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sulted the Delphic oracle, and received the following response, equally applicable to the prosperous or unsuccessful event of the war: The bull is ready crowned; his end approaches, and he will soon be sacrificed. "The prophecy," said Philip, "is quite clear: the bull is the monarch of Persia." The prediction speedly found its accomplishment, but Philip himself was the victim. While engaged in celebrating a magnificent festival on the marriage of his daughter Cleopatra with the king of Epirus, and walking in solemn procession to the temple, he was struck into the heart with a dagger by Pausanias, a noble youth who had been brutally injured by Attalus, the brother-in-law of Philip and to whom that prince had refused to do justice. Philip had in the latter period of his reign degraded himself by some strong acts of tyranny, the fruit of an uncontrolled indulgence of vicious appetites. As the pretext of a divorce from his queen Olympias, the mother of Alexander, he threw the most unjust suspicions upon her character, and drove her son from court in disgust at the conduct of his father, who now assumed Cassandra, the niece of Attalus, who had captivated him by the charms of her person, into the place of his injured queen. The disgust which Alexander justly conceived at these proceedings, encouraged a suspicion, for which, however, there are no solid grounds, that he was privy to the design of Pausanias.

The Athenians, with much meanness, expressed, on occasion of Philip's death, the most tumultuous joy. A solemn sacrifice of thanksgiving was offered to the gods, and a crown of gold decreed to Pausanias in reward of his services to the nation. It is probable that a gleam of hope arose from this event that the liberty of Greece might yet be recovered; but they were strangers at this time to the character of that youth who now succeeded to the throne of Macedonia.

CHAPTER IV.

ALEXANDER THE GREAT takes and destroys Thebes-Submission of the Grecian States-Alexander declared General of the Armies of Greece-Battle of the Granicus-Issus-Siege of Tyre-Expedition into Egypt-Battle of Arbela- Alexander at Persepolis- Expedition to India-Return to SusaEnters Babylon, and dies- Division of his Empire-Kingdom of Egypt-of Syria.

Persepolis-Expedition

ALEXANDER was in the twentieth year of his age when he succeeded, by the death of Philip, to the throne of Macedonia This 23

VOL. I.

prince, possessed of all the military abilities of his father, inherited a soul more truly noble, and an ambition yet more unbounded. He had from his infancy given proofs of that singular heroism of character, which marked the conqueror of the eastern world. Te extraordinary endowments of nature he had joined all the advan tages of education. Under the tutelage of the philosopher Aris totle, he imbibed not only a taste for learning and the sciences, but those excellent lessons of politics, in which that great teacher was qualified, beyond all his contemporaries, to instruct him.

On the first intelligence of the death of Philip, the Greeks, and particularly the citizens of Athens, exhibited that pitiful exultation, which only evinced their own pusillanimity. The Macedonian heir they regarded as a mere boy, from whom the liberties of Greece could never be in serious hazard; as he would, they conceived, find sufficient employment both for his policy and prowess in securing the stability of his hereditary throne against domestic faction. Lest, however, the example of Philip might encourage his son to similar schemes of ambition, the Athenians thought it a prudent measure to form an offensive and defensive league with several of the Grecian states, against the new king of Macedonia, with the view of maintaining entire the national independence. Alexander beheld these measures in silence: the time was not yet come for the full display of that great plan of empire, which his comprehensive mind had formed. The Thracians, however, with the Pæonians and Illyrians, having made the death of Philip the signal of emancipation from the newly imposed yoke of Macedon, Alexander made the first essay of his arms against these barbarous nations, whose revolt he chastised with the most signal severity.*

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The Greeks were speedily roused from their dream of security: but their surprise was extreme when they beheld the Macedonian pour down with his army upon Boeotia, and present himself at the gates of Thebes. The Thebans, on a false report of his death in Battle against the Illyrians, had expelled the Macedonian garrison, and put to death its commanders, Amyntas and Timolaus. Alexander offered pardon to the city on condition of absolute submission, and the delivering up of the principal offenders. Thebans were obstinate, and the consequence was, that Thebes was taken by storm, and abandoned to the fury of the Macedonian troops, who plundered and destroyed it. Six thousand of the inhabitants were put to the sword, and thirty thousand sold to slavery. The priests, however, with their families, were treated with reverence; and while the streets and fortifications of the city were reduced to a mass of ruins, the conqueror showed his respect to the memory of Pindar, by preserving from destruction the great poet's house, which was still occupied by his descendants.

*For ample details of this, and of all the subsequent campaigns of Alexander see vol. iii. of the Family Library.

This exemplary severity struck terror throughout all Greece. The Athenians, elevated with the smallest glimpse of good fortune, were the first to show an abasement of spirit. They had received, after the fall of Thebes, a part of the fugitive citizens. For this act of hur unity they now thought it necessary to apologize, by sending an embassy to Alexander, to deprecate his wrath, and to assure him of their sincere desire to maintain a friendly alliance. The Macedonian, contemning them the more for the meanness of: this behavior, made a peremptory demand that they should deliver up to him the persons of Demosthenes, Lycurgus, and six others of the principal demagogues, to whose seditious harangues he attributed the hostile spirit they had shown to all his measures. He did not, however, wish to push matters to extremity. The business was finally compromised by a public decree, by which the Athenians pledged themselves to institute a strict inquiry into the alleged ground of offence, and to inflict such punishment as the crimes, if proved, should merit.

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The submission of Athens was followed by friendly embassies, and offers of peace and alliance from all the states of Greece. Alexander now summoned a general council of deputies, from all the several republics, to assemble at Corinth, with the purpose of deliberating on a measure which regarded their common interests and honor. Here he formally intimated to them his design of following out the great project of his father, the conquest of Persia. The design was flattering to the Greeks, who had ever regarded the Persians as an irreconcilable enemy, the object of hereditary hatred and jealousy; and in whose destruction they pleased themselves with the prospect of regaining the honorable ascendency they had once enjoyed above all the contemporary nations. Animated with this feeling, they received the proposal of Alexander with exultation; and already anticipating the triumphs to be gained under his banners, they hailed him commander-in-chief of the united armies of Greece.

The preparations commenced by Philip were continued by Alexander during the few months of winter that preceded the opening of this important campaign; but active as we may believe those preparations were, they bore no proportion to the magnitude of the enterprise. In fact, the chief prospect of its success arose, not from the strength of the invader, but from the weakness of the invaded empire. We have already remarked* the very defective system of government in this extensive monarchy, and the total want of all principle of union between the members of so vast a body. The people, over whom their governors or satraps tyrannized with the most absolute authority, were quite indifferent to any changes that might take place in the seat of empire. Thus

* See Chapter II. of this book, toward the conclusion

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we have seen an eunuch depose and put to death one monarch with all his descendants, and place another on the throne, without producing any other effects than might have followed in other kingdoms upon a sovereign changing his first minister. The truth is, that the general peace of the empire had ever arisen out of its general weakness. The provinces had as little communication with each other as they had with the capital; and these separate and independent bodies had not even the slight bond of union which arises from a common religion. A despot of high spirit and a vigorous mind might have kept in order this discordant mass; but such was not the character of the present monarch. Darius Codomannus, who owed his elevation to the eunuch Bagoas, was a prince possessed of many amiable qualities-of a gentle and humane disposition; who might have swayed with honor a pacific sceptre, in a nation enjoying a good political constitution, and governed by wholesome laws; but he was neither qualified to fill the throne of Persia, nor to be the antagonist of Alexander.

This prince, who, in all his enterprises, never indulged a doubt of his success, set out for Persia in the beginning of spring, at the head of an army of thirty-five thousand men, and furnished with provisions only for a single month. He had committed to Antipater the government of Macedonia, in his absence. With this inconsiderable army, but excellently disciplined, and commanded by many brave and able officers, who had gained experience under the banner of his father Philip, he arrived in six days' march at the passage of the Hellespont, and crossed the narrow sea without opposition. While traversing Phrygia, he is reported to have visited the tomb of Achilles; and, in an apostrophe to the shade of that great warrior, is said to have expressed his envy of his happiness, who in life enjoyed the comfort of a faithful friend, and after his death had his name immortalized by the greatest of poets.

Darius, on the first intelligence of the advance of Alexander with this trifling force, resolved to crush at once this inconsiderate young man, and despatched immediately an army of 100,000 foot and 10,000 horse, to the banks of the Granicus, a small river of Mysia, which discharges itself into the Propontis. This measure of the Persian monarch was contrary to the opinion of his ablest generals, who counselled him to follow a more protracted plan of warfare. They advised him to lay waste the provinces through which lay the course of the Macedonian army, and to limit all his attacks to a skirmishing warfare, merely with the view of harassing and wearing out the enemy by fatigue and want of provisions. This is said to have been the counsel of Memnon, Darius's ablest general; who proposed at the same time to conduct an army to Greece and Macedonia, to retaliate upon the invaders in their own territory. But when Darius compared his own force and resources with those of his antagonist, it wore with him the aspect of a mean

and dastardly policy, to ruin some of the finest provinces of his empire in the hope of starving the army of his antagonist, instead of manfully encountering him in the field. The latter advice, of making a diversion in Macedonia, was more suitable to a manly spirit, and it was accordingly adopted.

Meantime, the Persians, under the command of the Satrap of Phrygia, were drawn up in formidable array upon the eastern bank of the Granicus, to oppose the passage of the Greeks. The river is of inconsiderable breadth and depth, but of great rapidity. The Macedonians, therefore, with judicious precaution, entered the ford a great way higher than the place of the opposite shore on which they meant to land; and crossing in an oblique direction, had the aid of the stream impelling forward their ranks, while its current gave a powerful obstruction to the enemy's entering the river and disputing with them the passage of the ford. Thus a large body of the Grecian army crossed the stream, with no other annoyance than what arose from the missile weapons of the Persians, and the spears that met the first ranks on gaining the opposite shore. No sooner, however, had these made good their ground, and by the spirit of their attack given full occupation to the opposing Persians, than the main body of the Grecian army passed without resistance. The contest was not long doubtful. The Persians are allowed to have fought with great courage; but such was the impression made by the determined resolution and intrepidity of the Greeks, while Alexander himself led them on against the thickest ranks of the enemy, that the Persian army was broken and put to flight, before the rear of the Grecian forces had passed the river. According to the account of Arrian, 10,000 of the Persian infantry and 2500 horse were slain in the battle of the Granicus. Among these were many officers of distinguished valor and ability. The loss of the Greeks amounted to the trifling number of eighty-five horsemen and thirty infantry. These were next day buried with their arms, all in the same grave. The rich spoils of the Persian army Alexander sent home to Macedonia, to be presented to his mother, as the first fruits of his success; and to Athens he sent 300 Persian shields, with this message, that these were the trophies of a victory gained by the Greeks under his command, over their ancient enemies.

This first and important victory facilitated to Alexander the conquest of all the lesser Asia. Sardis, the capital of the ancient Lydian kingdom, submitted without opposition, and Miletus and Halicarnassus, after a short but vigorous defence, opened their gates to the conqueror. Deriving a presage of continued victory from his first successes, Alexander now sent orders to his fleet to return to Macedonia, thus leaving to his little army one only alternative, that they must conquer or perish. Memnon, in the mean time, had sailed with a body of Persian troops to the coast of Greece. He began by an assault upon some of the islands. He

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