cr own readers

ALEXANDER THE GREAT. 19P
49. STORIES OF ALEXANDER THE GREAT.-I.
1. There is no more romantic figur e in history
than Alexand er, the son of Ph ilip, King of Mncedonia.
Hc was 10m in the yea r 35G B.C., and succeeded his
fathcr on the throne when barely t wenty years of
age. Having first secured his position as kin g over
thc Grecian states, he led an army across the H ellespont,
to cont inue th e war with Persia. Asia Minor,
Palestin e, and Egypt were in tum subdued ; and
then the Persian power was destroy ed at the battle
of Arbela, which left Alexander mast er of th e empire.
An expedition still farther to th e east carried the
conquerol' across the Indus ; and he was only prevent
ed from reaching the Ganges by the murmurs
of his followers. On his return to Babylon, he died
at the early age of th irty-t wo years. Plutarch, th e
Greek historian , has preserved for us a large number
of inte resting anecdotes, which throw ligh t on the
character of this great conqueror.
2. Ambassad ors from Persia happened to arrive in
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