299 APPENDIX. 



derived any assistance in that kingdom, all the materials 

 Were provided for him while Philip was alive, and before 

 Alexander s expedition was undertaken, or in the first years 

 of the expedition. But afterwards, when Alexander had 

 Bet out, Aristotle returned to Athens, and was engaged in 

 teaching : nor could he have derived any advantage from 

 the resources which Pliny mentions, and the multitude of 

 persons who were instructed to place themselves under his 

 command, for he was not only occumed with other pursuits, 

 but would have been in danger of being destroyed by the 

 fury of the Athenians, on the plea that he was attempting 

 innovations, if he had even ventured to dissect animals, 

 not to say men.&quot; 



In a note he adds these observations : &quot; Aristobulus. no 

 unworthy companion of Alexander in his expedition, beara 

 testimony, according to Plutarch, that the whole military 

 chest did not contain seventy talents of coin. For the pre 

 paration of so arduous an undertaking, however, the same 

 person says, that two hundred talents ought to have been 

 taken for mutual exchange. I remember also to have read in 

 Eustathius s commentary on Homer, a very learned disqui 

 sition on the scarcity of money amongst the Macedonians, at 

 the time of Alexander s expedition ; but I cannot lay my 

 hands upon the passage.&quot; 



I must confess that I am not influenced by this anno 

 tation, nor does the whole of this controversy appear to me 

 to have been properly conducted. For the greatest doubt 

 prevails as to the number of talents which Alexander is said 

 to have paid to Aristotle, to help him in his task ; and the 

 report only rests on the authority of a writer who lived 

 centuries after the death of Alexander. To refute this 

 is useless labour, both because its origin is obscure, and 

 also because a sum of money set down in figures might 

 be easily corrupted by transcribers. But the testimony of 

 Aristobulus will give little or no assistance to the opinion 

 of the learned, if we adopt that which is most probable, 

 namely, that Philip, or his son Alexander, gave large sums 

 of money to Aristotle, to enable him to pursue his studies 

 in Natural History, while he lived in Macedon, and was 

 employed in the education of Alexander. The question 

 about the date when Aristotle arranged and published 



