Kitabı oku: «The Boys' Book of Rulers», sayfa 7
The death of Parmenio and his son, in this violent manner, raised much unfavorable feeling against Alexander.
Another case exemplifies the wicked deeds of Alexander when under the influence of wine, and puffed up with vain-glorious pride.
One of his oldest and most faithful generals, named Clitus, was present at one of the frequent banquets given by Alexander. That monarch, excited with wine, had been boastfully recounting his own exploits, and had spoken disparagingly of those of his father Philip in comparison. Clitus, also heated with wine, began to praise Philip, under whom he had fought; and then growing bolder, he upbraided Alexander for the death of Parmenio. Alexander, frenzied with wine and rage, seized a javelin, hurled it at Clitus, and struck him down, saying, “Go then, and join Philip and Parmenio.” Alexander, as soon as he came to himself, was overwhelmed with remorse and shame. He could not, however, restore Clitus to life, or remove the disgrace from his own name.
Alexander continued for two or three years his expeditions and conquests in Asia. He penetrated into India as far as the banks of the Indus. But his soldiers refused to go further. He made an address to his army, but he could not change their decision. At last one of his officers said to him: —
“We have done all for you that it was possible for man to do. We have crossed seas and land. We have marched to the end of the world, and you are now meditating the conquest of another, by going in search of new Indias, unknown to the Indians themselves. Such a thought may be worthy of your courage and resolution, but it surpasses ours, and our strength still more. Look at these ghastly faces, and these bodies covered with wounds and scars. Remember how numerous we were when first we set out with you, and see how few of us remain. The few who have escaped so many toils and dangers have neither courage nor strength to follow you any further. They all long to revisit their country and their homes, and to enjoy for the remainder of their lives the fruits of all their toils. Forgive them these desires so natural to man.”
Alexander was bitterly disappointed, but found himself obliged to relinquish further conquest. He returned to Babylon, where his triumphal entrance was a scene of magnificence and gorgeous splendor.
But his life soon evinced the hopeless degradation into which he had fallen. He not only indulged in vice himself, but encouraged others to follow his evil example. He would offer prizes at his banquets to those who would drink the most, thus causing forty deaths at one of his entertainments.
Alexander now entered upon a life of the most effeminate luxury and profligate dissipation. He separated himself more and more from his old Macedonian friends, and delighted in Persian associates. He married Statira, the eldest daughter of Darius, and gave the youngest daughter to his particular friend Hephæstion, who was his chosen companion in all his drunken revels.
Alexander’s habits of intoxication and vice rapidly increased. On one occasion, after he had spent a whole night in drinking and carousing, some of the guests proposed that they should begin a second banquet instead of retiring.
Alexander half intoxicated, agreed. There were twenty present at this new feast. Alexander, to show how much he was able to drink, pledged each one separately, and then all together.
There was a very large cup, called the bowl of Hercules, which he now called for, and having filled it to the brim, he drank it off, and again filled the huge bowl, and again drank the entire contents. His strength soon failed him, and he sank to the floor.
They bore him away to his apartments. A violent fever followed this terrible debauch, which his physicians in vain tried to allay. At last, finding he must die, he drew his signet ring off from his finger; this was the token that he felt all was over. He handed the ring to one of his friends, saying, “When I am gone, take my body to the temple of Jupiter Ammon, and inter it there.”
Being asked to whom he left his kingdom, he replied: “To the most worthy.” Thus died Alexander the Great, at the age of thirty-two.
Preparations were now made to convey his body with royal pomp to its last resting-place, in accordance with his orders.
A very large and magnificent funeral carriage was built. “The spokes of the wheels were overlaid with gold, and the axles were adorned upon the outside with massive golden ornaments. The platform, or floor, of the carriage was eighteen feet long and twelve feet wide. Upon this there was erected a magnificent pavilion, supported by Ionic columns, profusely ornamented, both within and without, with purple and gold. The interior of the pavilion was resplendent with gems and precious stones.
“A throne was raised in the centre of the platform, richly carved and gilded. It was empty; but the crowns of the various nations over which Alexander had ruled were hung upon it. At the foot of the throne was the coffin, made of solid gold, containing the remains of the great conqueror. The arms of Alexander were placed between the throne and the coffin.
“On the four sides of the carriage were sculptured figures representing Alexander. There were Macedonian soldiers, Persian squadrons, elephants of India, troops of horse, and various other emblems of the departed hero’s conquests, sculptured upon this magnificent funeral carriage. Around the pavilion was a network of golden lace, to which bells were attached, which tolled mournfully as the carriage moved slowly along. Sixty-four mules, selected for their great size, drew this ponderous car. Their harness was mounted with gold and enriched with precious stones.”
Notwithstanding all this gorgeous pomp, the body of Alexander never reached its first destination. Ptolemy, the officer, to whom Egypt was given in the division of Alexander’s empire, came forth to meet this solemn procession, and preferring that the body of Alexander should be buried in the city of Alexandria, it was interred there, and an imposing monument was erected over his grave. This monument is said to have remained standing for fifteen hundred years, though no remains of it are to be found.
The most fitting comment upon the life and character of Alexander the Great will be found in these brief words of Napoleon Bonaparte, who said of Alexander: “He commenced his career with the mind of Trajan, but closed it with the heart of Nero and the morals of Heliogabalus.”
JULIUS CÆSAR
100-44 B.C
“The elements
So mix’d in him, that Nature might stand up
And say to all the world, This was a man!”
Shakespeare.
THERE was wild tumult in the ancient city of Rome. The populace thronged the streets, carrying stones and bludgeons. Armed troops hurried hither and thither. The members of the Senate, a sort of House of Lords, were assembled in confusion; and their blanched faces denoted the terror which rendered them powerless to help. Several of the principal citizens had been murdered, and the other Roman lords, or patricians, knew not how soon their doom might come. But who was their terrible foe? Had some wild barbarian horde invaded their land and taken possession of their proud and magnificent city? Why did the nobles and men of rank tremble; and why were the common people roused to this wild outburst of fury?
It was no barbarian enemy, but civil discord amongst themselves, which thus filled the streets with murderers and the patricians with terror. Two powerful rivals were fighting for the possession of the Eternal City, which, at that time, was mistress of the world.
Marius, the plebian, or champion of the common people, had roused the populace to fight against Sylla, the patrician, who had been absent with his army in Italy. Sylla had been appointed by the Senate to command the forces which were to wage war with Mithridates, a powerful Asiatic monarch. But during his absence, his enemy, Marius, had contrived to have this appointment revoked, and to gain for himself this coveted command. Two officers, called tribunes, were sent to Sylla’s camp, to inform him of this advantage which his rival had gained over him. Sylla killed the two officers for daring to bring him such a message, and immediately marched towards Rome.
Marius, in retaliation, caused some of Sylla’s friends in the city to be put to death, and with his bands of soldiers endeavored to resist the entrance of Sylla and his army by throwing stones upon the troops from the roofs of the houses as they entered the city. Sylla then ordered every house to be set on fire, from which missiles had been thrown, and thus the helpless citizens were endangered by lawless and infuriated mobs on the one side, and relentless flames on the other. Marius was conquered, and obliged to flee for his life. He was an old man of seventy years of age. The Senate declared him a public enemy, and offered a large sum for his head. Alone and friendless, Marius wandered from place to place, enduring the greatest privations, and encountering many dangers, till at last he crossed the Mediterranean Sea, and took refuge in a poor hut among the ruins of ancient Carthage. Surely it would seem that his days of conquest were over. Alone, starving, helpless, old, and banished, with a heavy price set upon his head, his fortunes seemed indeed hopeless.
Leaving this fallen champion in his hut, amidst the ruins of a past power which could only remind him of his own hopeless prospects, we must return to the city of Rome, and look upon another scene.
A religious procession is wending its way through the famous Forum. This Forum was a magnificent square, surrounded by splendid edifices and adorned with sculptures and statues and many gorgeous trophies of past victories. There were vast colonnades forming covered porticoes, where the populace assembled and where courts of justice were held. This Forum was constantly embellished with new monuments, temples, statues, arches, and columns by the successful generals, as they returned in triumph from foreign campaigns. Here the various orators delivered their famous orations which inflamed the people to arms, or moved them to wild outbursts of enthusiastic applause in favor of some successful candidate, or calmed their boisterous tumult into silent and breathless attention to the impassioned and eloquent words which fell from the lips of these intellectual monarchs over the minds of their less gifted countrymen. It is night now in this great public square, and as the procession of priests and attendants slowly pass beneath a row of majestic colonnades and enter one of the temples, we note the face and figure of the foremost one. He is scarcely more than a boy, but he wears the purple robe called læna, and a conical mitre known as the apex, which mark his distinguished rank as holding the office of Flamen Dialis, or High Priest of Jupiter. This youth, seventeen years of age, is tall and fair, and though slender in form, is handsome and noble in bearing. He is descended from patrician families of high rank and proud position; and as he passes within the portal of the sacred temple, the beholder would involuntarily cast upon him an admiring glance, and if a stranger, would surely inquire who was this comely, noble youth who so early in life was distinguished by so high an office and royal bearing.
Again we enter the Forum, but it is now high noon. A noted orator has ascended the pulpit, where public speakers were accustomed to stand when addressing the assemblies. This pulpit was ornamented with brazen beaks of ships, which had been taken by the Romans in their many wars. Such a beak was named a rostrum, and the pulpit so adorned was called the Rostra, or the Beaks, – often termed in modern books a rostrum. As the orator of the day began to speak, a youth might have been seen pressing through the crowd, and listening with wrapt attention to the eloquent words which fell from the speaker’s lips. As the burst of impassioned appeal became more persuasive, the dark eyes of the youth flashed with responsive fire, and his cheek glowed with a flush of kindling enthusiasm. Though he wears now the robes of a Roman patrician, we recognize him as the same person whom we beheld at midnight entering the temple in the attire of a High Priest of Jupiter.
Again the scene changes to midnight, but it is not in the Roman Forum, but at a grand feast in one of the sumptuous palaces of a Roman lord. Amidst a party of gay and joyous young men, seemingly intent only upon luxurious pleasures, we see once more the face and figure of this same youth who has already so attracted our interest and admiration. Priest, student, devotée of pleasure, little did his companions or acquaintances imagine that this young Julius Cæsar, patrician born, but at the same time personally inclined towards the plebeian party, would become Julius Cæsar, future Master of Rome, and therefore ruler of nearly all of the then known world. This Julius Cæsar became the greatest hero of Roman history, and ranks as one of the three heroes of ancient days, – Alexander of the Greeks, Hannibal of the Carthaginians, and Julius Cæsar of the Romans, forming the famous trio.
Again we must return to the old exile among the ruins of Carthage. One day he is awakened from his hopeless despondency by wild rumors from Rome. His rival and enemy, Sylla, had equipped a fleet and sailed away to wage war with Mithridates. The friends of Marius now rally again, and the old exile is brought back from Africa in triumph and given the command of a large army. As he pretended to be the friend of the common people, they flocked to his standard. Vast multitudes of revolted slaves, outlaws, and desperadoes joined his forces, which now advanced toward Rome. As soon as Marius gained possession of the city, he began a dreadful work of murder and destruction. He beheaded one of the consuls, and ordered his head to be set up as a spectacle of horror in the public square. Blood ran like a red river in the streets of Rome. Patricians of the highest rank and station were everywhere seized without warning, without trial, and put to torture and death.
It is midnight in the great city, and under cover of the darkness, the evil deeds of blood-thirsty men, fired by hatred and lawless ambition, are renewed with fresh ferocity.
Against his bitterest enemies Marius contrived special modes of execution, in order to wreak upon them his insatiable revenge for his exile, and consequent sufferings and privations.
See! a party of men, composed of soldiers, and an enfuriated mob of people are dragging a lord of noble rank up to the top of a high rock, known as the Tarpeian Rock, from the summit of which state criminals were hurled down the precipice, upon sharp rocks below, where they were left to die in awful torture. This patrician, or Roman noble, had incurred the especial animosity of Marius, and so by his orders, the proud old man is torn from family and friends; and without trial, with the senate powerless to help, he is dragged here at midnight to suffer the ignominious and terrible death of a state criminal. This noted Tarpeian Rock still stands in Rome, and it received its name from this ancient story. In early times there was a Roman girl, named Tarpeia, living in the ancient city, when it was besieged by an army from a neighboring country. The soldiers of the besieging forces wore golden bracelets upon their arms, as well as shields; and upon demanding that Tarpeia should open the gates to them, she declared that if they would give her, “those things they wore upon their arms,” she would comply with their demands. She meant, of course, their bracelets; but not knowing the word by which they were designated, she brought upon herself a fearful doom. The soldiers agreed to grant her desire, and so she opened to them the gates. As they passed within, they threw their shields upon the poor girl, in proud derision, instead of giving her the coveted bracelets, exclaiming, “Here are the things we wear upon our arms.” Tarpeia was crushed to death beneath the weight of the ponderous shields; and so the spot where she fell became a rock of blood, and was ever afterwards called, in remembrance of her sad fate, the Tarpeian Rock. There is a further legend connected with this spot, for some of the ignorant people believe that in the interior of one of the many caverns, which have been found perforating this rock, Tarpeia still sits, enchanted, covered with gold and jewels. But should any one attempt to find her, he is fated to lose his way, and never to return from his reckless adventure. But the bloody triumph of Marius was of short duration. He was seized with a fatal sickness, and the cruel tyrant was obliged to meet an enemy he could not conquer. Death meted out to him some of the horrible torments he had inflicted upon others, as he died in delirious ravings, haunted by the presence of phantom foes. His son Marius assumed his father’s power; but Sylla, having returned from the Asiatic wars, and in his turn taking possession of the city of Rome, the followers of Marius were put to death with the same ferocity with which they had murdered others, and Sylla even exceeded the bloody deeds which had so brutally been performed by his hated rival. Thus the city of Rome was again plunged into wild confusion, and the scenes of murder and massacre, with all their shocking horrors, were re-enacted.
It is at this time that the young Julius Cæsar first becomes a prominent figure in that bloody drama. Although Julius Cæsar was a patrician by birth, he was favorable to the plebian party. The elder Marius had married his aunt, and Cæsar himself had married a daughter of Cinna, who was four times consul, and was a powerful and ardent partisan of the party of Marius. Julius Cæsar, although at this time a very young man, was too prominent a person to be overlooked by Sylla, in his vengeance against the plebian party. The friends of Julius Cæsar tried to plead his youth with Sylla, saying that surely such a mere boy could do no harm. But Sylla had marked the aspiring spirit of the young nobleman, who with all his love of gayety and pleasure had not neglected his studies, and who was already gaining the dangerous reputation of an eloquent orator. Sylla now demanded that Julius Cæsar should divorce his wife Cornelia, the daughter of Cinna. Cæsar absolutely refused, partly from devotion to his wife, and partly from a proud indomitable spirit, which thus early was a prominent trait in his character, and which made him brave any danger rather than allow himself to be controlled. Knowing that punishment for his refusal to comply with the commands of Sylla would be destruction, Cæsar fled from Rome. Sylla deprived him of his rank and titles, confiscated the property of his wife and his own estates, and placed his name on the list of public enemies.
Cæsar was now a fugitive and exile. He was also suffering from intermittent fever, and was obliged to seek some new place of refuge each day, as a price was set upon his head. He was at one time seized by a centurion, but Cæsar offered him a bribe sufficient to secure his release. After various adventures, he wandered into Asia Minor, and coming to the kingdom of Bithynia, he joined himself to the court of the king Nicomedes, and remained some time in that country. After leaving Bithynia, Julius Cæsar, while sailing near the isle of Pharmacusa, was taken prisoner by some pirates from a mountainous country called Cilicia. These Cilician pirates were half sailors and half mountaineers. They built swift galleys, and made excursions over the Mediterranean Sea for conquest and plunder. Cæsar asked the pirates what sum they demanded for his ransom. They replied twenty talents, whereupon Cæsar laughed at such a paltry sum being considered sufficient for his ransom, and told them they evidently did not know who he was. He then declared he would give them fifty talents, and forthwith sent all of his companions and attendants to the shore to go to the cities where he was known, and secure the sum required. Meanwhile he boldly remained among these rough men, with no attendants but a physician and two servants. Cæsar now assumed command over his very captors, giving orders, and demanding quiet when he wished to sleep. He joined them in their sports, and wrote and read orations to them as though he was their ruler. His boldness and skill elicited their profound admiration. The pirates one day asked him what he would do to them if he should ever capture them after obtaining his own release. He replied laughingly that he would crucify them all. This, though a seeming jest, was well fulfilled. His attendants, having returned with the ransom money, Julius Cæsar was released. He proceeded immediately to Miletus, equipped a small fleet, then sailed back to the place where the ships of the pirates still lay at anchor, and having attacked them, he recovered the ransom money, seized their ships, and took all the men prisoners. He carried his captives to the land, and having cut all their throats he hung their dead bodies upon crosses, in fulfilment of his threat.
Julius Cæsar then went to Rhodes, where his former teacher Apollonius, a noted philosopher and rhetorician, resided. Cicero was also one of the pupils of this philosopher. Cæsar at length obtained pardon from Sylla, through the intercession of the vestal virgins and some of his friends. When Sylla at last yielded to their importunity, he exclaimed, “Your suit is granted; but know that this man, for whose safety you are so extremely anxious, will some day or other be the ruin of the party of the nobles, in defence of which you are leagued with me, for in this one Cæsar you will find many a Marius.” Sylla had since died, and though the aristocratical party were still in the ascendency, the party of Marius were recovering somewhat from their overthrow.
Julius Cæsar now returned to Rome, and boldly espoused the popular cause. His first public act was the arraignment of Dolabella, governor of the province of Macedonia. When the trial came on Cæsar appeared in the Forum, and gained great applause for his eloquence and daring. Dolabella was defended by noted orators, and was acquitted by the Senate. But Julius Cæsar had displayed his marvellous powers of eloquence, which immediately gave him great renown.
Cæsar now devoted himself to public speaking in the Forum, and acquired much celebrity. He pronounced a splendid panegyric upon the wife of Marius at her funeral; and also upon his wife Cornelia, who died soon after. Cæsar now became ambitious of securing public offices, and lavished large sums in shows and spectacles to amuse the people and secure their votes. He thus became deeply involved in debt, but he was still successful in rising from one office to still higher positions, until he obtained that of quæstor in the province of Spain. This was the second office in command, the first officer being called a prætor. During his absence in Spain, Cæsar beheld a statue of Alexander the Great, which adorned one of the public buildings in the city of Cadiz, or Hades, as it was then called. Cæsar was now about thirty-five years of age, and reflecting upon the conquests of Alexander, who had died when only thirty-two years of age, Cæsar sighed over his own tardy accomplishment of his lofty ambitions, and leaving his post, returned to Rome, determined to seek higher honors.
He was chosen ædile by the people. He now had charge of the public edifices of the city, and of the games and spectacles which were exhibited in them. The arrangements made by him for the amusement of the people were on the most magnificent and extravagant scale. He exhibited three hundred and twenty pair of gladiators, and he made great additions to the public buildings. He now endeavored to have Egypt assigned to him as a province; but the senate resisted this plan, and Cæsar was obliged to abandon it. About this time, Cæsar obtained a triumph over the senate, who were very jealous of his increasing power. He replaced the statues and trophies of Marius in the capital, which had been taken down and destroyed by the order of Sylla when he returned to power. In their place, Cæsar had ordered magnificent new ones to be made, and put up secretly in the night. The senate endeavored to take them down again, but the people rallied in such vast numbers, as to prevent the work of destruction, and Cæsar was triumphant.
A dangerous conspiracy, headed by the notorious Catiline, was now discovered, and several conspirators were arrested. It was when the senate was debating whether they should be put to death, that Cæsar made his noted speech which was replied to so hotly by Cato.
Cæsar was by some accused of being cognizant of this plot, if he were not indeed a participant.
After the death of Cornelia, Cæsar had married Pompeia, but he afterwards divorced her. Julius Cæsar now began to plan for a still higher office, and upon the death of Metellus, the chief pontiff, Cæsar solicited the office.
He was now so heavily involved in debt, that he faced ruin if defeated, or glory if elected. When the day of election came, Cæsar parted with his mother, saving, – “You will see me this day either chief pontiff or an exile.”
But he succeeded in gaining the election. Having obtained this added power, he desired to procure the position of prætor in Spain. This he also secured, but so large were his debts, that Crassus, a man of immense wealth, was, by Cæsar’s promises of using his political power in his behalf, persuaded to lend him the sum needed to satisfy his creditors.
Cæsar was very successful in his province in Spain, and he returned in a short time with military glory, and with money sufficient to pay his debts, and furnish fresh supplies for further bribes to secure still higher positions. He now aspired to the office of consul, which was the highest office in the Roman state.
At this time, Pompey was the military idol of the people, and Crassus, powerful on account of his vast wealth, was Pompey’s bitter enemy. Cæsar conceived the plan of reconciling these two dangerous foes, and availing himself of the aid of both to further his own ambitious projects.
Cæsar was successful in this plan, and they then formed a triple league, binding themselves to promote the political elevation of each other. Having secured such powerful adherents, Cæsar now pushed his claims for consulship. He chose a man of great wealth, named Lucceius, to be associated with himself, who agreed to pay all the expenses of the election, for the sake of the honor of being consul with Cæsar. But the political enemies of Cæsar, knowing that they could not defeat his election, determined to place Bibulus, in the place of Lucceius, as the associate of Cæsar. Accordingly they raised as much money to expend for Bibulus as Lucceius should employ. The result was the election of Cæsar and Bibulus as the two consuls. But having entered upon the duties of that office, Cæsar so completely ignored Bibulus, and assumed so entirely the whole control of the consular power, that Bibulus retired to his house in chagrin and mortification, and allowed Cæsar to have his own way. Two consuls were always required by law, and so the wags of the city, in speaking of Cæsar’s consulship, instead of saying, “In the year of Cæsar and Bibulus, consuls,” according to the usual form, would often say, “In the year of Julius and Cæsar, consuls,” ignoring the name of Bibulus, and taking the two names of Cæsar to denote his supreme rule.
Cæsar’s ambition was not yet satisfied. He had secured the highest place in the state, and now he aspired to military glory and foreign conquest. Having obtained the command of an army, he entered upon a campaign in the heart of Europe, which he continued for eight years.
The large tract of country now known as Northern Italy, Switzerland, France, Germany, and England, was then spoken of as Gaul. The part on the Italian side of the Alps was called Cisalpine Gaul, and that which lay beyond was termed Transalpine Gaul.
Cæsar now placed himself at the head of an army of three Roman legions, and set out for Gaul. The first battle he fought was with the German king Ariovistus. Cæsar was victorious, and the Germans were put in complete subjection. Other provinces of Gaul now submitted without resistance, and those who determined to league together to resist this new military power were soon brought to submission.
One of the most interesting of the various excursions made by Cæsar during these eight years was his expedition into Great Britain.
When Cæsar arrived on the northern shores of France, he began to inquire of all the travelling merchants whom he met, and who in those days journeyed from one nation to another to buy and sell goods, about the best manner of crossing the channel, and regarding the people on the English side of the water. But the merchants could give him little information, and so he fitted out a galley, manned with many oarsmen, and placing it under the command of an officer, he directed him to cross the channel and discover the best harbors to land on the other side, and then to return and report. This officer was gone five days, and upon his return, Cæsar determined to transport his troops across the channel. Cæsar had collected a large number of sailing vessels upon which he embarked his forces, and upon a given day, at one o’clock in the morning, the fleet set sail.
The Britons had in the meantime learned of Cæsar’s intended invasion, and they collected in vast numbers to guard the shore.
When the Roman fleet approached the land, the cliffs were everywhere lined with troops of Britons, and every available point was well guarded.
Cæsar now proceeded with his fleet along the shore, the Britons following on the land until a level plain was reached. Here Cæsar determined to attempt to disembark. A dreadful struggle ensued. The Britons plunged into the water, and the Romans shot darts and arrows from the decks of the vessels upon the assailants of their comrades, who were endeavoring to make the landing. The Britons were at last driven back, and Cæsar succeeded in obtaining possession of the shore.
