Page:History of Greece Vol XII.djvu/297

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ALEXANDER NOT HELLENIC. 265 Europe into Asia, and out of Asia into Europe, in order to fn^se these populations into one by multiplying intermarriages and in- tercourse.* Such reciprocal translation of peoples would have been felt as eminently odious, and could not have been accom- plished without coercive authority.^ It is rash to speculate upon unexecuted 2)urposes ; but, as far as we can judge, such compul- sory mingling of the different races promises nothing favorable to the happiness of any of them, though it might serve as an im- posing novelty and memento of imperial omnipotence. In respect of intelligence and combining genius, Alexander was Hellenic to the full ; in respect of disposition and purpose, no one could be less Hellenic. The acts attesting his Oriental violence of impulse, unmeasured self-wiU,^ and exaction of rever- ence above the limits of humanity — have been already recount- ed. To describe him as a son of Hellas, imbued with the politi- cal maxims of Aristotle, and bent on the systematic diffusion of Hellenic culture for the improvement of mankind* — is, in my ' iJiodor. xviii. 4. Ilpof 6s tovtoi^ itoTieuv avvoiKiafiov^ koL au/unruv /it- fayuya^ Ik rr/c 'kaiag elt; rf/v HvpunTjv, Kal Kara tovvuvtlov en ri/^ 'Evpu-KTjC elg Tijv ^Aalav, ottu^ raf jiEyiara^ T^Treipovg ralg e7nyafilat(; Kal rale OLKeiuae- acv EiQ Koivijv 6(iovotav Kal avyyeviKyv (piAiav Karaarriari.

  • See the effect produced upon the lonians by the false statement of His

tiaeus (Herodot. vi. 3) with Wesseling's note — and tlie eagerness of the Jfffionians to return (Herod, v. 98; also Justin, viii. 5). Antipater afterwards intended to transport the ^tolians in mass from their own country into Asia, if he had succeeded in conquering them (Diodor. xviii. 25). Compare Pausanias (i. 9, 8-10) about the forcible measures used by Lysimachus, in transporting new inhabitants, at E[)hesus and Lysimacheia. ' Livy, ix. 18. " Referre in tanto rege piget superbam mntatinnein vistis, et desideratas humr jacentium adulationes, etiam victis Maccilonibns graves, nedum victoribus : et fceda supplicia, et inter vinum ct epulas casdea amicorum, et vanitatem ementiendse st.rpis. Quid si vini amor in dies fieret acrior ■? quid si trux et praefervida ira 1 (nee qnidqnmn duJihtm inter scrlptores refero) nuUane haec damna imperatoriis virtutibus ducimus ? " The appeal here made by Livy to the full attestation of these points in Alexander's character deserves notice. He had doubtless more authorities before him than we possess.

  • Among other eulogists of Alexander, it is sufficient to name Droysen

— ^'in his two works, both of great historical research — Geschichte Alexan- der.! des Grossen — and Geschichte des Hellcnismus oder der Bildung des VOL. XII. 23