Regum et imperatorum apophthegmata

When he was sending away to the sea those of the Macedonians who were sick or incapacitated, a man was reported to have put down his name in the list of the sick although there was nothing the matter with him. When therefore the man was brought before Alexander and examined, he admitted that he had employed this ruse because of love for Telesippa, who was departing for the sea; and Alexander asked, With whom must one talk concerning Telesippa ? And when he learned that she was not a slave, he said, Then let us, Antigenes, try to persuade Telesippa to stay with us; for to coerce her, a free woman, is not within our right. [*](Cf. Moralia, 339 C, and Plutarch’s Lfe of Alexander, chap. xl. (689 B).)

When Greek mercenaries serving on the enemy’s side carne into his hands, he would order the Athenians among them to be kept in chains, because, while they could live at the expense of the State, they were serving as mercenaries, and so also the Thessalians, because, although they owned the very best land, they did not till it. But the Thebans he let go free, saying that these alone, because of us, have neither city nor land left to them.

When he had taken captive the man who had the greatest repute for marksmanship among the Indians, of whom it was said that he could send an arrow through a finger-ring, Alexander bade him show his skill, and when he would not, the king in anger decreed his execution. The man, as he was being led away, said to those who were taking him that he had not practised for many days, and was afraid of failing; and when this came to the ears of Alexander, he marvelled and let the man go with

When Taxiles, king of the Indians, met Alexander, he charged him not to fight or make war, but, if he were inferior, to accept favours, and, if he were superior, to bestow them. To this Alexander replied that this was the very issue between them, to determine which could outdo the other in bestowing favours. [*](Cf. Plutarch’s Life of Alexander, chap. lix. (698 B).)

When he was told concerning the Birdless Rock, [*](Cf. Cunningham, Ancient Geography of India, i. pp. 58 ff.) as it is called, in India, that the place was extremely difficult to capture, but that the man who held it was a coward, he said, In that case it is easy to capture. [*](Cf. Plutarch’s, Life of Alexander, chap. lviii. (697 E); Arrian, Anabasis, iv. 28; Diodorus, xvii. 85; Quintus Curtius, Hist. Alexandri, viii. 11.)

When another man who held a seemingly impregnable rock surrendered himself together with his stronghold to Alexander, Alexander bade him to continue to rule, and gave him additional country to govern, saying that this person seems to me to show sense in trusting himself to a good man rather than to a strong place.

After the capture of the rock his friends were saying that he had surpassed Heracles in his deeds, but he remarked, No, I do not feel that my deeds, with my position as commander, are to be weighed against one word of Heracles. [*](Arrian, Anabasis, v. 26. 5, represents Alexander as boasting over the capture of the rock, which Heracles had failed to capture.)

Learning that in gambling with dice some of his friends did not enter into the game as a sport, he punished them.[*](Alexander himself, when he was ill, spent the whole day in throwing dice with Medius, according to Plutarch, Life of Alexander, chap. lxxvi (706 D).)

Of his foremost and most influential friends he seems to have honoured Crateras most and to have loved Hephaestion best. For, said he, Crateras is fond of the king, but Hephaestion is fond of Alexander. [*](Cf. Plutarch’s Life of Alexander, chap. xlvii. (691 F), and Diodorus, xvii. 114.)

He sent ten thousand pounds to Xenocrates the philosopher, but when Xenocrates would not accept them, and said he had no need of them, Alexander asked whether Xenocrates had not a single friend. For, in my case, said he, the wealth of Darius was hardly enough for my friends. [*](Cf. Moralia, 331 E and 333 B, and Plutarch’s Life of Alexander, chap. viii (668 E).)

Porus, after the battle, was asked by Alexander, How shall I treat you ? Like a king, said he. Asked again if there were nothing else, he said, Everything is included in those words. Marvelling at his sagacity and manliness, Alexander added to his kingdom more land than he had possessed before. [*](Cf. Moralia, 332 E and 458 B; Plutarch’s Life of Alexander, chap. lx. (699C); Arrian, Anabasis, v. 19. 2.)

Learning that he was being maligned by a certain man, he said, It is kingly to be ill spoken of for doing good. [*](An oft- repeated aphorism; cf. for example, Plutarch’s Life of Alexander, chap. xli. (688 E); Pro Nobilitate, 19 (Bernardakis ed. vii. p. 268); Diogenes Laertius, vi. 3; Epictetus, Discourses, iv. 6; Marcus Aurelius Antoninus, vii. 36; Dio Chrysostom, Oration xlvii., last sentence.)

As he was dying, he said, looking towards his companions, I see that my funeral rites will be imposing. [*](Cf. Arrian, Anabasis, vii. 26. 3; Diodorus, xvii. 117. 4; Quintus Curtius, Hist. Alexandri, x. 5. 5; Justinus, Historiae Phillippicae, xii. 15.)

When he had come to his end, Demades the orator said that the army of the Macedonians, because of its lack of leadership, looked like the Cyclops after his eye had been put out. [*](Cf. Plutarch’s Life of Galba, chap. i. (1053 C), which also gives Demades as the author; but in Moralia, 336 F, the saying is attributed to Leosthenes. Cf. also Demetrius Phalereus, De elocutione, 284.)