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32 - History of Greece to the Death of Alexander the Great, Vol II by John Bagnell Bury · History of Greece to the Death of Alexander the Great, Vol II

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Speaker 1: Chapter seventeen, Parts four and five of A History of
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Speaker 1: Greece to the Death of Alexander the Great, Volume two.
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Speaker 1: This is the LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in
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Speaker 1: the public domain. For more information or to volunteer, please
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Speaker 1: visit LibriVox dot org. A History of Greece to the
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Speaker 1: Death of Alexander the Great, Volume two by John bagnew Bury,
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Speaker 1: Chapter seventeen, Parts four and five. Section four Preparations for
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Speaker 1: Alexander's Persian expedition. Condition of Persia. Having spent the winner
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Speaker 1: in making his military preparations and setting in order the
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Speaker 1: affairs of his kingdom for a long absence, Alexander set
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Speaker 1: forth in Spring for the conquest of Asia. Of his
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Speaker 1: plans and arrangements we know almost nothing, but we may
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Speaker 1: say with common evidence that his scheme of conquest was
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Speaker 1: well considered, and that he did not go forth as
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Speaker 1: an adventurer to take whatever came in his way. His
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Speaker 1: original scheme of conquest was afterwards merged in a second
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Speaker 1: and larger scheme of which he had no conception when
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Speaker 1: he went forth from Macedonia, for he had not the
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Speaker 1: requisite geographical knowledge of Central Asia. But in the first instance,
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Speaker 1: his purpose was to conquer the Persian kingdom, to dethrone
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Speaker 1: the Great King and take his place, and to do
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Speaker 1: unto Persia what Persia under Xerxes had essayed to do
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Speaker 1: unto Macedonia and the rest of Hellas. To carry out
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Speaker 1: this design, the first thing needful was to secure thrace
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Speaker 1: in the rear, and that had already been done. In
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Speaker 1: the conquest itself, there were three stages. The first step
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Speaker 1: was the conquest of Asia Minor. The second was the
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Speaker 1: conquest of Syria and Egypt, and these two conquests, preliminary
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Speaker 1: to the advance on Babylon and Susa, would mean not
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Speaker 1: merely acquisitions of Tias territory, but strategic bases for further conquest.
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Speaker 1: The weak point in Alexander's enterprise was the lack of
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Speaker 1: a fleet capable of coping with the Persian navy, which
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Speaker 1: was four hundred strong. Here, the Confederacy of Corinth should
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Speaker 1: have come to his help. Athens alone could have furnished
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Speaker 1: over two hundred galleys, and Alexander doubtless counted on obtaining
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Speaker 1: the support of Athens and other Greek cities ultimately, but
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Speaker 1: he desired aid rendered with good will, and he made
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Speaker 1: no effort to extort ships or men. The loosely organized
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Speaker 1: League of Corinth had undertaken to supply fixed contingents, but
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Speaker 1: the fulfillment of these provinces were not strictly exacted to
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Speaker 1: secure Macedonia against her neighbors and subjects. During his absence,
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Speaker 1: Alexander was obliged to leave a large portion, perhaps as
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Speaker 1: much as one half of the national army behind him.
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Speaker 1: The government was entrusted to his father's minister, Antipater. It
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Speaker 1: is said that the king made dispositions before his departure
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Speaker 1: as one who expected never to return. He divided all
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Speaker 1: his royal domains and forests and revenues among his friends,
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Speaker 1: and when Perdicas asked what was left for himself, he replied, hope.
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Speaker 1: Then Predicas, rejecting his own portion, exclaimed, we who go
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Speaker 1: forth to fight with you need share only in your hope.
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Speaker 1: The anecdote at least illustrates the enthusiasm with which Alexander
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Speaker 1: infected his friends and officers on the threshold of a
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Speaker 1: venture of which the conception was almost as wonderful as
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Speaker 1: its success. The Persian Empire was weak and loosely knit,
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Speaker 1: and was governed now by a feeble monarch. Two generations
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Speaker 1: had passed since Greece beheld its weakness, memorably demonstrated by
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Speaker 1: the adventures of Xenophon's ten thousand, and since then we
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Speaker 1: have seen it on the western side, rent and riven
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Speaker 1: by revolts. Artaxerxes Ochus displayed more strength than his predecessors.
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Speaker 1: He re established his power in Asia Minor, he quelled
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Speaker 1: rebellions in Phoenicia and Cyprus, and even conquered Egypt, which
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Speaker 1: had long said it not the Persian efforts to regain it.
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Speaker 1: The king Nectanebos was driven back from Pelusium to Memphis,
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Speaker 1: and from Memphis he fled to Ethiopia. The Persian king
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Speaker 1: had no thought of holding the land of the Nile
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Speaker 1: by kindness. As soon as he had Memphis in his power,
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Speaker 1: he displayed the intolerance of the fire worshiper. He drowned
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Speaker 1: the holy bowl APIs and inaugurated the ass as the
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Speaker 1: sacred animal of Egypt. This stupid outrage made the Persian
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Speaker 1: rule more detested than ever. Ochus was assassinated, the victim
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Speaker 1: of Pallas conspiracy, and after two or three years of confusion,
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Speaker 1: the throne passed to a distant member of the Achaimendid house.
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Speaker 1: Durius Kodomanus, destined to be the last successor to his
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Speaker 1: great namesake. He was a mild and virtuous prince, beloved
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Speaker 1: by his followers, but too weak both in brains and
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Speaker 1: will for the task to which fate had doomed him.
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Speaker 1: It cannot be gainsaid that if Durius had been able
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Speaker 1: and experienced in war, incapable of leading men, he had
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Speaker 1: some enormous advantages. In the first place, he had the
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Speaker 1: advantage in the sheer weight of human bodies. Had the
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Speaker 1: Myriads which he could muster, been divided into troops of
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Speaker 1: thirty men, and a soldier of Alexander's army allotted as
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Speaker 1: a cupbearer to each troop, many a company would have
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Speaker 1: gone unserved. In the second place, while the coffers of
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Speaker 1: Pella are said to have been emptied before Alexander set
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Speaker 1: foot in Asia, the great king commanded untold wealth. The
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Speaker 1: treasury of Susa was full, and in the Palace of
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Speaker 1: Persepolis were hoarded inexhaustible stores of gold. In the third place,
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Speaker 1: he had a navy which controlled the seaboard of Asia Minor, Syria,
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Speaker 1: and Egypt, and aught if it had been handled ably
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Speaker 1: to have placed insuperable obstacles in the way of an
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Speaker 1: invader who had no adequate sea power. And Fourthly, although
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Speaker 1: there was no cohesion in the vast empire or unity
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Speaker 1: of centralization, there was for that very reason little or
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Speaker 1: no national discontent in the provinces. Egypt was an exceptional case.
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Speaker 1: The revolts which occurred from time to time were not
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Speaker 1: national movements, but the disaffections of ambitious satraps. If the
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Speaker 1: Persian monarch was not loved, at least he was not hated,
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Speaker 1: and the warlike barbarians of the east, from far Hyrcania
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Speaker 1: or the banks of the Auxis were always ready to
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Speaker 1: follow him and glad to fight in his cause. It
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Speaker 1: was quite feasible so far as the state of feeling
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Speaker 1: in the provinces was concerned, to organize an effective defense
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Speaker 1: of the empire. But all these advantages were as naught
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Speaker 1: for lack of a master mind and a controlling will,
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Speaker 1: multitudes were useless without a leader, and money could not
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Speaker 1: create brains. Moreover, Persia was behind the age in the
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Speaker 1: art of warfare. She had not kept pace with the
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Speaker 1: military developments in Greece during the last fifty years, and
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Speaker 1: though she could pay Greek mercenaries, and though these formed
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Speaker 1: in fact a valuable part of her army, they could
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Speaker 1: have no effect on the general character of the tactics
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Speaker 1: of an Oriental host. The Persian commanders had no notion
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Speaker 1: of studying the tactics of their enemy, and seeking no
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Speaker 1: methods of encountering them. They had no idea of shaping
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Speaker 1: strategic plans of their own. They simply waited on the
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Speaker 1: movements of the enemy. They trusted, as they had always trusted,
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Speaker 1: with perfect simplicity in numbers, individual bravery and scythe armed chariots.
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Speaker 1: The only lesson which the Day of Kunaxe had taught
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Speaker 1: them was to hire mercenary Greeks. The strength of the
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Speaker 1: army which Alexander led forth against Persia is said to
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Speaker 1: have been thirty thousand foot and five thousand horse, thus
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Speaker 1: preserving the large proportion of cavalry to infantry, which was
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Speaker 1: one of the chief novelties of Philip's military establishment. We
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Speaker 1: have seen how Philip organized the national army of Macedonia
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Speaker 1: in the chief divisions of the phalanx, the light infantry
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Speaker 1: Hapastus and the heavy cavalry. Alexander led to Asia six
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Speaker 1: regiments of the phalanx, and in the great engagements which
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Speaker 1: decided the fate of Persia, these formed the center of
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Speaker 1: his army. They were supported by Greek hoplites, both mercenary
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Speaker 1: and confederate. The mercenaries were commanded by Menander, the confederate
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Speaker 1: by Antigonus. The Hypastus, led by Niconar, son of Parmenio,
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Speaker 1: had their station on the right wing, and the first
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Speaker 1: regiment of these was the royal guard called the Igeema. Philotus,
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Speaker 1: another son of Parmenio, was commander of the heavy cavalry
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Speaker 1: and eight squadrons, one of which the Royal Squadron under Clitus,
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Speaker 1: corresponded to the Aegeema of the light armed foot. This
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Speaker 1: Macedonian cavalry was always placed on the right, while on
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Speaker 1: the left rode the splendid Thessalian cavalry under Callis, with
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Speaker 1: a corps of other Greek horse attached. Both the right
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Speaker 1: and left wings were strengthened by light troops horse and foot,
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Speaker 1: accruited according to their national habits from Thrace, Pionia, and
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Speaker 1: other countries of the Illyrian Peninsula. Section five Conquest of
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Speaker 1: Asia Minor. The forces which had been operating in Asia
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Speaker 1: under Parmenio, while Alexander was detained in Europe, had been
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Speaker 1: endeavoring to establish a footing in Iolius in Mysia and
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Speaker 1: secure a base on the Propontis. For further advance. The
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Speaker 1: Great King had empowered Memnon of Rhodes, enable mercenary captain,
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Speaker 1: who in recent years had come to the front to
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Speaker 1: oppose the van of the Macedonian invasion. The most pressing
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Speaker 1: need of the Persians was to recapture Sisicus, which was
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Speaker 1: in the hands of Parmenio. In this Memnon failed, but
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Speaker 1: he occupied Lampsicus. He forced the Macedonians to raise the
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Speaker 1: siege of Pitani and beat them back to the coasts
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Speaker 1: of the Hellespont, but he could not or did not
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Speaker 1: press his advantage, and the shores where Alexander's hostwood land
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Speaker 1: were safe from the Macedonian possession. The fleet transported the
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Speaker 1: army from Cestus to Abydus, while Alexander himself proceeded to Elaios,
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Speaker 1: where he offered a sacrifice on the tomb of Protestilaus,
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Speaker 1: the first of the mythical Greeks who landed on the
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Speaker 1: shore of Asia in the Trojan War, and the first
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Speaker 1: who fell, praying that he might be luckier than Prostestelaus,
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Speaker 1: Alexander sailed across to the harbor of the Achaeans, and
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Speaker 1: in the mid straight made libations to Poseidon in the
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Speaker 1: Nerids from a golden dish. The first to leap upon
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Speaker 1: the Misian strand, he crossed the plain of Troy and
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Speaker 1: went up to the Hill of Ilion, where he performed
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Speaker 1: a sacrifice in the Temple of Athena, in the poor town,
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Speaker 1: which stood on the ruins of six prehistoric cities. It
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Speaker 1: is said that he dedicated his own panoply in the shrine,
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Speaker 1: and took down from the wall some ancient armor preserved
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Speaker 1: there as relics of the war of Priam and Agamemnon.
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Speaker 1: He sacrificed to Priam to avert his anynge from one
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Speaker 1: of the race of Neoptolemus. He crowned the tomb of
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Speaker 1: Achilles's ancestor and his bosom friend, Hephestion, cast a garland
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Speaker 1: upon the grave of Petrocolus, the beloved of Achilles. He
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Speaker 1: commanded that Ilian should raise again from its ruins as
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Speaker 1: a favored city, enjoying the rights of self government and
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Speaker 1: immunity from taxation. These solemnities on the Hill of Troy
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Speaker 1: are significant in revealing the spirit which the young king
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Speaker 1: carried into his enterprise. They show how he was imbued
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Speaker 1: with Greek scriptures in Greek traditions, how was descent from
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Speaker 1: Achilles was part of his life, part of his inspiration,
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Speaker 1: how he regarded himself as chosen to be the hero
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Speaker 1: of another episode in the drama, whereof the first act
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Speaker 1: had been illustrated by the deeds of that glorious ancestor. Meanwhile,
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Speaker 1: the satraps of the Great King had formed an army
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Speaker 1: of about forty thousand men to defend Asia Minor. If
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Speaker 1: he had entrusted the command to the row in Memnon,
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Speaker 1: it is possible that some effective defense might have been made.
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Speaker 1: But he committed the characteristic blunder of a Persian monarch
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Speaker 1: and consigned the army to the joint command of a
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Speaker 1: number of generals, including Memnon and several of the western satraps.
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Speaker 1: The Persian commanders were jealous of the Greek, and against
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Speaker 1: his advice, they decided to risk a battle at once. Accordingly,
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Speaker 1: they advanced from Zelia, where they had mustered, to the
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Speaker 1: plain of Adrastia, through which the river Granachus flows into
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Speaker 1: the Propontis, and posted themselves on the steep left bank
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Speaker 1: of the stream, so as to hinder the enemy from crossing.
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Speaker 1: Alexander and his army advanced eastward from Abadus and received
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Speaker 1: the submission of Lampsicus and there of Priapus, a town
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Speaker 1: near the mouth of the Granicus. It was impossible for
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Speaker 1: him to avoid the combat which the Persians desired. He
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Speaker 1: could not march southwards, leaving them in his rear, but
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Speaker 1: he courted the combat even more than they for the
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Speaker 1: worst thing that could have befallen him, as Memnon knew well,
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Speaker 1: was that the hostile army should persistently retire before him,
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Speaker 1: eating up the provisions of the country as it retreated.
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Speaker 1: With his heavy infantry in two columns and his horse
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Speaker 1: on the wings, Alexander marched across the Adrastian plain. The
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Speaker 1: Persians had made the curious disposition of placing their cavalry
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Speaker 1: along the river bank and the Greek hoplights on the
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Speaker 1: slopes behind. As cavalry in attack has a great advantage
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Speaker 1: over cavalry in defense, Alexander saw that the victory could
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Speaker 1: best be won by throwing his own squadrons against the
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Speaker 1: hostile line. Parmenio advised him to wait till the following morning,
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Speaker 1: and crossed the river at daybreak before the foe were
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Speaker 1: drawn up in array. I should be ashamed, said the king,
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Speaker 1: having crossed the Hellespont, to be detained by a miserable
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Speaker 1: stream like the Granicus. An answer such as Alexander loved
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Speaker 1: to give veiling under the appearance of negligent daring, a
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Speaker 1: self confidence which was perfectly justified by his strategic insight.
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Speaker 1: Drawing up his army in the usual way which has
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Speaker 1: been described above, with the six regiments of the Phalanx
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Speaker 1: in the center, intrusting the left wing to Parmenio and
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Speaker 1: commanding the right himself. Alexander first sent across the river
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Speaker 1: his light cavalry to keep the extreme left of the
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Speaker 1: enemy engaged, then led his heavy Macedonian cavalry against the
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Speaker 1: Persian center. Alexander himself was in the thickest of the fight,
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Speaker 1: dealing wounds and receiving blows. After a sharp melay on
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Speaker 1: the steep banks, the Persian cavalry was broken and put
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Speaker 1: to flight. The Phalanx then advanced across the river against
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Speaker 1: the Greek hoplights in the background, while the victorious cavalry
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Speaker 1: cut them up on the flanks. This victory in winning,
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Speaker 1: which Alexander drank to the full mad excitement of battle,
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Speaker 1: cost few lives to the Macedonians, and cleared out of
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Speaker 1: their way the only army which was to oppose their
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Speaker 1: progress in Asia Minor. But it was very far from
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Speaker 1: laying Asia Minor at the conqueror's feet. There were strong
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Speaker 1: places which must be taken one by one, strong places
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Speaker 1: on the coast which could be supported by the powerful
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Speaker 1: Persian fleet. Of all things, the help of the Athenian
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Speaker 1: navy would have best bestead Alexander now, and he did
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Speaker 1: not yet to spare. After the skirmish of the Granicus.
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Speaker 1: When he divided the spoil, he sent three hundred Persian
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Speaker 1: Panoples to Athens as an offering to Athena on the Acropolips.
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Speaker 1: With this dedication Alexander son of Philip, and the Greeks,
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Speaker 1: except the las Medonians, from the barbarians of Asia. But
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Speaker 1: Athens had no zeal for the cause of the Greeks
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Speaker 1: and Alexander against the Barbarians. The victor entrusted the Satrope
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Speaker 1: of Hellespontine Phrygia to Kellis, making no change in the
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Speaker 1: method of the Persian administration, and marched southwards to occupy
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Speaker 1: the Satrape of Lydia and the Rock of Sardis, girt
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Speaker 1: with its threefold wall. It was a little more than
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Speaker 1: two hundred years since Cyrus had overthrown the Lydian kingdom,
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Speaker 1: and Sardis had become the chief burg of Persian power
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Speaker 1: in the west. The citadel was strong and capable of
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Speaker 1: a stout defense, but it was now passed, with its
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Speaker 1: treasures unresistingly, into the hands of the Greek conqueror. For
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Speaker 1: this prompt submission, the Lydians received their freedom and the
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Speaker 1: ancestral constitution, which had been suspended during the long period
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Speaker 1: of Persian domination. Alexander resolved to build a temple to
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Speaker 1: the Olympian Zoos on the citadel. It was said that
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Speaker 1: a thundershower falling on the site of the royal palace
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Speaker 1: showed him the feeding place for the sanctuary, the spot
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Speaker 1: where a more famous thundershower had quenched the pyre of
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Speaker 1: the last Lydian king, Parmenio's brother Assander, was appointed Satrap
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Speaker 1: of Lydia, and Alexander turned to deal with the Ionian cities. Here,
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Speaker 1: as was to be expected, everything depended on the strength
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Speaker 1: of the political parties. The Democrats welcomed the Greek deliverer,
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Speaker 1: but the oligarchs appointed the Persian cause, and wherever they
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Speaker 1: were in power, admitted Persian garrisons. In Ephesus, the oligarchy
17:08
Speaker 1: had got the upper hand, but on the approach of
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Speaker 1: Alexander's army, the garrison left the city and the people
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Speaker 1: began to massacre the oligarchs. Alexander pacified these troubles and
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Speaker 1: established a democratic constitution. He abode some time in the city,
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Speaker 1: and during this sojourn the painter of Pelees executed a
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Speaker 1: famous picture of the king wielding lightning in his hand,
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Speaker 1: which was set up in the Temple of Artemis. The
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Speaker 1: next stage in the advance of Alexander was Meletus, and
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Speaker 1: here for the first time he encountered resistance. The Persian
17:40
Speaker 1: garrison was commanded by a Greek, who at first meditated surrender, but,
17:45
Speaker 1: learning that the Persian fleet was at hand in full force,
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Speaker 1: decided to brave a siege. In an earlier episode of
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Speaker 1: the struggle between Europe and Asia, we witnessed memorable operations
17:55
Speaker 1: and the Latvian Gulf and the Milesian harbors, which the
17:59
Speaker 1: retreat of Thee has blotted from the map. The Isle
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Speaker 1: of Lade, then associated with the triumph of Asia, was
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Speaker 1: now to play a part in the triumph of Europe.
18:09
Speaker 1: The Macedonian fleet of one hundred and sixty galleys sailed
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Speaker 1: into the bay and occupied the harbor of Lade before
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Speaker 1: the great fleet of the enemy had arrived. When the
18:19
Speaker 1: Persian vessels came and saw they had been forestalled, they
18:22
Speaker 1: anchored off the promontory of Macalae. The city of Meletus
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Speaker 1: consisted of two parts, an outer city, which Alexander easily
18:30
Speaker 1: occupied as soon as he came up, and an inner
18:33
Speaker 1: city strongly fortified with wall and foes. Alexander threw up
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Speaker 1: a rampart round the inner city and placed troops in
18:40
Speaker 1: the island of lad Militus was easily stormed by the
18:44
Speaker 1: Macedonian siege engines, and the fleet blocking the harbor hindered
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Speaker 1: the Persian squadron from bringing help. Promenio had urged the
18:52
Speaker 1: kinge to risk a battle on the water, though the
18:54
Speaker 1: enemy's ships were nearly three to one, but Alexander rejected
18:59
Speaker 1: the advice. He had judged the whole situation, and he
19:02
Speaker 1: had made up his mind that the Persian sea power
19:05
Speaker 1: would have to be conquered on land. If Athens had
19:08
Speaker 1: sent him naval reinforcements, it might have been otherwise. But
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Speaker 1: he now despaired of active help from Greece, and he
19:14
Speaker 1: decided that it was a useless strain on his treasury
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Speaker 1: to maintain one hundred sixty galleys, too few to cope
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Speaker 1: with the four hundred of the enemy. Accordingly, he disbanded
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Speaker 1: the fleet after the fall of Melitus and proceeded to
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Speaker 1: blockade the sea by seizing all the strong places on
19:31
Speaker 1: the shores of the eastern Mediterranean. The execution of this
19:35
Speaker 1: design occupied him for the next two years, but it
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Speaker 1: brought with it the conquest of Asia Minor, Syria, and Egypt.
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Speaker 1: The manifest objection to the dissolution of the naval force
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Speaker 1: was that, in case of a decisive defeat at the
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Speaker 1: hands of the Great King should compel him to retreat,
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Speaker 1: he would have no fleet to transport his army from
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Speaker 1: Asia to Europe, and the fleets of the enemy, by
19:58
Speaker 1: occupying the straits at either end of the Pontus, could
20:01
Speaker 1: entirely cut him off. But Alexander trusted his own strategy.
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Speaker 1: He knew that he would not be compelled to retreat.
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Speaker 1: As for Asia Minor. The next and the hardest task
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Speaker 1: was the reduction of Caria and the capture of Halicarnassis,
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Speaker 1: the remnant of the host which fled from the Granicus
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Speaker 1: and the Rhodian Memnon himself had rallied here and rested
20:24
Speaker 1: their last hopes in the strong city of Mausolus, with
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Speaker 1: its three mighty citadels. The great King had now entrusted
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Speaker 1: to Memnon the general command of the fleet and the coasts,
20:35
Speaker 1: and Memnon had dug a deep voes round Halicarnassis, furnished
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Speaker 1: the place with food for a long siege, and placed
20:42
Speaker 1: garrisons in the smaller neighboring towns. Halicarnassus was to be
20:47
Speaker 1: the center of a supreme resistance. There had once been
20:51
Speaker 1: a chance that Alexander himself might have been, by a
20:54
Speaker 1: personal right, lord of Halacanasis. The Prince Pixodarus, one of
20:59
Speaker 1: the brothers of Mausolus, had wished to form an alliance
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Speaker 1: of marriage with the House of Macedon, and Alexander had
21:05
Speaker 1: thought of offering himself as a bridegroom for his daughter,
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Speaker 1: but Philip would not hear of such a match, and
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Speaker 1: Pyxidorus had given the maiden to a Persian noble who
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Speaker 1: had succeeded to the dynasty after his father in law's death.
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Speaker 1: There was indeed another claimant to the dynasty, Ada, wife
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Speaker 1: and sister of Idrieus. She had succeeded her husband as
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Speaker 1: ruler and had been driven out by her brother Pixodarus.
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Speaker 1: She now sought the protection of Alexander, and when he
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Speaker 1: captured Halacarnassus, he assigned to her the satrope of Caria.
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Speaker 1: It was destined that women should represent Carria in the
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Speaker 1: two great collusions of Greece with Persia. In the days
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Speaker 1: of Alexander, as in the days of Xerxes. The submission
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Speaker 1: of Ada atoned for the bravery of Artemisia, having made
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Speaker 1: a feudal attack on Mindus. Alexander filled up the moat
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Speaker 1: with which Memnon had encompassed Halacarnassus, and brought his towers
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Speaker 1: and engines across the walls. A breach was made on
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Speaker 1: the northeast side, near to the gate of the road
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Speaker 1: to Malasia, but Alexander, who hoped to induce the town
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Speaker 1: to surrender, forbore to order an attack. His hands were
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Speaker 1: almost forced by two soldiers of the Phalanks, who, one day,
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Speaker 1: drinking together in their tent and bragging of their prowess,
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Speaker 1: flushed with wine and the zeal of rivalry, put on
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Speaker 1: their armor and marched up to the wall, challenged the
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Speaker 1: enemy to come out. The men on the wall, seeing
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Speaker 1: them alone, rushed out in numbers, and the twain were
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Speaker 1: hard pressed till their comrades came to the rescue, and
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Speaker 1: there was a sharp fight under the walls. But even
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Speaker 1: now Alexander would not order an attack on the breach,
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Speaker 1: and the besieged built a new crescent wall connecting the
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Speaker 1: two points between which the wall had been broken down,
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Speaker 1: and maintained themselves behind it for a time. At length
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Speaker 1: they made a great excursion against the camp of the
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Speaker 1: besiegers at two different places, a boat both sides. They
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Speaker 1: were driven back in confusion, and in their haste to
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Speaker 1: shut the gates, they left many of their fellows to perish.
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Speaker 1: At this moment an assault would doubtless have carried the
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Speaker 1: Macedonians within the walls, but Alexander gave the signal to
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Speaker 1: retire till still intent on saving the city, Memnon saw
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Speaker 1: that the prospect of holding out longer was hopeless, and
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Speaker 1: he determined to withdraw the garrison to the citadel of
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Speaker 1: Salmachus and the royal fortress on the island in the harbor.
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Speaker 1: He fired the city at night before he withdrew, and
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Speaker 1: the place was in flames when the Macedonians entered. Alexander
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Speaker 1: destroyed what the fire spared and left a body of
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Speaker 1: mercenary soldiers under Ptolemy to blockade Salmichus and to support
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Speaker 1: the Princess of Caria. The cold season was approaching, and
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Speaker 1: Alexander divided his army into two bodies, one of which
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Speaker 1: he sent under Permeneo to winter in Lydia, while he
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Speaker 1: advanced with the other into Lycia. He gave leave to
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Speaker 1: a few young officers who had been recently well to
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Speaker 1: return to the Macedonian homes, charging them with the duty
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Speaker 1: of bringing reinforcements to the army in spring, and appointing
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Speaker 1: Gordian in Phrygia as the mustering place of the whole host.
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Speaker 1: Alexander met with no resistance from the cities of the
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Speaker 1: Lycian League, and he left the constitution of the confederacy intact.
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Speaker 1: From the rich frontier town of Phisilis, he advanced along
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Speaker 1: the coast of Pamphylia, receiving the submission of Pergae and
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Speaker 1: Espendus and other maritime cities, and then he turned inland
24:32
Speaker 1: from Perge and fought his way over the Pisidian Hills,
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Speaker 1: taking with some trouble Sagalisis, the chief fastness of the
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Speaker 1: Pisidian mountaineers. He descended to Salinae, the strong and lofty
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Speaker 1: citadel of the Phrygian Satyrpe, and leaving a garrison there,
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Speaker 1: he marched on to Gordian on the sangreeas the capital
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Speaker 1: of the ancient Kingdom of Phrygia. While he was winning
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Speaker 1: the Lycian and Phrygian satrupies, he lost for the moment
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Speaker 1: some points on the Aegean Memnon, appointed commander of the
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Speaker 1: Persian fleet, had taken Chios, reduced the greater part of Lesbos,
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Speaker 1: and laid siege to Mitelini. He died during the siege,
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Speaker 1: but Mitelini soon surrendered, and then Tenedos was compelled to
25:18
Speaker 1: recognize the peace which the king sent down. The great
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Speaker 1: danger for Alexander was that these successes might encourage the
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Speaker 1: Greeks to revolt, and ten Persian ships sailed as far
25:29
Speaker 1: west as Spinos for the purpose of exciting a movement
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Speaker 1: in Hellas. But eight of these vessels were captured by
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Speaker 1: some Macedonian triremes which ran over from Chalcis, and the
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Speaker 1: project of a Greek rising was not carried out. At Gordian,
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Speaker 1: the appointed mustering place, Alexander's army reunited, and the new
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Speaker 1: troops arrived from Macedonia to replace those who had been
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Speaker 1: left to garrison the subjugated countries and cities. All the
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Speaker 1: citadel of Gordian stood the remains of the royal pascelluses
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Speaker 1: of Gordius and Midas, and Alexander went up the hill
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Speaker 1: to see the chariot of Gordias, and the famous knot
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Speaker 1: which fastened the yoke cord of the bark of the
26:11
Speaker 1: Cornell tree was tied in a knot which artfully concealed
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Speaker 1: the ends, and there was an oracle that he who
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Speaker 1: should loose it would rule over Asia. Alexander vainly attempted
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Speaker 1: to untie it, and then, drawing his sword, cut the knot,
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Speaker 1: and so fulfilled the oracle. From Gordian, Alexander marched by
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Speaker 1: Anchora in to Cappadocia, Having received the submission of Paphlagonia
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Speaker 1: and asserted rather than confirmed his authority over the Cappadocian satropie,
26:40
Speaker 1: he marched southward to Tiana and the Silician Gates. It
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Speaker 1: was well that Alexander should show himself for a moment
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Speaker 1: in the center of Asia Minor, but the reduction of
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Speaker 1: these wild regions and the southern coast of Pontus was
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Speaker 1: a task which might safely be postponed. The Silician Gates
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Speaker 1: might have been easily defended by the garrison which the
27:00
Speaker 1: satrap Arsimies had posted in the pass. Alexander, with the
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Speaker 1: Hypastus and other light troops, leaving the rest of his
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Speaker 1: army in camp, marched up at night to surprise the station.
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Speaker 1: As soon as the guards heard the footfalls of the approachers,
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Speaker 1: they fled, and then Alexander, at the head of his cavalry,
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Speaker 1: moved so rapidly on Tarsus that Arsimies, amazed at his
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Speaker 1: sudden appearance, fled without striking a blow. Here a misadventure
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Speaker 1: happened which well nigh changed the course of history. After
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Speaker 1: a long ride under a burning sun, the king bathed
27:34
Speaker 1: in the cool waters of the Sydnis, which flows through Tarsus.
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Speaker 1: He caught a chill, which resulted in violent fever and
27:41
Speaker 1: sleepless nights, and his physicians despaired of his life, but
27:45
Speaker 1: Philip of Arcania, who was eminent for his medical skill,
27:49
Speaker 1: recommended a certain purgative. As he was preparing the draft
27:53
Speaker 1: in the king's tent, a letter was placed in Alexander's hands.
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Speaker 1: It was from Parmenio, and it was worn against Philip,
28:01
Speaker 1: alleging that Drius had bribed him to poison his master. Alexander,
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Speaker 1: taking the cup, gave Philip the letter to read, and
28:10
Speaker 1: while Philip read, Alexander swallowed the medicine. His generous confidence
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Speaker 1: was justified, and under the care of Philip, he soon
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Speaker 1: recovered from his sickness. End of Chapter seventeen, Parts four
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Speaker 1: and five.