The World's Greatest Books — Volume 11 — Ancient and Mediæval History
History
The World's Greatest Books — Volume 11 — Ancient and Mediæval History
History, Ancient; Middle Ages
Going back to the north of Greece, the semi-Hellenic Macedon with a
Hellenic dynasty was growing powerful. Philip--father of Alexander the
Great--was now king, and was resolved to make himself the head of the
Greek world. His great opponent is found in the person of the Athenian
orator Demosthenes, who saw that Philip was aiming at ascendancy, but
generally failed to persuade the Athenians to recognise the danger in
which they stood. Philip gradually achieved his immediate end of being
recognised as the captain-general of the Hellenes, and their leader in a
new Persian war, when his life was cut short by an assassin, and he was
succeeded by his youthful son Alexander.
The Greek states, awakening to their practical subjection, would have
thrown off the new yoke, but the young king with swift and overwhelming
energy swept down from Thrace upon Thebes, the centre of resistance, and
stamped it out. He had already conceived, in part at least, his vast
schemes of Asiatic conquest; while he lived, Greece had practically no
distinguishable history. She is merely an appendage to Macedon.
Everything is absorbed in the Macedon conqueror. With an army incredibly
small for the task before him, he entered Asia Minor, and routed the
Persian forces on the river Granicus. The Greek Memnon, the one able
leader for the Persians, would have organised against him a destructive
naval power; but death removed him.
Alexander dispersed the armies of the Persian king Darius at the Issus,
captured Tyre after a remarkable siege, and took easy possession of
Egypt, where he founded Alexandria. Having organised the administration
of the conquered territories, he marched to the Euphrates, but did not
engage the enormous Persian hosts till he found and shattered them at
the battle of Gaugamela, also called Arbela. Darius fled, and Alexander
swept on to Babylon, to Susa, to Persepolis, assuming the functions of
the "Great King." The fugitive Darius was assassinated. Alexander
henceforth assumed a new and oriental demeanour; but he continued his
conquests, crossing the Hindoo Koosh to Bactria, and then bursting into
the Punjab. But his ambitions were ended by his death, and their
fulfilment, not at all according to his designs, was left to the
"Diadochi," the generals among whom the conquered dominions were parted.
Athens led the revolt against Macedonian supremacy, but in vain.
Demosthenes, condemned by the conquering Antipater, took poison. The
remainder of the history is that of the blotting out of Hellas and of
Hellenism.
* * * * *
HEINRICH SCHLIEMANN
Troy and Its Remains
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account