XXIV
THE CAREER OF ALEXANDER THE GREAT[1]
§ 1. Philip of Macedonia. § 2. The Murder of King Philip. § 3. Alexander's First Conquests. § 4. The Wanderings of Alexander. § 5. Was Alexander Indeed Great? § 6. The Successors of Alexander. § 7. Pergamum a Refuge of Culture. § 8. Alexander as a Portent of World Unity.
§ 1
THE true hero of the story of Alexander is not so much Alexander as his father Philip. The author of a piece does not shine in the limelight as the actor does, and it was Philip who planned much of the greatness that his son achieved, who laid the foundations and forged the tools, who had indeed already begun the Persian expedition at the time of his death. Philip, beyond doubting, was one of the greatest monarchs the world has ever seen; he was a man of the utmost intelligence and ability, and his range of ideas was vastly beyond the scope of his time. He made Aristotle his friend; he must have discussed with him those schemes for the organization of real knowledge which the philosopher was to realize later through Alexander's endowments. Philip, so far as we can judge, seems to have been Aristotle's "Prince"; to him Aristotle turned as men turn only to those whom they admire and trust. To Philip also Isocrates appealed as the great leader who should unify and ennoble the chaotic public life of Greece.
In many books it is stated that Philip was a man of incredible cynicism and of uncontrolled lusts. It is true that at feasts, like
- ↑ Benjamin Ide Wheeler's Alexander the Great and G. D. Hogarth's Philip and Alexander have been very useful here.
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