Page:History of Greece Vol XII.djvu/271

 SEVERITIES TOWARDS THE SATRAPS. 239 — nor indeed could any new one be found, except at a prodi- gious distance. He had emerged from the perils of the untrod den East, and had returned into the ordinary localities and con • ditions of Persian rule, occupying that capital city from •whence the great Acha^menid kings had been accustomed to govern the "Western as well as the Eastern portions of their vast empire. To their post, and to their irritable love of servility, Alexander had succeeded ; but bringing with him a restless energy such as none of them except the first founder Cyrus had manifested — and a splendid military genius, such as was unknown alike to Cyrus and to his successors. In the new position of Alexander, his principal subjects of un- easiness were, the satraps and the Macedonian soldiers. Durin"' the long interval (more than five years) which had elapsed since he marched eastward from Hyrkania in pursuit of Bessus, the satraps had necessarily been left much to themselves. Some had imagined that he would never return ; an anticipation noway un- reasonable, since his own impulse towards forward march was so insatiate that he was only constrained to return by the resolute opposition of his own soldiers ; moreover his dangerous wound among the Malli, and his calamitous march through Gedrosia, had given rise to reports of his death, credited for some time even by Olympias and Kleopatra in Macedonia.^ Under these uncertainties, some satraps stood accused of having pillaged rich temples, and committed acts of violence towards individuals. Apart from all criminality, real or alleged, several of them, also, had taken into pay bodies of mercenary troops, partly as a neces- sary means of authority in their respective districts, partly as a protection to themselves in the event of Alexander's decease.. Respecting the conduct of the satraps and their officers, many denunciations and complaints were sent in ; to which Alexander listened readily and even eagerly, punishing the accused with in- discriminate rigor, and resenting especially the suspicion that they had calculated upon his death.^ Among those executed, ' Plutarcli, Alexand. 68. ' Arrian, vii. 4, 2-.5 ; Diodor. xvii. 108 ; Curtius, x. 1, 7. *• Cceperat esse praeceps ad rcpriesentanda snpplicis, item ad deteriora credenda " (Curtiua, X. 1,39)