9-14 
G R E 
tiaordinary heighf, which fnrrounded the mountain, 
I flioiild be cut down, and formed into ladders, by means 
of whiiclr his men, deibending the ditch, drove luige 
piles into the bottom. Tlicfe, being placed at proper 
diffances, were covered tviih hurdles of ozie'r conloli- 
dated with earth. In this occupation his whole army 
were employed by turns, night and day. The barba¬ 
rians at firll derided this feemingly ufclefs labour ; but 
the fpeedy progrefs of tlie work, and dauntlefs intrepi¬ 
dity of the Macedonians, foon wrought upon Cho- 
rienes, from whom the fortrefs took its name ; and by 
his timely yet dignined fubmillion, he not only obtained 
pardon, but gained the friendlliip of Alexander, who 
again entrufted him with the command of liis fortreis, 
and the government of his province. 
By fiicli memorable atchievements, in the year before 
Chrift 327, Alexander had completely fubdued the na¬ 
tions between the Cal'|.ian fea, the river Jaxartes, and 
the lofty chain of mountains, which liipply the fources 
of the Indus and the Ganges. In tlie conduct of this 
rentote and dangerou.a wr.r, the great abilities of the 
general were conipicuoully diftinguiflied. His example 
taught the troops to delpile liunger, fatigue, cold, and 
-danger ; neithei' rugged mountains, nor deep and rapid 
livers, nor wounds, nor fickncls, could interrupt his 
progrefs, or abate his ablivity ; his courage expofed 
him to difficulties, from which he was extricated by 
net?’ efforts of intrepidity, which in any other com¬ 
mander would have palled for temerity. Amid ft the 
hardfnips of a military life, obftinate lieges, bloody 
battles, and dear-bought vibtories, he ftill relpebfed the 
rights of mankind, and prabtiled the mild virtues of 
humanity. The conquered nations enjoyed their an¬ 
cient laws and privileges; tlie rigours of defpotilm 
were loftened ; arts and induftry encouraged; and the 
proudeft Macedonian governors compelled, by the au¬ 
thority and example of Alexander, to oblerve the rules 
of jiiftiee towards their meanelt lubjebfs. Thus arol'e 
good out of the evils of war. To bridle the fierce in¬ 
habitants of the Scythian plains, he founded cities and 
eftablilhed colonies on the banks of the Jaxartes and 
the Oxiis ; and thofe deftrubfive campaigns, ul'ually al- 
cribed to his reftlefs ablivity and blind ambition, ap¬ 
peared to the diicernment of this extraordinary man, 
not only efi'ential to the fecurity of the conquefts which 
he had already made, but neceftary preparations for 
fnore remote and Iplendid expeditions which he Hill me¬ 
ditated, and which he performed with fingular boldnefs 
and unexampled fucccls. 
During the three fii ft years that the invincible hero- 
ifm of Alexander triumphed in the Eaft, the vigilance 
of Antipater reprefted lebellion and fedition in Greece, 
The attention of tliat general being diverted, by a re¬ 
volt in I'hrace, from the aftairs of the louthern pro¬ 
vinces, the Lacedmmonians, inftigated by the warlike 
ambition of their king Agis, ventured to exert tliat hof- 
trlity againft Macedon which they had long felt and en- 
coimaged. Reinforced by fome communities of the Pe- 
loponnefus, the allied army amounted to twenty-two 
thoiifand men. But Antipater, having checked the in- 
furrebtion in Thrace, haftened into the Grecian penin- 
lula with a fuperior force, and defeated the confederates 
in a battle, which proved fatal to king Agis and three 
thoufiind Peloponneiian troops. The vanquiihed were 
allowed to fend ambaflTadors to implore the clemency of 
Alexander. From that generous prince the rebellious 
republics received promife of pardon, on condition that 
they punilhed with due feverity the authors of fo un¬ 
provoked and ill-judged a revolt. From this period, 
till the death of Alexander, Greece enjoyed, above 
eight years, an unulual degree of tranquillity and hap- 
pinefs. Many improvements were made in the fciences ; 
and the Greeks, the Athenians' particularly, ftill ri¬ 
valled the tafte and genius, though not the fpirit and 
virtue, of their anceftors. Yet even in this degene- 
E C E. 
rate ftate, w’hen their patriotifm and valour were ex- 
tinff, and thofe vanquifiied republicans had neither li. 
berties to love, nor country to defend, their martial ho¬ 
nours were revived and brightened by an affociation 
with the renown of their conqueror. Under Alexander^ 
their exploits, theugh direbted to very different qnir- 
pofes, equalled, y>erhaps excelled, the boafted tropliies 
ot Marathon and Plat^a. By a fingularity peculiar to 
their toraine, the ara of their political difgrace coin¬ 
cides v.'itii the moft fplendid period of their military 
glory. Alexander was himfclf a Greek ; liis kingdom 
had been founded by a Grecian colony ; and, to re¬ 
venge the wrongs of his nation, he was now acccmplifti- 
ing- the moft extraordinary enterprifes recorded in the 
hirtory of the world. 
'Without allowing his troops to become enervated by 
indulgence or diftipation, tlie conqueror immediately 
prepared for bis Indian expedition ; in v. hicii enterprilc 
he embarked early in tlm fpring ; -'\mynfas being ap¬ 
pointed governor of Bab'rria, and entrufted with, an army 
lufficient to overawe the furrounding provir.ces. With 
the remainder of his forces Alexander haftened fouti;- 
wnrds, and in ten days traverfed tiie Paropamilus, a link 
of that immenfe chain of mountains- reaching from the 
coaft of Cilicia to the fea of China. The fouthern belt, 
diftinguiftied in different portions of its length by the 
various names of T.nurus, Paropamifus, Imaus, and 
Edmodus, the Greeks confounded with the nortliern 
chain, of which. Scytliian Caucafus is a part, and whole 
remote branches extei.d from tlie Ihores of the Euxin.e 
to the caftern extremity of Tartary. The intermediate 
fpace, efpecially towards the central country of Buka- 
ria, is far ntore elevated than any otlier portion of tlie 
eaftern contiricnt ; and the towering heights of Paroua- 
niiliis had hitherto defended the majefty of India againft 
the ravagers of the eartli. But thele defences were of 
no avail againft the prowefs and perfeverance of Alex¬ 
ander. fie conducted his army by the route of Canda- 
har, well known to the caravans of Agra and Ifpahan. 
Having reached the banks of the Cophenes, he divided 
his forces; the greater part he retained under his own 
command ; the remainder were detached, under He- 
piiaeftion and Perdiccas, to clear the road to the Indu^ 
and to make all neceftary preparations for crofting tliA 
river. After many fevere conflibts, he fubdued the 
Afpii, Thryraei, Arafaci, and Allaceni ; fc'oured the 
banks of the Choas and Cophenes ; expelled the bar¬ 
barians froni their faftnefi'es ; and drove them towards 
the northern mountains, wliich lupply the fources of 
the Oxus and the Indus. 
The Macedonians now proceeded through the coun¬ 
try between the Coplienes aiid the Indus. In this fer¬ 
tile diftribi, the army, as it advanced towards Mount 
Meros and the celebrated'Nyfa, was met by a deputa¬ 
tion from the citizens of that place, which was laid to 
liave been founded in the heroic age, by a Grecian co¬ 
lony eftablilhed by Bacchus at the eaftern extremity of 
his cor.qtiefls. Thefe wandering Greeks, might we in¬ 
dulge for a moment the luppofition that the inhabitants 
ofNyfa V, ere really entitled to that name, appear in this 
Indian foil to have degenerated from the courage, while 
they preferved the policy, the eloqtience, and the arti¬ 
fices, of their European brethren. Being immediately 
condubted to Alexander, who had juft lac down in his 
tent, covered with fweat and dull, and ftill armed with 
his cafque and lance, they teftified great horror at his 
afpeef, and threw themfelves proftrate on the ground. 
'I'he king having raifed them from their humble pof- 
ttire, and addrelfed them with his ulual condefcenlion, 
they recovered lufficient boldnefs to entreat Itini to fpjtre 
their country for the fake of Bacchus their founder. In 
proof of this allegation, they infilled on the name of 
Nyfa, derived from the ntirfe of Bacchus, and on the 
abundance, not only of vines and laurel, but ©f ivy, 
which grew in t/ieir territory, and in no other part of In- 
