Page:Plutarch's Lives (Clough, v.4, 1865).djvu/227

 ALEXANDER. 219 almost word for word, as he wrote in a letter to Antipater, where he adds, that when he had thus spoken to them, they all cried out, they would go along with him whither- soever it was his pleasure to lead them. After succeed- ing with these, it was no hard matter for him to bring over the multitude, which easily followed the example of their betters. Now, also, he more and more accommo- dated himself in his way of living to that of the natives, and tried to bring them, also, as near as he could to the Macedonian customs, wisely considering that whilst he was engaged in an expedition which would carry him far from thence, it would be wiser to depend upon the good- will which might arise from intermixture and association as a means of maintaining tranquillity, than upon force and compulsion. In order to this, he chose out thirty thousand boys, whom he put under masters to teach them the Greek tongue, and to train them up to arms in the Macedonian discipline. As for his marriage with Roxana, whose youthfulness and beauty had charmed him at a drinking entertainment, where he first happened to see her, taking part in a dance, it was, indeed, a love affair, yet it seemed at the same time to be conducive to the object he had in hand. For it gratified the conquered people to see him choose a wife from among themselves, and it made them feel the most lively affection for him, to find that in the only passion which he, the most tem- perate of men, was overcome by, he yet forbore till he could obtain her in a lawful and honorable way. Noticing, also, that among his chief friends and favor- ites, Hephajstion most approved all that he did, and com- plied with and imitated him in his change of habits, while Craterus continued strict in the observation of the customs and fashions of his own country, he made it his practice to employ the first in all transactions with the Persians, and the latter when he had to do with the