arius prisoner, when he was called off to help Parmenio,
whose division had been broken, so that the camp was threatened.
Alexander's presence soon set all right again, and made the victory
complete; but Darius had had time to get away, and was galloping on a
swift horse to the Armenian mountains. There was nobody left to defend
Assyria, and Alexander marched in through the brazen gates of Babylon,
when the streets were strewn with flowers, and presents of lions and
leopards borne forth to greet the conqueror.

The great temple of Bel had been partly ruined by the fire-worshipping
Persians, and Alexander greatly pleased the Babylonians by decreeing that
they might restore it with his aid; but the Jews at Babylon would not
work at an idol temple, which they believed to be also the tower of
Babel, and on their entreaty Alexander permitted them to have nothing to
do with it.

After staying thirty days at Babylon, he went on to Susa, where he found
the brazen statues which Xerxes had carried away from the sack of Athens.
He sent them home again, to show the Greeks that he had avenged their
cause. When he came to Fars--or, as the Greeks called it, Persepolis--a
wretched band of Greek captives came out to meet him, with their eyes put
out, or their noses, ears, hands, or feet cut off. The Greeks never
tortured: it was a dreadful sight to them, and the king burst into tears,
and promised to send all safe home, but they begged him, instead, to help
them to live where they were, since they were ashamed to show themselves
to their kindred. Their misery made Alexander decide on giving the city
up to plunder; the men were killed, the women and children made slaves.
He meant to revenge on the Persian capital all that the Great Kings had
inflicted on the Greek cities, and one Corinthian actually shed tears of
joy at seeing him on the throne, exclaiming, "What joy have those Greeks
missed who have not seen Alexander on the throne of Darius!"

[Picture: Princes of Persia]

Poor Darius had pushed on into the mountains beyond Media, and thither
Alexander pursued him; but his own subjects had risen against him, and
placed him in a chariot bound with golden chains. Alexander dashed on in
pursuit with his fleetest horsemen, riding all night, and only resting in
the noonday heat, for the last twenty-five miles over a desert without
water. At daybreak he saw the Persian host moving along like a confused
crowd.