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Anabasis of Alexander
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General SummaryThe subjection of the Greek city-states by Philip of Macedonia was only the first stage of a comprehensive scheme of conquest which that ambitious monarch entertained. At a Panhellenic council held at Corinth shortly after the battle of Chæronea, Philip announced his resolve to free the Greek cities of Asia and to lead an army against Persia in retaliation for the expedition of Xerxes, a century and a half before. Fate, however, had destined that this gigantic task should be achieved by another and even greater man. The murder of Philip in the summer of 336 B. C. placed his young son Alexander on the throne of Macedonia. After two years spent in quelling revolts in Thrace and Greece, Alexander was ready to begin his marvelous career as the conqueror of the East. For the history of his conquests we are fortunate in possessing the work of Arrian, one of the most authentic and accurate of Greek historical compositions. Though Arrian wrote in the second century of our era, he used the best of contemporary records in compiling his narrative. The chief sources upon which he relied were the lives of Alexander by Ptolemy, one of Alexander’s generals, and by Aristobulus, who also served under the Macedonian monarch. Arrian’s admirable biography is ample compensation for the loss of these two works.
Historical SummaryThe route from Gordium lay through the provinces of Cappadocia and Cilicia into Syria. On the little plain of Issus, where the vast numbers of the enemy were of no avail, Alexander met and overcame the Persian king (October, 333 B. C.). Darius made good his escape, but in his hurried flight he left his choicest treasures in the possession of the victor.
53. Alexander’s Treatment of the Family of Darius1
. . . Nor did Alexander treat the mother, wife, and children of Darius with neglect. It is said that on the very night in which he returned from the pursuit of Darius, entering the Persian king’s tent, which had been selected for his use, he heard the lamentation of women and other sounds of a similar kind, not far from the tent. Inquiring who the women were, and why they were in a tent so near, he was answered by some one as follows, "O king, the mother, wife, and children of Darius are lamenting for him as slain, since they have been informed that thou hast his bow and his royal mantle, and that his shield has been brought back." When Alexander heard this, he sent Leonnatus, one of his Companions,2 to them, with injunctions to tell them, "Darius is still alive; in his flight he left his arms and mantle in the chariot; and these are the only things of his that Alexander has." Leonnatus entered the tent and told them the news about Darius. He added that Alexander would allow them to retain the state and retinue befitting their royal rank, as well as the title of queens; for he had not undertaken the war aganst Darius from a feeling of
hatred, but he had conducted it in a legitimate manner for the empire of Asia. . . .
1 Arrian, , ii, 12.
2 A cavalry troop, some 1200 strong, composed of Macedonian knights.
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Chicago: "Alexander’s Treatment of the Family of Darius," Anabasis of Alexander in Readings in Early European History, ed. Webster, Hutton (Boston: Ginn and Company, 1926), 141. Original Sources, accessed December 4, 2024, http://originalsources.com/Document.aspx?DocID=8EX1P7J979QCZQE.
MLA: . "Alexander’s Treatment of the Family of Darius." Anabasis of Alexander, Vol. ii, in Readings in Early European History, edited by Webster, Hutton, Boston, Ginn and Company, 1926, page 141. Original Sources. 4 Dec. 2024. http://originalsources.com/Document.aspx?DocID=8EX1P7J979QCZQE.
Harvard: , 'Alexander’s Treatment of the Family of Darius' in Anabasis of Alexander. cited in 1926, Readings in Early European History, ed. , Ginn and Company, Boston, pp.141. Original Sources, retrieved 4 December 2024, from http://originalsources.com/Document.aspx?DocID=8EX1P7J979QCZQE.
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