I 8 THE NEW METHOD 



wisdom of Greece. He was maturing a mighty scheme 

 for collecting all knowledge, for the increase of knowl- 

 edge, and its diffusion throughout the world. The 

 first move toward carrying out this plan was to invade 

 and overthrow the rich and populous Persian empire. 

 Persia had an area half as large as Europe, and next 

 to Greece, was the most learned and cultured part of 

 the world. It included all that remained of the older 

 civilizations of Babylon, Egypt, Assyria, Chaldea, 

 and Mesopotamia. The largest armies ever led to 

 battle had been the Persian armies under Xerxes and 

 Darius for the invasion of Greece. 



In the spring of 334 B.C., Alexander, with an army 

 of only 40,000 men, crossed the Hellespont, and en- 

 tered the Persian empire. Slowly he moved toward 

 Egypt, conquered every city on the way, and defeated 

 the array of Darius numbering 700,000 men. While 

 in Egypt he founded the city of Alexandria, which 

 he designed for the educational metropolis of the 

 world. Soon after this Alexander renewed his march 

 toward other great cities of Persia. After crossing 

 the Euphrates he again defeated the army of Darius, 

 numbering a million men. The gates of many opulent 

 cities, with all their treasures, were now open to the 

 Greeks. Thence, the victorious army marched easter- 

 ly to the Ganges river, conquered all that remained 

 of Persia, invaded India, defeated King Porus, and 

 took possession of thirty cities of India. 



