Alexander, nothing daunted, continued his march, and even entered the city by the gate which had been particularly described as fatal. 13. The schemes and plans with which Alexander's mind was occupied, during the last year of his life, were worthy of his great genius; he opened the navigation of the Euphra'tes, established a fleet on the Caspian Sea, founded several towns, and marked out the site of commercial depôts which would connect the trade of the Nile, the Tigris, and the Indus; he also made preparations for the invasion of Arabia, as he deemed the possession of that peninsula essential to the accomplishment of his mighty projects. 14. Before setting out on any new expedition, it had been always the custom of Alexander to invite his officers to a banquet; that which was given on the completion of the preparations for invading Arabia was peculiarly splendid; the king drank deeply, and was about to retire, when Medius, the Thessalian, invited him to come to a second banquet at his quarters. 15. This additional debauch brought on a fever, which the king's anxiety about the impending expedition greatly increased. On the ninth day he was speechless, and it became evident that his dissolution was approaching: his favourite troops were admitted to his presence, and though unable to speak, he saluted them with his hand soon after he gave his ring to Per'diccas and expired. 16. The character of Alexander is so completely unexampled, his career so unlike every thing that has been recorded of all other conquerors, that we must not be surprised to find him by some writers described as a scourge of the human race, and by others represented as a great benefactor of mankind. 17. That his establishment of a permanent empire in the East would have greatly advanced the great cause of civilization and social happiness is perfectly undeniable. When we consider how much he effected before he had attained even his thirty fourth year, it is not easy to assign the limits of what he might have done, if his life had been protracted to old age. 18. To change the barbarous habits of the Asiatic nations, and substitute for their savage customs the refinements of Greek civilization, was an enterprise of greater difficulty and of greater glory than the conquest of Dari'us, or the subjugation of Persia; but it might probably have been effected by the royal pupil of Aristotle, combining as he did, the enthusiasm of the hero, and the wisdom of the philosopher. 19. Other invaders have passed over the plains of Asia, both in ancient and modern times, but their career has been like the poison-wind of the desert, traceable only by the ruin and desolation that marked their progress. The march of Alexander was not wholly unattended with evil, for every invading army must cause calamity, but the monuments of his glorious career were seventy cities, founded under his auspices, commercial marts established on all the principal rivers, and improved systems of agriculture and social life taught to wandering tribes. 20. The army of the southern Greeks who had not shared in the glories of the conquest of Asia, the jealousy of the Romans, who could not bear to remember that the banners of Macedon were displayed in regions unvisited by the Roman eagle, and the republican prejudices of most ancient historians, have led to a great depreciation of Alexander's merits, and a great exaggeration of his faults. would be idle to assert that he was a perfect character, but "take him for all in all," and it will be difficult to point out in history a better general, a wiser sovereign, a more merciful victor, and a more sincere friend. Questions. 1. What commercial projects did Alexander form? 2. By what route did the army return to Persia ? 3. Did they endure many sufferings during their march? 4. Was the march through Carmania equally painful? 5. How did Alexander show his respect for the memory of Cyrus? It 6. In what manner did Alexander endeavour to conciliate the Persians? 7. Why were the Macedonians indignant? 8. How was their mutiny suppressed? 9. By whose death was Alexander greatly affected? 10. What remarkable embassies met him on the road to Babylon? 11. By whom was Alexander warned not to enter Babylon? 12. Was he deterred by these unfavourable omens ? 13. To what enterprise was the attention of Alexander next directed? 14. In what drunken debauch did Alexander engage? 15. What were the circumstances of his death? 16. What opposite accounts are given of Alexander's character ? 17. Why may we suppose that he could have executed his projects? 18. What designs of his would have been most difficult to execute? 19. How did he differ from other conquerors of Asia? 20. Why has the character of Alexander been misrepresented? CHAPTER XV. The Successors of Alexander. Look back who list, unto the former ages, 1. Whilst Alexander was employed in the subjugation of Asia, the preservation of tranquillity in Greece was entrusted to Antip'ater, who united in a remarkable degree the character of an able statesman and a good general. The Lacedæmonians, though stripped of power, had not lost their pride, and they resolved to overthrow the supremacy of Macedon, while its sovereign was waging a doubtful war in a foreign land. The Spartan king A'gis inherited the abilities and obstinacy of his grandfather, Agesila'us: he induced several of the Peloponnesian states to join in the confederacy he had formed against Macedon, and was soon able to take the field at the head of twenty thousand men. (B. C. 330.) 2. This unexpected news reached Antip'ater, whilst he was subduing an insurrection in Thrace; alarmed at the imminent danger, he traversed Greece with wonderful celerity, and arrived in the Peloponnesus, with an army more numerous and better disciplined than that of his enemies. 3. The engagement that ensued was fatal to the confederates; A'gis refusing to fly, was slain, and three thousand of his soldiers shared his fate. Deputies were sent to solicit pardon and peace from Alexander, and he, with equal prudence and generosity, granted both, on the most liberal conditions. 4. During the remainder of his reign Greece enjoyed perfect tranquillity, the cities continued to be ruled by their own laws, and the Macedonian government did not even interfere to protect its partisans when attacked by a hostile faction. The famous contest between the rival orators, Demos'thenes and Es'chines, which terminated in the defeat and banishment of the latter, is a convincing proof of the great liberty which the states were permitted to enjoy. 5. We have already seen that Demos'thenes had long shown himself the inveterate enemy of the Macedonian supremacy, and that his rival Es'chines had been distinguished as the eloquent advocate of Philip; both were supported by strong parties, but that of Demos'thenes was the most active and numerous. 6. Ctesiphon, an Athenian of some eminence, proposed a decree, which was sanctioned by an assembly of the people, that the state should present Demos'thenes with a golden crown as a testimony of their approbation: Æs'chines denounced the proposer as a violator of the laws. From various causes, the trial was postponed to the sixth year of Alexander's reign; crowds came from all parts of Greece to witness the intellectual conflict, and the late victories of the Macedonians seemed to give the accuser a decisive advantage. (B. C. 330.) 7. The charges made by As'chines against Ctesiphon were three; (1.) That he had proposed to confer public honours on a man holding an official situation, whose accounts were yet unexamined. (2.) That he had caused these honours to be illegally proclaimed in the theatre. (3.) That Demosthenes, far from meriting a crown, had been the principal cause of his country's ruin and disgrace. The last was evidently the most important head of accusation, since it brought into question the entire policy of the Athenians, with respect to the Macedonians. 8. The speech of Æs'chines was a master-piece of eloquence and argument, but the persuasive vehemence of Demosthenes bore down all opposition; he vindicated the course he had recommended to the Athenians, as being that which honour had dictated, though fortune had not favoured; and appealed to the shades of those who fell at Marathon and Platææ, to justify the conflict in the same glorious cause on the fatal field of Charonei'a. 9. The event was the acquittal of Ctes'iphon, and the banishment of Æs'chines as a false accuser. 10. The subsequent conduct of the illustrious rivals is more honourable to their characters than even the triumphs of their eloquence. Demosthenes presented a large sum of money to his adversary, and forced him to accept it, as a means of support in exile. Es'chines opened a school of eloquence at Rhodes, and having read the two crown orations at his first lecture, when he found that the warmest applause was given to the speech of Demos'thenes, without testifying any envy, he exclaimed, What would have been your admiration had vou heard the mighty orator himself! |