ter, he drew his sword, and
with one vigorous stroke severed the cord in two.

At once a shout went up. The problem was solved; the knot was severed;
the genius of Alexander had led him to the only means. He had made good
his title to the empire of Asia, and was hailed as predestined conqueror
by his admiring followers. That night came a storm of thunder and
lightning which confirmed the belief, the superstitious Macedonians
taking it as the testimony of the gods that the oracle was fulfilled.

Had there been no Gordian knot and no oracle, Alexander would probably
have become lord of the empire of Asia all the same, and this not only
because he was the best general of his time and one of the best generals
of all time, but for two other excellent reasons. One was that his
father, Philip, had bequeathed to him the best army of the age. The
Greeks had proved, nearly two centuries before, that their military
organization and skill were far superior to those of the Persians.
During the interval there had been no progress in the army of Persia,
while Epaminondas had greatly improved the military art in Greece, and
Philip of Macedon, his pupil, had made of the Macedonian army a fighting
machine such as the world had never before known. This was the army
which, with still further improvements, Alexander was leading into Asia
to meet the multitudinous but poorly armed and disciplined Persian host.

The second reason was that Alexander, while the best captain of his age,
had opposed to him the worst. It was the misfortune of Persia that a new
king, Darius Codomannus by name, had just come to the throne, and was to
prove himself utterly incapable of leading an army, unless it was to
lead it in flight. It was not only Alexander's great ability, but his
marvellous good fortune, which led to his immense success.

The Persians had had a good general in Asia Minor,--Memnon, a Greek of
the island of Rhodes. But just at this time this able leader died, and
Darius took the command on himself. He could hardly have selected a man
from his ranks who would not have made a better commander-in-chief.

Gathering a vast army from his wide-spread dominions, a host six hundred
thousand strong, the Persian king marched to meet his foe. He brought
with him an enormous weight of baggage, there being enough gold and
silver alone to load six hundred mules and three hundred camels; and so
confident was he of success that he also brought his mother, wi