---
title: "On the Fortune or the Virtue of Alexander · De Alexandri magni fortuna aut virtute"
author: "Plutarch"
translator: "John Phillips, rev. William W. Goodwin"
languages: [grc, en]
shelf: "Philosophy"
section: 3 of 3
url: https://scriptura.si/works/plutarch-fortune-or-virtue-of-alexander/3/
cite: "Plutarch, tr. John Phillips, rev. William W. Goodwin, On the Fortune or the Virtue of Alexander · De Alexandri magni fortuna aut virtute, section 3. Scriptura (scriptura.si), https://scriptura.si/works/plutarch-fortune-or-virtue-of-alexander/3/"
---

# On the Fortune or the Virtue of Alexander · De Alexandri magni fortuna aut virtute

*Plutarch, tr. John Phillips, rev. William W. Goodwin*

Two speeches arguing that Alexander won his empire by courage and wisdom, not by luck, and spread Greek culture across the world.

> Greek: ed. Grēgorios N. Vernardakēs, from the Perseus Digital Library (canonical-greekLit, tlg0007.tlg087, CC BY-SA 4.0).

> English: John Phillips, rev. William W. Goodwin, from the Perseus Digital Library (tlg0007.tlg087.perseus-eng4). Notes are not included.

> Rows follow the references the two texts share (chapters and sections), cut where both reach the end of a sentence.

## 3. Chapter 2

Source: https://scriptura.si/works/plutarch-fortune-or-virtue-of-alexander/3/ · cite a paragraph as https://scriptura.si/works/plutarch-fortune-or-virtue-of-alexander/3/#p-N

[¶0] 2.8. These recitals may suffice, without being tedious, to show that he exercised his authority according to all the most illustrious and royal methods of government. To which grandeur if he arrived by the assistance of Fortune, he is to be acknowledged the greater, because he made so glorious a use of her. So that the more any man extols his fortune, the more he advances his virtue, which made him worthy of such fortune. But now I shall return to the beginnings of his advancement and the early dawnings of his power, and endeavor to discover what was there the great work of Fortune, which rendered Alexander so great by her assistance. First then, how came it to pass that some neighing barb did not seat him in the throne of Cyrus, free from wounds, without loss of blood, without a toilsome expedition, as formerly it happened to Darius Hystaspes? Or that some oneflattered by a woman, as Darius by Atossa, did not deliver up his diadem to him, as the other did to Xerxes, so that the empire of Persia came home to him, even to his own doors? Or why did not some eunuch aid him, as Bagoas did the son of Parysatis, who, only throwing off the habit of a messenger, immediately put on the royal turban? Or why was he not elected on a sudden and unexpectedly by lot to the empire of the world, as at Athens the lawgivers and rulers are wont to be chosen? Would you know how men come to be kings by Fortune’s help? At Argos the whole race of the Heraclidae happened to be extinct, to whom the sceptre of that kingdom belonged. Upon which consulting the oracle, answer was made to them that an eagle should direct them. Within a few days the eagle appeared towering aloft, but stooping he at length lighted upon Aegon’s house; thereupon Aegon was chosen king. Another time in Paphos, the king that there reigned being an unjust and wicked tyrant, Alexander resolved to dethrone him, and therefore sought out for another, the race of the Kinyradae seeming to be at an end. They told him there was one yet in being, a poor man and of no account, who lived miserable in a certain garden. Thereupon messengers were sent, who found the poor man watering some few small beds of pot-herbs. The miserable creature was strangely surprised to see so many soldiers about him, but go he must; and so being brought before Alexander in his rags and tatters, he caused him presently to be proclaimed king and clad in purple; which done, he was admitted into the number of those who were called the king’s companions. The name of this person was Alynomus. Thus Fortune creates kings suddenly, easily changing the habits and altering the names of those that never expected or hoped for any such thing.

> Greek: 2.8. ἀλλὰ ταῦτα μὲν ἄν τις ἀπείποι λέγων, οἷς ἀποδείκνυται κάλλιστα καὶ βασιλικώτατα τὴν ἐξουσίαν διατιθέμενος. καὶ γὰρ εἰ διὰ Τύχην μέγας γέγονε, μείζων ἐστίν, ὅτι τῇ Τύχῃ καλῶς κέχρηται· καὶ ὅσῳ τις ἂν μᾶλλον αὐτοῦ τὴν Τύχην ἐπαινῇ, τοσούτῳ μᾶλλον αὔξει τὴν ἀρετήν, διʼ ἣν ἄξιος τῆς Τύχης ἐγένετο· οὐ μὴν ἀλλʼ ἤδη πρὸς τὰ πρῶτα τῆς αὐξήσεως αὐτοῦ καὶ τὰς ἀρχὰς τῆς δυνάμεως βαδίζω, καὶ σκοπῶ τί τὸ τῆς Τύχης ἔργον ἐν ἐκείνοις γέγονε, διʼ ὅ φασιν Ἀλέξανδρον ὑπὸ τῆς Τύχης μέγαν γεγονέναι. πῶς γὰρ οὐχί τὸν ἄτρωτον, ὦ Ζεῦ, τὸν ἀναίμακτον, τὸν ἀστράτευτον, ὃν χρεμετίσας ἵππος εἰς τὸν Κύρου θρόνον ἐκάθισεν, ὡς Δαρεῖον τὸν Ὑστάσπου πρότερον; ἢ κολακευθεὶς ἀνὴρ ὑπὸ τῆς γυναικός, ὡς Ξέρξην Δαρεῖος ὑπʼ Ἀτόσσης; ἐπὶ θύρας αὐτῷ τὸ διάδημα τῆς βασιλείας ἦλθεν, ὥσπερ Ὀάρσῃ διὰ Βαγώαν, καὶ στολὴν ἐκδυσάμενος ἀστάνδου περιέθετο τὴν βασιλικὴν καὶ ὀρθοπαγῆ κίταριν; ἐξαίφνης καὶ ἀπροσδοκήτως κλήρῳ λαχὼν τῆς οἰκουμένης ἐβασίλευσεν, ὡς Ἀθήνησι κλήρῳ θεσμοθετοῦσι καὶ ἄρχουσι; βούλει μαθεῖν, πῶς βασιλεύουσιν ἄνθρωποι διὰ Τύχην; ἐξέλιπέ ποτʼ Ἀργείοις τὸ Ἡρακλειδῶν γένος, ἐξ οὗ βασιλεύεσθαι πάτριον ἦν αὐτοῖς· ζητοῦσι δὲ καὶ διαπυνθανομένοις ὁ θεὸς ἔχρησεν ἀετὸν δείξειν· καὶ μεθʼ ἡμέρας ὀλίγας ἀετὸς ὑπερφανεὶς καὶ κατάρας ἐπὶ τὴν Αἴγωνος οἰκίαν ἐκάθισε, καὶ βασιλεὺς ᾑρέθη Αἴγων. πάλιν ἐν Πάφῳ, τοῦ βασιλεύοντος ἀδίκου καὶ πονηροῦ φανέντος, ἐκβαλὼν τοῦτον Ἀλέξανδρος ἕτερον ἐζήτει, τοῦ Κινυραδῶν γένους ἤδη φθίνειν καὶ ἀπολείπειν δοκοῦντος. ἕνα δʼ οὖν ἔφασαν περιεῖναι πένητα καὶ ἄδοξον ἄνθρωπον ἐν κήπῳ τινὶ παρημελημένως διατρεφόμενον. ἐπὶ τοῦτον οἱ πεμφθέντες ἧκον, εὑρέθη δὲ πρασιαῖς ἐπαντλῶν· καὶ διεταράχθη τῶν στρατιωτῶν ἐπιλαμβανομένων αὐτοῦ καὶ βαδίζειν κελευόντων. ἀχθεὶς δὲ πρὸς Ἀλέξανδρον ἐν εὐτελεῖ σινδόνι βασιλεὺς ἀνηγορεύθη καὶ πορφύραν ἔλαβε, καὶ εἷς ἦν τῶν ἑταίρων προσαγορευομένων· ἐκαλεῖτο δʼ, Ἀβδαλώνυμος. οὕτως αἱ τύχαι ποιοῦσι βασιλεῖς, μεταμφιέζουσι, μεταγράφουσι ταχύ, ῥᾳδίως, προσδεχομένους ἐλπίζοντας.

[¶1] 2.9. All this while, what favors did Fortune shower upon Alexander but what he merited, what he sweat for, what he bled for? What came gratis? What without the price of great achievements and illustrious actions? He quenched his thirst in rivers mixed with blood; he marched over bridges of slain carcasses; he grazed the fields to satisfy his present hunger; he dug his way to nations covered with snow and cities lying under ground; he made the hostile sea submit to his fleets; and, marching over the thirsty and barren sands of the Gedrosians and Arachosians, he discovered green at sea before he saw it at land. So that if I might use the same liberty of speech for Alexander to Fortune as to a man, I would thus expostulate with her:— “Insulting Fortune, when and where didst thou make an easy way for Alexander’s vast performances? What impregnable rock was ever surrendered to him without a bloody assault, by thy favor? What city didst thou ever deliver unguarded into his hands? Or what unarmed battalion of men? What faint-hearted prince, what negligent captain, or sleepy sentinels did he ever surprise? When didst thou ever befriend him with so much as a fordable river, a mild winter, or an easy summer? Get thee to Antiochus the son of Seleucus, to Artaxerxes the brother of Cyrus. Get thee to Ptolemy Philadelphus. Their fathers proclaimed them kings in their own lifetime; they won battles which no mothers wept for; they spent their days in festivals, admiring the pomp of shows and theatres; and still more happy, they prolonged their reigns till scarce their feeble hands could wield their sceptres. But if nothing else, behold the body of Alexander wounded by the enemy, mangled, battered, bruised, from the crown of his head to the soles of his feet,
With spears, and swords, and mighty stones.
At the battle of the Granicus his helmet was cleft to his very scull; at Gaza he was wounded in the shoulder with a dart. Among the Maragandi he was shot in the shin so desperately, that the bone of his shank was broken and started out of the skin. In Hyrcania he was struck in the neck with a stone, which caused such a dimness in his eyes that for many days he was in danger of losing his sight. Among the Assaracans he was wounded in the heel with an Indian dart; at which time he thus derided his flatterers with a smiling countenance, saying, This is blood, and no immortal ichor,—
Such stream as issues from a wounded God.
At Issus he was run through the thigh with a sword by Darius (as Chares relates), who encountered him hand to hand. Alexander also himself, writing the truth with all sincerity to Antipater, said, It was my fortune to be wounded with a poniard in the thigh, but no ill symptoms attended it either when it was newly done or afterwards during the cure. Another time, among the Malli he was wounded with an arrow two cubits in length, that went in at his breast and came out at his neck, as Aristobulus relates. Crossing the Tanais against the Scythians and winning the field, he pursued the flying enemy a hundred and fifty furlongs, though at the same time laboring with a dysentery.”

> Greek: 2.9. Ἀλεξάνδρῳ δὲ τί παρʼ ἀξίαν, τί ἀνιδρωτί, τί ἀναιμωτί, τί προῖκα, τί πονήσαντι τῶν μεγάλων; αἵματι κεκραμένους ποταμοὺς ἔπιε καὶ νεκροῖς γεγεφυρωμένους διέβη, καὶ πόαν ἔφαγε διὰ λιμὸν ἣν πρώτην εἶδε, καὶ βάθεσι χιόνων κατακεχωσμένα ἔθνη καὶ πόλεις ὑπὸ γῆν ἐνδεδυκυίας διώρυξε, καὶ θάλατταν μαχομένην ἔπλευσε, καὶ θῖνας ἀνύδρους τὰς Γεδρωσίων καὶ Ἀραχωσίων ὁδεύων ἐν θαλάσσῃ πρότερον ἢ ἐν γῇ φυτὸν εἶδεν. εἰ γὰρ ἦν ὡς πρὸς ἄνθρωπον ἀγαγεῖν παρρησίαν ὑπὲρ Ἀλεξάνδρου πρὸς τὴν τύχην, οὐκ ἂν εἶπε ποῦ σὺ καὶ πότε ταῖς Ἀλεξάνδρου πράξεσιν ὁδὸν ἔδωκας; ποίαν πέτραν ἀναιμωτὶ διὰ σὲ εἷλε; ποίαν πόλιν ἀφρούρητον αὐτῷ παρέδωκας ἢ ποίαν ἄοπλον φάλαγγα; τίς εὑρέθη βασιλεὺς ῥᾴθυμος ἢ στρατηγὸς ἀμελὴς ἢ κοιμώμενος πυλωρός; ἀλλʼ οὐδʼ εὔβατος ποταμὸς οὐδὲ χειμὼν μέτριος οὐδὲ θέρος ἄλυπον. ἄπιθι πρὸς Ἀντίοχον τὸν Σελεύκου, πρὸς Ἀρτοξέρξην τὸν Κύρου ἀδελφόν· ἄπελθε πρὸς Πτολεμαῖον τὸν Φιλάδελφον. ἐκείνους ζῶντες οἱ πατέρες βασιλεῖς ἀνηγόρευσαν, ἐκεῖνοι μάχας ἀδακρύτους ἐνίκων, ἐκεῖνοι πανηγυρίζοντες ἐν πομπαῖς καὶ θεάτροις διετέλεσαν, ἐκείνων ἕκαστος διʼ εὐτυχίαν βασιλεύων ἐγήρασεν. Ἀλεξάνδρου δʼ εἰ μηδὲν ἄλλο, τὸ σῶμʼ ἰδοῦ κατατετρωμένον ἄκρας κεφαλῆς ἄχρι ποδῶν διακέκοπται καὶ περιτέθλασται τυπτόμενον ὑπὸ τῶν πολεμίων ἔγχεΐ τʼ ἄορί τε μεγάλοισί τε χερμαδίοισιν· ἐπὶ Γρανίκου ξίφει διακοπεὶς τὸ κράνος ἄχρι τῶν τριχῶν, ἐν Γάζῃ βέλει πληγεὶς τὸν ὦμον, ἐν Μαρακάνδοις τοξεύματι τὴν κνήμην ὥστε τῆς κερκίδος τὸ ὀστέον ἀποκλασθὲν ὑπὸ τῆς πληγῆς ἐξαλέσθαι· περὶ τὴν Ὑρκανίαν λίθῳ τὸν τράχηλον, ἐξ οὗ καὶ τὰς ὄψεις ἀμαυρωθεὶς ἐφʼ ἡμέρας πολλὰς ἐν φόβῳ πηρώσεως ἐγένετο· πρὸς Ἀσσακάνοις Ἰνδικῷ βέλει τὸ σφυρόν, ὅτε καὶ πρὸς τοὺς κόλακας εἶπεν ἐπιμειδιάσας τουτὶ μὲν αἷμα, οὐκ ἰχώρ, οἷός πέρ τε ῥέει μακάρεσσι θεοῖσιν· ἐν Ἰσσῷ ξίφει τὸν μηρόν, ὡς Χάρης φησίν, ὑπὸ Δαρείου τοῦ βασιλέως εἰς χεῖρας αὐτῷ συνδραμόντος· αὐτὸς δʼ Ἀλέξανδρος ἁπλῶς γράφων καὶ μετὰ πάσης ἀληθείας πρὸς Ἀντίπατρον συνέβη δέ μοι φησὶ καὶ αὐτῷ ἐγχειριδίῳ πληγῆναι τὸν μηρόν· ἀλλʼ οὐδὲν ἄτοπον οὔτε παραχρῆμα οὔθʼ ὕστερον ἐκ τῆς πληγῆς ἀπήντησεν ἐν Μαλλοῖς τοξεύματι διπήχει διὰ τοῦ θώρακος εἰς τὸ στῆθος· ὑπελάσας ἔλαβε κατὰ τοῦ αὐχένος, ὡς Ἀριστόβουλος ἱστόρηκε. διαβὰς δὲ τὸν Τάναϊν ἐπὶ τοὺς Σκύθας καὶ τρεψάμενος, ἐδίωξεν ἵππῳ πεντήκοντα καὶ ἑκατὸν σταδίους, ὑπὸ διαρροίας ἐνοχλούμενος.

[¶2] 2.10. “Well contrived, vain Fortune! to advance and aggrandize Alexander by lancing, broaching, boring every part of his body. Not like Minerva,—who, to save Menelaus, directed the dart against the most impenetrable parts of his armor, blunting the force of the weapon with his breastplate, belt, and scarf, so that it only glanced upon his skin, and drew forth two or three drops of blood,— but contrariwise, thou hast exposed his principal parts naked to mischief, driving the wounds through the very bones, rounding every corner of his body, besieging the eyes, undermining the pursuing feet, stopping the torrent of victory, and disappointing the prosecution of noble designs. For my part, I know no prince to whom Fortune ever was more unkind, though she has been envious and severe enough to several. However, other princes she destroyed with a swift and rapid destruction, as with a whirlwind; but in her hatred against Alexander she prolonged her malice, and persisted still implacable and inexorable, as she showed herself to Hercules. For what Typhons and monstrous giants did she not oppose against him? Which of his enemies did she not fortify with store of arms, deep rivers, steep mountains, and the foreign strength of massy elephants? Now had not Alexander been a personage of transcending wisdom, actuated by the impulse of a more than ordinary virtue, but had he been supported only by Fortune, he would have trusted to her as her favorite, and spared himself the labor and the turmoil of ranging so many armies and fighting so many battles, the toil of so many sieges and pursuits, the vexations of revolting nations and haughty princes not enduring the curb of foreign dominion, and all his tedious marches into Bactria, Maracanda, and Sogdiana, among faithless and rebellious nations, who were ever breaking out afresh with new wars, like the Hydra putting forth a new head so soon as one was cut off.”

> Greek: 2.10. εὖγʼ, ὦ Τύχη, τὸν Ἀλέξανδρον αὔξεις καὶ μέγαν ποιεῖς, διορύττουσα πανταχόθεν, ὑπερείπουσα, πᾶν μέρος ἀνοίγουσα τοῦ σώματος· οὐχ ὥσπερ ἡ Ἀθηνᾶ πρὸ τοῦ Μενελάου τὸ βέλος εἰς τὰ καρτερώτατα τῶν ὅπλων ὑπάγουσα, θώρακι καὶ μίτρᾳ καὶ ζωστῆρι τῆς πληγῆς τὸν τόνον ἀφεῖλε θιγούσης τοῦ σώματος, ὅσον αἵματι πρόφασιν ῥυῆναι, ἀλλὰ γυμνὰ παρέχουσα τοῖς βέλεσι τὰ καίρια, καὶ διʼ ὀστέων ἐλαύνουσα τὰς πληγάς, καὶ περιτρέχουσα κύκλῳ τὸ σῶμα, καὶ πολιορκοῦσα τὰς ὄψεις, τὰς βάσεις, ἐμποδίζουσα τὰς διώξεις, περισπῶσα τὰς νίκας, ἀνατρέπουσα τὰς ἐλπίδας. ἐμοὶ μὲν οὐδεὶς βαρυτέρᾳ δοκεῖ κεχρῆσθαι Τύχῃ τῶν βασιλέων, καίτοι πολλοῖς ἐνέπεσε - σκληρὰ καὶ βάσκανος· ἀλλʼ ὡς σκηπτὸς ἀπέκοψε τοὺς ἄλλους καὶ διέφθειρε, πρὸς δʼ Ἀλέξανδρον αὐτῆς τὸ δυσμενὲς γέγονε φιλόνεικον καὶ δύσερι καὶ δυσεκβίαστον, ὥσπερ πρὸς τὸν Ἡρακλέα. ποίους γὰρ Τυφῶνας ἢ πελωρίους γίγαντας οὐκ ἀνέστησεν ἀνταγωνιστὰς ἐπʼ αὐτόν; ἢ τίνας οὐκ ὠχύρωσε τῶν πολεμίων πλήθεσιν ὅπλων ἢ βάθεσι ποταμῶν ἢ τραχύτησι κρημνῶν ἢ θηρίων ἀλκαῖς ἀλλοφύλων; εἰ δὲ μὴ μέγʼ ἦν τὸ Ἀλεξάνδρου φρόνημα μηδʼ ἀπʼ ἀρετῆς ὁρμώμενον μεγάλης ἐξανέφερε καὶ διηρείδετο πρὸς τὴν Τύχην, οὐκ ἂν ἔκαμε καὶ ἀπηγόρευσε παραταττόμενος ἐξοπλιζόμενος πολιορκῶν διώκων, ἐν ἀποστάσεσι μυρίαις, ἀποτροπαῖς σκιρτήσεσιν ἐθνῶν, βασιλέων ἀφηνιασμοῖς, Βάκτρα Μαράκανδα Σογδιανούς, ἐν ἔθνεσιν ἀπίστοις καὶ ἐπιβούλοις ὕδραν τέμνων ἀεί τισι πολέμοις ἐπιβλαστάνουσαν;

[¶3] 2.11. And here I may seem to utter an absurdity, but I will venture to speak it, as being an undoubted truth; that it was by Fortune that he came very near losing the reputation of being the son of Jupiter Ammon. For who but one sprung from the Gods, Hercules excepted, would ever have undertaken and finished those hazardous and toilsome labors which he did? Yet what did Hercules do but terrify lions, pursue wild boars, and scare birds; enjoined thereto by one evil man, that he might not have leisure for those greater actions of punishing Antaeus and putting an end to the murders of Busiris. But it was virtue that enjoined Alexander to undertake that godlike labor, not covetousness of the golden burden of ten thousand camels, not the possession of the Median women or glorious ornaments of Persian luxury, not greediness of the Chalybonian wine or the fish of Hyrcania, but that he might reduce all mankind as it were into one family, under one form of government and the same custom of intercourse and conversation. This love of virtue was thoroughly inbred, and increased and ripened as he grew in years; so that once being to entertain the Persian ambassadors in his father’s absence, he never asked them any questions that savored of boyish imbecility,—never troubled them to answer any questions about the golden vine, the pendent gardens, or what habit the king wore,—but still desired to be satisfied in the chiefest concerns of the empire, what force the Persians brought into the field, and in what part of the army the king fought; as Ulysses asked,
Where are the magazines of arms? And where
The barbed steeds provided for the war?
He also enquired which were the nearest roads for them that travelled from the sea up into the country; at all of which the ambassadors were astonished, and said, This youth is a great prince, but ours a rich one. No sooner was Philip interred, but his resolution hurried him to crossthe sea; and having already grasped it in his hopes and preparations, he made all imaginable haste to set foot in Asia. But Fortune opposed him, diverted him, and kept him back, creating a thousand vexatious troubles to delay and stop him. First, she contrived the Illyrian and Triballic wars, exciting to hostility the neighboring barbarians. But they, after many dangers run and many terrible encounters, being at length chased even as far as Scythia beyond the river Ister, he returned back to prosecute his first design. But then again spiteful Fortune stirred up the Thebans against him, and entangled him in the Grecian war, and in the dire necessity of defending himself against his fellow-countrymen and relations with fire and sword and hideous slaughter. Which war being brought to a dreadful end, away he presently crossed into Asia,—as Phylarchus relates, with only thirty days’ provision; as Aristobulus reports, with seventy talents,—having before sold and divided among his friends his own revenues and those of his crown. Only Perdiccas refused what he offered him, asking him at the same time what he had left for himself. And when Alexander replied, Nothing but hopes, Then, said he, we will be content with the same; for it is not just to accept of thy goods, but we must wait for those of Darius.

> Greek: 2.11. ἄτοπόν τι δόξω λέγειν, ἐρῶ δʼ ἀληθές· παρὰ μικρὸν διὰ τὴν Τύχην Ἀλέξανδρος ἀπώλεσε τὸ δοκεῖν Ἄμμωνος εἶναι. τίς γὰρ ἃν ἐκ θεῶν γεγονὼς ἐπισφαλεῖς οὕτω καὶ πολυπόνους καὶ τλήμονας ἐξεμόχθησεν ἄθλους πλὴν ὁ Διὸς Ἡρακλῆς; ἀλλʼ ἐκείνῳ μὲν εἷς ἀνὴρ ὑβριστὴς ἐπέταττε λέοντας αἱρεῖν καὶ κάπρους διώκειν καὶ σοβεῖν ὄρνιθας· ἵνα μὴ σχολάζῃ τοῖς μείζοσι περιιών, Ἀνταίους κολάζειν καὶ Βουσίριδας παύειν μιαιφονοῦντας· Ἀλεξάνδρῳ δʼ ἐπέταττε μὲν ἡ ἀρετὴ τὸν βασιλικὸν καὶ θεῖον ἆθλον, οὗ τέλος ἦν οὐ χρυσὸς ὑπὸ μυρίων καμήλων περικομιζόμενος οὐδὲ τρυφαὶ Μηδικαὶ καὶ τράπεζαι καὶ γυναῖκες οὐδὲ Χαλυβώνιος οἶνος οὐδʼ Ὑρκανικοὶ ἰχθύες, ἀλλʼ ἑνὶ κόσμῳ κοσμήσαντα πάντας ἀνθρώπους μιᾶς ὑπηκόους ἡγεμονίας καὶ μιᾶς ἐθάδας διαίτης καταστῆσαι. τοῦτον ἐκ παιδὸς ἔμφυτον ἔχων ἔρωτα συντρεφόμενον καὶ συναυξανόμενον, ὡς ἀφίκοντο πρέσβεις παρὰ τοῦ Περσῶν βασιλέως πρὸς Φίλιππον, ὁ δʼ οὐκ ἔνδημος ἦν, φιλοφρονούμενος καὶ ξενίζων αὐτοὺς Ἀλέξανδρος οὐδὲν ἠρώτα παιδικόν, οἷον ἄλλοι, περὶ τῆς χρυσῆς ἀναδενδράδος ἢ τῶν κρεμαστῶν κήπων ἢ πῶς ὁ βασιλεὺς κεκόσμηται, ἀλλʼ ὅλος ἐν τοῖς κυριωτάτοις ἦν τῆς ἡγεμονίας, διαπυνθανόμενος πόση δύναμις ἡ Περσῶν, ποῦ τεταγμένος βασιλεὺς ἐν ταῖς μάχαις διαγωνίζεται, καθάπερ Ὀδυσσεὺς ἐκεῖνος ποῦ δὲ οἱ ἔντεα κεῖται ἀρήια, ποῦ δὲ οἱ ἵπποι· τίνες ὁδοὶ βραχύταται, τοῖς ἄνω πορευομένοις ἀπὸ θαλάττης· ὥστε τοὺς ξένους ἐκπεπλῆχθαι καὶ λέγειν ὡς ὁ παῖς οὗτος βασιλεὺς μέγας, ὁ δʼ ἡμέτερος πλούσιος. ἐπεὶ δὲ Φιλίππου τελευτήσαντας ὥρμητο διαβαλεῖν καὶ ταῖς ἐλπίσιν ἤδη καὶ ταῖς παρασκευαῖς ἐμπεφυκὼς ἔσπευδεν ἅψασθαι τῆς Ἀσίας, ἐνίστατο δʼ ἡ Τύχη καὶ ἀπέστρεφε καὶ ἀνθεῖλκεν ὀπίσω καὶ μυρίας περιέβαλλεν ἀσχολίας καὶ διατριβὰς ἐπιλαμβανομένη· πρῶτον αὐτῷ τὰ βαρβαρικὰ τῶν προσοίκων διετάραξεν, Ἰλλυρικοὺς καὶ Τριβαλλικοὺς μηχανωμένη πολέμους. οἷς μέχρι Σκυθίας τῆς παρʼ Ἴστρον ἀποσπασθεὶς ἀπὸ τῶν ἄνω πράξεων καὶ περιδραμὼν καὶ κατεργασάμενος πάντα κινδύνοις καὶ ἀγῶσι μεγάλοις, αὖθις ὥρμητο καὶ ἔσπευδε πρὸς τὴν διάβασιν πάλιν· ἡ δὲ πάλιν αὐτῷ τὰς Θήβας ἐνέσεισε καὶ πόλεμον Ἑλληνικὸν ἐμποδὼν κατέβαλε, καὶ δεινὴν πρὸς ἄνδρας ὁμοφύλους καὶ συγγενεῖς διὰ φόνου καὶ σιδήρου καὶ πυρὸς ἀνάγκην ἀμύνης, ἀτερπέστατον τέλος ἔχουσαν. ἐκ τούτου διέβαινεν, ὡς μὲν Φύλαρχός φησιν, ἡμερῶν τριάκοντʼ ἔχων ἐφόδιον, ὡς δʼ Ἀριστόβουλος, ἑβδομήκοντα τάλαντα· τῶν δʼ οἴκοι κτημάτων καὶ προσόδων βασιλικῶν διένειμε τὰς πλείστας τοῖς ἑταίροις, μόνος δὲ Περδίκκας οὐδὲν ἔλαβε διδόντος, ἀλλʼ ἠρώτησε σαυτῷ δὲ τί καταλείπεις Ἀλέξανδρε; τοῦ δʼ εἰπόντος ὅτι τὰς ἐλπίδας, οὐκοῦν ἔφη καὶ ἡμεῖς τούτων μεθέξομεν· οὐ γὰρ δίκαιον τὰ σὰ λαμβάνειν ἀλλὰ τὰ Δαρείου περιμένειν.

[¶4] 2.12. What were then the hopes with which Alexander passed into Asia Not a vast power mustered out of populous cities, nor fleets sailing through mountains; not whips and fetters, the instruments of barbarians’ fury, to curb and manacle the sea. But in his small army there was surpassing desire of glory, emulation among those of equal age, and a noble strife to excel in honor and virtue among friends. Then, as for himself, he carried with him all these great hopes,—piety towards the Gods, fidelity to his friends, generous frugality, temperance, beneficence, contempt of death, magnanimity, humanity, decent affability, candid integrity, constancy in counsel, quickness in execution, love of precedence in honor, and an effectual purpose to follow the steps of virtue. And though Homer, in describing the beauty of Agamemnon, seems not to have observed the rules of decorum or probability in any of his three similitudes,— Like thundering Jove’s, his awful head and eyes The gazing crowd with majesty surprise; In every part with form celestial graced, His breast like Neptune’s, and like Mars his waist; yet as for Alexander, if his celestial parents formed and composed him of several virtues, may we not conclude that he had the wisdom of Cyrus, the temperance of Agesilaus, the foresight of Themistocles, the skill of Philip, the daring courage of Brasidas, the shrewdness and political skill of Pericles? Certainly, if we compare him with the most ancient heroes, he was more temperate than Agamemnon, who preferred a captive before his lawful wife, though but newly wedded, while Alexander, before he was legally married, abstained from his prisoners. He was more magnanimous than Achilles, who accepted a small sum of money for the redemption of Hector’s dead body, while Alexander spared no expense to adorn the funeral of Darius. Achilles accepted gifts and bribes from his friends, as the atonement of his wrath; Alexander, when once a victor, enriched his enemies. He was much more pious than Diomede, who scrupled not to fight against the Gods, while Alexander ascribed to Heaven all his successes. Finally, he was more bewailed of his relations than Ulysses, whose mother died for grief, while the mother of Alexander’s enemy, out of affection, bare him company in his death.

> Greek: 2.12. τίνες οὖν ἦσαν αἱ ἐλπίδες, ἐφʼ αἷς διέβαινεν εἰς Ἀσίαν Ἀλέξανδρος; οὐ τείχεσι πόλεων μυριάνδρων ἐκμετρουμένη δύναμις οὐδὲ στόλοι διʼ ὀρῶν πλέοντες, οὐδὲ μάστιγες οὐδὲ πέδαι, μανικὰ καὶ βάρβαρα κολαστήρια θαλάσσης, ἀλλὰ τὰ μὲν ἐκτὸς ἐν ὀλίγοις ὅπλοις φιλοτιμία πολλὴ καὶ ζῆλος ἡλικίας παραλλήλου καὶ ἅμιλλα περὶ δόξης καὶ ἀρετῆς ἑταίρων· αὐτὸς δʼ εἶχεν ἐν ἑαυτῷ τὰς μεγάλας ἐλπίδας, εὐσέβειαν περὶ θεοὺς πίστιν πρὸς φίλους, εὐτέλειαν ἐγκράτειαν εὐποιίαν, ἀφοβίαν πρὸς θάνατον εὐψυχίαν, φιλανθρωπίαν ὁμιλίαν εὐάρμοστον, ἀψευδὲς ἦθος εὐστάθειαν ἐν βουλαῖς τάχος ἐν πράξεσιν, ἔρωτα δόξης προαίρεσιν ἐν τῷ καλῷ τελεσιουργόν. Ὅμηρος μὲν γὰρ οὐ πρεπόντως οὐδὲ πιθανῶς τὸ Ἀγαμέμνονος κάλλος ἐκ τριῶν συνήρμοσεν εἰκόνων ὁμοιώσας,
ὄμματα καὶ κεφαλὴν ἴκελος Διὶ τερπικεραύνῳ,
Ἄρεϊ δὲ ζώνην, στέρνον δὲ Ποσειδάωνι.
τὴν δʼ Ἀλεξάνδρου φύσιν, εἴπερ ἐκ πολλῶν συνήρμοσε καὶ συνέθηκεν ἀρετῶν ὁ γεννήσας θεός, ἆρʼ οὐκ ἂν εἴποιμεν ἔχειν φρόνημα μὲν τὸ Κύρου, σωφροσύνην δὲ τὴν Ἀγησιλάου, σύνεσιν δὲ τὴν Θεμιστοκλέους, ἐμπειρίαν δὲ τὴν Φιλίππου, τόλμαν δὲ τὴν Βρασίδου, δεινότητα δὲ καὶ πολιτείαν τὴν Περικλέους; τῶν δʼ ἔτι παλαιοτέρων σωφρονέστερος μὲν Ἀγαμέμνονος· ὁ μὲν γὰρ προέκρινε τῆς γαμετῆς τὴν αἰχμάλωτον, ὁ δὲ καὶ πρὶν ἢ γῆμαι τῶν ἁλισκομένων ἀπείχετο. μεγαλοψυχότερος δʼ Ἀχιλλέως· ὁ μὲν γὰρ χρημάτων ὀλίγων τὸν Ἕκτορος νεκρὸν ἀπελύτρωσεν, ὁ δὲ πολλοῖς χρήμασι Δαρεῖον ἔθαψε· καὶ ὁ μὲν παρὰ τῶν φίλων δῶρα καὶ μισθὸν ἀντὶ τῆς ὀργῆς διαλλαγεὶς ἔλαβεν, ὁ δὲ τοὺς πολεμίους κρατῶν ἐπλούτιζεν. εὐσεβέστερος δὲ Διομήδους· ὁ μὲν γὰρ θεοῖς μάχεσθαι ἦν ἕτοιμος, ὁ δὲ πάντα διὰ τοὺς θεοὺς ἐνόμιζε κατορθοῦν. ποθεινότερος δὲ τοῖς προσήκουσιν Ὀδυσσέως· ἐκείνου μὲν γὰρ ἡ τεκοῦσα διὰ λύπην ἀπέθανε, τούτῳ δʼ ἡ τοῦ πολεμίου μήτηρ εὐνοίας συναπέθανε.

[¶5] 2.13. In short, if Solon proved so wise a ruler by Fortune, if Miltiades led his armies by Fortune, if Aristides was so renowned for his justice by Fortune, then there is nothing that can be called the work of virtue. Then is virtue only an airy fiction, and a word that passes with some show of glory through the life of man, but feigned and magnified by Sophists and lawgivers. But if every one of these whom we have mentioned was wealthy or poor, weak or strong, deformed or beautiful, long or short lived, by Fortune, but made himself a great captain, a great lawgiver, famous for governing kingdoms and commonwealths, by virtue and reason; then in God’s name let us compare Alexander with the best of them. Solon by a law made a great abatement upon the payment of the Athenians’ private debts, which he called his burden-easing law; Alexander discharged the debts of his Macedonians at his own expense. Pericles, laying a tax upon the Greeks, expended the money in building temples to beautify the citadel of Athens; Alexander sent home ten thousand talents out of the spoils of the barbarians, for the building of temples to the Gods all over Greece. Brasidas advanced his fame all over Greece, by breaking through the enemy’s army lying encamped by the seaside near Methone; but when you read of that daringjump of Alexander’s (so astonishing to the hearers, much more to them that beheld it) when he threw himself from the walls of the Oxydracian metropolis among the thickest of the enemy, assailing him on every side with spears, darts, and swords, tell me where you meet with such an example of matchless prowess, or to what you can compare it but to a gleam of lightning violently flashing from a cloud, and impetuously driven by the wind? Such was the appearance of Alexander, as he leaped like an apparition to the earth, glittering in his flaming armor. The enemy, at first amazed and struck with horror, retreated and fell back; till seeing him single they came on again with a redoubled force. Now was not this a great and splendid testimony of Fortune’s kindness, to throw him into an inconsiderable and barbarous town, and there to enclose and immure him a prey to worthless enemies? And when his friends made haste to his assistance, to break the scaling-ladders, and to overthrow and cast them down? Of three that got upon the walls and flung themselves down in his defence, endearing Fortune presently despatched one; the other, pierced and struck with a shower of darts, could only be said to live. Without, the Macedonians foamed and filled the air with helpless cries, having no engines at hind. All they could do was to dig down the walls with their swords, tear out the stones with their nails, and almost to rend them out with their teeth. All this while, Alexander, Fortune’s favorite, whom she always covered with her protection, like a wild beast entangled in a snare, stood deserted and destitute of all assistance, not laboring for Susa, Babylon, Bactria, or to vanquish the mighty Porus. For to miscarry in great and glorious attempts is no reproach; but so malicious was Fortune, so kind to the barbarians, such a hater of Alexander, that she aimed not only at his life and body, but at bereaving him of his honor and sullying his renown. For Alexander’s fall had never been so much lamented had he perished near Euphrates or Hydaspes by the hand of Darius, or by the horses, swords, and axes of the Persians fighting with all their might and main in defence of their king, or had he tumbled from the walls of Babylon, and all his hopes together. Thus Pelopidas and Epaminondas fell; whose death was to be ascribed to their virtue, not to such a poor misfortune as this. But what was the singular act of Fortune’s favor which we are now enquiring into? What indeed, but in the farthest nook of a barbarous country, on the farther side of a river, within the walls of a miserable village, to pen up and hide the lord and king of the world, that he might there perish shamefully at the hands of barbarians, who should knock him down and pelt him with whatever came next to hand? There the first blow he received with a battle-axe cleft his helmet and entered his skull; at the same time another shot him with an Indian arrow in the breast near one of his paps, the head being four fingers broad and five in length, which, together with the weight of the shaft which projected from the wound, did not a little torment him. But, what was worst of all, while he was thus defending himself from his enemies before him, when he had laid a bold attempter that approached his person sprawling upon the earth with his sword, a fellow from a mill close by came behind him, and with a great iron pestle gave him such a bang upon the neck as deprived him for the present both of his senses and his sight. However, his virtue did not yet forsake him, but supplied him still with courage, infusing strength withal and speed into those about him. For Ptolemy, Limnaeus, and Leonnatus, and some others who had mounted or broken through the wall, made to his succor, and stood about him like so many bulwarks of his virtue; out of mere affection and kindness to their sovereign exposing their bodies, their faces, and their lives in his defence. For it is not Fortune that overrules men to run the hazard of death for brave princes; but the love of virtue allures them—as natural affection charms and entices bees—to surround and guard their chief commander. What person then, at that time beholding in security this strange adventure, would not have confessed that he had seen a desperate combat of Fortune against virtue, and that the barbarians were undeservedly superior through Fortune’s help, but that the Greeks resisted beyond imagination through the force of virtue? So that if the barbarians had vanquished, it had been the act of Fortune or of some evil genius or divine retribution; but as the Greeks became the victors, they owed their conquest to their virtue, their prowess, their friendship and fidelity to each other. For these were all the life-guard Alexander had at that time; Fortune having interposed a wall between him and all his other forces, so that neither fleets nor armies, cavalry nor infantry, could stand him in any stead. Therefore the Macedonians routed the barbarians, and buried those that fell under the ruins of their own town. But this little availed Alexander; for he was carried off with the dart sticking in his breast, having now a war in his own bowels, while the arrow in his bosom was a kind of cord, or rather nail, that was driven through his breastplate and fastened it to his body. When they went about to dress him, the forked shape of the iron head would not permit the surgeons to draw it forth from the root of the wound, being fixed in the solid parts of the breast that fortify the heart. Nor durst they attempt to cut away the shaft that stuck out, fearing they should put him to an excess of torment by the motion of the iron in the cleft of the bone, and cause a new flux of blood not easy to be stopped. Alexander, observing their hesitation and delay, endeavored himself with a little knife to cut off the shaft close to the skin; but his hand failed him, being seized with a heavy numbness by reason of the inflammation of the wound. Thereupon he commanded the surgeons and those that stood about him to try the same thing themselves and not to be afraid, giving them all the encouragement he could. Those that wept he upbraided for their weakness; others he called deserters, that refused him their assistance in such a time of need. At length, calling to his friends, he said: Let no one of you fear for me; for how shall I believe you to be contemners of death, when you betray yourselves to be afraid of mine?

> Greek: 2.13. τὸ δʼ ὅλον, εἰ μὲν καὶ Σόλων διὰ Τύχην ἐπολιτεύσατο καὶ Μιλτιάδης διὰ Τύχην ἐστρατήγησε καὶ Ἀριστείδης ἀπὸ Τύχης ἦν δίκαιος, οὐδὲν ἄρα τῆς Ἀρετῆς ἔργον ἐστίν, ἀλλʼ ὄνομα τοῦτο καὶ λόγος ἔχων δόξαν ἄλλως διέξεισι τοῦ βίου, πλαττόμενος ὑπὸ τῶν σοφιστῶν καὶ τῶν νομοθετῶν. εἰ δὲ τούτων καὶ τῶν ὁμοίων ἀνδρῶν ἕκαστος πένης μὲν ἢ πλούσιος ἢ ἀσθενὴς ἢ ἰσχυρὸς ἢ ἄμορφος ἢ καλὸς ἢ εὔγηρως ἢ ὠκύμορος διὰ τύχην γέγονε, μέγαν δὲ στρατηγὸν καὶ μέγαν νομοθέτην καὶ μέγαν ἐν ἀρχαῖς καὶ πολιτείαις ἕκαστος ἑαυτὸν ἀρετῇ καὶ λόγῳ παρέσχηκε, φέρε θεῶ τὸν Ἀλέξανδρον ἅπασι παραβάλλων. Σόλων χρεῶν ἀποκοπὴν ἐν Ἀθήναις ἐποίησε, σεισάχθειαν προσαγορεύσας· Ἀλέξανδρος δὲ τὰ χρέα τοῖς δανείσασιν ὑπὲρ τῶν ὀφειλόντων αὐτὸς ἐξέτισε. Περικλῆς φορολογήσας τοὺς Ἕλληνας ἐκ τῶν χρημάτων ἐκόσμησεν ἱεροῖς τὴν ἀκρόπολιν· Ἀλέξανδρος δὲ τὰ τῶν βαρβάρων χρήματα λαβὼν ἔπεμψεν εἰς τὴν Ἑλλάδα, ναοὺς τοῖς θεοῖς ἀπὸ μυρίων ταλάντων οἰκοδομῆσαι κελεύσας. Βρασίδαν ἐν τῇ Ἑλλάδι περιβόητον ἐποίησε τὸ πρὸς Μεθώνην διαδραμεῖν τὸ στρατόπεδον τῶν πολεμίων βαλλόμενον παρὰ τὴν θάλατταν· Ἀλεξάνδρου δʼ ἐν Ὀξυδράκαις τὸ δεινὸν ἐκεῖνο πήδημα καὶ ἄπιστον ἀκούουσι καὶ θεωμένοις φοβερόν, ἐκ τειχῶν ἀφέντος ἑαυτὸν εἰς τοὺς πολεμίους δόρασι καὶ βέλεσι καὶ ξίφεσι γυμνοῖς ἐκδεχομένους, τίνι ἄν τις εἰκάσειεν ἢ πυρὶ κεραυνίῳ ῥαγέντι καὶ φερομένῳ μετὰ πνεύματος, οἷον ἐπὶ γῆν κατέσκηψε φάσμα Φοίβου φλογοειδέσιν ὅπλοις περιλαμπόμενον; οἱ δὲ τὸ πρῶτον ἐκπλαγέντες ἅμα φρίκῃ διέτρεσαν καὶ ἀνεχώρησαν· εἶθʼ ὡς ἑώρων ἄνθρωπον ἕνα πολλοῖς ἐπιφερόμενον, ἀντέστησαν. ἐνταῦθʼ ἄρʼ ἡ Τύχη μεγάλα καὶ λαμπρὰ διέφηνεν ἔργα τῆς πρὸς Ἀλέξανδρον εὐμενείας, ὅτʼ αὐτὸν μὲν εἰς χωρίον ἄσημον καὶ βάρβαρον ἐμβαλοῦσα κατέκλεισε καὶ περιετείχισε, τοὺς δʼ ὑπὸ σπουδῆς ἐπιβοηθοῦντας ἔξωθεν καὶ τῶν τειχῶν ἐφιεμένους, κλάσασα καὶ συντρίψασα τὰς κλίμακας, ὑπεσκέλισε καὶ κατεκρήμνισε. τριῶν δʼ οἵπερ ἔφθησαν μόνοι τοῦ τείχους λαβέσθαι καὶ καθέντες ἑαυτοὺς περιστῆναι τῷ βασιλεῖ, τὸν μὲν εὐθὺς ἀνήρπασε καὶ προανεῖλεν, ὁ δὲ τοξεύμασι πολλοῖς διαπεπαρμένος, ὅσον ὁρᾶν καὶ συναισθάνεσθαι μόνον ἀπεῖχε τοῦ τεθνάναι· κεναὶ δʼ ἔξωθεν προσδρομαὶ καὶ ἀλαλαγμοὶ Μακεδόνων, οὐ μηχανῆς τινος οὐκ ὀργάνων παρόντων, ἀλλʼ ὑπὸ σπουδῆς ξίφεσι τυπτόντων τὰ τείχη καὶ χερσὶ γυμναῖς περιρρῆξαι καὶ μονονοὺ διαφαγεῖν βιαζομένων. ὁ δʼ εὐτυχὴς βασιλεὺς καὶ ὑπὸ τῆς Τύχης φυλαττόμενος ἀεὶ καὶ δορυφορούμενος, ὥσπερ θηρίον ἄρκυσιν ἐνσχεθείς, ἔρημος καὶ ἀβοήθητος, οὐχ ὑπὲρ Σούσων οὐδὲ Βαβυλῶνος οὐδὲ τοῦ Βάκτρα λαβεῖν οὐδὲ τοῦ μεγάλου Πώρου κρατῆσαι· τοῖς γὰρ ἐνδόξοις καὶ μεγάλοις ἀγῶσι, κἂν δυστυχῶνται, τὸ γοῦν αἰσχρὸν οὐ πρόσεστιν. ἀλλʼ οὕτω δύσερις ἦν καὶ βάσκανος ἡ Τύχη καὶ φιλοβάρβαρος καὶ μισαλέξανδρος, ὥστε μὴ τὸ σῶμα μόνον αὐτοῦ μηδὲ τὸν βίον, ἀλλὰ καὶ τὴν δόξαν ἀνελεῖν ὅσον ἐφʼ ἑαυτῇ καὶ διαφθεῖραι τὴν εὔκλειαν. οὐ γὰρ παρʼ Εὐφράτην Ἀλέξανδρον ἢ Ὑδάσπην πεσόντα κεῖσθαι δεινὸν ἦν, οὐδʼ ἀγεννὲς ἐν χερσὶ Δαρείῳ γενόμενον καὶ ἵπποις καὶ ξίφεσι καὶ κοπίσι Περσῶν ἀμυνομένων ὑπὲρ τοῦ βασιλέως ἀποθανεῖν· οὐδὲ τῶν Βαβυλῶνος ἐπιβαίνοντα τειχῶν σφαλῆναι καὶ πεσεῖν ἀπʼ ἐλπίδος μεγάλης. οὕτω Πελοπίδας καὶ Ἐπαμεινώνδας ἀρετῆς ὁ τούτων θάνατος ἦν, οὐ δυστυχίας ἐπὶ τηλικούτοις. τῆς δὲ νῦν ἐξεταζομένης Τύχης οἷον τὸ ἔργον; ἐν ἐσχατιᾷ βαρβάρου παραποταμίας καὶ τείχεσιν ἀδόξου πολίχνης περιβαλούσης καὶ ἀποκρυψάσης τὸν τῆς οἰκουμένης βασιλέα καὶ κύριον, ὅπλοις ἀτίμοις καὶ σκεύεσι τοῖς παρατυχοῦσι τυπτόμενον καὶ βαλλόμενον ἀπολέσθαι. καὶ γὰρ κοπίδι τὴν κεφαλὴν διὰ τοῦ κράνους ἐπλήγη, καὶ βέλει τις ἀπὸ τόξου τὸν θώρακα διέκοψεν, οὗ τοῖς περὶ τὸν μαστὸν ἐνερεισθέντος ὀστέοις καὶ καταπαγέντος ὁ μὲν καυλὸς ἐξεῖχε βαρύνων, τῆς δʼ ἀκίδος ὁ σίδηρος τεσσάρων δακτύλων εὖρος ἔσχε καὶ πέντε μῆκος. ἔσχατον δὲ τῶν δεινῶν, ὁ μὲν ἠμύνετο τοὺς κατὰ στόμα καὶ τὸν βαλόντα καὶ πελάσαι τολμήσαντα μετὰ ξίφους αὐτὸς τῷ ἐγχειριδίῳ φθάσας κατέβαλε καὶ ἀπέκτεινεν. ἐν τούτῳ δὲ τις δραμὼν ἐκ μυλῶνος ὑπέρῳ κατὰ τοῦ αὐχένος ὄπισθεν πληγὴν κατήνεγκεν, ἣ συνέχεε τὴν αἴσθησιν αὐτοῦ σκοτωθέντος· ἡ δʼ Ἀρετὴ παρῆν, θάρσος μὲν αὐτῷ ῥώμην δὲ καὶ σπουδὴν τοῖς περὶ αὐτὸν ἐμποιοῦσα. Λιμναῖοι γὰρ καὶ Πτολεμαῖοι καὶ Λεοννᾶτοι, καὶ ὅσοι τὸ τεῖχος ὑπερβάντες ἢ ῥήξαντες ἔστησαν πρὸ αὐτοῦ, τεῖχος ἀρετῆς ἦσαν, εὐνοίᾳ καὶ φιλίᾳ τοῦ βασιλέως τὰ σώματα καὶ τὰ πρόσωπα καὶ τὰς ψυχὰς προβαλλόμενοι. οὐ γὰρ διὰ Τύχην ἀγαθῶν βασιλέων ἑταῖροι προαποθνήσκουσιν ἑκουσίως καὶ προκινδυνεύουσιν, ἀλλʼ ἔρωτι τῆς Ἀρετῆς ὥσπερ ὑπὸ φίλτρων μέλιτται τῷ ἄρχοντι προσέρχονται καὶ προσπεφύκασι. τίς οὖν οὐκ ἂν εἴποι τότε παρὼν ἀκίνδυνος θεατής, ὅτι Τύχης μέγαν ἀγῶνα καὶ Ἀρετῆς θεᾶται, καὶ τὸ μὲν βάρβαρον παρʼ ἀξίαν ἐπικρατεῖ διὰ Τύχην, τὸ δʼ Ἑλληνικὸν ἀντέχει παρὰ δύναμιν διʼ Ἀρετήν; κἂν μὲν ἐκεῖνοι περιγένωνται, τύχης καὶ δαίμονος φθονεροῦ καὶ νεμέσεως ἔσται τὸ ἔργον ἂν δʼ οὗτοι κρατήσωσιν, Ἀρετὴ καὶ τόλμα καὶ φιλία καὶ πίστις ἐξοίσεται τὸ νικητήριον; ταῦτα γὰρ μόνα παρῆν Ἀλεξάνδρῳ, τῆς δʼ ἄλλης δυνάμεως καὶ παρασκευῆς καὶ στόλων καὶ ἵππων καὶ στρατοπέδων μέσον ἔθηκεν ἡ Τύχη τὸ τεῖχος. ἐτρέψαντο μὲν οὖν τοὺς βαρβάρους οἱ Μακεδόνες, καὶ πεσοῦσιν αὐτοῖς ἐπικατέσκαψαν τὴν πόλιν. Ἀλεξάνδρῳ δʼ οὐδὲν ἦν ὄφελος· ἥρπαστο γὰρ μετὰ τοῦ βέλους, καὶ τὸν κάλαμον ἐν τοῖς σπλάγχνοις εἶχε, καὶ δεσμὸς ἦν αὐτῷ καὶ ἧλος τὸ τόξευμα τοῦ θώρακος πρὸς τὸ σῶμα. καὶ σπάσαι μὲν ὥσπερ ἐκ ῥίζης τοῦ τραύματος βιαζομένοις οὐχ ὑπήκουεν ὁ σίδηρος, ἕδραν ἔχων τὰ πρὸ τῆς καρδίας στερεὰ τοῦ στήθους· ἐκπρῖσαι δὲ τοῦ δόνακος οὐκ ἐθάρρουν τὸ προῦχον, ἀλλʼ ἐφοβοῦντο, μήπως σπαραγμῷ σχιζόμενον τὸ ὀστέον ὑπερβολὰς ἀλγηδόνων παράσχῃ καὶ ῥῆξις αἵματος ἐκ βάθους γένηται. πολλὴν δʼ ἀπορίαν καὶ διατριβὴν ὁρῶν αὐτὸς ἐπεχείρησεν ἐν χρῷ τοῦ θώρακος ἀποτέμνειν τῷ ξιφιδίῳ τὸν οἰστόν· ἠτόνει δʼ ἡ χεὶρ καὶ βάρος εἶχε ναρκῶδες ὑπὸ φλεγμονῆς τοῦ τραύματος. ἐκέλευεν οὖν ἅπτεσθαι καὶ μὴ δεδιέναι τοὺς ἀτρώτους θαρρύνων· καὶ τοῖς μὲν ἐλοιδορεῖτο κλαίουσι καὶ περιπαθοῦσι, τοὺς δὲ λιποτάκτας ἀπεκάλει, μὴ τολμῶντας αὐτῷ βοηθεῖν· ἐβόα δὲ πρὸς τοὺς ἑταίρους μηδεὶς ἔστω μηδʼ ὑπὲρ ἐμοῦ δειλός· ἀπιστοῦμαι μὴ φοβεῖσθαι θάνατον, εἰ τὸν ἐμὸν φοβεῖσθʼ ὑμεῖς.