The Palace and Park by Phillips, Forbes, Latham, Owen, Scharf, and Shenton

336-323. [Born at Pella, in Macedonia, B.C. 356. Died at Babylon, B.C. 323. Aged 32.] The pupil of Aristotle, and the conqueror of the world. He ascended the throne of Macedon in the twentieth year of his age. Shortly afterwards he reduced the chief cities of Greece, and rased Thebes sparing only the house of the poet Pindar. In his twenty-second year, he crossed the Hellespont, and turned his arms against the Persian king, Darius, whom he defeated. He conquered Phœnicia, Damascus, and Tyre. Taking Gaza, he passed into Egypt, subdued it, and founded the city of Alexandria. Here, in the madness of his ambition, he claimed divine honours. In 331, B.C., he again attacked Darius, and destroyed the Persian monarchy. Babylon, Susa, and Persepolis, next paid homage to his arms. A change now came over the victor, hitherto temperate and forgiving. He gave rein to his passions, and committed acts of cruelty and excess. But his activity was still incessant. He advanced victoriously to the Indus, and marched back in triumphal procession to Babylon, where, still full of mighty plans of conquest, he fell a victim to intemperance, took fever and died in the thirteenth year of his reign. There was no mediocrity in the character of Alexander. His vices were great, and his virtues magnificent. His heart and mind led him to the extremes of good and evil. His lust of dominion amounted to insane passion. In accordance with his wish, his body, enclosed in a golden coffin, was conveyed to Alexandria, and there deposited in a richly adorned sarcophagus,--now supposed to be in the British Museum. The military skill of Alexander was of a high order. His movements were rapid, decided, and well-directed:--he made great use of his cavalry. His conquests rendered eastern Asia accessible to European enterprise. He retained his affection for his early instructor, Aristotle, to the last, sending, from the scenes of his Eastern conquest, strange animals for the study of the great naturalist. In Asia, to this hour, the exploits of “Iskander,” are told by the people to their children. [From the marble in the Louvre, inscribed with his name. It was dug up near Tivoli in 1779, and afterwards presented to Napoleon by the discoverer, the Chevalier d’Azara. It was by this bust, aided by the evidence of the coins, that all the portraits of Alexander were verified. Notwithstanding the numerous statues, busts, and pictures of this renowned conqueror which are mentioned by ancient writers, only few now remain. One of the characteristics of the head is the curling up of the hair at the back, as though a circlet had given the hair that form, and it is said he was the first to wear a diadem. The peculiar rising up of the hair in front is also a characteristic of Alexander. A very beautiful little equestrian bronze was found at Herculaneum in 1751, conjectured at the time to be a copy of the statue of Alexander, by Lysippus. No. 22A, the inscription on which is evidently modern, is from the Berlin Museum.] 22A. ALEXANDER THE THIRD, surnamed THE GREAT.