Page:Imperial Dictionary of Universal Biography Volume 1.pdf/112

ALE fever, brought on by plunging when violently heated into the chill stream of the Cydnus. (The story which Plutarch tells of the physician Philippus is too ostentatiously characteristic to be reliable.) On his recovery, he advanced by way of Anchialus and Soli to Mallus, where he received intelligence of the advance of Darius at the head of a huge army. The Persian king lay at Solchi, on the borders of a great plain above the hills which environ the gulf of Issus. He was surrounded by the same pomp, and confided in the same parade of power, which Xerxes had found so useless. But he had a force of about 600,000 men, and had he followed the advice of Amyntus, to remain in a position where he could have full advantage of his numbers, the issue might have been doubtful. Alexander, who had passed the unguarded gates of Cilicia, lay at Myriandrus, detained by stress of weather. Darius, in the belief that his enemies were scared at his approach, descended from his vantage ground toward Issus, and encamped in a narrow plain on the right bank of the Pinarus. The exultation of the Macedonians may be compared to that of Cromwell's Ironsides when the Scottish army came down from the heights at Dunbar. Alexander marched quickly to the attack, and after a tremendous struggle, the compact strength of the phalanx broke the huddled masses of the Persians. Their king fled before the contest was well decided, abandoning the royal tent, with his wife and mother, to the mercy of the conqueror. They were treated by Alexander with that consideration and respect which from first to last marked his dealings with female captives. He determined next to conduct his army through Phœnicia, as from that coast and from Egypt the fleet which harassed his early course had been mainly supplied. His general, Parmenio, was sent forward to seize Damascus, where Darius had deposited a portion of his treasure. He himself was welcomed as a deliverer by several of the maritime cities. Aradus, Byblus, and Sidon willingly received him, and the Tyrians sent an embassy with offers of obedience. But it was implied that those offers did not extend to absolute submission, and Alexander returned a polite answer to their evasion. He was anxious to sacrifice to Melcart—the Phenician Hercules—and would for that purpose cross over to their island. The envoys replied that he might have access to the temple on the mainland, but that they could not admit any stranger within their walls. The issue between Europe and Asia was yet unsettled, and they wished to retain the power of arbitration. They may have also felt a certain pride in refusing to open their gates to a conqueror. Tyre was one of the oldest cities of the ancient world. Her traditions went back for twenty-four centuries, a period surpassing that which has elapsed since the times of Alexander. The queen of merchant cities, and the parent of powerful races, she had sustained sieges from armies many times outnumbering his, when her site gave less encouragement to defiance. Built on a storm-beaten cliff, separated from the shore by a channel of half a mile in breadth, and surrounded by a wall 150 feet high, she was safe, if any city could be safe, from attacks by land, and all but impregnable by sea. There was enough here to have daunted any ordinary captain; but it was Alexander's rule never to yield to any surmountable obstacle, and to him no obstacle appeared insurmountable. He resolved on a method of attack which has left its impress on the topography of the coast. From the dismantled buildings of old Tyre and the neighbouring forests of Libanus, he reared a gigantic mole, which was slowly built out into the channel, and threatened to convert the island into a peninsula; at the end of this mole two wooden towers were stationed, at once to protect the workmen and annoy the Tyrians by showers of missiles. The latter, however, succeeded in setting fire to the towers, and loosening the mound, thus beginning a destruction which a storm shortly afterwards completed. With dauntless patience, Alexander set his soldiers to renew the laborious construction, while he went himself to Sidon and the other towns of Phœnicia to collect a fleet. The mound was at length finished, and the city was assailed on both sides; but it was from the sea that a breach was first made in the walls. After a siege of seven months—one of the most memorable of antiquity—Tyre fell into the hands of the Macedonians 332 . Exasperated by the long resistance, the rage of the soldiery knew no bounds. The town was fired, and 8000 of the inhabitants massacred. The remainder, numbering about 30,000, were sold as slaves; while, in revenge for the death of certain prisoners slain on the ramparts, 2000 were conspicuously crucified. The old prophecies seemed to be again fulfilled against the beautiful city. She was made desolate, and the "isles shook at the sound of her fall." About this time Alexander received and rejected conciliatory overtures from Darius. Marching southward along the coast of Palestine, he was arrested by the resistance of Gaza. Her walls were of immense height, and Batis, the commander, maintained with his garrison a desperate defence, fighting when the fortress was taken till the last was slain. During the progress of this siege Alexander was severely wounded. The Jewish legends tell that he was diverted from an attack on Jerusalem by a dream, which had inspired him with reverence for their priest, but it is uncertain whether he ever visited that city. His march lay onwards toward Egypt, and at Pelusium he met his fleet, which sailed up the Nile to Memphis, while he arrived at the same point by marching across the desert. He encountered no opposition from the Egyptians, who were ready to consider him as the enemy of their old oppressors. The Persians had trampled upon their national customs and rites, whereas the policy of Alexander was to respect the altars of the gods in whatever country he fixed his dominion. In pursuance of this plan, and partly impelled by curiosity to see one of the most celebrated shrines in the world, he made a pilgrimage to the oasis of Ammon. The priests were flattered by his visit; he was saluted as the son of Jove, and received from the oracle a response according to his desires. But the event which chiefly commemorates this campaign took place at the beginning of 331. Navigating the western branch of the Delta, Alexander was struck by the situation of a strip of land which separates the lake Mareotis from the sea, and is protected from storms by the Pharos rock. The thought resulted in the foundation of Alexandria—a city, in its magnificence, duration, and influence on the civilization of mankind, destined to surpass even the hopes of the founder. In the same year he returned to Tyre, and marched to Thapsacus, a distance of 800 miles, before the end of August. Thence he proceeded without interruption through Mesopotamia to the banks of the Tigris.

Darius had assembled the whole force of his kingdom, and in a wide plain near the village of Gaugamela prepared for a last trial of strength. The vicissitudes of Issus were repeated on a grander scale. Elephants, scythed chariots, cumbrous instruments of terror, and countless hosts, were found unequal to resist the stern onset of the phalanx, and the shock of Alexander's cavalry. A second time the king set the example of flight, and the pursuit continued with great slaughter as far as Arbela, a town which has given its name to the battle. Instead of tracking Darius to Ecbatana, the victor marched southward, and made a triumphal entry into Babylon. Here too, as in Egypt, he found the people willing to accept his rule in exchange for the intolerant tyranny of the Achæmenides. He restored the temples of the old Chaldean religion, and sacrificed to their tutelar god, Belus. The civil offices of the city he apportioned among some of his own captains. The army rested for a time in the enjoyment of the surrounding luxury, and, in the midst of the splendours of Babylon, Alexander began to assume the outward signs of oriental power. Towards the end of the year he set out for Susa, and found there 50,000 talents of gold and silver. He was joined at this point by reinforcements from Greece, about 13,500 foot, and 1480 horse. Moving eastward from the acquired territory to the original seat of the Persian dynasty, he had to pass two defiles, and encounter a vigorous resistance from the mountain tribes of the Uxians and the satrap Ariobarzanes. He overcame their opposition by skilful strategetics, and Tiridates the governor delivered Persepolis into his hands. There the army found a treasure richer than any they had yet secured. It was the storehouse of the plunder of centuries—the sacred city of the ancient kings—like the Indian Delhi, the seat and sign of empire. In the midst of a feast Alexander fired the royal palace, whether in a fit of drunken passion or moved by some reason of more deliberate policy, is uncertain. He may have wished to revenge the old burning of Athens, or to render it impossible that a Persian prince should again sit on the throne of his ancestors. The fire spread rapidly, and a considerable portion of the city was consumed. The white marble columns that rise from the platform of Persepolis still attest its ancient magnificence. At Pasargadæ, Alexander visited the tomb of Cyrus. In the spring of 330. he directed his course northward in pursuit of Darius. He passed