φύσει δὲ ὢν μεγαλοδωρότατος ἔτι μᾶλλον ἐπέδωκεν εἰς τοῦτο τῶν πραγμάτων αὐξομένων· καὶ προσῆν ἡ φιλοφροσύνη, μεθʼ ἧς μόνης ὡς ἀληθῶς οἱ διδόντες χαρίζονται, μνησθήσομαι δὲ ὀλίγων. ἀρίστων ὁ τῶν Παιόνων ἡγούμενος ἀποκτείνας πολέμιον ἄνδρα καὶ τὴν κεφαλὴν ἐπιδειξάμενος αὐτῷ, τοῦτο, εἶπεν, ὦ βασιλεῦ, παρʼ ἡμῖν ἐκπώματος χρυσοῦ τιμᾶται τὸ δῶρον.
Alexander was naturally munificent, and became still more so as his wealth increased. His gifts, too, were accompanied by a kindly spirit, with which alone, to tell the truth, a giver confers a favour. I will mention a few instances. Ariston, the captain of the Paeonians, having slain an enemy, brought his head and showed it to Alexander, saying: In my country, O King, such a gift as this is rewarded with a golden beaker.
ὁ δὲ Ἀλέξανδρος γελάσας, κενοῦ γε, εἶπεν, ἐγὼ δέ σοι μεστὸν ἀκράτου προπίομαι. τῶν δὲ πολλῶν τις Μακεδόνων ἤλαυνεν ἡμίονον βασιλικὸν χρυσίον κομίζοντα· κάμνοντος δὲ τοῦ κτήνους αὐτὸς ἀράμενος ἐκόμιζε τὸ φορτίον. ἰδὼν οὖν ὁ βασιλεὺς θλιβόμενον αὐτὸν σφόδρα καὶ πυθόμενος τὸ πρᾶγμα, μέλλοντος κατατίθεσθαι, μὴ κάμῃς, εἶπεν, ἀλλὰ πρόσθες ἔτι τὴν λοιπὴν ὁδὸν ἐπὶ τὴν σκηνήν ἑαυτῷ τοῦτο κομίσας.
Yes, said Alexander with a laugh, an empty one; but I will pledge thy health with one which is full of pure wine. Again, a common Macedonian was driving a mule laden with some of the royal gold, and when the beast gave out, took the load on his own shoulders and tried to carry it. The king, then, seeing the man in great distress and learning the facts of the case, said, as the man was about to lay his burden down, Don’t give out, but finish your journey by taking this load to your own tent.
ὅλως δὲ ἤχθετο τοῖς μὴ λαμβάνουσι μᾶλλον ἢ τοῖς αἰτοῦσι. καὶ Φωκίωνι μὲν ἔγραψεν ἐπιστολήν ὡς οὐ χρησόμενος αὐτῷ φίλῳ τὸ λοιπόν, εἰ διωθοῖτο τὰς χάριτας. Σεραπίωνι δὲ τῶν ἀπὸ σφαίρας τινὶ νεανίσκων οὐδὲν ἐδίδου διὰ τὸ μηδὲν αἰτεῖν. ὡς οὖν εἰς τὸ σφαιρίζειν παραγενόμενος ὁ Σεραπίων ἄλλοις ἔβαλλε τὴν σφαῖραν, εἰπόντος δὲ τοῦ βασιλέως, ἐμοὶ δὲ οὐ δίδως; οὐ γὰρ αἰτεῖς, εἶπε, τούτῳ μὲν δὴ γελάσας πολλὰ ἔδωκε.
Furthermore, he was generally more displeased with those who would not take his gifts than with those who asked for them. And so he wrote to Phocion in a letter that he would not treat him as a friend in future if he rejected his favours. Again, to Serapion, one of the youths who played at ball with him, he used to give nothing because he asked for nothing. Accordingly, whenever Serapion had the ball, he would throw it to others, until the king said: Won’t you give it to me? No, said Serapion, because you don’t ask for it, whereat the king burst out laughing and made him many presents.
Πρωτέᾳ δέ τινι τῶν περὶ σκώμματα καὶ πότον οὐκ ἀμούσων ἔδοξε διʼ ὀργῆς γεγονέναι τῶν δὲ φίλων δεομένων κἀκείνου δακρύοντος ἔφη διαλλάττεσθαι κἀκεῖνος, οὐκοῦν, εἶπεν, ὦ βασιλεῦ, δός τί μοι πιστὸν πρῶτον. ἐκέλευσεν οὖν αὐτῷ πέντε τάλαντα δοθῆναι. περὶ δὲ τῶν τοῖς φίλοις καὶ τοῖς σωματοφύλαξι νεμομένων πλούτων, ἡλίκον εἶχον ὄγκον, ἐμφαίνει διʼ ἐπιστολῆς Ὀλυμπιάς, ἣν ἔγραψε πρὸς αὐτόν.
With Proteas, however, a clever wag and boon companion, he appeared to be angry; but when the man’s friends begged his forgiveness, as did Proteas himself with tears, the king said that he was his friend again, whereat Proteas said: In that case, O King, give me something to prove it first. Accordingly, the king ordered that five talents should be given him. What lofty airs his friends and bodyguards were wont to display over the wealth bestowed by him, is plain from a letter which Olympias wrote to him.
ἄλλως, φησὶν, εὖ ποίει τοὺς φίλους καὶ ἐνδόξους ἄγε νῦν δʼ ἰσοβασιλέας πάντας ποιεῖς καὶ πολυφιλίας παρασκευάζεις αὐτοῖς, ἑαυτὸν δὲ ἐρημοῖς. πολλάκις δὲ τοιαῦτα τῆς Ὀλυμπιάδος γραφούσης ἐφύλαττεν ἀπόρρητα τὰ γράμματα, πλὴν ἅπαξ Ἡφαιστίωνος, ὥσπερ εἰώθει, λυθεῖσαν ἐπιστολήν αὐτῷ συναναγινώσκοντος οὐκ ἐκώλυσεν, ἀλλὰ τὸν δακτύλιον ἀφελόμενος τὸν αὑτοῦ προσέθηκε τῷ ἐκείνου στόματι τὴν σφραγῖδα.
She says: I beg thee to find other ways of conferring favours on those thou lovest and holdest in honour; as it is, thou makest them all the equals of kings and providest them with an abundance of friends, whilst thyself thou strippest bare. Olympias often wrote him in like vein, but Alexander kept her writings secret, except once when Hephaestion, as was his wont, read with him a letter which had been opened; the king did not prevent him, but took the ring from his own finger and applied its seal to the lips of Hephaestion.
Μαζαίου δὲ τοῦ μεγίστου παρὰ Δαρείῳ γενομένου παιδὶ σατραπείαν ἔχοντι δευτέραν προσετίθει μείζονα, παραιτούμενος δὲ ἐκεῖνος εἶπεν· ὦ βασιλεῦ, τότε μὲν ἦν εἷς Δαρεῖος, νῦν δὲ σὺ πολλοὺς πεποίηκας Ἀλεξάνδρους. Παρμενίωνι μὲν οὖν τὸν Βαγώου ἔδωκεν οἶκον τὸν περὶ Σοῦσα, ἐν ᾧ λέγεται χιλίων ταλάντων εὑρεθῆναι ἱματισμὸν. πρὸς δʼ Ἀντίπατρον ἔγραψε κελεύων ἔχειν φύλακας τοῦ σώματος ὡς ἐπιβουλευόμενον.
Again, though the son of Mazaeus, the most influential man at the court of Dareius, already had a province, Alexander gave him a second and a larger one. He, however, declined it saying: O King, formerly there was one Dareius, but now thou hast made many Alexanders. To Parmenio, moreover, Alexander gave the house of Bagoas at Susa, in which it is said there was found apparel worth a thousand talents. Again, he wrote to Antipater bidding him keep guards about his person, since plots were being laid against him.
τῇ δὲ μητρὶ πολλὰ μὲν ἐδωρεῖτο καὶ κατέπεμπεν, οὐκ εἴα δὲ πολυπραγμονεῖν οὐδὲ παραστρατηγεῖν ἐγκαλούσης δὲ πρᾴως ἔφερε τὴν χαλεπότητα. πλὴν ἅπαξ ποτὲ Ἀντιπάτρου μακρὰν κατʼ αὐτῆς γράψαντος ἐπιστολήν ἀναγνοὺς ἀγνοεῖν εἶπεν Ἀντίπατρον ὅτι μυρίας ἐπιστολὰς ἓν δάκρυον ἀπαλείφει μητρός.
To his mother, also, he sent many presents, but would not suffer her to meddle in affairs nor interfere in his campaigns; and when she chided him for this, he bore her harshness patiently. Once, however, after reading a long letter which Antipater had written in denunciation of her, he said Antipater knew not that one tear of a mother effaced ten thousand letters.
ἐπεὶ δὲ τοὺς περὶ αὑτὸν ἑώρα παντάπασιν ἐκτετρυφηκότας καὶ φορτικοὺς ταῖς διαίταις καὶ πολυτελείαις ὄντας, ὥστε Ἅγνωνα μέν τὸν Τήϊον ἀργυροῦς ἐν ταῖς κρηπῖσιν ἥλους φορεῖν, Λεοννάτῳ δὲ πολλαῖς καμήλοις ἀπʼ Αἰγύπτου κόνιν εἰς τὰ γυμνάσια παρακομίζεσθαι, Φιλώτᾳ δὲ πρὸς θήρας σταδίων ἑκατὸν αὐλαίας γεγονέναι, μύρῳ δὲ χρωμένους ἰέναι πρὸς ἄλειμμα καὶ λουτρὸν ὅσους οὐδὲ ἐλαίῳ, τρίπτας δὲ καὶ κατευναστὰς περιαγομένους, ἐπετίμησε πρᾴως καὶ φιλοσόφως,
He saw that his favourites had grown altogether luxurious, and were vulgar in the extravagance of their ways of living. For instance, Hagnon the Teian used to wear silver nails in his boots; Leonnatus had dust for his gymnastic exercises brought to him on many camels from Egypt; Philotas had hunting-nets a hundred furlongs long; when they took their exercise and their baths, more of them actually used myrrh than olive oil, and they had in their train rubbers and chamberlains. Alexander therefore chided them in gentle and reasonable fashion.
θαυμάζειν φάμενος εἰ τοσούτους ἠγωνισμένοι καὶ τηλικούτους ἀγῶνας οὐ μνημονεύουσιν ὅτι τῶν καταπονηθέντων οἱ καταπονήσαντες ἥδιον καθεύδουσιν, οὐδὲ ὁρῶσι τοῖς Περσῶν βίοις τοὺς ἑαυτῶν παραβάλλοντες, ὅτι δουλικώτατον μέν ἐστι τὸ τρυφᾶν, βασιλικώτατον δὲ τὸ πονεῖν. καίτοι πῶς ἄν τις, ἔφη, διʼ ἑαυτοῦ θεραπεύσειεν ἵππον ἢ λόγχην ἀσκήσειεν ἢ κράνος, ἀπειθικὼς τοῦ φιλτάτου σώματος ἅπτεσθαι τὰς χεῖρας;
He was amazed, he said, that after they had undergone so many and so great contests they did not remember that those who conquer by toil sleep more sweetly than those who are conquered by their toil, and did not see, from a comparison of their own lives with those of the Persians, that it is a very servile thing to be luxurious, but a very royal thing to toil. And yet, said he, how can a man take care of his own horse or furbish up his spear and helmet, if he is unaccustomed to using his hands on his own dear person?
οὐκ ἴστε, εἶπεν, ὅτι τοῦ κρατεῖν πέρας ἡμῖν ἐστι τὸ μὴ ταὐτὰ ποιεῖν τοῖς κεκρατημένοις; ἐπέτεινεν οὖν ἔτι μᾶλλον αὐτὸς ἑαυτόν ἐν ταῖς στρατείαις καὶ τοῖς κυνηγεσίοις, κακοπαθῶν καὶ παραβαλλόμενος, ὥστε καὶ Λάκωνα πρεσβευτήν παραγενόμενον αὐτῷ λέοντα καταβάλλοντι μέγαν εἰπεῖν· καλῶς γε, Ἀλέξανδρε, πρὸς τὸν λέοντα ἠγώνισαι περὶ τᾶς βασιλείας.
Know ye not, said he, that the end and object of conquest is to avoid doing the same thing as the conquered? Accordingly, he exerted himself yet more strenuously in military and hunting expeditions, suffering distress and risking his life , so that a Spartan ambassador who came up with him as he was bringing down a great lion, said: Nobly, indeed, Alexander, hast thou struggled with the lion to see which should be king.
τοῦτο τὸ κυνήγιον Κρατερὸς εἰς Δελφοὺς ἀνέθηκεν, εἰκόνας χαλκᾶς ποιησάμενος τοῦ λέοντος καὶ τῶν κυνῶν καὶ τοῦ βασιλέως τῷ λέοντι συνεστῶτος καὶ αὑτοῦ προσβοηθοῦντος, ὧν τὰ μέν Λύσιππος ἔπλασε, τὰ δὲ Λεωχάρης.
This hunting-scene Craterus dedicated at Delphi, with bronze figures of the lion, the dogs, the king engaged with the lion, and himself coming to his assistance; some of the figures were moulded by Lysippus, and some by Leochares.
Ἀλέξανδρος μὲν οὖν ἑαυτὸν ἀσκῶν ἅμα καὶ τοὺς ἄλλους παροξύνων πρὸς ἀρετὴν ἐκινδύνευεν· οἱ δὲ φίλοι διὰ πλοῦτον καὶ ὄγκον ἤδη τρυφᾶν βουλόμενοι καὶ σχολάζειν ἐβαρύνοντο τὰς πλάνας καὶ τὰς στρατείας, καὶ κατὰ μικρὸν οὕτω προῆλθον εἰς τὸ βλασφημεῖν καὶ κακῶς λέγειν αὐτόν, ὁ δὲ καὶ πάνυ πρᾴως ἐν ἀρχῇ πρὸς ταῦτα διέκειτο, φάσκων βασιλικὸν εἶναι τὸ κακῶς ἀκούειν εὖ ποιοῦντα.
Alexander, then, in exercising himself and at the same time inciting others to deeds of valour, was wont to court danger; but his friends, whose wealth and magnificence now gave them a desire to live in luxury and idleness, were impatient of his long wanderings and military expeditions, and gradually went so far as to abuse him and speak ill of him. He, however, was very mildly disposed at first toward this treatment of himself and used to say that it was the lot of a king to confer favours and be ill-spoken of therefor.
καίτοι τὰ μικρότατα τῶν γενομένων τοῖς συνήθεσι παρʼ αὐτοῦ σημεῖα μεγάλης ὑπῆρχεν εὐνοίας καὶ τιμῆς· ὧν ὀλίγα παραθήσομαι. Πευκέστᾳ μὲν ἔγραψε μεμφόμενος ὅτι δηχθεὶς ὑπʼ ἄρκτου τοῖς μὲν ἄλλοις ἔγραψεν, αὐτῷ δὲ οὐκ ἐδήλωσεν. ἀλλὰ νῦν γε, φησί, γράψον πῶς ἔχεις, καὶ μή τινές σε τῶν συγκυνηγετούντων ἐγκατέλιπον, ἵνα δίκην δῶσι.
And yet in the most trifling attentions which he paid his familiar friends there were marks of great good-will and esteem. I will instance a few of these. He found fault with Peucestas by letter because, after being bitten by a bear, he wrote about it to the rest of his friends but did not tell him. Now, however, said he, write me how you are, and tell me whether any of your fellow-huntsmen left you in the lurch, that I may punish them.
τοῖς δὲ περὶ Ἡφαιστίωνα διὰ πράξεις τινὰς ἀποῦσιν ἔγραψεν ὅτι παιζόντων αὐτῶν πρὸς ἰχνεύμονα τῷ Περδίκκου δορατίῳ περιπεσὼν Κρατερὸς τοὺς μηροὺς ἐτρώθη. Πευκέστα δὲ σωθέντος ἔκ τινος ἀσθενείας ἔγραψε πρὸς Ἀλέξιππον τὸν ἰατρὸν εὐχαριστῶν. Κρατεροῦ δὲ νοσοῦντος ὄψιν ἰδὼν καθʼ ὕπνον αὐτός τέ τινας θυσίας ἔθυσεν ὑπὲρ αὐτοῦ κἀκεῖνον θῦσαι ἐκέλευσεν.
To Hephaestion, who was absent on some business, he wrote that while they were diverting themselves with hunting an ichneumon, Craterus encountered the lance of Perdiccas and was wounded in the thighs. After Peucestas had safely recovered from an illness, Alexander wrote to the physician, Alexippus, expressing his thanks. While Craterus was sick, Alexander had a vision in his sleep, whereupon he offered certain sacrifices himself for the recovery of his friend, and bade him also sacrifice.
ἔγραψε δὲ καὶ Παυσανίᾳ τῷ ἰατρῷ βουλομένῳ τὸν Κρατερὸν ἐλλεβορίσαι, τὰ μὲν ἀγωνιῶν, τὰ δὲ παραινῶν ὅπως χρήσεται τῇ φαρμακείᾳ, τοὺς δὲ πρώτους τὴν Ἁρπάλου φυγὴν καὶ ἀπόδρασιν ἀπαγγείλαντας ἔδησεν, Ἐφιάλτην καὶ Κίσσον, ὡς καταψευδομένους τοῦ ἀνδρός.
He wrote also to Pausanias, the physician, who wished to administer hellebore to Craterus, partly expressing distress, and partly advising him how to use the medicine. Those who first brought word to him that Harpalus had absconded, namely, Ephialtes and Cissus, he put in fetters, on the ground that they were falsely accusing the man.
ἐπεὶ δὲ τοὺς ἀσθενοῦντας αὐτοῦ καὶ γέροντας εἰς οἶκον ἀποστέλλοντος Εὐρύλοχος Αἰγαῖος ἐνέγραψεν ἑαυτὸν εἰς τοὺς νοσοῦντας, εἶτα φωραθεὶς ἔχων οὐδὲν κακόν ὡμολόγησε Τελεσίππας ἐρᾶν καὶ συνεπακολουθεῖν ἐπὶ θάλασσαν ἀπιούσης ἐκείνης, ἠρώτησε τίνων ἀνθρώπων ἐστὶ τὸ γύναιον. ἀκούσας δὲ ὅτι τῶν ἐλευθέρων ἑταιρῶν, ἡμᾶς μὲν, εἶπεν, ὦ Εὐρύλοχε, συνερῶντας ἔχεις ὅρα δὲ ὅπως πείθωμεν ἢ λόγοις ἢ δώροις τὴν Τελεσίππαν, ἐπειδήπερ ἐξ ἐλευθέρας ἐστί.
When he was sending home his aged and infirm soldiers, Eurylochus of Aegae got himself enrolled among the sick, and then, when it was discovered that he had nothing the matter with him, confessed that he was in love with Telesippa, and was bent on following along with her on her journey to the sea-board. Alexander asked of what parentage the girl was, and on hearing that she was a free-born courtesan, said: I will help you, O Eurylochus, in your amour; but see to it that we try to persuade Telesippa either by arguments or by gifts, since she is free-born.
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