these insupportable tyrants, went over to him. He then marched directly for Memphis, the capital of the kingdom; when, coming to a battle, he defeated the Persians, and shut them up in the city. But, after he had gained this victory, having neglected to keep his soldiers together, they straggled up and down in search of plunder; which the enemy seeing, sallied out upon such as remained, and cut them to pieces, with Amyntas their leader. This event, so far from lessening the aversion the Egyptians had for the Persians, increased it still more; so that the moment Alexander appeared upon the frontiers, the people, who were all disposed to receive that monarch, ran in crowds to submit to him. His arrival, at the head of a powerful army, presented them with a secure protection, which Amyntas could not afford them; and, from this consideration, they all declared openly in his favour. Mazæus, who commanded in Memphis, finding it would be to no purpose for him to resist so great a force, and that Darius, his sovereign, was not in a condition to succour him, set open the gates of the city to the conqueror, and gave up 800 talents, about 120,000. and all the king's furniture. Thus, Alexander possessed himself of all Egypt, without meeting with the least opposition. At Memphis he formed a design of visiting the temple of JupiterAmmon. This temple was situated in the midst of the sandy deserts of Libya, and twelve days' journey from Memphis. Hani, the son of Noah, first peopled Egypt and Libya, after the flood; and when idolatry began to gain ground in the world some time after, he was the chief deity of these two countries, in which his descendants had continued. A temple was built to his honour in the midst of these deserts, upon a spot of pretty good ground, about two leagues broad,† which formed a kind of island in a sea of sand. It is he whom the Greeks called Zes, Jupiter,‡ and the Egyptians Ammon. In process of time these two names were joined, and he was called Jupiter-Ammon. The motive of this journey, which was equally rash and dan gerous, was owing to a ridiculous vanity. Alexander having reas in Homer, and other fabulous authors of antiquity, that most of their heroes were represented as sons of some deity; and, as he himself was desirous of passing for a hero, he was determined to have some god for his father. Accordingly, he fixed upon Jupiter-Ammor for this purpose, and began by bribing the priests, and teaching them the part they were to act. It would have been to no purpose, had any one endeavoured to divert him from a design which was great in no other circumstance than the pride and extravagance that gave birth to it. Puffed up Forty furlongs. *Plin. lib. v. c. 9. For this reason the city of Egypt, which the Scriptures* call No-Ammon (the city of Ham or of Ammon) is called by the Greeks Aarons, or the city of Jupiter. Jerem xlvi 25. Ezek. xxx 15. Nahum ili. & with his victories, he had already begun to assume, as Plutarch observes, that character of tenaciousness and inflexibility which will do nothing but command; which cannot suffer advice, and much less bear opposition; which knows neither obstacles nor dangers; which makes the beautiful to consist in impossibility; in a word, which fancies itself able to overcome, not only enemies, but time, place, and the whole order of nature; the usual effect of a long series of prosperity, which subdues the strongest, and makes them at length forget that they are men We ourselves have seen a famous conqueror,* who prided himself upon treading in the steps of Alexander, carry farther than he had ever done this kind of savage heroism; and lay it down as a maxim to himself, never to recede from his resolution. A. M. 3673. Alexander therefore sets out; and going down Ant. J. C. 331. the river from Memphis till he came to the sea, he coasts along it; and, after having passed Canopus, he observes, opposite to the island of Pharos, a spot which seemed to him very well situated for the building of a city. He himself drew the plan of it, and marked out the several places where the temples and public squares were to be erected. For the building it, he employed Dinocrates the architect, who had acquired great reputation by his rebuilding, at Ephesus, the temple of Diana, which Herostratus had burnt. This city he called after his own name Alexandria, and it afterwards rose to be the capital of the kingdom. As its harbour, which was very commodious, had the Mediterranean on one side, and the Nile and the Red Sea in its neighbourhood, it drew all the traffic of the east and west; and thereby became, in a very little time, one of the most flourishing cities in the universe. Alexander had a journey to go of 1600 stadia, or fourscore French leagues, to the temple of Jupiter-Ammon; and most of the way was through sandy deserts. The soldiers were patient enough for the first two days' march, before they arrived in the extensive dreadful solitudes; but as soon as they found themselves in vast plains, covered with sands of a prodigious depth, they were seized with terror. Surrounded, as with a sea, they gazed round as far as their sight could extend, to discover, if possible, some place that was inhabited; but all in vain, for they could not perceive so much as a single tree, nor the least footsteps of any land that had been cultivated. To increase their calamity, the water, that they had brought in goat-skins, upon camels, now failed; and there was not so much as a single drop in all that sandy desert. They therefore were reduced to the sad condition of dying almost with thirst; not to mention the danger they were in of being buried under mountains of sand, that are sometimes raised by the winds; and which had formerly destroyed 50,000 of Cambyses's troops. Every thing was by this time scorched to so violent a degree, and the air be Charles XII. king of Sweden came so hot, that the men could scarcely breathe; when, on a sud den, whether by chance, say the historians, or the immediate indulgence of heaven, the sky was so completely overspread with thick clouds, that they hid the sun, which was a great relief to the But the storm army; though they were still in want of water. having discharged itself in a violent rain, every soldier got as much as he wanted; and some were so parched with thirst, that they stood with their mouths open, and catched the rain as it fell. The judicious reader knows what judgment he is to form of these marvellous incidents, with which historians have thought proper to embellish this relation. They were several days in crossing these deserts; and upon their arriving near the place where the oracle stood, they perceived a great number of ravens flying before the most advanced standard. These ravens, sometimes, flew to the ground when the army marched slowly; and, at other times, advanced forward, as if it were to serve them as guides, till they, at last, came to the temple of the god. A very surprising circumstance is, that although this oracle be situated in the midst of an almost boundless solitude, it nevertheless is surrounded with a grove, so very shady, that the sun-beams can scarcely pierce it; not to mention that this grove is watered with several springs of fresh water, which preserve it in perpetual verdure. It is related, that near this grove there is another, in the midst of which there is a fountain, called the water, or fountain of the sun. At day-break it is lukewarm, at noon cold; but in the evening it grows warmer, by degrees, and at midnight is boiling hot; after this, as day approaches, it decreases in heat, and continues this vicissitude for ever. The god, who is worshipped in this temple, is not represented under the form which painters and sculptors generally give to gods; for he is made of emeralds, and other precious stones, and from the head to the navel resembles a ram.* The king being come into the temple, the senior priest declared him to be the son of Jupiter; and assured him that the god himself bestowed this name upon him. Alexander accepted it with joy, and acknowledged Jupiter as his father. He afterwards asked the priest, whether his father Jupiter had not allotted him the empire of the whole world? To which the priest, who was as much a flatterer as the king was vainglorious, answered, that he should be monarch of the universe. At last he inquired, whether all his father's murderers had been punished; but the priest replied, that he blasphemed; that his father was immortal; but tha: with regard to the murderers of Philip, they had all been extirpated; adding, that he should be invincible, and afterwards take his seat among the deities. Having ended his sacrifice, he offered magnificent presents to the god, and did not forget the priests, who had served his purpose so well. *This passage in Quintis Curtius is pretty difficult, and is variously explained by interpreters. I E Decorated with the splendid title of the son of Jupiter, and fancying himself raised above the human species, he returned from his journey as from a triumph. From that time, in all his letters, his orders, and decrees, he always assumed this title; ALEXANDER, KING, SON OF JUPITER-AMMON ;* in answer to which, Olympias, his mother, one day made a very witty remonstrance in few words, by desiring him not to engage her in any quarrels with Juno. Whilst Alexander was indulging himself in these chimeras, and tasting the great pleasure his vanity made him conceive from this pompous title, every one derided him in secret; and some, who had not yet put on the yoke of abject flattery, ventured to reproach him upon that account; but they paid very dear for that liberty, as the sequel will show. Not satisfied with endeavouring to pass for the son of a god, and of being himself persuaded, if indeed this were possible, that he really was such, he would also pass for a god himself; till at last, Providence, having brought to pass through him the events of which he was chosen to be the instrument, brought him to his end, and thereby levelled him with the rest of mortals. Alexander, upon his return from the temple of Jupiter-Ammon, being arrived at the Palus Mareotis, which was not far from the island of Pharos, made a visit to his new city, the building of which was already far advanced. He took the best methods possible to people it, inviting thither persons from all quarters, to whom he offered the most advantageous conditions. He drew to it,† among others, a considerable number of Jews, by allowing them very great privileges; for he not only left them the free exercise of their religion and laws, but put them on the same foot in every respect with the Macedonians whom he settled there. From thence he went to Memphis, where he spent the winter. Varro observes, that at the time this king built Alexandria, the use of papyrus (for writing) was found in Egypt. During Alexander's stay in Memphis, he settled the affairs of Egypt, suffering none but Macedonians to command the troops. He divided the country into districts, over each of which he appointed a lieutenant, who received orders from himself only; not thinking it safe to intrust the general command of all the troops to one single person, in so large and populous a country. With regard to the civil government, he invested one Doloaspes, an Egyptian, with the whole power of it; for being desirous that Egypt should still be governed by its ancient laws and customs, he was of opinion that a native of Egypt, to whom they must be familiar, was fitter for that office than any foreigner whatsoever. To nasten the building of his new city, he appointed Cieomenes inspector over it; with orders for him to levy the tribute which Arabia was to pay. But this Cleomenes was a very wicked wretch, * Varro apud A. Gell. I. xiii. c. 4. † Joseph. contra Appion. 1 Arrian, I who abused his authority, and oppressed the people with the utmost barbarity. SECT. VIII. Alexander, after his return from Egypt, resolves to go in pursuit of Darius. At his setting out he hears of the death of that monarch's queen. He causes to be paid her the honours which were due to her rank. He passes the Euphrates and Tigris, and comes up with Darius. The famous battle of Arbela. Alexander having settled the affairs of Egypt,* set out from thence in the spring, to march into the East against Darius. In his way through Palestine, he heard news which gave him great uneasiness. At his going into Egypt, he had appointed Andromachus, whom he highly esteemed, governor of Syria and Palestine. Andromachus coming to Samaria to settle some affairs in that country, the Samaritans mutinied; and setting fire to the house in which he was, burnt him alive. It is very probable, that this was occasioned by the rage with which that people were fired, at their having been denied the same privileges that had been granted the Jews, their enemies. Alexander was highly exasperated against them for this cruel action, and accordingly he put to death all those who had any hand in it, banished the rest from the city of Samaria, supplying their room with a colony of Macedonians, and divided the rest of their lands among the Jews. A. M. 3673. He made some stay in Tyre, to settle the various affairs of the countries he left behind him, in his progress towards new conquests. He was scarce set out, when an eunuch brought Ant. J. C. 331. word, that Darius's consort was just dead. Hearing this, he returned back, and went into the tent of Sysigambis, whom he found bathed in tears, and lying on the ground, in the midst of the young princesses, who also were weeping; and near them the son of Darius, a child, who was the more worthy of compassion, as he was less sensible to evils, which concerned him more than any other. Alexander consoled them in so kind and tender a manner, as plainly showed that he himself was deeply and sincerely afflicted. He caused her funeral obsequies to be performed with the utmost splendour and magnificence. One of the eunuchs who superintended the chamber, and who had been taken with the princesses, fled from the camp, and ran to Darius, whom he informed of his consort's death. The Persian monarch was seized with the most violent affliction upon hearing this news, particularly, as he supposed she would not be allowed the funeral ceremonies due to her exalted rank. But the eunuch undeceived him on this occasion, by telling him the honours which Alexander 685. *Diod. 1. xvii. p. 530-536. Arrian. 1. iii. p. 111-127. Plutarch in Alex. p. 681Q. Curt. I. iv. c. 9-16. Justin. 1. xi. c. 12-14. Ob id ipsum miserabilis, quòd nondum sentiebat calamitatem, maximâ ex parte ad icsum redundantem. Q. Curt. |