Early European History. Hutton Webster
CONGRESS AT CORINTH, 337 B.C.
Having completely realized his design of establishing Macedonian rule over Greece, Philip's restless energy drove him forward to the next step in his ambitious program. He determined to carry out the plans, so long cherished by the Greeks, for an invasion of Asia Minor and, perhaps, of Persia itself. In the year 337 B.C. a congress of all the Hellenic states met at Corinth under Philip's presidency. The delegates voted to supply ships and men for the great undertaking and placed Philip in command of the allied forces. A Macedonian king was to be the captain-general of Hellas.
DEATH OF PHILIP, 336 B.C.
But Philip was destined never to lead an army across the Hellespont. Less than two years after Chaeronea he was killed by an assassin, and the scepter passed to his young son, Alexander.
[Illustration: ALEXANDER (Glyptothek, Munich)
Probably an authentic portrait of the youthful Alexander about 338 B.C.]
41. ALEXANDER THE GREAT
THE YOUTHFUL ALEXANDER
Alexander was only twenty years of age when he became ruler of Macedonia. From his father he inherited the powerful Frame, the kingly figure, the masterful will, which made so deep an impression on all his contemporaries. His mother, a proud and ambitious woman, told him that the blood of Achilles ran in his veins, and bade him emulate the deeds of that national hero. We know that he learned the Iliad by heart and always carried a copy of it on his campaigns. As he came to manhood, Alexander developed into a splendid athlete, skillful in all the sports of his rough-riding companions, and trained in every warlike exercise.
EDUCATION OF ALEXANDER BY ARISTOTLE
Philip believed that in Alexander he had a worthy son, for he persuaded Aristotle, [4] the most learned man in Greece, to become the tutor of the young prince. The influence of that philosopher remained with Alexander throughout life. Aristotle taught him to love Greek art and science, and instilled into his receptive mind an admiration for all things Grecian. Alexander used to say that, while he owed his life to his father, he owed to Aristotle the knowledge of how to live worthily.
ALEXANDER CRUSHES REBELLION
The situation which Alexander faced on his accession might well have dismayed a less dauntless spirit. Philip had not lived long enough to unite firmly his wide dominions. His unexpected death proved the signal for uprisings and disorder. The barbarous Thracians broke out in widespread rebellion, and the Greeks made ready to answer the call of Demosthenes to arms. But Alexander soon set his kingdom in order. After crushing the tribes of Thrace, he descended on Greece and besieged Thebes, which had risen against its Macedonian garrison. The city was soon captured; its inhabitants were slaughtered or sold into slavery; and the place itself was destroyed. The terrible fate of Thebes induced the other states to submit without further resistance.
SEEMING STRENGTH OF THE PERSIAN EMPIRE
With Greece pacified, Alexander could proceed to the invasion of Persia. Since the days of Darius the Great the empire had remained almost intact—a huge, loosely-knit collection of many different peoples, whose sole bond of union was their common allegiance to the Great King. [5] Its resources were enormous. There were millions of men for the armies and untold wealth in the royal treasuries. Yet the empire was a hollow shell.
EXPEDITION OF THE "TEN THOUSAND," 401–400 B.C.
Some seventy years before Alexander set forth on his expedition the Greeks had witnessed a remarkable disclosure of the military weakness of Persia. One of those rare revolts which troubled the security of the Persian Empire broke out in Asia Minor. It was headed by Cyrus the Younger, a brother of the Persian monarch. Cyrus gathered a large body of native troops and also hired about ten thousand Greek soldiers. He led this mixed force into the heart of the Persian dominions, only to fall in battle at Cunaxa, near Babylon. The Greeks easily routed the enemy arrayed against them, but the death of Cyrus made their victory fruitless. In spite of their desperate situation the Greeks refused to surrender and started to return homewards. The Persians dogged their footsteps, yet never ventured on a pitched battle. After months of wandering in Assyria and Armenia the little band of intrepid soldiers finally reached Trapezus, (Modern Trebizond) a Greek city on the Black Sea.
[Illustration: Map, ROUTE OF THE TEN THOUSAND]
SIGNIFICANCE OF THE EXPEDITION
The story of this invasion of Persia and the subsequent retreat was written by the Athenian Xenophon [6] in his Anabasis. It is one of the most interesting books that have come down to us from antiquity. We can judge from it how vivid was the impression which the adventures of the "Ten Thousand" made on the Greeks of Xenophon's time. A small army had marched to the center of the Persian dominions, had overcome a host many times its size, and had returned to Greece in safety. It was clear proof that the Persian power, however imposing on the outside, could offer no effective resistance to an attack by a strong force of disciplined Greek soldiers. Henceforth the Greeks never abandoned the idea of an invasion of Persia.
ALEXANDER'S INVASION
The gigantic task fell, however, to Alexander, as the champion of Hellas against the "barbarians." With an army of less than forty thousand men Alexander destroyed an empire before which, for two centuries, all Asia had been wont to tremble. History, ancient or modern, contains no other record of conquests so widespread, so thorough, so amazingly rapid.
42. CONQUEST OF PERSIA AND THE FAR EAST, 334–323 B.C.
BATTLE OF THE GRANICUS, 334 B.C.
Alexander crossed the Hellespont in the spring of the year 334 B.C. He landed not far from the historic plain of Troy and at once began his march along the coast. Near the little river Granicus the satraps of Asia Minor had gathered an army to dispute his passage. Alexander at once led his cavalry across the river in an impetuous charge, which soon sent the Persian troops in headlong flight. The victory cost the Macedonians scarcely a hundred men; but it was complete. As Alexander passed southward, town after town opened its gates—first Sardis, next Ephesus, then all the other cities of Ionia. They were glad enough to be free of Persian control. Within a year Asia Minor was a Macedonian possession.
BATTLE OF ISSUS, 333 B.C.
In the meantime Darius III, the Persian king, had been making extensive preparations to meet the invader. He commanded half a million men, but he followed Alexander too hastily and had to fight in a narrow defile on the Syrian coast between the mountains and the sea. In such cramped quarters numbers did not count. The battle became a massacre, and only the approach of night stayed the swords of the victorious Macedonians. A great quantity of booty, including the mother, wife, and children of Darius, fell into Alexander's hands. He treated his royal captives kindly, but refused to make peace with the Persian king.
[Illustration: THE ALEXANDER MOSAIC (Naples Museum) This splendid mosaic composed of pieces of colored glass formed the pavement of a Roman house at Pompeii in Italy. It represents the charge of Alexander (on horseback at the left) against the Persian king in his chariot, at the battle of Issus.]
CAPTURE OF TYRE, 332 B.C.
The next step was to subdue the Phoenician city of Tyre, the headquarters of Persia's naval power. The city lay on a rocky island, half a mile from the shore. Its fortifications rose one hundred feet above the waves. Although the place seemed impregnable, Alexander was able to capture it after he had built a mole, or causeway, between the shore and the island. Powerful siege engines then breached the walls, the Macedonians poured in, and Tyre fell by storm. Thousands of its inhabitants perished and thousands more were sold into slavery. The great emporium of the