OF EDUCATION I 9 



Of all military campaigns, this was the most re- 

 markable, both in its purposes and its results. To 

 thousands of learned Greeks the march through Persia 

 was much more than a military campaign. It was a 

 thorough scientific study of the country through which 

 they marched. At times it was like a grand excursion 

 for sightseeing, recreation, and scientific observation, 

 over a large, rich and populous country, abounding 

 in the wonderful in nature and art. 



As soon as Alexander had conquered Egypt and the 

 better half of Asia, he prepared to continue his march 

 to the shores of the Pacific and take possession of all 

 Asia in a single campaign. But his arm} 7 had left 

 their homes eight years before, and refused to march 

 any farther except toward their native land. 



Alexander yielded to the wishes of his faithful 

 warriors and soon returned to Babylon, which he in- 

 tended to make the capital of the prospective new 

 empire. In the midst of great plans for the recon- 

 struction of his vast dominions, the completion of his 

 educational plans, and the future conquest of the rest 

 of the world, came Alexander's death, in the thirty- 

 third year of his age. 



The result of Alexander's conquests in Asia and 

 Africa we are to consider only in its educational in- 

 fluence. But the grandest movement in education 

 that the world has ever seen had already been formu- 

 lated. Alexander had made Ptolemy the governor of 



