disastrous termination. The occasion of his going there was a
request which he had received from the inhabitants of Tarentum that he
would come over and assist them in a war in which they were engaged
with some neighboring tribes. Tarentum was a city situated toward the
western shore of Italy. It was at the head of the deep bay called the
Gulf of Tarentum, which bay occupies the hollow of the foot that the
form of Italy presents to the eye as seen upon a map.[H] Tarentum was,
accordingly, across the Adriatic Sea from Epirus. The distance was
about two hundred miles. By taking a southerly route, and going up the
Gulf of Tarentum, this distance might be traversed wholly by sea. A
little to the north the Adriatic is narrow, the passage there being
only about fifty miles across. To an expedition, however, taking this
course, there would remain, after arriving on the Italian shore, fifty
miles or more to be accomplished by land in order to reach Tarentum.

[Footnote H: See map.]

Before deciding to comply with the request of the Tarentines that he
would come to their aid, Alexander sent to a celebrated oracle in
Epirus, called the oracle of Dodona, to inquire whether it would be
safe for him to undertake the expedition. To his inquiries the oracle
gave him this for an answer:

"The waters of Acheron will be the cause of your death, and
Pandosia is the place where you will die."

Alexander was greatly rejoiced at receiving this answer. Acheron was a
stream of Epirus, and Pandosia was a town upon the banks of it. He
understood the response to mean that he was fated to die quietly in
his own country at some future period, probably a remote one, and that
there was no danger in his undertaking the expedition to which he had
been called. He accordingly set sail from Epirus, and landed in Italy;
and there, believing that he was fated to die in Epirus, and not in
Italy, he fought in every battle with the most desperate and reckless
bravery, and achieved prodigies of valor. The possibility that there
might be an Acheron and a Pandosia in Italy, as well as in Epirus, did
not occur to his mind.

For a time he was very successful in his career. He fought battles,
gained victories, conquered cities, and established his dominion over
quite an extended region. In order to hold what he had gained, he sent
over a great number of hostages to Epirus, to be kept there as
security for the continued submission of those whom he had