109 



ALEXANDER III. 



ALEXANDER III. 



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At the age of twenty Alexander was thus suddenly called to the 

 throne of Macedonia. But while the attachment of the people of 

 Macedonia, who had always been accustomed to look up to him with 

 admiration, was secured by a reduction of taxes and other politic 

 measures, dangers were threatening on all sides, and he had to secure 

 by wars the throne which was his lawful inheritance. His father had 

 during the last years of his life made extensive preparations for 

 invading Persia, and Attains and Parmenio had already been sent into 

 Asia with a force. The realisation of these plans, in the midst of which 

 Alexander had grown up to manhood, and in which he had taken a 

 most lively interest, now devolved upon him ; but before he could 

 carry them into effect it was necessary to secure his own dominions. 

 Attalus, the uncle of Cleopatra, aimed at usurping the crown of 

 Macedonia, under the pretext of securing it to Philip's son by Cleo- 

 patra ; Greece was stirred up by Demosthenes against Macedonia, and 

 the barbarians in the north and west were ready to take up arms for 

 their independence. Everything depended upon quick and decisive 

 action. Alexander was well aware of this, and at the same time he 

 was determined not to surrender any part of his dominions, as some 

 of his timid or cautious friends advised him. His first measure was 

 to send his general, Hecatseus, with a force to Asia, with instructions 

 to bring Attalus back to Macedonia either dead or alive. All the 

 professions of attachment and fidelity that Attalus made were of no 

 avail ; he was put to death, and his army joined that of Parmenio, 

 who had remained faithful. While this took place in Asia, Aloxauder 

 marched with an army into Greece. Thessaly submitted without 

 resistance, and transferred to him the supreme command in the pro- 

 jected expedition against Persia. After having marched through the 

 pass of Thermopylae, he assembled the Delphic Amphictyons, and 

 was received a member of their confederacy, and the decree of the 

 Thessalians was confirmed by a similar one of the Amphictyons. 

 Advancing into Boeotia, he pitched his camp in the neighbourhood of 

 the C'admea, the citadel of Thebes. His sudden appearance struck 

 terror into the Thebans, who had been indulging in dreams of recover- 

 ing their liberty. The Athenians also, who, pretending to despise 

 young Alexander, had talked much about war, but as usual had made 

 no preparations for it, were greatly alarmed when they heard of his 

 sudden arrival before the gates of Thebes. They immediately des- 

 patched an embassy to beg his pardon for not having sent ambassadors 

 to the assembly of the Delphic Amphictyons, and for not having 

 conferred upon him the supreme command against Persia in their 

 name also. Alexander received their ambassadors kindly, and only 

 required the Athenians to send deputies to a general council of the 

 Greeks which was to be held at Corinth. At this meeting all the 

 states of Greece, with the exception of Sparta, transferred to the 

 Macedonian king the command of all their forces against Persia, an 

 office which they had before conferred upon his father. The Greeks 

 overwhelmed the young king with assurances of attachment, marks 

 of honour, and the meanest flattery. The refusal of the Spartans to 

 join the other Greeks did not make Alexander in the least uneasy ; he 

 knew that he had nothing to fear from them, and that they were 

 without the power to give effect to then: wishes. 



After having thus settled the affairs of Greece, he returned in the 

 spring of B.C. 335 to Macedonia, to put down an insurrection of the 

 northern barbarians. Ho marched from Amphipolis towards Mount 

 Hremus (Balkan), which he reached in ten days. He forced his way 

 across the mountains, penetrated into the country of the Triballians, 

 and pursued their king Syrmus as far aa the Danube, where the 

 barbarians took refuge in a strongly fortified island in the river. 

 Before Alexander attacked them there, he wished to subdue the 

 Getcc who occupied the north bank of tho river. A fleet which had 

 been sent up the Danube from Byzantium enabled him to cross the 

 river. The Geta), terrified at seeing the enemy thus unexpectedly 

 invading their territory, left their homes and fled northward. Laden 

 with booty, Alexander and his army returned to the south bank of 

 the Danube, where he received embassies from the tribes which 

 inhabited the plains of the Danube, and from king Syrmus, suing 

 for peace and alliance. After having secured this frontier of his 

 kingdom he hastened against Clitus and Glaucias, the chiefs of the 

 lllyrians and Taulantians, who were threatening an attack upon 

 Macedonia, while another tribe was to engage the army of Alexander 

 on his return from the north. This plan however was thwarted, and 

 Alexander compelled the barbarians to recognise the Macedonian 

 supremacy. 



While he was thus successfully engaged with the barbarians to the 

 north and west of Macedonia, new dangers threatened in the south. 

 The spirit of insurrection, stirred up by Demosthenes and other 

 friends of the independence of Greece, had revived, especially at 

 Thebes, which perhaps suffered more than any other Greek city from 

 its Macedonian garrison ; and on the arrival of a report that Alex- 

 ander had lost bis life in his Illyrian campaign, some of the Greek 

 slat's resorted to hostile measures. The Thebans expelled their 

 Macedonian garrison and sent envoys to other Greek states to invite 

 them to aid in recovering their independence. Tlicir summons was 

 favourably received by most of the Greeks, but they were slow in 

 carrying their resolutions into effect; and before a force was assembled, 

 ami oven fieforc tlie intelligence of Alexander being still alive reached 

 % he WM with Ins army at Onchestus in Bcootia. He immedi- 



ately marched against Thebes, and attempted a peaceful reconciliation; 

 but the Thebans answered him with insult. Perdiccas, one of 

 Alexander's generals, availed himself, without his master's command, 

 of a favourable opportunity for an attack with his own detachment, 

 out of which a general engagement arose. Notwithstanding the 

 brave resistance of the Thebans the city was taken, and thia event 

 was followed by one of the most bloody massacres iu ancient history. 

 The city, with the exception of the citadel, the temples, and the 

 seven ancient gates, was razed to the ground ; 6000 Thebans, men, 

 women, and children, were put to the sword ; and 30,000 others were 

 sold as slaves. The priests, the friends of the Macedonians, and the 

 descendants of Pindar alone retained their liberty. Of the private 

 dwellings none was spared except the house of Pindar. 



The other Greek states which had been willing to joiu Thebes, and 

 more especially Athens, sought and obtained pardon from the con- 

 queror, who afterwards showed on several occasions in his behaviour 

 towards some of the surviving Thebans that he had not destroyed 

 their city out of wanton cruelty. Convinced that the fearful fate of 

 Thebes was a sufficient warning to the rest of Greece, Alexander 

 returned to Macedonia to devote all his energy to preparations for the 

 war against Persia. His friends advised him, before setting out for 

 Asia, to marry, and give an heir to the throne of Macedonia ; but he 

 had already been too long prevented from carrying his Asiatic expe- 

 dition into effect, and he thirsted for the possession of Asia. Before 

 setting out he lavished nearly all his private possessions among his 

 friends, and when Perdiccas asked him what he meant to retain for 

 himself, he answered, " Hopes." Antipater was appointed regent of 

 Macedonia during his absence, with a force of 12,000 foot and 1500 

 horse. Alexander set out for Asia in the beginning of the spring, 

 B.C. 334, with an army of about 30,000 foot and 5000 horse, which 

 mainly consisted of Macedonians and Thessalians, while the infantry 

 consisted of 7000 allied Greeks, Thraciaus, Agrianians, and a number 

 of mercenaries. His financial means were very small. The army 

 advanced along the coast of Thrace, and after a march of twenty 

 days reached Sestos on the Hellespont, where the Macedonian fleet 

 lay at anchor ready to convey the army to the coast of Asia. This 

 fleet consisted of 160 or, according to others, of 180 triremes, and a 

 number of transports. While the greater part of tho army landed at 

 Abydos and encamped near Arisbe, Alexander, accompanied by his 

 friend Hephcestion, paid a visit to the mound which was believed to 

 contain the remains of Achilles, whose successor it was his ambition 

 to be considered by his soldiers. As soon as he had joined his army 

 again, he began his march against the Persians, who, although they 

 had long been acquainted with the plans of the Macedonians, were 

 not fully prepared, and had a force of about 20,000 horse and as 

 many Greek mercenaries stationed near Zeleia. There was in the 

 Persian army a Rhodian Greek, of the name of Memnon, whose 

 military talent might have made him a formidable opponent to Alex- 

 ander ; but his advice to retreat before the Macedonians, who were 

 scantily supplied with provisions, and to lay waste the country, was 

 rejected by the Persians, and they advanced as far as the river 

 Granicus, in order to cheek the progress of the invader. Alexander 

 found the Persians drawn up in order of battle on the east bank of 

 the river, and without listening to the advice of his cautious friend 

 Parmenio, he boldly forced a passage in the face of tho enemy with 

 his cavalry, which kept the enemy engaged until the infantry came 

 up. The discipline of the Macedonians, and the impetuosity of their 

 attack, broke the line of the Persians, who were completely beaten, 

 although the number of their dead was not very great : they arc said 

 to have lost about 1000 horsemen ; but the mercenaries, who, as lon^ 

 as the Persians were engaged had, by the command of the Persians, 

 been obliged to remain inactive, were for the most part cut down, and 

 2000 of them were made prisoners and sent to Macedonia to be em- 

 ployed as public slaves for having engaged in the service of the 

 Persians against then: own countrymen. Alexander had himself been 

 active in the contest, and killed two Persians of the highest rank ; 

 after the victory he visited his soldiers who had been wounded. The 

 parents and children of those who had fallen in the battle were 

 honoured with privileges and immunities. In the first assault twenty 

 of the king's horse-guard (iraipoi) had fallen, and he honoured their 

 valour by ordering Lysippus to execute their figures in bronze, which 

 were erected in the Macedonian town of Dium, whence they were 

 afterwards carried to Rome. 



Before advancing into the interior of Asia Minor, Alexander wished 

 to make himself master of the western and southern coasts of the 

 peninsula. As he proceeded southward, nearly all the towns on tho 

 coast opened their gates to him; and to show that he had really 

 come as their liberator, he established in all the cities a democratical 

 form of government. Miletus was taken by storm. In the mean 

 time a Persian fleet, consisting principally of Phoenician ships, lay off 

 Mycale. The king, contrary to the advice of his generals, would not 

 engage in a sea-fight, but kept his fleet quiet near the coast of Miletus ; 

 he thus prevented the Persians from landing and taking in water and 

 provisions, the want of which compelled them to retreat to Samos. 

 It was now late in the autumn of tho year n.c. 334, and Alexander 

 wanted to take possession of Caria and the capital Halicarnassus. 

 The occupation of the country was easy enough : a princess of the 

 name of Ada surrendered it to him without resistance, for which she 



