The renowned conqueror of all the Greek states had not been happy in his own family and his own home. Philip, according to the practice of the east, had several wives, and his chief wife, Olympias, the mother of Alexander, was a woman of imperious and passionate nature, who prided herself on being a descendant of Achilles. When Philip married another wife there was a fearful scene at the marriage banquet between Philip and his son Alexander. Philip seized a sword, and rushed to slay his son; but his foot slipped, and he fell. Then said Alexander, "Behold the man who is about to pass from Europe to Asia, but who has been overthrown in going from one couch to another!" Alexander and his mother fled the country, and, although an insincere reconciliation was subsequently effected, they continued to retain an implacable resentment.

B. C. 336.

In the autumn of the year Philip was celebrating at Egæ, the ancient capital of Macedonia, the giving his daughter in marriage to the King of Epirus. Hither came many princes and deputies of cities, bringing gold crowns and costly presents to the king. Philip entertained them with music and banquets and theatrical performances. It was remembered afterwards that the player who recited an ode during the banquet had chosen one which spoke of pride, luxury, and ambition, and the stealthy approach of death, that cuts short all these things. It is also remarkable that when Philip, as the head of the Amphictyons, had asked the oracle of Delphi about the issue of his eastern expedition, the oracle had answered, "The bull is crowned, everything is ready, and the sacrificer is at hand." The day after the marriage Philip walked in a procession, clad in a white robe, and with a chaplet on his brow. In the words of the oracle, the bull was crowned, everything was ready, and the sacrificer was at hand. He was found in a young man who suddenly rushed out of the crowd and buried a long sword in the side of Philip, who fell dead. He was taken and slain before he could reach the place where horses were waiting for his escape. His name was Pausanias; it is not ascertained under what motive he committed the crime, whether through rage on account

of some private injury, or hired by the Persians, or bribed by Olympias. It is known that the proud, passionate queen was rejoiced at her husband's death, and the dark shadow of suspicion has been thrown, we would hope and believe unjustly, on their son Alexander.

Of the numerous great qualities of Philip in peace, in war, in administration, in debate, in policy, we have

already spoken, and it is unnecessary to add more. His career had rendered possible the subjugation of Persiaa task for which he was no less competent than his son. Indeed, the subjugation of Greece was probably a more difficult achievement than the subjugation of Persia. But these brilliant qualities only lend a false glitter and glow to his immoral and sinister career. It was the saying of the Stoic emperor, Aurelius Antoninus,

that the career of a conqueror was that of a simple robber. There is infinite truth in the remark. With all his extraordinary ability, Philip was little better than a murderer and robber on the highest scale. His guilt was intensified by the deliberate character of his schemes, and the remorseless perseverance with which he pursued his objects. But he showed in his great crimes the same cunning, selfishness, and vulgarity which the obscurest criminals can manifest. Unhappily such a career is not unparalleled in Christian ages, and among professedly Christian princes. Even the heart of a conscientious heathen could detect the wickedness of such a career. What blackness does it gather when contemplated in the sight of God's word and in the light of that awful moment, when the proudest criminals will stand at the bar of the King of kings, and Lord of lords!

CHAPTER XLVI.

ALEXANDER THE GREAT.

Ar the moment when Philip fell dead some one ran and placed the crown upon the brow of Alexander. The young king was at this time only in his twentieth year. He was a Macedonian rather than a Greek; but though non-Hellenic, he had received a large tincture of the culture, sentiment, and intelligence of the Greeks. He had enjoyed the inestimable advantage of the tutorship of Aristotle in an important period of his education. If Alexander, standing by the legendary grave of his boasted ancestor Achilles, could esteem him fortunate that he found a Homer to celebrate his praises, no less fortunate was Alexander in having Aristotle for his preceptor; for Aristotle is the greatest conqueror amongst the Greeks in the world of mind, annexing every known province of knowledge to his empire. At this time, when Alexander ascended the throne, another young prince also assumed the crown. This was the brave, handsome, amiable Codomannus, who, under the

name of Darius, was the last of the Persian kings. The history of the conflict between the youthful monarchs, a history rich with all the splendours of Oriental romance, is, properly speaking, external to Greek history. That history, indeed, as a particular subject, may almost be said to have come to an end on the disastrous field of Charonea. Henceforth Grecian history is merged in Macedonian history. Greece is only one province amid the many provinces of the Macedonian conqueror; she is no longer the centre of a system, but only the satellite of a greater luminary. In this decadence of political importance her intellectual might ripens to its full maturity. In philosophy and speculation Greece was never more active and fruitful than at the end of her political existence. After a time those great intellectual lights pale off, and though once or twice we come to a period that seems to recall the palmiest days of Hellas, yet the days of classical Greek history are over.

There were general rejoicings in Greece when the death of Philip was known. Demosthenes energetically exhorted the Greeks to strike for freedom. Men little suspected the mighty capabilities of the "boy of Pella." They thought that with the death of Philip his power would fall to pieces. Phocion, with his rough honesty, told the Athenians that such signs of joy argued a mean spirit, and grimly remarked that the army of Philip was only less by a single man. This last remark, however, surely involved a fallacy. Such a memorable instance as that of Epaminondas might well show how an army becomes ineffective when its general is lost. The Duke of Wellington used to reckon that the presence of Napoleon with an army was equivalent to an addition of forty thousand men. The activity displayed by Alexander, and the large force at his command, soon reduced the revolting states to obedience. The Athenians made many excuses, which were graciously received by Alexander, who only demanded that they should send deputies to the forthcoming congress of Corinth. At this congress, deputies from all the Greek states were present, except from Sparta, which steadily held aloof, and whose refusal-so low was the name of Sparta fallen--was of exceedingly slight consequence. The congress was ap

pointed to administer the affairs of Greece during the approaching absence of Alexander, and it actually did so during the whole of his reign.

Alexander's first military efforts were made against the warlike barbaric tribes who bordered on the northern, western, and north-eastern ports of Macedonia. He conquered the Triballians, at whose hands his father had suffered so much, scaled Mount Hamus, passed the Danube, and spread terror among the tribes on its farther bank. While he was victoriously carrying on war against the Illyrians, rumours began to circulate in Greece that he had been defeated and slain. It is possible that his courier had been cut off among the mountains and robbers of Thrace, and one liar came forward who said that he himself had seen Alexander killed. The report was eagerly credited, and Thebes prepared to throw off the Macedonian yoke. Had Athens assisted her at this critical conjuncture, it is possible that an effectual barrier might have been created against the return of Alexander into Greece; but the Athenians, dissuaded by Phocion and Demades, ungenerously kept aloof. Directly Alexander heard what had happened, he commenced a rapid march, and soon appeared before the walls of Thebes. Alexander first offered amicable terms, and when these were rejected he took the town by storm. The sack of Thebes was accompanied with every circumstance of frightful wrong and indiscriminate massacre. Thebes was razed to the ground, with the exception of the Cadmea, which was to be occupied as a Macedonian military post; the captives-men, women, and children-were sold as slaves; those who escaped were treated as outlaws, to be punished by death, and all Greek cities were interdicted from harbouring or receiving them.

The savage barbarity of mere physical brute force has been never more evident than in this destruction of the city of Pelopidas and Epaminondas. The only lenity imported into this terrible extermination was that Alexander spared the house of Pindar, the poet. A violent shock was given to Greek feeling wherever the tidings of this bad deed travelled. It is to the credit of the Athenians that they asked and obtained leave to