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Makers of History
Pyrrhus
BY JACOB ABBOTT
WITH ENGRAVINGS
NEW YORK AND LONDON
HARPER & BROTHERS PUBLISHERS
1901
Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year one thousand eight
hundred and fifty-four, by
HARPER & BROTHERS,
in the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the Southern District
of New York.
[Illustration: PYRRHUS VIEWING THE ROMAN ENCAMPMENT.]
PREFACE.
In respect to the heroes of ancient history, who lived in times
antecedent to the period when the regular records of authentic history
commence, no reliance can be placed upon the actual verity of the
accounts which have come down to us of their lives and actions. In
those ancient days there was, in fact, no line of demarkation between
romance and history, and the stories which were told of Cyrus, Darius,
Xerxes, Romulus, Pyrrhus, and other personages as ancient as they, are
all more or less fabulous and mythical. We learn this as well from the
internal evidence furnished by the narratives themselves as from the
researches of modern scholars, who have succeeded, in many cases, in
disentangling the web, and separating the false from the true. It is
none the less important, however, on this account, that these ancient
tales, as they were originally told, and as they have come down to us
through so many centuries, should be made known to readers of the
present age. They have been circulated among mankind in their
original form for twenty or thirty centuries, and they have mingled
themselves inextricably with the literature, the eloquence, and the
poetry of every civilized nation on the globe. Of course, to know what
the story is, whether true or false, which the ancient narrators
recorded, and which has been read and commented on by every succeeding
generation to the present day, is an essential attainment for every
well-informed man; a far more essential attainment, in fact, for the
general reader, than to discover now, at this late period, what the
actual facts were which gave origin to the fable.
In writing this series of histories, therefore, it has been the aim of
the author not to _correct_ the ancient story, but to repeat it as it
stands, cautioning the reader, however, whenever occasion requires,
not to suppose that the marvelous narratives are historically true.
CONTENTS.
Chapter Page
I. OLYMPIAS AND ANTIPATER 13
II. CASSANDER 40
III. EARLY LIFE OF PYRRHUS 64
IV. WARS IN MACEDON 86
V. WAR IN ITALY 111
VI. NEGOTIATIONS 134
VII. THE SICILIAN CAMPAIGN 159
VIII. THE RETREAT FROM ITALY 188
IX. THE FAMILY OF LYSIMACHUS 210
X. THE RECONQUEST OF MACEDON 235
XI. SPARTA 249
XII. THE LAST CAMPAIGN OF PYRRHUS 268
ENGRAVINGS.
Page
THE ROMAN ENCAMPMENT _Frontispiece_.
MAP--EMPIRE OF PYRRHUS 12
EURYDICE IN PRISON 57
MAP--GRECIAN EMPIRE 110
THE TROPHIES 132
THE ELEPHANT CONCEALED 145
THE ASSAULT 177
THE ROUT 206
THE FALLEN ELEPHANT 223
THE CHARGE 283
THE DEATH OF PYRRHUS 300
[Illustration: MAP--EMPIRE OF PYRRHUS.]
PYRRHUS.
CHAPTER I.
OLYMPIAS AND ANTIPATER.
B.C. 336-321
Situation of the country of Epirus.--Epirus and Macedon.--Their
political connections.--Olympias.--Her visits to
Epirus.--Philip.--Olympias as a wife.--She makes many
difficulties.--Alexander takes part with his mother in her
quarrel.--Olympias is suspected of having murdered her
husband.--Alexander's treatment of his mother.--His kind
and considerate behavior.--Antipater.--Character of
Antipater.--Alexander's opinion of him.--Olympias makes a great
deal of trouble.--Alexander sends Craterus home.--Alexander's wife
Roxana.--Her babe.--Aridaeus.--The two competing claimants to the
crown.--Some account of the Ptolemaic dynasty.--The distribution of
Alexander's empire.--Compromise between the rival claims.--Question of
marriage.--Cleopatra.--Nicaea.--Nicaea is sent to Babylon.--Antipater's
plan.--Another matrimonial question.--Cynane.--Excitement in the
army.--Ada's new name.--Various intrigues.--Schemes of Antipater
and Ptolemy.--Nicaea.--Perdiccas' plans.--A battle.--Craterus is
killed.--Discontent.--Unpopularity of Perdiccas.--Transit of the
Nile.--Extraordinary incident.--Great numbers swept into the river
and destroyed.--The kings are to be sent back to Babylon.--Antipater
returns to Macedon full of honors.
Pyrrhus, King of Epirus, entered at the very beginning of his life
upon the extraordinary series of romantic adventures which so
strikingly marked his career. He became an exile and a fugitive from
his father's house when he was only two years old, having been
suddenly borne away at that period by the attendants of the household,
to avoid a most imminent personal danger that threatened him. The
circumstances which gave occasion for this extraordinary ereption were
as follows:
The country of Epirus, as will be seen by the accompanying map, was
situated on the eastern shore of the Adriatic Sea,[A] and on the
southwestern confines of Macedonia. The kingdom of Epirus was thus
very near to, and in some respects dependent upon, the kingdom of
Macedon. In fact, the public affairs of the two countries, through the
personal relations and connections which subsisted from time to time
between the royal families that reigned over them respectively, were
often intimately intermingled, so that there could scarcely be any
important war, or even any great civil dissension in Macedon, which
did not sooner or later draw the king or the people of Epirus to take
part in the dispute, either on one side or on the other. And as it
sometimes happened that in these questions of Macedonian politics the
king and the people of Epirus took opposite sides, the affairs of the
great kingdom were often the means of bringing into the smaller one an
infinite degree of trouble and confusion.
[Footnote A: See the opposite map.]
The period of Pyrrhus's career was immediately subsequent to that of
Alexander the Great, the birth of Pyrrhus having taken place about
four years after the death of Alexander. At this time it happened that
the relations which subsisted between the royal families of the two
kingdoms were very intimate. This intimacy arose from an extremely
important intermarriage which had taken place between the two families
in the preceding generation--namely, the marriage of Philip of
Macedon with Olympias, the daughter of a king of Epirus. Philip and
Olympias were the father and mother of Alexander the Great. Of course,
during the whole period of the great conqueror's history, the people
of Epirus, as well as those of Macedon, felt a special interest in his
career. They considered him as a descendant of their own royal line,
as well as of that of Macedon, and so, very naturally, appropriated to
themselves some portion of the glory which he acquired. Olympias, too,
who sometimes, after her marriage with Philip, resided at Epirus, and
sometimes at Macedon, maintained an intimate and close connection,
both with her own and with Philip's family; and thus, through various
results of her agency, as well as through the fame of Alexander's
exploits, the governments of the two countries were continually
commingled.
It must not, however, by any means be supposed that the relations
which were established through the influence of Olympias, between the
courts of Epirus and of Macedon, were always of a friendly character.
They were, in fact, often the very reverse. Olympias was a woman of a
very passionate and ungovernable temper, and of a very determined
will; and as Philip was himself as impetuous and as resolute as she,
the domestic life of this distinguished pair was a constant succession
of storms. At the commencement of her married life, Olympias was, of
course, generally successful in accomplishing her purposes. Among
other measures, she induced Philip to establish her brother upon the
throne of Epirus, in the place of another prince who was more directly
in the line of succession. As, however, the true heir did not, on this
account, relinquish his claims, two parties were formed in the
country, adhering respectively to the two branches of the family that
claimed the throne, and a division ensued, which, in the end, involved
the kingdom of Epirus in protracted civil wars. While, therefore,
Olympias continued to hold an influence over her husband's mind, she
exercised it in such a way as to open sources of serious calamity and
trouble for her own native land.
After a time, however, she lost this influence entirely. Her disputes
with Philip ended at length in a bitter and implacable quarrel. Philip
married another woman, named Cleopatra, partly, indeed, as a measure
of political alliance, and partly as an act of hostility and hatred
against Olympias, whom he accused of the most disgraceful crimes.
Olympias went home to Epirus in a rage, and sought refuge in the court
of her brother.
Alexander, her son, was left behind at Macedon at this separation
between his father and mother. He was then about nineteen years of
age. He took part with his mother in the contest. It is true, he
remained for a time at the court of Philip after his mother's
departure, but his mind was in a very irritable and sullen mood; and
at length, on the occasion of a great public festival, an angry
conversation between Alexander and Philip occurred, growing out of
some allusions which were made to Olympias by some of the guests, in
the course of which Alexander openly denounced and defied the king,
and then abruptly left the court, and went off to Epirus to join his
mother. Of course the attention of the people of Epirus was strongly
attracted to this quarrel, and they took sides, some with Philip, and
some with Olympias and Alexander.
Not very long after this, Philip was assassinated in the most
mysterious and extraordinary manner.[B] Olympias was generally accused
of having been the instigator of this deed. There was no positive
evidence of her guilt; nor, on the other hand, had there ever been in
her character and conduct any such indications of the presence of even
the ordinary sentiments of justice and humanity in her heart as could
form a presumption of her innocence. In a word, she was such a woman
that it was more easy and natural, as it seemed, for mankind to
believe her guilty than innocent; and she has accordingly been very
generally condemned, though on very slender evidence, as accessory to
the crime.
[Footnote B: For a full account of this transaction, see "History of
Alexander the Great."]
Of course, the death of Philip, whether Olympias was the procurer of
it or not, was of the greatest conceivable advantage to her in respect
to its effect upon her position, and upon the promotion of her
ambitious schemes. The way was at once opened again for her return to
Macedon. Alexander, her son, succeeded immediately to the throne. He
was very young, and would submit, as she supposed, very readily to the
influence of his mother. This proved, in fact, in some sense to be
true. Alexander, whatever may have been his faults in other respects,
was a very dutiful son. He treated his mother, as long as he lived,
with the utmost consideration and respect, while yet he would not in
any sense subject himself to her authority and influence in his
political career. He formed his own plans, and executed them in his
own way; and if there was ever at any time any dispute or disagreement
between him and Olympias in respect to his measures, she soon learned
that he was not to be controlled in these things, and gave up the
struggle. Nor was this a very extraordinary result; for we often see
that a refractory woman, who can not by any process be made to submit
to her husband, is easily and completely managed by a son.
Things went on thus tolerably smoothly while Alexander lived. It was
_only_ tolerably, however; for Olympias, though she always continued
on friendly terms with Alexander himself, quarreled incessantly with
the commanders and ministers of state whom he left with her at Macedon
while he was absent on his Asiatic campaigns. These contentions caused
no very serious difficulty so long as Alexander himself was alive to
interpose, when occasion required, and settle the difficulties and
disputes which originated in them before they became unmanageable.
Alexander was always adroit enough to do this in a manner that was
respectful and considerate toward his mother, and which yet preserved
the actual administrative power of the kingdom in the hands to which
he had intrusted it.
He thus amused his mother's mind, and soothed her irritable temper by
marks of consideration and regard, and sustained her in a very
dignified and lofty position in the royal household, while yet he
confided to her very little substantial power.
The officer whom Alexander had left in chief command at Macedon, while
absent on his Asiatic expedition, was Antipater. Antipater was a very
venerable man, then nearly seventy years of age. He had been the
principal minister of state in Macedonia for a long period of time,
having served Philip in that capacity with great fidelity and success
for many years before Alexander's accession. During the whole term of
his public office, he had maintained a most exalted reputation for
wisdom and virtue. Philip placed the most absolute and entire
confidence in him, and often committed the most momentous affairs to
his direction. And yet, notwithstanding the illustrious position which
Antipater thus occupied, and the great influence and control which he
exercised in the public affairs of Macedon, he was simple and
unpretending in his manners, and kind and considerate to all around
him, as if he were entirely devoid of all feelings of personal
ambition, and were actuated only by an honest and sincere devotedness
to the cause of those whom he served. Various anecdotes were related
of him in the Macedonian court, which showed the estimation in which
he was held. For example, Philip one day, at a time when placed in
circumstances which required special caution and vigilance on his
part, made his appearance at a late hour in the morning, and he
apologized for it by saying to the officers, "I have slept rather late
this morning, but then I knew that Antipater was awake." Alexander,
too, felt the highest respect and veneration for Antipater's
character. At one time some person expressed surprise that Antipater
did not clothe himself in a purple robe--the badge of nobility and
greatness--as the other great commanders and ministers of state were
accustomed to do. "Those men," said Alexander, "wear purple on the
outside, but Antipater is purple within."
The whole country, in a word, felt so much confidence in the wisdom,
the justice, and the moderation of Antipater, that they submitted
very readily to his sway during the absence of Alexander. Olympias,
however, caused him continual trouble. In the exercise of his regency,
he governed the country as he thought his duty to the people of the
realm and to Alexander required, without yielding at all to the
demands or expectations of Olympias. She, consequently, finding that
he was unmanageable, did all in her power to embarrass him in his
plans, and to thwart and circumvent him. She wrote letters continually
to Alexander, complaining incessantly of his conduct, sometimes
misrepresenting occurrences which had actually taken place, and
sometimes making accusations wholly groundless and untrue. Antipater,
in the same manner, in his letters to Alexander, complained of the
interference of Olympias, and of the trouble and embarrassment which
her conduct occasioned him. Alexander succeeded for a season in
settling these difficulties more or less perfectly, from time to time,
as they arose; but at last he concluded to make a change in the
regency. Accordingly, on an occasion when a considerable body of new
recruits from Macedon was to be marched into Asia, Alexander ordered
Antipater to accompany them, and, at the same time, he sent home
another general named Craterus, in charge of a body of troops from
Asia, whose term of service had expired.[C] His plan was to retain
Antipater in his service in Asia, and to give to Craterus the
government of Macedon, thinking it possible, perhaps, that Craterus
might agree better with Olympias than Antipater had done.
[Footnote C: For the route from Macedonia to Babylon, see map.]
Antipater was not to leave Macedon until Craterus should arrive there;
and while Craterus was on his journey, Alexander suddenly died. This
event changed the whole aspect of affairs throughout the empire, and
led to a series of very important events, which followed each other in
rapid succession, and which were the means of affecting the condition
and the fortunes of Olympias in a very material manner. The state of
the case was substantially thus. The story forms quite a complicated
plot, which it will require close attention on the part of the reader
clearly to comprehend.
The question which rose first to the mind of every one, as soon as
Alexander's death became known, was that of the succession. There was,
as it happened, no member of Alexander's own family who could be
considered as clearly and unquestionably his heir. At the time of his
death he had no child. He had a wife, however, whose name was Roxana,
and a child was born to her a few months after Alexander's death.
Roxana was the daughter of an Asiatic prince. Alexander had taken her
prisoner, with some other ladies, at a fort on a rock, where her
father had placed her for safety. Roxana was extremely beautiful, and
Alexander, as soon as he saw her, determined to make her his wife.
Among the thousands of captives that he made in his Asiatic campaign,
Roxana, it was said, was the most lovely of all; and as it was only
about four years after her marriage that Alexander died, she was still
in the full bloom of youth and beauty when her son was born.
But besides this son, born thus a few months after Alexander's death,
there was a brother of Alexander, or, rather, a half-brother, whose
claims to the succession seemed to be more direct, for he was living
at the time that Alexander died. The name of his brother was Aridaeus.
He was imbecile in intellect, and wholly insignificant as a political
personage, except so far as he was by birth the next heir to Alexander
in the Macedonian line. He was not the son of Olympias, but of another
mother, and his imbecility was caused, it was said, by an attempt of
Olympias to poison him in his youth. She was prompted to do this by
her rage and jealousy against his mother, for whose sake Philip had
abandoned her. The poison had ruined the poor child's intellect,
though it had failed to destroy his life. Alexander, when he succeeded
to the throne, adopted measures to protect Aridaeus from any future
attempt which his mother might make to destroy him, and for this, as
well as perhaps for other reasons, took Aridaeus with him on his
Asiatic campaign. Aridaeus and Roxana were both at Babylon when
Alexander died.
Whatever might be thought of the comparative claims of Aridaeus and of
Roxana's babe in respect to the inheritance of the Macedonian crown,
it was plain that neither of them was capable of exercising any actual
power--Alexander's son being incapacitated by his youthfulness, and
his brother by his imbecility. The real power fell immediately into
the hands of Alexander's great generals and counselors of state. These
generals, on consultation with each other, determined not to decide
the question of succession in favor of either of the two heirs, but to
invest the sovereignty of the empire jointly in them both. So they
gave to Aridaeus the name of Philip, and to Roxana's babe that of
Alexander. They made these two princes jointly the nominal sovereigns,
and then proceeded, in their name, to divide all the actual power
among themselves.
In this division, Egypt, and the African countries adjoining it, were
assigned to a very distinguished general of the name of Ptolemy, who
became the founder of a long line of Egyptian sovereigns, known as the
Ptolemaic dynasty--the line from which, some centuries later, the
renowned Cleopatra sprang. Macedon and Greece, with the other European
provinces, were allotted to Antipater and Craterus--Craterus himself
being then on the way to Macedon with the invalid and disbanded troops
whom Alexander had sent home. Craterus was in feeble health at this
time, and was returning to Macedon partly on this account. In fact, he
was not fully able to take the active command of the detachment
committed to him, and Alexander had accordingly sent an officer with
him, named Polysperchon, who was to assist him in the performance of
his duties on the march. This Polysperchon, as will appear in the
sequel, took a very important part in the events which occurred in
Macedonia after he and Craterus had arrived there.
In addition to these great and important provinces--that of Egypt in
Africa, and Macedon and Greece in Europe--there were various other
smaller ones in Asia Minor and in Syria, which were assigned to
different generals and ministers of state who had been attached to the
service of Alexander, and who all now claimed their several portions
in the general distribution of power which took place after his death.
The distribution gave at first a tolerable degree of satisfaction. It
was made in the _name_ of Philip the king, though the personage who
really controlled the arrangement was Perdiccas, the general who was
nearest to the person of Alexander, and highest in rank at the time of
the great conqueror's decease. In fact, as soon as Alexander died,
Perdiccas assumed the command of the army, and the general direction
of affairs.[D] He intended, as was supposed, to make himself emperor
in the place of Alexander. At first he had strongly urged that
Roxana's child should be declared heir to the throne, to the exclusion
of Aridaeus. His secret motive in this was, that by governing as
regent during the long minority of the infant, he might prepare the
way for finally seizing the kingdom himself. The other generals of the
army, however, would not consent to this; they were inclined to insist
that Aridaeus should be king. The army was divided on this question for
some days, and the dispute ran very high. It seemed, in fact, for a
time, that there was no hope that it could be accommodated. There was
every indication that a civil war must ensue--to break out first under
the very walls of Babylon. At length, however, as has already been
stated, the question was compromised, and it was agreed that the crown
of Alexander should become the joint inheritance of Aridaeus and of the
infant child, and that Perdiccas should exercise at Babylon the
functions of regent. Of course, when the division of the empire was
made, it was made in the name of Philip; for the child of Roxana, at
the time of the division, was not yet born. But, though made in King
Philip's name, it was really the work of Perdiccas. His plan, it was
supposed, in the assignment of provinces to the various generals, was
to remove them from Babylon, and give them employment in distant
fields, where they would not interfere with him in the execution of
his plans for making himself master of the supreme power.
[Footnote D: The death of Alexander took place, and the distribution
here referred to was made at Babylon. For the situation of this city
in reference to Macedon and the intervening countries, see map.]
After these arrangements had been made, and the affairs of the empire
had been tolerably well settled for the time being by this
distribution of power, and Perdiccas began to consider what ulterior
measures he should adopt for the widening and extending of his power,
a question arose which for a season greatly perplexed him: it was the
question of his marriage. Two proposals were made to him--one by
Olympias, and one by Antipater. Each of these personages had a
daughter whom they were desirous that Perdiccas should make his wife.
The daughter of Olympias was named Cleopatra--that of Antipater was
Nicaea. Cleopatra was a young widow. She was residing at this time in
Syria. She had been married to a king of Epirus named Alexander, but
was now residing in Sardis, in Asia Minor. Some of the counselors of
Perdiccas represented to him very strongly that a marriage with her
would strengthen his position more than any other alliance that he
could form, as she was the sister of Alexander the Great, and by his
marriage with her he would secure to his side the influence of
Olympias and of all of Alexander's family. Perdiccas so far acceded
to these views that he sent a messenger to Sardis to visit Cleopatra
in his name, and to make her a present. Olympias and Cleopatra
accordingly considered the arrangement a settled affair.
In the mean time, however, Antipater, who seems to have been more in
earnest in his plans, sent off his daughter Nicaea herself to Babylon,
to be offered directly to Perdiccas there. She arrived at Babylon
after the messenger of Perdiccas had gone to visit Cleopatra. The
arrival of Nicaea brought up very distinctly to the mind of Perdiccas
the advantages of an alliance with Antipater. Olympias, it is true,
had a great name, but she possessed no real power. Antipater, on the
other hand, held sway over a widely-extended region, which comprised
some of the most wealthy and populous countries on the globe. He had a
large army under his command, too, consisting of the bravest and
best-disciplined troops in the world; and he himself, though advanced
in age, was a very able and effective commander. In a word, Perdiccas
was persuaded, by these and similar considerations, that the alliance
of Antipater would be more serviceable to him than that of Olympias,
and he accordingly married Nicaea. Olympias, who had always hated
Antipater before, was now, when she found herself thus supplanted by
him in her plans for allying herself with Perdiccas, aroused to the
highest pitch of indignation and rage.
Besides the marriage of Perdiccas, another matrimonial question arose
about this time, which led to a great deal of difficulty. There was a
lady of the royal family of Macedon named Cynane--a daughter of Philip
of Macedon, and half-sister of Alexander the Great--who had a daughter
named Ada. Cynane conceived the design of marrying her daughter to
King Philip, who was now, as well as Roxana and her babe, in the hands
of Perdiccas as their guardian. Cynane set out from Macedon with her
daughter, on the journey to Asia, in order to carry this arrangement
into effect. This was considered as a very bold undertaking on the
part of Cynane and her daughter; for Perdiccas would, of course, be
implacably hostile to any plan for the marriage of Philip, and
especially so to his marrying a princess of the royal family of
Macedon. In fact, as soon as Perdiccas heard of the movement which
Cynane was making, he was enraged at the audacity of it, and sent
messengers to intercept Cynane and murder her on the way. This
transaction, however, as soon as it was known, produced a great
excitement throughout the whole of the Macedonian army. The army, in
fact, felt so strong an attachment for every branch and every member
of the family of Alexander, that they would not tolerate any violence
or wrong against any one of them. Perdiccas was quite terrified at the
storm which he had raised. He immediately countermanded the orders
which he had given to the assassins; and, to atone for his error and
allay the excitement, he received Ada, when she arrived at Babylon,
with great apparent kindness, and finally consented to the plan of her
being married to Philip. She was accordingly married to him, and the
army was appeased. Ada received at this time the name of Eurydice, and
she became subsequently, under that name, quite renowned in history.
During the time in which these several transactions were taking place,
various intrigues and contentions were going on among the governors of
the different provinces in Europe and Asia, which, as the results of
them did not particularly affect the affairs of Epirus, we need not
here particularly describe. During all this period, however,
Perdiccas was extending and maturing his arrangements, and laying his
plans for securing the whole empire to himself; while Antipater and
Ptolemy, in Macedon and Egypt, were all the time holding secret
communications with each other, and endeavoring to devise means by
which they might thwart and circumvent him. The quarrel was an example
of what very often occurs in such political systems as the Macedonian
empire presented at this time--namely, a combining of the extremities
against the centre. For some time the efforts of the hostile parties
were confined to the maneuvers and counter-maneuvers which they
devised against each other. Antipater was, in fact, restrained from
open hostility against Perdiccas from a regard to his daughter Nicaea,
who, as has been already mentioned, was Perdiccas' wife. At length,
however, under the influence of the increasing hostility which
prevailed between the two families, Perdiccas determined to divorce
Nicaea, and marry Cleopatra after all. As soon as Antipater learned
this, he resolved at once upon open war. The campaign commenced with a
double operation. Perdiccas himself raised an army; and, taking Philip
and Eurydice, and also Roxana and her babe in his train, he marched
into Egypt to make war against Ptolemy. At the same time, Antipater
and Craterus, at the head of a large Macedonian force, passed across
the Hellespont into Asia Minor, on their way to attack Perdiccas in
Babylon. Perdiccas sent a large detachment of troops, under the
command of a distinguished general, to meet and encounter Antipater
and Craterus in Asia Minor, while he was himself engaged in the
Egyptian campaign.
The result of the contest was fatal to the cause of Perdiccas.
Antipater advanced triumphantly through Asia Minor, though in one of
the battles which took place there Craterus was slain. But while
Craterus himself fell, his troops were victorious. Thus the fortunes
of war in this quarter went against Perdiccas. The result of his own
operations in Egypt was still more disastrous to him. As he approached
the Egyptian frontier, he found his soldiers very averse to fighting
against Ptolemy, a general whom they had always regarded with extreme
respect and veneration, and who, as was well known, had governed his
province in Egypt with the greatest wisdom, justice, and moderation.
Perdiccas treated this disaffection in a very haughty and domineering
manner. He called his soldiers rebels, and threatened to punish them
as such. This aroused their indignation, and from secret murmurings
they proceeded to loud and angry complaints. Perdiccas was not their
king, they said, to lord it over them in that imperious manner. He was
nothing but the tutor of their kings, and they would not submit to any
insolence from him. Perdiccas was soon quite alarmed to observe the
degree of dissatisfaction which he had awakened, and the violence of
the form which it seemed to be assuming. He changed his tone, and
attempted to soothe and conciliate the minds of his men. He at length
succeeded so far as to restore some degree of order and discipline to
the army, and in that condition the expedition entered Egypt.[E]
[Footnote E: For the route taken by this expedition, see map.]
Perdiccas crossed one of the branches of the Nile, and then led his
army forward to attack Ptolemy in a strong fortress, where he had
intrenched himself with his troops. The forces of Perdiccas, though
much more numerous than those of Ptolemy, fought with very little
spirit; while those of Ptolemy exerted themselves to the utmost, under
the influence of the strong attachment which they felt for their
commander. Perdiccas was beaten in the engagement; and he was so much
weakened by the defeat, that he determined to retreat back across the
river. When the army arrived at the bank of the stream, the troops
began to pass over; but after about half the army had crossed, they
found, to their surprise, that the water, which had been growing
gradually deeper all the time, became impassable. The cause of this
deepening of the stream was at first a great mystery, since the
surface of the water, as was evident by marks along the shore,
remained all the time at the same level. It was at length ascertained
that the cause of this extraordinary phenomenon was, that the sands in
the bottom of the river were trampled up by the feet of the men and
horses in crossing, so that the current of the water could wash them
away; and such was the immense number of footsteps made by the
successive bodies of troops, that, by the time the transportation had
been half accomplished, the water had become too deep to be forded.
Perdiccas was thus, as it were, caught in a trap--half his army being
on one side of the river, and himself, with the remainder, on the
other.
He was seriously alarmed at the dangerous situation in which he thus
found himself placed, and immediately resorted to a variety of
expedients to remedy the unexpected difficulty. All his efforts were,
however, vain. Finally, as it seemed imperiously necessary to effect a
junction between the two divisions of his army, he ordered those who
had gone over to make an attempt, at all hazards, to return. They did
so; but in the attempt, vast numbers of men got beyond their depth,
and were swept down by the current and drowned. Multitudes of the
bodies, both of the dead and of the dying, were seized and devoured by
the crocodiles which lined the shores of the river below. There were
about two thousand men thus lost in the attempt to recross the stream.
In all military operations, the criterion of merit, in the opinion of
an army, is success; and, of course, the discontent and disaffection
which prevailed in the camp of Perdiccas broke out anew in consequence
of these misfortunes. There was a general mutiny. The officers
themselves took the lead in it, and one hundred of them went over in a
body to Ptolemy's side, taking with them a considerable portion of the
army; while those that were left remained with Perdiccas, not to
defend, but to destroy him. A troop of horse gathered around his tent,
guarding it on all sides, to prevent the escape of their victim, and
then a certain number of the men rushed in and killed him in the midst
of his terror and despair.
Ptolemy now advanced to the camp of Perdiccas, and was received there
with acclamation. The whole army submitted themselves at once to his
command. An arrangement was made for the return of the army to
Babylon, with the kings and their train. Pithon, one of the generals
of Perdiccas, took the command of the army, and the charge of the
royal family, on the return. In the mean time, Antipater had passed
into Asia, victorious over the forces that Perdiccas had sent against
him. A new congress of generals was held, and a new distribution of
power was made. By the new arrangement, Antipater was to retain his
command in Macedon and Greece, and to have the custody of the kings.
Accordingly, when every thing had thus been settled, Antipater set out
on his return to Macedon, with Philip and Eurydice, and also Roxana
and the infant Alexander, in his train. The venerable soldier--for he
was now about eighty years of age--was received in Macedon, on his
return, with universal honor and applause. There were several
considerations, in fact, which conspired to exalt Antipater in the
estimation of his countrymen on this occasion. He had performed a
great military exploit in conducting the expedition into Asia, from
which he was now triumphantly returning. He was bringing back to
Macedon, too, the royal family of Alexander, the representatives of
the ancient Macedonian line; and by being made the custodian of these
princes, and regent of the empire in their name, he had been raised to
the most exalted position which the whole world at that period could
afford. The Macedonians received him, accordingly, on his return, with
loud and universal acclamations.