se deeds, the great hero attained at last to the
glory of having perpetrated the grandest and most imposing of all
human crimes. That these deeds were really crimes there can be no
doubt, when we consider that Alexander did not pretend to have any
other motive in this invasion than love of conquest, which is, in
other words, love of violence and plunder. They are only technically
shielded from being called crimes by the fact that the earth has no
laws and no tribunals high enough to condemn such enormous burglaries
as that of one quarter of the globe breaking violently and murderously
in upon and robbing the other.

Besides the treasures, Alexander found also at Susa a number of
trophies which had been brought by Xerxes from Greece; for Xerxes had
invaded Greece some hundred years before Alexander's day, and had
brought to Susa the spoils and the trophies of his victories.
Alexander sent them all back to Greece again.

From Susa the conqueror moved on to Persepolis, the great Persian
capital. On his march he had to pass through a defile of the
mountains. The mountaineers had been accustomed to exact tribute here
of all who passed, having a sort of right, derived from ancient usage,
to the payment of a toll. They sent to Alexander when they heard that
he was approaching, and informed him that he could not pass with his
army without paying the customary toll. Alexander sent back word that
he would meet them at the pass, and give them _their due_.

They understood this, and prepared to defend the pass. Some Persian
troops joined them. They built walls and barricades across the narrow
passages. They collected great stones on the brinks of precipices, and
on the declivities of the mountains, to roll down upon the heads of
their enemies. By these and every other means they attempted to stop
Alexander's passage. But he had contrived to send detachments around
by circuitous and precipitous paths, which even the mountaineers had
deemed impracticable, and thus attack his enemies suddenly and
unexpectedly from above their own positions. As usual, his plan
succeeded. The mountaineers were driven away, and the conqueror
advanced toward the great Persian capital.

[Illustration: ALEXANDER AT THE PASS OF SUSA.]

CHAPTER X.

THE DEATH OF DARIUS.

B.C. 330

March to Persepolis.--Reckless cruelty.--The banquet.--Thais
proposes to burn the Persian palace.--Conflagration of the
palace.--Sublimity of the scene.--Olympias.--