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 DEATH OF ALEXANDER. 205 plie went again up into the bed-room, and brought away the sword of Alexander, which always hung near him. Notwithstanding this encouragement, however, the three young men, still tremb- ling at the magnitude of the risk, hesitated to mount the stair ; nor could they be prevailed upon to do so, except by her distinct threat, that if they flinched, she would awaken Alexander and ex pose them. At length they mounted, and entered the bed-chamber, wherein a lamp was burning ; while Thebe, having opened the door for them, again closed it, and posted herself to hold the bar. The brothers then approached the bed : one seized the sleeping despot by the feet, another by the hair of his head, and the third with a sword thrust him through. 1 After successfully and securely consummating this deed, popu- lar on account of the odious character of the slain despot, Thebe 1 contrived to win over the mercenary troops, and to insure the sceptre to herself and her eldest brother Tisiphonus. After this change, it would appear that the power of the new princes was not so great as that of Alexander had been, so that additional ele- ments of weakness and discord were introduced into Thessaly. This is to be noted as one of the material circumstances paving the way for Philip of Macedonto acquire ascendency in Greece as will hereafter appear. It was in the year 360-359 B. c., that Perdikkas, elder broth- er and predecessor of Philip on the throne of Macedonia, was slain, in the flower of his age. He perished, according to one account, in a bloody battle with the Illyrians, wherein four thou- sand Macedonians fell also ; according to another statement, by the hands of assassins and the treacherous subornation of his moth- er Eurydike. 1 Of the exploits of Perdikkas during the five years of his reign we know little. He had assisted the Athenian gen eral Timotheus in war against the Olynthian confederacy, and i*i 1 Xenoph. Hellen. vi. 4, 36, 37 ; Plutarch, Pelopidas, c. 35 ; Conon, ap. Photium, Narr. 50. Codex, 186; Cicero, de Offic. ii. 7. The details of the assassination, given in these authors, differ. I have principally followud Xenophon, and have admitted nothing positively inconsistent with his ftatements. immediately prior to his execution (Curtius, vi. 43. p. 591, Mutzd} support* the affirmation of Justin that Perdikkas was assassinated. VOL. XI 18
 * Justin, vii. 5 j Diodor. xvi. 2. The allusion in the speech of Philotas