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when someone brought him three thousand talents, he ordered them to be set before the horses, and when they would not eat them, he said, "What use are these to us?" And when he was in Persia and saw that the tomb of Cyrus had been dug up, he killed the man who had dug it up, who was from Pella and not one of the obscure. The tomb of Cyrus had this inscription: "O man, whoever you are and from wherever you have come—for I know that you will come—I am Cyrus, who won the empire for the Persians. Do not, then, begrudge me this little piece of earth that covers my body." When these words were read, they made Alexander very emotional, as he considered the uncertainty of things. Having betrothed Stateira, the daughter of Darius, to himself and celebrating the wedding, he gave to each of the nine thousand guests a golden cup, and made the rest of the celebration splendid, and paid the debts for those who owed them, which amounted to a little less than ten thousand talents. At which time Antigenes, one of the commanders, pretending to be in debt and bringing forward a false creditor and receiving the silver, was caught. The king, therefore, becoming angry, drove him from the court and took away his command. But when it was suspected that he would kill himself out of grief, Alexander, fearing this, both relented in his anger towards him and let him keep the money. And of the thirty thousand boys whom he had ordered to be taught, since they turned out to be noble and handsome and not unskilled in their exercises, Alexander was pleased, but the Macedonians were vexed. And when he was sending down the sick and maimed to the sea, they said they considered this an insult and an outrage, and demanded that he discharge them all and be content with his young war-dancers. Angered at this, Alexander handed over the guard duties to the Persians. But he received the Macedonians again when they were humbled, and discharged the unfit with magnificent gifts, and wrote to Antipater that at the games and theaters they should have the front seats and sit wearing crowns. And when he was in Ecbatana, Hephaestion fell ill with a fever, and from an intemperate diet the disease grew worse and he died. Alexander, therefore, did not bear this sorrow with reason, but crucified the physician, ordered the horses and mules to be shorn, tore down the battlements of the cities, and stopped the music and flutes in the camp for a long time. As he was going to Babylon, Nearchus returned, having sailed again into the Euphrates from the great 1.303 sea, saying that Chaldaeans had met with him, advising Alexander to keep away from Babylon. But he, paying no attention to their words, went on. And when he was near the walls, ravens fighting one another fell down before him. It was reported to him that Apollodorus, the general of Babylon, had sacrificed concerning him; and when the diviner who had sacrificed, whose name was Pythagoras, did not deny it, he asked about the nature of the sacrifice. When he said that the liver was without a lobe, he said, "Alas, a powerful omen," and he let the diviner go unpunished. And other signs happened to him, including this one: For when he had stripped for anointing and a ball game, the young men who were playing ball, as they were about to dress, saw someone sitting in silence on the king's throne, dressed in the royal robe and wearing the diadem. When asked who he was, he was speechless for a long time, but at last said his name was Dionysius, that he was a Messenian by birth, that he had been brought as a prisoner on some charge, and that Sarapis had loosed his bonds and, bringing him here, had ordered him to put on the robe and the diadem and sit in silence. Therefore, Alexander, as the diviners suggested, did away with the man, but he himself became despondent and fearful and agitated, and there was nothing that he did not consider an omen. And having bathed, and having gone to Medius to revel, and having spent the night there in revelry and the following day, he began to have a fever. And while feverish and exceedingly thirsty, he drank wine, and becoming delirious, he died. This then is one account of his death; but another holds that he was feverish for several days and bathed, and thus

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προσαγαγόντος αὐτῷ τρισχίλια τάλαντα, παραθεῖναι ταῦτα τοῖς ιπποις ἐκέλευσε, μὴ ἐσθιόντων δέ "τί οφελος" εφη "τούτων ἡμῖν;" ἐν δὲ Πέρσαις γενόμενος καὶ τὸν Κύρου τάφον ὀρωρυγμένον ἰδών, ἀπέκτεινε τὸν ὀρύξαντα, Πελλαῖον οντα καὶ οὐδὲ τῶν ἀσήμων. ειχε δὲ ὁ τάφος Κύρου ἐπιγεγραμμένα ταυτί "ω ανθρωπε οστις ει καὶ πόθεν ηκεις, οτι γὰρ ηξεις οιδα, ἐγὼ Κῦρός εἰμι ὁ Πέρσαις κτησάμενος τὴν ἀρχήν. μὴ ουν τῆς ὀλίγης μοι ταύτης γῆς φθονήσῃς, η τοὐμὸν σῶμα περικαλύπτει." ταῦτα δ' ἀναγνωσθέντα τὸν ̓Αλέξανδρον περιπαθῆ πεποιήκασι λογισάμενον τὸ τῶν πραγμάτων ἀστάθμητον. Τὴν δὲ ∆αρείου θυγατέρα τὴν Στάτειραν ἑαυτῷ μνηστευσάμενος καὶ τοὺς γάμους τελῶν ἑκάστῳ τῶν ἑστιωμένων ἐνακισχιλίων οντων φιάλην χρυσῆν ἐδω1.302 ρήσατο, καὶ ταλλα τε ἐλαμπρύνατο καὶ τὰ χρέα ὑπὲρ τῶν ὀφειλόντων κατέβαλεν, ὀλίγῳ δέοντα μυρίων ταλάντων. οτε καὶ ̓Αντιγένης τῶν ἡγεμόνων εις ὀφείλειν πλασάμενος καί τινα παραγαγὼν ψευδῶς δανειστὴν καὶ λαβὼν τὸ ἀργύριον ἐφωράθη. ὀργισθεὶς ουν ὁ βασιλεὺς ἀπήλασεν αὐτὸν τῆς αὐλῆς καὶ τὴν ἡγεμονίαν ἀφείλετο. τοῦ δὲ ὑπὸ λύπης ἑαυτὸν ὑποπτευομένου διαχειρίσεσθαι, δείσας ὁ ̓Αλέξανδρος καὶ τὴν ὀργὴν ἀνῆκεν αὐτῷ καὶ ἀφῆκε τὰ χρήματα. Τῶν δὲ παίδων τῶν τρισμυρίων, ους διδάσκεσθαι ἐκέλευσε, καὶ γενναίων ἀποβάντων καὶ εὐπρεπῶν καὶ οὐκ ἀφυῶν ταῖς ἀσκήσεσιν, ὁ μὲν ̓Αλέξανδρος ηδετο, οἱ δὲ Μακεδόνες ἐδάκνοντο. καταπέμποντος δὲ τοὺς ἀσθενεῖς καὶ πεπηρωμένους ὡς εἰς θάλασσαν, υβριν ἡγεῖσθαι τοῦτ' ελεγον καὶ προπηλακισμόν, καὶ πάντας ἐκέλευον ἀφιέναι καὶ τοῖς νέοις ἀρκεῖσθαι πυρριχισταῖς. ὀργισθεὶς δ' ἐπὶ τούτοις ̓Αλέξανδρος τοῖς Πέρσαις τὰς φυλακὰς παραδέδωκε. ταπεινωθέντας δ' αυθις τοὺς Μακεδόνας προσήκατο, καὶ ἀπέλυσε τοὺς ἀχρήστους δωρησάμενος μεγαλοπρεπῶς, καὶ τῷ ̓Αντιπάτρῳ ἐπέστειλε παρὰ τοὺς ἀγῶνάς τε καὶ τὰ θέατρα προεδρεύειν αὐτοὺς καὶ ἐστεφανωμένους καθέζεσθαι. ̓Εν ̓Εκβατάνοις δὲ γενομένου αὐτοῦ ̔Ηφαιστίων ἐπύρεττε καὶ ἐξ ἀκολάστου διαίτης τῆς νόσου κρατυνθείσης ἐξέλιπεν. οὐκ ηνεγκεν ουν λογισμῷ τὸ πάθος ̓Αλέξανδρος, ἀλλὰ τὸν μὲν ἰατρὸν ἀνεσταύρωσεν, ιππους δὲ κεῖραι καὶ ἡμιόνους ἐκέλευσε, καὶ τὰς ἐπάλξεις περιεῖλε τῶν πόλεων, καὶ μουσικὴν καὶ αὐλοὺς ἐν τῷ στρατοπέδῳ πολὺν χρόνον κατέπαυσεν. ἀπιόντος δὲ εἰς Βαβυλῶνα Νέαρχος ἐπανῆλθεν, εἰσπλεύσας αυθις εἰς τὸν Εὐφράτην ἐκ τῆς μεγάλης 1.303 θαλάσσης, λέγων Χαλδαίους αὐτῷ συγγενέσθαι βουλεύοντας ἀπέχεσθαι τῆς Βαβυλῶνος ̓Αλέξανδρον. ὁ δὲ μὴ προσσχὼν τῷ λόγῳ ἀπῄει. καὶ πρὸς τοῖς τείχεσι γενομένου κόρακες ἀλλήλοις μαχόμενοι ἐνώπιον αὐτοῦ επεσον. ἠγγέλη δ' αὐτῷ ὡς ̓Απολλόδωρος ὁ στρατηγὸς Βαβυλῶνος ειη περὶ αὐτοῦ θύσας· τοῦ δὲ θύσαντος μάντεως, ος Πυθαγόρας ὠνόμαστο, μὴ ἀρνησαμένου, ἠρώτησε τὸν τρόπον τοῦ θύματος. τοῦ δὲ φήσαντος αλοβον ειναι τὸ ηπαρ, "παπαῖ" ειπεν, "ἰσχυρὸν τὸ σημεῖον," καὶ τὸν μάντιν ἀθῷον ἀφῆκε. σημεῖα δ' αὐτῷ καὶ αλλα γεγόνασι καὶ τοῦτο δέ· ἀποδυσαμένου γὰρ πρὸς αλειμμα καὶ σφαῖραν αὐτοῦ, οἱ νεανίσκοι οἱ σφαιρίζοντες ἐνδύεσθαι μέλλοντες ὁρῶσί τινα ἐν τῷ τοῦ βασιλέως θρόνῳ καθήμενον σιωπῇ, ἐνδεδυμένον τὴν στολὴν τὴν βασίλειον καὶ τὸ διάδημα περικείμενον. ος ἀνακρινόμενος οστις ειη ἐπὶ πολὺ μὲν αφωνος ην, μόλις δέ ποτε ∆ιονύσιος εφη καλεῖσθαι, τὸ δὲ γένος ειναι Μεσσήνιος, δέσμιος δ' ἀχθῆναι διὰ κατηγορίαν, λῦσαι δέ οἱ τὸν Σάραπιν τὰ δεσμά, καὶ ἀγαγόντα δεῦρο κελεῦσαι τὴν στολὴν καὶ τὸ διάδημα περιθέσθαι καὶ καθέζεσθαι σιωπῇ. τὸν μὲν ουν ανθρωπον ὁ ̓Αλέξανδρος, ὡς οἱ μάντεις ὑπετίθουν, ἠφάνισεν, αὐτὸς δὲ ἠθύμει καὶ περιδεὴς καὶ ταραχώδης γενόμενος οὐδὲν ην ο μὴ τέρας πεποίητο. λουσάμενος δέ, καὶ πρὸς Μηδίαν πορευθεὶς κωμασόμενος, κἀκεῖ τὴν νύκτα διαγαγὼν ἐν τῷ κώμῳ καὶ τὴν ἐπιοῦσαν ἡμέραν, ηρξατο πυρέσσειν. πυρέττων δὲ καὶ διψήσας σφοδρῶς, επιεν οινον, καὶ φρενιτιάσας ἀπέθανεν. εις μὲν ουν ὁ τῆς ἐκείνου τελευτῆς λόγος ουτος· ετερος δ' εχει ἐφ' ἡμέρας αὐτὸν πυρέττειν πλείους καὶ λούεσθαι, ουτω δὲ