The Anabasis of Alexander/Book VII/Chapter XXIX

by Arrian

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CHAPTER XXIX.

Apology for Alexander's Errors.

That Alexander should have committed errors in his conduct from quickness of temper or from wrath,^[1] and that he should have been induced to comport himself like the Persian monarchs to an immoderate degree, I do not think remarkable if we fairly consider both his youth^[2] and his uninterrupted career of good fortune; likewise that kings have no associates in pleasure who aim at their best interests, but that they will always have associates urging them to do wrong. However, I am certain that Alexander, was the only one of the ancient kings who, from nobility of character, repented of the errors which he had committed. The majority of men, even if they have become conscious that they have committed an error, make ttg mistake of thinking that they can conceal their sin by defending their error as if it had been a just action. But it seems to me that the only cure for sin is for the sinner to confess it, and to be visibly repentant in regard to it. Thus the suffering will not appear altogether intolerable to those who have undergone unpleasant treatment, if the person who inflicted it confesses that he has acted dishonourably; and this good hope for the future is left to the man himself, that he will never again commit a similar sin, if he is seen to be vexed at his former errors. J. do not think that even his tracing his origin to a god was a great error on Alexander's part, if it was not perhaps merely a device to induce his subjects' to show him reverence.^[3] Nor does he seem to me to have been a less renowned king than Minos, Aeacus, or Rhadamanthus, to whom no insolence is attributed by the men of old, because they traced their origin to Zeus. Nor does he seem at all inferior to Theseus or Ion, the former being the reputed son of Poseidon, and the latter of Apollo. His adoption of the Persian mode of dressing also seems to me to have been a political device in regard to the foreigners, that the king might not appear altogether an alien to them; and in regard to the Macedonians, to show them that he had a refuge from their rashness of temper and insolence. For this reason I think, he mixed the Persian royal guards, who carried golden apples at the end of their spears,^[4] among the ranks of the Macedonians, and the Persian peers^[5] with the Macedonian body-guards. Aristobulus also asserts that Alexander used to have long drinking parties, not for the purpose of enjoying the wine, as he was not a great wine- drinker, but in order to exhibit his sociality and friendly feeling to his Companions.^[6]

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1. Cf. Diodorus, xvii. 4; ἡ ὀξύτῃς τοῦ νεανίσκου.
2. Cf. Curtius, x. 18: Gloriae laudisque, ut justo major cupido, ita ut javeni et in tautis admittenda rebus.
3. Plutarch (Alex., 28) attributes the same motive to Alexander in representing himself to be the son of Zeus. Livy (ix. 18) says: Referre in tanto rege piget superbam mutationem vestis et desideratas humijacentium adulationes, etiam viotis Maeedonibus graves, nedum victoribus; et foeda supplioia, et inter Tinum et epula, caedes amicorum at vanitatem ementiendae stirpis. Consult the whole of the interesting passage in Livy, ix. 17-19. See also Aelian (Varia Historia, n. 19; v. 12; ix. 37).
4. Cf. Herodotus, vii. 41; Arrian, iii. 11 supra.
5. Xenophon (Cyropaedia, vii. 5, 85) says that the Persian Equals-in-Honour, or Peers, spent their time about the Court.
6. Cf. Arrian, iv. 14 supra; Justin, ix. 8; Athenaeus, x. p. 431 B; Aelian (Varia Historia, iii. 23; ix. 3; xii. 26).