affection he had for them by sending with them, as their guardian and the leader of the expedition, Craterus, the man most faithful to him, and whom he valued equally with himself.[1] Then, having saluted them all, he with tears dismissed them likewise weeping from his presence. He ordered Craterus[2] to lead these men back, and when he had done so, to take upon himself the government of Macedonia, Thrace, and Thessaly, and to preside over the freedom of the Greeks. He also ordered Antipater to bring to him the Macedonians of manly age as successors to those who were being sent back. He despatched Polysperchon also with Craterus, as his second in command, so that if any mishap befell Craterus on the march (for he was sending him back on account of the weakness of his health), those who were going might not be in need of a general.[3] A secret report was also going about that Alexander was now overcome by his mother's accusations of Antipater, and that he wished to remove him from Macedonia.[4] This report was current among those who thought that royal actions are more worthy of honour in proportion to their secrecy, and who were inclined to impute what is worthy of belief to a bad motive rather
- ↑ Literally "with his own head," an Homeric expression. We learn from Plutarch (Eumenes, 6), that Craterus was a great favourite with the Macedonians because he opposed Alexander's Asiatic innovations. See also Plutarch (Alexander, 47); Diodorus, xvii. 114:—Κράτερον μὲν γὰρ εἶναι φιλοβασιλέα, Ἡφαιστίωνα δὲ φιλαλέχανδρον.
- ↑ The use of κελεύειν with the dative, is in imitation of Homer. Cf. i. 26, 3 supra.
- ↑ We learn from Diodorus (xviii. 4) that when Alexander died, Craterus had got no farther than Cilicia on his return journey. He had with him a paper of written instructions, among which were projects for building an immense fleet in Phoenicia and the adjacent countries for conveying an expedition against the Carthaginians and the other western nations as far as the pillars of Hercules; for the erection of magnificent temples, and for the transportation of people from Europe into Asia and from Asia into Europe. Alexander's generals put these projects aside, as too vast for any one but Alexander himself.
- ↑ Cf. Curtius, x. 31.
