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

TREASON OF CLITUS. 495always been a distasteful morsel. And at an unhappy feastin Maracanda, on the day sacred to Bacchus, but when Alexanderchose rather to sacrifice to Castor and Pollux, when theMacedonian habit of overdrinking had no doubt been in-,dulged in by all to a much toogreat an extent, the first seriousoutbreak of this change ofmood occurred.Flatterers had been extolling Alexander, singing his ^iEaciclineage, and comparing him to tlie demi-gods. Clitus, son ofDropidas, the " black " one, commander of the agema of cavalry,no doubt strongly under the influence of liquor, butretaining sufficiently his ancientMacedonian manliness to bestung to the quick by this slur on his old and beloved king,harangued the party in the opposite strain, and told Alexanderto his face that he owed his victories to the army Philip hadcreated, and to the generals Philip had trained ; that Parmenloand Philotas, now dead by his hand, had done as muchas — more than Alexander ; and that he, Clitus, had savedAlexander from death at the battle of the Granicus, — as wastrue. Of the two, Clitus was apparently the more heated byhis drinking. It is alleged that Alexander stood these tauntswith great patience and self-possession for some time, turningto a neighboring Greek with ": Do not you Greeks feelamong us Macedonians like demi-gods among beasts ? " ButifClitus' words and manner were to the last degree insultingto the man, how much more to the king? Nothing betterillustrates the meaning of the word " Companion " than Alexander'stolerance of so much. No monarch of modern timesever allowed a subject so much laxity of tongue. At all timesin the world's history, such intemperate language would betreason punishable with death.Finally, infuriated at the continuedflow of such language, Alexander started to his feet.Clitus was removed by his friends. Harmony was about tobe restored. But on Clitus returning into the hall with a