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31 - 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 one through three 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. The History of Greece to the
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Speaker 1: Death of Alexander the Great, Volume two by John bagnell Bury.
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Speaker 1: Chapter seventeen, The Conquest of Persia, Parts one through three.
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Speaker 1: Section one Alexander's first descent on Greece. On his accession
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Speaker 1: to the throne of Macedon, Alexander found himself menaced by
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Speaker 1: enemies on all sides. The members of the Confederacy of Corinth,
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Speaker 1: the tributary peoples of the Province of Thrace, the inveterately
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Speaker 1: hostile Illyrians all saw and the death of Philip an
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Speaker 1: opportunity not to be missed for undoing his work. And
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Speaker 1: in Asia Atilas, the father of Cleopatra, expoused the claim
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Speaker 1: of Cleopatra's infant son. Thus Alexander stood within a belt
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Speaker 1: of dangers like that by which his father, at the
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Speaker 1: same crisis in his life, had been encompassed. The difference
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Speaker 1: of the means which sire and son adopted to deal
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Speaker 1: with the jeopardy. Showed the difference in temperament between the
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Speaker 1: two men. If Alexander had followed the slow and sure
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Speaker 1: methods of his father, he would have bought off the
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Speaker 1: barbarians of the north, effected a reconciliation with Athelus, and
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Speaker 1: deferred the Greek question till he had thoroughly established his
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Speaker 1: power in Macedonia. Then, by degrees he could have recovered
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Speaker 1: in a few years the dominion which Philip had won,
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Speaker 1: and undertaken the expedition against Persia which Philip had planned.
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Speaker 1: But such cautious calculation did not suit the bolder genius
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Speaker 1: of Philip's son. He refused to yield to any of
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Speaker 1: his foes. He encountered the perils one after another, and
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Speaker 1: overcame them all. First of all, he turned to Greece,
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Speaker 1: where the situation looked serious enough. Athens had hailed the
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Speaker 1: news of Philip's death with undisguised joy, and the instance
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Speaker 1: of Demosthenes had passed a decree in honour of his
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Speaker 1: murderer's memory. Trumpets were sounded for war. Messengers were flying
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Speaker 1: to Atlas into Persia, and Greece was incited to throw
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Speaker 1: off the Macedonian yoke. Ambracia expelled her garrison, and Thebes
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Speaker 1: attempted to expel hers. But the insurrection of Thessaly was
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Speaker 1: of far greater importance than the hostile agitations in the
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Speaker 1: southern states. The Thessalian cavalry was an invaluable adjunct to
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Speaker 1: the Macedonian army, and it was a more material consequence
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Speaker 1: to a Macedonian king to be the arkan of the
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Speaker 1: Thessalian Federation than to be acknowledged as general of the
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Speaker 1: Confederacy of Corinth. Yet it was hardly altogether the need
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Speaker 1: of quickly securing Thessaly that urged Alexander to deal with
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Speaker 1: Greece before he dealt with any other portion of his
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Speaker 1: Liaes Empire. He wished, above all things to save Greece
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Speaker 1: from herself. His timely appearance before the agitation could develop
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Speaker 1: into a fully declared rebellion might prevent the cities from
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Speaker 1: committing any irreparable action which would necessitate a condine punishment
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Speaker 1: or even harsh measures. He would march south, not the
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Speaker 1: chastise or judge the Greeks, but to conciliate them and
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Speaker 1: obtain recognition as successor to his father's place in the
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Speaker 1: Amphictiani of Delphi and the League of Corinth. He advanced
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Speaker 1: the defile of Tempe, but found it strongly held by
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Speaker 1: the Thessalians. Instead of attempting to carry a position which
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Speaker 1: was perhaps impregnable, he led his army further south along
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Speaker 1: the coast, and cutting steps up the steep side of Assa,
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Speaker 1: he made a new path for himself over the mountain
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Speaker 1: and descended into the plain of the Peneus. Behind his enemy.
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Speaker 1: Not a drop of blood was shed a Thessalian assembly
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Speaker 1: elected Alexander to the arkanship, and he guaranteed to the
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Speaker 1: communities of the land the same rights and privileges which
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Speaker 1: they had enjoyed under his father. The conciliation of Thessaly
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Speaker 1: led to the adhesion of its southern neighbours Malice and Dulopia.
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Speaker 1: At Thermopylae, the young king was recognized by the Amphictianti,
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Speaker 1: and as he marched southward not a hand was raised
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Speaker 1: against him. He had swooped down so quickly that nothing
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Speaker 1: was ready to resist. The Athenians sent a repentant embassy,
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Speaker 1: which the king received kindly, without any reference to the
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Speaker 1: public jubilations over his father's murder, and the Congress of
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Speaker 1: the Confederacy met at Corinth to elect Alexander general in
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Speaker 1: his father's place. Alexander was chosen Supreme General of the
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Speaker 1: Greeks for the invasion of Asia, and it was as
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Speaker 1: head of Hellas descendant and successor of Achilles, rather than
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Speaker 1: as Macedonian king, that he desired to go forth against Persia.
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Speaker 1: But his election by the Greek Confederacy at Corinth had
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Speaker 1: more of historical fitness than political significance. The contingents which
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Speaker 1: the Greek states furnished as members of the League were small,
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Speaker 1: and the idea of the expedition failed to arouse any
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Speaker 1: national feeling. Yet the welcome, though half hearted and hypocritical,
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Speaker 1: which was given to Alexander at Corinth, and the vote,
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Speaker 1: however perfunctory, which elected him leader of the Greeks, worthy
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Speaker 1: fitting prelude to the expansion of Hellas and the diffusion
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Speaker 1: of Hellenic civilization which Destiny had chosen him to accomplish.
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Speaker 1: He was thus formally recognized as what he, in fullest
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Speaker 1: verity was the representative of Greece. Of all those who
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Speaker 1: thronged at Corinth, rouled the royal youth to observe him
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Speaker 1: with curious gaze, or flatter him with pleasant words. Some
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Speaker 1: may have foreseen that he would be a conqueror of
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Speaker 1: many lands, but none could have suspected how his conquests
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Speaker 1: would transform the world, For few realized that the world
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Speaker 1: was waiting to be transformed outside the gates of Corinth.
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Speaker 1: According to a famous story, the king found the eccentric
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Speaker 1: philosopher Diogenes sitting in the beryl which served him as
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Speaker 1: a home, and asked him to name eboon stand out
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Speaker 1: of the sun. Was the brief reply of the philosopher.
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Speaker 1: Were I not, Alexander, said the king to his retinue,
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Speaker 1: I should like to be Diogenes. The incident may never
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Speaker 1: have happened, but the anecdote happily brings face to face
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Speaker 1: the enthusiast who carried individual liberty to the utmost verge
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Speaker 1: of independence, and the enthusiast who dreamed of making his
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Speaker 1: empire conterminous with the globe. For the individualism which Diogenes
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Speaker 1: caricatured was the sister to the spirit of cosmopolitanism which
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Speaker 1: Alexander's empire was to promote. Meanwhile, some domestic dangers had
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Speaker 1: been cleared violently out of his path, his stepmother, her father,
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Speaker 1: and her child had all been done away with. Atilas
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Speaker 1: had been murdered in Asia in accordance with the king's commands,
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Speaker 1: but Alexander was not responsible for the death of Cleopatra
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Speaker 1: and her infant. This was said to be the work
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Speaker 1: of Olympius, who, thirsty for revenge, caused the child to
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Speaker 1: be slaughtered in its mother's lap and forced Cleopatra to
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Speaker 1: hang herself by her own belt. Section two. Alexander's campaigns
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Speaker 1: in Thrace and Illyria, there were symptoms of disquietude. In Thrace.
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Speaker 1: There were signs of a storm brewing in the Illyrian quarter,
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Speaker 1: and it would have been impossible for the young king
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Speaker 1: to invade Asia. With Thrace ready to revolt in his
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Speaker 1: rear and Macedonia exposed to attack from the west, it
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Speaker 1: was indispensable to teach the Thracians a lesson, and especially
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Speaker 1: the Triballi, who had never been chastised for the check
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Speaker 1: which they had inflicted on Philip. The Tribali lived beyond
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Speaker 1: the Himas, and when Alexander, having crossed Mount Rhodope, reached
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Speaker 1: the foot of one of the western passes of Mount Himus,
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Speaker 1: he found the steep defile defended by mountaineers. They had
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Speaker 1: hauled up a multitude of their war chariots to the
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Speaker 1: top of the pass, in order to roll them upon
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Speaker 1: the Macedonians, and then rushing down themselves to fall upon
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Speaker 1: the disordered army. There was no other way of crossing
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Speaker 1: the mountain, and the mountain must be crossed. Alexander showed
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Speaker 1: here again the same temper and the same resource which
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Speaker 1: he had shown at Tempe. When he had made up
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Speaker 1: his mind that an object must be attained, he never
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Speaker 1: hesitated to employ the boldest or most novel means. He
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Speaker 1: ordered the infantry to advance up the path, opening the
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Speaker 1: ranks when possible to let the chariots roll through, But
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Speaker 1: when that was impossible, he directed them to fall on
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Speaker 1: their knees and holding their shieldsack together to form a
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Speaker 1: roof on which the chariots would fall and roll harmlessly away.
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Speaker 1: The device was successful. The volley of the carts rattled
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Speaker 1: over the loch shields, and notwithstanding the shock, not a
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Speaker 1: man was killed. When the Barbarians had exhausted these ponderous missiles,
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Speaker 1: the pass was easily taken, and the Macedonians descended into
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Speaker 1: the country of the Tribali. At the news of Alexander's approach.
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Speaker 1: The Tribali had sent their wives and children to an
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Speaker 1: island named Peusi in the Danube, and then, waiting until
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Speaker 1: he advanced into their land, stole behind him to seize
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Speaker 1: the mountain passes in his rear. Learning of this movement,
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Speaker 1: Alexander marched rapidly back, forced the enemy to fight and
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Speaker 1: disperse them with great loss. He then proceeded on his
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Speaker 1: way to the bank of the Danube. He had foreseen
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Speaker 1: that it might be necessary to operate on that river,
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Speaker 1: perhaps to make a demonstration in the country of the
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Speaker 1: Ghetai on the northern bank, and he had prepared for
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Speaker 1: this emergency by adopting the same plan as Drias and
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Speaker 1: his famous Thracian expedition. He instructed his ally by his Antium,
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Speaker 1: to dispatched ships to sail up the river. The garrison
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Speaker 1: in the island of Peiusi was supported by a host
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Speaker 1: of Scythian friends on the left bank of the stream,
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Speaker 1: and Alexander saw that with his few Byzantine galleys, it
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Speaker 1: would be hopeless to attack the island until he had
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Speaker 1: secured the Scythian shore. The problem was to throw his
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Speaker 1: troops across the river without the enemy's knowledge, and this
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Speaker 1: must be done in the darkness of one night. The
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Speaker 1: ships were too few in number, but all the fishing
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Speaker 1: boats in the neighborhood were collected, and the tent skins
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Speaker 1: filled with hay were tied firmly together and strung across
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Speaker 1: the stream, landing on the other bank. Led by the
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Speaker 1: king himself, a large band of horse and foot advanced
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Speaker 1: under the cover of the long corn at dawn of day,
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Speaker 1: and the Barbarian host arose to see the Macedonian failings
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Speaker 1: unfolded before them. Startled as much as by the terror
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Speaker 1: promptitude of their foe as by the formidable array which
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Speaker 1: faced them, they withdrew into their poorly fortified town, and
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Speaker 1: when Alexander followed them at the head of his cavalry,
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Speaker 1: they fled with all their horses could carry into the
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Speaker 1: wilds of the North Empire. Beyond the Danube. Was not
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Speaker 1: sought by Alexander, and he did not pursue. He marked
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Speaker 1: the term of his northern conquest by sacrificing solemnly on
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Speaker 1: the banks to Zeus, Sotur, Heracles, and the river god himself.
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Speaker 1: This exploit led to the surrender of the Tribali in
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Speaker 1: the island, and all the neighboring tribes south of the
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Speaker 1: river hastened to assure the king of their submission. There
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Speaker 1: came also from unknown homes far up the river, or
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Speaker 1: perhaps in the Dalmatian mountains, an embassy of Celts, huge limbed,
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Speaker 1: self confident men who had heard of Alexander's deeds and
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Speaker 1: were fain to be his friends. Curious to know what
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Speaker 1: impression the Macedonian name had made upon that distant folk,
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Speaker 1: Alexander asked him what they feared most. We fear nothing,
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Speaker 1: they said. If it be not, lets the sky fall Braggart's,
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Speaker 1: said Alexander afterwards. But before two generations had passed away,
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Speaker 1: these men of mighty limbs and mighty words were destined
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Speaker 1: to roll down in a torrent upon Greece and Asia,
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Speaker 1: and to rest for their own habitation, a part of
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Speaker 1: Alexander's conquests. Alexander's work was done in Thrace, but as
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Speaker 1: he marched homeward, he learned that the Illyrians were already
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Speaker 1: in the gate of Macedonia, and that not a moment
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Speaker 1: must be lost if the country was to be saved
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Speaker 1: from an invasion. Philip had secured the Macedonian frontier on
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Speaker 1: the Illyrian side by a number of fortresses near the
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Speaker 1: sources of the Haliacmen and Apsis, and Pelion, which was
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Speaker 1: the strongest of those strongholds. The key fortress of the
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Speaker 1: mountain Gate had now fallen into the hands of Clytus,
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Speaker 1: the Illyrian chief. To reach Pelion as quickly as possible
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Speaker 1: before the arrival of the Tolentines, a folk in alliance
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Speaker 1: with Clitus, was the object of Alexander. His march was
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Speaker 1: threatened by the Ariatis, another hostile folk whom Clytus had
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Speaker 1: engaged a waylay him. But this danger was prevented by
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Speaker 1: the friendly king of the Agrianes, who invaded the Altariat
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Speaker 1: territory and fully occupied the fighting men. Marching rapidly up
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Speaker 1: the river of the Eriogonus, Alexander encamped near Pelian. The
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Speaker 1: heights around were covered with Illyrians and Clitus, as was
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Speaker 1: the custom of his people before a battle, sacrificed three boys,
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Speaker 1: three maidens and three black rams. But before they came
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Speaker 1: to the actual attack, the hearts of the Illyrians failed them,
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Speaker 1: and deserting all their points of vantage and leaving their
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Speaker 1: sacrifice incomplete, they retired into the fastness. Alexander intended to
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Speaker 1: blockade the place next day by a circumvallation, but the
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Speaker 1: Tolentines arrived in a large force, and he saw that
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Speaker 1: his men were too few to deal at once with
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Speaker 1: the foes within and the foes without the walls. Nor
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Speaker 1: were his provision sufficient for a protracted siege. It was
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Speaker 1: absolutely necessary to withdraw from his present position, but it
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Speaker 1: was a task of extreme peril to retreat in these defiles,
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Speaker 1: with hostile pellion in the rear and Tolentine troops occupying
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Speaker 1: the slopes and heights. This task, however, was carried out
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Speaker 1: successfully through the amazingly swift and skillful maneuvering of the
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Speaker 1: highly drilled Macedonian soldiers. The enemy were driven from their
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Speaker 1: flanking positions, and the river was crossed with much trouble.
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Speaker 1: Yet without the loss of a man at the other
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Speaker 1: side of the river, Alexander's communications were safe. He could
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Speaker 1: obtain provisions and reinforcements as he chose, and might wait
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Speaker 1: at his ease for an opportunity to strike. The moment
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Speaker 1: soon came. The enemy, seeing an Alexander's retreat, a confession
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Speaker 1: of feat neglected all precautions and formed a camp without
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Speaker 1: rampart or outpost before the gates of the fortress. Taking
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Speaker 1: a portion of his army and bidding the rest follow,
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Speaker 1: Alexander set out at night and surprised the slumbering camp
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Speaker 1: of the Barbarians. A carnage followed, and a wild flight,
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Speaker 1: and the Macedonians pursued to the Taratine mountains. At the
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Speaker 1: first alarm, Clytus rushed to the gates of Pelion and
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Speaker 1: set the town on fire before he joined the flight.
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Speaker 1: This discomfit of the Illyrians was a no less striking
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Speaker 1: proof of Alexander's capacity than his exploits in Thrace. These
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Speaker 1: months of incessant toil had earned him a rest, but
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Speaker 1: there was to be no rest yet for the young monarch,
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Speaker 1: even as the tidings of the Illyrian danger had reached
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Speaker 1: him before he left Thrace. So now, while he was
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Speaker 1: still at Pelion, the news came that Thebes had rebelled.
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Speaker 1: He must now speed to Greece as swiftly as seven
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Speaker 1: days agone he had sped to the Illyrian hills. No
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Speaker 1: need was more pressing than to crush the revolt before
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Speaker 1: it spread. Section three, Alexander's second descent on Greece. The
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Speaker 1: agitation against Macedon had not ceased during the past year
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Speaker 1: in the cities of Greece, and it was now fomented
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Speaker 1: by the gold and the encouragement of Persia. Five years before,
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Speaker 1: at the outbreak of the war, Athens had sent ambassadors
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Speaker 1: to Susa begging for subsidies from Artie Xerxes, but the
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Speaker 1: great King would not break with Philip then and sent
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Speaker 1: them away with a very haughty and barbarous letter of refusal.
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Speaker 1: The Phrygian satrap, however, perhaps on his own responsibility, sent
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Speaker 1: useful help to Parenthus in its peril, and Persia gradually
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Speaker 1: awoke to the fact that Macedonia was a dangerous neighbor.
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Speaker 1: The new king Drius saw the necessity of embarrassing Alexander
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Speaker 1: in Europe so as to keep him as long as possible,
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Speaker 1: from crossing into Asia, where the Macedonian forces under Parmenio
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Speaker 1: were holding their own. For this purpose, he stirred up
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Speaker 1: thoughts of war in Greece and sent subsidies to the
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Speaker 1: Greek states. To many cities. These overtures were welcome, but
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Speaker 1: especially to Thebes. Under the shadow of the Macedonian garrison.
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Speaker 1: Three hundred talents were offered to Athens and publicly declined,
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Speaker 1: but Demosthenes privately accepted them to be expended in the
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Speaker 1: interests of the Great King. It is not probable that
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Speaker 1: any city entered into a formal contract with Persia, but
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Speaker 1: the basis of the negotiations was the King's Peace of
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Speaker 1: fifty years ago, the Greeks admitting the rights of the
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Speaker 1: Persian Empire over their brethren in Asia, who, on their part,
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Speaker 1: were awaiting with various feelings, the approach of the Macedonian deliverer.
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Speaker 1: As the patriots had often prayed for the death of Philip,
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Speaker 1: so now they longed for the death of his youthful son,
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Speaker 1: an event that might have hurled back Macedon into nothingness forever.
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Speaker 1: Rumors soon spread that the wish was fulfilled. Alexander was
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Speaker 1: reported to have been slain in Thrace. Demosthenes produced a
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Speaker 1: man who had seen him fall, and the theban fugitives
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Speaker 1: and Athens hastened to return to their native city to
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Speaker 1: incite it to shake off the Macedonian yoke. Two captains
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Speaker 1: of the garrison were caught outside the Cadmia and murdered,
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Speaker 1: and the Thebans then proceeded to blockade the citadel by
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Speaker 1: a double rampart on the south side, where there was
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Speaker 1: no city wall. Outside the wall of the citadel, Greece
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Speaker 1: responded to the Theban leading which Demosthenes, like Hergus and
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Speaker 1: the other Athenian patriots had prompted and encouraged. There were
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Speaker 1: movements against Macedon in Elis and Aetolia. The Arcadians marched
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Speaker 1: forth to the Isthmus, and the Athenians sent arms to Thebes.
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Speaker 1: Though they sent no men, the hopes of the patriots
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Speaker 1: ran high. The fall of the Cadmia seemed inevitable. Suddenly
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Speaker 1: a report was whispered in Thebes that a Macedonian army
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Speaker 1: was encamped a few miles away at Anchestis. As Alexander
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Speaker 1: was dead, it could only be Antipater. So the Theban
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Speaker 1: leaders assured the alarmed peace. But messengers soon came affirming
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Speaker 1: that it was certainly Alexander. Nay, then said the leaders.
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Speaker 1: Since King Alexander is dead, it can only be Alexander
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Speaker 1: of Lyncestus. But it was indeed the King Alexander. In
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Speaker 1: less than two weeks he had marched from Pelian to Achestis,
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Speaker 1: and on the next day he stood before the walls
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Speaker 1: of Thebes. He halted first on the northeastern side of
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Speaker 1: the city, near the sanctuary of the Theban hero Iolaus.
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Speaker 1: He would give the citizens time to make their submission,
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Speaker 1: but they were in no mind to submit, and some
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Speaker 1: of their light armed troops, rushing out of the gates,
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Speaker 1: attacked the outskirts of the Macedonian camp. On the morrow,
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Speaker 1: Alexander moved his whole army to the south side of
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Speaker 1: the city and encamped close to the Cadmia, without making
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Speaker 1: any attack on the walls, still hoping that the city
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Speaker 1: would surrender. But the fate of Thebes was precipitated by
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Speaker 1: one of his captains by name Perdiccas, who was in
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Speaker 1: charge of the troops which guarded the camp on the
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Speaker 1: side of the Cadmia. Stationed within a few yards of
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Speaker 1: the Theban earthworks, Perdicas, without waiting for orders, dashed through
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Speaker 1: the outer rampart and fell upon the Theban guards. He
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Speaker 1: was supported by a fellow officer, and Alexander, when he
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Speaker 1: observed what had happened, sent archers and light troops to
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Speaker 1: their aid. The Thebans, who manned the rampart were driven
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Speaker 1: along the gully, which, running along the east side of
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Speaker 1: the Cadmia, passes the temple of Heracles outside the walls.
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Speaker 1: When they reached this temple, they rallied and turned on
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Speaker 1: their assailants and routed them back along the hollow road.
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Speaker 1: But as they pursued their own ranks were broken, and Alexander,
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Speaker 1: watching for the moment, brought his failings into action and
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Speaker 1: drove them within the electron gate. They had no time
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Speaker 1: to shut the gate before some Macedonians pushed in along
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Speaker 1: with the fugitives, and there were no men on the
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Speaker 1: walls to shoot the enemy down, for the men who
20:51
Speaker 1: should have defended the walls had been sent to the
20:53
Speaker 1: blockade of the citadel. Some of the Macedonians who thus entered,
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Speaker 1: made their way to the Cadmia, and joining with the garrison,
21:01
Speaker 1: they sallied out close to the Amphion, where the main
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Speaker 1: part of the theban forces were drawn up. Others, having
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Speaker 1: mounted the bastions, helped their friends without to climb the walls,
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Speaker 1: and the troops thus admitted rushed to the market place,
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Speaker 1: but the gate was now in the possession of the Macedonians.
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Speaker 1: The city was full of them, and the king himself
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Speaker 1: was everywhere. The Theban cavalry was broken up and fled
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Speaker 1: through the streets and the open gates into the plain.
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Speaker 1: The foot soldiers saved themselves as they could, and then
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Speaker 1: a merciless butchery began. It was not the Macedonians who
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Speaker 1: were zealous in the work of slaughter, but the old
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Speaker 1: enemies of the Thebans, the Phocians, the Plataeans, and other
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Speaker 1: Boeotian peoples, who now wrecked upon the proud city of
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Speaker 1: the Seven Gates vengeance for the wrongs and insults of
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Speaker 1: many generations. Six thousand lives were taken before Alexander stayed
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Speaker 1: the slaughter. On the next day, he summoned the confederates
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Speaker 1: of Corinth to decide the fate of the rebellious city.
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Speaker 1: The judges met it out to Thebes, the same measure
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Speaker 1: which Thebes would have once met it out to Athens.
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Speaker 1: The sentence was that the city should be leveled with
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Speaker 1: the dust and her land divided among the confederates. That
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Speaker 1: the remnant of the inhabitants, with the women and children,
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Speaker 1: should be sold into bondage, except the priests and priestesses
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Speaker 1: of the gods and those burghers who had the bonds
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Speaker 1: of guest right with the Macedonians, and that the Cadmian
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Speaker 1: citadel should be occupied by a garrison. The severe doom,
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Speaker 1: showing how deeply the masterful city was aboard, was carried out,
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Speaker 1: and among the ruined habitations on which the Macedonian warders
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Speaker 1: looked down from the fortress walls, only one solitary house stood,
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Speaker 1: making the desolation seem more desolate, the house of Pindar,
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Speaker 1: whom Alexander expressly spared. The Boeotian cities were at last
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Speaker 1: delivered from the yoke of their impetuous mistress. Plataia and
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Speaker 1: Okomenos re arose from their ruins. The fall of Thebes
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Speaker 1: promptly checked all the other movements in Greece. The Arcadian
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Speaker 1: forces withdrew from the isthmus Ellis, and Aetolia hastened to
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Speaker 1: retrieve their hostile attitude. The news reached Athens during the
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Speaker 1: Festival of the Mysteries. The solemnity was interrupted, and in
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Speaker 1: a hurried meeting of the Assembly, it was resolved on
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Speaker 1: the proposal of demities to send an embassy to welcome
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Speaker 1: Alexander on his safe return. From his northern campaign and
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Speaker 1: to congratulate them on the just chastisement which he had
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Speaker 1: inflicted upon Thebes. The same people passed this decree, who
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Speaker 1: a few days before, on the proposal of Demosthenes, had
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Speaker 1: resolved to send troops to the aid of that luckless city.
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Speaker 1: Alexander demanded, and it was a fair demand, that Demosthenes
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Speaker 1: and Lycurgis and the other agitators who kept the hostility
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Speaker 1: to Macedonia alive and were largely responsible for the disaster
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Speaker 1: at Thebes, should be delivered to him. For so long
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Speaker 1: as they were at large, there was no security that
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Speaker 1: Athens would not entangle herself in further follies. When the
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Speaker 1: demand was laid before the assembly, Demosthenes epigrammatically expressed his
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Speaker 1: own view of the situation by advising the people not
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Speaker 1: to hand over the sheep dogs to the wolf. Phochian
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Speaker 1: said in downright words that Alexander must be conciliated at
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Speaker 1: any cost. Let the men who surrender he demanded, show
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Speaker 1: their patriotism by sacrificing themselves. But it was finally decided
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Speaker 1: that Demides, who had ingratiated himself with the Macedonian king,
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Speaker 1: should accompany another embassy, and begged that the offenders might
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Speaker 1: be left to the justice of the Athenian people. Alexander,
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Speaker 1: still anxious to show every consideration to Athens, withdrew his demand,
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Speaker 1: insisting only on the banishment of the adventurer Charedemus of
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Speaker 1: Thracian notoriety. With the fall of Thebes, Alexander's campaign in
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Speaker 1: Europe came to an end. The rest of his life
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Speaker 1: was spent in Asia. The European campaigns, though they filled
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Speaker 1: little more than a year, and though they seemed of
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Speaker 1: small account by the side of his triumphs in the East,
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Speaker 1: were brilliant and important enough to have won historical fame
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Speaker 1: for any general in his two descents. And de Greece,
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Speaker 1: first to conciliate and afterwards to punish. In his expedition
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Speaker 1: to the Danube and in his Illyrian campaign, he had
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Speaker 1: given tokens of the rare strategic capacity, the originality of conception,
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Speaker 1: the boldness of resolution, the rapidity of action, and those
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Speaker 1: other qualities which served Alexander's genius, and soon found a
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Speaker 1: more specious sphere for their manifestation when they bore him
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Speaker 1: towards the unknown limits of the Eastern world. End of
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Speaker 1: Chapter nineteen, Parts one through three,