The History of the life and reign of Alexander the Great.'VITH SUPPLEMENTS, NOTES, AND A MAP. - IN TWO VOLUMES. lly James ~loyes, C;reville Street, Hatton GilJden. 1809· PREFACE. differ as much as biography, annals, and history-is, in all, an extraordinary field of incident. Quintus Curtius, while exhibiting the progress of a mighty transition of power, has mixed, with the minutes of the council, and the journal of the camp, sketches of biography which lead to a knowledge of man. The middle-part of the narrative, and route, of the Macedonian expedition to the East, possesses new in.. terest, on account of Buonaparte's designs on Persia ~ his proclaimed invasion of India, if any thing more than a machination to induce the Porte, as well as the Court of Tuhran, to permit his occupation of important pos .. sessions,. is a distant object. Alexander subjugated as he went: we may calculate that Buonaparte will follow an example from which deviation would be unsafe, without expecting him to draw his catalogue of means from a magnanimous school. A French army introdu ced in,to Persia-a revolution in the palace at Tubran a2 permanently seated there. fleet, deprived Darius of a navy*, is another interesting subject ofexamination;' as it is IJossible that Buonaparte imagines that he is imitating it. If he discover a re semblance between the foundation or the naval powe~ of ancient Persia, and that of Britai~, he possesses crea~ ti~e discer~n~ent. Deterred 'by the' scruples ofa strange' sup~rstition from navigating at sea, the Persians, n'ever th~less~ commanded a for~idabl~ ~arine, composed' ~f tributary or merc~nary fleets, from Rhodes and Cyprus; Tyre "and Sidon: the fi'rst successes of the Maced6nians weakened the' influence of' Darius over these naval states: The intermediate progress of the invaders ex cluded him from vicinity, or any other than a precarious correspondence, with maritime powers, while he yet controlled the greater portion of the continent. An intrepid reasoner, determined to establish a pa rallel between' the victorious Macedonian and B nona .. parte, may tread convincing ground, by imitating Sh~kspeare's model t. 'Fluellen. ' I think it is 'in Macedon where Alexan der is porn: "1 tell y'ou, captain!' if you look into'the '* Vol. I. p. 230, line antepenult. p. 251. tK. Henry V. act iv. scene 13. v PREFACE. maps' of the orld, I warrant that you saIl find, in the comparisons between Macedon and ~Ionmouth, tbat the situations, look you, is both alike. There is a river in Macedon, there is also moreover a river in Monmouth, but it is out of my prains what is the name of the other river; but it is all one, 'tis as like as my.fingers to my fingers, and there is salmons in both. In the same manner, any peac~maker, who will in sist upon agreement between the situations of the French emperor and the great Persian king destitute of a fieet, may suppress circumstances resisting accommodation, and embody coincident shadows. coast of Europe, arrest t~e prow of neutral commerce; and influence the governments of maritime countries to annihilate the, navigator and merchant? In offering mo~ tives for his prohibitions, it is impossible to reason, and difficult (0 make two consistent remarks. He may not so much expect to deaden one of the sinews of Bri tain, as to paralyse Russia and other defe~~ed powers. Th.ey cannot recruit their strength; while he, by secret licenses, may throw such trade as he is constrained to .permit, into the ports of countries whence his o~n re,. -yellues arise. dium of more intelligence than he willed should circu late in vassal states.. He extended the free harbour, vi ,PREFACE. that the intercourse of nations wears lingering ferocities from tbe emerging Barbarian, and distributes over the .habitable world the blcssing~ of humanized life. It may be questi~ned, on a. ground which win not affect -the character of his. intentions, whether he had traced ALL the enlarged and accurately~combined plans latterly ascribed to him~ By what revelation did be rise supe ,rior to tpe dar4, and erroneous notions of N earchus *, respecting the gulfofArabia and the country SQuth of the Isthmus of Suez?' and no perspn who entertained them, could project such establishments on the Red Sea, as the First and Second Ptolemy effected. Arrian has recorded a strange misapprehension of Alexander: -When observation was destitute of topical aids, a sa.. gacious traveller might ~easure a large portion of the earth's surface,without acquiring the true relation of the regions visited :-The Macedonian leader, from ob~ serving alligators in the Indus, and beans like those pro duced in'Egypt growing on the banks of the Acesines, had announ~cd, in a lett~r to his mother, .that he had discovered the sources of the Nile; information which he expunged, when the natives, in answer to his inqui rie~, assured him that the Indus fell into tbe ocean very far from Egypt. Perhaps his route, frpm the D~Ita of * krian, I~dica, chap. xliii~ . PREFACE. the Nile, had appeared to him, having no compass to determine the bearings, to sweep nearly in a'circle •• The Translator does not recollect, that his Author has once prostituted'the epithet" divine" by applying it to his hero, or sunk into a;. fulsome competition with the Greek sycophants: This might be the place for a protest, had not the historian acknowledged the per plexity of Alexander's' character.' Does a deed :merit censure or execration? Curtius' 'has no partiality. Is admiration due? His pen, recently so severe, knows no antipathy, fluent in applauding great and good actions. What will compensate for the destruction of two books of the history of Curtius, and for chasms in se parate chapters? . Not all the essays of all his commen tators. Other classic writers,whose antiquity is incon testable, have escaped oblivion by a: slighter interven tion, as it respects the number of manuscripts preser .. ved; but have been more fortunate in retaining, to this day', the identity of fame, commemorated by personal notices-or, have left works which excite a less poig nant curiosity respecting the authors ... With the two books, and introductory matter, may have perished information relating to Curtius,-a dedi cation, or allusions, which would have fix.ed his contem .. Arrian, History of Alexander's Expeditionl b. vi. chap. t. viii PREFACE. porar~~,s. ,In. the pr.ogress of the narrative, he. observes, .t~lat Tyre, when he was writing, enjoyed security un der. the protection of Rome *; and that the different bra~ch,es ?f the Macedopian kings had been d~prived of their domi~ions by the. Romans t: These notices de clare. the ,era 'of the author to be subs~quent to the ac cession of the seco~d Cresar. AI,lOther guide to inquiry.? is an allusion to the emperor who was reigning when the Jast book was composed: "It is therefore with due " gratitude, that the Romanpe~ple ascribe their salva " tion to their prince; who, on the night whic? we had " nearly dated as our last, shone on us a new star. In " contestably, the rising of this, not of the day t, rea " stored light to the ,shadowed world, when ~he divided " members of the state were trembling without a head. " How many firebrands did he extinguish! how many " swords sheathe! what a tempest dissipate by inter.. " posed serenity! Hence the reinvigorated empire "flourishes. May envy never touch him; may he " live through the age; be his house established, hi$ " line perpetual II." '* B. IV. iv. 19. t B. VIII. vi. Q1. t Hujus; non solis. In the rendering offered in the history, no~ is treated as a corruption of novi. See another construction of this difficult passage in page xiii. infra. On the above, however, the Translator is disposed to rely, as sufficiently literal. II B. X. ii. 23~ ix PREFACE. commentators, will be presently stated. Before the probability of each can be weighed, the passage must be considered in connexion ",ith the incidental mention-by Cicero, by Tacitus and Pliny, and by Suetonius-of individuals of the name of Curtius. The addition, found in most of the older manuscrip~s, of the surname " Rufus," claims a share of attention, as well the opinion pronounced by classical critics', ,that in pu rity, elegance, and terseness, the historian's style is worthy of the golden age oflatinity. ' Cicero, in a letter to his brother Quintus, speaking of expected candidates for the consulship, their adhe rents and opponents, mentions a Quiutus Curtius as a young man of integrity and erudition *.-Men do not commonly live an hundred years :-the Quintus Cur tius Rufus ofTacitus and Pliny, is therefore, probably, a distinct person from that slightly introduced to us by Cicero. Their accounts are the same in effect + : " Curtius Rufus, in early life, atteJlded a qmestor into "Africa. In the city of Adrumetium, while he was " sitting protected, by a portico, from the mid-day " sun, the form of a woman, above the Imman size, " addressed him: 'You, Rufus! are destined to $ Ep. ad Qllintum, III. !2. t Tacitus, AnnClls, XI. 21. Plin. Ep. VII. 27. x PREFACE. " authority.' Animated, he returned to Rome; " and, by interest and active intrigue, obtained the " qmcstorship. He afterwards succeeded, against com " petitors of distinguished rank, in a struggle for the " dignity of prret?r, supported by the suffrage of Ti "berius. Curtius Rufus, said that emperor, blending " a .compliment to his favourite candidate ·with an apo " logy for his mean extraction, seems to be a man " sprungfrom himself. At a late period of life, he ob " tained the consular and triumphal ensigns, and finally " went proconsul into Africa, where he finished his ." days."- In the field of. exhausted research, is found a scanty memorial of a third individual, who may be the same with tbe historian of Alexander the Great. This appears in the memoir left by Suetonius of cele brated orators *, which time has reduced to·a fragment~ In the summary of contents to each MS. intermixed with the names of the pleaders or rhetoricians, of whom the extant sections transmit particular accounts, are enumerated cleven individuals of whom no- trace re mains in the mutilated book. Quintus Curtius Rufus ~s the third, M. Fabius Quintilianus the tenth, among ,. Dc Rhetorcbus. SUETONIUS. The known offices of some of his rllCtores shows, that -the term will embrace the public orator and the professor of eloqllence. xi PREFACE. cognise, in one of the earlier characters preserved, that Crassus, of whom Cicero said: " I had rather be the " author of the single oration of Crassus, in defence of " Curius, than be honoured with two Ligurian tri ." umphs*." the reigning emperor, is applied, by the commentators Frisius and_Herwartus, to Augustus; and their opinion, I believe, as well as that ofAngelus, identifies the histo rian with the Quintus Curtius mentioned by Cicero. How does the serenity of the passage correspond with the state ofRome after the death of Julius Cresar? Au gustus unsheathed the sword, kindled the torch, and excited the tempest, of civil war t. His competitors fell, and tranquillity followed his triumph. "Peace, ". it is true, was soon after established: but what kind of " peace! The slaughter of Lollius amI Varus stained " it in Germany; and the massacre of the Varros, the " Egnatii, and the Julii, made Rome a theatre of " blood t." "In the judgment of Raderus, Popma, and Perizo nius,-theemperor alluded to, is· Tiberius; and the • Brutus. t Le Tellier's Priface to his edition of Curtip!. ~ Murphy's Tacitus, Annals, I. 10. xii PREFACE. African proconsul of Tacitus is one person with the ora ·tor of Su~tonius and our historian. But the circum stances leading to the accession of Tiberius, form a picture of repose*._ There was no storm, or darkness, to be dissipated by the new sovereign as by a rising sun. N or, to cite a stricture of the learned Casatibon, docs the historian appear to have any thing in common with the proconsul. the e~peror Claudius coincide with the citation from Curtius, let us survey the grounds upon which 'co~ jecture has resorted to V cspasian and Trajan. Con~ neeted with the subject is a minute question respecting .the import of the word" night :"-Does not, however, the subjoined phrase, " which we had nearly dated a!§ " our last," decide it to be literal; for conceive it to be a figure for" a time of calamity," and the congra tulation becomes absurd, as the Roman people would not be desirous of a second metaphoric night. On the contrary, a gn;at perplexity is found in another part of the passage, if it be not figu,rative 1 and the COQ1menta. tors Rutgersius and Loccenius, are embarrassed byap;. plying the word" star," literally, to one of the celes tial bodies. For this servile construction, they com!" pensate by a violent iml)lication, proceeding to read: " Tacitus, Annals, I. 11-13. "sun, restored light-to the shadowed world." The new star is not a trope for the prince unexpectedly in stalled" but is the moon suddenly rising, during a noc .. turnal engagement, fought near Cremona, between the armies of Vespasian and Vitellius. "While the bat .. " tle remained doubtful, the night being far advanc'ed, " the moon rose, and illuminated the surface of things, " with partial advantage to Vespasian's army. The " light, shining. at the back of their lines, projected " from the men and horses such long shadows, that the " Vitellians, deceived by appearances, aimed at the " wrong object: their darts, consequently, fell short: " but the moon.beams, playing on the front of the Vi " teHians, exposed their bodies to the full view of their " adversaries *." Vossius and Freinshemius concur in discovering, in Curtius; a retrospect to the accession of Vespasian; but these give the" new star" an unforced relatio.n, as a figure for the emp~ror intended. Almost every feature in the history of Vespa sian, must increase the surprise which the suggestion of the four last-named . commentators, however modified, is calculated to excite. He' did not gain the victory in person; his elevation to the throne opcurred at a time long subsequent, and the barbarities and horrors. of intestine war deformed the turbulent interval. xiv }>REFAC~. eluded Tiberius, apply to Trajan, with these additional objections, tbat the latter emperor was destitute of off.. spring, and that in his reign, Latin composition had descended far in its decline. The silence of Quintilian respecting Curtius has been the solitary inducement, with one or two critics, in defiance of outnumbering reasons, to postpone the era of the historian to the reign of Trajan. Tlw silence of Quintilian respecting the elegant historian VeUeius Paterculus, who is known to have lived u~der Tiberius, proves that his silence respecting C urtius should have no inB uence whatever against a train of circumstantial deductions. I t appears, from the narrati ve of Josephus *, tbat the single night which passed between the assassination ofCaligula by conspirators and the unpremeditated ele vation. of Claudius, was an interval of hasty debate, 110stile defiance, confusion, and terror; during which, the senate, and the opposed members of the state, were trembling without a head. Had the nobles who asserted ri val pretensions to the throne, and the desperate factions who impatiently aimed to abolish tbe imperial govern. ment, come to the promiscuous conflict which was im pending, embrued Rome had been sternly desolated. Again; after Claudius was saluted emperor, when the soldiers supporting him prepared, with uplifted weapons; • .Antiquities, eh. xix. 3, 4. PREFACE. xY exhorted the senate to recover their liberty, Claudius, interposing, snatched the consul out of peril, and seated him at his side. How many firebrands did the ,new sovereign extinguish, how many swords sheathe, what a tempest dissipate, by this moderation! To the senate, this eventful night had nearly proved the last, and the influence of Claudius alone prevented the mem bers, making a late submission, from falling victims to the enraged army. belongs chiefly to the commentators, Lipsius, Brisso nius, and Le Tellier. When the historian of Alexan der the Great is admitted a contemporary of Claudius, an identity may be inferred between him and the Q. Cur tius Rufus of Suetonius. The order, in the biogra . phic fragment of illustrious orators, is that of time; and it has been gleaned from another source, that M. Port ius Latro, whose name is second in the bare list of names, died of a quartan ague in the fortieth year of Augustus: thence to the accession of Claudius inter vened thirty years :-The orator or rhetorician Curti us, Who follows Latro, whether as a junior contemporary, or as belonging to the next generation, may reasonably "be supposed to have lived till the beginning of the reign of Cla~dius. This conclusion has the sanction of Ca saubon, and in full unison with a recommendation, by xvi PREFACE. Erasmus, of the history of Curtius, as a repertory of formulas of eloquence not to be found in Cicero. A separation of the remaining subjects of this long Preface, will enable the reader to act according to his view of their importance. HISTORY WRITTEN BY CURTIUS, .CONJECTUUALLY EXPLAINED. "\:Vas the history suppressed, by an act of the Senate, because the first two books contained offensive political reflections? That which in the shape of information had been credible, may deserve to be mentioned among conjectures. But inquiry flies to other mere probabi lities. How woul~ the moral independence with which Curtius writes, be received in. the court of the Cresars ? The private character of Claudius is as little stained as that of any of the pagan emperors except Ant(;mine: but the almost Christian rectitude * which condemns the degeneracies of Alexander, must 'have displeased -Nero and many of his successors. Anecdotes related by Sue tonius, attest, that at Rome, the temple of fame 'was not far distant from the cave ,of oblivion :-Caligula per.. mitted the histori~al writings of Titus Lubienus, Conlus :if Romans, ii. 14. icribed by the Senate, to be universally circulated; and afterwards the august critic was preparing to banish the works of Virgil and Livy from public and private libra ries: Domitian condemned to death H ermogenes of Tarsus for oblique reflections in his history, and cruci fied the clerks who had transcribed it *. I shall now endeavour impartially to collect facts op posing, and facts countenancing, another conjecture, that the history written by Curtius was suppressed, through a political jealousy of Alexander's fame, connected with a creed, useful in the legions, that Rpman tri umphs were greater than other triumphs. Augustus spared Alexandria, from veneration for its founder: de posited flowers and a golden crown on his sarcophagus: and, in the middle-part of his reign, 'used a seal with the head of Alexander. The whimsical despot Caligula sometimes wore his breastplate: Nero, whose conduct is £1.r less a criterion of state policy, named a new Ita lian legion the phalanx of Alexander t. From Nero's reign to Trajan's I do not know that any expression in honour of the Macedonian escaped any of the emperors. F or the most part the Roman classics are not liberal to • In Caligu1. c. 16, 34. In Domit. c. 10. ,t Dion CU5sius, 1. 51. Suetonius, in C. A.ugust. c. 18,50. Idem, in Caligul. c. 52. Idem, in Neron. c. 19. b tius wrote, the servitude of Macedon, Syria, and Egypt, was growing mature,-but a government…