He then led his mother to King Philip, his father, and said, ‘Father, turn now to your wife. Now I shall call you Father, because you obey your child. Here is my mother; I have besought her to come to you and to forget what is past. So, embrace each other: it is not shameful for you to do so before me, since I was born of you both.’
Thus Alexander brought his parents to a reconciliation, and everyone in Macedon marvelled at him. Thereafter people who get married avoid mentioning the name of Lysias, for fear his mention should set up a division between them.
23. The city of Methone had rebelled against Philip. So Philip sent Alexander with a great army to make war on it. But when Alexander reached Methone, he used subtle arguments to persuade Methone to return to obedience to Philip.
[Supplement A]
When Alexander returned from Methone and went to his father, Philip, he saw with him some men dressed in barbarian garments. When he asked who they were, Philip replied that they were satraps of Darius, the king of Persia. Then Alexander asked them why they had come. ‘To demand of your father the accustomed tribute,’ was the reply.
‘On whose behalf do you demand this tribute?’ asked Alexander; and they said, ‘For the country of king Darius.’ Then Alexander said, ‘Seeing that the gods have given the earth to men for their sustenance, how can Darius demand contribution of the gift of the gods?’ And he asked them, in order to test them, ‘How much do you want from us?’
‘One hundred golden eggs,’ was the reply, ‘each weighing 20 pounds of solid gold.’21
Alexander said, ‘It is not right for Philip, the king of the Macedonians, to pay tribute to the barbarians: one cannot rule over Greeks just by wanting to.’ So he replied to the satraps, ‘Go and tell Darius as follows: Alexander, the son of Philip, says this to you: as long as Philip was alone, he paid tribute to you, but now that he has sired a son, Alexander, he will not pay you tribute, but I myself shall come and take back from you in person all that you took from us.’ So saying, he sent away the ambassadors, and did not even do Darius, who sent them, the honour of writing a letter. Philip, the king of the Greeks, was delighted when he saw how audaciously Alexander had handled the matter.
The ambassadors, however, gave some money to a certain Greek friend of theirs, a painter, and got him to make for them a miniature image of Alexander. This they took with them to Darius in Babylon; and they told him everything that Alexander had said to them.
Now another Thracian city revolted against Philip, and he again sent Alexander with a great number of soldiers to make war on it.
24. There was a certain man named Pausanias, a rich and powerful man and ruler of all the Thessalonians. This man conceived a desire for Olympias, the mother of Alexander, and sent some powerful men to persuade her to leave Philip and to marry himself; he also sent a good deal of money. When Olympias would not agree, Pausanias came to where Philip was, in the middle of a theatrical performance. He knew that Alexander was away on campaign. Philip was taking part in the contests in the Olympic theatre when Pausanias came in, armed and accompanied by several of his nobles, with the intention of murdering Philip and seizing Olympias. He stepped straight up to him and struck him in the chest with his sword, but did not kill him. There was a tremendous uproar in the theatre. Then Pausanias rushed off to the palace to seize Olympias.
It happened that on this very day Alexander returned victorious from the war. Seeing the turmoil in the city, he asked what had happened. He was told that Pausanias had gone to the palace to seize his mother, Olympias. At once Alexander went in with some of his bodyguard, who were with him, and caught Pausanias holding on to Olympias with great force, while the latter screamed. Alexander wanted to run him through with his lance, but was afraid that he might injure his mother at the same time, since they were so closely entangled. So Alexander tore Pausanias away from his mother, and ran him through with the lance he had in his hand. Then, learning that Philip was still alive, he went to him and asked, ‘Father, what do you want me to do with Pausanias?’
‘Bring him to me here,’ replied Philip. So they brought him. Alexander took a sword, placed it in Philip’s hand and stood Pausanias before him. Philip took hold of Pausanias and killed him. Then he said to Alexander, ‘Child Alexander, I do not mourn that I am dying; for I have had my revenge in thus destroying my enemy. It was well, what Ammon the Libyan god said to your mother, Olympias: “You carry in your belly a male child, who will avenge his own father’s death.”’
With these words, Philip died. He was given a royal burial, attended by all the people of Macedonia.
25. When the city of Pella had settled down again, Alexander went up on to the memorial of his father, Philip, and cried in a loud voice, ‘O Sons of Pella and Macedon, of Greece and of the Amphictyons,22 of the Lacedaemonians and Corinthians, come now and bring me your allegiance and entrust yourselves to me; let us make an expedition against the barbarians and free ourselves from enslavement to the Persians. It is not right for Greeks to be the servants of barbarians.’ So saying, he sent royal envoys to all the cities; and of their own free will the men from every place gathered together in Macedonia, as if summoned by the voice of a god, and made ready for the campaign. [At once he gathered together all those who were skilled in crafts of any kind, workers in iron, bronze or wood. He ordered the bronze-smiths to make breastplates and helmets and decorated swords, and to fashion spears, barbs and daggers. He ordered the carpenters to make shields and arrows and spear-hafts, γ-text] Alexander opened his father’s arsenal and gave the young men their armour and weapons. Then he assembled all his father’s champions, who by now were getting old, and said to them: ‘Venerable sirs, brave veterans, will you deign to adorn the Macedonian army and to march with us to war?’
‘King Alexander,’ they replied, ‘in our youth we marched out to fight with your father, King Philip, and our bodies are no longer strong enough for combat; we beg you to excuse us from military service.’
Then Alexander said to them, ‘I, however, would prefer to march with you, old though you are, because age is much tougher than youth. Often fresh youth, trusting in its bodily energy, is tempted into rash behaviour which results in running great risks; but an old man reflects before he acts, and thus avoids danger. Therefore, fathers, join us on the campaign, not so much in order to fight the enemy, as to inspire the younger ones with courage. Both of you have a part to play. Yours is to strengthen the army with discretion; for even in war brains are necessary. It is plain that your own security depends on the victory as much as does your country’s. If we are defeated, the enemy will not spare the old and useless; but if we win, the victory will be attributed to the wisdom of the counsellors.’ With these words Alexander persuaded all the superannuated soldiers to join his expedition.
26. Alexander was eighteen when he took over the kingdom of his father, Philip. Antipater, an intelligent and cunning man, put an end to the uproar occasioned by Philip’s death in the following way. He led Alexander into the theatre, wearing his breastplate, and, with a long speech, filled the Macedonians with favour towards Alexander.
[Supplement B]
Alexander seemed to be luckier than his father, Philip; and he immediately embarked on a great enterprise.
He assembled all his father’s soldiers and counted them. There were 20,000 men, 8,000 armoured horsemen, 15,000 foot soldiers, 5,000 Thracians, and 30,000 Amphictyons, Lacedaemonians, Corinthians and Thessalonians. When he had counted the whole assembly, the total came to 70,00023 men, and there were, in addition, 6,950 bowmen.
[He hastened with his army to Thessalonica. When the ruler of that place heard that Alexander was approaching his borders, he sent ambassadors to ask for peace; they brought with them gold and silver as well as his son. He also sent a letter, as follows:
‘Polykratos, the unworthy suppliant, sends greetings to Alexander the Godlike, the ruler of the world. Since nothing is impossible for Providence, we must of necessity submit all our affairs to Fortune.
We know that you are our most godlike king, through the grace of Providence: Fortune has easily accomplished everything that you wished. Therefore, those who dwell beneath heaven must, like slaves, pay homage to your power, even if they do not want to. I know all about your great successes in conquering countries; that is why I have sent you this humble letter to express my enslavement to you. As a pledge of my willingness to submit to your power, I have sent you my son, the only one whom Fortune has blessed me with, accompanied by my most pitiful gifts. Accept my humble supplication in full, if it is pleasing in your eyes. Farewell, my lord: do whatever you wish with us your servants.’
When Alexander had read this letter, he yielded to Polykratos’ supplication: he treated his ambassadors kindly and sent Polykratos a letter in return, as follows:
‘What you say is true: divine Providence has given us authority to rule, and one must yield to Fortune. I have been a faithful pupil of Providence above. Now you have mollified my intentions towards you, and have extinguished the inordinate pride shown by your father Anaxarchus – not by your gifts, but by the humble tone of your letter and by the sending of your son. Your son Charimedes shall remain with us as a reminder of your good intentions towards me. Farewell.’
After subduing Thessalonica, he made a campaign against the Scythians beyond. After three days’ march, ambassadors came from Scythia offering their submission as his slaves, and asking him not to attack them. Alexander said to them: ‘Go away to your own country and send me as many thousand skilled bowmen as you wish, to be my allies. You see, I am marching against the Lacedaemonians. Your allies are to join me within sixty days. If the appointed day arrives and the soldiers I expect have not arrived, I shall send my army against you and I shall not be turned back.’
The Scythians promised to do everything he ordered, like slaves; so he treated them kindly and sent them away to their homes.24
27. Alexander marched against Lacedaemon. When the Lacedaemonians learnt of his advance, they were struck with fear and trembling, and were at a loss what to do. The leaders of the cities gathered in Athens, which was the capital at that time, and twelve orators held the fate of all Greece in their hands. They gathered together to discuss what they should do about Alexander. After three days they had reached no conclusion on the best course of action, and were unable to reach a unanimous decision. Some were in favour of resisting Alexander, others argued the opposite. Fate was against them. When they determined to fight Alexander, Diogenes opposed them. ‘How can we hope for a victory? How can we do other than yield to Alexander?’ But the partisans of Antisthenes and Parmenides said, ‘Remember the story of our ancestors. When Dionysus attacked our city and subdued our whole country, the Athenians opposed him and raised up great trophies and sent him back empty-handed, like a mere weakling. Alexander is certainly not stronger than Dionysus.’ When he had heard this, Diogenes came forward and said, ‘Tell me, you rulers of the Athenians, who at that time was the champion of the Thebans and who were that city’s generals?’
‘Atreus was the champion,’ they replied, ‘and among their generals was the wondrous Hyllus who was the first king of the Lacedaemonians.’ Then Diogenes25 laughed and said, ‘Well, if only you can get Hyllus on your side, then I will advise you to resist Alexander. But if you cannot do this, you will not only fight Alexander but you will destroy Thebes.’ With these words he went away. But his arguments did not persuade them to a sensible decision; they decided to prepare for war.
Alexander arrived and drew up his line. When he asked them to surrender, they became all the bolder and sent back his messengers after abusing them severely. At that, he retreated a little from their city, and spoke to them as follows: ‘Now, if you change your minds at the last, it will do you no good.’
Alexander pitched his camp a mile away and waited for the Scythian allies to arrive. A few days later the expected troops appeared, all dressed in decorative breastplates, carrying white shields of chain-mail as well as arrows and quivers, daggers and spears. He reviewed them and found that there were 80,000 of them. Then he drew up his lines against Athens, marched on the city and began to besiege it. The archers were innumerable, and the sun could not be seen for their arrows. γ-text]26
He led a campaign against the Illyrians, Paeonians and Triballians, who had revolted from his rule. During this campaign, there was unrest in Greece. A rumour reached Greece that Alexander the king of Macedon was dead, whereupon, it is said, Demosthenes led a wounded man into the Athenian assembly, who claimed to have seen with his own eyes Alexander lying dead. When the Thebans heard this, they murdered the garrison, which Philip had installed in the Cadmeia after the battle of Chaeronea. It is said that Demosthenes put them up to it.
Alexander was very angry and led an expedition against Thebes. Omens of the coming catastrophe were seen in Thebes: a spider wrapped the sanctuary of Demeter in a web, and the water of the spring called. Dirce ran red with blood. The king took the city and razed it to the ground, preserving only the house of the poet Pindar. It is said that he compelled the Theban musician Ismenias to play his pipes while the city was being demolished. The Greeks, terrified by this, voted Alexander their leader and gave him the rule over Greece.
[When the war was over, Alexander went to look at the dedications. He found Diogenes sitting in a sunny place and said, ‘Who are you?’
Those around him replied, ‘This, your majesty, is Diogenes the philosopher, who so often advised the Athenians to fight against your power.’
When Alexander heard this, he went up to the place where Diogenes was sitting sunning himself (it was morning, and he was leaning on his barrel), and said to him, ‘Diogenes, what favour can I do you?’
‘Nothing,’ replied the other, ‘except to go away and leave me the sunshine, so that I can warm myself.’
People found Diogenes amazingly indifferent to earthly things. γ-text]
[Supplement C]
28. When he returned to Macedonia, Alexander began preparations for the invasion of Asia. He built swift sailing ships, triremes and men-of-war in large numbers. He put all his troops on board with their wagons and equipment of all kinds. Then he took 50,000 talents of gold and set off for Thrace; there he conscripted 5,000 men and took away 500 talents of gold. All the cities welcomed him with garlands.
When he reached the Hellespont, he went on board ship and set off from Europe for Asia; striking his spear into the ground, he claimed Asia as spear-won territory. From there, Alexander marched to the river called Granicus, which was guarded by the satraps of Darius. There was a fierce battle, in which Alexander was victorious; he sent the spoils he took from the Persians as gifts to the Athenians and to his mother, Olympias. He decided to conquer the coastal cities first. He occupied Ionia, and then Caria, after which he took Lydia and the treasure of Sardis. He captured Phrygia and Lycia and Pamphylia. In the latter a miracle occurred: Alexander had no ships, but part of the sea drew back so that his army could march past on foot.27
29. Soon he came to the place where his navy was. From here he sailed over to Sicily. He quickly defeated those who opposed him and landed on Italian ground. The Roman generals sent him a crown of pearls via their general Marcus, and another inlaid with precious stones, accompanied with this message: ‘We too shall crown your head, Alexander, king of the Romans and of all the earth.’ They also brought him 500 pounds of gold. Alexander accepted their gift and promised to make them great and mighty; he took from them 2,000 bowmen and 400 talents.
30. Next, Alexander crossed over to Africa. The African generals met him and begged him to stay away from their city of Carthage. But Alexander despised them for their cowardliness and said: ‘Either become stronger yourselves, or pay tribute to those who are stronger than you.’
Then he set off and crossed the whole of Libya until he came to the sanctuary of Ammon. But he put most of his army on the ships, telling them to sail on and wait for him by the island of Proteus. He himself went to make sacrifice to Ammon, on the g
rounds that he was the god’s son.28 He prayed and said: ‘Father Ammon, if it is true what my mother told me, that I am your son, give me a sign!’ And Alexander had a vision of Ammon embracing his mother, Olympias, and saying to him, ‘Child Alexander, you are born of my seed.’
When Alexander thus learned of the power of Ammon, he repaired his sanctuary and gilded the wooden image of the god; and he dedicated it with this inscription of his own: ‘Alexander erected this to his father, the god Ammon.’ He wanted to receive an oracle from him, to indicate where he should found a city to be named after himself, so that it should endure for ever, and he had a vision of Ammon as an old man, with golden hair and ram’s horns on his temples, saying:
‘O King, thus Phoebus of the ram’s horns says to you:
If you wish to bloom for ever in incorruptible youth,
Found the city rich in fame opposite the isle of Proteus,
Where Aion Ploutonios himself is enthroned as king,
He who from his five-peaked mountain rolls round the endless world.’
When Alexander received this oracle, he set about finding out which island was that of Proteus, and who was the god who presided over it. Thus engaged, he sacrificed again to Ammon and made his way to a certain village in Libya where he had left his troops to rest.
31. As he was walking there, a very large hind ran by and disappeared into a cave. Alexander called to one of his archers to shoot the creature. But when the archer loosed his bow, he missed the hind. ‘Fellow, your shot went wide,’ said Alexander. And thereafter that place was called Paratone29 because of Alexander’s remark. He founded a small city there, and settled some of the most distinguished of the natives in it, and called it Paratone.
The Greek Alexander Romance Page 7