Plutarch's Lives, Volume 3 · Plutarch
LIFE OF ALEXANDER.
XLIII. The whole of his army was equally enthusiastic; yet the fatigues of the march were so great, that when Alexander burst into the enemy's camp, only sixty men are said to have followed him. Here they passed over great heaps of gold and silver, and pursued a long line of waggons, full of women and children, which were proceeding along without any drivers, until they had reached the foremost of them, because they imagined that Darius might be hidden in them. At last he was found, lying in his chariot, pierced with innumerable javelins, and just breathing his last. He was able to ask for drink, and when given some cold water by Polystratus, he said to him, "My good sir, this is the worst of all my misfortunes that I am unable to recompense you for your kindness to me; but Alexander will reward you, and the gods will reward Alexander for his courteous treatment of my mother and wife and daughters. Wherefore I pray thee, embrace him, as I embrace thee." With these words he took Polystratus by the hand and died. When Alexander came up, he showed great grief at the sight, and covered the body with his own cloak. He afterwards captured Bessus and tore him asunder, by bending down the tops of trees and tying different parts of his body to each, and then letting them spring up again so that each tore off the limb to which it was attached. Alexander now had the corpse of Darius adorned as became a prince, and sent it to his mother, while he received his brother Exathres into the number of his intimate friends.
XLIV. He himself, with a few picked troops, now invaded Hyrkania, where he discovered an arm of the sea, which appeared to be as large as the Euxine, or Black Sea, but not so salt. He was unable to obtain any certain information about it, but conjectured it to be a branch of the Mæotic lake.[416] Yet geographers, many years before Alexander, knew well that this, which is entitled the Hyrkanian or Caspian Sea, is the northernmost of four gulfs proceeding from the exterior ocean. Here some of the natives surprised the grooms in charge of his horse Boukephalus, and captured the animal. Alexander was much distressed at this, and sent a herald to make proclamation that unless his horse were restored to him, he would massacre the whole tribe with their wives and children. When, however, they brought back his horse, and offered to place their chief cities in his hands as a pledge for their good behaviour, he treated them all with kindness, and paid a ransom for the horse to those who had captured it.
XLV. From hence he passed into Parthia, where, being at leisure, he first began to wear the Persian dress, either because he thought that he should more easily win the hearts of the natives by conforming to their fashion, or else in order to try the obedience of his Macedonian soldiers and see whether they might not, by degrees, be brought to pay him the same respect and observance which the kings of Persia used to exact from their subjects. He did not, however, completely adopt the Persian costume, which would have been utterly repugnant to Grecian ideas, and wore neither the trousers, the coat with long sleeves, nor the tiara, but his dress, though less simple than the Macedonian, was still far from being so magnificent or so effeminate as that of the Persians. He at first only wore this dress when giving audiences to the natives of the country, or when alone with his more intimate friends, but afterwards he frequently both drove out publicly and transacted business in the Persian dress. The sight greatly offended the Macedonians, but yet they were so filled with admiration for his courage, that they felt he must be indulged in his fancies about dress; for besides all his other honourable wounds, he had only a short time before this been struck by an arrow in the calf of his leg, so that splinters of the bone came out, and also received such a blow upon his neck from a stone, that his eyesight was affected for a considerable time afterwards. Yet he did not cease to expose himself to danger, but crossed the river Orexartes, which he himself thought to be the Tanais or Don, and, although suffering from an attack of dysentery, defeated the Scythians and chased them for many miles.
XLVI. Most historians, amongst whom are Kleitarchus, Polykleitus, Onesikritus, Antigenes, and Istrus, say that while in this country he met an Amazon: while Aristobulus, Chares the court-usher, Ptolemy, Antikleides, Philon of Thebes, and Philippus the herald of festivals, besides Hekatæus of Eretria, Philip of Chalkis, and Douris of Samos, say that this is a mere fiction. And this opinion seems to be corroborated by Alexander himself: for he wrote to Antipater an exact account of his Scythian campaign, and mentioned that the King of the Scythians offered him his daughter in marriage, but says nothing about Amazons. It is said that many years afterwards, when Lysimachus had made himself king, Onesikritus was reading aloud to him the fourth book of his History of Alexander, in which mention is made of the Amazon. Lysimachus asked him with a quiet smile, "And where was I all the time?" However, Alexander's fame is not impaired if we disbelieve this story, nor is it increased if we regard it as true.
XLVII. As he feared that the Macedonians would refuse to follow him any farther, he allowed the great mass of his army to repose itself, and advanced through Hyrkania with a force of twenty thousand infantry and three thousand cavalry, all picked men. In a speech addressed to these select regiments, he declared that the natives of Asia had only seen them hitherto as if in a dream; and that, if they merely threw the whole country into disorder and then retired from it, the Asiatics would attack them as boldly as if they were so many women. Yet he said, that he permitted those who desired it to leave his service and return home, merely protesting against being left, with only his personal friends and a few volunteers, to carry on the noble enterprise of making Macedonia mistress of the whole world. These are almost the exact words which he uses in a letter to Antipater, and he further says that when he had spoken thus, the soldiers burst into a universal shout, bidding him lead them whithersoever he would. After this experiment had succeeded with the select troops, it was no difficult matter to induce the remainder to follow him, but they came almost of their own accord.
He now began to imitate the Asiatic habits more closely, and endeavoured to assimilate the Macedonian and Asiatic customs and manners, hoping that by this means his empire, during his absence, would rest upon a foundation of good will rather than of force. To further this object he selected thirty thousand native youths, whom he ordered to be taught to speak the Greek language and to use the same arms as the Macedonians; and appointed a numerous body of instructors for them. His marriage with Roxana was due to a genuine passion, for he was struck by her great beauty when he saw her dance in a chorus after a feast, but nevertheless the alliance was a very politic one; for the natives were pleased to see him take a wife from among themselves, and were charmed with the courteous and honourable conduct of Alexander, who, although Roxana was the only woman whom he had ever loved, yet would not approach her until he was lawfully married to her.
As Alexander perceived that, among his most intimate friends, Hephæstion encouraged him and furthered his designs, while Kraterus steadfastly adhered to the Macedonian customs, he made use of the latter in all transactions with Asiatics, and of the former when dealing with Greeks and Macedonians. He loved Hephæstion, and respected Kraterus above all the rest of his friends, and was wont to say that Hephæstion loved Alexander, but that Kraterus loved the king. His favour caused constant jealousies between them, so that once in India they actually drew their swords and fought with one another. Their friends began to take part in the quarrel on either side, when Alexander rode up, and bitterly reproached Hephæstion before them all, saying that he must be a fool and a madman if he did not see, that without Alexander's favour he would be nobody. Privately also he sharply rebuked Kraterus; and calling them both before him, made them be friends again, swearing by Zeus Ammon, and all the gods, that they were the two men whom he loved best in the world; but that if he heard of any more quarrelling between them he would put them both to death, or at least him who began the quarrel. In consequence of this, it is said that there never again, even in sport, was any dispute between them.
XLVIII. Philotas, the son of Parmenio, was a man of much importance among the Macedonians; for he was courageous and hardy, and the most liberal man, and the most devoted to his friends in all the army except Alexander himself. We are told of him that once a friend of his came to him to borrow money, and he at once commanded one of his servants to let him have it. His purse-bearer answered that he had no money, upon which Philotas exclaimed, "What! Have I no plate or furniture upon which you can raise money for my friend?" His lofty carriage, his immense wealth, and the splendour in which he lived, caused him to appear too great for a private station, while his pride and vulgar ostentation made him generally disliked. His own father, Parmenio, once said to him: "My son, I pray you show a little more humility." He had long been an object of suspicion to Alexander, who was kept constantly informed about him by the following means:--After the battle of Issus, when the baggage of Darius was captured at Damascus, there was taken among the captives a beautiful Greek girl, named Antigone. She fell to the lot of Philotas, and became his mistress; and the young man, who was much enamoured of her, used to boast to her over his wine that all the conquests of the Macedonians were really due to the prowess of his father and himself, and that Alexander was merely a foolish boy, who owed his crown and his empire to their exertions. Antigone repeated these expressions to one of her friends, who, as was natural, did not keep them secret, so that at last they reached the ears of Kraterus. Kraterus privately introduced the woman to Alexander; and he, after he had heard her repeat what she had been told, ordered her to take secret note of the confidential expressions of Philotas, and to report them, from time to time, to himself.
XLIX. Philotas had no idea that he was being spied upon in this manner, and in his conversation with Antigone frequently spoke insolently and slightingly of his sovereign. Alexander, although he had accumulated terrible proofs of treason against Philotas, nevertheless remained silent, either because he felt assured of the loyalty of Parmenio, or because he feared to attack a man of such power and importance. At length, however, a Macedonian of Chalastra, named Simnus, formed a plot against Alexander's life, and invited a young man, named Nikomachus, his own intimate friend, to join him. Nikomachus refused compliance, and told the whole story of the plot to his brother, Kebalinus, who at once had an interview with Philotas, and bade him bring them at once to Alexander, as persons who had a most important communication to make to him. Philotas, however, for some reason or other, did not bring them before Alexander, but said that the king was not at leisure to hear them, as he was engaged in more important business. This he repeated on a second occasion, and as his behaviour made the two brothers suspect his loyalty, they communicated with another officer, and by his means obtained an audience. They now told Alexander about the design of Limnus, and also said that Philotas had acted very luke-warmly in the matter, as they had twice told him that there was a plot against Alexander, and yet he had, on each occasion, disregarded their warning.
This greatly enraged Alexander: and as when Limnus was arrested he defended himself desperately and was killed in the scuffle, he was yet more disturbed, as he feared he had now lost all clue to the plot. He now openly showed his displeasure with Philotas, and encouraged all his enemies to say boldly that it was folly of the king to imagine that an obscure man like Limnus would have ventured to form a conspiracy against his life, but that Limnus was merely a tool in the hands of some more powerful person; and that if he wished to discover the real authors of the plot, he must seek for them among those who would have been most benefited by its success. Finding that the king lent a ready ear to suggestions of this kind, they soon furnished him with an overwhelming mass of evidence of the treasonable designs of Philotas. Philotas was at once arrested, and put to the torture in the presence of the chief officers of the Macedonian army, while Alexander himself sat behind a curtain to hear what he would say. It is said that when Alexander heard Philotas piteously beg Hephæstion for mercy, he exclaimed aloud, "Are you such a coward as this, Philotas, and yet contrive such daring plots?" To be brief, Philotas was put to death, and immediately afterwards Alexander sent to Media and caused Parmenio to be assassinated, although he was a man who had performed the most important services for Philip, had, more than any other of the older Macedonians, encouraged Alexander to invade Asia, and had seen two of his three sons die in battle before he perished with the third. This cruelty made many of the friends of Alexander fear him, and especially Antipater,[417] who now formed a secret league with the Ætolians, who also feared Alexander because when he heard of the destruction of the people of Œneadæ, he said that he himself, and not the sons of the people of Œneadæ, would be revenged upon the Ætolians.
L. Not long after this followed the murder of Kleitus, which, if simply told, seems more cruel than that of Philotas; but if we consider the circumstances under which it took place, and the provocation which was given, we shall treat it rather as a misfortune which befel Alexander during a fit of drunken passion than as a deliberate act. It happened as follows. Some men came from the sea-coast, bringing Greek grapes as a present to Alexander. He admired their bloom and ripeness, and invited Kleitus to see them, meaning to present him with some of them. Kleitus was engaged in offering sacrifice, but on receiving this summons left his sacrifice and went to the king: upon which, three of the sheep which he was about to offer up as victims, followed him. When Alexander heard of this, he consulted his soothsayers, Aristander, and Kleomantes the Laconian. As they reported that this was an evil omen, he bade them at once offer an expiatory sacrifice on behalf of Kleitus; for he himself, three days before, had dreamed a strange dream about Kleitus, that he had seen him sitting dressed in black amongst the sons of Parmenio, who were all of them dead. Before, however, the sacrifices on behalf of Kleitus had been performed, he came to the banquet, before which Alexander himself had offered sacrifice to the Dioskuri.
After all had drunk heavily, a song was sung which had been composed by one Pranichus, or Pierion according to some writers, in which the generals who had recently been defeated by the barbarians were held up to public shame and ridicule. The elder Macedonians were vexed at this, and blamed both the writer of the song and the man who sung it, but Alexander and his associates were much pleased with it, and bade the singer go on. Kleitus, who was now very much excited by drink and who was naturally of a fierce and independent temper, was especially annoyed, and said that it was not right for Macedonians to be thus insulted in the presence of enemies and barbarians, for that, in spite of their misfortune, they were far braver men than those who ridiculed them. Alexander answered that Kleitus, when he called cowardice a misfortune, was no doubt pleading his own cause: at which reproach Kleitus sprang to his feet, and exclaimed, "my cowardice at any rate saved the life of the son of the gods, when he turned his back to the sword of Spithridates; so that now, by the blood and wounds of the Macedonians, you have become so great a man that you pretend to be the child of Ammon, and disown your father Philip."
LI. Alexander, stung to the quick by these words, said, "Villain, do you suppose that you will be allowed to spread these calumnies against me, rendering the Macedonians disaffected, and yet go unpunished?" "Too much are we punished," answered Kleitus, "when we see such a reward as this given us for all our hard service, but we congratulate those of us who are dead, because they died before they saw Macedonians beaten with Median rods, and begging Persian attendants to procure them an audience of their king." When Kleitus spoke his mind thus boldly, Alexander's intimate friends answered with bitter reproaches, but the older men endeavoured to pacify them. Alexander now turning to Xenodochus of Kardia and Astenius of Kolophon, asked, "Do not the Greeks seem to you to treat the Macedonians as if they were beasts, and they themselves were more than mortal men? "Kleitus, however, would not hold his peace, but went on to say that if Alexander could not bear to hear men speak their mind, he had better not invite free-born people to his table, and ought to confine himself to the society of barbarians and slaves who would pay respect to his Persian girdle and striped[418] tunic.
At this speech Alexander could no longer restrain his passion, but seized an apple from the table, hurled it at Kleitus, and began to feel for his dagger. Aristophanes, one of his body-guard, had already secreted it, and the rest now pressed round him imploring him to be quiet. He however leaped to his feet, and, as if in a great emergency, shouted in the Macedonian tongue to the foot-guards to turn out. He bade the trumpeter sound an alarm, and as the man hesitated and refused, struck him with his fist. This man afterwards gained great credit for his conduct, as it was thought that by it he had saved the whole camp from being thrown into an uproar. As Kleitus would not retract what he had said, his friends seized him and forced him out of the room. But he re-entered by another door, and in an offensive and insolent tone began to recite the passage from the Andromache of Euripides, which begins, "Ah me! in Greece an evil custom reigns," &c. Upon this Alexander snatched a lance from one of his guards, and ran Kleitus through the body with it, just as he was drawing aside the curtain and preparing to enter the room. Kleitus fell with a loud groan, and died on the spot. Alexander, when he came to himself, and saw his friends all standing round in mute reproach, snatched the spear out of the corpse, and would have thrust it into his own neck, but was forcibly witheld by his guards, who laid hold of him and carried him into his bed-chamber.
LII. Alexander spent the whole night in tears, and on the next day was so exhausted by his agony of grief as to be speechless, and only able to sigh heavily. At length his friends, alarmed at his silence, broke into the room. He took no notice of any of their attempts at consolation, except that he seemed to make signs of assent when Aristander the soothsayer told him that all this had been preordained to take place, and reminded him of his dream about Kleitus. His friends now brought to him Kallisthenes the philosopher, who was a nephew of Aristotle, and Anaxarchus of Abdera. Kallisthenes endeavoured to soothe his grief, by kind and gentle consolation, but Anaxarchus, a man who had always pursued an original method of his own in philosophical speculations, and who was thought to be overbearing and harsh-tempered by his friends, as soon as he entered the room exclaimed, "This is that Great Alexander, upon whom the eyes of the world are fixed: there he lies like a slave, fearing what men will say of him, although he ought rather to dictate to them what they should think right, as becomes the master of the world, and not to be influenced by their foolish opinions.
Know you not," asked he "that Law and Justice sit beside the throne of Zeus, and make everything which is done by those in power to be lawful and right?" By such discourse as this Anaxarchus assuaged Alexander's sorrow, but encouraged his savage and lawless disposition. He gained great favour for himself, and was able to influence Alexander against Kallisthenes, who was already no favourite with him on account of his upright, uncompromising spirit. It is related that once at table, when the conversation turned upon the seasons, and upon the climate of Asia, Kallisthenes argued that it was colder in the country where they were than in Greece; and when Anaxarchus vehemently contradicted this, he said, "Why, you must admit that this country is the colder of the two; for in Greece you used to wear only one cloak all through the winter, whereas here you sit down to dinner wrapped in three Persian rugs." This reply made Anaxarchus more his enemy than before.
"In times of trouble, bad men rise to fame." This speech caused the Macedonians to hate him most bitterly, and provoked Alexander to say that Kallisthenes had made a display, not of his own abilities, but of his dislike to the Macedonians. LIV. This is the account which Strœbus, Kallisthenes's reader, is said by Hermippus to have given to Aristotle about the quarrel between Kallisthenes and Alexander; and he added that Kallisthenes was well aware that he was out of favour with the king, and twice or thrice when setting out to wait on him would repeat the line from the Iliad, "Patroklus, too, hath died, a better man than thou." On hearing this Aristotle acutely remarked, that Kallisthenes had great ability and power of speech, but no common sense. He, like a true philosopher, refused to kneel and do homage to Alexander, and alone had the spirit to express in public what all the oldest and best Macedonians privately felt. By his refusal he relieved the Greeks and Alexander from a great disgrace, but ruined himself, because he seemed to use force rather than persuasion to attain his object. We are told by Charon of Mitylene that once when at table, Alexander, after drinking, passed the cup to one of his friends; and that he after receiving it, rose, stood by the hearth, and after drinking knelt before Alexander: after which he kissed him and resumed his seat. All the guests did this in turn until the cup came to Kallisthenes. The king, who was conversing to Hephæstion, did not take any notice of what he did, and after drinking he also came forward to kiss him, when Demetrius, who was surnamed Pheidon, said, "My king, do not kiss him, for he alone has not done homage to you." Upon this Alexander avoided kissing Kallisthenes, who said in a loud voice, "Then I will go away with the loss of a kiss."
Text from Project Gutenberg, public domain in the United States.