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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Chapter six of Alexander the Great. This is a LibriVox recording.
All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. For more
information not a volunteer, please visit LibriVox dot org. Recording
by a Lizzie Driver Alexander the Great by Jacob Abbot,
Chapter six Defeat of Darius. Thus far Alexander had had
(00:26):
only the lieutenants and generals of the Persian monarch to
contend with. Darius had at first looked upon the invasion
of his vast dominions by such a mere boy, as
he called him, and by so small an army with contempt.
He sent word to his generals in Asia Minor to
seize the young fool and send him to Persia bound
(00:49):
hand and foot. By the time, however, that Alexander had
possessed himself of all Asia Minor, Darius began to find that,
though young, he was no fool, and that it was
not likely to be very easy to seize him. Accordingly,
Darius created an immense army himself, and advanced to meet
(01:12):
the Macedonians in person. Nothing could exceed the pomp and
magnificence of his preparations. There were immense numbers of troops,
and they were of all nations. There were even a
great many Greeks among his forces, many of them enlisted
from the Greeks of Asia Minor. There were some from
(01:32):
Greece itself, mercenaries, as they were called, that is, soldiers
who fought for pay, and who were willing to enter
into any service which would pay them best. There were
even some Greek officers and councilors in the family and
court of Darius. One of them, named Cheridemus, offered to
(01:53):
the king very much by the free opinion which he
expressed of the uselessness of all his pomp and parade
in preparing for an encounter with such an enemy as Alexander. Perhaps,
said Cherydiemus, you may not be pleased with my speaking
to you plainly, but if I do not do it now,
it will be too late. Hereafter this great parade in
(02:16):
pomp and this enormous multitude of men might be formidable
to your Asiatic neighbors, but such sort of preparation will
be of little avail against Alexander and his Greeks. Your
army is resplendent with purple and gold. No one who
had not seen it could conceive of its magnificence, but
it will not be of any avail against the terrible
(02:38):
energy of the Greeks. Their minds are bent on something
very different from idle show. They are intent on securing
the substantial excellence of their weapons, and on acquiring the
discipline and the hardihood essential for the most efficient use
of them. They will despise all your parade of purple
and gold. They will not even value it as plunder.
(03:00):
They glory in their ability to dispense with all the
luxuries and conveniences of life. They live upon the coarsest
food at night, they sleep upon the bare ground by day.
They are always on the march. They brave hunger, cold,
and every species of exposure with pride and pleasure, having
the greatest contempt for anything like softness and effeminacy of character.
(03:25):
All this pomp and pageantry, with inefficient weapons and inefficient
men to wield them, will be of no avail against
their invincible courage and energy. And the best disposition that
you can make of all your gold and silver and
other treasures is to send it away and procure good
soldiers with it. If indeed, gold and silver will procure them.
(03:48):
The Greeks were habituated to energetic speaking as well as acting.
But Charadiemus did not sufficiently consider that the Persians were
not accustomed to hear such plain languages. This, Darius was
very much displeased. In his anger, he condemned him to death.
Very well, said Cheradimus, I can die, but my avenger
(04:12):
is at hand. My advice is good, and Alexander will
soon punish you for not regarding it. Very gorgeous descriptions
are given of the pomp and magnificence of the army
of Darius as he commenced his march from the Euphrates
to the Mediterranean. The Persians worshiped the sun and fire.
(04:34):
Over the king's tent. There was an image of the
sun in crystal and supported in such a manner as
to be in the view of the whole army. They
had also silver altars on which they kept constantly burning
what they called the sacred fire. These altars were borne
by persons appointed for the purpose, who were clothed in
(04:55):
magnificent costumes. Then came a long procession of pre priests
and magi, who were dressed also in very splendid robes.
They performed the services of public worship. Following them came
a chariot consecrated to the Sun. It was drawn by
white horses, and was followed by a single white horse
(05:17):
of a large and noble form, which was a sacred animal,
being called the horse of the Sun. The equerries, that is,
the attendants who had charge of this horse, were also
dressed in white, and each carried a golden rod in
his hand. There were bodies of troops distinguished from the
(05:39):
rest and occupying positions of high honor. But these were
selected and advanced above the others, not on account of
their courage or strength, or superior martial efficiency, but from
considerations connected with their birth and rank and other aristocratic qualities.
(06:00):
There was one body called the kinsmen, who were the
relatives of the king, or at least so considered, though
as there were fifteen thousand of them, it would seem
that the relationship could not have been in all cases
very near. They were dressed with great magnificence, and prided
themselves in their rank, their wealth, and the splendor of
(06:22):
their armor. There were also calls called to the immortals.
They were ten thousand in number. They wore a dress
of gold tissue which glittered with spangles and precious stones.
These bodies of men, thus dressed, made an appearance more
like that of a civic procession on an occasion of
(06:44):
ceremony and rejoicing, than like the march of an army.
The appearance of the king and his chariot was still
more like an exhibition of pomp and parade. The carriage
was very large, elaborately carved and gilt, and ornamented with
statues and sculptures. Here the king sat on a very
(07:06):
elevated seat in sight of all. He was clothed in
a vest of purple striped with silver, and over his
fist he wore a robe glittering with gold and precious stones.
Around his waist was a golden girdle, from which was
suspended his scimitar, a species of sword, the scabbard of
(07:27):
which was resplendent with gems. He wore a tiara upon
his head, a very costly and elegant workmanship, and enriched,
like the rest of his dress, with brilliant ornaments. The
guards who preceded and followed him had pikes of silver,
mounted and tipped with gold. It is very extraordinary that
(07:50):
King Darius took his wife, and all his family with him,
and a large portion of his treasures on this expedition
against Alexander. His mother, whose name was Sisygambis, was in
his family, and she and his wife came each in
her own chariot immediately after the king. Then there were
(08:11):
fifteen carriages filled with the children and their attendants, and
three or four hundred ladies of the court, all dressed
by queens. After the family there came a train of
many hundreds of camels and mules carrying the royal treasures.
It was in this style that Darius set out upon
(08:32):
his expedition, and he advanced by a slow progress toward
the westward, until at last he approached the shores of
the Mediterranean Sea. He left his treasures in the city
of Damascus, where they were deposited under the charge of
a sufficient force to protect them. As he supposed. He
(08:53):
then advanced to meet Alexander, going himself from Syria toward
Desia Minor, just as the time that Alexander was coming
from Asia Minor into Syria. It will be observed by
looking upon the map, that the chain of mountains called
Mount Taurus extends down near to the coast at the
northeastern corner of the Mediterranean. Among these mountains there are
(09:16):
various tracts of open country through which an army may
march to and fro between Syria and Asia Minor. Now
it happened that Darius, in going toward the west, took
a more inland route than Alexander, who, on coming eastward,
kept nearer to the sea. Alexander did not know that
(09:38):
Darius was so near. And as for Darius, he was
confident that Alexander was retreating before him. For as the
Macedonian army was so small, and his own forces constituted
such an innumerable host, the idea that Alexander would remain
too brave a battle was, in his opinion, entirely out
(09:59):
of the question. He had therefore no doubt that Alexander
was retreating. It is, of course, always difficult for two
armies fifty miles apart to obtain correct ideas of each
other's movements. All the ordinary into communications of the country
are of course stopped, and each general has his scouts
(10:22):
out with orders to intercept all travelers and intercept the
communication of intelligence by every means in their power. In
consequence of these and other circumstances of a similar nature.
It happened that Alexander and Darius actually passed each other
without either of them being aware of it. Alexander advanced
(10:46):
into Syria by the plains of Issus, marked a upon
the map and a narrow pass beyond called the Gates
of Syria, while Darius went farther to the north and
arrived at Issus after Alexander had left it. Here, each
army learned, to their astonishment that their enemy was in
(11:06):
their rear. Alexander could not credit this report when he
first heard it. He dispatched a galley with thirty oars
along the shore up the Gulf of Vissus to ascertain
the truth. The galley soon came back and reported that
beyond the Gates of Syria they saw the whole country,
(11:26):
which was nearly level land, though gently rising from the sea,
covered with the vast encampments of the Persian army. The
king then called his generals and counselors together informed them
of the facts. A maide known to them his determination
to return immediately through the Gates of Syria and attack
the Persian army. The officers received the intelligence with enthusiastic
(11:52):
expressions of joy. It was now near evening. Alexander sent
forward a strong reconnoitering party, ordering them to proceed cautiously,
to ascend eminences and look far beyond them, to guard
carefully against surprise, and to send back word immediately if
they came upon any traces of the enemy. At the
(12:16):
present day, the operations of such a reconnoitering party are
very much aided by the use of spyglasses, which are
main to now with great care, expressly for military purposes.
The instrument, however, was not known in Alexander's day. When
the evening came on, Alexander followed the reconnoitering party with
(12:37):
the main body of the army. At midnight, they reached
the defile. When they were secure in the possession of it,
they halted. Strong watches were stationed in all the surrounding
heights to guard against any possible surprise. Alexander himself ascended
one of the eminences, from whence he could look down
(12:58):
upon the great plain beyond, which was dimly illuminated in
every part by the smoldering fires of the Persian encampment.
An encampment at night is a spectacle which is always
grand and often sublime. It must have appeared sublime to
Alexander in the highest degree on this occasion, to stand
(13:19):
stealthily among these dark and somber mountains, with the defiles
and passes below filled with the columns of his small
but undaunted army, and to look onward a few miles
beyond and see the countless fires of the vast host
which had got between him and all hope of retreat
to his native land. To feel, as he must have done,
(13:41):
that his fate and that of all who were with
him depended upon the events of the day that was
soon to dawn. To see and feel these things must
have made this night one of the most exciting and
solemn scenes in the conqueror's life. He had a soul
to enjoy its excitement and sublimity. He gloried in it,
(14:04):
and if he wished to add to the solemnity of
the scene, he caused an altar to be erected and
offered a sacrifice by torchlight to the deities on whose
aid his soldiers imagined themselves most dependent for success. On
the morrow, of course, a place was selected where the
lights of the torches would not attract the attention of
(14:26):
the enemy, and sentinels were stationed at every advantageous point
to watch the Persian camp for the slightest indications of
movement or alarm. In the morning, at break of day,
Alexander commenced his march down to the plain. In the
evening at sunset, all the valleys and defiles among the
(14:48):
mountains around the Plain of Issus were thronged with vast
masses of the Persian army, broken, disordered, and in confusion,
all pressing forward to escape from the victor toorious Macedonians.
They crowded all the roads, They choked up the mountain passes,
they trampled upon one another. They fell exhausted with fatigue
(15:11):
and mental agitation. Darius was among them, though his flight
had been so sudden that he had left his mother
and his wife and all his family behind. He pressed
on in his chariot as far as the road allowed
his chariot to go, and then, leaving everything behind, he
mounted a horse and rode on for his life. Alexander
(15:36):
and his army soon abandoned the pursuit and returned to
take possession of the Persian camp. The tents of King
Darius and his household were inconceivably splendid, and were filled
with gold and silver, vessels, caskets, vases, boxes of perfumes,
and every imaginable article of luxury and show the mother
(15:59):
and wife were Darius bewailed their hard fate with cries
and tears, and continued all the evening in an agony
of consternation and despair. Alexander, hearing of this, sent Leonatus,
his former teacher, a man of years and gravity, to
quiet their fears and comfort them so far as it
(16:21):
was possible to comfort them. In addition to their own captivity.
They supposed that Darius was killed, and the mother was
mourning bitterly for her son, and the wife for a husband. Leonatus,
attended by some soldiers, advanced toward the tent where these
mourners were dwelling. The attendants at the door ran in
(16:46):
and informed them that a body of Greeks were coming.
This threw them into the greatest consternation. They anticipated violence
and death, and threw themselves upon the ground in agony.
Yonatus waited some time at the door for the attendants
to return. At length he entered the tent. This renewed
(17:08):
the terrors of the women. They began to entreat him
to spare their lives at least until there should be
time for them to see the remains of the son
and husband whom they mourned, and to pay the last
sad tribute to his memory. Leonatas soon relieved their fears.
He told them that he was charged by Alexander to
(17:30):
say to them that Darius was alive, having made his escape.
In safety. As to themselves, Alexander assured them. He said
that they should not be injured, that not only were
their persons and lives to be protected, but no change
was to be made in their condition or mode of life.
(17:50):
They should continue to be treated like queens. He added
moreover that Alexander wished him to say that he felt
no animosity or ill will whatever against Darius. He was
but technically his enemy, being only engaged in a generous
and honorable contest with him for the Empire of Asia.
(18:12):
Saying these things, Leoneesus raised the disconsolate ladies from the ground,
and they gradually regained some degree of composure. Alexander himself
went to pay a visit to the captive princesses. The
next day, he took with him a festion. Hiphestion was
Alexander's personal friend. The two young men were of the
(18:34):
same age, and though Alexander had the good sense to
retain in power all the old and experienced officers which
his father had employed, both in the court and army,
he showed that, after all, ambition had not overwhelmed and
stifled all the kindlier feelings of the heart by a
strong attachment to this young companion. Hipestian was his confidante,
(18:59):
his assa foetiate, his personal friend. He did what very
few monarchs have done, either before or since, in securing
for himself the pleasures of friendship and of intimate social
communion with a heart kindred to his own, without ruining
himself by committing to his favorite powers which he was
(19:20):
not qualified to wield. Alexander left the wise and experienced
Parmenio to manage the camp, while he took the young
and handsome Ephestion to accompany him on his visit to
the captive queen's. When the two friends entered the tent,
the ladies were, for some cause deceived and mistook Hephestion
(19:43):
for Alexander, and addressed him accordingly with tokens of higher
respect and homage. One of the attendants immediately rectified the mistake,
telling them that the other was Alexander. The ladies were
at first overwhelmed with confusion and attempted to apologize, but
the king reassured them at once by the easy and
(20:06):
good natured manner with which he passed over the mistake,
saying it was no mistake at all. It is true,
said he that I am Alexander, But then he is
Alexander too. The wife of Darius was young and very beautiful,
and they had a little son who was with them
in the camp. It seems almost unaccountable that Darius should
(20:31):
have brought such a helpless and defenseless charge with him
into camps and fields of battle. But the truth was
that he had no idea of even a battle with Alexander,
and as to defeat, he did not contemplate the remotest
possibility of it. He regarded Alexander as a mere boy,
energetic and daring, it is true, and at the head
(20:53):
of a desperate band of adventurers. But he considered his
whole force as altogether too insignificant to make any stand
against such a vast military power. As he was bringing
against him, he presumed that he would retreat as fast
as possible before the Persian army came near him. The
(21:15):
idea of such a boy coming down at break of
day from narrow defiles of the mountains, upon his vast encampment,
covering all the plains, and in twelve hours put in
the whole mighty master flight was what never entered his
imagination at all. The exploit was indeed a very extraordinary one.
(21:36):
Alexander's forces may have consisted of forty or fifty thousand men,
and if we may believe their story, there were over
a hundred thousand Persians left dead upon the field. Many
of these were, however, killed by the dreadful confusion and
violence of the retreat, as vast bodies of horsemen pressing
(21:57):
through the defiles, rode over and tramped down the foot
soldiers who were toiling in awful confusion along the way,
having fled before the horsemen left the field. Alexander had
heard that Darius had left the greater part of his
royal treasures in Damascus, and he sent Parmeno there to
seize them. This expedition was successful, an enormous amount of
(22:21):
gold and silver fell into Alexander's hands. The plate was
coined into money, and many of the treasures were sent
to Greece. Darius got together a small remnant of his
army and continued his flight. He did not stop until
he had crossed the Eufrates. He then sent an ambassador
(22:43):
to Alexander to make propositions for peace. He remonstrated with
him in the communication which he made for coming thus
to invade his dominions, and urged him to withdraw and
be satisfied with his own kingdom. He offered him any
sum he might name as a ransom for his mother, wife,
(23:04):
and child, and agreed that if he would deliver them
up to him on payment of the ransom, and apart
from his dominions, he would thenceforth regard him as an
ally and a friend. Alexander replied by a letter expressed
him brief but very decided language. He said that the
Persians had, under the ancestors of Darius, crossed the Hellespont,
(23:29):
invaded Greece, laid waste the country, and destroyed cities and towns,
and had thus done them in chalculable injury, and that
Darius himself had been plotting against his Alexander's life, and
offering rewards to any one who would kill him. I
am acting, then, continued Alexander, only on the defensive. The gods,
(23:54):
who always favor the right, have given me the victory.
I am now monarch of a large part of it,
and your sovereign king. If you will admit this and
come to me as my subject, I will restore to
you your mother, your wife, and your child, without any ransom,
and at any rate, whatever you decide in respect to
(24:14):
these proposals. If you wish to communicate with me on
any subject hereafter, I shall pay no attention to what
you send unless you address it to me as your king.
One circumstance occurred at the close of this great victory
which illustrates the magnanimity of Alexander's character and helps to
(24:35):
explain the very strong personal attachment which every body within
the circle of his influence so obviously felt for him.
He found a great number of envoys and ambassadors from
the various states of Greece at the Persian court, and
these persons fell into his hands. Among the other captives.
(24:56):
Now the states and cities of Greece, all except Spa
in Thebes, which last city he had destroyed, were combined
ostensibly in the confederation by which Alexander was sustained. It seems, however,
that there was a secret enmity against him in Greece,
and various parties had sent messengers and agents to the
(25:18):
Persian court to aid in plots and schemes to interfere
with and defeat Alexander's plans. The Thebians, scattered and disorganized
as they were, had sent envoys in this way. Now Alexander,
in considering what disposition he should make of these emissaries
(25:38):
from his own land, decided to regard them all as traitors,
except the Thebians. All except the Thebians were traitors, he maintained,
for acting secretly against him, while ostensibly and by solemn confidence,
they were his friends. The case of the Thebians is
(26:01):
very different, said he. I have destroyed their city, and
they have a right to consider me their enemy, and
to do all they can to oppose my progress and
to regain their own lost existence and their former power.
So he gave them their liberty and sent them away
with marks of consideration and honor. As the vast army
(26:25):
of the Persian monarch had now been defeated. Of course,
none of the smaller kingdoms or provinces thought of resisting.
They yielded one after another, and Alexander appointed governors of
his own to rule over them. He advanced in this
manner along the eastern shores of the Mediterranean Sea, meeting
with no obstruction until he reached the great and powerful
(26:48):
city of Taya end of Chapter six.
Chapter six of Alexander the Great. This is a LibriVox recording.
All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. For more
information not a volunteer, please visit LibriVox dot org. Recording
by a Lizzie Driver Alexander the Great by Jacob Abbot,
Chapter six Defeat of Darius. Thus far Alexander had had
(00:26):
only the lieutenants and generals of the Persian monarch to
contend with. Darius had at first looked upon the invasion
of his vast dominions by such a mere boy, as
he called him, and by so small an army with contempt.
He sent word to his generals in Asia Minor to
seize the young fool and send him to Persia bound
(00:49):
hand and foot. By the time, however, that Alexander had
possessed himself of all Asia Minor, Darius began to find that,
though young, he was no fool, and that it was
not likely to be very easy to seize him. Accordingly,
Darius created an immense army himself, and advanced to meet
(01:12):
the Macedonians in person. Nothing could exceed the pomp and
magnificence of his preparations. There were immense numbers of troops,
and they were of all nations. There were even a
great many Greeks among his forces, many of them enlisted
from the Greeks of Asia Minor. There were some from
(01:32):
Greece itself, mercenaries, as they were called, that is, soldiers
who fought for pay, and who were willing to enter
into any service which would pay them best. There were
even some Greek officers and councilors in the family and
court of Darius. One of them, named Cheridemus, offered to
(01:53):
the king very much by the free opinion which he
expressed of the uselessness of all his pomp and parade
in preparing for an encounter with such an enemy as Alexander. Perhaps,
said Cherydiemus, you may not be pleased with my speaking
to you plainly, but if I do not do it now,
it will be too late. Hereafter this great parade in
(02:16):
pomp and this enormous multitude of men might be formidable
to your Asiatic neighbors, but such sort of preparation will
be of little avail against Alexander and his Greeks. Your
army is resplendent with purple and gold. No one who
had not seen it could conceive of its magnificence, but
it will not be of any avail against the terrible
(02:38):
energy of the Greeks. Their minds are bent on something
very different from idle show. They are intent on securing
the substantial excellence of their weapons, and on acquiring the
discipline and the hardihood essential for the most efficient use
of them. They will despise all your parade of purple
and gold. They will not even value it as plunder.
(03:00):
They glory in their ability to dispense with all the
luxuries and conveniences of life. They live upon the coarsest
food at night, they sleep upon the bare ground by day.
They are always on the march. They brave hunger, cold,
and every species of exposure with pride and pleasure, having
the greatest contempt for anything like softness and effeminacy of character.
(03:25):
All this pomp and pageantry, with inefficient weapons and inefficient
men to wield them, will be of no avail against
their invincible courage and energy. And the best disposition that
you can make of all your gold and silver and
other treasures is to send it away and procure good
soldiers with it. If indeed, gold and silver will procure them.
(03:48):
The Greeks were habituated to energetic speaking as well as acting.
But Charadiemus did not sufficiently consider that the Persians were
not accustomed to hear such plain languages. This, Darius was
very much displeased. In his anger, he condemned him to death.
Very well, said Cheradimus, I can die, but my avenger
(04:12):
is at hand. My advice is good, and Alexander will
soon punish you for not regarding it. Very gorgeous descriptions
are given of the pomp and magnificence of the army
of Darius as he commenced his march from the Euphrates
to the Mediterranean. The Persians worshiped the sun and fire.
(04:34):
Over the king's tent. There was an image of the
sun in crystal and supported in such a manner as
to be in the view of the whole army. They
had also silver altars on which they kept constantly burning
what they called the sacred fire. These altars were borne
by persons appointed for the purpose, who were clothed in
(04:55):
magnificent costumes. Then came a long procession of pre priests
and magi, who were dressed also in very splendid robes.
They performed the services of public worship. Following them came
a chariot consecrated to the Sun. It was drawn by
white horses, and was followed by a single white horse
(05:17):
of a large and noble form, which was a sacred animal,
being called the horse of the Sun. The equerries, that is,
the attendants who had charge of this horse, were also
dressed in white, and each carried a golden rod in
his hand. There were bodies of troops distinguished from the
(05:39):
rest and occupying positions of high honor. But these were
selected and advanced above the others, not on account of
their courage or strength, or superior martial efficiency, but from
considerations connected with their birth and rank and other aristocratic qualities.
(06:00):
There was one body called the kinsmen, who were the
relatives of the king, or at least so considered, though
as there were fifteen thousand of them, it would seem
that the relationship could not have been in all cases
very near. They were dressed with great magnificence, and prided
themselves in their rank, their wealth, and the splendor of
(06:22):
their armor. There were also calls called to the immortals.
They were ten thousand in number. They wore a dress
of gold tissue which glittered with spangles and precious stones.
These bodies of men, thus dressed, made an appearance more
like that of a civic procession on an occasion of
(06:44):
ceremony and rejoicing, than like the march of an army.
The appearance of the king and his chariot was still
more like an exhibition of pomp and parade. The carriage
was very large, elaborately carved and gilt, and ornamented with
statues and sculptures. Here the king sat on a very
(07:06):
elevated seat in sight of all. He was clothed in
a vest of purple striped with silver, and over his
fist he wore a robe glittering with gold and precious stones.
Around his waist was a golden girdle, from which was
suspended his scimitar, a species of sword, the scabbard of
(07:27):
which was resplendent with gems. He wore a tiara upon
his head, a very costly and elegant workmanship, and enriched,
like the rest of his dress, with brilliant ornaments. The
guards who preceded and followed him had pikes of silver,
mounted and tipped with gold. It is very extraordinary that
(07:50):
King Darius took his wife, and all his family with him,
and a large portion of his treasures on this expedition
against Alexander. His mother, whose name was Sisygambis, was in
his family, and she and his wife came each in
her own chariot immediately after the king. Then there were
(08:11):
fifteen carriages filled with the children and their attendants, and
three or four hundred ladies of the court, all dressed
by queens. After the family there came a train of
many hundreds of camels and mules carrying the royal treasures.
It was in this style that Darius set out upon
(08:32):
his expedition, and he advanced by a slow progress toward
the westward, until at last he approached the shores of
the Mediterranean Sea. He left his treasures in the city
of Damascus, where they were deposited under the charge of
a sufficient force to protect them. As he supposed. He
(08:53):
then advanced to meet Alexander, going himself from Syria toward
Desia Minor, just as the time that Alexander was coming
from Asia Minor into Syria. It will be observed by
looking upon the map, that the chain of mountains called
Mount Taurus extends down near to the coast at the
northeastern corner of the Mediterranean. Among these mountains there are
(09:16):
various tracts of open country through which an army may
march to and fro between Syria and Asia Minor. Now
it happened that Darius, in going toward the west, took
a more inland route than Alexander, who, on coming eastward,
kept nearer to the sea. Alexander did not know that
(09:38):
Darius was so near. And as for Darius, he was
confident that Alexander was retreating before him. For as the
Macedonian army was so small, and his own forces constituted
such an innumerable host, the idea that Alexander would remain
too brave a battle was, in his opinion, entirely out
(09:59):
of the question. He had therefore no doubt that Alexander
was retreating. It is, of course, always difficult for two
armies fifty miles apart to obtain correct ideas of each
other's movements. All the ordinary into communications of the country
are of course stopped, and each general has his scouts
(10:22):
out with orders to intercept all travelers and intercept the
communication of intelligence by every means in their power. In
consequence of these and other circumstances of a similar nature.
It happened that Alexander and Darius actually passed each other
without either of them being aware of it. Alexander advanced
(10:46):
into Syria by the plains of Issus, marked a upon
the map and a narrow pass beyond called the Gates
of Syria, while Darius went farther to the north and
arrived at Issus after Alexander had left it. Here, each
army learned, to their astonishment that their enemy was in
(11:06):
their rear. Alexander could not credit this report when he
first heard it. He dispatched a galley with thirty oars
along the shore up the Gulf of Vissus to ascertain
the truth. The galley soon came back and reported that
beyond the Gates of Syria they saw the whole country,
(11:26):
which was nearly level land, though gently rising from the sea,
covered with the vast encampments of the Persian army. The
king then called his generals and counselors together informed them
of the facts. A maide known to them his determination
to return immediately through the Gates of Syria and attack
the Persian army. The officers received the intelligence with enthusiastic
(11:52):
expressions of joy. It was now near evening. Alexander sent
forward a strong reconnoitering party, ordering them to proceed cautiously,
to ascend eminences and look far beyond them, to guard
carefully against surprise, and to send back word immediately if
they came upon any traces of the enemy. At the
(12:16):
present day, the operations of such a reconnoitering party are
very much aided by the use of spyglasses, which are
main to now with great care, expressly for military purposes.
The instrument, however, was not known in Alexander's day. When
the evening came on, Alexander followed the reconnoitering party with
(12:37):
the main body of the army. At midnight, they reached
the defile. When they were secure in the possession of it,
they halted. Strong watches were stationed in all the surrounding
heights to guard against any possible surprise. Alexander himself ascended
one of the eminences, from whence he could look down
(12:58):
upon the great plain beyond, which was dimly illuminated in
every part by the smoldering fires of the Persian encampment.
An encampment at night is a spectacle which is always
grand and often sublime. It must have appeared sublime to
Alexander in the highest degree on this occasion, to stand
(13:19):
stealthily among these dark and somber mountains, with the defiles
and passes below filled with the columns of his small
but undaunted army, and to look onward a few miles
beyond and see the countless fires of the vast host
which had got between him and all hope of retreat
to his native land. To feel, as he must have done,
(13:41):
that his fate and that of all who were with
him depended upon the events of the day that was
soon to dawn. To see and feel these things must
have made this night one of the most exciting and
solemn scenes in the conqueror's life. He had a soul
to enjoy its excitement and sublimity. He gloried in it,
(14:04):
and if he wished to add to the solemnity of
the scene, he caused an altar to be erected and
offered a sacrifice by torchlight to the deities on whose
aid his soldiers imagined themselves most dependent for success. On
the morrow, of course, a place was selected where the
lights of the torches would not attract the attention of
(14:26):
the enemy, and sentinels were stationed at every advantageous point
to watch the Persian camp for the slightest indications of
movement or alarm. In the morning, at break of day,
Alexander commenced his march down to the plain. In the
evening at sunset, all the valleys and defiles among the
(14:48):
mountains around the Plain of Issus were thronged with vast
masses of the Persian army, broken, disordered, and in confusion,
all pressing forward to escape from the victor toorious Macedonians.
They crowded all the roads, They choked up the mountain passes,
they trampled upon one another. They fell exhausted with fatigue
(15:11):
and mental agitation. Darius was among them, though his flight
had been so sudden that he had left his mother
and his wife and all his family behind. He pressed
on in his chariot as far as the road allowed
his chariot to go, and then, leaving everything behind, he
mounted a horse and rode on for his life. Alexander
(15:36):
and his army soon abandoned the pursuit and returned to
take possession of the Persian camp. The tents of King
Darius and his household were inconceivably splendid, and were filled
with gold and silver, vessels, caskets, vases, boxes of perfumes,
and every imaginable article of luxury and show the mother
(15:59):
and wife were Darius bewailed their hard fate with cries
and tears, and continued all the evening in an agony
of consternation and despair. Alexander, hearing of this, sent Leonatus,
his former teacher, a man of years and gravity, to
quiet their fears and comfort them so far as it
(16:21):
was possible to comfort them. In addition to their own captivity.
They supposed that Darius was killed, and the mother was
mourning bitterly for her son, and the wife for a husband. Leonatus,
attended by some soldiers, advanced toward the tent where these
mourners were dwelling. The attendants at the door ran in
(16:46):
and informed them that a body of Greeks were coming.
This threw them into the greatest consternation. They anticipated violence
and death, and threw themselves upon the ground in agony.
Yonatus waited some time at the door for the attendants
to return. At length he entered the tent. This renewed
(17:08):
the terrors of the women. They began to entreat him
to spare their lives at least until there should be
time for them to see the remains of the son
and husband whom they mourned, and to pay the last
sad tribute to his memory. Leonatas soon relieved their fears.
He told them that he was charged by Alexander to
(17:30):
say to them that Darius was alive, having made his escape.
In safety. As to themselves, Alexander assured them. He said
that they should not be injured, that not only were
their persons and lives to be protected, but no change
was to be made in their condition or mode of life.
(17:50):
They should continue to be treated like queens. He added
moreover that Alexander wished him to say that he felt
no animosity or ill will whatever against Darius. He was
but technically his enemy, being only engaged in a generous
and honorable contest with him for the Empire of Asia.
(18:12):
Saying these things, Leoneesus raised the disconsolate ladies from the ground,
and they gradually regained some degree of composure. Alexander himself
went to pay a visit to the captive princesses. The
next day, he took with him a festion. Hiphestion was
Alexander's personal friend. The two young men were of the
(18:34):
same age, and though Alexander had the good sense to
retain in power all the old and experienced officers which
his father had employed, both in the court and army,
he showed that, after all, ambition had not overwhelmed and
stifled all the kindlier feelings of the heart by a
strong attachment to this young companion. Hipestian was his confidante,
(18:59):
his assa foetiate, his personal friend. He did what very
few monarchs have done, either before or since, in securing
for himself the pleasures of friendship and of intimate social
communion with a heart kindred to his own, without ruining
himself by committing to his favorite powers which he was
(19:20):
not qualified to wield. Alexander left the wise and experienced
Parmenio to manage the camp, while he took the young
and handsome Ephestion to accompany him on his visit to
the captive queen's. When the two friends entered the tent,
the ladies were, for some cause deceived and mistook Hephestion
(19:43):
for Alexander, and addressed him accordingly with tokens of higher
respect and homage. One of the attendants immediately rectified the mistake,
telling them that the other was Alexander. The ladies were
at first overwhelmed with confusion and attempted to apologize, but
the king reassured them at once by the easy and
(20:06):
good natured manner with which he passed over the mistake,
saying it was no mistake at all. It is true,
said he that I am Alexander, But then he is
Alexander too. The wife of Darius was young and very beautiful,
and they had a little son who was with them
in the camp. It seems almost unaccountable that Darius should
(20:31):
have brought such a helpless and defenseless charge with him
into camps and fields of battle. But the truth was
that he had no idea of even a battle with Alexander,
and as to defeat, he did not contemplate the remotest
possibility of it. He regarded Alexander as a mere boy,
energetic and daring, it is true, and at the head
(20:53):
of a desperate band of adventurers. But he considered his
whole force as altogether too insignificant to make any stand
against such a vast military power. As he was bringing
against him, he presumed that he would retreat as fast
as possible before the Persian army came near him. The
(21:15):
idea of such a boy coming down at break of
day from narrow defiles of the mountains, upon his vast encampment,
covering all the plains, and in twelve hours put in
the whole mighty master flight was what never entered his
imagination at all. The exploit was indeed a very extraordinary one.
(21:36):
Alexander's forces may have consisted of forty or fifty thousand men,
and if we may believe their story, there were over
a hundred thousand Persians left dead upon the field. Many
of these were, however, killed by the dreadful confusion and
violence of the retreat, as vast bodies of horsemen pressing
(21:57):
through the defiles, rode over and tramped down the foot
soldiers who were toiling in awful confusion along the way,
having fled before the horsemen left the field. Alexander had
heard that Darius had left the greater part of his
royal treasures in Damascus, and he sent Parmeno there to
seize them. This expedition was successful, an enormous amount of
(22:21):
gold and silver fell into Alexander's hands. The plate was
coined into money, and many of the treasures were sent
to Greece. Darius got together a small remnant of his
army and continued his flight. He did not stop until
he had crossed the Eufrates. He then sent an ambassador
(22:43):
to Alexander to make propositions for peace. He remonstrated with
him in the communication which he made for coming thus
to invade his dominions, and urged him to withdraw and
be satisfied with his own kingdom. He offered him any
sum he might name as a ransom for his mother, wife,
(23:04):
and child, and agreed that if he would deliver them
up to him on payment of the ransom, and apart
from his dominions, he would thenceforth regard him as an
ally and a friend. Alexander replied by a letter expressed
him brief but very decided language. He said that the
Persians had, under the ancestors of Darius, crossed the Hellespont,
(23:29):
invaded Greece, laid waste the country, and destroyed cities and towns,
and had thus done them in chalculable injury, and that
Darius himself had been plotting against his Alexander's life, and
offering rewards to any one who would kill him. I
am acting, then, continued Alexander, only on the defensive. The gods,
(23:54):
who always favor the right, have given me the victory.
I am now monarch of a large part of it,
and your sovereign king. If you will admit this and
come to me as my subject, I will restore to
you your mother, your wife, and your child, without any ransom,
and at any rate, whatever you decide in respect to
(24:14):
these proposals. If you wish to communicate with me on
any subject hereafter, I shall pay no attention to what
you send unless you address it to me as your king.
One circumstance occurred at the close of this great victory
which illustrates the magnanimity of Alexander's character and helps to
(24:35):
explain the very strong personal attachment which every body within
the circle of his influence so obviously felt for him.
He found a great number of envoys and ambassadors from
the various states of Greece at the Persian court, and
these persons fell into his hands. Among the other captives.
(24:56):
Now the states and cities of Greece, all except Spa
in Thebes, which last city he had destroyed, were combined
ostensibly in the confederation by which Alexander was sustained. It seems, however,
that there was a secret enmity against him in Greece,
and various parties had sent messengers and agents to the
(25:18):
Persian court to aid in plots and schemes to interfere
with and defeat Alexander's plans. The Thebians, scattered and disorganized
as they were, had sent envoys in this way. Now Alexander,
in considering what disposition he should make of these emissaries
(25:38):
from his own land, decided to regard them all as traitors,
except the Thebians. All except the Thebians were traitors, he maintained,
for acting secretly against him, while ostensibly and by solemn confidence,
they were his friends. The case of the Thebians is
(26:01):
very different, said he. I have destroyed their city, and
they have a right to consider me their enemy, and
to do all they can to oppose my progress and
to regain their own lost existence and their former power.
So he gave them their liberty and sent them away
with marks of consideration and honor. As the vast army
(26:25):
of the Persian monarch had now been defeated. Of course,
none of the smaller kingdoms or provinces thought of resisting.
They yielded one after another, and Alexander appointed governors of
his own to rule over them. He advanced in this
manner along the eastern shores of the Mediterranean Sea, meeting
with no obstruction until he reached the great and powerful
(26:48):
city of Taya end of Chapter six.
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