ALEXANDER'S END

B.C. 326-319R

Alexander's invasion of India. Insubordination of the army.

After the events narrated in the last chapter, Alexander continued, for two or three years, his expeditions and conquests in Asia, and in the course of them he met with a great variety of adventures which can not be here particularly described. He penetrated into India as far as the banks of the Indus, and, not content with this, was preparing to cross the Indus and go on to the Ganges. His soldiers, however, resisted this design. They were alarmed at the stories which they heard of the Indian armies, with elephants bearing castles upon their backs, and soldiers armed with strange and unheard-of weapons. These rumors, and the natural desire of the soldiers not to go away any further from their native land, produced almost a mutiny¹ in the army. At length, Alexander, learning how strong and how extensive the spirit of insubordination² was becoming, summoned his officers to his own tent, and then ordering the whole army to gather around, he went out to meet them.

Alexander's address to the army.

He made an address to them, in which he recounted all their past exploits, praised the courage and perseverance³ which they had shown thus far, and endeavored to animate them with a desire to proceed. They listened in silence, and no one attempted to reply. This solemn pause was followed by marks of great agitation throughout the assembly. The army loved their commander, notwithstanding his faults and failings. They were extremely unwilling to make any resistance to his authority; but they had lost that extreme and unbounded confidence in his energy and virtue which made them ready, in the former part of his career, to press forward into any difficulties and dangers whatever, where he led the way.

1. mutiny: revolt 2. insubordination: disobedience 3. perseverance: persistence