Alexander : a history of the origin and growth of the art of war from ...

MT. OSSA. 185This was safely accomplished by his general and intimate,Hecatseus, who, with a fresh and faithful body of troops,passed over to Asia and joined Parmenio.This gravest of his dangers put aside, within two monthsfrom the death of his father Alexander marched on Thessaly,with a force said to have been equal to that which Philip commandedat Cha^roniea. Hedetermined to exhibit his rj?'power to those who believedthat there was no morePhilip. His route lay alongthe coast towards the Penaeanpasses.The main defileof Tempe as well as the minorone of Callipeuke wasstrongly held. To attackthem was more than hazardous; it would plainly be futile. Ossa rises in steeprocky masses south of the'pass of Tempe. From the ^»-"*sea, however, the slope ofMarch into Thessaly.Ossa is more gradual thanalong the Penaeus.With that fertility of resource and activeembracing of difficulty which was always his marked characteristic,Alexander, unknown to the enemy, hewed himself aneveir-yet-trodden path along the slopes of Ossa on the seasitle,blasting a foothold for his army where it could not otherwisemake its way, and turned the Thessalian force in thepasses. He was thus master of the situation, and his boldintelligence had made him master of Thessaly. But he desiredto keep this country friendly, for the Thessalian horsemenmade the best cavalry in Greece, and he needed above\\\^