r, prepared by one perhaps
greater than himself in creative genius, and as unscrupulous and cruel as
he. Philip found his kingdom a little brook; he left it a river--broad,
deep, and grand. Under Alexander, this river became an irresistible
torrent, sweeping every thing away which impeded its course. Philip
created an army, and a military system, and generals, all so striking,
that Greece succumbed before him, and yielded up her liberties. Alexander
had only to follow out his policy, which was to subdue the Persians. The
Persian empire extended over all the East--Asia Minor, Syria, Egypt,
Parthia, Babylonia, Mesopotamia, Armenia, Bactria, and other countries--the
one hundred and twenty provinces of Nebuchadnezzar and Cyrus, from the
Mediterranean to India, from the Euxine and Caspian Seas to Arabia and the
Persian Gulf--a monstrous empire, whose possession was calculated to
inflame the monarchs who reigned at Susa and Babylon with more than mortal
pride and self-sufficiency. It had been gradually won by successive
conquerors, from Nimrod to Darius. It was the gradual absorption of all
the kingdoms of the East in the successive Assyrian, Babylonian, and
Persian empires--for these three empires were really one under different
dynasties, and were ruled by the same precedents and principles. The
various kingdoms which composed this empire, once independent, yielded to
the conquerors who reigned at Babylon, or Nineveh, or Persepolis, and
formed satrapies paying tribute to the great king. The satraps of Cyrus
were like the satraps of Nebuchadnezzar, members or friends of the
imperial house, who ruled the various provinces in the name of the king of
Babylon, or Persia, without much interference with the manners, or
language, or customs, or laws, or religion of the conquered, contented to
receive tribute merely, and troops in case of war. And so great was the
accumulation of treasure in the various royal cities where the king
resided part of the year, that Darius left behind him on his flight, in
Ecbatana alone, one hundred and eighty thousand talents, or two hundred
million dollars. It was by this treasure that the kings of Persia lived in
such royal magnificence, and with it they were able to subsidize armies to
maintain their power throughout their vast dominions, and even gain allies
like the Greeks, when they had need of their services. Their treasures
were inexhaustible--and were accumulated with the purpose of maintaining