and accustomed to a life of luxury and
splendor. The Greeks and Romans, on the other hand, prided themselves
on their compact bodies of troops, inured to hardship and thoroughly
disciplined. Their officers gloried not in luxury and parade, but in
the courage, the steadiness, and implicit obedience of their troops,
and in their own science, skill, and powers of military calculation.
Thus there was a great difference in the whole system of social and
military organization in these two quarters of the globe.

Now Alexander was born the heir to the throne of one of the Grecian
kingdoms. He possessed, in a very remarkable degree, the energy, and
enterprise, and military skill so characteristic of the Greeks and
Romans. He organized armies, crossed the boundary between Europe and
Asia, and spent the twelve years of his career in a most triumphant
military incursion into the very center and seat of Asiatic power,
destroying the Asiatic armies, conquering the most splendid cities,
defeating or taking captive the kings, and princes, and generals that
opposed his progress. The whole world looked on with wonder to see
such a course of conquest, pursued so successfully by so young a man,
and with so small an army, gaining continual victories, as it did,
over such vast numbers of foes, and making conquests of such
accumulated treasures of wealth and splendor.

The name of Alexander's father was Philip. The kingdom over which
he reigned was called Macedon. Macedon was in the northern part
of Greece. It was a kingdom about twice as large as the State of
Massachusetts, and one third as large as the State of New York. The
name of Alexander's mother was Olympias. She was the daughter of the
King of Epirus, which was a kingdom somewhat smaller than Macedon, and
lying westward of it. Both Macedon and Epirus will be found upon the
map at the commencement of this volume. Olympias was a woman of very
strong and determined character. Alexander seemed to inherit her
energy, though in his case it was combined with other qualities of a
more attractive character, which his mother did not possess.

He was, of course, as the young prince, a very important personage in
his father's court. Every one knew that at his father's death he would
become King of Macedon, and he was consequently the object of a great
deal of care and attention. As he gradually advanced in the years of
his boyhood, it was observed by all who knew him that he was endued
with