heart by Pausanias, a Macedonian nobleman (B. c. 336), whose motives for committing such an atrocious crime can not be satisfactorily ascertained.

Alexan'der, deservedly surnamed the Great, succeeded his father, but on his accession had to contend against a host of enemies. The Thracians, the Illyrians, and the other barbarous tribes of the north, took up arms, hoping that they might easily triumph over his youth and inexperience. But they were miserably disappointed. Alexander, in an incredibly short space of time, forced their fastnesses, and inflicted on them so severe a chastisement, that they never again dared to attempt a revolt. But, in the meantime, a report had been spread in Greece, that Alexander had fallen in Illyr'ia. The different states began to make vigorous preparations for shaking off the yoke of Macedon; and the Thebans took the lead in the revolt, by murdering the governors that Philip had appointed, and besieging the garrison in the Cadméia (B. c 335). Fourteen days had scarcely elapsed, when Alexander, eager for vengeance, appeared before the walls of Thebes. After a brief struggle, the city was taken by storm, and levelled with the ground. The conqueror spared the lives of those who were descended from Pin'dar, of the priestly families, and of all who had shown attachment to the Macedonian interest; but the rest of the inhabitants were doomed to death or slavery. It must, however, be remarked, that the Baotians in Alexander's army were more active than the Macedonians in this scene of barbarity, and that the Thebans, by their previous treatment of the Baotian cities, had provoked retaliation. Alexander subsequently regretted the fate of Thebes, and confessed that its destruction was both cruel and impolitic.

This dreadful calamity spread terror throughout Greece; the states hastened to renew their submission; and Alexander, whose whole soul was bent on the conquest of Asia, accepted their excuses, and renewed the confederacy, of which his father had been chosen chief. He then intrusted the government of Greece and Macedon to Antip'ater, and prepared to invade the great empire of Persia with an army not exceeding five thousand horse, and thirty thousand foot (B. c. 334). He led his forces to Sestus in Thrace, whence they were transported across the Hellespont without opposition, the Persians having totally neglected the defence of their western frontier.

The Persian satraps rejected the prudent advice of Mem'non, who recommended them to lay waste the country, and force the Macedonians to return home by the pressure of famine; but they collected an immense army, with which they took post on the Granícus, a river that flows from Mount Ida into the Propon'tis. Alexander did not hesitate a moment in engaging the enemy, notwithstanding the vast superiority of the hostile forces. He forded the river at the head of his cavalry, and, after being exposed to great personal danger, obtained a decisive victory, with the loss of only eighty-five horsemen and thirty of the light infantry. This glorious achievement was followed by the subjugation of all the provinces west of the river Hálys, which had formed the ancient kingdom of Lydia; and before the first campaign closed, Alexander was the undisputed master of Asia Minor.

The second campaign opened with the reduction of Phrygia, after

which the Macedonian hero entered Cilicia, and, marching through the pass called the Syrian Gates, reached the bay of Is'sus, where he expected to meet Daríus and the Persian army. But that monarch, persuaded by his flatterers that Alexander was afraid to meet him and trembled at his approach, had entered the defiles in quest of the Greeks, and was thus entangled in the narrow valleys of the Syrian straits, where it was impossible to derive advantage from his vast superiority of numbers. Alexander instantly prepared to profit by this imprudence.

He attacked the barbarian columns with his resistless phalanx, and broke them to pieces. The valor of the Greek mercenaries in the pay of Persia for a time rendered the victory doubtful; but the Macedonians, victorious in every other part of the field, attacked this body in flank, and put it to a total rout. Daríus fled in the very beginning of the engagement, leaving his wife, his mother, his daughters, and his infant son, to the mercy of the conqueror. The Persians entangled and crowded in the defiles of the mountains, suffered so severely in their flight, that they made no effort to defend their camp, which, with all its vast treasures, became the prey of the Macedonians. The conduct of Alexander after this unparalleled victory proved that he deserved success. He treated the captive Persian princesses with the greatest respect and kindness, and dismissed without ransom the Greeks whom he had made prisoners while fighting against their

country.

Before invading Upper Asia, Alexander prudently resolved to subdue the maritime provinces. He encountered no resistance until he demanded to be admitted into the city of Tyre, when the inhabitants boldly set him at defiance. It would be inconsistent with our narrow limits to describe the siege of this important place (B. c. 332). Suffice it to say, that, after a tedious siege and desperate resistance, Tyre was taken by storm and its inhabitants either butchered or enslaved. This success was followed by the submission of all Palestine, except Gáza, which made as obstinate a defence as Tyre, and was as severely punished. From Gáza the Macedonians entered Egypt, which submitted to them almost without a blow.

Having received, during the winter, considerable reinforcements from Greece, Macedon, and Thrace, Alexander opened his fourth campaign by crossing the Euphrátes at Thap'sacus; thence he advanced to the Tigris, and, having forded that river, entered the plains of Assyria. He found Daríus with an immense army, composed not merely of Persians, but of the wild tribes from the deserts east of the Caspian, encamped near the village of Gaugaméla; but as this place is little known, the battle that decided the fate of an empire is more usually named from Arbéla, the nearest town of importance to the plains on which it was fought (B. c. 331). Having halted for a few days to refresh his men, Alexander advanced early in the morning against the vast host of Daríus. Daríus led his forces forward with so little skill that the horse became intermingled with the foot, and the attempt to disentangle them broke the line. Alexander, forming his troops into a wedge, occupied this gap, and pushing right forward, threw the Asiatics into irretrievable confusion. The Persian cavalry on the left wing continued to maintain the fight after the centre was broken, but when

Alexander, with a select squadron, assailed their flank, they broke their lines and fled at full gallop from the field. It was no longer a battle, but a slaughter; forty thousand of the barbarians were slain, while the loss of the Greeks did not exceed five hundred men. The triumph was, however, sullied by the wanton destruction of Persep'olis, which Alexander is said to have burned at the instigation of an Athenian courtesan, when heated with wine during the rejoicing after the victory. The first intention of Daríus after his defeat was to establish himself in Media; but hearing that Alexander was approaching Ecbatána he fled to Hyrcánia with a small escort. Here he was deposed by the satrap Bessus, and thrown into chains. On receiving this intelligence, Alexander advanced against Bessus with the utmost speed; but he came too late to save the unhappy Daríus, who was savagely stabbed by the rebels, and left to expire at the roadside. His fate was soon avenged by his former enemy. Alexander continued the pursuit so vigorously, that Bessus was soon taken, and put to death with the most horrible tortures. Spitaménes, and several other satraps, still maintained a desperate struggle for independence, assisted by the barbarous tribes of the desert. Four years were spent in subduing these chiefs and their allies; in the course of which time Alexander conquered Bac'tria, Sogdiana, and the countries now included in southern Tartary, Khorássan, Kabul (в. c. 327). But, still desirous of further triumphs, he resolved to invade India.

While Alexander was thus engaged, the Lacedæmonians, instigated by their warlike monarch A'gis, declared war against Macedon, but were speedily subdued by Antip'ater. They sent ambassadors into Asia to supplicate the clemency of the Macedonian monarch, and were generously pardoned by Alexander (B. c. 330). Another proof of the young hero's respect for the ancient Grecian states, was his permitting the Athenians to banish Es'chines, the ancient friend of Macedon, after he had been conquered by Demos'thenes in the most remarkable oratorical contest recorded in the annals of eloquence. Es'chines accused Ctesiphon for having proposed that a golden crown should be given to Demos'thenes as a testimony to the rectitude of his political career. Æs'chines assailed the whole course of policy recommended by Demosthenes, declaring that it had caused the ruin of Grecian independence. Demos'thenes defended his political career so triumphantly, that Æs'chines was sent into banishment for having instituted a malicious prosecution.

Alexander, having made all necessary preparations for the invasion of India (B. c. 327), advanced toward that country by the route of Kandahar, which is that generally used by caravans to and from Persia at the present day. One division of his army, having pushed forward to the banks of the In'dus, prepared everything requisite for fording the river, while the king was engaged in subduing such cities and fortresses as might be of service in forming magazines, should he advance, or securing a retreat, if he found it necessary to return. No opposition was made to the passage of the In'dus. Alexander received on its eastern bank the submission of Tax'iles, a powerful Indian prince, who supplied him with seven thousand Indian horse as auxiliaries. Continuing his march through the country now called the Punj-áb, or land of the

five rivers, he reached the banks of the Hydas'pes (Jhilum), and found the opposite side occupied by an Indian prince, called Pórus by the historians, though that name, like Bren'nus among the Gauls, and Daríus among the Persians, more properly designated an office than an individual.

The Indian army was more numerous than the Macedonian, and it had, besides, the support of three hundred war-chariots and two hundred elephants. Alexander could not pass the river in the presence of such a host without danger; but by a series of stratagems he lulled the enemy into false security, and reached the right bank with little interruption. A battle ensued, in which the Indians were totally defeated, and Pórus himself made prisoner. The conqueror continued his march eastward, crossing the Aces'ines (Chunáb) and the Hydraótes (Raví); but when he reached the Hy'phasis (Sutleje), his troops unanimously refused to continue their march; and Alexander was reluctantly forced to make the Punj-áb the limit of his conquests. He determined, however, to return into central Asia by a different route from that by which he had advanced, and caused vessels to be built on the Hydas'pes to transport his troops down that stream to its junction with the In'dus, and thence to the ocean. His navigation employed several months, being frequently retarded by the hostilities of the natives, especially the warlike tribe of the Mal'li. After having wistfully surveyed the waters of the Indian ocean, Alexander determined to proceed toward Persepolis through the barren solitudes of Gedrósia (B. c. 325), while his fleet, under Near'chus, was employed in the survey of the Persian gulf, from the mouth of the Indus to that of the Euphrátes. He endured many hardships, but at length arrived, with less loss than might reasonably have been anticipated, in the fertile provinces of Persia. His active mind was next directed to securing the vast empire he had acquired, and joining Europe to Asia by the bonds of his commercial intercourse. No better proof of the wisdom of his plans can be given than the fact that most of the cities he founded as trading marts are still the places of most commercial importance in their respective countries. But while he was thus honorably and usefully employed, his career was cut short by a fever, the consequence of excessive drinking-a vice in which all the Macedonians were prone to indulge after the fatigues of war (B. c. 324, May 28th). His sudden death prevented him from making any arrangements respecting the succession or a regency; but in his last agony he gave his ring to Per'diccas, a Macedonian nobleman who had obtained the chief place in his favor after the death of Hephas'tion.

SECTION III.-Dissolution of the Macedonian Empire.

FROM B. C. 324 TO B. c. 301.

PER'DICCAS was the only one of Alexander's followers who refused a portion of his treasures when the young hero shared them among his friends, just before his invasion of Asia. Possessing no small share of the enthusiasm of his late illustrious master, tempered by policy and prudence, Per'diccas seemed the best fitted of all the generals to con

solidate the mighty empire which Alexander had acquired. But the Macedonian nobles possessed a more than ordinary share of the pride and turbulence that distinguish a feudal aristocracy; they had formed several conspiracies against the life of the late monarch, by whose exploits and generosity they had so largely profited; and consequently they were not disposed to submit to one who had so recently been their equal. Scarcely had the regency been formed, when the Macedonian infantry, at the instigation of Meleáger, chose for their sovereign Arrhida'us, the imbecile brother of Alexander. The civil war consequent on this measure was averted at the very instant it was about to burst forth by the resignation of Arrhida'us; and as his incapacity soon became notorious, all parties concurred in the propriety of a new arrangement. It was accordingly agreed that Per'diccas should be regent, but that Arrhida'us should retain the shadow of royalty; provision was made for the child with which Roxana, Alexander's widow, was pregnant; and the principal provinces were divided among the Macedonian generals, with the powers previously exercised by the Persian

satraps.

During these dissensions the body of Alexander lay unburied and neglected, and it was not until two years after his death that his remains were consigned to the tomb. But his followers still showed their respect for his memory, by retaining the feeble Arrhida'us on the throne, and preventing the marriage of Per'diccas with Cleopátra, the daughter of Philip; a union which manifestly was projected to open a way to the throne.

But while this project of marriage occupied the attention of the regent, a league had secretly been formed for his destruction, and the storm burst forth from a quarter whence it was least expected. Alexander, in his march against Daríus, had been contented with receiving the nominal submission of the northern provinces of Asia Minor, inhabited by the barbarous tribes of the Cappadocians and Paphlagonians. Impatient of subjection, these savage nations asserted their independence after the death of Alexander, and chose Ariaráthes for their leader. Per'diccas sent against them Eúmenes, who had hitherto fulfilled the peaceful duties of a secretary; and sent orders to Antig'onus and Leonátus, the governors of western Asia, to join the expedition with all their forces. These commands were disobeyed, and Per'diccas was forced to march with the royal army against the insurgents. He easily defeated these undisciplined troops, but sullied his victory by unnecessary cruelty. On his return he summoned the satraps of western Asia to appear before his tribunal, and answer for their disobedience. Antig'onus, seeing his danger, entered into a league with Ptolemy, the satrap of Egypt, Antip'ater the governor of Macedon, and several other noblemen, to crush the regency. Per'diccas, on the other hand, leaving Eúmenes to guard Lower Asia, marched with the choicest divisions of the royal army against Ptolemy, whose craft and ability he dreaded even more than his power.

Antip'ater and Crat'erus were early in the field; they crossed the Hellespont with the army that had been left for the defence of Macedon, and on their landing were joined by Neoptol'emus the governor of Phrygia. Their new confederate informed the Macedonian leaders