336-323.
[Born at Pella, in Macedonia, B.C. 356. Died at Babylon, B.C. 323.
Aged 32.]
The pupil of Aristotle, and the conqueror of the world. He ascended the
throne of Macedon in the twentieth year of his age. Shortly afterwards
he reduced the chief cities of Greece, and rased Thebes sparing only the
house of the poet Pindar. In his twenty-second year, he crossed the
Hellespont, and turned his arms against the Persian king, Darius, whom
he defeated. He conquered Phœnicia, Damascus, and Tyre. Taking Gaza, he
passed into Egypt, subdued it, and founded the city of Alexandria. Here,
in the madness of his ambition, he claimed divine honours. In 331, B.C.,
he again attacked Darius, and destroyed the Persian monarchy. Babylon,
Susa, and Persepolis, next paid homage to his arms. A change now came
over the victor, hitherto temperate and forgiving. He gave rein to his
passions, and committed acts of cruelty and excess. But his activity was
still incessant. He advanced victoriously to the Indus, and marched back
in triumphal procession to Babylon, where, still full of mighty plans of
conquest, he fell a victim to intemperance, took fever and died in the
thirteenth year of his reign. There was no mediocrity in the character
of Alexander. His vices were great, and his virtues magnificent. His
heart and mind led him to the extremes of good and evil. His lust of
dominion amounted to insane passion. In accordance with his wish, his
body, enclosed in a golden coffin, was conveyed to Alexandria, and there
deposited in a richly adorned sarcophagus,--now supposed to be in the
British Museum. The military skill of Alexander was of a high order. His
movements were rapid, decided, and well-directed:--he made great use of
his cavalry. His conquests rendered eastern Asia accessible to European
enterprise. He retained his affection for his early instructor,
Aristotle, to the last, sending, from the scenes of his Eastern
conquest, strange animals for the study of the great naturalist. In
Asia, to this hour, the exploits of “Iskander,” are told by the people
to their children.
[From the marble in the Louvre, inscribed with his name. It was dug up
near Tivoli in 1779, and afterwards presented to Napoleon by the
discoverer, the Chevalier d’Azara. It was by this bust, aided by the
evidence of the coins, that all the portraits of Alexander were
verified. Notwithstanding the numerous statues, busts, and pictures
of this renowned conqueror which are mentioned by ancient writers,
only few now remain. One of the characteristics of the head is the
curling up of the hair at the back, as though a circlet had given the
hair that form, and it is said he was the first to wear a diadem. The
peculiar rising up of the hair in front is also a characteristic of
Alexander. A very beautiful little equestrian bronze was found at
Herculaneum in 1751, conjectured at the time to be a copy of the
statue of Alexander, by Lysippus. No. 22A, the inscription on which is
evidently modern, is from the Berlin Museum.]
22A. ALEXANDER THE THIRD, surnamed THE GREAT.