« know whether I am mistaken; but methinks I read his "sentence of death in your countenances; and that the an66 ger which sparkles in your eyes declares you will soon im"brue your hands in the traitor's blood." The soldiers would not suffer Alexander to proceed, but clapping their hands, they all cried aloud, that they were ready to follow wherever he would lead them. All the speeches of this prince generally produced this effect. In how desponding a condition soever they might be, one single word from him revived their courage in an instant, and inspired them with that martial alacrity and ardour which appeared always in his face. The king, taking advantage of this favourable disposition of his whole army, crossed Parthia, and in three days arrived on the frontiers of Hyrcania, which submitted to his arm's. He afterwards subdued the Mardi, the Arii, the Drange, the Archosi, and several other nations, into which his army marched with greater speed than people generally travel. He frequently would pursue an enemy for whole days and nights together, almost without suffering his troops to take any rest. By this prodigious rapidity, he came unawares upon nations who thought him at a great distance, and subdued them before they had time to put themselves in a posture of defence. Under this image Daniel the prophet shadowed Alexander many ages before his birth, by representing him as a panther, a leopard, and a goat, who rushed forward with so much swiftness that his feet seemed not to touch the ground. * Nabarzanes, one of Bessus' accomplices, who had written before to Alexander, came and surrendered himself, upon promise of a pardon, when he heard that he was arriv ed at Zadracarta, the capital of Hyrcania; and, among other presents, brought him Bagoas the eunuch, who after wards gained as great an ascendant over Alexander, as before over Darius. At the same time arrived Thalestris, queen of the Amazons. A violent desire of seeing Alexander had prompt ed that princess to leave her dominions, and travel through a great number of countries to gratify her curiosity. Being come pretty near his camp, she sent word that a queen was come to visit him; and that she had a prodigious inclination to cultivate his acquaintance, and accordingly was arrived within a little distance from that place. Alexander having returned her a favourable answer, she comfhanded her train to stop, and herself came forward with 300 women; and the moment she perceived the king, she * Q Curt, 1. vi. c. S leaped from her horse having two lances in her right hand. The dress the Amazons used to wear, did not quite cov er the body; for their bosom being uncovered on the left side, every other part of their body was hid; their gowns being tucked up with a knot, and so descended no farther than their knee. They preserved their right breast to suckle their female offspring, but used to burn their left, that they might be the better enabled to bend the bow and throw the dart, whence they are called Amazons. Thalestrit looked upon the king without discovering the least sign of admiration, and surveying him attentively, did not think his stature answerable to his fame; for the barbarians are very much struck with a majestic air, and think those only capable of mighty achievements on whom nature has bestowed bodily advantages. She did not scruple to tell him, that the chief motive of her journey was to have posterity by him; adding, that she was worthy of giving heirs to his empire. Alexander, upon this request, was obliged to make some stay in this place; after which Thalestris returned to her kingdom, and the king into the province inhabited by the Parthians. This story,and whatever is related of the Amazons, is looked upon by some very judicious authors as entirely fabulous. He Alexander devoted himself afterwards wholly to his passions, changing into pride and debauch the moderation and continence for which he had hitherto been so greatly admired; virtues so very necessary in an exalted station of life, and in the midst of a series of prosperities. was now no longer the same man. Though he was invincible with regard to the dangers and toils of war, he was far otherwise with respect to the charms of ease. The in-stant he enjoyed a little repose, he abandoned himself to sensuality; and he, whom the arms of the Persians could not conquer, fell a victim to their vices. Nothing was now to be seen but games, parties of pleasure, women, and excessive feasting, in which he used to revel whole days and nights. Not satisfied with the buffoons, and the performers on instrumental music, whom he had brought with him out of Greece, he obliged the captive women, whom he carried * This is a Greek word, signifying without breasts. + Interrito vultu regem Thalestris intuebatur, habitum ejus baudquaquam rerum famæ parem oculis perlustrans. Quippe omnibus barbaris in corporum majestate veneratio est; magnorumque operum non alios capaces putant, quam quos eximia specie donare natura dignata est. Q. Curt. 1. vi, c. 5. Q. Curt. 1. vi, c. 6. along with him, to sing songs after the manner of their country. He happened among these women, to perceive one who appeared in deeper affliction than the rest, and who, by a modest, and at the same time a noble confusion, discovered a greater reluctance than the others to appear in public. She was a perfect beauty, which was very much heightened by her bashfulness, whilst she threw her eyes to the ground, and did all in her power to conceal her face. The king soon imagined by her air and mein that she was not of vulgar birth; and inquiring himself into it, the lady answered, that she was grand-daughter to Ochus, who not long before had swayed the Persian sceptre, and daughter of his son; that she had married Hystaspés, who was related to Darius, and general of a great army. Alexander being touched with compassion, when he heard the unhappy fate of a princess of the blood royal, and the sad condition to which she was reduced, not only gave her liberty, but returned all her possessions; and caused her husband to be sought for, in order that she might be restored to him. This prince was naturally of so tender and humane a disposition, as made him sensible of the affliction of persons in the lowest condition. * A poor Macedonian was one day leading before him a mule, laden with gold for the king's use; the beast being so tired that he was not able either to go on or sustain the load, the mule-driver took it up and carried it, but with great difficulty, a considerable way. Alex ander, seeing him just sinking under his burden, and going to throw it on the ground, in order to ease himself, cried out, friend, do not be weary yet; try and carry it quite through "to thy tent, for it is all thy own." † Alexander, in a very difficult march through barren places, at the head of a small body of horse, when he pursued Darius, met some Macedonians who were carrying water in goat-skins upon mules. These Macedonians perceiving their prince was almost parched with thirst, occasioned by the raging heat (the sun being then at the meridian), immediately filled a helmet with water, and were running to present him with it. Alexander asking to whom they were carrying all that water, they replied, "we were going "to carry it to our children; but do not let your majesty be 66 uneasy, for if your life is but saved, we shall get children enough, in case we should lose these." At these words Alexander takes the helmet, and looking quite round him, he saw all his horsemen hanging down their heads, and with eyes fixed earnestly on the liquor he held, swallow it, as it แ were, with their glances; upon which he returned it, with thanks, to those who had offered it him, and did not drink so much as a single drop, but cried, "there is not enough for "my whole company; and should I drink alone, it would "make the rest be thirstier, and they would quite die away." The officers who were on horseback round him, struck in the most sensible manner with his wonderful temperance and magnanimity, entreated him, with shouts, to carry them wherever he thought fit, and not spare them in any manner; that now they were not in the least tired, nor felt the last thirst; and that as long as they should be commanded by such a king, they should not think themselves mortal men. Such sentiments as these, which arise from a genercus and tender disposition, reflect a greater honour on a prince than the greatest victories and conquests. Had Alexander alway cherished them, he would justly have merited the ti tle of great; but a too glorious and uninterrupted series of prosperity, which is too heavy for mortals to sustain, insen sibly effaced them from his mind, and made him forget that he was a man; for now, contemning the custom of his own country, as no longer worthy the sovereign of the universe, he laid aside the dress, the manners, and way of life of the Macedonian monarchs, looking upon them as too plain and simple, and derogatory to his grandeur. He even went so far as to imitate the pomp of the Persian kings, in that very circumstance in which they seemed to equal themselves to the gods; I mean, by requiring those who had conquered nations to fall prostrate at his feet, and pay him a kind of homage which became only slaves. He had turned his pal- ́ ace into a seraglio, filling it with 360 concubines, the same number as Darius kept, and with bands of eunuchs, of all mankind the most infamous. Not satisfied with wearing a Persian robe himself, he also obliged his generals, his friends, and all the grandees of his court, to put on the same dress, which gave them the greatest mortification, not one of them however daring to speak gainst this innovation, or contradict the prince in any manner. The veteran soldiers who had fought under Philip, not having the least idea of sensuality, inveighed publicly against this prodigious luxury, and the numerous vices which the army had learned in Susa and Ecbatana. The soldiers would frequently express themselves in the following terms: "That they had lost more by victory than they had gained: that as the Macedonians had thus assumed the manners and customs of foreigners, they might properly be said to "be conquered. That therefore the only benefit they should 66 reap from their long absence would be, to return back te "their own country in the habit of barbarians; that Alex"ander was ashamed of, and despised them; that he chose "to resemble the vanquished rather than the victorious; and "that he, who before had been king of Macedonia, was now "become one of Darius's lieutenants." The king was not ignorant of the discontent which reigned both in his court and army, and endeavoured to recover the esteem and friendship of both by his beneficence; but * sla-very, though purchased at ever so high a rate, must neces- ́ sarily be odious to freeborn men. He therefore thought that the safest remedy would be to employ them, and for that purpose led them against Bessus. But as the army was encumbered with booty, and an useless train of baggage, that he could scarce move, he first caused all his own baggage to be carried into a great square, and afterwards that of his army, such things excepted as were absolutely necessary, then ordered the whole to be carried from thence in carts to a large plain. Every one was in great pain to know the meaning of all this; but after he had sent away the horses, he himself set fire to his own things, and commanded every one to follow his example. Upon this the Macedonians lighted up the fire with their own hands, and burned the rich spoils they had purchased with their blood, and often forced out of the midst of the flames. Such a sacrifice must certainly have been made with the utmost reluctance; but the example the king set them silenced all their complaints, and they seemed less affected at the loss of their baggage than at their neglect of military discipline. A short speech the king made, soothed all their uneasiness; and, being now more able to exert themselves hereafter, they set out with joy, and marched towards Bactriană. In this march they met with difficulties which would have quite damped any one but Alexander; but nothing could daunt his soul, or check his progress; for he put the strongest confidence in his good fortune, which indeed never forsook that hero, but extricated him from a thousand perils, wherein one would have naturally supposed both himself and his army must Have perished. †Being arrived among the Drange, a danger to which he had not been accustomed gave him very great uneasiness and this was, the report of a conspiracy that was formed against his person: One Dymnus, a man of no great figure * Sed, ut opinor, liberis pretium servitutis ingratum est, Q Curt. †Diod. 1, xvii, p, 550, 551. Q. Curt. 1, vi, c, 7, 11, et l, vii, c, 7. 2, Arrian, I, iii, p, 141, 142, Plut, in Alex. g, 692, 693: |