Page:History of Greece Vol XII.djvu/292

 2G0 HISTORY OF GREECE. bodily powers were unabated ; he bad acquired a large stock of military experience ; and what was still more important, his ap- petite for farther conquest w^as as voracious, and his readiness to purchase it at the largest cost of toil or danger, as complete, as it had been when he first crossed the Hellespont. Great as his past career had been, his future achievements, with such increased means and experience, were likely to be yet gi'eater. His ambi« tion w^ould have been satisfied with nothing less than the con- quest of the whole habitable world as then known ; i and if his life had been prolonged, he would probably have accomplished it. Nowhere (so far as our knowledge reaches) did there reside any military power capable of making head against him ; nor were his soldiers, when he commanded them, daunted or baftled by any extremity of cold, heat, or fatigue. The patriotic feelings of Livy dispose him to maintain" that Alexander, had he invaded Italy and assailed Romans or Samnites, would have failed and perished like his relative Alexander of Epirus. But this conclu- sion cannot be accepted. If we grant the courage and discipline of the Roman infantry to have been equal to the best infantry of Alexander's army, the same cannot be said of the Roman cav- alry as compared with the Macedonian Companions. Still less is it likely that a Roman consul, annually changed, would have been found a match for Alexander in military genius and combi- nations ; nor, even if personally equal, would he have possessed the same variety of troops and arms, each effective iu its sepa rate Avay, and all conspiring to one common purpose — nor the same unbounded influence over their minds in stimulating them ' This is the remark of his great admirer Arrian, vii. 1, 6. mans — extremely interesting and beautiful, though the case appears to me very partially set forth. I agree with Neibuhr in dissenting from Livy's result ; and with Plutarch in considering it as one of the boons of fortune to the Romans, that Alexander did not live long enough to attack them (Plutarch de Fortune Komanor. p. 326J. Livy however had great reason for complaining of those Greek authors (he calls them "levissimi ex Grascis") who said that the Romans would have quailed before the terrible reputation of Alexander, and submitted without resistance. Assuredly his victory over them would have been dearly bought.
 * Livy, ix. 17-19. A discussion of Alexander's chances against the Ro-