HIS PLANS. 91 



On the opposite side of the Arahian gulf lay Ethio- 

 pia, reputed to be the native land of gold, but chiefly 

 attractive to a vain-glorious and emulative man, from 

 the fact that a Persian emperor had attempted its con- 

 quest, and had failed. There was also Carthage, the 

 great republic of the West ; and there were rich silver 

 mines in Spain. 



And can it be supposed that Alexander would re- 

 main content when he had not yet made the circuit 

 of the Grecian world ? Was there not Sicily, which 

 Athens had attempted to conquer, and in vain ? Rome 

 had not yet become great, but the Italian city states 

 were already famed in war. Alexander's uncle had 

 invaded that country, and had been beaten back. 

 He declared that Alexander had fallen on the chamber 

 of the women, and he on the chamber of the men. 

 This sarcasm followed the conqueror into Central Asia, 

 and was flung in his teeth by Clitus on that night of 

 drunkenness and blood, every incident of which must 

 have been continually present to his mind. 



We might therefore fairly infer, even if we had no 

 evidence to guide us, that Alexander did not consider 

 his career accomplished. But in point of fact, we do 

 know that he had given orders to fit out a thousand 

 ships of war; that he intended one fleet to attack 

 Arabia from the Indian ocean, and another to attack 

 Carthage from the Mediterranean Sea. He had 

 already arranged a plan for connecting Egypt with 

 his North African possessions that were to be ; and 

 had he lived a few years longer, the features of the 

 world might have been changed. The Italians were 

 unconquerable if united ; but there was at that time 

 no supreme city to unite them as they were afterwards 

 united against Pyrrhus. It is at least not impossible 



