when I weep for her death, and did she not in
her life make us more miserable by her dishonour, than if she had
fallen into the hands of a cruel enemy? For what honest communication
can a young conqueror have with the wife of his enemy, and what can be
the meaning of his showing such excessive honour to her after her
death?" While Darius was yet speaking, Teireus threw himself at his
feet, and besought him to be silent, and not to dishonour Alexander
and his dead wife and sister by such suspicions, nor yet to take away
from himself that thought which ought to be his greatest consolation
in his misfortunes, which was that he had been conquered by one who
was more than man. Rather ought he to admire Alexander, whose
honourable treatment of the Persian women proved him to be even
greater than did his bravery in vanquishing their men. Those words the
eunuch assured him, with many protestations and oaths, were perfectly
true. Darius, when he heard this, came out of his tent to his friends,
and, raising his hands to heaven, said, "Ye parent gods, who watch
over the Persian throne, grant that I may again restore the fortune of
Persia to its former state, in order that I may have an opportunity of
repaying Alexander in person the kindness which he has shown to those
whom I hold dearest; but if indeed the fated hour has arrived, and the
Persian empire is doomed to perish, may no other conqueror than
Alexander mount the throne of Cyrus." The above is the account given
by most historians of what took place on this occasion.

XXXI. Alexander, after conquering all the country on the higher bank
of the Euphrates, marched to attack Darius, who was advancing to meet
him with an army of a million fighting men.

During this march, one of Alexander's friends told him as a joke, that
the camp-followers had divided themselves into two bodies in sport,
each of which was led by a general, the one called Alexander, and the
other Darius; and that after beginning to skirmish with one another by
throwing clods of earth, they had come to blows of the fist, and had
at length become so excited that they fought with sticks and stones,
and that it was hard to part them. On hearing this, Alexander ordered
the two leaders to fight in single combat: and he himself armed the
one called Alexander, while Philotas armed the representative of
Darius. The whole army looked on, thinking that the result would be
ominous of their own success or failure. After a