Part 17 (1/2)
Alexander's desire was to extend his conquests to the Ganges, but his soldiers began to murmur because of the length and hardness of their campaigns, and he reluctantly gave up the undertaking. To secure the conquests already made, he founded, at different points in the valley of the Indus, Greek towns and colonies. One of these he named Alexandria, after himself; another Bucephala, in memory of his favorite steed; and still another Nicaea, for his victories. The modern museum at Lah.o.r.e contains many relics of Greek art, dug up on the site of these Macedonian cities and camps.
Alexander's return route lay through the ancient Gedrosia, now Beluchistan, a region frightful with burning deserts, amidst which his soldiers endured almost incredible privations and sufferings. After a trying and calamitous march of over two months, Alexander, with the survivors of his army, reached Carmania. Here, to his unbounded joy, he was joined by Nearchus, the trusted admiral of his fleet, whom he had ordered to explore the sea between the Indus and the Euphrates.
To appropriately celebrate his conquests and discoveries, Alexander inst.i.tuted a series of religious festivals, amidst which his soldiers forgot the dangers of their numberless battles and the hards.h.i.+ps of their unparalleled marches, which had put to the test every power of human endurance. And well might these veterans glory in their achievements. In a few years they had conquered half the world, and changed the whole course of history.
PLANS AND DEATH OF ALEXANDER.--As the capital of his vast empire, which now stretched from the Ionian Sea to the Indus, Alexander chose the ancient Babylon, upon the Euphrates. His designs were to push his conquests as far to the west as he had extended them to the east. Arabia, Carthage, Italy, and Spain were to be added to his already vast domains.
Indeed, the plans of Alexander embraced nothing less than the union and h.e.l.lenizing of the world. Not only were the peoples of Asia and Europe to be blended by means of colonies, but even the floras of the two continents were to be intermingled by the transplanting of fruits and trees from one continent to the other. Common laws and customs, a common language and a common religion, were to unite the world into one great family.
Intermarriages were to blend the races. Alexander himself married a daughter of Darius III., and also one of Artaxerxes Ochus; and to ten thousand of his soldiers, whom he encouraged to take Asiatic wives, he gave magnificent gifts.
In the midst of his vast projects, Alexander was seized by a fever, brought on by his insane excesses, and died at Babylon, 323 B.C., in the thirty-second year of his age. His soldiers could not let him die without seeing him. The watchers of the palace were obliged to open the doors to them, and the veterans of a hundred battle-fields filed sorrowfully past the couch of their dying commander. His body was carried to Alexandria, in Egypt, and there enclosed in a golden coffin, and a splendid mausoleum was raised over it. His ambition for celestial honors was gratified in his death; for in Egypt and elsewhere temples were dedicated to him, and divine wors.h.i.+p was paid to his statues.
We cannot deny to Alexander, in addition to a remarkable genius for military affairs, a profound and comprehensive intellect. He had fine tastes, and liberally encouraged art, science, and literature. The artists of his times had in him a munificent patron; and to his preceptor Aristotle he sent large collections of natural-history objects, gathered in his extended expeditions. He had a kind and generous nature: he avenged the murder of his enemy Darius; and he repented in bitter tears over the body of his faithful c.l.i.tus. He exposed himself like the commonest soldier, sharing with his men the hards.h.i.+ps of the march and the dangers of the battle-field.
But he was self-seeking, foolishly vain, and madly ambitious of military glory. He plunged into shameful excesses, and gave way to bursts of pa.s.sion that transformed a usually mild and generous disposition into the fury of a madman. The contradictions of his life cannot, perhaps, be better expressed than in the words once applied to the gifted Themistocles: ”He was greater in genius than in character.”
RESULTS OF ALEXANDER'S CONQUESTS.--The remarkable conquests of Alexander had far-reaching consequences. They ended the long struggle between Persia and Greece, and spread h.e.l.lenic civilization over Egypt and Western Asia.
The distinction between Greek and Barbarian was obliterated, and the sympathies of men, hitherto so narrow and local, were widened, and thus an important preparation was made for the reception of the cosmopolitan creed of Christianity. The world was also given a universal language of culture, which was a further preparation for the spread of Christian teachings.
But the evil effects of the conquest were also positive and far-reaching.
The sudden acquisition by the Greeks of the enormous wealth of the Persian empire, and contact with the vices and the effeminate luxury of the Oriental nations, had a most demoralizing effect upon h.e.l.lenic life.
Greece became corrupt, and she in turn corrupted Rome. Thus the civilization of antiquity was undermined.
CHRONOLOGICAL SUMMARY OF GRECIAN HISTORY TO THE DEATH OF ALEXANDER THE GREAT.
Legendary Age The Trojan War, legendary date 1194-1184 The Dorians enter the Peloponnesus, about 1104
Early History of Sparta Lycurgus gives laws to Sparta, about 850 The Messenian Wars, about 750-650
Early History of Athens Rule of the Archons 1050-612 Rebellion of Cylon 612 Legislation of Solon 594 Pisistratus rules 560-527 Expulsion of the Pisistratidae 510
Period of Graeco-Persian War First Expedition of Darius (led by Mardonius) 492 Battle of Marathon 490 Battle of Thermopylae 480 Battle of Salamis 480 Battles of Plataea and Mycale 479
Period of Athenian Supremacy Athens rebuilt 478 Aristides chosen first president of the Confederacy of Delos 477 Themistocles sent into exile 471 Ostracism of Cimon 459 Pericles at the head of affairs-- Periclean Age 459-431
Events of the Peloponnesian War Beginning of the Peloponnesian War 431 Pestilence at Athens 430 Expedition against Syracuse 415 Battle of aegospotami 405 Close of the War 404
Period of Spartan Supremacy Rule of the Thirty Tyrants at Athens 404-403 Expedition of the Ten Thousand 401-400 Peace of Antalcidas 387 Oligarchy established at Thebes 382 Spartan power broken on the field of Leuctra 371
Period of Theban Supremacy Battle of Leuctra, which secures the supremacy of Thebes 371 Battle of Mantinea and death of Epaminondas 362
Period of Macedonian Supremacy Battle of Chaeronea 338 Death of Philip of Macedon 336 Alexander crosses the h.e.l.lespont 334 Battle of Issus 333 Battle of Arbela 331 Death of Alexander at Babylon 323
CHAPTER XVII.
STATES FORMED FROM THE EMPIRE OF ALEXANDER.
DIVISION OF THE EMPIRE OF ALEXANDER.--There was no one who could wield the sword that fell from the hand of Alexander. It is told that, when dying, being asked to whom the kingdom should belong, he replied, ”To the strongest,” and handed his signet ring to his general Perdiccas. But Perdiccas was not strong enough to master the difficulties of the situation. [Footnote: Perdiccas ruled as regent for Philip Arridaeus (an illegitimate brother of Alexander), who was proclaimed t.i.tular king.]