A YOUNG MACEDONIAN.* Ma. CHURCH'S stories of classical romance are
read by young people for the sake of the story, and by older people for the sake of the picture which they give so pleasantly and so vividly of all that is known of the social and political history of times with which they have lost their familiarity. Very few of
• A Young Macedonian with the Army of Alexander the Great. By tbo Rev. Alfred J. Church, lately Profee'or of Latin in University College, Lon Ion. London : Seeley and to., Limited.
us realise at all clearly what the outline of a young soldier's life at the time of the Macedonian conquests was, and it is a great luxury to have the more interesting features of that life picked out for us by a scholar like Mr. Church, and so put together as to render the external career of such a soldier visible to us. The jealous feeling between the Greeks and the Macedonians, the dependence of the Persians on the Greek mercenaries, the divided feeling of the leaders of these mercenaries between sympathy for Alexander's prowess and wish to show a similar prowess in resisting him, the naval superiority of the Phoenicians at sea, the helplessness of Egypt, the obstinacy and cruelty of Tyre, the proud separate- ness of the Jews, the haughty valour and incapacity of Persia, are all painted for us in these pages in the course of an easy and pleasant story, which we should read with interest for its own sake,lbut which we read with very much more pleasure for the renewed insight it gives us into a world of which we had managed to forget all the more impressive aspects. Mr. Church contrives, too, to convey a very distinct impression of the personal character of Alexander, and of the gradual deterioration in that character as his military genius secured him his marvellous triumphs. As his conquests became more and more brilliant, his character became more and more imperious, and: lost that moral self-command which was a great part of the secret of his early power. He could bear and even profit by contradiction, when he left Greece. He could not endure it, even when he knew it to be wholesome for him, before the close.
Mr. Church's object is to touch on all the most picturesque elements in the career of Alexander, and, accordingly, the crossing of the Hellespont, the Battle of the Granicus, the siege of Halicarnassus, the Battle of Issus, the occupation of Damascus, the siege of Tyre, the somewhat doubtful meeting with the High:Priest at Jerusalem, the journey over the desert to the temple:di:Jupiter Ammon, the invasion of Persia and India, and the death of Alexander, are all brought before us in brief and vivid scenes. Nothing is better, perhaps, than the sketch of Memnon, Alexander's most formidable opponent in the field, or than the sketch of Alexander's offer of marriage to Memnon's widow, when he finds her at Damascus after the defeat of Darius7at Issue. Mr. Church succeeds in giving us very happily the Oriental view of marriage as a sort of destiny rather than as an act of voluntary choice, which is taken by Barsine, the widow of Memnon, while he reserves for his imaginary:hero, Charidemus, the happier marriage of genuine love. As a specimen of the adventurous element in the book, we cannot select anything better than the rescue of Charondas from the Tyrian prison in which he was to have been sacrificed:to Melkarth, had he survived a day longer. Charidemus and the Prince of Sidon get into Tyre by a ruse, pretending to escape from Greek pursuit, and bringing to Tyre evidence of the friendly interest of Darius in the successful defence of Tyre, the Prince of Sidon being also empowered to tell the Tyrians that in case the place was taken, the SidonianIfieet would spare and protect the Tyrian sailors :—
" There was a private way from the palace into the temple, which was almost in darkness when the companions reached it. Whatever light there was came from a single lamp that hung between the two famous pillars, one of gold, and one, it was said, of emerald, which were the glory of the place and the admiration of travellers. Charidemus had no thoughts for anything but the perilous task that he had in hand, though he carried away from the place a general impression of vast wealth and barbaric splendour. The friendly attendant came forward to meet the new- comers. The prince caught him by the arm. ' Swear,' he said, by Melkarth, to help us, and don't utter another sound, or you die this instant.' The man stammered out the oath. That is well,' said the prince, we knew that we could trust you. You shall have wealth and honour. When Alexander is master of Tyre, you shall be priest of the temple. Now listen to what we want. We must have this Greek prisoner who is to be sacrificed to the god at the feast of the new moon. He is dear to our king, and must not die.' At this moment the other attendant came up the central avenue of the temple, of course utterly unsuspicious of danger. The prince, a young man of more than usual muscular power, seized him by the throat. He uttered a stifled cry, which, however, there was no one in the temple to hear. The next moment he was gagged, bound hand and foot, and dragged into a small side chapel, the door of which was fastened upon him from the outside. His keys had previously been taken from him. Now for the prisoner,' said the prince. The attendant led the way to a door that opened out from the north-east corner of the temple, and this he unlocked. It led into a spacious chamber well lighted by two lamps that hung from the arched ceiling Charondas was
seated on a chair of ebony and ivory ; all the belongings of the place were handsome and even costly. Round his waist was a. massive chain of gold (the prisoners of the god could not be bound by anything less precious), which was fastened to a staple in the wall. The attendant unlocked it, using—for the lock was double—first his own key, and then one that had been taken from the person of his colleague. Explanations afterwards,' whispered Charidemus ; 'now we must act.' The prince looked inquiringly at the attendant. What was to be done after the release of the prisoner was to be left, it had been agreed, to circumstances. What the circumstances really were, no one knew so well as this
man. have it,' cried the temple servant, meditating for a few moments, and be led the way to a small chamber used for keeping the sacred vestments. He then explained his plan. There is a small temple at the mouth of the southern harbour. If we can get there. it will be something ; and I think we can. Anyhow it is our best chance.' Charidemus and the prince were disguised as priests. So ample were the robes that the figure of the person wearing them became undistinguishable, while the tall mitre with. which the head was covered could be so worn that any slight difference of height would not be observed. The attendant, when he had finished robing them, an operation that of course he per- formed with a practised skill, pronounced that they made a very good pair of priests. He wore his own official dress, and arrayed the Theban in one that belonged to his comrade. Thus equipped, the party set out, the pretended priests in front, and the attendants behind, holding a canopy over their superiors. They made their way at the slow and measured pace that befitted their profession to the harbour temple, passed the guard which was set at the land entrance to the port without challenge, and reached the sacred building without any mishap. They were now close to the water, and could even see the friendly ships of the southern blockading squadron ; but the guard ships by which the mouth of the harbour was closed were between them and safety. The question was, how these were to be passed. It was a question that had to be answered without delay, for they could see from a window of the temple which commanded a view of the whole harbour signs of commotion, such as the flashing of torches, which indicated that their escape had been discovered. This indeed was the case. The King had sent an attendant a little after sunset to summon his guests to the evening meal. He reported their absence to his master, who, however, for a time suspected nothing. But when a second messenger found them still absent, inquiries were made. Some one had heard sounds in the temple, and the temple was searched ; after that everything else that had happened could be seen or guessed. Nothing remained for the fugitives but to strip off their garments and plunge into the water. Unfortunately the temple attendant was an indifferent swimmer._ A boat, however, was lying moored some thirty yards from the shore, and this the party managed to reach. But by the time that they had all clambered on board, a thing which it always takes some time to do, the pursuers were within a hundred yards of the harbour-temple. It must be explained that at each end of the row of ships by which the harbour mouth was protected was an empty hulk, and that between the hulk and the pier side was a narrow opening only just broad and deep enough for a boat to pass over. This the prince had observed on some former occasion when he had been reconnoitring the defences of the harbour, and he now steered towards it, the rowers tugging at their oars with all their might. The boat had nearly reached the passage when the manceuvre was observed. The crew of the nearest ship hastened to get on board the hulk ; but the distance between these two was too great for a leap, and in the darkness the gang- way commonly used could not be at once found. At the very moment when it was put into position the boat had cleared the passage. So shallow indeed was the water that the hinder part of the keel had stuck for a few moments, but when the four occu- pants threw their weight into the bow, which was already in deeper water, it floated over. Happily the night was very dark. The sky was overcast, and it still wanted a day to the new moon. Nor did the torches, with which the whole line of galleys was ablaze, make it easier to distinguish an object outside the range of their light. Still the boat could be dimly seen, and till it was beyond the range of missiles the fugitives could not consider themselves safe. And indeed they did not wholly escape. Both Chari- demus and Charondas were struck with bullets that caused some- what painful contusions, the prince was slightly wounded in the hand, and the attendant more seriously in the arm, which was indeed almost pierced through by an arrow. A few more strokes, however, carried them out of range, and they were safe."
As a sample of the interest which Mr. Church lends to his story, from following the marvellous career of Alexander, we take part of the letter which Charondas writes to his friend, in the latter and less creditable, though not less splendid, part of Alexander's career :- " So Bessus the murderer has met with his deserts. We crossed the Oxus, the most rapid and difficult river that we have yet come to. We got over on skins, and lost, I am afraid, a good many men and horses. I myself was carried down full half a mile before I could get to land, and thought more than once that it was all over with me. If Bessus had tried to stop us there must have been disaster ; but we heard afterwards that he had been deserted by his men. Very soon after we had crossed the river he was taken. I have no pity for the villain ; but I could wish that the king had not punished him as he did. He had his nostrils and ears cut off. You remember how Alexander was moved when he saw those poor mutilated wretches at Persepolis, what horror he expressed. And now he does the same things himself ! But truly he grows more and more barbarian in his ways. Listen again to this. We came a few days since on our march to a little town that seemed somewhat differently built from the others in this country. The people came out to greet us. Their dress was partly Greek, partly foreign ; their tongue Greek but mixed with barbarisms, yet not so much but that we readily understood them. Nothing could be more liberal than their offers; they were willing to give us all they bad. The king inquired who they were. They were descended, he found—indeed they told the story themselves without any hesitation—from the families of the priests of Apollo at Branchidie. These priests had told the secret of where their treasures were kept to King Xerxes after his return from Greece, and he to reward them, and also we may suppose, to save them from the vengeance of their countrymen, had planted them in this remote spot, where they had preserved their customs and language as well as they could. Now who could have imagined that the king should do what he did ? He must avenge forsooth the honour of Apollo on these remote descendants of the men who caused his shrine to be robbed ! He drove the poor creatures back into their town, drew a cordon of soldiers round it, and then sent in a company with orders to massacre every man, woman, and child in it. He gave me the command of these executioners. I refused it. 'It is against my vows, my lord,' I said. I thought that he would have struck me down where I stood. But he held his hand. He is always tender with me, for reasons that he has; and since he has been as friendly as ever. But what a monstrous deed !
Again I say, the barbarian rather than the Greek Another awful deed ! 0 my friend, I often wish that I were with you in your peaceful retirement. In war the king is as magnifi- cent as ever, but at home he becomes daily less and less master of himself. Truly he is then as formidable to his friends, as he is at other times to his enemies. What I write now I saw and heard with my own eyes. At Maracanda there was a great ban- quet—I dread these banquets a hundred-fold more than I dread a battle—to which I was invited with some hundred other officers. It was in honour of Cleitus, who had been appointed that day to
the government of Bactria. When the cup had gone round pretty often, some of those wretched creatures who make it their business to flatter the king—it pains me to see how he swallows the flatteries of the very grossest with greediness—began to magnify his achievements. He was greater than Dionysus, greater than Hercules ; no mortal could have done such things ; it was only to be hoped that the gods would not take him till his work was done. If I was sickened to hear such talk, what think you I felt when Alexander himself began to talk in the same strain ? Nothing would satisfy him but that he must run down his own father Philip. It was I,' he said, who really won the victory of Chmronea, though Philip would never own it. And, after all, what petty things that and all his victories are compared to what I have done !' On this I heard Cleitus whisper to his neighbour some lines from Euripides
• When armies build their trophies o'er the foe, Not they who bear the burden of the day, But he who leads them reaps alone the praise.'
'What did he say ?' said the king, who guessed that this certainly was no flattery. No one answered. Then Cleitus spoke out. He, too, had drunk deeply. (What a curse this wine is ! Do you remember that we heard of people among the Jews who never will taste it. Really I sometimes think that they are in the right.) He magnified Philip. Whoever may have won the day at Chteronea,' he said, anyhow it was a finer thing than the burning of Thebes.' I saw the king wince at this as if some one had struck him. Then turning directly to Alexander, Cleitus said, Sir, we are all ready to die for you ; but it is hard that when you are distributing the prizes of victory, you keep the best for those who pass the worst insults on the memory of your father.' Then he went on to declare that Parmenio and Philotas were innocent—in fact, I do not know what he said. He was fairly beyond himself. The king certainly bore it very well for a long time. At last, when Cleitus scoffed at the oracle of Ammon—' I tell you the truth better than your father Ammon did,' were his words—the king's patience came to an end. He jumped from his couch, caught hold of a spear, and would have run Cleitus through on the spot had not Ptolemy and Perdiccas caught him round the waist and held him back, while Lysimachus took away the lance from him. This made him more furious than ever. Help, men,' he cried to the soldiers on guard. They are treating me as they treated Darius.' At that they let go their hold. It would have been dangerous to touch him. He ran out into the porch and caught a spear from a sentinel. Just then Cleitus came out. 'Who goes there ?' he said. Cleitus gave his name. Go to your dear Philip and your dear Parmenio!' shouted the king, and drove the spear into his heart."
The book is full of true classical romance, and no doubt a great deal of romance, both classical and mediaeval, is true. Now and then Mr. Church might have made a description somewhat clearer than he does. For instance, in describing the Battle of Issas, he gives the impression that he is de-
scribing the events of one day. He speaks of it as begun in the evening, and then goes on with the description of what was done next morning, without mentioning any intervening night, and the reader imagines that either in the one place or the other his author is falling into some error, though the only error is that he forgets to mention the night's delay. But, for the most part, the descriptions are as clear as they are graphic.
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