Plutarch's Lives Volume III Part 23

x.x.xIV. The result of this battle was the complete destruction of the Persian empire. Alexander was at once saluted King of Asia, and after a splendid sacrifice to the G.o.ds, distributed the treasures and provinces of that country among his friends. In the pride of his heart he now wrote to Greece, saying that all the despots must be driven out, and each city left independent with a const.i.tutional government, and gave orders for the rebuilding of the city of Plataea, because the ancestors of the citizens of Plataea gave their territory to be consecrated to the G.o.ds on behalf of the liberties of Greece. He also sent some part of the spoils to the citizens of Kroton, in Italy, to show his respect for the memory of Phallus the athlete, who, during the Persian invasion, when all the other Greek cities in Italy deserted the cause of their countrymen in Greece, fitted out a s.h.i.+p of war at his own expense, and sailed to Salamis to take part in the battle there, and share in the dangers of the Greeks. Such honour did Alexander pay to personal prowess, for he loved to reward and to commemorate n.o.ble deeds.

x.x.xV. Alexander now marched into the country of Babylonia, which at once yielded to him. As he drew near to Ekbatana he marvelled much at an opening in the earth, out of which poured fire, as if from a well.

Close by, the naphtha which was poured out formed a large lake. This substance is like bitumen, and is so easy to set on fire, that without touching it with any flame, it will catch light from the rays which are sent forth from a fire, burning the air which is between both. The natives, in order to show Alexander the qualities of naphtha, lightly sprinkled with it the street which led to his quarters, and when it became dark applied a match to one end of the track which had been sprinkled with it. As soon as it was alight in one place, the fire ran all along, and as quick as thought the whole street was in flames. At this time Alexander was in his bath, and was waited upon by Stepha.n.u.s, a hard-favoured page-boy, who had, however, a fine voice.

Athenophanes, an Athenian, who always anointed and bathed King Alexander, now asked him if he would like to see the power of the naphtha tried upon Stepha.n.u.s, saying that if it burned upon his body and did not go out, the force of it must indeed be marvellous. The boy himself was eager to make the trial, and was anointed with it and set on fire. He was at once enveloped in flame, and Alexander was terrified for him, fearing that he would be burned to death. Indeed, had it not chanced that several attendants with pitchers of water in their hands had just arrived, all help would have been too late. They poured water over the boy and extinguished the flames, but not before he had been badly burned, so that he was ill for some time after. Some writers, who are eager to prove the truth of ancient legends, say that this naphtha was truly the deadly drug used by Medea, with which she anointed the crown and robe spoken of in the tragedies: for flame could not be produced by them, nor of its own accord, but if fire were brought near to clothes steeped in naphtha they would at once burst into flame. The reason of this is that the rays which fire sends forth fall harmlessly upon all other bodies, merely imparting to them light and heat; but when they meet with such as have an oily, dry humour, and thereby have a sympathy with the nature of fire, they easily cause them to catch fire. It is a disputed question, however, how the naphtha is produced, though most writers conceive its combustible principle to be supplied by the greasy and fiery nature of the soil; for all the district of Babylonia is fiery hot, so that often barley is cast up out of the ground in which it is sown, as if the earth throbbed and vibrated with the heat, and during the hottest part of summer the inhabitants are wont to sleep upon leathern bags filled with water for the sake of coolness. Harpalus, who was appointed governor of the district, took an especial delight in adorning the palace and the public walks with Greek flowers and shrubs; but although he found no difficulty with most of them, he was unable to induce ivy to grow, because ivy loves a cold soil, and the earth there is too hot for it. These digressions, provided they be not too lengthy, we hope will not be thought tedious by our readers.

x.x.xVI. When Alexander made himself master of Susa, he found in the palace forty thousand talents worth of coined money, besides an immense ma.s.s of other valuable treasure. Here we are told was found five thousand talents weight of cloth dyed with Hermionic[411] purple cloth, which had been stored up there for a s.p.a.ce of two hundred years save ten, and which nevertheless still kept its colour as brilliantly as ever. The reason of this is said to be that honey was originally used in dyeing the cloth purple, and white olive oil for such of it as was dyed-white: for cloth of these two colours will preserve its l.u.s.tre without fading for an equal period of time. Demon also informs us that amongst other things the Kings of Persia had water brought from the Nile and the Danube, and laid up in their treasury, as a confirmation of the greatness of their empire, and to prove that they were lords of all the world.

x.x.xVII. As the district of Persis[412] was very hard to invade, both because of its being mountainous, and because it was defended by the n.o.blest of the Persians (for Darius had fled thither for refuge), Alexander forced his way into it by a circuitous path, which was shown him by a native of the country, the son of a Lykian captive, by a Persian mother, who was able to speak both the Greek and the Persian language. It is said that while Alexander was yet a child, the prophetess at the temple of Apollo at Delphi foretold that a wolf[413]

should some day serve him for a guide when he went to attack the Persians. When Persis was taken, a terrible slaughter was made of all the prisoners. A letter written by Alexander himself is still extant, in which he orders that they should all be put to the sword, thinking this to be the safest course. He is said to have found as much coined money here[414] as in Susa, and so much other treasure that it required ten thousand carts, each drawn by a pair of mules, and five thousand camels, to carry it away.

Alexander, observing a large statue of Xerxes which had been thrown down and was being carelessly trampled upon by the soldiers as they pressed into the royal palace, stopped, and addressed it as though it were alive. "Shall we," said he, "leave thee lying there, because of thy invasion of Greece, or shall we set thee up again because of thy magnificence and greatness of soul?" He then stood musing for a long time, till at length he roused himself from his reverie and went his way. Being desirous of giving his soldiers some rest, as it was now winter, he remained in that country for four months. It is related that when he first took his seat upon the royal throne of Persia, under the golden canopy, Demaratus, an old friend and companion of Alexander, burst into tears, and exclaimed that the Greeks who had died before that day had lost the greatest of pleasures, because they had not seen Alexander seated on the throne of Darius.

x.x.xVIII. After this, while he was engaged in preparing to march in pursuit of Darius, he chanced to be present at a banquet where his friends had brought their mistresses. Of these ladies the chief was the celebrated Thais, who afterwards became the mistress of King Ptolemy of Egypt, and who was of Attic parentage.

She at first amused Alexander by her conversation, then adroitly flattered him, and at last, after he had been drinking for some time, began to speak in a lofty strain of patriotism which scarcely became such a person. She declared, that she was fully repaid for all the hards.h.i.+ps which she had undergone while travelling through Asia with the army, now that she was able to revel in the palace of the haughty Kings of Persia; but that it would be yet sweeter to her to burn the house of Xerxes, who burned her native Athens, and to apply the torch with her own hand in the presence of Alexander, that it might be told among men that a woman who followed Alexander's camp had taken a more n.o.ble revenge upon the Persians for the wrongs of Greece, than all the admirals and generals of former times had been able to do. This speech of hers was enthusiastically applauded, and all Alexander's friends pressed him to execute the design. Alexander leaped from his seat, and led the way, with a garland upon his head and a torch in his hand. The rest of the revellers followed, and surrounded the palace, while the remainder of the Macedonians, hearing what was going on, brought them torches. They did so the more readily because they thought that the destruction of the palace indicated an intention on Alexander's part to return home, and not to remain in Persia. Some historians say that this was how he came to burn the palace, while others say that he did it after mature deliberation: but all agree that he repented of what he had done, and gave orders to have the fire extinguished.

x.x.xIX. His liberality and love of making presents increased with his conquests: and his gifts were always bestowed in so gracious a manner as to double their value. I will now mention a few instances of this.

Ariston, the leader of the Paeonians, having slain an enemy, brought his head and showed it to Alexander, saying, "O king, in my country such a present as this is always rewarded with a gold cup." Alexander smiled, and said, "Yes, with an empty cup: but I pledge you in this gold cup, full of good wine, and give you the cup besides." One of the common Macedonian soldiers was driving a mule laden with gold belonging to Alexander; but as the animal became too weary to carry it, he unloaded it, and carried the gold himself. When Alexander saw him toiling under his burden, and learned his story, he said, "Be not weary yet, but carry it a little way farther, as far as your own tent; for I give it to you." He seemed to be more vexed with those who did not ask him for presents than with those who did so. He wrote a letter to Phokion, in which he declared that he would not any longer remain his friend, if Phokion refused all his presents. Serapion, a boy who served the ball to the players at tennis, had been given nothing by Alexander because he had never asked for anything. One day when Serapion was throwing the ball to the players as usual, he omitted to do so to the king, and when Alexander asked why he did not give him the ball, answered "You do not ask me for it." At this, Alexander laughed and gave him many presents. Once he appeared to be seriously angry with one Proteus, a professed jester. The man's friends interceded for him, and he himself begged for pardon with tears in his eyes, until Alexander said that he forgave him. "My king," said he "will you not give me something by way of earnest, to a.s.sure me that I am in your favour." Upon this the king at once ordered him to be given five talents. The amount of money which he bestowed upon his friends and his body guard appears from a letter which his mother Olympias wrote to him, in which she said, "It is right to benefit your friends and to show your esteem for them; but you are making them all as great as kings, so that they get many friends, and leave you alone without any." Olympias often wrote to him to this effect, but he kept all her letters secret, except one which Hephaestion, who was accustomed to read Alexander's letters, opened and read. Alexander did not prevent him, but took his own ring from his finger, and pressed the seal upon Hephaestion's mouth. The son of Mazaeus, who had been the chief man in the kingdom under Darius, was governor of a province, and Alexander added another larger one to it. The young n.o.bleman refused to accept the gift, and said, "My king, formerly there was only one Darius, but you now have made many Alexanders."

He presented Parmenio with the house of Bagoas, in which it is said that property worth a thousand talents was found which had belonged to the people of Susa. He also sent word to Antipater, warning him to keep a guard always about his person, as a plot had been formed against his life. He sent many presents to his mother, but forbade her to interfere with the management of the kingdom. When she stormed at this decision of his, he patiently endured her anger; and once when Antipater wrote a long letter to him full of abuse of Olympias, he observed, after reading it, that Antipater did not know that one tear of his mother's eye would outweigh ten thousand such letters.

XL. Alexander now observed that his friends were living in great luxury and extravagance; as for instance, Hagnon of Teos had his shoes fastened with silver nails; Leonnatus took about with him many camels, laden with dust,[415] from Egypt, to sprinkle his body with when he wrestled; Philotas had more than twelve miles of nets for hunting; and that all of them used richly perfumed unguents to anoint themselves with instead of plain oil, and were attended by a host of bathmen and chamberlains. He gently reproved them for this, saying that he was surprised that men who had fought so often and in such great battles, did not remember that the victors always sleep more sweetly than the vanquished, and that they did not perceive, when they imitated the luxury of the Persians, that indulgence is for slaves, but labour for princes. "How," he asked, "can a man attend to his horse, or clean his own lance and helmet, if he disdains to rub his own precious body with his hands? And do you not know, that our career of conquest will come to an end on the day when we learn to live like those whom we have vanquished?" He himself, by way of setting an example, now exposed himself to greater fatigues and hards.h.i.+ps than ever in his campaigns and hunting expeditions, so that old Lakon, who was with him when he slew a great lion, said, "Alexander, you fought well with the lion for his kingdom." This hunting scene was afterwards represented by Kraterus at Delphi. He had figures made in bronze of Alexander and the hounds fighting with the lion, and of himself running to help him.

Some of the figures were executed by the sculptor Lysippus, and some by Leochares.

XLI. Thus did Alexander risk his life in the vain endeavour to teach his friends to live with simplicity and hardihood; but they, now that they had become rich and important personages, desired to enjoy themselves, and no longer cared for long marches and hard campaigns, so that at last they began to murmur against him, and speak ill of him. He bore this with great gentleness at first, saying that it was the part of a king to do his subjects good and to be ill-spoken of by them in return. Indeed, he used to take advantage of the most trifling incidents to show the esteem he had for his intimate friends, of which I will now give a few examples.

Peukestas once was bitten by a bear, while hunting. He wrote and told his friends of his mishap, but kept it secret from Alexander. He, when he heard of it, wrote to Peukestas, blaming him for having concealed his hurt. "But now," he writes, "let me know how you are, and tell me if those who were hunting the bear with you deserted you, that I may punish them." When Hephaestion was absent on some business, he wrote to him to say that Kraterus had been struck in the thighs with Perdikkas's spear, while they were amusing themselves by baiting an ichneumon.

When Peukestas recovered from some illness, he wrote to the physician Alexippus, congratulating him on the cure which he had effected. When Kraterus was ill, Alexander had a dream about him, in consequence of which he offered sacrifice to certain G.o.ds, and bade him also sacrifice to them: and when Pausanias the physician wished to give Kraterus a draught of h.e.l.lebore, Alexander wrote to him, advising him to take the drug, but expressing the greatest anxiety about the result.

He imprisoned Ephialtes and Kissus, who were the first to bring him the news that Harpalus had absconded, because he thought that they wrongfully accused him.

When he was on the point of sending home all his invalided and superannuated soldiers, Eurylochus of aegae was found to have placed his name upon the list, although he was in perfect health. When questioned, he confessed that he was in love with a lady named Telesippa, who was returning to the sea-coast, and that he had acted thus in order to be able to follow her. Alexander on hearing this, enquired who this lady was. Being told that she was a free-born Greek courtezan, he answered, "I sympathise with your affection, Eurylochus; but since Telesippa is a free-born woman, let us try if we cannot, either by presents or arguments, persuade her to remain with us."

XLII. It is wonderful how many letters and about what trifling matters he found time to write to his friends. For instance, he sent a letter to Kilikia ordering search to be made for a slave boy belonging to Seleukus, who had run away, and praising Peukestas because he had captured Nikon, the runaway slave of Kraterus. He wrote also to Megabazus about a slave who had taken sanctuary in a temple, ordering him to catch him when outside of the temple, if possible, but not to lay hands on him within its precincts.

We are told that when he was sitting as judge to hear men tried for their lives, he was wont to close one ear with his hand, while the prosecutor was speaking, in order that he might keep it unbia.s.sed and impartial to listen to what the accused had to say in his defence. But later in his life, so many persons were accused before him, and so many of them truly, that his temper became soured and he inclined to believe them to be all alike guilty. And he was especially transported with rage, and made completely pitiless if any one spoke ill of him, for he valued his reputation more than his life or his crown.

He now set out again in pursuit of Darius, with the intention of fighting another battle with him: but on hearing that Darius had been taken by the satrap Bessus, he dismissed all his Thessalian cavalry and sent them home, giving them a largess of two thousand talents over and above the pay which was due to them. He now set out on a long and toilsome journey in pursuit of Darius, for in eleven days he rode more than five hundred miles, so that his men were terribly distressed, especially by want of water. One day he met some Macedonians who were carrying water from a river in skins on the backs of mules. Seeing Alexander faint with thirst, as it was the hottest time of the day, they quickly filled a helmet with water and gave it to him to drink.

He asked them to whom they were carrying the water, to which they answered, "To our own sons; but provided that you live, even if they should die, we can beget other children." On hearing this he took the helmet into his hands; but seeing all the hors.e.m.e.n around him eagerly watching him and coveting the water, he gave it back without tasting it. He thanked the men for offering it to him, but said, "If I alone drink it, all these soldiers will be discontented." The soldiers, when they saw the n.o.ble courage and self-denial of Alexander, bade him lead them on boldly, and urged forward their horses, saying that they felt neither hunger nor thirst, and did not think themselves to be mortal men, so long as they had such a king as Alexander to lead them.

XLIII. The whole of his army was equally enthusiastic; yet the fatigues of the march were so great, that when Alexander burst into the enemy's camp, only sixty men are said to have followed him. Here they pa.s.sed over great heaps of gold and silver, and pursued a long line of waggons, full of women and children, which were proceeding along without any drivers, until they had reached the foremost of them, because they imagined that Darius might be hidden in them. At last he was found, lying in his chariot, pierced with innumerable javelins, and just breathing his last. He was able to ask for drink, and when given some cold water by Polystratus, he said to him, "My good sir, this is the worst of all my misfortunes that I am unable to recompense you for your kindness to me; but Alexander will reward you, and the G.o.ds will reward Alexander for his courteous treatment of my mother and wife and daughters. Wherefore I pray thee, embrace him, as I embrace thee." With these words he took Polystratus by the hand and died. When Alexander came up, he showed great grief at the sight, and covered the body with his own cloak. He afterwards captured Bessus and tore him asunder, by bending down the tops of trees and tying different parts of his body to each, and then letting them spring up again so that each tore off the limb to which it was attached.

Alexander now had the corpse of Darius adorned as became a prince, and sent it to his mother, while he received his brother Exathres into the number of his intimate friends.

XLIV. He himself, with a few picked troops, now invaded Hyrkania, where he discovered an arm of the sea, which appeared to be as large as the Euxine, or Black Sea, but not so salt. He was unable to obtain any certain information about it, but conjectured it to be a branch of the Maeotic lake.[416] Yet geographers, many years before Alexander, knew well that this, which is ent.i.tled the Hyrkanian or Caspian Sea, is the northernmost of four gulfs proceeding from the exterior ocean.

Here some of the natives surprised the grooms in charge of his horse Boukephalus, and captured the animal. Alexander was much distressed at this, and sent a herald to make proclamation that unless his horse were restored to him, he would ma.s.sacre the whole tribe with their wives and children. When, however, they brought back his horse, and offered to place their chief cities in his hands as a pledge for their good behaviour, he treated them all with kindness, and paid a ransom for the horse to those who had captured it.

XLV. From hence he pa.s.sed into Parthia, where, being at leisure, he first began to wear the Persian dress, either because he thought that he should more easily win the hearts of the natives by conforming to their fas.h.i.+on, or else in order to try the obedience of his Macedonian soldiers and see whether they might not, by degrees, be brought to pay him the same respect and observance which the kings of Persia used to exact from their subjects. He did not, however, completely adopt the Persian costume, which would have been utterly repugnant to Grecian ideas, and wore neither the trousers, the coat with long sleeves, nor the tiara, but his dress, though less simple than the Macedonian, was still far from being so magnificent or so effeminate as that of the Persians. He at first only wore this dress when giving audiences to the natives of the country, or when alone with his more intimate friends, but afterwards he frequently both drove out publicly and transacted business in the Persian dress. The sight greatly offended the Macedonians, but yet they were so filled with admiration for his courage, that they felt he must be indulged in his fancies about dress; for besides all his other honourable wounds, he had only a short time before this been struck by an arrow in the calf of his leg, so that splinters of the bone came out, and also received such a blow upon his neck from a stone, that his eyesight was affected for a considerable time afterwards. Yet he did not cease to expose himself to danger, but crossed the river Orexartes, which he himself thought to be the Tanais or Don, and, although suffering from an attack of dysentery, defeated the Scythians and chased them for many miles.

XLVI. Most historians, amongst whom are Kleitarchus, Polykleitus, Onesikritus, Antigenes, and Istrus, say that while in this country he met an Amazon: while Aristobulus, Chares the court-usher, Ptolemy, Antikleides, Philon of Thebes, and Philippus the herald of festivals, besides Hekataeus of Eretria, Philip of Chalkis, and Douris of Samos, say that this is a mere fiction. And this opinion seems to be corroborated by Alexander himself: for he wrote to Antipater an exact account of his Scythian campaign, and mentioned that the King of the Scythians offered him his daughter in marriage, but says nothing about Amazons. It is said that many years afterwards, when Lysimachus had made himself king, Onesikritus was reading aloud to him the fourth book of his History of Alexander, in which mention is made of the Amazon. Lysimachus asked him with a quiet smile, "And where was I all the time?" However, Alexander's fame is not impaired if we disbelieve this story, nor is it increased if we regard it as true.

XLVII. As he feared that the Macedonians would refuse to follow him any farther, he allowed the great ma.s.s of his army to repose itself, and advanced through Hyrkania with a force of twenty thousand infantry and three thousand cavalry, all picked men. In a speech addressed to these select regiments, he declared that the natives of Asia had only seen them hitherto as if in a dream; and that, if they merely threw the whole country into disorder and then retired from it, the Asiatics would attack them as boldly as if they were so many women. Yet he said, that he permitted those who desired it to leave his service and return home, merely protesting against being left, with only his personal friends and a few volunteers, to carry on the n.o.ble enterprise of making Macedonia mistress of the whole world. These are almost the exact words which he uses in a letter to Antipater, and he further says that when he had spoken thus, the soldiers burst into a universal shout, bidding him lead them whithersoever he would. After this experiment had succeeded with the select troops, it was no difficult matter to induce the remainder to follow him, but they came almost of their own accord. He now began to imitate the Asiatic habits more closely, and endeavoured to a.s.similate the Macedonian and Asiatic customs and manners, hoping that by this means his empire, during his absence, would rest upon a foundation of good will rather than of force. To further this object he selected thirty thousand native youths, whom he ordered to be taught to speak the Greek language and to use the same arms as the Macedonians; and appointed a numerous body of instructors for them. His marriage with Roxana was due to a genuine pa.s.sion, for he was struck by her great beauty when he saw her dance in a chorus after a feast, but nevertheless the alliance was a very politic one; for the natives were pleased to see him take a wife from among themselves, and were charmed with the courteous and honourable conduct of Alexander, who, although Roxana was the only woman whom he had ever loved, yet would not approach her until he was lawfully married to her.

As Alexander perceived that, among his most intimate friends, Hephaestion encouraged him and furthered his designs, while Kraterus steadfastly adhered to the Macedonian customs, he made use of the latter in all transactions with Asiatics, and of the former when dealing with Greeks and Macedonians. He loved Hephaestion, and respected Kraterus above all the rest of his friends, and was wont to say that Hephaestion loved Alexander, but that Kraterus loved the king.

His favour caused constant jealousies between them, so that once in India they actually drew their swords and fought with one another.

Their friends began to take part in the quarrel on either side, when Alexander rode up, and bitterly reproached Hephaestion before them all, saying that he must be a fool and a madman if he did not see, that without Alexander's favour he would be n.o.body. Privately also he sharply rebuked Kraterus; and calling them both before him, made them be friends again, swearing by Zeus Ammon, and all the G.o.ds, that they were the two men whom he loved best in the world; but that if he heard of any more quarrelling between them he would put them both to death, or at least him who began the quarrel. In consequence of this, it is said that there never again, even in sport, was any dispute between them.

XLVIII. Philotas, the son of Parmenio, was a man of much importance among the Macedonians; for he was courageous and hardy, and the most liberal man, and the most devoted to his friends in all the army except Alexander himself. We are told of him that once a friend of his came to him to borrow money, and he at once commanded one of his servants to let him have it. His purse-bearer answered that he had no money, upon which Philotas exclaimed, "What! Have I no plate or furniture upon which you can raise money for my friend?"

His lofty carriage, his immense wealth, and the splendour in which he lived, caused him to appear too great for a private station, while his pride and vulgar ostentation made him generally disliked. His own father, Parmenio, once said to him: "My son, I pray you show a little more humility." He had long been an object of suspicion to Alexander, who was kept constantly informed about him by the following means:--After the battle of Issus, when the baggage of Darius was captured at Damascus, there was taken among the captives a beautiful Greek girl, named Antigone. She fell to the lot of Philotas, and became his mistress; and the young man, who was much enamoured of her, used to boast to her over his wine that all the conquests of the Macedonians were really due to the prowess of his father and himself, and that Alexander was merely a foolish boy, who owed his crown and his empire to their exertions. Antigone repeated these expressions to one of her friends, who, as was natural, did not keep them secret, so that at last they reached the ears of Kraterus. Kraterus privately introduced the woman to Alexander; and he, after he had heard her repeat what she had been told, ordered her to take secret note of the confidential expressions of Philotas, and to report them, from time to time, to himself.

XLIX. Philotas had no idea that he was being spied upon in this manner, and in his conversation with Antigone frequently spoke insolently and slightingly of his sovereign. Alexander, although he had acc.u.mulated terrible proofs of treason against Philotas, nevertheless remained silent, either because he felt a.s.sured of the loyalty of Parmenio, or because he feared to attack a man of such power and importance. At length, however, a Macedonian of Chalastra, named Simnus, formed a plot against Alexander's life, and invited a young man, named Nikomachus, his own intimate friend, to join him.

Nikomachus refused compliance, and told the whole story of the plot to his brother, Kebalinus, who at once had an interview with Philotas, and bade him bring them at once to Alexander, as persons who had a most important communication to make to him. Philotas, however, for some reason or other, did not bring them before Alexander, but said that the king was not at leisure to hear them, as he was engaged in more important business. This he repeated on a second occasion, and as his behaviour made the two brothers suspect his loyalty, they communicated with another officer, and by his means obtained an audience. They now told Alexander about the design of Limnus, and also said that Philotas had acted very luke-warmly in the matter, as they had twice told him that there was a plot against Alexander, and yet he had, on each occasion, disregarded their warning.

This greatly enraged Alexander: and as when Limnus was arrested he defended himself desperately and was killed in the scuffle, he was yet more disturbed, as he feared he had now lost all clue to the plot. He now openly showed his displeasure with Philotas, and encouraged all his enemies to say boldly that it was folly of the king to imagine that an obscure man like Limnus would have ventured to form a conspiracy against his life, but that Limnus was merely a tool in the hands of some more powerful person; and that if he wished to discover the real authors of the plot, he must seek for them among those who would have been most benefited by its success. Finding that the king lent a ready ear to suggestions of this kind, they soon furnished him with an overwhelming ma.s.s of evidence of the treasonable designs of Philotas. Philotas was at once arrested, and put to the torture in the presence of the chief officers of the Macedonian army, while Alexander himself sat behind a curtain to hear what he would say. It is said that when Alexander heard Philotas piteously beg Hephaestion for mercy, he exclaimed aloud, "Are you such a coward as this, Philotas, and yet contrive such daring plots?" To be brief, Philotas was put to death, and immediately afterwards Alexander sent to Media and caused Parmenio to be a.s.sa.s.sinated, although he was a man who had performed the most important services for Philip, had, more than any other of the older Macedonians, encouraged Alexander to invade Asia, and had seen two of his three sons die in battle before he perished with the third. This cruelty made many of the friends of Alexander fear him, and especially Antipater,[417] who now formed a secret league with the aetolians, who also feared Alexander because when he heard of the destruction of the people of neadae, he said that he himself, and not the sons of the people of neadae, would be revenged upon the aetolians.

L. Not long after this followed the murder of Kleitus, which, if simply told, seems more cruel than that of Philotas; but if we consider the circ.u.mstances under which it took place, and the provocation which was given, we shall treat it rather as a misfortune which befel Alexander during a fit of drunken pa.s.sion than as a deliberate act. It happened as follows. Some men came from the sea-coast, bringing Greek grapes as a present to Alexander. He admired their bloom and ripeness, and invited Kleitus to see them, meaning to present him with some of them. Kleitus was engaged in offering sacrifice, but on receiving this summons left his sacrifice and went to the king: upon which, three of the sheep which he was about to offer up as victims, followed him. When Alexander heard of this, he consulted his soothsayers, Aristander, and Kleomantes the Laconian. As they reported that this was an evil omen, he bade them at once offer an expiatory sacrifice on behalf of Kleitus; for he himself, three days before, had dreamed a strange dream about Kleitus, that he had seen him sitting dressed in black amongst the sons of Parmenio, who were all of them dead. Before, however, the sacrifices on behalf of Kleitus had been performed, he came to the banquet, before which Alexander himself had offered sacrifice to the Dioskuri.

After all had drunk heavily, a song was sung which had been composed by one Pranichus, or Pierion according to some writers, in which the generals who had recently been defeated by the barbarians were held up to public shame and ridicule. The elder Macedonians were vexed at this, and blamed both the writer of the song and the man who sung it, but Alexander and his a.s.sociates were much pleased with it, and bade the singer go on. Kleitus, who was now very much excited by drink and who was naturally of a fierce and independent temper, was especially annoyed, and said that it was not right for Macedonians to be thus insulted in the presence of enemies and barbarians, for that, in spite of their misfortune, they were far braver men than those who ridiculed them. Alexander answered that Kleitus, when he called cowardice a misfortune, was no doubt pleading his own cause: at which reproach Kleitus sprang to his feet, and exclaimed, "my cowardice at any rate saved the life of the son of the G.o.ds, when he turned his back to the sword of Spithridates; so that now, by the blood and wounds of the Macedonians, you have become so great a man that you pretend to be the child of Ammon, and disown your father Philip."

LI. Alexander, stung to the quick by these words, said, "Villain, do you suppose that you will be allowed to spread these calumnies against me, rendering the Macedonians disaffected, and yet go unpunished?"

"Too much are we punished," answered Kleitus, "when we see such a reward as this given us for all our hard service, but we congratulate those of us who are dead, because they died before they saw Macedonians beaten with Median rods, and begging Persian attendants to procure them an audience of their king." When Kleitus spoke his mind thus boldly, Alexander's intimate friends answered with bitter reproaches, but the older men endeavoured to pacify them. Alexander now turning to Xenodochus of Kardia and Astenius of Kolophon, asked, "Do not the Greeks seem to you to treat the Macedonians as if they were beasts, and they themselves were more than mortal men? "Kleitus, however, would not hold his peace, but went on to say that if Alexander could not bear to hear men speak their mind, he had better not invite free-born people to his table, and ought to confine himself to the society of barbarians and slaves who would pay respect to his Persian girdle and striped[418] tunic. At this speech Alexander could no longer restrain his pa.s.sion, but seized an apple from the table, hurled it at Kleitus, and began to feel for his dagger. Aristophanes, one of his body-guard, had already secreted it, and the rest now pressed round him imploring him to be quiet. He however leaped to his feet, and, as if in a great emergency, ehouted in the Macedonian tongue to the foot-guards to turn out. He bade the trumpeter sound an alarm, and as the man hesitated and refused, struck him with his fist.

This man afterwards gained great credit for his conduct, as it was thought that by it he had saved the whole camp from being thrown into an uproar. As Kleitus would not retract what he had said, his friends seized him and forced him out of the room. But he re-entered by another door, and in an offensive and insolent tone began to recite the pa.s.sage from the Andromache of Euripides, which begins,

"Ah me! in Greece an evil custom reigns," &c.

Upon this Alexander s.n.a.t.c.hed a lance from one of his guards, and ran Kleitus through the body with it, just as he was drawing aside the curtain and preparing to enter the room. Kleitus fell with a loud groan, and died on the spot. Alexander, when he came to himself, and saw his friends all standing round in mute reproach, s.n.a.t.c.hed the spear out of the corpse, and would have thrust it into his own neck, but was forcibly witheld by his guards, who laid hold of him and carried him into his bed-chamber.

LII. Alexander spent the whole night in tears, and on the next day was so exhausted by his agony of grief as to be speechless, and only able to sigh heavily. At length his friends, alarmed at his silence, broke into the room. He took no notice of any of their attempts at consolation, except that he seemed to make signs of a.s.sent when Aristander the soothsayer told him that all this had been preordained to take place, and reminded him of his dream about Kleitus. His friends now brought to him Kallisthenes the philosopher, who was a nephew of Aristotle, and Anaxarchus of Abdera. Kallisthenes endeavoured to soothe his grief, by kind and gentle consolation, but Anaxarchus, a man who had always pursued an original method of his own in philosophical speculations, and who was thought to be overbearing and harsh-tempered by his friends, as soon as he entered the room exclaimed, "This is that Great Alexander, upon whom the eyes of the world are fixed: there he lies like a slave, fearing what men will say of him, although he ought rather to dictate to them what they should think right, as becomes the master of the world, and not to be influenced by their foolish opinions. Know you not," asked he "that Law and Justice sit beside the throne of Zeus, and make everything which is done by those in power to be lawful and right?" By such discourse as this Anaxarchus a.s.suaged Alexander's sorrow, but encouraged his savage and lawless disposition. He gained great favour for himself, and was able to influence Alexander against Kallisthenes, who was already no favourite with him on account of his upright, uncompromising spirit. It is related that once at table, when the conversation turned upon the seasons, and upon the climate of Asia, Kallisthenes argued that it was colder in the country where they were than in Greece; and when Anaxarchus vehemently contradicted this, he said, "Why, you must admit that this country is the colder of the two; for in Greece you used to wear only one cloak all through the winter, whereas here you sit down to dinner wrapped in three Persian rugs."

This reply made Anaxarchus more his enemy than before.

LIII. Kallisthenes made all the sophists and flatterers of Alexander jealous of him because he was much sought after by the young men for his learning, and was liked by the elder men on account of his sober, dignified, and austere life, which confirmed the common report, that he had come to the court of Alexander with the intention of prevailing upon him to refound his native city, and collect together its scattered citizens. His high moral character gained him many enemies, but he himself gave some colour to their accusations by his conduct in constantly refusing all invitations, and by behaving himself with gravity and silence when in society, as if he were displeased with his company. His manner had caused Alexander himself to say of him, "I hate a philosopher who is not wise in his own interest." It is related that once at a great banquet, when sitting over their wine, Kallisthenes was asked to speak in praise of the Macedonians, and that he at once poured forth such a fluent and splendid eulogy that all the company rose, vehemently applauding, and threw their garlands to him.

At this Alexander remarked that, as Euripides says,

"On n.o.ble subjects, all men can speak well."

"Now," said he, "show us your ability by blaming the Macedonians, in order that they may be made better men by having their shortcomings pointed out." Kallisthenes hereupon began to speak in a depreciatory strain, and told many home-truths about the Macedonians, pointing out that Philip had become strong only because Greece was weakened by faction, and quoting the line,

"In times of trouble, bad men rise to fame."

This speech caused the Macedonians to hate him most bitterly, and provoked Alexander to say that Kallisthenes had made a display, not of his own abilities, but of his dislike to the Macedonians.

LIV. This is the account which Strbus, Kallisthenes's reader, is said by Hermippus to have given to Aristotle about the quarrel between Kallisthenes and Alexander; and he added that Kallisthenes was well aware that he was out of favour with the king, and twice or thrice when setting out to wait on him would repeat the line from the Iliad,

"Patroklus, too, hath died, a better man than thou."

On hearing this Aristotle acutely remarked, that Kallisthenes had great ability and power of speech, but no common sense. He, like a true philosopher, refused to kneel and do homage to Alexander, and alone had the spirit to express in public what all the oldest and best Macedonians privately felt. By his refusal he relieved the Greeks and Alexander from a great disgrace, but ruined himself, because he seemed to use force rather than persuasion to attain his object. We are told by Charon of Mitylene that once when at table, Alexander, after drinking, pa.s.sed the cup to one of his friends; and that he after receiving it, rose, stood by the hearth, and after drinking knelt before Alexander: after which he kissed him and resumed his seat. All the guests did this in turn until the cup came to Kallisthenes. The king, who was conversing to Hephaestion, did not take any notice of what he did, and after drinking he also came forward to kiss him, when Demetrius, who was surnamed Pheidon, said, "My king, do not kiss him, for he alone has not done homage to you." Upon this Alexander avoided kissing Kallisthenes, who said in a loud voice, "Then I will go away with the loss of a kiss."

LV. The breach thus formed was widened by Hephaestion, who declared that Kallisthenes had agreed with him to kneel before Alexander, and then had broken his compact; and this story was believed by Alexander.