Publisher's Synopsis
Excerpt from Six Thousand Years of History, Vol. 6
Suffered defeat. During his brief reign he proceeded from one conquest to another, encountering and sur mounting the greatest difficulties. His personal bravery and skill was Often brought to the test and never failed him. Arrian says of him In body he was handsome, most indefatigable, most active; in mind, most manly, most ambitious Of glory, most enterprising and most religious. In sensual pleasures he was most temperate and of mental excitements, insatiable of praise alone. In arraying, arming and marshaling armies, most skillful. In raising the soldiers' courage, filling them with hopes of victory and dispelling their fears by his own undaunted bearing, most chivalrous. In doubtful enterprises most daring. In wresting advantages from enemies and anticipating even their suspicions Of his measures most successful. In fulfilling his own engagements most faith ful, in guarding against being overreached by others, most cautious. In his own personal expenses most frugal, but in munificence to others most unsparing. Alexander became King of Macedonia at the age Of twenty years, and died before he reached the age of thirty-three. Dur ing those twelve years he demonstrated the supremacy of the Macedonian arms over the most powerful kingdoms of the world. The complex character of the conqueror is shown in many instances of his life. In some cases he exhibited the greatest forbearance and mercy, and in others appeared to delight in cruelty. Thousands Of bar barians were unnecessarily put to the sword, and cities were destroyed for revenge. Alexander wept when he parted with his veterans, yet with his own hand in a drunken rage he slew the friend who had saved his life in battle. By some he has been designated a tyrant, by others a deliverer. He died at the height of his success. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.
