ALE 



/^fV.ls fat'uer's grooms wo\:'.il ventuio to mount, Pliilip was 

 /■,! J.-HjWiteJ, that he laid to him, " My fun, i'eck a kingdom 

 j^ore wtfitliv of thee, for M.icedoii is below thy merit." Be- 

 iides the qii'alitios which wc iiavt recited, the youth of Alex- 

 ander was dillinguHhed by temperance, ciiaiUty, and lelf- 

 conuuand. 



Hisuutifiil rcfpcelfor his mother, whom Philip divorced, 

 produced a difiigrccmcnt between him and hii tather ; and it 

 was increafi-d by a fiifpicion, which they entertained, that he 

 would be dirmlieritcd, and one of Philip's children, by ano- 

 ther wife, prefen^d to him. However, before this period, 

 when he wa^ |6 years of age, he was appointed regent ot 

 Macedonia durinjr his father's abfence ; and his condiid ma- 

 nifelled fuch prudence and bravery, that he was aftenvards 

 employed in feveral military enterprifes, in which he behaved 

 with great honour to hiiufclf, and fingular fatisfac\ion to 

 Philip, whofc life he had prcferved by his refolute and fea- 

 fonable interpofition. In the battle of ChaMonea, at the 

 age of 1 8, he fignahzed himfelf by his valour, and greatly 

 contributed to the viftory. Before Philip undertook his 

 •projected expedition into Afia, he recalled his fon from Epi- 

 ruf , whither he and his mother had retired, and was apparently 

 reconciled to him : but when his father was adaffinated by 

 Paufanias, wliom he had grievoufly offended, Alexander and 

 his mother were fufpeCted of bein;^' privy to the confpiracy. 

 The fufpicion, however, feems to have been groundlels ; and 

 f.he firft ad of his reii^n was the juft punifhment of the mur- 

 ilcrers. In the 20lli year of his age, B.C. 336, he fuc- 

 ctcded to the throne of Maccdon ; and commenced his mi- 

 litary- career by marching into Theffaly to overawe the 

 Greeks, who were difpofcd to emancipate themfelvcs from 

 the Macedonian yoke, and by caufmg Attalus, who encou- 

 raged their revolt, to be put to death. Having fucceeded in 

 this enterpri/,e, he marched into Thrace, defeated the Tri- 

 balii, who inhabited the modern Bulgaria, and drove them 

 beyond the Danube ; he alfo made the Getas to fly at his ap- 

 proach ; fubdued feveral barbarous nations, and eitablifhed a 

 •treaty of peace, in which the Celtes, a fierce and high-fpirited 

 ^leople, and others, were comprehended. During his abfence 

 in thefe expeditions, the cities of Greece, inftigated by the 

 eloquence and influence of Demofthenes, fomied a powerful 

 alhance againil him. The report of his death had induced 

 the Thebaiis to revolt ; and, having murdered two officers of 

 the Macedonian garrifon, they were preparing to befiege the 

 citadel. Alexander, receiving intelligence of this event, 

 haftened to Greece, B. C. 335, pafled the Straits of Ther- 

 mopylae, and entered Bocotia before the Thebans were unde- 

 rcived as to his death. To thofe who accompanied him he 

 /poke in the following manner : " Demofthenes, in his ora- 

 tions, called me -a child when I was in lUyria and among the 

 TribalU ; he called me a young man when I was in Theffaly ; 

 and I mud now (hew him, before the walls of Athens, that I 

 am a man grown." The city of Thebes, which was bravely 

 defended by the inhabitants, animated by a love of liberty, was 

 at length taken by ftorm, with a dreadful flanghter : the build- 

 ings were razed, the houfe of Pindar, the poet, excepted from 

 a refpeft to its owner ; the inhabitants were fold for flaves, 

 and the lands diliributed among the foldiers ; this conduft 

 ftruck the Greek ftates with terror. Atliens fent a deputa- 

 tion to Alexander, imploring his clemency ; but he de- 

 manded the furrendtr of ten orators, whom he fuppofed to 

 have been the chief i:ift rumer.ts in forming the league which 

 Philip his father had defeated at Chajronca. On this occa- 

 fion Demofthenes recited -to the people the fable of the 

 Wolves and the Dogs ; in which it is fuppofed, " that the 

 wolves told the (lieep, that if they defired to be at peace 

 •svith themj tliey mull deliver up to them the dogs wko 



ALE 



were their gunrd." Alexander having relented, by the in- 

 terference of Damades, whom he had honoured with hij 

 friendlhip, waved the enforcement of his demand, Having 

 re-cftablilhed the tranquillity of Greece he went to Corinth, 

 where his ofiice of geacraliilinio was recogni-^ed and fettled. 

 At iEgae he held a grand council of ilatc and war, in order 

 to deliberate upon his expedition into Afia. Antipater and 

 Parmenio recommended delay, but Alexander had formed 

 his pui-j)ofe ; and having oftered facrifices, and entertained 

 his friends with feafts, and diilributed among them thi^ 

 crown-lands, Perdiccas alked him what he referved for him- 

 felf i" " Hope," replied Alexander. "The fame hope ought 

 therefore to fatisfy us," was the rejoinder of Perdiccas. Ac- 

 cordingly he affembled his ami)', and prepared for his march 

 into Alia. When one of his attendants aiked him why he 

 fucceeded fo well in quieting the dangerous tumults in Afia, 

 he anfwered, " It was by delaying nothing." 



In the 22dyear of his age, B. C. 334, Alexander crofTed 

 the Hellefpont into Alia, with an army of about 30,000 

 foot, and 4 or 5000 hoiTe. Parmenio, who commanded the 

 infantry, pafled over with the greateil part of the array from 

 Seftos to Abydos ; and Alexander crofled firft the Stiy- 

 mon, afterwards the Hebrus, and after 20 days march 

 arrived at Seftos. Having prepared for his expedition by a 

 variety of fuperftitious ceremonies, to which he was attached, 

 he proceeded to Ilium, where he facrificed to the heroes buried 

 in tile neighbourhood, and particularly to Achilles, to Minerva, 

 and to the gholl of Priam. In his march he preferved Lamp- 

 facus, whicli he had determined to deftroy on account of its 

 adherence to the Perfians ; and this he did in confcquence of 

 the interpofition of Anaximenes. " I fwear folemnly," 

 fays Alexander to Anaximenes, who met him on the road, 

 and the objecvt of whofc interview he fufpetted, " that I will 

 not do what you defire me." " My requeft, then," faid 

 the old man, fmiling, " is, that you would burn I.ampfa- 

 cus." The Perfians collected a large force to meet him on 

 the banks of the river Granicus, May 22, B. C. 334; but, 

 after an obftinate refiftance, they were routed with great 

 flaughter. The confequence of this viftory was the furren- 

 der of Sardis, the chief town of Lydia, and the poffeflion of 

 the whole country as far as the river Hermus. 



Alexander proceeded to Ephefus, and reftorcd the demo- 

 cracy; and by an edict he eftabliftied the popular government 

 in all the Greek cities. At Miletus, which he befieged and 

 took, he difinifled his fleet, and advanced to the fiege of Ha- 

 licarnafllis, which was abandoned by the Perfians, and then 

 to Tralles, which he took and levelled with the ground. 

 Having demoliftied HalicarnaiTus, he appointed Ada, wlio 

 claimed the title of queen of Caria, and who delivered up to 

 him Alinda, governefs-gcneral of all Caria ; and this con- 

 duft induced many of the princes of the Lefler Afia to revolt 

 from the Perfians, and to put themfelves under his protec- 

 tion. Alexander ingratiated himfelf with the army, by 

 permitting the foldiers who were married to fpend the win- 

 ter with their wives in Macedonia ; a practice conformable 

 to the law of Mofes, (Deut. xxiv. 5.) and which Aiiftotle 

 probably learnt of fome Jew, and recommended to his pupil. 

 Whilll the king was bufily preparing for the next campaign, 

 an attempt was made upon his fife bv the corruption and 

 treachery of an oflicer of his army ; but it was difcovered 

 and prevented from taking eflett. 



The next campaign was opened early in the fpring.; and 

 Alexander, taking poflefiion in his march of the cities of Ey» 

 cia and Pamphylia, proceeded to Phrygia ; and at Gordium, 

 the capital, he was defirous cf feeing the famous chariot to 

 which the Gordiac knot was tied. The oracle had foretold, 

 according to an^ ancient tradition of the country, that the 



man 



