Plutarch's essays and miscellanies, Vol. 1 · Plutarch
BY JOHN PHILIPS, GENT.
Did he receive his empire as the gift of Fortune? By no means, 475. It was acquired at the expense of many severe wounds, 476, 507; of many hardships and much daring, 477; as the issue of his training under Aristotle, 478. He was himself a great philosopher, 479. He was the great civilizer of Asia, 480. He realized the dreams of philosophers by making the world his country, 481. Uniting the Greeks and the barbarians, 482. Gaining the affection of the vanquished, 483. Aiming to establish universal brotherhood, 484. His philosophy as exhibited in his recorded sayings, 485-489. His generous conduct, 490. His patronage of learned men, 491. So different from other monarchs, 492. His magnanimity, 495. Such a man owes little to Fortune, 496. Contrasted with Sardanapalus, 497. His greatness as seen in the confusion which followed his death, 498. Fortune cannot make an Alexander, 499. His silly imitators attest his greatness, 501. His self-government, 502. The Persian empire was overthrown, not by Fortune, but by the superior genius and virtue of Alexander, 503. Alexander owed nothing to Fortune, 506. His wisdom, his prowess, his many wounds, his constancy and energy, procured his great success, 507-511. Compared with the ablest men of antiquity, he is superior to all, 512, 513. His daring courage, great dangers, and marvellous escape, while besieging a town of the Oxydracae, 513-516.
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