treated the Thebans with great severity. He placed a garrison in the _Cadmeia_. To Athens he granted favorable terms. Marching into Peloponnesus, he took from Sparta a large part of its territory, and apportioned it to the Messenians, Argives, and Arcadians. At a national assembly at _Corinth_, from which the Spartans were absent, Philip caused himself to be created leader of the Grecian forces against Persia, with the powers of a dictator. Each of the Greek states was to retain its autonomy; and a congress, to meet at Corinth, was to settle differences among them. Two years after the battle of Chaeronea, at the marriage festival of his daughter with the king of Epirus, Philip was assassinated by means of a conspiracy, in which his queen is thought to have been a partner. ALEXANDER THE GREAT.--Alexander was twenty years old when his father died. His bodily health and vigor qualified him for combats and toils which few soldiers in his army could endure. His energy, rapidity, and military skill lift him to a level with Hannibal and the foremost commanders of any age. He was not without a generous appreciation of art and literature. The great philosopher, _Aristotle_, was one of his tutors. For the eminent authors and artists of Greece he cherished a warm admiration. But his temper was passionate and imperious. _Homer_ was his delight, and in Homer he took Agamemnon for his model; but the direst act of cruelty done by Achilles--that of dragging _Hector_ after his chariot--he exceeded when he dragged _Batis_, a general who had opposed him, at the tail of his chariot through the streets of _Gaza_. Especially when his passions were inflamed by strong drink,--as at banquets, occasions where Macedonian princes before him had been wont to drink to excess,--he was capable of savage deeds.