eastward, and escaped from the environage of mountains through a
most celebrated dell called the Vale of Tempe. On the north of this
valley is Olympus, and on the south the two twin mountains Pelion and
Ossa. There was an ancient story of a war in Thessaly between the
giants who were imagined to have lived there in very early days, and
the gods. The giants piled Pelion upon Ossa to enable them to get up
to heaven in their assault upon their celestial enemies. The fable has
led to a proverb which prevails in every language in Europe, by which
all extravagant and unheard-of exertions to accomplish an end is said
to be a piling of Pelion upon Ossa.

[Footnote A: At the commencement of Chapter iii.]

Thessaly was famous for its horses and its horsemen. The slopes of the
mountains furnished the best of pasturage for the rearing of the
animals, and the plains below afforded broad and open fields for
training and exercising the bodies of cavalry formed by means of them.
The Thessalian horses were famous throughout all Greece. Bucephalus
was reared in Thessaly.

Alexander, as king of Macedon, possessed extensive estates and
revenues, which were his own personal property, and were independent
of the revenues of the state. Before setting out on his expedition, he
apportioned these among his great officers and generals, both those
who were to go and those who were to remain. He evinced great
generosity in this, but it was, after all, the spirit of ambition,
more than that of generosity, which led him to do it. The two great
impulses which animated him were the pleasure of doing great deeds,
and the fame and glory of having done them. These two principles are
very distinct in their nature, though often conjoined. They were
paramount and supreme in Alexander's character, and every other human
principle was subordinate to them. Money was to him, accordingly, only
a means to enable him to accomplish these ends. His distributing his
estates and revenues in the manner above described was only a
judicious appropriation of the money to the promotion of the great
ends he wished to attain; it was expenditure, not gift. It answered
admirably the end he had in view. His friends all looked upon him as
extremely generous and self-sacrificing. They asked him what he had
reserved for himself. "Hope," said Alexander.

At length all things were ready, and Alexander began to celebrate the
religious sacrifices, spectacles, and shows which, in th