SECTION III. PROCESSION OF ALEXANDER'S FUNERAL. PTOLEMY, CRATERUS ANTIPATER, AND ANTIGONUS CONFEDERATE AGAINST БАСН ОTHER. с MUCH about this time the funeral obsequies of Alexander, were performed. Arideus having been deputed by all the governors and grandees of the kingdom, to take upon himself the care of that solemnity, had employed two years in preparing every thing that could possibly render it the most pompous and august funeral that had ever been seen. When all things were ready for the celebration of this mournful, but superb ceremonial, orders were given for the procession to begin. This was preceded by a great number of pioneers and other workmen, whose office was to make all the ways practicable, through which the procession was to pass. As soon as these were levelled, that magnificent chariot, the invention and design of which raised as much admiration, as the immense riches that glittered all over it, set out from Babylon. The body of the chariot rested upon two axletrees, that were inserted into four wheels, made after the Persian manner; the naves and spokes of which were covered with gold, and the rounds plated over with iron. The extremities of the axletrees were made of gold, representing the mus . A. M. 683. Ant. J. C. 321. Diod. 1. xviii. p. 608-610. I could have wished it had been in my power to have explained sev eral passages of this description in a more clear and intelligible manner than I have done; but that was not possible for me to effect, though I had recourse to persons of greater capacity than myself. eles of lions biting a dart. The chariot had four draught beams or poles, to each of which were harnessed four sets of mules, each set consisting of four of those animals; so that this chariot was drawn by sixty four mules. The strongest of those creatures, and the largest, were chosen on this occasion. They were adorned with crowns of gold, and collars enriched with precious stones and golden bells. On this chariot was erected a pavilion of entire gold, twelve feet wide, and eighteen in length, supported by columns of the Ionic order, embellished with the leaves of acanthus. The inside was adorned with a blaze of jewels, disposed in the form of shells. The circumference was beautified with a fringe of golden net work; the threads that composed the texture were an inch in thickness, and to those were fastened large bells, whose sound was heard to a great distance. The external decorations were disposed into four relievos. The first represented Alexander seated in a military chariot, with a splendid scepter in his hand, and surrounded, on one side, with a troop of Macedonians in arms; and on the other, with an equal number of Persians armed in their manner. These were preceded by the king's equerries. In the second were seen elephants completely harnessed, with a band of Indians seated on the fore part of their bodies; and on the hinder, another band of Macedonians, armed as in the day of battle. The third exhibited to the view several squadrons of horse ranged in military array. The fourth represented ships preparing for a battle. At the entrance into the pavilion were golden lions, that seemed to guard the passage. The four corners were adorned with statues of gold, representing victories with trophies of arms in their hands. Under the pavilion was placed a throne of gold, of a square form, adorned with the heads of animals, whose necks were encompassed with golden circles a foot and a half in breadth; to these were hung crowns, that glittered with the liveliest colours, and such as were carried in procession at the celebration of sacred solemnities. At the foot of the throne was placed the coffin of Alexander, formed of beaten gold, and half filled with aromatic spices and perfumes, as well to exhale an agreeable odour, as for the preservation of the corpse. A pall of purple wrought with gold covered the coffin. Between this and the throne, the arms of that monarch were disposed in the manner he wore them when living. The outside of the pavilion was likewise covered with purple flowered with gold. The top ended in a very large crown of the same metal, which seemed to be a composition of olive branches. The rays of the sun which darted on this diadem, in conjunction with the motion of the chariot, caused it to emit a kind of rays like those of lightning. It may easily be imagined, that, in so long a procession, the motion of a chariot, loaded like this, would be liable to great inconveniences. In order, therefore, • The Greek word rgaxxas imports a kind of hart, from whose chin a beard hangs down like that of goats. that the pavilion, with all its appendages, might, when the chariot moved in any uneven ways, constantly continue in the same situation, notwithstanding the inequality of the ground, and the shocks that would frequently be unavoidable, a cylinder was raised from the middle of each axletree, to support the pavilion; by which expedient the whole machine was preserved steady. The chariot was followed by the royal guards, all in arms, and magnificently arrayed. The multitude of spectators of this solemnity is hardly credible; but they were drawn together as well by their veneration for the memory of Alexander, as by the magnificence of this funeral pomp, which had never been equalled in the world. There was a current prediction, that the place where Alexander should be interred, would be rendered the most happy and flourishing part of the whole earth. The governors contested with each other, for the disposal of a body that was to be attended with such a glorious prerogative. The affection Perdiccas entertained for his country, made him desirous, that the corpse should be conveyed to Ege in Macedonia, where the remains of its kings were usually deposited. Other places were likewise proposed, but the preference was given to Egypt. Ptolemy, who had such extraordinary and recent obligations to the king of Macedonia, was determined to signalize his gratitude on this occasion. He accordingly set out with a numerous guard of his best troops, in order to meet the procession, and advanced as far as Syria. When he had joined the attendants on the funeral, he prevented them from interring the corpse in the temple of Jupiter Ammon, as they had proposed. It was, therefore, deposited, first in the city of Memphis, and from thence was conveyed to Alexandria. Ptolemy raised a manificent temple to the memory of this monarch, and rendered him all the honours which were usually paid to demi gods and heroes by pagan antiquity. с • Freinshemius, in his supplement to Livy, relates after Leof the African, that the tomb of Alexander the Great was still to be seen in his time, and that it was reverenced by the Mahomedans, as the monument, not only of an illustrious king, but of a great prophet. Cappadocia and Paphlagonia, which border on the Pontic sea, were allotted to Eumenes, in conse. quence of the partition of the several governments of Alexander's empire; and it was expressly stipulated by the treaty, that Leonatus and Antigonus should march with a great body of troops to establish Eumenes in the government of those dominions, and dispossess king Ariarathes of the sovereignty. This general resolution, of sending troops and experienced commanders into the several provinces of the empire, was formed with great judgment; and the intention of it was, that all those conquered territories should continue under the dominion of the Macedonians, and that the inhabitants, being no longer governed by their own sovereigns, should have no future inclination to recover their former liberty, nor be in a condition to set each other the example of throwing off the new yoke of the Greeks. Lib. 133. f This author lived in the fifteenth century. |