PROGRESS OF ALEXANDER-BATTLE OF THE ISSUS. a small river now called Ousvola, which empties into the Sea of Marmora. Alexander led the attack upon them by plunging into the river with his horse. He advanced, with thirteen of his troop, in the face of a cloud of arrows; and, though swept down by the rapidity of the current, and opposed by steep banks lined with cavalry, he forced his way, by irresistible strength and impetuosity, across the stream. Standing upon the muddy slope, his troops were now obliged to sustain a furious attack, hand to hand and eye to eye. The Persian troops, cheered by their vantage ground, pushed on with terrific shouts, and hurled their javelins, like snow-flakes, upon the Macedonians. Alexander, being himself distinguished by his buckler and crest, decorated with white plumes, was the special 105 scription to be made: "Won, by Alexander, of the barbarians in Asia."* Alexander soon pushed on to the East, and, meeting Darius near the Gulf of Issus, now Skanderoon,- and forming the north-eastern point of the Mediterranean,a tremendous engagement took place, 333 B. C. Darius was defeated, and more than one hundred thousand of his soldiers lay dead on the field. Darius escaped with difficulty, leaving his tent, and even his wife and daughter, in the hands of the enemy. When the fighting was over, Alexander went to see the tent of Darius. It was, indeed, a curiosity to one like the Macedonian king, little acquainted with Eastern refinements. He gazed for a moment at the luxurious baths of Darius, his vases, boxes, vials, and basins, all of wrought gold; he inhaled the luscious perfumes, and surveyed the rich silk drapery and gorgeous furniture of the tent, and then exclaimed, contemptuously, "This, then, it seems, is to be a king;" intimating that, if these were the only distinctions of a sovereign, the title deserved contempt. While Alexander was thus occupied, he was told that the wife and daughter of Darius were his captives. The queen was one of the loveliest women that was ever known, and his daughter was also exceedingly beautiful. Though Alexander was told of all this, he sent word to the afflicted ladies that they need have no fear; and he caused them to be treated with the utmost delicacy and attention. He refrained from using his power in any way to their annoyance, and www thus displayed one of the noblest graces of a gentle Alexander at the Battle of the Granicus. object of attack. His cuirass was pierced by a javelin, at the joint; but thus far he was unhurt. Now he was assailed by two chiefs of great distinction. Evading one, he engaged the other. After a desperate struggle, in which his crest was shorn away, and his helmet cleft to his hair, he slew one of the chiefs, and was saved, at the moment of deadly peril, by the hand of his friend Clytus, who despatched the other. man and a man- a nice regard for the feelings of the gentler sex. This anecdote of the conqueror has shed more honor upon his name, for two thousand years, than the victory of the Issus; nor will it cease to be cited in his praise as long as history records his name. CHAPTER LXI. 333 to 323 B. C. Habits of Alexander- Conquest of Tyre- While Alexander's cavalry were fighting with the THE historians represent Alexander as simple in his tastes and habits, at this period. He was temperate in eating, drank wine with great moderation, and, if he sat long at table, it was for the purpose of conversation, in which he excelled - though given to boasting of his military exploits. When business called, nothing Alexander had now passed the gates of Asia, and had obtained entrance into the dominions of the enemy. He paused for a time, to pay the last honors to the dead. To each he erected a statue of brass, executed by Lysippus. Upon the arms which were taken and distributed among the troops, he caused this in the Macedonian conqueror in this kind of boasting. As he *We may remark that Bonaparte seems to have imitated was on his march to Russia, he caused to be graven on a stone "Year MDCCCXII. Memorable for the Campaign against Russia, 1812." The Russian commander, when Napoleon had been dethroned, passing through Coblentz with his troops, caused to be carved, immediately beneath, as follows: "Seen and approved by the Russian commander of the Town of Coblentz, January 1, 1814." nian conqueror; yet he was bound upon an errand which It is true that no such speedy retort awaited the Macedowas, ere long, to put a period to his proud career. 106 CONQUEST OF EGYPT, PERSIA, &c. of Arbela, in Assyria. Alexander immediately approached, and prepared for battle. Being near the enemy at night, the murmur of the immense multitude, seeming like the roaring of the sea, startled one of Alexander's friends, who advised him to attack them in the night. The reply was, "I will not steal a victory!" could detain him; but, in times of leisure, his first | camped on the banks of the Bumadus, near the town business in the morning was to sacrifice to the gods. He then took his dinner, sitting. The rest of the day he spent in hunting, or deciding differences among his troops, or in reading and writing. Sometimes he would exercise himself in shooting or darting the javelin, or in mounting and alighting from a chariot in full career. Sometimes, also, he diverted himself with fowling and fox-hunting. His chief meal was supper, which he took at evening, and in a recumbent posture, with his friends around him. He was not fond of delicacies; and, though they were always found at his table, he usually sent them to others. Such was Alexander during the early periods of his campaigns in Asia. We shall see that he was, soon, grievously changed. During that night, though it was foreseen that a dreadful and doubtful battle was to be fought the next day, Alexander, having made his preparations, slept soundly. In the morning, on the field, he wore a short coat, girt close about him; over that, a breastplate of linen strongly quilted, which he had taken in the battle of Issus. His helmet was of polished iron, and shone like silver. To this was fixed a gorAfter various operations, Alexander marched against get, set with precious stones. His sword was light, Phoenicia and Sidon, which submitted at once. Tyre and of the finest temper. The belt he wore was superb, resisted, but, after a siege of seven months, was taken and was given him by the Rhodians, as a mark of reby storm. Eight thousand Tyrians fell in the onslaught, spect. In reviewing and exercising, he spared his faand thirty thousand captives were sold into slavery. vorite horse Bucephalus; but he rode him in battle, and Gaza was now taken, after a siege of two months. when he mounted his back, it was always a signal for Alexander then marched to Jerusalem, to punish the the onset. inhabitants for refusing to supply him with men and money. The high priest, Jaddus, went forth to meet the conqueror, attended by the priests and the people, with all the imposing emblems and signs of the Jewish religion. Alexander was so struck with the spectacle, that he pardoned the people, adored the name of the Most High, and performed sacrifices in the temple, according to the instructions of Jaddus. The book of the prophet Daniel was shown to him, and the passage pointed out in which it was foretold that the king of Grecia would overcome the king of Persia - with which he was well pleased.* Aristander, the soothsayer, rode by the side of Alexander, in a white robe, and with a golden crown upon his head. He looked up, and lo, an eagle was sailing over the army! His course was towards the enemy. The army caught sight of the noble bird, and, taking it for a good omen, they now charged the enemy like a torrent. They were bravely resisted, but Alexander and his troops burst down upon them like an overwhelming avalanche, cutting their way towards the tent of Darius. The path was impeded by the slaughtered heaps that gathered before them, and their horses were embarrassed by the mangled and The conqueror now turned his arms against Egypt, dying soldiers, who clung to the legs of the animals, which yielded without striking a blow. Having estab-seeking in their last agonies to resist them. Darius, lished the government on a liberal footing, he set out, 331 A. D., to attack the Persian king, who had gathered an army of a million of men, and was now in Persia. About this time, he received a letter from Darius, in which that prince proposed, on condition of a pacification and future friendship, to pay him ten thousand talents in ransom of his prisoners, to cede him all the countries west of the Euphrates, and to give him his daughter in marriage. Upon his communicating these proposals to his friends, Parmenio said, "If I were Alexander, I would accept them." "So would I," said Alexander, "if I were Parmenio." The answer he gave Darius was, that if he would come to him, he should find the best of treatment; if not, he must go and seek him. This anecdote shows Parmenio to have been the better man; Alexander, the greater conqueror. In consonance with this declaration, he began his march; but he repented that he had set out so soon, when he received information that the wife of Darius was dead. That princess expired in childbed; and the concern of Alexander was great, because he lost an opportunity of displaying his clemency. All he could do was to return, and bury her with the utmost magnifi cence. Alexander, having subdued various places that held out against him, now proceeded in his march against Darius. He found him with his immense army en * This incident in Alexander's history is supposed by some authors to rest upon doubtful authority. now in the utmost peril, turned to fly, but his chariot became entangled in the slain. Seeing this, he mounted a swift horse, and fled to Bactriana, where he was treacherously murdered by Bessus, the gov ernor. Alexander was now declared king of all Asia, and, though this might seem the summit of his glory, it was the point at which his character begins to decline. He now affected the pomp of an Eastern prince, and addicted himself to dissipation. He, however, continued his conquests. He marched to Babylon, which opened its gates for his reception. He proceeded to Persepolis, which he took by surprise. During his stay here, he entertained his friends at a banquet, at which the guests drank, as usual, to excess. Among the women who were admitted to it, masked, was Thais, the courtesan, a native of Attica, and at that time mistress to Ptolemy, who afterwards was king of Egypt. About the end of the feast, during which she had studiously endeavored to please the king, in the most artful and delicate manner, she said, with a gay tone of voice, that it would be matter of inexpressible joy to her, were she permitted,-masked as she was, and in order to end the entertainment nobly,—to burn the magnificent palace of Xerxes, who had burned Athens; and to set it on fire with her own hand, in order that it might be said in all parts of the world, that the women who followed Alexander in his expedition to Asia, had taken much better vengeance on the Persians for the many calamities they had brought on the Grecians, than all the generals who had fought for HABITS OF ALEXANDER-ANECDOTES. them, both by sea and land. All the guests applauded the discourse; when immediately the king rose from the table,—his head being crowned with flowers, and taking a torch in his hand, he moved forward to execute this mighty exploit. The whole company followed him, breaking out into loud exclamations, and afterwards singing and dancing, they surrounded the palace. All the rest of the Macedonians, at this noise, ran in crowds with lighted tapers, and set fire to every part of it. Alexander was soon sorry for what he had done, and thereupon gave orders for extinguishing the flames; but it was too late. The magnificent pile was a ruin. 107 All things being ready for the campaign, Alexander thought this a proper opportunity to reveal a design he had long meditated -to have divine honors paid him. To soothe and cherish this ridiculous pretension, there were not wanting flatterers, those pests of courts who are more dangerous to princes than the arms of their enemies. With this view he appointed a festival, and made a pompous banquet; to which he invited the greatest lords of his court, both Macedonians and Greeks, and many of the highest quality among the Persians. With these he sat down at table for some time, after which he withdrew. Upon this, Cleon, one of his flatterers, began to He now marched into Parthia, and, meeting with a speak, and expatiated very much in praise of the king beautiful princess, named Roxana, daughter of a Bac- as had before been agreed upon. He made a long trian king, he fell in love with her, and married her. detail of the high obligations they owed to him; all Some time after this, upon some suspicion of the which, he observed, they might acknowledge and refidelity of Philotas, the son of Parmenio, he caused pay at a very easy expense, merely with two grains him to be put to the torture till he died. He then of incense, which they should offer to him as to a god, sent orders to have his father, an old and faithful sol- without the least scruple, since they believed him such. dier, who had fought under Philip, and who was now To this purpose he cited the example of the Persians, in Media, to be put to death-which were but too and added, that in case the rest should not care to do faithfully executed. This horrid transaction was soon this justice to Alexander's merits, he himself was refollowed by another, still more dreadful. Under the solved to show them the way, and to worship him in excitement of wine, a dispute arose between Alexan-case he should return into the hall. He added that all der and Clytus, the brave officer who had saved his life at the battle of the Granicus. Both became greatly excited: taunts and gibes were uttered on either side. Alexander, unable longer to keep down his rage, threw an apple in the face of Clytus, and then looked about for his sword; but one of his friends had prudently taken it away. Clytus was now forced out of the room, but he soon came back, and repeated the words of Euripides, meaning to apply them to Alexander: "Are these your customs? Is it thus that Greece The conqueror was now wholly beside himself. He seized a spear from one of the guards, and, at a plunge, ran it through the body of Clytus, who fell dead, uttering a dismal groan as he expired. Alexander's rage subsided in a moment. Seeing his friends standing around in silent astonishment, he hastily drew out the spear, and was applying it to his own throat, when his guards seized him, and carried him by force to his chamber. Here the pangs of remorse stung him to the quick. Tears fell fast for a time, and then succeeded a moody, melancholy silence, only broken by groans. His friends attempted in vain to console him. It was not till after long and painful suffering that he was restored to his wonted composure. Alexander had determined to carry on war with India, the richest country in the world, not only in gold, but in pearls and precious stones, - with which the inhabitants adorned themselves, with more luxury, indeed, than gracefulness. He was informed that the swords of the soldiers were of gold and ivory; and being now the greatest monarch that ever lived, and determined to excel all others in splendor,- he caused the swords of his soldiers to be set off with silver plates, put golden bridles to the horses, had the coats of mail adorned with gold and silver, and prepared to march for his enterprise at the head of a hundred and twenty thousand men, all equipped with the utmost magnificence. must do their duty, especially those who professed wisdom; these, indeed, ought to serve the rest as an example of the veneration due to so great a monarch. It appeared plainly that the close of the speech was directed to Callisthenes. He was related to Aristotle, and had presented himself to Alexander, his pupil, that he might attend upon that monarch in the war of Persia. He was considered, upon account of his wisdom and gravity, as the fittest person to give him such wholesome counsels as were most likely to preserve him from the excesses into which his youth and fiery temper might hurry him. This philosopher, seeing that every one, on this occasion, continued in deep silence, and that the eyes of the whole assembly were fixed upon him, addressed himself to Cleon in the following words: "Had the king been present when thou madest thy speech, none among us would have attempted to answer thee, for he himself would have interrupted thee, and not have suffered thee to prompt him to assume the customs of barbarians, in casting an odium on his person and glory, by so servile an adulation: but since he is absent, I will answer thee in his name. I consider Alexander as worthy of all the honors that can be paid a mortal; but there is a difference between the worship of the gods and that of men. The former includes temples, altars, prayers, and sacrifices; the latter is confined to commendations only, and awful respect. "We salute these, and look upon it as glorious to pay them submission, obedience, and fidelity; but we adore the former. We institute festivals to their honor, and sing hymns and spiritual songs to their glory. We must not, therefore, confound things, either by bringing down the gods to the condition of mortals, or by raising a mortal to the state of a god. Alexander would be justly offended, should we pay to another person the homage due to his sacred person only: ought we not to dread the indignation of the gods as much, should we bestow upon mortals the honor due to them alone? I am sensible that our monarch is vastly superior to the rest: he is the greatest of kings, and the most glorious of all conquerors; but then he is a man, not a god. The Greeks did not worship The deep silence which all the company observed hilst Callisthenes spoke, was an indication, in some measure, of their thoughts. The king, who stood beLind the tapestry all the time, heard what had passed. He therefore ordered Cleon to be told, that, without nsisting any further, he would only require the Perhans to fall prostrate, according to their usual cusom; a little after which he came in, pretending he ad been busied in some affairs of importance. Immediately the Persians fell prostrate to adore him. Polysperchon, who stood near him, observing that one f them bowed so low that his chin touched the ground, ade him, in a rallying tone of voice, to strike harder. The king, offended at this joke, threw Polysperchon nto prison. As for Callisthenes, he determined to get id of him, and therefore laid to his charge a crime of which he was in no way guilty. Accordingly, he was hrown into a dungeon, loaded with irons, and the most grievous torments were inflicted on him, in order extort a confession of guilt. But he insisted upon is innocence to the last, and expired in the midst of Lis tortures. The unjust and cruel death of Callisthenes not only eflected the greatest dishonor upon Alexander, but by his dreadful example, he deprived all virtuous men f the opportunity of exhorting him to those things which were for his true interest. From that instant o one spoke with freedom in the council: even those who had the greatest love for the public good, and personal affection for Alexander, thought themselves ot obliged to undeceive him. After this, nothing was stened to but flattery, which gained such an ascenency over his mind as utterly depraved him, and ustly punished him for having sacrificed to the wild mbition of having adoration paid him, the most virLious man about his person. "The murder of this hilosopher," says Seneca, "was a crime of so heinous - nature, as entirely obliterates the glory of all the onqueror's other actions." Alexander now set out for the conquest of India. After a series of splendid achievements, he reached he country now called Punjaub, or the Five Rivers. Having reduced one of the Indian kings to submission, e rested his weary army at his capital of Taxila. He men marched forward to the banks of the Hydaspes.* Here he was met by Porus, an Indian king, with an nmense army, in which large number of elehants. A bloody battle followed, in which Alexaner was victorious and Porus made captive. "How o you wish to be treated?" said Alexander to the nfortunate monarch. "Like a king," was the brief, ut significant reply. Alexander granted his request, estored his dominions, and much enlarged them, making him, however, one of his tributaries. were a The conqueror, not yet satisfied, wished to push n to the Ganges; but his army refusing to go farher, he was forced to return. On his way back, he aid a visit to the ocean, and, in a battle with some and fifty thousand men; on its return, it was to one fourth of that number. Coming to a fertile district, Alexander pa recruit, and refresh his men. He then pro keeping up a kind of bacchanalian fête, in wh whole army participated. His own chariot was by eight horses: it consisted of a huge p where he and his friends revelled day and This carriage was followed by others, some with rich purple silk and others with fresh In these were the generals, crowned with flowe inebriated with wine. In the immense processic was not a spear, helmet, or buckler - but places cups, flagons, and goblets. The whole resounded with flutes, clarionets, and joyous The scene was attended with the riotous dane frolics of a multitude of women. This lic march continued for seven days. When he arrived at Susa, one of the capitals of Alexander married a great number of his fri Persian ladies. He set the example by taking daughter of Darius, to himself, and gave he to Hephæstion, his dearest friend. He now nuptial feast for the newly-married people, a thousand persons sat down to the entertainment. one was honored with a golden cup. On his return to Babylon, Alexander dete to make that place his residence and capital, about various plans for carrying this into effec his mind seemed haunted with superstitiou Every thing that happened was construed augury of evil. The court swarmed with sa and soothsayers, but still, for a long time, peac not be obtained by the monarch. At last he to be relieved, and, being asked by Medias to a sal, he drank all day and all night, until he fever coming upon him. He then desisted, bu too late. The disease increased, setting at c every attempt at remedy, and in the space c thirty days he died, 323 B. C. Such was the lam end of Alexander the Great. His wife Roxa † Alexander appears by this time to have given up to frequent debauchery. On one occasion, havin several of his friends and general officers to supper. posed a crown as a reward for him who should dri He who conquered on this occasion was Promach swallowed fourteen measures of wine, that is, eig twenty pints. After receiving the prize, which was a talent, i. e. a thousand crowns, he his victory but three days. Of the rest of the gue died of their intemperate drinking. In the carousal which caused his death, Alexander the health of every person in company, and then pled severally. After this, calling for Hercules's cup, w * This is the modern Jhelum; and the bloody contest of Chilliamwallah, January, 1849, between the British and Seikhs, vas nearly on the site of the battle between Alexander and Porus. an incredible quantity, it was filled, when he pour down, drinking to a Macedonian of the company, P name; and afterwards pledged him again, in the sam and extravagant bumper. He had no sooner swal than he fell upon the floor. "Here, then," says Se scribing the fatal effects of drunkenness, "this herc quered by all the toils of prodigious marches, expos dangers of sieges and combats, to the most violent of heat and cold, - here he lies, subdued by his inten and struck to the earth by the fatal cup of Hercu this condition he was seized with a fever, which days terminated in death. ement far greater than it would be now to the Ottoman throne, and give independence ous tribes and states that are at present uninion. That he accomplished this work from motive, we cannot maintain, for his whole ows, that, like all other conquerors, his acn and terminated in himself. But it must mitted that as a consequence of his career, cquired an intellectual ascendency in the ich the subsequent progress of civilization rter must, in some degree, be attributed. shall hereafter have occasion to return to - we defer our view of his character till ompleted his history. It is proper to remark ever, that our hasty sketch of his expedition t presents but a feeble idea of his vast and rations. He crossed the Propontis in 334, n 323 B. C. In the space of eleven years, e age of thirty-three, he had overturned the mpire of antiquity, and by means which edibly small. Nor were his achievements o mere marches and counter-marches, to battles. Wherever he went, he carried plans ement, indicating the liberal spirit and envs of the statesman. his death, Alexander had taken efficient for securing and consolidating his unwieldy . Having conquered a country, he bestowed at kind of government which he deemed best its condition. Among the Greeks of Asia established republics; in some places he the existing governments, making the satraps ors his tributaries. His active mind was also commercial intercourse as a means of binder his European and Asiatic dominions. He y selected various points where he estabrts of commerce; and a strong proof of his s afforded in the fact that many of them Macedonian nobleman, who had succeeded Hephæs in his favor. Possessing no small share of the enthusiasm of late illustrious master, tempered by policy and dence, Perdiccas seemed the best fitted of all generals to consolidate the mighty empire which A ander had acquired. But the Macedonian no possessed a more than ordinary share of the p and turbulence that distinguish a feudal aristocra they had formed several conspiracies against the of the late monarch, by whose exploits and ge osity they had so largely profited, and conseque they were not disposed to submit to one who had so cently been their equal. Scarcely had the regency b formed, when the Macedonian infantry, at the instiga of Meleager, chose for their sovereign Aridæus, imbecile brother of Alexander. The civil war co quent on this measure was arrested at the very ins it was about to burst forth by the resignation of An dæus, and, as his incapacity soon became notori all parties concurred in the propriety of a new arra ment. It was accordingly agreed that Perdiccas sh be regent, but that Aridæus should retain the sha of royalty; provision was made for the child which Roxana, Alexander's widow, was pregna and the principal provinces were divided among Macedonian generals, with the powers previously ercised by the Persian satraps. During these dissensions, the body of Alexa lay unburied and neglected, and it was not until years after his death that his remains were consig to the tomb.* But his followers still showed respect for his memory by retaining the feeble A dæus on the throne, and preventing the marriage Perdiccas with Cleopatra, the daughter of Philip union which manifestly was projected to open his to the throne. But, while this project of marriage occupied attention of the regent, a league had secretly formed for its destruction, and the storm burst fort a quarter whence it was least expected. Alexar in his march against Darius, had been contented receiving the nominal submission of the northern p inces of Asia Minor. Impatient of subjection, t savage nations asserted their independence after death of Alexander, and chose Ariarathes for leader. Perdiccas sent against them Eumenes, had hitherto fulfilled the peaceful duties of a secret and sent orders to Antigonus and Leonatus, the ernors of Western Asia, to join the expedition wit their forces. These commands were disobeyed, Perdiccas was forced to march with the royal a against the insurgents. He easily defeated these disciplined troops, but sullied his victory by unne * They were taken by Ptolemy to Egypt, and interred golden coffin, and divine honors were rendered to the n my of the departed hero. The sarcophagus, taken by zoni from Egypt to London, bearing Alexander's name received this title without sufficient evidence. |