Translated by Rev. J.S.Watson (1853). Seekey to translations for an explanation of the format.
L WhenAlexander was thus cut off in the flower of his age, and at the height of his successes, a mournful silence prevailed among all people throughoutBabylon. But the conquered nations could not give credit to the report of his death, because, as they had believed him to be invincible, they had also conceived that he was immortal, reflecting how frequently he had been snatched from imminent destruction, and how often, when he was given up for lost, he had suddenly presented himself to his soldiers, not only safe, but victorious. As soon, however, as the report of his death was confirmed, all the barbarous nations, whom he had shortly before subdued, lamented for him, not as an enemy, but as a father. The mother, too, of KingDarius, who, though she had been reduced, after the death of her son, from the summit of royal dignity to the state of a captive, had, till that day, through the kindness of the conqueror, never felt weary of life, committed suicide when she heard of the death of Alexander; not that she felt more for an enemy than she had felt for her son, but because she had experienced the attention of a son from him whom she had feared as an enemy. TheMacedonians, on the other hand, did not mourn for him as a countryman, and a prince of such eminence, but rejoiced at his death as at that of an enemy, execrating his excessive severity and the perpetual hardships of war to which he exposed them. The chiefs, moreover, were looking to sovereignty and offices of command; the common soldiers to the treasury and heaps of gold, as a prize unexpectedly presented to their grasp; the one meditating on the possibility of seizing the throne, the other on the means of securing wealth and plenty; for there were in the treasury fifty thousand talents, while the annual tribute produced thirty thousand. Nor did the friends of Alexander look to the throne without reason; for they were men of such ability and authority, that each of them might have been taken for a king. Such was the personal gracefulness, the commanding stature, and the eminent powers of body and mind, apparent in all of them, that whoever did not know them, would have thought that they had been selected, not from one nation, but from the whole earth. Never before, indeed, didMacedonia, or any other country, abound with such a multitude of distinguished men; whomPhilippus first, and afterwards Alexander, had selected with such skill, that they seemed to have been chosen, not so much to attend them to war, as to succeed them on the throne. Who then can wonder, that the world was conquered by such officers, when the army of the Macedonians appeared to be commanded, not by generals, but by princes?- men who would never have found antagonists to cope with them, if they had not quarrelled with one another; while Macedonia would have had manyAlexanders instead of one, had not Fortune inspired them with mutual emulation for their mutual destruction.
[13.2] L But, whenAlexander was taken off, their feelings of security were not in proportion to their exultation; for they were all competitors for the same dignity; nor did they fear one another more than the soldiery, whose licence was less controllable, and whose favour was more uncertain. Their very equality inflamed their discord, no one being so far superior to the rest, that any other would submit to him. They therefore met in the palace under arms to settle the present state of affairs.Perdiccas gave his opinion that they ought to wait tillRoxane was delivered, who was now eight months gone with child by Alexander; and that, if she brought forth a boy, he should be appointed his father's successor.Meleager argued that their proceedings should not be suspended for the result of an uncertain birth; nor ought they to wait till kings were born, when they might choose from such as were already born; for if they wished for a boy, there was atPergamum a son of Alexander byBarsine, namedHeracles; or, if they would rather have a man, there was then in the campArrhidaeus, a brother of Alexander, a person of courteous manners, and acceptable to every body, not only on his own account, but on that of his fatherPhilippus. But that Roxane was ofPersian origin, and that it was unlawful that kings should be chosen for theMacedonians from the blood of those whose kingdoms they had overthrown; a choice to which Alexander himself would not have consented, who, indeed, when he was dying, made no mention of Roxane's issue.Ptolemy objected to Arrhidaeus as king, not only on account of the meanness of his mother (he being the son of a courtesan ofLarissa), but because of the extraordinary weakness with which he was affected, lest, while he had the name of king, another should exercise the authority; and said that it would be better for them to choose from those who were next in merit to the king, and who could govern the provinces and be entrusted with the conduct of wars, than to be subjected to the tyranny of unworthy men under the authority of a king. The opinion of Perdiccas was adopted with the consent of all; and it was resolved to wait for the delivery of Roxane; and, if a boy should be born, they appointedLeonatus, Perdiccas,Craterus, andAntipater, as his guardians, to whom they at once took an oath of obedience.
[13.3] L When the cavalry had also taken the oath, the infantry, indignant that no share in the deliberation had been granted to them, proclaimedArrhidaeus, the brother ofAlexander, king, chose him guards from their own body, and appointed that he should be called Philippus, after the name of his father. These proceedings being reported to the cavalry, they despatched two of their officers,Attalus andMeleager, to quell the excitement; but they, hoping for power for themselves by flattering the multitude, neglected their commission and took the side of the soldiers. The insurrection soon gathered strength, when it once began to have a head and regular management. The infantry rushed in a body, under arms, to the palace, with a resolution to cut the cavalry to pieces; but the cavalry, hearing of their approach, retreated in haste from the city, and after pitching their camp, began to threaten the infantry in return. Nor did the animosity of the chiefs, meanwhile, abate. Attalus despatched some of his men to assassinatePerdiccas, the leader of the opposite party, but, as he was armed, the assassins did not dare go near him, though he freely invited them to approach; and such was the resolution of Perdiccas, that he went of his own accord to the infantry, and, summoning them to an assembly, represented to them the atrocity of their conduct; admonishing them to consider against whom they had taken arms; that they were notPersians, butMacedonians; not enemies, but their own countrymen; most of them their kinsmen, but certainly all of them their fellow soldiers, sharers of the same camp and of the same dangers; that they would present a striking spectacle to their enemies, who would rejoice at the mutual slaughter of those by whose arms they grieved at having been conquered; and that they would atone with their own blood to the manes of their slaughtered adversaries.
[13.4] L Perdiccas having enforced these arguments with eloquence peculiar to himself, produced such an effect upon the infantry, that his admonitions were obeyed, and he was unanimously chosen general. The cavalry, soon after, being reconciled with the infantry, agreed to haveArrhidaeus for their king. A portion of the empire was reserved forAlexander's son, if a son should be born. These proceedings they conducted with the body of Alexander placed in the midst of them, that his majesty might be witness to their resolutions. Such an arrangement being made,Antipater was appointed governor ofMacedonia and Greece; the charge of the royal treasure was given toCraterus; the management of the camp, the army, and the war, toMeleager and Perdiccas; and king Arrhidaeus was commissioned to convey the body of Alexander to the temple ofZeusAmmon. Perdiccas, who was still enraged at the authors of the late disturbance, suddenly gave notice, without the knowledge of his colleague, that there would be a lustration of the camp on the following day on account of the king's death. Having drawn up the troops under arms in the field, he, with the general consent, gave orders, as he passed along, that the offenders, selected from each company, should be secretly given up to punishment. On his return, he divided the provinces among the chief men, in order both to remove his rivals out of the way, and to make the gift of power appear a favour from himself. In the first place Egypt, with part ofAfrica andArabia, fell by lot toPtolemy, whom Alexander, for his merit, had raised from the condition of a common soldier; andCleomenes, who had builtAlexandria, was directed to put the province into his hands.Laomedon ofMytilene was allottedSyria, which bordered on Ptolemy's province; andPhilotas was allottedCilicia.Philon ofIllyria was set over the GreaterMedia; andAtropatos, the father-in-law of Perdiccas, over the Lesser.Susiana was assigned to Coenus, and the GreaterPhrygia toAntigonus, the son ofPhilippus.Nearchus receivedLycia andPamphylia;Cassander,Caria; andMenander,Lydia. The Lesser Phrygia fell toLeonatus;Thrace, and the coasts of thePontic sea, toLysimachus;Cappadocia andPaphlagonia were given toEumenes. The chief command of the camp fell toSeleucus the son ofAntiochus. Cassander, the son of Antipater, was made commander of the king's guards and attendants. In FurtherBactria, and the countries ofIndia, the present governors were allowed to retain their office. The region between the riversHydaspes andIndus,Taxiles received. To the colonies settled in India,Pithon, the son ofAgenor, was sent. Of the Parapameni, on the borders of mountCaucasus,Oxyartes had the command. The Arachosians and Gedrosians were assigned toSibyrtius; the Drancae andArei toStasanor. Amyntas was allotted theBactrians, (?) Staganor theSogdians,Philippus theParthians,Phrataphernes theHyrcanians,Tleptolemus theCarmanians,Peucestes thePersians,Archon ofPella theBabylonians, and ArcesilausMesopotamia.
When this allotment, like a gift from the fates, was made to each, it was to many of them a great occasion for improving their fortunes; for not long after, as if they had divided kingdoms, not governments, among themselves, they became princes instead of governors, and not only secured great power to themselves, but bequeathed it to their descendants.
[13.5] L While these things were happening in the east, the Athenians andAetolians proceeded with all their might to prosecute the war which they had begun during the life ofAlexander. The cause of the war was, that Alexander, on his return fromIndia, had written certain letters to Greece, according to which the exiles from all the states, except such as had been convicted of murder, were to be recalled. These letters, being read before all Greece, assembled at theOlympic games, had excited a great commotion; because many had been banished, not by legal authority, but by a faction of the leading men, who were afraid that, if they were recalled, they would become more powerful in their states than themselves. Many states therefore at once expressed open discontent, and said that their liberty must be secured by force of arms. The leaders among them all, however, were the Athenians and Aetolians.
This being reported to Alexander, he gave orders that a thousand ships of war should be raised among his allies, with which he might carry on war in the west; and he intended to make an expedition, with a powerful force, to level Athens with the ground. The Athenians, in consequence, collecting an army of thirty thousand men and two hundred ships, went to war withAntipater, to whom the government of Greece had been assigned; and when he declined to come to battle, and sheltered himself within the walls ofHeracleia, they besieged him there. At that timeDemosthenes, the Athenian orator, who had been banished from his country on the charge of taking gold fromHarpalus (a man who had fled from Alexander's severity), bribing him to prevail on the city to go to war with Alexander, happened then to be living in exile atMegara, and learning thatHypereides was sent as an ambassador by the Athenians to persuade thePeloponnesians to join in the war, followed him, and, by his eloquence, brought overSicyon,Argos,Corinth, and other states, to the Athenian interest. In return for this service a ship was sent for Demosthenes by the Athenians, and he was recalled from banishment. MeanwhileLeosthenes, the general of the Athenians, was killed, while he was besieging Antipater, by a missile hurled at him from the wall as he was passing by. This occurrence gave so much encouragement to Antipater, that he ventured to break down the Athenian rampart. He then sought assistance fromLeonatus, who was soon reported to be approaching with his army; but the Athenians met him in battle array, and he was severely wounded in an action of the cavalry, and died. Antipater, though he saw his auxiliaries defeated, was yet rejoiced at the death of Leonatus, congratulating himself that his rival was taken off, and his force added to his own. Taking Leonatus's army under his command, therefore, and thinking himself a match for the enemy, even in a regular battle, he immediately released himself from the siege, and marched away toMacedonia. The forces of the Greeks, too, having driven the enemy from the territory of Greece, went off to their several cities.
[13.6] L Perdiccas, in the meantime, making war uponAriarathes, king of theCappadocians, defeated him in a pitched battle, but got no other reward for his efforts but wounds and perils; for the enemy, retreating from the field into the city, killed each his own wife and children, and set fire to his house and all that he possessed; throwing their slaves too into the flames, and afterwards themselves, that the victorious enemy might enjoy nothing belonging to them but the sight of the conflagration that they had kindled. Soon after, that he might secure royal support to his present power, he turned his thoughts to a marriage withCleopatra, sister ofAlexander the Great, and formerly wife of the otherAlexander, her motherOlympias showing no dislike to the match. But he wished first to outwitAntipater, by pretending a desire for an alliance with him, and therefore made a feint of asking his daughter in marriage, the more easily to procure from him young recruits fromMacedonia. Since Antipater, however, saw through his deceit, he courted two wives at once, but obtained neither.
Afterwards a war arose betweenAntigonus and Perdiccas;Craterus and Antipater (who, having made peace with the Athenians, had appointedPolysperchon to govern Greece and Macedonia) lent their aid to Antigonus. Perdiccas, as the aspect of affairs was unfavourable, calledArrhidaeus, andAlexander the Great's son, then inCappadocia (the charge of both of whom had been committed to him), to a consultation concerning the management of the war. Some were of opinion that it should be transferred to Macedonia, to the very head and metropolis of the kingdom, where Olympias, the mother of Alexander, was, who would be no small support to their party, while the good will of their countrymen would be with them, from respect to the names of Alexander andPhilippus; but it seemed more to the purpose to begin with Egypt, lest, while they were gone into Macedonia,Asia should be seized byPtolemy.Paphlagonia,Caria,Lycia, andPhrygia were assigned toEumenes, in addition to the provinces which he had already received; and he was directed to wait in those parts for Craterus and Antipater.Alcetas, the brother of Perdiccas, andNeoptolemus were appointed to support him with their forces. The command of the fleet was given toCleitus.Cilicia, being taken fromPhilotas, was given toPhiloxenus. Perdiccas himself set out for Egypt with a large army. Thus Macedonia, while its commanders separated into two parties, was armed against its own vitals, and turned the sword from warring against the enemy to the effusion of civil blood, being ready, like people in a fit of madness, to hack its own hands and limbs. But Ptolemy, by his wise exertions in Egypt, was acquiring great power; he had secured the favour of the Egyptians by his extraordinary prudence; he had attached the neighbouring princes by acts of kindness and courtesy; he had extended the boundaries of his kingdom by getting possession of the cityCyrene, and was grown so great that he did not fear his enemies so much as he was feared by them.
[13.7] L Cyrene was founded byAristaeus, who, from being tongue-tied, was also calledBattus. His father Grinus, king of the isle ofThera, having gone to the oracle atDelphi, to implore the god to remove the ignominy of his son, who was grown up but could not speak, received an answer by which his son Battus was directed to go toAfrica, and found the city of Cyrene, where he would gain the use of his tongue. This response appearing but a jest, by reason of the paucity of inhabitants in the island of Thera, from which a colony was desired to go to build a city in a country of such vast extent as Africa, the matter was neglected. Some time after, theTherans, as being guilty of disobedience, were forced by a pestilence to comply with the god's directions. But the number of the colonists was so extremely small that they scarcely filled one ship. Arriving in Africa, they dislodged the inhabitants from a hill named Cyra, and took possession of it for themselves, on account both of the pleasantness of the situation and the abundance of springs in it. Here Battus, their leader, the strings of his tongue being loosed, began to speak; which circumstance, as one part of the god's promises was fulfilled, gave them encouragement to entertain the further hope of building a city. Pitching their camp, accordingly, they received information of an old tradition, thatCyrene, a maiden of extraordinary beauty, was carried off byApollo fromPelion, a mountain inThessaly, and brought to that very mountain range on which they had seized a hill, where, becoming pregnant by the god, she brought forth four sons, Nomius,Aristaeus,Autuchus, and Agraeus; and that a party being sent by her father Hypsaeus, king of Thessaly, to seek for the girl, were so attracted by the charms of the place, that they settled there with her. Of her four sons, it was said that three, when they grew up, returned to Thessaly, and inherited their grandfather's kingdom; and that the fourth, Aristaeus, reigned over a great part ofArcadia, and taught mankind the management of bees and honey, and the art of making cheese, and was the first that observed the rising ofSirius at the solstice. On hearing this account, Battus built the city in obedience to the oracle, calling itCyrene, from the name of the maiden.
[13.8] L Ptolemy, having increased his strength from the forces of this city, made preparations for war against the coming ofPerdiccas. But the hatred which Perdiccas had incurred by his arrogance did him more injury than the power of the enemy; for his allies, detesting his haughtiness, went over in large numbers toAntipater.Neoptolemus, too, who had been left to supportEumenes, intended not only to desert himself, but also to betray the force of his party. Eumenes, understanding his design, thought it a matter of necessity to engage the traitor in the field. Neoptolemus, being worsted, fled to Antipater andPolysperchon, and persuaded them to surprise Eumenes, by marching without intermission, while he was full of joy for his victory, and freed from apprehension by his own flight. But this project did not escape Eumenes; the plot was in consequence turned upon the contrivers of it; and they who expected to attack him unguarded, were attacked themselves when they were on their march, and wearied with watching through the previous night. In this battle, Polysperchon was killed. Neoptolemus, too, engaging hand to hand with Eumenes, and maintaining a long struggle with him, in which both were wounded more than once, was at last overpowered and fell. Eumenes, therefore, being victorious in two successive battles, revived in some degree the spirits of his party, which had been cast down by the desertion of their allies. At last, however, when Perdiccas was killed, Eumenes was declared an enemy by the army, together withPithon ofIllyria, andAlcetas, the brother of Perdiccas; and the conduct of the war against them was committed toAntigonus.
L WhenEumenes found thatPerdiccas was slain, that he himself was declared an enemy by theMacedonians, and that the conduct of the war against him was committed toAntigonus, he at once made known the state of affairs to his troops, lest report should either exaggerate matters, or alarm the minds of the men with the unexpected nature of the events; designing at the same time to learn how they were affected towards him, and to take his measures according to the feeling expressed by them as a body. He boldly gave notice, however, that " if anyone of them felt dismayed at the news, he had full liberty to depart." By this declaration he so strongly attached them to his side, that they all immediately exhorted him to prosecute the war, and protested that " they would annul the decrees of the Macedonians with their swords." Having then led his army into [?]Aeolis, he exacted contributions from the different cities. and plundered, like an enemy, such as refused to pay. Next he went toSardis, toCleopatra, the sister ofAlexander the Great, that with her influence he might encourage his captains and chief officers, who would think that the royal authority was on that side on which the sister of Alexander stood. Such veneration was there for the greatness of Alexander, that the influence of his sacred name was sought even by means of women.
When he returned to his camp, letters were found scattered through it, in which great rewards were offered to any that should bring the head of Eumenes to Antigonus. This coming to his knowledge, Eumenes, assembling his men, first offered them his congratulations that " none had been found among them who preferred the expectation of a reward stained with blood to the obligation of his military oath." He then craftily added that these letters had been forged by himself to sound their feelings; but that his life was in the hands of them all; and that neither Antigonus nor any other general would be willing to conquer by such means as would afford the worst of examples against himself." By acting thus, he both preserved for the present the attachment of such as were wavering, and made it likely that if anything similar should happen in future, the soldiers would think that they were not tampered with by the enemy, but sounded by their own general. All of them in consequence zealously offered him their services for the guard of his person.
[14.2] L In the meantimeAntigonus came up with his army, and having pitched his camp, offered battle on the following day. Nor didEumenes delay to engage with him; but, being defeated, he fled to a fortress, where, when he saw that he must submit to the hazard of a siege, he dismissed the greater part of his army, lest he should either be delivered to the enemy by consent of the multitude, or the sufferings of the siege should be aggravated by too great a number. He then sent a deputation toAntipater, who was the only general that seemed a match for the power of Antigonus, to entreat his aid; and Antigonus, hearing that succour was despatched by him to Eumenes, gave up the siege. Eumenes was thus for a time, indeed, relieved from fear of death; but, as so great a portion of his army was sent away, he had no great hope of ultimate safety. After taking everything into consideration, therefore, he thought it best to apply to theArgyraspides ofAlexander the Great, a body of men that had never yet been conquered, and, radiant with the glory of so many victories. But the Argyraspides disdained all leaders in comparison with Alexander, and thought service under other generals dishonourable to the memory of so great a monarch. Eumenes had, therefore, to address them with flattery; he spoke to each of them in the language of a suppliant, calling them his "fellow-soldiers," his "patrons," or his "companions in the dangers and exploits of the east; " sometimes styling them "his refuge for protection, and his only security; " saying that "they were the only troops by whose valour the east had been subdued; the only troops that had gone beyond the achievements ofBacchus and the monuments ofHercules; that by them Alexander had become great, by them had attained divine honours and immortal glory; " and he begged them "to receive him, not so much in the character of a general, as in that of a fellow-soldier, and to allow him to be one of their body." Being received on these terms, he gradually succeeded, first by giving them hints individually, and afterwards by gently correcting whatever was done amiss, in gaining the sole command. Nothing could be done in the camp without him; nothing managed without the aid of his judgement.
[14.3] L At length, when it was announced thatAntigonus was approaching with his army, he obliged them to march into the field; where, slighting the orders of their general, they were defeated by the bravery of the enemy. In this battle they lost, with their wives and children, not only their glory from so many wars, but also the booty obtained in their long service. ButEumenes, who was the cause of their disaster, and had no other hope of safety remaining, encouraged them after their repulse, assuring them that "they had the superiority in courage, as five thousand of the enemy had been slain by them; and that if they persevered in the war, their enemies would gladly sue for peace; " adding, that "the losses, by which they estimated their defeat, were two thousand women, and a few children and slaves, which they might better recover by conquering, than by yielding the victory ." TheArgyraspides, on the other hand, declared that "they would neither attempt a retreat, after the loss of their property and wives, nor would they war against their own children," and pursued him with reproaches "for having involved them, when they were returning home after so many years of completed service, and with the fruits of so many enterprises, and when on the point of being disbanded, in fresh efforts and vast struggles in the field; for having deluded them, when they were recalled, as it were, from their own hearths, and from the very threshold of their country, with vain promises; and for not allowing them, after having lost all the gains of their fortunate service, to support quietly under their defeat the burden of a poor and unhappy old age." Immediately after, without the knowledge of their leaders, they sent deputies to Antigonus, requesting that " he would order what was theirs to be restored to them." Antigonus promised that " he would restore what they asked, if they would deliver up Eumenes to him." Hearing of this reply, Eumenes, with a few others, attempted to flee, but being brought back, and finding his condition desperate, he requested, as a great crowd gathered around him, to be allowed to address the army for the last time.
[14.4] L Being desired by them all to speak, and silence being made, and his chains loosed, he held out his hand, fettered as he was, and said, "Soldiers, ye behold the dress and equipments of your general, which it is not anyone of the enemy that has put upon me; for that would be even a consolation to me; but it is you that have made me of a conqueror conquered, and of a general a prisoner. Four times within the present year have you bound yourselves by oath to obey me; but on that point I shall say nothing, for reproaches do not become the unfortunate. One favour only I entreat, that, if the performance ofAntigonus's promises depends on my life, you would allow me to die among yourselves; for to him it signifies nothing how or where I fall, and I shall be delivered from an ignominious end. If I obtain this request, I release you from the oath by which you have so often devoted yourselves to me. Or if you are ashamed to offer violence to me at my entreaty, give me a sword, and permit your general to do for you, without the obligation of an oath, that which you have taken an oath to do for your general". Not being able, however, to obtain his request, he changed his tone of entreaty to that of anger, and exclaimed, "May the gods, then, the avengers of perjury, look down in judgement upon you, ye accursed wretches, and bring upon you such deaths as you have brought upon your leaders. It was you, the same who now stand before me, that were lately sprinkled with the blood ofPerdiccas, and that planned a similar end forAntipater. You would even have killedAlexander himself, if it had been possible for him to fall by a mortal hand: what was next to it, you harassed him with your mutinies. I, the last victim of your perfidy, now pronounce on you these curses and imprecations: may you live your whole lives in poverty, far from your country, in this camp where you are exiled; and may your own arms, by which you have killed more generals of your own than of your enemies, sink you in utter destruction." Then, full of indignation, he began to walk before his guards towards the camp of Antigonus. The army followed, surrendering their general, and being themselves made prisoners ; and, leading up a triumph over themselves to the camp of their conqueror, resigned to him, together with their own persons, all their honour gained under king Alexander, and the palms and laurels of so long a warfare; and, that nothing might be wanting to the procession, the elephants and auxiliaries of the east brought up the rear. This single victory was so far more glorious to Antigonus than so many other victories had been to Alexander, that whereas Alexander subdued the east, Antigonus defeated those by whom the east had been subdued. These conquerors of the world then, Antigonus distributed among his army, restoring to them what he had taken in the victory ; and directed thatEumenes, whom, from regard to their former friendship, he did not allow to come into his presence, should be committed to the care of a guard.
[14.5] L In the meantimeEurydice, the wife of kingArrhidaeus, when she learned thatPolysperchon was returning from Greece intoMacedonia, and thatOlympias was sent for by him, being prompted by a womanish emulation, and taking advantage of her husband's weakness, whose duties she took upon herself, wrote in the king's name to Polysperchon, desiring him " to deliver up the army toCassander, on whom the king had conferred the government of the kingdom," She made a similar communication toAntigonus, in a letter which she wrote to him inAsia. Cassander, attached to her by such a favour, managed everything according to the will of that ambitious woman. Marching into Greece, he made war upon several cities; by the calamities of which, as by a fire in the neighbourhood, theSpartans were alarmed, and, distrusting their power in arms, enclosed their city (which they had always defended, not with walls, but with their swords) with works of defence, in disregard both of the predictions of the oracles, and of the ancient glory of their forefathers. Strange, that they should have so far degenerated from their ancestors, that, when the valour of the citizens had been for many ages a wall to the city, the citizens could not now think themselves secure unless they had walls to shelter them. But during the course of these proceedings, the disturbed state of Macedonia obliged Cassander to return home from Greece; for Olympias, the mother ofAlexander the Great, coming fromEpirus to Macedonia, withAeacides, king of theMolossians, attending her, and being forbidden to enter the country by Eurydice and king Arrhidaeus, theMacedonians being moved, either by respect for the memory of her husband, or the greatness of her son, or by the indignity with which she was treated, went over to Olympias, by whose order both Eurydice and the king were put to death, he having held the kingdom six years since the decease of Alexander.
[14.6] L But neither didOlympias reign long; for having committed great slaughter among the nobility throughout the country, like a furious woman rather than a queen, she turned the favour with which she was regarded into hatred. Hearing, therefore, of the approach ofCassander, and distrusting theMacedonians, she retired, with her daughter-in-lawRoxane, and her grandsonHeracles, to the city ofPydna.Deidameia, the daughter of kingAeacides, andThessalonice, her step-daughter, rendered illustrious by the name ofPhilippus, who was her father, and many others, wives of the leading men, a retinue showy rather than serviceable, attended her on her journey. When the news of her retreat was brought to Cassander, he marched immediately, with the utmost expedition, to Pydna, and laid siege to the city. Olympias, distressed with famine and the sword, and the wearisomeness of a long siege, surrendered herself to the conqueror, stipulating only for life. But Cassander, on summoning the people to an assembly, to inquire "what they would wish to be done with Olympias," induced the parents of those whom she had killed to put on mourning apparel, and expose her cruelties; when the Macedonians, exasperated by their statements, decreed, without regard to her former majesty, that she should be put to death ; utterly unmindful that, by the labours of her son and her husband, they had not only lived in security among their neighbours, but had attained to vast power, and even to the conquest of the world. Olympias, seeing armed men advancing towards her, bent upon her destruction, went voluntarily to meet them, dressed in her regal apparel, and leaning on two of her maids. The executioners, on beholding her, struck with the recollection of her former royal dignity, and with the names of so many of their kings, that occurred to their memory in connection with her, stood still, until others were sent by Cassander to despatch her; she, at the same time, not shrinking from the sword or the blow, or crying out like a woman, but submitting to death like the bravest of men, and suitably to the glory of her ancient race, so that you might have perceived the soul ofAlexander in his dying mother. As she was expiring, too, she is said to have settled her hair, and to have covered her feet with her robe, that nothing unseemly might appear about her.
After these events, Cassander married Thessalonice, the daughter of kingArrhidaeus, and sent the son of Alexander, with his mother, to the citadel ofAmphipolis, to be kept under guard.
L Perdiccas and his brother, withEumenes andPolysperchon, and other leaders of the opposite party; being killed, the contention among the successors ofAlexander seemed to be at an end; when, on a sudden, a dispute arose among the conquerors themselves; forPtolemy,Cassander, andLysimachus, demanding that " the money taken amongst the spoil, and the provinces, should be divided,"Antigonus said that " he would admit no partners in the advantages of a war of which he alone had undergone the perils." And that he might seem to engage in an honourable contest with his confederates, he gave out that " his object was to avenge the death ofOlympias, who had been murdered by Cassander, and to release the son of Alexander, his king, with his mother, from their confinement atAmphipolis." On hearing this news, Ptolemy and Cassander, forming an alliance with Lysimachus andSeleucus, made vigorous preparations for war by land and sea. Ptolemy had possession of Egypt, with the greater part ofAfrica,Cyprus, andPhoenicia.Macedonia and Greece were subject to Cassander. Antigonus had taken possession ofAsia and the eastern countries.Demetrius, the son of Antigonus, was defeated in the first engagement by Ptolemy, at [?]Gamala. In this action, the renown gained by Ptolemy for his moderation was greater than that which he obtained from the victory itself; for he let the friends of Demetrius depart, not only with their baggage, but with presents in addition; and he restored Demetrius himself all his private property, together with his family, making, at the same time, this honourable declaration, that " he had not engaged in the war for plunder, but for the maintenance of his own character, being indignant that when the leaders of the opposite faction were conquered, Antigonus claimed the fruits of their common victory for himself."
[15.2] L During these transactions,Cassander, returning fromApollonia, fell in with the Antariatae, who, having abandoned their country on account of the vast number of frogs and mice that infested it, were seeking a settlement. Fearing that they might possess themselves ofMacedonia, he made a compact with them, received them as allies, and assigned them lands at the extremity of the country. Afterwards, lestHeracles, the son ofAlexander, who had nearly completed his fourteenth year, should be called to the throne of Macedonia through the influence of his father's name, he sent secret orders that he should be put to death, together with his motherBarsine, and that their bodies should be privately buried in the earth lest the murder should be betrayed by a regular funeral. As if, too, he had previously incurred but small guilt, first in the case of the king himself, and afterwards in that of his motherOlympias and her son, he cut off his other son, and his motherRoxane, with similar treachery; as though he could not obtain the throne of Macedonia, to which he aspired, otherwise than by crime.
Ptolemy meanwhile engaged a second time withDemetrius at sea; and, having lost his fleet, and left the victory to the enemy, fled back to Egypt, whither Demetrius sent Leontiscus, the son of Ptolemy, his brotherMenelaus, and his friends, with all their baggage, being induced to this act by like kindness previously shown to himself; and that it might appear that they were stimulated, not by hatred, but by desire of glory and honour, they vied with one another, even amidst war itself, in kindnesses and services. So much more honourably were wars then conducted than private friendships are now maintained!
Antigonus, being elated with this victory, gave orders that he himself, as well as his son Demetrius, should be styled king by the people. Ptolemy also, that he might not appear of less authority among his subjects, was called king by his army. Cassander andLysimachus, too, when they heard of these proceedings, assumed regal dignity themselves. They all abstained, however, from taking the insignia of royalty, as long as any sons of their king survived. Such forbearance was there in them, that, though they had the power, they yet contentedly remained without the distinction of kings, while Alexander had a proper heir. But Ptolemy and Cassander, and the other leaders of the opposite faction, perceiving that they were individually weakened by Antigonus, while each regarded the war, not as the common concern of all, but as merely affecting himself, and all were unwilling to give assistance to one another, as if victory would be only for one, and not for all of them, appointed, after encouraging each other by letters, a time and place for an interview, and prepared for the contest with united strength. Cassander, being unable to join in it, because of a war near home, despatched Lysimachus to the support of his allies with a large force.
[15.3] L Lysimachus was of a noble family inMacedonia, but was exalted far above any nobility of birth by the proofs which he had given of personal merit, which was so great, that he excelled all those by whom the east was conquered, in greatness of mind, in philosophy, and in reputation for prowess. For whenAlexander the Great, in his anger, had pretended thatCallisthenes the philosopher, for his opposition to thePersian mode of doing obeisance, was concerned in a plot that had been formed against him, and, by cruelly mangling all his limbs, and cutting off his ears, nose, and lips, had rendered him a shocking and miserable spectacle, and had had him carried about, also, shut up in a cage with a dog, for a terror to others, Lysimachus, who was accustomed to listen to Callisthenes, and to receive precepts of virtue from him, took pity on so great a man, undergoing punishment, not for any crime, but for freedom of speech, and furnished him with poison to relieve him from his misery. At this act A1exander was so displeased, that he ordered Lysimachus to be exposed to a fierce lion; but when the beast, furious at the sight of him, had made a spring towards him, Lysimachus plunged his hand, wrapped in his cloak, into the lion's mouth, and, seizing fast hold of his tongue, killed him. This exploit being related to the king, his wonder at it ended in pleasure, and he regarded Lysimachus with more affection than before, on account of his extraordinary bravery. Lysimachus, likewise, endured the ill treatment of the king with magnanimity, as that of a parent. At last, when all recollection of this affair was effaced from the king's mind, Lysimachus was his only attendant in an excursion through vast heaps of sand, when he was in pursuit of some flying enemies, and had left his guards behind him in consequence of the swiftness of his horse. His brotherPhilippus, having previously attempted to do him the same service, had expired in the king's arms. Alexander, however, as he alighted from his horse, happened to wound Lysimachus in the forehead with the point of his spear, so severely that the blood could not by any means be stopped, till the king, taking off his diadem, placed it on his head by way of closing the wound; an act which was the first omen of royal dignity to Lysimachus. And after the death of Alexander, when the provinces were divided among his successors, the most warlike nations were assigned to Lysimachus as the bravest of them all; so far, by general consent, had he the pre-eminence over the rest in military merit.
[15.4] L Before the war withAntigonus was commenced byPtolemy and his allies,Seleucus, on a sudden, leaving the GreaterAsia, came forward as a fresh enemy to Antigonus. The merit of Seleucus was well known, and his birth had been attended with extraordinary circumstances. His motherLaodice, being married toAntiochus, a man of eminence amongPhilippus' generals, seemed to herself, in a dream, to have conceived from a union withApollo, and, after becoming pregnant, to have received from him, as a reward for her compliance, a ring, on the stone of which was engraved an anchor, and which she was desired to give to the child that she should bring forth. A ring similarly engraved, which was found the next day in the bed, and the figure of an anchor, which was visible on the thigh of Seleucus when he was born, made this dream extremely remarkable. This ring Laodice gave to Seleucus, when he was going withAlexander to thePersian. war, informing him, at the same time, of his paternity. After the death of Alexander, having secured dominion in the east, he built a city, where he established a memorial of his two-fold origin; for he called the cityAntioch from the name of his father Antiochus, and consecrated the plains near the city to Apollo. This mark of his paternity continued also among his descendants; for his sons and grandsons had an anchor on their thigh, as a natural proof or their extraction.
After the division of theMacedonian empire among the followers of Alexander, he carried on several wars in the east. He first tookBabylon, and then, his strength being increased by this success, subdued theBactrians. He next made an expedition intoIndia, which, after the death of Alexander, had shaken, as it were, the yoke of servitude from its neck, and put his governors to death. The author of this liberation wasSandrocottus, who afterwards however, turned their semblance of liberty into slavery; for, making himself king, he oppressed the people whom he had delivered from a foreign power, with a cruel tyranny. This man was of mean origin, but was stimulated to aspire to regal power by supernatural encouragement; for, having offended Alexander by his boldness of speech, and orders being given to kill him, he saved himself by swiftness of foot; and while he was lying asleep after his fatigue, a lion of great size having come up to him, licked off with his tongue the sweat that was running from him, and after gently waking him, left him. Being first prompted by this prodigy to conceive hopes or royal dignity, he drew together a band of robbers, and solicited theIndians to support his new sovereignty. Some time after, as he was going to war with the generals of Alexander, a wild elephant of great bulk presented itself before him of its own accord, and, as if tamed down to gentleness, took him on its back, and became his guide in the war, and conspicuous in fields of battle. Sandrocottus, having thus acquired a throne, was in possession of India, when Seleucus was laying the foundations of his future greatness; who, after making a league with him, and settling his affairs in the east, proceeded to join in the war against Antigonus. As soon as the forces, therefore, of all the confederates were united, a battle was fought, in which Antigonus was slain, and his sonDemetrius put to flight.
But the allied generals, after thus terminating the war with the enemy, turned their arms again upon each other; and, as they could not agree about the spoil, were divided into two parties. Seleucus joined Demetrius, and PtolemyLysimachus.Cassander dying,Philippus, his son, succeeded him. Thus new wars arose, as it were, from a fresh source, forMacedonia.
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