and the men were in great danger of being swept +away. To prevent this danger, the ranks, as they advanced, linked +their arms together, so that each man might be sustained by his +comrades. They held their shields above their heads to keep them from +the water. Alexander waded like the rest, though he kept in front, and +reached the bank before the others. Standing there, he indicated to +the advancing column, by gesticulation, where to land, the noise of +the water being too great to allow his voice to be heard. To see him +standing there, safely landed, and with an expression of confidence +and triumph in his attitude and air, awakened fresh energy in the +heart of every soldier in the columns which were crossing the stream. + +Notwithstanding this encouragement, however, the passage of the troops +and the landing on the bank produced a scene of great confusion. Many +of the soldiers had tied up a portion of their clothes in bundles, +which they held above their heads, together with their arms, as they +waded along through the swift current of the stream. They, however, +found it impossible to carry these bundles, but had to abandon them at +last in order to save themselves, as they staggered along through deep +and rapid water, and over a concealed bottom of slippery stones. +Thousands of these bundles, mingled with spears, darts, and every +other sort of weapon that would float, were swept down by the current, +to impede and embarrass the men who were passing below. + +At length, however, the men themselves succeeded in getting over in +safety, though a large quantity of arms and of clothing was lost. +There was no enemy upon the bank to oppose them. Darius could not, in +fact, well meet and oppose Alexander in his attempt to cross the +river, because he could not determine at what point he would probably +make the attempt, in season to concentrate so large an army to oppose +him. Alexander's troops, being a comparatively small and compact body, +and being accustomed to move with great promptness and celerity, could +easily evade any attempt of such an unwieldy mass of forces to oppose +his crossing at any particular point upon the stream. At any rate, +Darius did not make any such attempt, and Alexander had no +difficulties to encounter in crossing the Tigris other than the +physical obstacles presented by the current of the stream. + +Darius's plan was, therefore, not to intercept Alexander on his march, +but to choose some great and convenient battle-field, where he could +collect his forces, and marshal them advantageously, and so await an +attack there. He knew very well that his enemy would seek him out, +wherever he was, and, consequently, that he might choose his position. +He found such a field in an extensive plain at Guagamela, not far from +the city of Arbela. The spot has received historical immortality under +the name of the plain of Arbela. + +Darius was several days in concentrating his vast armies upon this +plain. He constructed encampments; he leveled the inequalities which +would interfere with the movements of his great bodies of cavalry; he +guarded the approaches, too, as much as possible. There is a little +instrument used in war called a _caltrop_.[E] It consists of a small +ball of iron, with several sharp points projecting from it one or two +inches each way. If these instruments are thrown upon the ground at +random, one of the points must necessarily be upward, and the horses +that tread upon them are lamed and disabled at once. Darius caused +caltrops to be scattered in the grass and along the roads, wherever +the army of Alexander would be likely to approach his troops on the +field of battle. + +[Footnote E: It receives its name from a kind of thistle called the +caltrop.] + +[Illustration: THE CALTROP.] + +Alexander, having crossed the river, encamped for a day or two on the +banks, to rest and refresh, and to rearrange his army. While here, the +soldiers were one night thrown into consternation by an eclipse of the +moon. Whenever an eclipse of the moon takes place, it is, of course, +when the moon is full, so that the eclipse is always a sudden, and, +among an ignorant people, an unexpected waning of the orb in the +height of its splendor; and as such people know not the cause of the +phenomenon, they are often extremely terrified. Alexander's soldiers +were thrown into consternation by the eclipse. They considered it the +manifestation of the displeasure of Heaven at their presumptuous +daring in crossing such rivers, and penetrating to such a distance to +invade the territories of another king. + +In fact, the men were predisposed to fear. Having wandered to a vast +distance from home, having passed over such mountains and deserts, and +now, at last, having crossed a deep and dangerous river, and thrown +themselves into the immediate vicinity of a foe ten times as numerous +as themselves, it was natural that they should feel some misgivings. +And when, at night, impressed with the sense of solemnity which night +always imparts to strange and novel scenes, they looked up to the +bright round moon, pleased with the expression of cheerfulness and +companionship which beams always in her light, to find her suddenly +waning, changing her form, withdrawing her bright beams, and looking +down upon them with a lurid and murky light, it was not surprising +that they felt an emotion of terror. In fact, there is always an +element of terror in the emotion excited by looking upon an eclipse, +which an instinctive feeling of the heart inspires. It invests the +spectacle with a solemn grandeur. It holds the spectator, however +cultivated and refined, in silence while he gazes at it. It mingles +with a scientific appreciation of the vastness of the movements and +magnitudes by which the effect is produced, and while the one occupies +the intellect, the other impresses the soul. The mind that has lost, +through its philosophy, the power of feeling this emotion of awe in +such scenes, has sunk, not risen. Its possessor has made himself +inferior, not superior, to the rest of his species, by having +paralyzed one of his susceptibilities of pleasure. To him an eclipse +is only curious and wonderful; to others it is sublime. + +The soldiers of Alexander were extremely terrified. A great panic +spread throughout the encampment. Alexander himself, instead of +attempting to allay their fears by reasoning, or treating them as of +no importance, immediately gave the subject his most serious +attention. He called together the soothsayers, and directed them to +consult together, and let him know what this great phenomenon +portended. This mere committing of the subject to the attention of the +soothsayers had a great effect among all the soldiers of the army. It +calmed them. It changed their agitation and terror into a feeling of +suspense, in awaiting the answer of the soothsayers, which was far +less painful and dangerous; and at length, when the answer came, it +allayed their anxiety and fear altogether. The soothsayers said that +the sun was on Alexander's side, and the moon on that of the Persians, +and that this sudden waning of her light foreshadowed the defeat and +destruction which the Persians were about to undergo. The army were +satisfied with this decision, and were inspired with new confidence +and ardor. It is often idle to attempt to oppose ignorance and +absurdity by such feeble instruments as truth and reason, and the +wisest managers of mankind have generally been most successful when +their plan has been to counteract one folly by means of the influence +of another. + +Alexander's army consisted of about fifty thousand men, with the +phalanx in the center. This army moved along down the eastern bank of +the Tigris, the scouts pressing forward as far as possible in every +direction in front of the main army, in order to get intelligence of +the foe. It is in this way that two great armies _feel_ after each +other, as it were, like insects creeping over the ground, exploring +the way before them with their _antennae_. At length, after three days' +advance, the scouts came in with intelligence of the enemy. Alexander +pressed forward with a detachment of his army to meet them. They +proved to be, however, not the main body of Darius's army, but only a +single corps of a thousand men, in advance of the rest. They retreated +as Alexander approached. He, however, succeeded in capturing some +horsemen, who gave the information that Darius had assembled his vast +forces on the plain of Arbela, and was waiting there in readiness to +give his advancing enemy battle. + +Alexander halted his troops. He formed an encampment, and made +arrangements for depositing his baggage there. He refreshed the men, +examined and repaired their arms, and made the arrangements for +battle. These operations consumed several days. At the end of that +time, early one morning, long before day, the camp was in motion, and +the columns, armed and equipped for immediate contest, moved forward. + +They expected to have reached the camp of Darius at daybreak, but the +distance was greater than they had supposed. At length, however, the +Macedonians, in their march, came upon the brow of a range of hills, +from which they looked down upon numberless and endless lines of +infantry and cavalry, and ranges after ranges of tents, which filled +the plain. Here the army paused while Alexander examined the field, +studying for a long time, and with great attention, the numbers and +disposition of the enemy. They were four miles distant still, but the +murmuring sounds of their voices and movements came to the ears of the +Macedonians through the calm autumnal air. + +Alexander called the leading officers together, and held a +consultation on the question whether to march down and attack the +Persians on the plain that night, or to wait till the next day. +Parmenio was in favor of a night attack, in order to surprise the +enemy by coming upon them at an unexpected time. But Alexander said +no. He was sure of victory. He had got his enemies all before him; +they were fully in his power. He would, therefore, take no advantage, +but would attack them fairly and in open day. Alexander had fifty +thousand men; the Persians were variously estimated between five +hundred thousand and a million. There is something sublime in the idea +of such a pause, made by the Macedonian phalanx and its wings, on the +slopes of the hills, suspending its attack upon ten times its number, +to give the mighty mass of their enemies the chances of a fair and +equal contest. + +Alexander made congratulatory addresses to his soldiers on the +occasion of their having now at last before them, what they had so +long toiled and labored to attain, the whole concentrated force of the +Persian empire. They were now going to contend, not for single +provinces and kingdoms, as heretofore, but for general empire; and the +victory which they were about to achieve would place them on the +summit of human glory. In all that he said on the subject, the +unquestionable certainty of victory was assumed. + +Alexander completed his arrangements, and then retired to rest. He +went to sleep--at least he appeared to do so. Early in the morning +Parmenio arose, summoned the men to their posts, and arranged every +thing for the march. He then went to Alexander's tent. Alexander was +still asleep. He awoke him, and told him that all was ready. Parmenio +expressed surprise at his sleeping so quietly at a time when such vast +issues were at stake. "You seem as calm," said he, "as if you had had +the battle and gained the victory." "I have done so," said Alexander. +"I consider the whole work done when we have gained access to Darius +and his forces, and find him ready to give us battle." + +Alexander soon appeared at the head of his troops. Of course this day +was one of the most important ones of his life, and one of the +historians of the time has preserved an account of his dress as he +went into battle. He wore a short tunic, girt close around him, and +over it a linen breast-plate, strongly quilted. The belt by which the +tunic was held was embossed with figures of beautiful workmanship. +This belt was a present to him from some of the people of the +conquered countries through which he had passed, and it was very much +admired. He had a helmet upon his head, of polished steel, with a neck +piece, also of steel, ornamented with precious stones. His helmet was +surmounted with a white plume. His sword, which was a present to him +from the King of Cyprus, was very light and slender, and of the most +perfect temper. He carried, also, a shield and a lance, made in the +best possible manner for use, not for display. Thus his dress +corresponded with the character of his action. It was simple, compact, +and whatever of value it possessed consisted in those substantial +excellencies which would give the bearer the greatest efficiency on +the field of battle. + +The Persians were accustomed to make use of elephants in their wars. +They also had chariots, with scythes placed at the axles, which they +were accustomed to drive among their enemies and mow them down. +Alexander resorted to none of these contrivances. There was the +phalanx--the terrible phalanx--advancing irresistibly either in one +body or in detachments, with columns of infantry and flying troops of +horsemen on the wings. Alexander relied simply on the strength, the +courage, the energy, and the calm and steady, but resistless ardor of +his men, arranging them in simple combinations, and leading them +forward directly to their work. + +The Macedonians cut their way through the mighty mass of their enemies +with irresistible force. The elephants turned and fled. The foot +soldiers seized the horses of some of the scythe-armed chariots and +cut the traces. In respect to others, they opened to the right and +left and let them pass through, when they were easily captured by the +men in the rear. In the mean time the phalanx pressed on, enjoying a +great advantage in the level nature of the ground. The Persian troops +were broken in upon and driven away wherever they were attacked. In a +word, before night the whole mighty mass was scattering every where in +confusion, except some hundreds of thousands left trampled upon and +dead, or else writhing upon the ground, and groaning in their dying +agonies. Darius himself fled. Alexander pursued him with a troop of +horse as far as Arbela, which had been Darius's head-quarters, and +where he had deposited immense treasures. Darius had gone through and +escaped when Alexander arrived at Arbela, but the city and the +treasures fell into Alexander's hands. + +Although Alexander had been so completely victorious over his enemies +on the day of battle, and had maintained his ground against them with +such invincible power, he was, nevertheless, a few days afterward, +driven entirely off the field, and completely away from the region +where the battle had been fought. What the living men, standing erect +in arms, and full of martial vigor, could not do, was easily and +effectually accomplished by their dead bodies corrupting on the plain. +The corpses of three hundred thousand men, and an equal bulk of the +bodies of elephants and horses, was too enormous a mass to be buried. +It had to be abandoned; and the horrible effluvia and pestilence which +it emitted drove all the inhabitants of the country away. Alexander +marched his troops rapidly off the ground, leaving, as the direct +result of the battle, a wide extent of country depopulated and +desolate, with this vast mass of putrefaction and pestilence reigning +in awful silence and solitude in the midst of it. + +Alexander went to Babylon. The governor of the city prepared to +receive him as a conqueror. The people came out in throngs to meet +him, and all the avenues of approach were crowded with spectators. All +the city walls, too, were covered with men and women, assembled to +witness the scene. As for Alexander himself, he was filled with pride +and pleasure at thus arriving at the full accomplishment of his +earliest and long-cherished dreams of glory. + +The great store-house of the royal treasures of Persia was at Susa, a +strong city east of Babylon. Susa was the winter residence of the +Persian kings, as Ecbatana, further north, among the mountains, was +their summer residence. There was a magnificent palace and a very +strong citadel at Susa, and the treasures were kept in the citadel. It +is said that in times of peace the Persian monarchs had been +accustomed to collect coin, melt it down, and cast the gold in earthen +jars. The jars were afterward broken off from the gold, leaving the +bullion in the form of the interior of the jars. An enormous amount of +gold and silver, and of other treasures, had been thus collected. +Alexander was aware of this depository before he advanced to meet +Darius, and, on the day of the battle of Arbela, as soon as the +victory was decided, he sent an officer from the very field to summon +Susa to surrender. They obeyed the summons, and Alexander, soon after +his great public entrance into Babylon, marched to Susa, and took +possession of the vast stores of wealth accumulated there. The amount +was enormous, both in quantity and value, and the seizing of it was a +very magnificent act of plunder. In fact, it is probable that +Alexander's slaughter of the Persian army at Arbela, and subsequent +spoliation of Susa, constitute, taken together, the most gigantic +case of murder and robbery which was ever committed by man; so that, +in performing these deeds, the great hero attained at last to the +glory of having perpetrated the grandest and most imposing of all +human crimes. That these deeds were really crimes there can be no +doubt, when we consider that Alexander did not pretend to have any +other motive in this invasion than love of conquest, which is, in +other words, love of violence and plunder. They are only technically +shielded from being called crimes by the fact that the earth has no +laws and no tribunals high enough to condemn such enormous burglaries +as that of one quarter of the globe breaking violently and murderously +in upon and robbing the other. + +Besides the treasures, Alexander found also at Susa a number of +trophies which had been brought by Xerxes from Greece; for Xerxes had +invaded Greece some hundred years before Alexander's day, and had +brought to Susa the spoils and the trophies of his victories. +Alexander sent them all back to Greece again. + +From Susa the conqueror moved on to Persepolis, the great Persian +capital. On his march he had to pass through a defile of the +mountains. The mountaineers had been accustomed to exact tribute here +of all who passed, having a sort of right, derived from ancient usage, +to the payment of a toll. They sent to Alexander when they heard that +he was approaching, and informed him that he could not pass with his +army without paying the customary toll. Alexander sent back word that +he would meet them at the pass, and give them _their due_. + +They understood this, and prepared to defend the pass. Some Persian +troops joined them. They built walls and barricades across the narrow +passages. They collected great stones on the brinks of precipices, and +on the declivities of the mountains, to roll down upon the heads of +their enemies. By these and every other means they attempted to stop +Alexander's passage. But he had contrived to send detachments around +by circuitous and precipitous paths, which even the mountaineers had +deemed impracticable, and thus attack his enemies suddenly and +unexpectedly from above their own positions. As usual, his plan +succeeded. The mountaineers were driven away, and the conqueror +advanced toward the great Persian capital. + +[Illustration: ALEXANDER AT THE PASS OF SUSA.] + + + + +CHAPTER X. + +THE DEATH OF DARIUS. + +B.C. 330 + +March to Persepolis.--Reckless cruelty.--The banquet.--Thais +proposes to burn the Persian palace.--Conflagration of the +palace.--Sublimity of the scene.--Olympias.--Her letters to +Alexander.--Sysigambis.--Alexander's kindness to her.--Darius at +Ecbatana.--His speech to his army.--Conspiracy against Darius.--Bessus +and his confederates.--Advance of Alexander.--Retreat of Darius.--The +Caspian Gates.--Pursuit of Darius.--Foraging parties.--The pursuit +continued.--Alexander stops to rest his army.--Want of +water.--Disregarded by Alexander.--The pursuit grows more +exciting.--Guides employed.--The Persians overtaken.--Murder of +Darius.--Sufferings of Darius.--Treachery of friends.--Darius +found.--Sufferings from thirst.--Darius calls for water.--The +interpreter.--Darius's message to Alexander.--Affecting +scene.--Alexander's grief at Darius's death.--He sends the body +to Sysigambis.--Crossing the Oxus.--Capture of the traitor +Bessus.--Mutilation of Bessus.--He is sent to Sysigambis.--Terrible +punishment of Bessus. + + +Alexander's march from Susa to Persepolis was less a march than a +triumphal progress. He felt the pride and elation so naturally +resulting from success very strongly. The moderation and forbearance +which had characterized him in his earlier years, gradually +disappeared as he became great and powerful. He was intoxicated with +his success. He became haughty, vain, capricious, and cruel. As he +approached Persepolis, he conceived the idea that, as this city was +the capital and center of the Persian monarchy, and, as such, the +point from which had emanated all the Persian hostility to Greece, he +owed it some signal retribution. Accordingly, although the inhabitants +made no opposition to his entrance, he marched in with the phalanx +formed, and gave the soldiers liberty to kill and plunder as they +pleased. + +There was another very striking instance of the capricious +recklessness now beginning to appear in Alexander's character, which +occurred soon after he had taken possession of Persepolis. He was +giving a great banquet to his friends, the officers of the army, and +to Persians of distinction among those who had submitted to him. There +was, among other women at this banquet, a very beautiful and +accomplished female named Thais. Alexander made her his favorite and +companion, though she was not his wife. Thais did all in her power to +captivate and please Alexander during the feast by her vivacity, her +wit, her adroit attentions to him, and the display of her charms, and +at length, when he himself, as well as the other guests, were excited +with wine, she asked him to allow her to have the pleasure of going +herself and setting fire, with her own hands, to the great palace of +the Persian kings in the city. Thais was a native of Attica in Greece, +a kingdom of which Athens was the capital. Xerxes, who had built the +great palace of Persepolis, had formerly invaded Greece and had burned +Athens, and now Thais desired to burn his palace in Persepolis, to +gratify her revenge, by making of its conflagration an evening +spectacle to entertain the Macedonian party after their supper. +Alexander agreed to the proposal, and the whole company moved forward. +Taking the torches from the banqueting halls, they sallied forth, +alarming the city with their shouts, and with the flashing of the +lights they bore. The plan of Thais was carried fully into effect, +every half-intoxicated guest assisting, by putting fire to the immense +pile wherever they could get access to it. They performed the +barbarous deed with shouts of vengeance and exultation. + +There is, however, something very solemn and awful in a great +conflagration at night, and very few incendiaries can gaze upon the +fury of the lurid and frightful flames which they have caused to +ascend without some misgivings and some remorse. Alexander was sobered +by the grand and sublime, but terrible spectacle. He was awed by it. +He repented. He ordered the fire to be extinguished; but it was too +late. The palace was destroyed, and one new blot, which has never +since been effaced, was cast upon Alexander's character and fame. + +And yet, notwithstanding these increasing proofs of pride and cruelty, +which were beginning to be developed, Alexander still preserved some +of the early traits of character which had made him so great a +favorite in the commencement of his career. He loved his mother, and +sent her presents continually from the treasures which were falling +all the time into his possession. She was a woman of a proud, +imperious, and ungovernable character, and she made Antipater, whom +Alexander had left in command in Macedon, infinite trouble. She wanted +to exercise the powers of government herself, and was continually +urging this. Alexander would not comply with these wishes, but he paid +her personally every attention in his power, and bore all her +invectives and reproaches with great patience and good humor. At one +time he received a long letter from Antipater, full of complaints +against her; but Alexander, after reading it, said that they were +heavy charges it was true, but that a single one of his mother's tears +would outweigh ten thousand such accusations. + +Olympias used to write very frequently to Alexander, and in these +letters she would criticise and discuss his proceedings, and make +comments upon the characters and actions of his generals. Alexander +kept these letters very secret, never showing them to any one. One +day, however, when he was reading one of these letters, Hephaestion, +the personal friend and companion who has been already several times +mentioned, came up, half playfully, and began to look over his +shoulder. Alexander went on, allowing him to read, and then, when the +letter was finished he took the signet ring from his finger and +pressed it upon Hephaestion's lips, a signal for silence and secrecy. + +Alexander was very kind to Sysigambis, the mother of Darius, and also +to Darius's children. He would not give these unhappy captives their +liberty, but in every other respect he treated them with the greatest +possible kindness and consideration. He called Sysigambis mother, +loaded her with presents--presents, it is true, which he had plundered +from her son, but to which it was considered, in those days, that he +had acquired a just and perfect title. When he reached Susa, he +established Sysigambis and the children there in great state. This had +been their usual residence in most seasons of the year, when not at +Persepolis, so that here they were, as it were, at home. Ecbatana[F] +was, as has been already mentioned, further north, among the +mountains. After the battle of Arbela, while Alexander marched to +Babylon and to Susa, Darius had fled to Ecbatana, and was now there, +his family being thus at one of the royal palaces under the command of +the conqueror, and he himself independent, but insecure, in the +other. He had with him about forty thousand men, who still remained +faithful to his fallen fortunes. Among these were several thousand +Greeks, whom he had collected in Asia Minor and other Grecian +countries, and whom he had attached to his service by means of pay. + +[Footnote F: The modern Ispahan.] + +He called the officers of his army together, and explained to them the +determination that he had come to in respect to his future movements. +"A large part of those," said he, "who formerly served as officers of +my government have abandoned me in my adversity, and gone over to +Alexander's side. They have surrendered to him the towns, and +citadels, and provinces which I intrusted to their fidelity. You alone +remain faithful and true. As for myself, I might yield to the +conqueror, and have him assign to me some province or kingdom to +govern as his subordinate; but I will never submit to such a +degradation. I can die in the struggle, but never will yield. I will +wear no crown which another puts upon my brow, nor give up my right to +reign over the empire of my ancestors till I give up my life. If you +agree with me in this determination, let us act energetically upon it. +We have it in our power to terminate the injuries we are suffering, or +else to avenge them." + +The army responded most cordially to this appeal. They were ready, +they said, to follow him wherever he should lead. All this apparent +enthusiasm, however, was very delusive and unsubstantial. A general +named Bessus, combining with some other officers in the army, +conceived the plan of seizing Darius and making him a prisoner, and +then taking command of the army himself. If Alexander should pursue +him, and be likely to overtake and conquer him, he then thought that, +by giving up Darius as a prisoner, he could stipulate for liberty and +safety, and perhaps great rewards, both for himself and for those who +acted with him. If, on the other hand, they should succeed in +increasing their own forces so as to make head against Alexander, and +finally to drive him away, then Bessus was to usurp the throne, and +dispose of Darius by assassinating him, or imprisoning him for life in +some remote and solitary castle. + +Bessus communicated his plans, very cautiously at first, to the +leading officers of the army. The Greek soldiers were not included in +the plot. They, however, heard and saw enough to lead them to suspect +what was in preparation. They warned Darius, and urged him to rely +upon them more than he had done; to make them his body-guard; and to +pitch his tent in their part of the encampment. But Darius declined +these proposals. He would not, he said, distrust and abandon his +countrymen, who were his natural protectors, and put himself in the +hands of strangers. He would not betray and desert his friends in +anticipation of their deserting and betraying him. + +In the mean time, as Alexander advanced toward Ecbatana, Darius and +his forces retreated from it toward the eastward, through the great +tract of country lying south of the Caspian Sea. There is a +mountainous region here, with a defile traversing it, through which it +would be necessary for Darius to pass. This defile was called the +Caspian Gates,[G] the name referring to rocks on each side. The +marching of an army through a narrow and dangerous defile like this +always causes detention and delay, and Alexander hastened forward in +hopes to overtake Darius before he should reach it. He advanced with +such speed that only the strongest and most robust of his army could +keep up. Thousands, worn out with exertion and toil, were left behind, +and many of the horses sank down by the road side, exhausted with heat +and fatigue, to die. Alexander pressed desperately on with all who +were able to follow. + +[Footnote G: _Pylae Caspiae_ on the map, which means the Caspian Gates.] + +It was all in vain, however; it was too late when he arrived at the +pass. Darius had gone through with all his army. Alexander stopped to +rest his men, and to allow time for those behind to come up. He then +went on for a couple of days, when he encamped, in order to send out +foraging parties--that is to say, small detachments, dispatched to +explore the surrounding country in search of grain and other food for +the horses. Food for the horses of an army being too bulky to be +transported far, has to be collected day by day from the neighborhood +of the line of march. + +While halting for these foraging parties to return, a Persian nobleman +came into the camp, and informed Alexander that Darius and the forces +accompanying him were encamped about two days' march in advance, but +that Bessus was in command--the conspiracy having been successful, and +Darius having been deposed and made a prisoner. The Greeks, who had +adhered to their fidelity, finding that all the army were combined +against them, and that they were not strong enough to resist, had +abandoned the Persian camp, and had retired to the mountains, where +they were awaiting the result. + +Alexander determined to set forward immediately in pursuit of Bessus +and his prisoner. He did not wait for the return of the foraging +parties. He selected the ablest and most active, both of foot soldiers +and horsemen, ordered them to take two days' provisions, and then set +forth with them that very evening. The party pressed on all that +night, and the next day till noon. They halted till evening, and then +set forth again. Very early the next morning they arrived at the +encampment which the Persian nobleman had described. They found the +remains of the camp-fires, and all the marks usually left upon a spot +which has been used as the bivouac of an army. The army itself, +however, was gone. + +The pursuers were now too much fatigued to go any further without +rest. Alexander remained here, accordingly, through the day, to give +his men and his horses refreshment and repose. That night they set +forward again, and the next day at noon they arrived at another +encampment of the Persians, which they had left scarcely twenty-four +hours before. The officers of Alexander's army were excited and +animated in the highest degree, as they found themselves thus drawing +so near to the great object of their pursuit. They were ready for any +exertions, any privation and fatigue, any measures, however +extraordinary, to accomplish their end. + +Alexander inquired of the inhabitants of the place whether there were +not some shorter road than the one along which the enemy were moving. +There was one cross-road, but it led through a desolate and desert +tract of land, destitute of water. In the march of an army, as the men +are always heavily loaded with arms and provisions, and water can not +be carried, it is always considered essential to choose routes which +will furnish supplies of water by the way. Alexander, however, +disregarded this consideration here, and prepared at once to push into +the cross-road with a small detachment. He had been now two years +advancing from Macedon into the heart of Asia, always in quest of +Darius as his great opponent and enemy. He had conquered his armies, +taken his cities, plundered his palaces, and made himself master of +his whole realm. Still, so long as Darius himself remained at liberty +and in the field, no victories could be considered as complete. To +capture Darius himself would be the last and crowning act of his +conquest. He had now been pursuing him for eighteen hundred miles, +advancing slowly from province to province, and from kingdom to +kingdom. During all this time the strength of his flying foe had been +wasting away. His armies had been broken up, his courage and hope had +gradually failed, while the animation and hope of the pursuer had been +gathering fresh and increasing strength from his successes, and were +excited to wild enthusiasm now, as the hour for the final consummation +of all his desires seemed to be drawing nigh. + +Guides were ordered to be furnished by the inhabitants, to show the +detachment the way across the solitary and desert country. The +detachment was to consist of horsemen entirely, that they might +advance with the utmost celerity. To get as efficient a corps as +possible, Alexander dismounted five hundred of the cavalry, and gave +their horses to five hundred men--officers and others--selected for +their strength and courage from among the foot soldiers. All were +ambitious of being designated for this service. Besides the honor of +being so selected, there was an intense excitement, as usual toward +the close of a chase, to arrive at the end. + +This body of horsemen were ready to set out in the evening. Alexander +took the command, and, following the guides, they trotted off in the +direction which the guides indicated. They traveled all night. When +the day dawned, they saw, from an elevation to which they had +attained, the body of the Persian troops moving at a short distance +before them, foot soldiers, chariots, and horsemen pressing on +together in great confusion and disorder. + +As soon as Bessus and his company found that their pursuers were close +upon them, they attempted at first to hurry forward, in the vain hope +of still effecting their escape. Darius was in a chariot. They urged +this chariot on, but it moved heavily. Then they concluded to abandon +it, and they called upon Darius to mount a horse and ride off with +them, leaving the rest of the army and the baggage to its fate. But +Darius refused. He said he would rather trust himself in the hands of +Alexander than in those of such traitors as they. Rendered desperate +by their situation, and exasperated by this reply, Bessus and his +confederates thrust their spears into Darius's body, as he sat in his +chariot, and then galloped away. They divided into different parties, +each taking a different road. Their object in doing this was to +increase their chances of escape by confusing Alexander in his plans +for pursuing them. Alexander pressed on toward the ground which the +enemy were abandoning, and sent off separate detachments after the +various divisions of the flying army. + +In the mean time Darius remained in his chariot wounded and bleeding. +He was worn out and exhausted, both in body and mind, by his +complicated sufferings and sorrows. His kingdom lost; his family in +captivity; his beloved wife in the grave, where the sorrows and +sufferings of separation from her husband had borne her; his cities +sacked; his palaces and treasures plundered; and now he himself, in +the last hour of his extremity, abandoned and betrayed by all in whom +he had placed his confidence and trust, his heart sunk within him in +despair. At such a time the soul turns from traitorous friends to an +open foe with something like a feeling of confidence and attachment. +Darius's exasperation against Bessus was so intense, that his +hostility to Alexander became a species of friendship in comparison. +He felt that Alexander was a sovereign like himself, and would have +some sympathy and fellow-feeling for a sovereign's misfortunes. He +thought, too, of his mother, his wife, and his children, and the +kindness with which Alexander had treated them went to his heart. He +lay there, accordingly, faint and bleeding in his chariot, and looking +for the coming of Alexander as for that of a protector and friend, the +only one to whom he could now look for any relief in the extremity of +his distress. + +The Macedonians searched about in various places, thinking it possible +that in the sudden dispersion of the enemy Darius might have been left +behind. At last the chariot in which he was lying was found. Darius +was in it, pierced with spears. The floor of the chariot was covered +with blood. They raised him a little, and he spoke. He called for +water. + +Men wounded and dying on the field of battle are tormented always with +an insatiable and intolerable thirst, the manifestations of which +constitute one of the greatest horrors of the scene. They cry +piteously to all who pass to bring them water, or else to kill them. +They crawl along the ground to get at the canteens of their dead +companions, in hopes to find, remaining in them, some drops to drink; +and if there is a little brook meandering through the battle-field, +its bed gets filled and choked up with the bodies of those who crawled +there, in their agony, to quench their horrible thirst, and die. +Darius was suffering this thirst. It bore down and silenced, for the +time, every other suffering, so that his first cry, when his enemies +came around him with shouts of exultation, was not for his life, not +for mercy, not for relief from the pain and anguish of his wounds--he +begged them to give him some water. + +He spoke through an interpreter. The interpreter was a Persian +prisoner whom the Macedonian army had taken some time before, and who +had learned the Greek language in the Macedonian camp. Anticipating +some occasion for his services, they had brought him with them now, +and it was through him that Darius called for water. A Macedonian +soldier went immediately to get some. Others hurried away in search of +Alexander, to bring him to the spot where the great object of his +hostility, and of his long and protracted pursuit, was dying. + +Darius received the drink. He then said that he was extremely glad +that they had an interpreter with them, who could understand him, and +bear his message to Alexander. He had been afraid that he should have +had to die without being able to communicate what he had to say. "Tell +Alexander," said he, then, "that I feel under the strongest +obligations to him which I can now never repay, for his kindness to my +wife, my mother, and my children. He not only spared their lives, but +treated them with the greatest consideration and care, and did all in +his power to make them happy. The last feeling in my heart is +gratitude to him for these favors. I hope now that he will go on +prosperously, and finish his conquests as triumphantly as he has begun +them." He would have made one last request, he added, if he had +thought it necessary, and that was, that Alexander would pursue the +traitor Bessus, and avenge the murder he had committed; but he was +sure that Alexander would do this of his own accord, as the punishment +of such treachery was an object of common interest for every king. + +Darius then took Polystratus, the Macedonian who had brought him the +water, by the hand, saying, "Give Alexander thy hand as I now give +thee mine; it is the pledge of my gratitude and affection." + +Darius was too weak to say much more. They gathered around him, +endeavoring to sustain his strength until Alexander should arrive; but +it was all in vain. He sank gradually, and soon ceased to breathe. +Alexander came up a few minutes after all was over. He was at first +shocked at the spectacle before him, and then overwhelmed with grief. +He wept bitterly. Some compunctions of conscience may have visited his +heart at seeing thus before him the ruin he had made. Darius had never +injured him or done him any wrong, and yet here he lay, hunted to +death by a persevering and relentless hostility, for which his +conqueror had no excuse but his innate love of dominion over his +fellow-men. Alexander spread his own military cloak over the dead +body. He immediately made arrangements for having the body embalmed, +and then sent it to Susa, for Sysigambis, in a very costly coffin, and +with a procession of royal magnificence. He sent it to her that she +might have the satisfaction of seeing it deposited in the tombs of the +Persian kings. What a present! The killer of a son sending the dead +body, in a splendid coffin, to the mother, as a token of respectful +regard! + +Alexander pressed on to the northward and eastward in pursuit of +Bessus, who had soon collected the scattered remains of his army, and +was doing his utmost to get into a posture of defense. He did not, +however, overtake him till he had crossed the Oxus, a large river +which will be found upon the map, flowing to the northward and +westward into the Caspian Sea. He had great difficulty in crossing +this river, as it was too deep to be forded, and the banks and bottom +were so sandy and yielding that he could not make the foundations of +bridges stand. He accordingly made floats and rafts, which were +supported by skins made buoyant by inflation, or by being stuffed with +straw and hay. After getting his army, which had been in the mean time +greatly re-enforced and strengthened, across this river, he moved on. +The generals under Bessus, finding all hope of escape failing them, +resolved on betraying him as he had betrayed his commander. They sent +word to Alexander that if he would send forward a small force where +they should indicate, they would give up Bessus to his hands. +Alexander did so, intrusting the command to an officer named Ptolemy. +Ptolemy found Bessus in a small walled town whither he had fled for +refuge, and easily took him prisoner. He sent back word to Alexander +that Bessus was at his disposal, and asked for orders. The answer was, +"Put a rope around his neck and send him to me." + +When the wretched prisoner was brought into Alexander's presence, +Alexander demanded of him how he could have been so base as to have +seized, bound, and at last murdered his kinsman and benefactor. It is +a curious instance in proof of the permanence and stability of the +great characteristics of human nature, through all the changes of +civilization and lapses of time, that Bessus gave the same answer that +wrong-doers almost always give when brought to account for their +wrongs. He laid the fault upon his accomplices and friends. It was not +his act, it was theirs. + +Alexander ordered him to be publicly scourged; then he caused his face +to be mutilated in a manner customary in those days, when a tyrant +wished to stamp upon his victim a perpetual mark of infamy. In this +condition, and with a mind in an agony of suspense and fear at the +thought of worse tortures which he knew were to come, Alexander sent +him as a second present to Sysigambis, to be dealt with, at Susa, as +her revenge might direct. She inflicted upon him the most extreme +tortures, and finally, when satiated with the pleasure of seeing him +suffer, the story is that they chose four very elastic trees, growing +at a little distance from each other, and bent down the tops of them +toward the central point between them. They fastened the exhausted +and dying Bessus to these trees, one limb of his body to each, and +then releasing the stems from their confinement, they flew upward, +tearing the body asunder, each holding its own dissevered portion, as +if in triumph, far over the heads of the multitude assembled to +witness the spectacle. + + + + +CHAPTER XI. + +DETERIORATION OF CHARACTER. + +B.C. 329 + +Alexander at the summit of his ambition.--Sad changes.--Alexander +becomes dissipated.--His officers became estranged.--Character of +Parmenio.--His services to Alexander.--Parmenio's son, Philotas.--His +dissolute character.--Conspiracies.--Plot of Dymnus.--Dymnus destroys +himself.--Philotas suspected.--The council of officers.--Philotas +accused.--Arrest of Philotas.--The body of Dymnus.--Alexander's +address to the army.--Philotas brought to trial.--Defense of +Philotas.--He is put to the torture.--Confession of Philotas.--He +is stoned to death.--Parmenio condemned to death.--Mission of +Polydamas.--Precautions.--Brutal murder of Parmenio.--Story of +Clitus.--He saves Alexander's life.--Services of Clitus.--Occurrences +at the banquet.--Clitus reproaches Alexander.--Alexander's +rage.--Alexander assassinates Clitus.--His remorse. + + +Alexander was now twenty-six years of age. He had accomplished fully +the great objects which had been the aim of his ambition. Darius was +dead, and he was himself the undisputed master of all western Asia. +His wealth was almost boundless. His power was supreme over what was, +in his view, the whole known world. But, during the process of rising +to this ascendency, his character was sadly changed. He lost the +simplicity, the temperance, the moderation, and the sense of justice +which characterized his early years. He adopted the dress and the +luxurious manners of the Persians. He lived in the palaces of the +Persian kings, imitating all their state and splendor. He became very +fond of convivial entertainments and of wine, and often drank to +excess. He provided himself a seraglio of three hundred and sixty +young females, in whose company he spent his time, giving himself up +to every form of effeminacy and dissipation. In a word, he was no +longer the same man. The decision, the energy of character, the steady +pursuit of great ends by prudence, forethought, patient effort, and +self-denial, all disappeared; nothing now seemed to interest him but +banquets, carousals, parties of pleasure, and whole days and nights +spent in dissipation and vice. + +This state of things was a great cause of mortification and chagrin to +the officers of his army. Many of them were older than himself, and +better able to resist these temptations to luxury, effeminacy, and +vice. They therefore remained firm in their original simplicity and +integrity, and after some respectful but ineffectual remonstrances, +they stood aloof, alienated from their commander in heart, and +condemning very strongly, among themselves, his wickedness and folly. + +On the other hand, many of the _younger_ officers followed Alexander's +example, and became as vain, as irregular, and as fond of vicious +indulgence as he. But then, though they joined him in his pleasures, +there was no strong bond of union between him and them. The tie which +binds mere companions in pleasure together is always very slight and +frail. Thus Alexander gradually lost the confidence and affection of +his old friends, and gained no new ones. His officers either +disapproved his conduct, and were distant and cold, or else joined him +in his dissipation and vice, without feeling any real respect for his +character, or being bound to him by any principle of fidelity. + +Parmenio and his son Philotas were, respectively, striking examples of +these two kinds of character. Parmenio was an old general, now +considerably advanced in life. He had served, as has already been +stated, under Philip, Alexander's father, and had acquired great +experience and great fame before Alexander succeeded to the throne. +During the whole of Alexander's career Parmenio had been his principal +lieutenant general, and he had always placed his greatest reliance +upon him in all trying emergencies. He was cool, calm, intrepid, +sagacious. He held Alexander back from many rash enterprises, and was +the efficient means of his accomplishing most of his plans. It is the +custom among all nations to give kings the glory of all that is +effected by their generals and officers; and the writers of those days +would, of course, in narrating the exploits of the Macedonian army, +exaggerate the share which Alexander had in their performances, and +underrate those of Parmenio. But in modern times, many impartial +readers, in reviewing calmly these events, think that there is reason +to doubt whether Alexander, if he had set out on his great expedition +without Parmenio, would have succeeded at all. + +Philotas was the son of Parmenio, but he was of a very different +character. The difference was one which is very often, in all ages of +the world, to be observed between those who _inherit_ greatness and +those who acquire it for themselves. We see the same analogy reigning +at the present day, when the sons of the wealthy, who are _born_ to +fortune, substitute pride, and arrogance, and vicious self-indulgence +and waste for the modesty, and prudence, and virtue of their sires, by +means of which the fortune was acquired. Philotas was proud, boastful, +extravagant, and addicted, like Alexander his master, to every species +of indulgence and dissipation. He was universally hated. His father, +out of patience with his haughty airs, his boastings, and his pomp and +parade, advised him, one day, to "make himself less." But Parmenio's +prudent advice to his son was thrown away. Philotas spoke of himself +as Alexander's great reliance. "What would Philip have been or have +done," said he, "without my father Parmenio? and what would Alexander +have been or have done, without me?" These things were reported to +Alexander, and thus the mind of each was filled with suspicion, fear, +and hatred toward the other. + +Courts and camps are always the scenes of conspiracy and treason, and +Alexander was continually hearing of conspiracies and plots formed +against him. The strong sentiment of love and devotion with which he +inspired all around him at the commencement of his career, was now +gone, and his generals and officers were continually planning schemes +to depose him from the power which he seemed no longer to have the +energy to wield; or, at least, Alexander was continually suspecting +that such plans were formed, and he was kept in a continual state of +uneasiness and anxiety in discovering and punishing them. + +At last a conspiracy occurred in which Philotas was implicated. +Alexander was informed one day that a plot had been formed to depose +and destroy him; that Philotas had been made acquainted with it by a +friend of Alexander's, in order that he might make it known to the +king; that he had neglected to do so, thus making it probable that he +was himself in league with the conspirators. Alexander was informed +that the leader and originator of this conspiracy was one of his +generals named Dymnus. + +He immediately sent an officer to Dymnus to summon him into his +presence. Dymnus appeared to be struck with consternation at this +summons. Instead of obeying it, he drew his sword, thrust it into his +own heart, and fell dead upon the ground. + +Alexander then sent for Philotas, and asked him if it was indeed true +that he had been informed of this conspiracy, and had neglected to +make it known. + +Philotas replied that he had been told that such a plot was formed, +but that he did not believe it; that such stories were continually +invented by the malice of evil-disposed men, and that he had not +considered the report which came to his ears as worthy of any +attention. He was, however, now convinced, by the terror which Dymnus +had manifested, and by his suicide, that all was true, and he asked +Alexander's pardon for not having taken immediate measures for +communicating promptly the information he had received. + +Alexander gave him his hand, said that he was convinced that he was +innocent, and had acted as he did from disbelief in the existence of +the conspiracy, and not from any guilty participation in it. So +Philotas went away to his tent. + +Alexander, however, did not drop the subject here. He called a council +of his ablest and best friends and advisers, consisting of the +principal officers of his army, and laid the facts before them. They +came to a different conclusion from his in respect to the guilt of +Philotas. They believed him implicated in the crime, and demanded his +trial. Trial in such a case, in those days, meant putting the accused +to the torture, with a view of forcing him to confess his guilt. + +Alexander yielded to this proposal. Perhaps he had secretly instigated +it. The advisers of kings and conquerors, in such circumstances as +this, generally have the sagacity to discover what advice will be +agreeable. At all events, Alexander followed the advice of his +counselors, and made arrangements for arresting Philotas on that very +evening. + +These circumstances occurred at a time when the army was preparing for +a march, the various generals lodging in tents pitched for the +purpose. Alexander placed extra guards in various parts of the +encampment, as if to impress the whole army with a sense of the +importance and solemnity of the occasion. He then sent officers to the +tent of Philotas, late at night, to arrest him. The officers found +their unhappy victim asleep. They awoke him, and made known their +errand. Philotas arose, and obeyed the summons, dejected and +distressed, aware, apparently, that his destruction was impending. + +The next morning Alexander called together a large assembly, +consisting of the principal and most important portions of the army, +to the number of several thousands. They came together with an air of +impressive solemnity, expecting, from the preliminary preparations, +that business of very solemn moment was to come before them, though +they knew not what it was. + +These impressions of awe and solemnity were very much increased by the +spectacle which first met the eyes of the assembly after they were +convened. This spectacle was that of the dead body of Dymnus, bloody +and ghastly, which Alexander ordered to be brought in and exposed to +view. The death of Dymnus had been kept a secret, so that the +appearance of his body was an unexpected as well as a shocking sight. +When the first feeling of surprise and wonder had a little subsided, +Alexander explained to the assembly the nature of the conspiracy, and +the circumstances connected with the self-execution of one of the +guilty participators in it. The spectacle of the body, and the +statement of the king, produced a scene of great and universal +excitement in the assembly, and this excitement was raised to the +highest pitch by the announcement which Alexander now made, that he +had reason to believe that Philotas and his father Parmenio, officers +who had enjoyed his highest favor, and in whom he had placed the most +unbounded confidence, were the authors and originators of the whole +design. + +He then ordered Philotas to be brought in. He came guarded as a +criminal, with his hands tied behind him, and his head covered with a +coarse cloth. He was in a state of great dejection and despondency. It +is true that he was brought forward for trial, but he knew very well +that trial meant torture, and that there was no hope for him as to the +result. Alexander said that he would leave the accused to be dealt +with by the assembly, and withdrew. + +The authorities of the army, who now had the proud and domineering +spirit which had so long excited their hatred and envy completely in +their power, listened for a time to what Philotas had to say in his +own justification. He showed that there was no evidence whatever +against him, and appealed to their sense of justice not to condemn him +on mere vague surmises. In reply, they decided to put him to the +torture. There was no evidence, it was true, and they wished, +accordingly, to supply its place by his own confession, extorted by +pain. Of course, his most inveterate and implacable enemies were +appointed to conduct the operation. They put Philotas upon the rack. +The rack is an instrument of wheels and pulleys, into which the victim +is placed, and his limbs and tendons are stretched by it in a manner +which produces most excruciating pain. + +Philotas bore the beginning of his torture with great resolution and +fortitude. He made no complaint, he uttered no cry: this was the +signal to his executioners to increase the tension and the agony. Of +course, in such a trial as this, there was no question of guilt or +innocence at issue. The only question was, which could stand out the +longest, his enemies in witnessing horrible sufferings, or he himself +in enduring them. In this contest the unhappy Philotas was vanquished +at last. He begged them to release him from the rack, saying he would +confess whatever they required, on condition of being allowed to die +in peace. + +They accordingly released him, and, in answer to their questions, he +confessed that he himself and his father were involved in the plot. He +said yes to various other inquiries relating to the circumstances of +the conspiracy, and to the guilt of various individuals whom those +that managed the torture had suspected, or who, at any rate, they +wished to have condemned. The answers of Philotas to all these +questions were written down, and he was himself sentenced to be +stoned. The sentence was put in execution without any delay. + +During all this time Parmenio was in Media, in command of a very +important part of Alexander's army. It was decreed that he must die; +but some careful management was necessary to secure his execution +while he was at so great a distance, and at the head of so great a +force. The affair had to be conducted with great secrecy as well as +dispatch. The plan adopted was as follows: + +There was a certain man, named Polydamas, who was regarded as +Parmenio's particular friend. Polydamas was commissioned to go to +Media and see the execution performed. He was selected, because it +was supposed that if any enemy, or a stranger, had been sent, Parmenio +would have received him with suspicion or at least with caution, and +kept himself on his guard. They gave Polydamas several letters to +Parmenio, as if from his friends, and to one of them they attached the +seal of his son Philotas, the more completely to deceive the unhappy +father. Polydamas was eleven days on his journey into Media. He had +letters to Cleander, the governor of the province of Media, which +contained the king's warrant for Parmenio's execution. He arrived at +the house of Cleander in the night. He delivered his letters, and they +together concerted the plans for carrying the execution into effect. + +After having taken all the precautions necessary, Polydamas went, with +many attendants accompanying him, to the quarters of Parmenio. The old +general, for he was at this time eighty years of age, was walking in +his grounds. Polydamas being admitted, ran up to accost him, with +great appearance of cordiality and friendship. He delivered to him his +letters, and Parmenio read them. He seemed much pleased with their +contents, especially with the one which had been written in the name +of his son. He had no means of detecting the imposture, for it was +very customary in those days for letters to be written by secretaries, +and to be authenticated solely by the seal. + +Parmenio was much pleased to get good tidings from Alexander, and from +his son, and began conversing upon the contents of the letters, when +Polydamas, watching his opportunity, drew forth a dagger which he had +concealed upon his person, and plunged it into Parmenio's side. He +drew it forth immediately and struck it at his throat. The attendants +rushed on at this signal, and thrust their swords again and again into +the fallen body until it ceased to breathe. + +The death of Parmenio and of his son in this violent manner, when, +too, there was so little evidence of their guilt, made a very general +and a very unfavorable impression in respect to Alexander; and not +long afterward another case occurred, in some respects still more +painful, as it evinced still more strikingly that the mind of +Alexander, which had been in his earlier days filled with such noble +and lofty sentiments of justice and generosity, was gradually getting +to be under the supreme dominion of selfish and ungovernable passions: +it was the case of Clitus. + +Clitus was a very celebrated general of Alexander's army, and a great +favorite with the king. He had, in fact, on one occasion saved +Alexander's life. It was at the battle of the Granicus. Alexander had +exposed himself in the thickest of the combat, and was surrounded by +enemies. The sword of one of them was actually raised over his head, +and would have fallen and killed him on the spot, if Clitus had not +rushed forward and cut the man down just at the instant when he was +about striking the blow. Such acts of fidelity and courage as this had +given Alexander great confidence in Clitus. It happened, shortly after +the death of Parmenio, that the governor of one of the most important +provinces of the empire resigned his post. Alexander appointed Clitus +to fill the vacancy. + +The evening before his departure to take charge of his government, +Alexander invited him to a banquet, made, partly at least, in honor of +his elevation. Clitus and the other guests assembled. They drank wine, +as usual, with great freedom. Alexander became excited, and began to +speak, as he was now often accustomed to do, boastingly of his own +exploits, and to disparage those of his father Philip in comparison. + +Men half intoxicated are very prone to quarrel, and not the less so +for being excellent friends when sober. Clitus had served under +Philip. He was now an old man, and, like other old men, was very +tenacious of the glory that belonged to the exploits of his youth. He +was very restless and uneasy at hearing Alexander claim for himself +the merit of his father Philip's victory at Chaeronea, and began to +murmur something to those who sat next to him about kings claiming and +getting a great deal of glory which did not belong to them. + +Alexander asked what it was that Clitus said. No one replied. Clitus, +however, went on talking, speaking more and more audibly as he became +gradually more and more excited. He praised the character of Philip, +and applauded his military exploits, saying that they were far +superior to any of the enterprises of _their_ day. The different +parties at the table took up the subject, and began to dispute, the +old men taking the part of Philip and former days, and the younger +defending Alexander. Clitus became more and more excited. He praised +Parmenio, who had been Philip's greatest general, and began to impugn +the justice of his late condemnation and death. + +Alexander retorted and Clitus, rising from his seat, and losing now +all self-command, reproached him with severe and bitter words. "Here +is the hand," said he, extending his arm, "that saved your life at the +battle of the Granicus, and the fate of Parmenio shows what sort of +gratitude and what rewards faithful servants are to expect at your +hands." Alexander, burning with rage, commanded Clitus to leave the +table. Clitus obeyed, saying, as he moved away, "He is right not to +bear freeborn men at his table who can only tell him the truth. He is +right. It is fitting for him to pass his life among barbarians and +slaves, who will be proud to pay their adoration to his Persian girdle +and his splendid robe." + +Alexander seized a javelin to hurl at Clitus's head. The guests rose +in confusion, and with many outcries pressed around him. Some seized +Alexander's arm, some began to hurry Clitus out of the room, and some +were engaged in loudly criminating and threatening each other. They +got Clitus out of the apartment, but as soon as he was in the hall he +broke away from them, returned by another door, and began to renew his +insults to Alexander. The king hurled his javelin and struck Clitus +down, saying, at the same time, "Go, then, and join Philip and +Parmenio." The company rushed to the rescue of the unhappy man, but +it was too late. He died almost immediately. + +Alexander, as soon as he came to himself was overwhelmed with remorse +and despair. He mourned bitterly, for many days, the death of his +long-tried and faithful friend, and execrated the intoxication and +passion, on his part, which had caused it. He could not, however, +restore Clitus to life, nor remove from his own character the +indelible stains which such deeds necessarily fixed upon it. + + + + +CHAPTER XII. + +ALEXANDER'S END. + +B.C. 326-319 + +Alexander's invasion of India.--Insubordination of the +army.--Alexander's address to the army.--Address made to him.--The +army refuses to go further.--Alexander's disappointment.--Alexander +resolves to return.--He is wounded in an assault.--Alexander's +excesses.--He abandons his old friends.--Entrance into +Babylon.--Magnificent spectacle.--The astrologers.--Study of the +stars.--Warning of the astrologers.--Alexander's perplexity.--Death +of Hephaestion.--Alexander's melancholy.--Funeral honors to +Hephaestion.--A stupendous project.--Alexander's depression.--Magnificent +plans.--A prolonged carousal.--Alexander's excesses.--Alexander's last +sickness.--His dying words.--Alexander's death.--Alexander and +Washington.--Calamitous results which followed Alexander's +death.--Stormy debates.--Aridaeus appointed king.--Effects of the +news of Alexander's death.--Death of Sysigambis.--Rejoicings at +Athens.--Demosthenes.--Joy of the Athenians.--Phocion.--Measures of +the Athenians.--Triumphant return of Demosthenes.--Grand reception of +Demosthenes.--Preparations for the funeral.--Destination of Alexander's +body.--A funeral on a grand scale.--The funeral car.--Its construction +and magnitude.--Ornaments and basso relievos.--Column of mules.--Crowds +of spectators.--The body deposited at Alexandria.--Alexander's true +character.--Conclusion. + + +After the events narrated in the last chapter, Alexander continued, +for two or three years, his expeditions and conquests in Asia, and in +the course of them he met with a great variety of adventures which can +not be here particularly described. He penetrated into India as far as +the banks of the Indus, and, not content with this, was preparing +to cross the Indus and go on to the Ganges. His soldiers, however, +resisted this design. They were alarmed at the stories which they +heard of the Indian armies, with elephants bearing castles upon their +backs, and soldiers armed with strange and unheard-of weapons. These +rumors, and the natural desire of the soldiers not to go away any +further from their native land, produced almost a mutiny in the army. +At length, Alexander, learning how strong and how extensive the spirit +of insubordination was becoming, summoned his officers to his own +tent, and then ordering the whole army to gather around, he went out +to meet them. + +He made an address to them, in which he recounted all their past +exploits, praised the courage and perseverance which they had shown +thus far, and endeavored to animate them with a desire to proceed. +They listened in silence, and no one attempted to reply. This solemn +pause was followed by marks of great agitation throughout the +assembly. The army loved their commander, notwithstanding his faults +and failings. They were extremely unwilling to make any resistance to +his authority; but they had lost that extreme and unbounded confidence +in his energy and virtue which made them ready, in the former part of +his career, to press forward into any difficulties and dangers +whatever, where he led the way. + +At last one of the army approached the king and addressed him somewhat +as follows: + +"We are not changed, sir, in our affection for you. We still have, and +shall always retain, the same zeal and the same fidelity. We are ready +to follow you at the hazard of our lives, and to march wherever you +may lead us. Still we must ask you, most respectfully, to consider the +circumstances in which we are placed. We have done all for you that it +was possible for man to do. We have crossed seas and land. We have +marched to the end of the world, and you are now meditating the +conquest of another, by going in search of new Indias, unknown to the +Indians themselves. Such a thought may be worthy of your courage and +resolution, but it surpasses ours, and our strength still more. Look +at these ghastly faces, and these bodies covered with wounds and +scars. Remember how numerous we were when first we set out with you, +and see how few of us remain. The few who have escaped so many toils +and dangers have neither courage nor strength to follow you any +further. They all long to revisit their country and their homes, and +to enjoy, for the remainder of their lives, the fruits of all their +toils. Forgive them these desires, so natural to man." + +The expression of these sentiments confirmed and strengthened them in +the minds of all the soldiers. Alexander was greatly troubled and +distressed. A disaffection in a small part of an army may be put down +by decisive measures; but when the determination to resist is +universal, it is useless for any commander, however imperious and +absolute in temper, to attempt to withstand it. Alexander, however, +was extremely unwilling to yield. He remained two days shut up in his +tent, the prey to disappointment and chagrin. + +The result, however, was, that he abandoned plans of further conquest, +and turned his steps again toward the west. He met with various +adventures as he went on, and incurred many dangers, often in a rash +and foolish manner, and for no good end. At one time, while attacking +a small town, he seized a scaling ladder and mounted with the troops. +In doing this, however, he put himself forward so rashly and +inconsiderately that his ladder was broken, and while the rest +retreated he was left alone upon the wall, whence he descended into +the town, and was immediately surrounded by enemies. His friends +raised their ladders again, and pressed on desperately to find and +rescue him. Some gathered around him and defended him, while others +contrived to open a small gate, by which the rest of the army gained +admission. By this means Alexander was saved; though, when they +brought him out of the city, there was an arrow three feet long, which +could not be extracted, sticking into his side through his coat of +mail. + +The surgeons first very carefully cut off the wooden shaft of the +arrow, and then, enlarging the wound by incisions, they drew out the +barbed point. The soldiers were indignant that Alexander should +expose his person in such a fool-hardy way, only to endanger himself, +and to compel them to rush into danger to rescue him. The wound very +nearly proved fatal. The loss of blood was attended with extreme +exhaustion; still, in the course of a few weeks he recovered. + +Alexander's habits of intoxication and vicious excess of all kinds +were, in the mean time, continually increasing. He not only indulged +in such excesses himself, but he encouraged them in others. He would +offer prizes at his banquets to those who would drink the most. On one +of these occasions, the man who conquered drank, it is said, eighteen +or twenty pints of wine, after which he lingered in misery for three +days, and then died; and more than forty others, present at the same +entertainment, died in consequence of their excesses. + +Alexander returned toward Babylon. His friend Hephaestion was with him, +sharing with him every where in all the vicious indulgences to which +he had become so prone. Alexander gradually separated himself more and +more from his old Macedonian friends, and linked himself more and more +closely with Persian associates. He married Statira, the oldest +daughter of Darius, and gave the youngest daughter to Hephaestion. He +encouraged similar marriages between Macedonian officers and Persian +maidens, as far as he could. In a word, he seemed intent in merging, +in every way, his original character and habits of action in the +effeminacy, luxury, and vice of the Eastern world, which he had at +first so looked down upon and despised. + +Alexander's entrance into Babylon, on his return from his Indian +campaigns, was a scene of great magnificence and splendor. Embassadors +and princes had assembled there from almost all the nations of the +earth to receive and welcome him, and the most ample preparations were +made for processions, shows, parades, and spectacles to do him honor. +The whole country was in a state of extreme excitement, and the most +expensive preparations were made to give him a reception worthy of one +who was the conqueror and monarch of the world, and the son of a god. + +When Alexander approached the city, however, he was met by a +deputation of Chaldean astrologers. The astrologers were a class of +philosophers who pretended, in those days, to foretell human events by +means of the motions of the stars. The motions of the stars were +studied very closely in early times, and in those Eastern countries, +by the shepherds, who had often to remain in the open air, through the +summer nights, to watch their flocks. These shepherds observed that +nearly all the stars were _fixed_ in relation to each other, that is, +although they rose successively in the east, and, passing over, set in +the west, they did not change in relation to each other. There were, +however, a few that wandered about among the rest in an irregular and +unaccountable manner. They called these stars the wanderers--that is, +in their language, _the planets_--and they watched their mysterious +movements with great interest and awe. They naturally imagined that +these changes had some connection with human affairs, and they +endeavored to prognosticate from them the events, whether prosperous +or adverse, which were to befall mankind. Whenever a comet or an +eclipse appeared, they thought it portended some terrible calamity. +The study of the motions and appearances of the stars, with a view to +foretell the course of human affairs, was the science of astrology. + +The astrologers came, in a very solemn and imposing procession, to +meet Alexander on his march. They informed him that they had found +indubitable evidence in the stars that, if he came into Babylon, he +would hazard his life. They accordingly begged him not to approach any +nearer, but to choose some other city for his capital. Alexander was +very much perplexed by this announcement. His mind, weakened by +effeminacy and dissipation, was very susceptible to superstitious +fears. It was not merely by the debilitating influence of vicious +indulgence on the nervous constitution that this effect was produced. +It was, in part, the moral influence of conscious guilt. Guilt makes +men afraid. It not only increases the power of real dangers, but +predisposes the mind to all sorts of imaginary fears. + +Alexander was very much troubled at this announcement of the +astrologers. He suspended his march, and began anxiously to consider +what to do. At length the Greek philosophers came to him and reasoned +with him on the subject, persuading him that the science of astrology +was not worthy of any belief. The Greeks had no faith in astrology. +They foretold future events by the flight of birds, or by the +appearances presented in the dissection of beasts offered in +sacrifice! + +At length, however, Alexander's fears were so far allayed that he +concluded to enter the city. He advanced, accordingly, with his whole +army, and made his entry under circumstances of the greatest possible +parade and splendor. As soon, however, as the excitement of the first +few days had passed away, his mind relapsed again, and he became +anxious, troubled, and unhappy. + +Hephaestion, his great personal friend and companion, had died while +he was on the march toward Babylon. He was brought to the grave by +diseases produced by dissipation and vice. Alexander was very much +moved by his death. It threw him at once into a fit of despondency and +gloom. It was some time before he could at all overcome the melancholy +reflections and forebodings which this event produced. He determined +that, as soon as he arrived in Babylon, he would do all possible honor +to Hephaestion's memory by a magnificent funeral. + +He accordingly now sent orders to all the cities and kingdoms around, +and collected a vast sum for this purpose. He had a part of the city +wall pulled down to furnish a site for a monumental edifice. This +edifice was constructed of an enormous size and most elaborate +architecture. It was ornamented with long rows of prows of ships, +taken by Alexander in his victories, and by statues, and columns, and +sculptures, and gilded ornaments of every kind. There were images of +sirens on the entablatures near the roof, which, by means of a +mechanism concealed within, were made to sing dirges and mournful +songs. The expense of this edifice, and of the games, shows, and +spectacles connected with its consecration, is said by the historians +of the day to have been a sum which, on calculation, is found equal to +about ten millions of dollars. + +There were, however, some limits still to Alexander's extravagance and +folly. There was a mountain in Greece, Mount Athos, which a certain +projector said could be carved and fashioned into the form of a +man--probably in a recumbent posture. There was a city on one of the +declivities of the mountain, and a small river, issuing from springs +in the ground, came down on the other side. The artist who conceived +of this prodigious piece of sculpture said that he would so shape the +figure that the city should be in one of its hands, and the river +should flow out from the other. + +[Illustration: PROPOSED IMPROVEMENT OF MOUNT ATHOS.] + +Alexander listened to this proposal. The name Mount Athos recalled +to his mind the attempt of Xerxes, a former Persian king, who had +attempted to cut a road through the rocks upon a part of Mount Athos, +in the invasion of Greece. He did not succeed, but left the unfinished +work a lasting memorial both of the attempt and the failure. Alexander +concluded at length that he would not attempt such a sculpture. "Mount +Athos," said he, "is already the monument of one king's folly; I will +not make it that of another." + +As soon as the excitement connected with the funeral obsequies of +Hephaestion were over, Alexander's mind relapsed again into a state of +gloomy melancholy. This depression, caused, as it was, by previous +dissipation and vice, seemed to admit of no remedy or relief but in +new excesses. The traces, however, of his former energy so far +remained that he began to form magnificent plans for the improvement +of Babylon. He commenced the execution of some of these plans. His +time was spent, in short, in strange alternations: resolution and +energy in forming vast plans one day, and utter abandonment to all the +excesses of dissipation and vice the next. It was a mournful spectacle +to see his former greatness of soul still struggling on, though more +and more faintly, as it became gradually overborne by the resistless +inroads of intemperance and sin. The scene was at length suddenly +terminated in the following manner: + +On one occasion, after he had spent a whole night in drinking and +carousing, the guests, when the usual time arrived for separating, +proposed that, instead of this, they should begin anew, and commence +a second banquet at the end of the first. Alexander, half intoxicated +already, entered warmly into this proposal. They assembled, +accordingly, in a very short time. There were twenty present at this +new feast. Alexander, to show how far he was from having exhausted +his powers of drinking, began to pledge each one of the company +individually. Then he drank to them all together. There was a very +large cup, called the bowl of Hercules, which he now called for, and, +after having filled it to the brim, he drank it off to the health of +one of the company present, a Macedonian named Proteas. This feat +being received by the company with great applause, he ordered the +great bowl to be filled again, and drank it off as before. + +The work was now done. His faculties and his strength soon failed him, +and he sank down to the floor. They bore him away to his palace. A +violent fever intervened, which the physicians did all in their power +to allay. As soon as his reason returned a little, Alexander aroused +himself from his lethargy, and tried to persuade himself that he +should recover. He began to issue orders in regard to the army, and to +his ships, as if such a turning of his mind to the thoughts of power +and empire would help bring him back from the brink of the grave +toward which he had been so obviously tending. He was determined, in +fact, that he would not die. + +He soon found, however, notwithstanding his efforts to be vigorous and +resolute, that his strength was fast ebbing away. The vital powers had +received a fatal wound, and he soon felt that they could sustain +themselves but little longer. He came to the conclusion that he must +die. He drew his signet ring off from his finger; it was a token that +he felt that all was over. He handed the ring to one of his friends +who stood by his bed-side. "When I am gone," said he, "take my body to +the Temple of Jupiter Ammon, and inter it there." + +The generals who were around him advanced to his bed-side, and one +after another kissed his hand. Their old affection for him revived as +they saw him about to take leave of them forever. They asked him to +whom he wished to leave his empire. "To the most worthy," said he. He +meant, doubtless, by this evasion, that he was too weak and exhausted +to think of such affairs. He knew, probably, that it was useless for +him to attempt to control the government of his empire after his +death. He said, in fact, that he foresaw that the decision of such +questions would give rise to some strange funeral games after his +decease. Soon after this he died. + +The palaces of Babylon were immediately filled with cries of mourning +at the death of the prince, followed by bitter and interminable +disputes about the succession. It had not been the aim of Alexander's +life to establish firm and well-settled governments in the countries +that he conquered, to encourage order, and peace, and industry among +men, and to introduce system and regularity in human affairs, so as to +leave the world in a better condition than he found it. In this +respect his course of conduct presents a strong contrast with that +of Washington. It was Washington's aim to mature and perfect +organizations which would move on prosperously of themselves, without +him; and he was continually withdrawing his hand from action and +control in public affairs, taking a higher pleasure in the independent +working of the institutions which he had formed and protected, than in +exercising, himself, a high personal power. Alexander, on the other +hand, was all his life intent solely on enlarging and strengthening +his own personal power. _He_ was all in all. He wished to make himself +so. He never thought of the welfare of the countries which he had +subjected to his sway, or did any thing to guard against the anarchy +and civil wars which he knew full well would break out at once over +all his vast dominions, as soon as his power came to an end. + +The result was as might have been foreseen. The whole vast field of +his conquests became, for many long and weary years after Alexander's +death, the prey to the most ferocious and protracted civil wars. Each +general and governor seized the power which Alexander's death left in +his hands, and endeavored to defend himself in the possession of it +against the others. Thus the devastation and misery which the making +of these conquests brought upon Europe and Asia were continued for +many years, during the slow and terrible process of their return to +their original condition. + +In the exigency of the moment, however, at Alexander's death, the +generals who were in his court at the time assembled forthwith, and +made an attempt to appoint some one to take the immediate command. +They spent a week in stormy debates on this subject. Alexander had +left no legitimate heir, and he had declined when on his death-bed, as +we have already seen, to appoint a successor. Among his wives--if, +indeed, they may be called wives--there was one named Roxana, who had +a son not long after his death. This son was ultimately named his +successor; but, in the mean time, a certain relative named Aridaeus was +chosen by the generals to assume the command. The selection of Aridaeus +was a sort of compromise. He had no talents or capacity whatever, and +was chosen by the rest on that very account, each one thinking that if +such an imbecile as Aridaeus was nominally the king, he could himself +manage to get possession of the real power. Aridaeus accepted the +appointment, but he was never able to make himself king in any thing +but the name. + +In the mean time, as the tidings of Alexander's death spread over the +empire, it produced very various effects, according to the personal +feelings in respect to Alexander entertained by the various +personages and powers to which the intelligence came. Some, who had +admired his greatness, and the splendor of his exploits, without +having themselves experienced the bitter fruits of them, mourned and +lamented his death. Others, whose fortunes had been ruined, and whose +friends and relatives had been destroyed, in the course, or in the +sequel of his victories, rejoiced that he who had been such a scourge +and curse to others, had himself sunk, at last under the just judgment +of Heaven. + +We should have expected that Sysigambis, the bereaved and widowed +mother of Darius, would have been among those who would have exulted +most highly at the conqueror's death; but history tells us that, +instead of this, she mourned over it with a protracted and +inconsolable grief. Alexander had been, in fact, though the implacable +enemy of her son, a faithful and generous friend to her. He had +treated her, at all times, with the utmost respect and consideration, +had supplied all her wants, and ministered, in every way, to her +comfort and happiness. She had gradually learned to think of him and +to love him as a son; he, in fact, always called her mother; and +when she learned that he was gone, she felt as if her last earthly +protector was gone. Her life had been one continued scene of +affliction and sorrow, and this last blow brought her to her end. She +pined away, perpetually restless and distressed. She lost all desire +for food, and refused, like others who are suffering great mental +anguish, to take the sustenance which her friends and attendants +offered and urged upon her. At length she died. They said she starved +herself to death; but it was, probably, grief and despair at being +thus left, in her declining years, so hopelessly friendless and alone, +and not hunger, that destroyed her. + +In striking contrast to this mournful scene of sorrow in the palace of +Sysigambis, there was an exhibition of the most wild and tumultuous +joy in the streets, and in all the public places of resort in the city +of Athens, when the tidings of the death of the great Macedonian king +arrived there. The Athenian commonwealth, as well as all the other +states of Southern Greece, had submitted very reluctantly to the +Macedonian supremacy. They had resisted Philip, and they had resisted +Alexander. Their opposition had been at last suppressed and silenced +by Alexander's terrible vengeance upon Thebes, but it never was +really subdued. Demosthenes, the orator, who had exerted so powerful +an influence against the Macedonian kings, had been sent into +banishment, and all outward expressions of discontent were restrained. +The discontent and hostility existed still, however, as inveterate as +ever, and was ready to break out anew, with redoubled violence, the +moment that the terrible energy of Alexander himself was no longer to +be feared. + +When, therefore, the rumor arrived at Athens--for at first it was a +mere rumor--that Alexander was dead in Babylon, the whole city was +thrown into a state of the most tumultuous joy. The citizens assembled +in the public places, and congratulated and harangued each other with +expressions of the greatest exultation. They were for proclaiming +their independence and declaring war against Macedon on the spot. Some +of the older and more sagacious of their counselors were, however, +more composed and calm. They recommended a little delay, in order to +see whether the news was really true. Phocion, in particular, who was +one of the prominent statesmen of the city, endeavored to quiet the +excitement of the people. "Do not let us be so precipitate," said he. +"There is time enough. If Alexander is really dead to-day, he will be +dead to-morrow, and the next day, so that there will be time enough +for us to act with deliberation and discretion." + +Just and true as this view of the subject was, there was too much of +rebuke and satire in it to have much influence with those to whom +it was addressed. The people were resolved on war. They sent +commissioners into all the states of the Peloponnesus to organize a +league, offensive and defensive, against Macedon. They recalled +Demosthenes from his banishment, and adopted all the necessary +military measures for establishing and maintaining their freedom. The +consequences of all this would doubtless have been very serious, if +the rumor of Alexander's death had proved false; but, fortunately for +Demosthenes and the Athenians, it was soon abundantly confirmed. + +The return of Demosthenes to the city was like the triumphal entry of +a conqueror. At the time of his recall he was at the island of Aegina, +which is about forty miles southwest of Athens, in one of the gulfs of +the Aegean Sea. They sent a public galley to receive him, and to bring +him to the land. It was a galley of three banks of oars, and was +fitted up in a style to do honor to a public guest. Athens is +situated some distance back from the sea, and has a small port, called +the Piraeus, at the shore--a long, straight avenue leading from the +port to the city. The galley by which Demosthenes was conveyed landed +at the Piraeus. All the civil and religious authorities of the city +went down to the port, in a grand procession, to receive and welcome +the exile on his arrival, and a large portion of the population +followed in the train, to witness the spectacle, and to swell by their +acclamations the general expression of joy. + +In the mean time, the preparations for Alexander's funeral had been +going on, upon a great scale of magnificence and splendor. It was two +years before they were complete. The body had been given, first, to be +embalmed, according to the Egyptian and Chaldean art, and then had +been placed in a sort of sarcophagus, in which it was to be conveyed +to its long home. Alexander, it will be remembered, had given +directions that it should be taken to the temple of Jupiter Ammon, in +the Egyptian oasis, where he had been pronounced the son of a god. It +would seem incredible that such a mind as his could really admit such +an absurd superstition as the story of his divine origin, and we must +therefore suppose that he gave this direction in order that the place +of his interment might confirm the idea of his superhuman nature in +the general opinion of mankind. At all events, such were his orders, +and the authorities who were left in power at Babylon after his death, +prepared to execute them. + +It was a long journey. To convey a body by a regular funeral +procession, formed as soon after the death as the arrangements could +be made, from Babylon to the eastern frontiers of Egypt, a distance of +a thousand miles, was perhaps as grand a plan of interment as was ever +formed. It has something like a parallel in the removal of Napoleon's +body from St. Helena to Paris, though this was not really an +interment, but a transfer. Alexander's was a simple burial procession, +going from the palace where he died to the proper cemetery--a march +of a thousand miles, it is true, but all within his own dominions The +greatness of it resulted simply from the magnitude of the scale on +which every thing pertaining to the mighty here was performed, for +it was nothing but a simple passage from the dwelling to the +burial-ground on his own estates, after all. + +A very large and elaborately constructed carriage was built to convey +the body. The accounts of the richness and splendor of this vehicle +are almost incredible. The spokes and staves of the wheels were +overlaid with gold, and the extremities of the axles, where they +appeared outside at the centers of the wheels, were adorned with +massive golden ornaments. The wheels and axle-trees were so large, and +so far apart, that there was supported upon them a platform or floor +for the carriage twelve feet wide and eighteen feet long. Upon this +platform there was erected a magnificent pavilion, supported by Ionic +columns, and profusely ornamented, both within and without, with +purple and gold. The interior constituted an apartment, more or less +open at the sides, and resplendent within with gems and precious +stones. The space of twelve feet by eighteen forms a chamber of no +inconsiderable size, and there was thus ample room for what was +required within. There was a throne, raised some steps, and placed +back upon the platform, profusely carved and gilded. It was empty; but +crowns, representing the various nations over whom Alexander had +reigned, were hung upon it. At the foot of the throne was the coffin, +made, it is said, of solid gold, and containing, besides the body, a +large quantity of the most costly spices and aromatic perfumes, which +filled the air with their odor. The arms which Alexander wore were +laid out in view, also, between the coffin and the throne. + +On the four sides of the carriage were _basso relievos_, that is, +sculptured figures raised from a surface, representing Alexander +himself, with various military concomitants. There were Macedonian +columns, and Persian squadrons, and elephants of India, and troops of +horse, and various other emblems of the departed hero's greatness and +power. Around the pavilion, too, there was a fringe or net-work of +golden lace, to the pendents of which were attached bells, which +tolled continually, with a mournful sound, as the carriage moved +along. A long column of mules, sixty-four in number, arranged in sets +of four, drew this ponderous car. These mules were all selected for +their great size and strength, and were splendidly caparisoned. They +had collars and harnesses mounted with gold, and enriched with +precious stones. + +Before the procession set out from Babylon an army of pioneers and +workmen went forward to repair the roads, strengthen the bridges, and +remove the obstacles along the whole line of route over which the +train was to pass. At length, when all was ready, the solemn procession +began to move, and passed out through the gates of Babylon. No pen can +describe the enormous throngs of spectators that assembled to witness +its departure, and that gathered along the route, as it passed slowly +on from city to city, in its long and weary way. + +Notwithstanding all this pomp and parade, however, the body never +reached its intended destination. Ptolemy, the officer to whom Egypt +fell in the division of Alexander's empire, came forth with a grand +escort of troops to meet the funeral procession as it came into Egypt. +He preferred, for some reason or other, that the body should be +interred in the city of Alexandria. It was accordingly deposited +there, and a great monument was erected over the spot. This monument +is said to have remained standing for fifteen hundred years, but all +vestiges of it have now disappeared. The city of Alexandria itself, +however, is the conqueror's real monument; the greatest and best, +perhaps, that any conqueror ever left behind him. It is a monument, +too, that time will not destroy; its position and character, as +Alexander foresaw, by bringing it a continued renovation, secure +its perpetuity. + +Alexander earned well the name and reputation of THE GREAT. He was +truly great in all those powers and capacities which can elevate one +man above his fellows. We can not help applauding the extraordinary +energy of his genius, though we condemn the selfish and cruel ends to +which his life was devoted. He was simply a robber, but yet a robber +on so vast a scale, that mankind, in contemplating his career, have +generally lost sight of the wickedness of his crimes in their +admiration of the enormous magnitude of the scale on which they were +perpetrated. + + + + + + * * * * * + + + + +Transcriber's note: + +1. Minor changes have been made to correct typesetters' errors, and to +ensure consistent spelling and punctuation in this etext; otherwise, +every effort has been made to remain true to the original book. + +2. The chapter summaries in this text were originally published as +banners in the page headers, and have been moved to beginning of the +chapter for the reader's convenience. + + + +***END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK ALEXANDER THE GREAT*** + + +******* This file should be named 30624.txt or 30624.zip ******* + + +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: +http://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/3/0/6/2/30624 + + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. Special rules, +set forth in the General Terms of Use part of this license, apply to +copying and distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works to +protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm concept and trademark. 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