ected a renewal of these attempts, under a far more formidable
organization, and with a grander object. He managed to have himself
appointed captain-general of all Greece not for the purpose of a mere
foray into the Asiatic satrapies, but for the overthrow of the Persian
dynasty in the very centre of its power. Assassinated while his
preparations were incomplete, he was succeeded by his son Alexander,
then a youth. A general assembly of Greeks at Corinth had unanimously
elected him in his father's stead. There were some disturbances in
Illyria; Alexander had to march his army as far north as the Danube to
quell them. During his absence the Thebans with some others conspired
against him. On his return he took Thebes by assault. He massacred
six thousand of its inhabitants, sold thirty thousand for slaves, and
utterly demolished the city. The military wisdom of this severity was
apparent in his Asiatic campaign. He was not troubled by any revolt in
his rear.

THE MACEDONIAN CAMPAIGN. In the spring B.C. 334 Alexander crossed the
Hellespont into Asia. His army consisted of thirty-four thousand foot
and four thousand horse. He had with him only seventy talents in money.
He marched directly on the Persian army, which, vastly exceeding him in
strength, was holding the line of the Granicus. He forced the passage of
the river, routed the enemy, and the possession of all Asia Minor, with
its treasures, was the fruit of the victory. The remainder of that
year he spent in the military organization of the conquered provinces.
Meantime Darius, the Persian king, had advanced an army of six hundred
thousand men to prevent the passage of the Macedonians into Syria. In
a battle that ensued among the mountain-defiles at Issus, the Persians
were again overthrown. So great was the slaughter that Alexander, and
Ptolemy, one of his generals, crossed over a ravine choked with dead
bodies. It was estimated that the Persian loss was not less than ninety
thousand foot and ten thousand horse. The royal pavilion fell into the
conqueror's hands, and with it the wife and several of the children of
Darius. Syria was thus added to the Greek conquests. In Damascus were
found many of the concubines of Darius and his chief officers, together
with a vast treasure.

Before venturing into the plains of Mesopotamia for the final struggle,
Alexander, to secure his rear and preserve his communications with the
sea, marched southward down the Mediterranean coas