HIS PROJECTS
Alexander might now be said to have returned into the heart of his
dominions; since the Indus, the Jaxartes, and the Nile, had become
Macedonian rivers. It was a question at that time of great importance
to the whole civilised world, what were the plans now floating in the
imagination of the youthful conqueror, if not yet reduced to a settled
purpose.
It was believed by many that he designed to circumnavigate Arabia to
the head of the Red Sea, and afterwards Africa; then, entering the
Mediterranean by the Pillars of Hercules, to spread the terror of his
arms along its western shores, and finally to explore the northern
extremity of the Lake Mæotis, and, if possible, discover a passage into
the Caspian Sea. These reports were not altogether without a visible
foundation. They seem to have arisen out of the simple fact that
Alexander, on his return from India, prepared to equip a fleet on the
Euphrates, and sent orders to Phœnicia for vessels to be built there and
transported to Thapsacus; thence to fall down the river to Babylon, where
a harbour was to be formed, capable of containing one thousand galleys of
war.
That a great armament therefore was to be collected, for some operations
which were to begin in the Persian Gulf, was sufficiently certain; and
Alexander also gave proofs that his views were directed toward Arabia,
for he sent three expeditions to survey its coasts: first, a vessel under
the command of Archias, the companion of Nearchus, who, however, did not
even venture to cross over to the Arabian side of the Persian Gulf, but
stopped short at one of the islands. Androsthenes, who was afterwards
sent out with another vessel, did a little more--he sailed for a short
distance along the coast. The boldest of the adventurers was a Cilician,
named Hiero, who advanced much farther in the same direction; but his
courage and perseverance were at length overcome by the vast range of the
coast, which exceeded all his expectations, and on his return he reported
that Arabia was nearly as large as India. Yet it would seem, from
Arrian’s account, that even he had not doubled the cape seen by Nearchus.
It can hardly be supposed that Alexander had resolved to attempt the
conquest of Arabia, while he was conscious that he knew so little about
the nature and extent of the country, especially as the information which
he might obtain as to the interior cannot have been encouraging. But it
is not the less probable that discovery and conquest in this quarter
were the objects which, henceforth to his death, chiefly occupied his
thoughts; for the spirit of discovery was here stimulated by a clear
prospect of great advantages to be derived from a maritime communication
between Egypt and India. To ascertain whether it was possible to open
one, and to secure it, if not by conquests at least by colonies planted
on the Arabian coast, was a design certainly suited to Alexander’s
genius, and worthy of his ambition; and this appears to have been the
first destination of the new armament. On any other projects which he may
have entertained, it would be still more idle to speculate.
For some time after his return, his attention was engrossed by different
cares. From every side he continued to receive fresh complaints of the
excesses committed by his satraps and other officers, during his absence,
and fresh proofs that many of them aimed at establishing an independent
authority. The indignation of the people was especially provoked by the
spoliation of the sacred buildings. It is probable, that in almost every
case such outrages on the national feelings proceeded from the reckless
cupidity of the Macedonians, though the native governors may have abused
their powers as grossly in other matters. Not unfrequently perhaps
they had connived at the misconduct of the Macedonian officers under
their command, we may suspect to have been the case with Orxines and
Polymachus. So Abulites, the satrap of Susa, and his son Oxathres, were
put to death, it is said, for neglect of duty--it would seem too hastily,
for Alexander ran Oxathres through the body with his own sarissa; but
it was the Macedonian Heracon who had plundered the temple at Susa.
Such proceedings may have been the main cause of an insurrection which
had broken out in Media, but was suppressed by the satrap Atropates,
who brought its author, a Median named Baryaxes, and several of his
partisans, to Pasargadæ, where they suffered death. Baryaxes had assumed
the erect cidaris, and the title of king of the Medes and Persians, a
step to which he was probably encouraged by the popular discontent which
had been excited by the extortion and insolence of the strangers.
But such precautions as these were barely sufficient to maintain
tranquillity for the present; much more was needed for the future. All
that he had observed since his return appears to have strengthened his
previous conviction that his empire, to be permanent, must be established
on a new basis. And at Susa he began a series of measures, tending, in
their remote consequences, to unite the conquerors with the conquered,
so as to form a new people out of both, and, in their immediate effects,
to raise a new force, independent alike of Macedonian and of Persian
prejudices, and entirely subservient to his ends. The first of these
measures was a great festival, in which he at the same time celebrated
his own nuptials with Statira, the eldest daughter of Darius (who now, it
seems, took the name of Arsinoe) and those of his principal officers with
Persian and Median ladies of the noblest families. We find an intimation
that some address was needed, before the preliminaries could be arranged;
and this, from the known temper and views of the Macedonian generals we
can easily believe. The king’s example had no doubt the greatest weight
in overcoming the aversion which they must have felt to such an alliance.
The liberality with which he portioned their brides out of his treasure
also had its effect; and their pride was flattered by the condescension
with which he placed them on a level with himself in the ceremony.
THE MARRIAGE OF GREECE WITH PERSIA
Hephæstion received the hand of Drypetis, Statira’s sister; it was
Alexander’s express wish that his friend’s children should be related to
his own. Craterus was wedded to Amastris, a niece of Darius; Perdiccas
to a daughter of the satrap Atropates; Ptolemy and Eumenes, to two
daughters of Artabazus. For Nearchus, Alexander chose the daughter of
Mentor by Barsine, a mark of distinguished favour, since he himself
had admitted the mother to his bed, and already had a son by her, on
whom he had bestowed the name of Heracles, and who afterwards became a
competitor for the throne. To Seleucus he gave a daughter of the Bactrian
chief Spitamenes. These are the only names recorded by Arrian, but the
whole number of the officers who followed the king’s example amounted to
nearly a hundred. It was not less important for his object that above
ten thousand of the private Macedonians had either already formed a
connection, or were now induced to enter into one, with Asiatic women.
To render it solemn and binding, a list was taken of their names, and a
marriage portion was granted to each.
The wealth of Asia and the arts of Greece were combined to adorn the
spectacle with a splendour and beauty worthy of the occasion. A gorgeous
pavilion was erected, probably on a plain near the city, capable of
containing not only the bridal party but the guests whom the king had
invited to the banquet. It was supported by pillars sixty feet high,
glittering with gold, silver, and precious stones, and was hung and
spread with the richest tissues. Ninety-two chambers, magnificently
furnished, were annexed to the building: and an outer court appears to
have been enclosed by a partition, likewise hung with costly tapestry,
for the reception of the ten thousand newly-married soldiers, each of
whom received a golden vessel for his libation; and of the strangers who
had been drawn by business or curiosity to the court. In the foreground
without, tables were spread for the rest of the immense multitude. The
nuptials were solemnised according to Persian usage. A separate seat was
assigned to each pair: all were ranged in a semicircle, to the right and
left of the royal throne. When the last libation had been announced by
a flourish of trumpets to the multitude without, the brides entered the
banquet hall, and took their places. The king first gave his hand to
Statira, and saluted her as his consort; and his example was followed by
the rest. This, it seems, completed the nuptial ceremony. The festivities
lasted five days, which were filled up with a variety of entertainments;
among the rest, musical and dramatic performances of Greek artists, and
feats of Indian jugglers. Alexander’s subjects from all parts of the
empire vied with each other in the magnificence of their offerings to
the king, and the value of the crowns which he received on this occasion
is said to have amounted to fifteen thousand talents [£3,000,000 or
$15,000,000].
The nuptial festival was a concession gained from the Macedonians in
favour of the ancient masters of Asia. Notwithstanding the king’s
liberality and condescension, murmurs were excited by the preference
which had been given to the Persian ceremonial. Alexander now endeavoured
to conciliate them by another act of royal munificence, and by the
distribution of rewards to those who had distinguished themselves in the
late expeditions. He declared his intention to pay the debts of every
Macedonian in the army; and directed that all who wished to share his
bounty should give in their names to be registered. The offer was at
first very coldly received, and awakened a suspicion, which indicated
an unsound state of feeling, though it arose in part from a reproving
conscience, and might also be considered as occasioned by the incredible
amount of the proffered donative. It was generally believed that the
king’s object was chiefly to gain information as to the state of their
private affairs, and, from the debts which they had contracted, to form
a judgment which could not fail to be often unfavourable on the habits
and character of each. Few therefore presented themselves to enter their
names.
Alexander, as soon as he discovered the cause of this general
backwardness, reproved them for their unworthy distrust, with the
remark that it was no more fit that subjects should suspect their king
of falsehood, than that he should practise it; and immediately ordered
tables to be set in the camp, with heaps of gold, where each might
receive the amount of his debts without registering his name. This
generous confidence removed all doubts; men of all ranks flocked in with
their claims, and the secrecy was felt as a greater favour than the
relief.
The sum expended on this largess is said to have been no less than
twenty thousand talents. Other rewards were conferred on a great number
of persons in proportion to their rank and services. But the popularity
which the king gained by these measures was soon to be subjected to a
hard trial. For it was not long after that the satraps, who had the
charge of the Asiatic youth, selected some years before to be taught the
Greek language, and to be trained to war according to the Macedonian
system, came to Susa, with a body of thirty thousand young soldiers
formed in these schools, equipped and armed in the Macedonian fashion.
Alexander himself was delighted with their fine persons and martial
bearing, and with the manner in which they executed their manœuvres, and
immediately proceeded to incorporate them with his army. The infantry,
it seems, was for the present kept distinct from the Macedonian troops;
but the cavalry, which was drawn from Bactria and Sogdiana, and other
eastern provinces, was admitted into the same ranks with the flower of
the Macedonian nobility. A fifth division of horse was formed to receive
them; and, at the same time, several of the young Asiatic nobles were
enrolled in the escort, a body hitherto selected from the first families
of Macedonia.
These changes roused the jealousy and resentment of the old troops, in
a much higher degree than any of the king’s previous acts. His adoption
of the dress and usages of the conquered people had displeased them,
because it indicated a purpose which they disliked; the late alliances
created perhaps still greater discontent, because they still more clearly
and directly tended to the same point. But the new organisation of the
army was more than a tendency--it was not a mere indication, but the
first step in the execution of the purpose which had alarmed them; it
was a beginning of destruction to all the privileges they most valued.
Alexander, it was plain, wished to be considered only as their sovereign,
no longer as their countryman.
The murmurs of the camp probably did not escape his notice, and may
have induced him to set out the earlier from Susa, on a march which, by
the new occupation it afforded, would perhaps make the army forget its
supposed grievances. He therefore ordered Hephæstion to lead the main
body down to the coast, while he himself embarked on board the fleet.[b]
THE MUTINY
When he arrived at Opis, he called his forces together, and issued
a declaration, that “all of them, who by age, infirmity, or loss of
limbs, found themselves unable to undergo the fatigues of war, should be
freely discharged, and at full liberty to return home. But whoever were
inclined to stay with him, should taste so largely of his royal bounty
as to become the envy of those who tarried at home, and excite other
Macedonians freely to share their toils and dangers with them.”
This declaration was made by Alexander with a design to please the
Macedonians, but it had a contrary effect; for they interpreting it
as if they were despised, or deemed useless in any further warlike
enterprise, were vehemently enraged, and took that discourse as levelled
against them, which was designed for the army in general. Howbeit, upon
this occasion, all their former complaints were renewed--namely, his
compliance with the Persians in their habit; his allowing the Macedonian
habit to be worn by youths who were barbarians, and styling them their
successors; and his admission of strange horse into the auxiliary forces;
wherefore they were no longer able to contain themselves, but all of them
entreated to be absolved from their military oath. Nay, some proceeded so
far as to insult him, by telling him that he and his father Ammon, might,
for the future, join their forces and wage war against their enemies.
Alexander no sooner heard these words (for he was now much more subject
to wrath than heretofore) but leaping instantly from his seat where his
captains surrounded him, he commanded the chief of those who endeavoured
to excite the multitude to sedition, to be seized, and pointed with his
hand to his targeteers, to show them whom they should seize. These were
thirteen in number, all whom he commanded immediately to be put to death;
whereat, while the rest stood amazed, and kept silence, he again mounted
his tribunal, and spoke to this effect.
“Far be it from me, O my Macedonians, to endeavour to divert you from
your desires of returning home (you having a free liberty to go whenever
you think convenient), but I will, that you understand before your
departure, how much you are changed from what once you were. And first
to begin, as I ought, with my father Philip: he received you into his
protection, a poor, wandering, and unsettled people; many of you clothed
with skins, and feeding small flocks of sheep, upon the mountains, which
yet you could not keep without continual skirmishes with the Illyrians,
Triballi, and Thracians, your neighbours, in which you were often
unsuccessful. For shepherds’ coats of skins, my father arrayed you in
the choicest garments; from the barren mountains, he led you down into
the fruitful plains, and instructed you in military discipline, so that
you had no more occasion to place your safety in rough and inaccessible
mountains, but in your own valour.
“He gave you cities to dwell in, and excellent laws and statutes to be
governed by. He gained you also the sovereignty over those barbarians
who, aforetime, continually harassed and insulted you, and from a state
of slavery, made you free. He added a great part of Thrace to Macedonia,
and by reducing the towns upon the seacoast, set open the gate to
commerce. He it was that subdued the Thessalians, who were formerly so
terrible to you, and made them your servants; and having overcome the
Phocians, opened a wide and convenient entrance for you into Greece,
instead of one narrow and difficult. The Athenians and Thebans, who had
joined in confederacy against you, he so humbled (myself being present
to assist him) that whereas we were, before that time, tributaries to
the former, and slaves to the latter, on the contrary, now, both these
cities are under our protection. He entered Peloponnesus, and composing
matters there, was constituted general of all the Grecian forces, in the
intended expedition against the Persians, and thereby acquired, not only
glory to himself, but also to the Macedonian name and nation.
[Illustration: THE DYING ALEXANDER
(From the bust in the Uffizi gallery)]
“Those were my father’s bounties to you--great ones indeed, if considered
by themselves, but small if compared with mine. For when I succeeded
to my father’s kingdom I found some golden and silver cups indeed, but
scarce sixty talents in his treasury, though I was charged with a debt
of his, of five hundred. However, not discouraged by this, I contracted
a fresh debt of eight hundred talents. I marched out of Macedonia, which
was scarce able to sustain you, and led you safe over the Hellespont,
though the Persians then held the sovereignty of the sea. Then having
beaten Darius’ generals in battle, I thereby added Ionia, Æolis, both
Phrygias, and Lydia, to the Macedonian empire. I afterwards took Miletus
by assault, and received the voluntary homage of many other people and
nations, who submitted themselves, and consented to become tributaries.
The treasures of Egypt and Cyrene, which we obtained without blows,
helped to fill your coffers; Cœle-Syria, Palestine, and Mesopotamia, are
in your possession. Babylon, Bactria, and Susa, are in your power. The
wealth of Lydia, the treasure of Persia, the riches of India, and the
ocean, are yours. You are constituted deputies of provinces. You are made
captains, princes, and generals of armies.
“What, I beseech you, have I reserved to myself, for all the toils I have
undergone, except this purple robe and diadem? I have withheld nothing
from you; neither can any mortal show a treasure in my custody, besides
what is either yours or preserved for your use. I have no private desires
to gratify, that I should hoard up wealth on that account, for I observe
the same diet with yourselves, and am satisfied with the same portion of
rest. Nay, I have been contented with coarser food than many among you,
who live deliciously; and I have often watched for you, that you might
sleep in ease and safety.
“Some may, perhaps, insinuate that all these were acquired by your own
toils and dangers, in which I, your general, bore no part; but who dares
affirm that he has run greater hazards for me, than I have for him?
“See, which of you has received wounds, let him open his bosom and show
the scars, and I will show mine, for there is none of the forepart of
my body free; nor is there any kind of weapon which is either thrust
forwards by hand, or darted, the marks whereof are not plainly to be
traced upon this breast of mine; for I have been wounded with swords
in close fight, and with darts and arrows at a distance; besides, I
have been beat to the ground with stones from the enemies’ engines; and
notwithstanding I have suffered so much for your sakes, by stones, and
clubs, and swords, and missive weapons, yet have I led you victorious
through all lands, over all seas, rivers, hills, and plain countries.
I solemnised your nuptials with my own, that your children might claim
affinity with mine.
“The debts of my whole army I freely discharged, without examining too
strictly how they were contracted; and notwithstanding the vast stipends
you then received, you made no small advantage of the plunder of such
cities as you took by storm. Add to this, that I bestowed crowns of
gold on many of you, as eternal monuments of your valour, and my esteem
for you; and whoever chanced to fall in battle, valiantly fighting, he,
over and above the glory which he then acquired by death, was usually
honoured with a sumptuous monument. Nay, brazen statues are erected,
as testimonies of the valour of some of them in Macedonia, and honours
decreed their parents, with a full immunity from all public taxes and
impositions; for none of you, fighting under my banner, had ever any
occasion to turn his back upon an enemy.
“And now I had determined to release such of you as are unable any
longer to endure the fatigues of war, and send you home, so laden with
honours and rewards that your countrymen and fellow citizens should
deem you, above measure, fortunate and happy. But since ye are all one
mind, and since the same notion of returning has possessed all of you,
go all, and report at home that your king Alexander, who had subdued the
Persians, Medes, Bactrians, and Sacæ; who had tamed the Uxii, Arachoti,
and Drangæ; who had reduced the Parthians, Chorasmians, and Hyrcanians,
and penetrated as far as the Caspian Sea; who had forced his way over
Mount Caucasus, and through the Caspian Straits; who had passed the
rivers Oxus, and Tanaïs, and Indus (which last was never passed before,
unless by Bacchus); who had ferried over the rivers Hydaspes, Acesines,
and Hydraotes; and had also led you beyond the Hyphasis, if you had
not refused to follow him; who entered the ocean by both the mouths of
the river Indus, and afterwards, marching through the barren and sandy
country of the Gedrosi (where none ever carried an army safe before)
subdued the Carmanians and Oritæ; who lastly, having conveyed his fleet
from the coasts of India, to the Persian Sea, brought you safe and
victorious to Susa--tell your countrymen, I say, that after all these
great and glorious acts, done for you, you have forsaken him, departed
from him, and left him in the hands and under the care of the barbarians,
whom he had conquered. When you shall have told all these things, your
glory among men, and the notion of your piety towards the gods, will
receive a mighty betterment.”
Having thus spoke, he leaped suddenly from his seat, and retiring into
the palace, neither put on his royal robes, nor admitted any of his
friends to see him that day, nor the next; and on the third having called
the Persian nobility round him, he distributed the command of the several
troops among them, and as many of them as he had made his relations,
he suffered to kiss him. But the Macedonians, moved with their king’s
speech, stood before the tribunal, like people astonished, and kept a
profound silence; nor did one of their number offer to accompany the
king when he retired to his palace, except his friends and bodyguards,
who surrounded him. However, many stood still before the tribunal, and
refused to depart, though they neither knew what they should do, nor say,
there.
But when they came to understand what he had bestowed upon the Medes
and Persians--namely, the several commands of the army; and that the
barbarians were distributed into several ranks and orders; that the
Persian agema was to be called by a Macedonian name; and the troops
of auxiliary foot, and others, to be made up of Persians; that the
companions, and all the royal cohort of horse, were to consist of
Persians; and that the regiment of Persians was to be nominated the royal
regiment--they were no longer able to contain themselves, but running
straight, in a body, to the palace, they laid down their arms before the
gate, as a sign of submission and repentance: then standing without, they
begged to be admitted into the king’s presence, promising that they would
deliver up the authors of the late tumult, and those who had stirred them
to sedition; and withal protesting that they would never stir from his
gate, day nor night, unless they could move him to take compassion upon
them.
When Alexander came to understand this, he immediately came forth to
them, and perceiving them humble and dejected, was so much moved with
their sorrow and lamentation, that he wept, and stood some time, as
though he would have spoke; but they remained in the same suppliant
posture. However, at last, Callines, belonging to the auxiliary troop of
horse, a man of much esteem, as well for his age as the command he bore,
spoke to this effect:
“Thy Macedonians, O king, are grieved and discontented, because thou hast
made some of the Persians thy relations, honoured them with the title of
thy kindred, and sufferest them to kiss thee; when, at the same time,
they are excluded.” Then Alexander interrupting him, replied, “I now
make you all my kindred, and shall, henceforth, style you so.” With that
Callines stepped forward and kissed him, and such others, as pleased,
followed his example. Whereupon they again took up their arms, and with
shouts of joy, and songs, returned to the camp. After this, he sacrificed
to the gods, according to the custom of his country, and prepared a royal
banquet, which he graced with his presence, where the Macedonians were
placed nearest his person; next these the Persians, and then those of all
other nations, according to their dignity, or the post they held in the
army.
Then the king, and all his guests, drank out of the same cup; the Grecian
augurs, as well as the Persian magi, pronouncing their decrees, wishing
prosperity to the king and the army, and praying for eternal concord and
unanimity between the Macedonians and Persians, for the common benefit of
both nations. Nine thousand guests are said to have been present at this
entertainment, who all drank out of the same cup, and all joined in the
same songs, for the peace and safety of the army.
Then such of the Macedonians as were unable to follow the army, by reason
of age, or loss of limbs, were freely discharged, to the number of about
ten thousand, who were not only paid their full stipends, according to
the time they had served, but each had a talent [£200 or $1000] given him
to defray the expenses of his journey. Those among them who had married
Asiatic wives, and had children by them, were ordered to leave their
sons behind, lest they should be the cause of a sedition in Macedonia,
if both the sons and their mothers were sent together. However, he took
care to instruct them in the Macedonian manners, and to teach them their
military discipline, that so, when they arrived at manhood, he might
bring them home, and deliver them, thus accomplished, to their parents.
These uncertain and precarious things he promised them at their
departure; but he added one sure and undoubted mark of his good will
towards them, by appointing Craterus (whom he found ever faithful to
him, and whom he loved as his life) to be their captain, to conduct them
safe into their own country; wherefore, wishing them all health and
happiness, and weeping to behold them weep, he dismissed them, ordering
Craterus, when he had finished his task of conducting them safe home,
to take upon him the government of Macedonia, Thrace, and Thessaly, and
preside over the liberties of Greece. He moreover ordered Antipater to
come to him, and bring with him other Macedonians, young and vigorous,
instead of those who were dismissed. He dispatched Polysperchon away with
Craterus, and gave him the next command under him, for fear any accident
should happen to Craterus by the way (he being somewhat indisposed at his
setting forward) and they should be destitute of a leader.
It was said that Alexander, overcome with the calumnies wherewith his
mother had loaded Antipater, was willing to remove him from Macedonia.
But perhaps this call of Antipater was not designed for his disgrace;
but rather to prevent any mischief arising from their quarrels, which he
might not be able to compose. Many letters had been carried to the king,
wherein Antipater accused Olympias of arrogance, cruelty, and meddling
with what did not become the mother of Alexander; insomuch, that the king
is said to have complained, that he was forced to pay her very dear for
the ten months she carried him in her womb. Olympias, on the other hand,
exclaimed against Antipater, as insolent, by reason of the command he
bore, and the people’s obedience to him; that he began to be altogether
unmindful from whence he received his authority, and judged himself fit
for the sovereignty over Macedonia, and all Greece, where he ought only
to act as deputy.
Thus was the king continually wearied out with these complaints insomuch,
that at last he began to incline to the opinion of those who were for
disgracing Antipater, as one who was more to be feared than the other, if
the report were just. However, he neither by word nor action, gave the
least intimation that his affections were any way estranged.[c]
THE LAST EXPEDITION
After the departure of Craterus, Alexander set out for Ecbatana. The
state of the treasure, and the country, which had been so long in such
hands as those of Cleander and Sitalces, demanded his attention. It was
also a point where he might collect information, and concert measures,
with regard to the regions which bounded his dominions on the north
along the coasts of the Caspian Sea, concerning which his knowledge
was hitherto very imperfect. But no doubt one of his main objects was
to gratify the Medians by a residence of some months in their splendid
capital, one of the proudest cities of the ancient world, where his
Persian predecessors had been used to hold their court during a part of
the year. Alexander’s presence was everywhere felt as a blessing. In his
progress through Media he viewed the pastures celebrated--it seems,
under the name of the Nisæan plain--for the number and excellence of the
horses bred in them. The number had amounted to 150,000; but, through a
series of depredations, which mark the disordered state of the province,
it had been reduced by nearly two-thirds. Here he was met by Atropates,
the satrap of the northwest part of Media, who, it seems, entertained him
with a masquerade of a hundred women, mounted, and equipped with hatchets
and short bucklers, according to the popular notion of the Amazons. Such
is Arrian’s conjecture. The fact, whatever it may have been, gave rise
to a story, that Alexander here received an embassy from the queen of
the Amazons, and promised to pay her a visit. There were several other
objects on this road to attract his attention in a leisurely march: a
Bœotian colony planted by Xerxes, which still retained a partial use of
the Greek language, and the garden and monuments of Baghistane, which
tradition ascribed to Semiramis.
At Ecbatana, after he had despatched the most important business which
awaited him there, he solemnised the autumnal festival of Dionysus with
extraordinary magnificence. The city was crowded with strangers, who came
to witness the spectacle; and three thousand artists are said to have
been assembled from Greece, to bear a part in it. The satrap Atropates
feasted the whole army; and the Macedonian officers seem to have vied
with each other in courtly arts. They put proclamations into the mouths
of the heralds, breathing, it is said, a strain of flattery, such as
had scarcely been heard by the Persian kings. One of these, which was
preserved as a specimen of insolent servility, but is more remarkable as
an indication of Alexander’s sentiments, was made by Gorgus, the master
of the armoury, who presented him with a crown worth three thousand gold
pieces, and undertook to furnish ten thousand complete suits of armour,
and as many missiles of every sort proper for the attack of a town,
whenever he should lay siege to Athens.
GRIEF FOR HEPHÆSTION
[Sidenote: [324 B.C.]]
Among the theatrical exhibitions there was one which, through the
singularity of the subject, has been in part preserved from the oblivion,
in which the rest, with numberless better things, have been lost. It was
a little drama of the satirical class, entitled _Agen_, the work, as
was generally believed, of one Python, possibly the Byzantian, Philip’s
secretary; but there was also a singular report, that it was written by
Alexander himself. If he did not even suggest the subject, or any of the
scenes, the passages which have been preserved were certainly designed
to gratify his feelings. They allude to the flight of Harpalus, who is
mentioned both by his own name, and by a nickname significant of his most
notorious vice; to the monument which he had erected at Babylon in honour
of Pythionice, and to the largess of corn by which he had obtained the
Athenian franchise. The wretched state of Athens, as if it needed such
benefactions, is described in a tone of bitter sarcasm, which passes into
that of earnest hostility, when one of the speakers observes, that the
corn was Glycera’s, but might perhaps prove a fatal pledge of friendship
to those who had received it. There can be no doubt that in these words
the poet meant to speak Alexander’s mind.
But the festival was interrupted by an event, which Alexander felt as the
greatest calamity of his life. Hephæstion had been attacked some days
before by a fever, which at first did not show any alarming symptoms.
Trusting to his youth and strong constitution, he had, it appears,
neglected the directions of his physician, and by his imprudence so
inflamed the disease, that it carried him suddenly off. It was a day
which was to have been devoted to the gymnastic exercises of the boys.
Alexander was witnessing a footrace, when a message was brought to him
that Hephæstion was worse. He instantly hurried to his friend’s bedside,
but before he arrived Hephæstion had expired.
Alexander’s grief, though not embittered by self-reproach, was passionate
and violent, as that which he showed at the death of Clitus. There is
no evidence that Hephæstion possessed any qualities that deserved the
preference with which Alexander distinguished him: and indeed there are
intimations that, even in Alexander’s judgment, his chief merit was
the devotion and obsequiousness with which he requited his master’s
partiality. Perhaps if the attachment had been more considerately formed,
the loss would have been less keenly felt. After the first transports of
anguish had subsided, Alexander sought consolation in the extravagant
honours which he paid to his departed favourite, and in the vain
semblance of grief, which he forced all persons and things around him to
put on.
We may refuse, with Arrian, to believe that he was so barbarous and
frantic, as to put the innocent physician to death, and to pull down
the temple of Æsculapius, if there was one, at Ecbatana. But there is
no reason why we should question Plutarch’s statement, that he ordered
the horses and mules to be shorn, and the town walls to be dismantled of
their battlements.[35] These were probably among the customary signs of
a general mourning on the death of the Persian kings: and it is certain
that he directed one to be observed throughout his Asiatic dominions.
He also commanded that, as was usual on the same occasions, the sacred
fire should be quenched in all the Persian sanctuaries until the funeral
was over. For this, preparations were made on a scale of more than royal
magnificence. He ordered Perdiccas to convey the corpse to Babylon, where
a pile was to be built at the expense of ten thousand talents [£2,000,000
or $10,000,000], and funeral games were to be celebrated with a splendour
never before witnessed: for which purpose all the artists assembled
at Ecbatana were to repair to the capital. The courtiers, especially
those who might be suspected to entertain very different feelings,
endeavoured to prove their sympathy with the king by extraordinary tokens
of veneration for the departed favourite. Eumenes, who had lately had a
violent quarrel with him, which was only composed by the royal authority,
dexterously set the example, and dedicated himself and his arms to the
deceased; perhaps anticipating Alexander’s wish, that Hephæstion should
receive sacred honours. He was anxious that this should be done under
the sanction of religious authority, and therefore sent to consult the
oracle of Ammon on the question, whether Hephæstion should be worshipped
as a hero or a god. In the meanwhile, it is said, he ordered the sound of
music to cease in the camp. The division of the cavalry which had been
commanded by Hephæstion, was to retain his name, and the officer to whom
it was committed was to be regarded only as his lieutenant.
These fantastic cares, however, served but to cherish his melancholy,
and his officers endeavoured to divert him by some fitter occupation,
which might draw him from Ecbatana, where he was constantly reminded of
his bereavement. He at length began to rouse himself, and complied with
their wishes. An object opportunely presented itself, which called him
again into action, and in the manner most suited to the present temper of
his soul. The Kossæans, who inhabited the highlands on the confines of
Media and Persia, were still unsubdued; and, relying on their mountain
strongholds, continued from time to time to make predatory inroads on
their neighbours. Though it was now the depth of winter, Alexander set
out to punish and quell them. He divided his forces into two columns, and
gave the command of one to Ptolemy. The obstacles opposed by the country
and the season were such as he was used to overcome: the barbarians could
do little to bar his progress. They were hunted like wild beasts into
their lairs, and every man taken capable of bearing arms was put to the
sword. It was a sacrifice to the shade of Hephæstion, in which Alexander
might see another resemblance to Achilles. He then crossed the mountains,
and, coming down upon the Tigris, took the direct road to Babylon.
TO BABYLON
[Sidenote: [324-323 B.C.]]
At the distance of some days’ march from the city, he was met by presages
of impending calamity. A deputation of the Chaldean priests came to the
camp, and requested a private audience, in which they informed him that
their god Belus had revealed to them that some danger threatened him, if
he should at that time enter Babylon. Alexander is said to have replied
with a verse of Euripides, expressing disbelief in divination. But it
is certain that the warning sank deep into his mind. The state of his
feelings was apt for gloomy forebodings: and there was a strange harmony
between the words of the Chaldeans, and an intimation which he had lately
received from a Greek soothsayer, named Peithagoras.
[Illustration: GREEK URN]
Still the priests found that they could not induce the king to give
up his intention of visiting the capital of his empire, where many
important affairs were to be transacted, and embassies from remote
parts of the world were awaiting his arrival. They then urged him at
least not to enter the city by the eastern gate, so as to have his face
turned towards the dark west. This mysterious advice struck Alexander’s
fancy; he altered the course of his march, and proceeded some distance
along the bank of the Euphrates. But he then found that the lakes and
morasses formed by the inundations of the river to the west of Babylon
would prove an insurmountable obstacle. He was still reluctant to neglect
the warning of the Chaldeans, but yet not now indisposed to listen to
Anaxarchus, and the other philosophical Greeks about him, who treated the
occult science, and especially its Babylonian professors, with contempt.
There was however another motive for distrust, a suspicion that his
priestly counsellors were less concerned about his safety than their own.
Alexander, before he left Babylon, had ordered the great temple, which
Xerxes had demolished, to be rebuilt under the superintendence of the
priests. The revenues which had been assigned by the Assyrian kings, for
the maintenance of the temple-worship, were also managed by the priests,
and, while the temple lay in ruins, had been applied by them to their own
use. They knew that Alexander’s presence would soon put an end to such
abuses.
Thus then he at length entered Babylon, not without a secret misgiving,
by the ominous quarter.[36] The Great City had probably never before
witnessed so stirring a scene as was exhibited by the crowds now
assembled for various purposes within its walls. Nearchus had brought in
the fleet from Opis: the vessels transported over land from Phœnicia had
come down from Thapsacus: the harbour was in progress, and other ships
were on the stocks in the arsenals of Babylon itself. Another crowd of
workmen and artists were busied with Hephæstion’s funeral pile, and with
the preparations for his obsequies. And never before had Alexander’s
imperial greatness been so conspicuously displayed as in the embassies
from foreign states, which were now in attendance at his court.[37] It
seems indeed that there was a disposition among some of his historians
to exaggerate the number and variety of those embassies. We must perhaps
pass over as doubtful those which are said to have come--surprising the
Macedonians and the Greeks by the novelty and strangeness of their names
and garb--from the European Scythians, from Celtic and Iberian tribes,
from Ethiopia, from Carthage, from Libya, and from at least three of the
Italian nations, the Bruttians, Lucanians, and Tyrrhenians.
The object of the Italian embassies is not mentioned: those of the
Bruttians and Lucanians may be easily accounted for, since, only six or
seven years before, the conqueror’s kinsman and namesake, Alexander of
Epirus, had perished in war with them. We are prepared to accept the
testimony that they were met at Babylon by envoys from Rome, and though
the scene may appear to us so memorable as to have afforded temptation
for fiction, the fact was recorded before the greatness of the Roman name
could have suggested the thought. Strabo mentions an occasion which might
have led to this embassy. Alexander--we know not precisely when--had sent
remonstrances to the Romans on account of injuries which his subjects had
suffered from the pirates of Antium, which was subject to Rome. Alexander
would probably have been satisfied with such a supremacy in Italy as
he had acquired in Greece: that no general confederacy would have been
formed against him by the Italian states: and Rome, single-handed, could
not long have withstood such an army as he could have brought against
her, backed by the forces and treasure of Greece, Asia, and Africa.
Among the embassies were several from Greek cities. He gave precedence
according to the dignity of their temples. So Elis took the lead, and was
followed by Delphi and Corinth: but the shrine of Ammon was recognised as
second to Olympia. The Epidaurians received an offering for their god,
though Alexander added the remark, that Æsculapius might have treated him
better, than to suffer him to lose his dearest friend.
The honours designed for Hephæstion continued to share his earnest
attention with graver business. The funeral pile was at length completed,
and was a marvel of splendour, such as the gorgeous East had never
beheld. A part of the wall of Babylon, to the length of about a mile,
was thrown down to furnish materials for the basement, and the shell
of the building. It was a square tower, and each side, at least at the
foot, measured a stade in breadth: the height was about two hundred feet,
divided into thirty stories, roofed with the trunks of palm trees. The
whole of the outside was covered with groups of colossal figures, and
other ornaments, all of gold, ivory, and other precious materials, and it
was surmounted by statues of sirens, so contrived as to emit a plaintive
melody. All who courted the king’s favour contributed their offerings to
the work, or to the obsequies. As to the magnificence of the concluding
ceremony, of the funeral games and banquet, nothing more need be said
than that it corresponded to the richness of this astonishing work of
art, which was raised at an expense about ten times exceeding that of the
Parthenon, merely to be devoured by the flames.
Alexander was not of a character to continue long brooding over
melancholy thoughts.[38] He appears now to have resumed his great plans
with his wonted energy. It was about this time, that he sent out three
expeditions to explore the coast of Arabia. He was impressed with
the belief, that the Caspian Sea was connected by some outlet at its
northern extremity with the ocean which girded the earth, and perhaps
hoped that a passage might be found through this channel to the coast of
India. With this view he sent Heraclides, with a party of shipwrights,
to the shores of the Caspian, to build a fleet, which might survey its
coasts, and ascertain its limits. In the meanwhile, he undertook an
excursion from Babylon on the Euphrates, to inspect the canal called the
Pallacopas, which branched from it to the southwest. He then sailed down
the Pallacopas into the lakes which received its waters, and examined the
channels by which they were connected with each other. On a part of the
shore his eye was struck by a point, which seemed to him well adapted
for the site of a city, and he ordered one to be built there, which he
afterwards peopled with a colony of Greek mercenaries. The circuit was
large, and the passages so intricate, that he was once separated for some
time from the main body of the squadron. On his return through this maze
of waters, an accident occurred, trifling in itself, but sufficiently
ominous, it seems, to revive the uneasy feelings with which he had
entered Babylon, and which had subsided when he saw himself once more
out of it, and the prediction of the Chaldeans apparently belied. As the
royal galley, which Alexander steered himself, passed over the lake, a
sudden gust of wind carried away his causia into the water, and lodged
the light diadem which circled it on one of the reeds that grew out of a
tomb. One of the sailors immediately swam off to recover it, and, to keep
it dry, placed it on his own head. Alexander rewarded him with a talent,
but at the same time ordered him to be flogged, for the thoughtlessness
with which he had assumed the ensign of royalty. The diviners, it is
said, took the matter more seriously, and advised the king to avert the
omen by the infliction of death on the offender.
On his return he found all the preparations for his intended expedition
nearly complete. Fresh troops had arrived from the western provinces, and
Peucestas had brought an army of twenty thousand Persians, and a body
of mountaineers from the Kossæan and Tapurian highlands. The Persians
Alexander incorporated with his Macedonian infantry; so as in every file
of sixteen to combine twelve Persians, armed with bows or javelins, with
four heavy-armed Macedonians. And now the envoys whom he had sent to
the oracle of Ammon returned with the answer, that Hephæstion was to be
worshipped as a hero. This was probably as much as Alexander had desired.
He immediately proceeded to give effect to the injunction, and sent
orders to his satrap Cleomenes, to erect two temples to the new hero, one
in Alexandria, the other on the isle of Pharos.
[Illustration: RUINS OF GREEK WALL AT ALATRIUM]
Fresh envoys had also arrived from Greece--from what states we are not
informed--to render him the divine honours which he had demanded. They
came crowned, according to the custom of persons sent on a sacred mission
to a temple, offered golden crowns to him, and saluted him with the title
of a god. But, Arrian observes with emphatic simplicity, he was now not
far from his end. It seemed to be announced by another sinister omen. The
king had been busied with the enrolment of the newly-arrived troops, in
council with his officers, who were seated on each side of the throne.
Feeling thirst, he withdrew to refresh himself; the council rose for a
time, and none were left in the hall but the attendant eunuchs. Before he
returned, a man entered the apartment, mounted the steps of the throne,
and seated himself on it. The slaves had probably been kept motionless
by amazement, when they should have prevented him: but when the deed was
done, the etiquette of the Persian court forbade them to lay their hands
on one who occupied the seat of royalty, and they rent their clothes and
beat their breasts in helpless consternation. The man was examined, and
put to the torture, by Alexander’s orders, who suspected a treasonable
design. According to some accounts, he was a Messenian, named Dionysius,
who had been a long time in prison, and had just made his escape. We
may infer, that he was out of his senses. He could give no explanation
of his act, but that it had come into his mind. Hence it seemed the
more manifest to the soothsayers, that it must be viewed as a sign of
impending evil. Alexander himself probably so considered it, and it was
the more alarming, as it followed so many others. That he was haunted
by his gloomy forebodings, and superstitious fancies, to the degree
which Plutarch describes, is hardly credible, unless he was already
unconsciously affected by the disorder which proved fatal to him: as
on the other hand it seems probable that its secret germs may have been
cherished by the dejected state of his spirits.
From the presence of the disease, before its symptoms had become
manifest, we may perhaps best explain the behaviour which Plutarch
attributes to him in the interview which he had with Antipater’s son,
Cassander, shortly before his death; a scene which appears to have been
attended with very important consequences. Alexander confronted Cassander
with Antipater’s accusers: and when Cassander treated their charges
as groundless calumnies, sternly interrupted him, and asked whether
men who had suffered no wrong would have travelled so far to prefer a
calumnious charge. Cassander pleaded, that the greater the distance from
the scene of the alleged injury, the safer was the calumny. But the
king indignantly replied that Cassander showed how well he had studied
Aristotle’s sophistry, by which every argument might be turned two
opposite ways, but that it should avail nothing, if the complaints proved
to be in any degree well-founded. So far indeed we only see a proof that
Alexander retained the full vigour of his mind and character. Plutarch
however adds, what is more difficult to believe, that because Cassander,
at his first audience, could not keep his countenance at the sight of the
Persian ceremonial, which was entirely new to him, Alexander seized him
by the hair, and dashed his head against the wall. This may be a gross
exaggeration; but that Cassander’s reception was so harsh and violent
as to leave an indelible impression of fear and hatred on his soul, is
confirmed, as strongly as such a fact can be, by his subsequent conduct.
LAST ILLNESS
The preparations for the projected campaign were now so far advanced,
that Alexander celebrated a solemn sacrifice for its success. He at the
same time entertained his principal officers at a banquet, and continued
drinking with them to a late hour of the evening. As he was retiring to
rest, he was invited by Medius--who it seems had of late been admitted
to an intimacy with him something like Hephæstion’s--to a revel, which
was to be followed by a fresh drinking-bout. He complied, and the greater
part of the night seems to have been thus spent. The next evening he
again banqueted at the house of Medius, and again the carousal was
prolonged.
It was at the close of this banquet, after he had refreshed himself with
a bath, that he felt the symptoms of fever so strongly as to be induced
to sleep there. The grasp of death was on him, though his robust frame
yielded only after a hard struggle to the gradual prevalence of the
malady.
We have a minute and seemingly complete account of his last illness, in
an official diary which Arrian transcribed. Nevertheless various reports,
which it does not sanction, were current in ancient times, and one of
them, which ascribed his death to gross intemperance, has always been
very generally believed. Another, which has been as generally rejected,
attributed it to a dose of poison,[39] contrived by Aristotle, conveyed
by Cassander, and administered by Iollas, another of Antipater’s sons,
who filled the office of cup-bearer to the king. As this report was
undoubtedly invented by Cassander’s enemies, so the other may have been
first circulated by him and his partisans. It represents Alexander as
having drained an enormous cup, a bowl of Hercules, as it was called,
and as having instantly sunk as from a sudden blow. This incident
certainly would not have appeared on the face of the journal; but neither
does it seem quite consistent with Alexander’s habits, who, according to
Aristobulus, drank chiefly for the sake of prolonging conversation, nor
with other details which have been preserved concerning the banquet. If
he had been in his usual state of health, the debauch described in the
journal would probably have produced no effect on him. It may however
both have hastened the outbreak of the fever, and have rendered it fatal.
Aristobulus related another fact, which the journal passed over in
silence; that in a paroxysm of the fever, the patient quenched his thirst
with a large draught of wine.[b]
THE DEATH-BED OF ALEXANDER
On the morning of the first of June Alexander awoke very ill. The varied
emotions of the last few days, with the rapid succession of banquets,
had made him only too susceptible to illness, and the fever took strong
hold on him. He had to be carried in his bed to the altar for the morning
sacrifice which he was wont to offer daily. He then lay on a couch in the
great hall, receiving his generals and giving them the necessary orders
for the start: the army was to set out on the fourth of June; the fleet,
with which he was going in person, on the following day. He was then
carried on his couch to the Euphrates, got into a ship and crossed to the
gardens on the farther side, where he took a bath and passed the night
shivering with chill. After the bath and sacrifice the next morning, he
went into his private apartment and lay on a couch there all day. Medius
was there and tried to cheer him by conversation. The king commanded the
leaders to appear before him next morning, and having taken a little
supper he went to bed.
The fever increased, his condition grew worse, and he passed the whole
night without sleep. After the bath and sacrifice next morning Nearchus
and the other leaders of the fleet were admitted; the king informed
them that their departure must be postponed for a day on account of his
illness, but that he hoped to be sufficiently recovered by that time to
embark on the sixth. He remained in the bathroom; Nearchus was commanded
to sit by his bed and tell him of his voyage. Alexander listened with
great pleasure, rejoicing that he too should presently experience
similar perils. Meanwhile his condition changed for the worse, the fever
was higher every night. Nevertheless on the morning of the fourth of
June he called the officers of the fleet together after the bath and
morning sacrifice, and commanded them to have everything in readiness
for his reception and for the sailing of the fleet on the sixth. After
the evening bath the fever set in more violently than ever, the king’s
strength diminished visibly, and a night of sleepless torment ensued.
Next morning he was carried in a high fever to the great reservoir and
offered sacrifice with difficulty; he then gave audience to the officers,
issued some orders concerning the sailing of the fleet, discussed the
appointments to certain posts with his generals, and left the selections
of the officers to be promoted, to them, with the admonition to make a
strict examination. The sixth came, the king was prostrated by sickness,
nevertheless he had himself carried to the altar, offered sacrifices and
prayers, and gave orders for the departure of the fleet to be postponed.
A melancholy night followed, and the next morning the king was hardly
able to offer sacrifice. He commanded the generals to assemble in the
anteroom of the palace and the captains and officers to keep together
in the courtyard. He had himself carried back from the gardens to the
palace. He grew weaker every moment; when the leaders were admitted
he recognised them but was not able to speak. The fever continued
through the night, and through the following day and night the king lay
speechless.
The impression produced by the king’s illness in both the army and the
city was beyond description; the Macedonians thronged round the palace,
they begged to see their king, they feared that he was dead already and
that his death was kept secret; they did not cease their lamentations,
threats, and entreaties until the doors were opened to them. Then they
filed past their king’s bed, and Alexander raised his head slightly, gave
his hand to each and looked his silent farewell to his veterans. On the
following day (it was the tenth of June) Pithon, Peucestas, Seleucus,
and others went to the temple of Serapis and inquired of the god whether
the king would be better if he were carried into his temple and prayed
to him. The answer was “Bring him not, if he remains where he is he
will soon be better.” And on the day after, towards the evening of the
eleventh of June, Alexander died.[d]
FOOTNOTES
[35] Droysen[d] rejects these reports with the utmost contempt; perhaps
forgetting what Herodotus (IX, 24) relates of the mourning for Masistius,
in which the Persians shaved themselves, and the horses, and the beasts of
burden: a precedent, which at least proves that there is nothing absurd or
incredible in Plutarch’s account; if it does not render it certain that
the same marks of grief were a necessary part of the general mourning
ordered by Alexander.
[36] That Alexander’s return to Babylon took place early in 323, may now
be considered as sufficiently certain.
[37] [Niebuhr[f] compares this period with Napoleon’s stay in Dresden
before he made his fatal march to Moscow. He was similarly surrounded by
embassies in crowds.]
[38] [Here again, Droysen’s[d] picture of Alexander’s dejection: “With
Hephæstion his youth had sunk into the grave: and, though scarcely beyond
the threshold of manhood, he began fast to grow old,” seems violently
overcharged.]
[39] [Niebuhr[f] thinks that Alexander could hardly have been poisoned as
the poisons of that day always acted within twenty-four hours. This is,
however, by no means certain. Aratus, the hero of the Achæan League, died
of slow poisoning, according to the high authority of Polybius.]
[Illustration]
[Illustration]