alexander’s plans.—the indian philosophers.

when alexander arrived at pasargadae and persepolis,824 he was seized with an ardent desire to sail down the euphrates and tigres825 to the persian sea, and to see the mouths of those rivers as he had already seen those of the indus as well as the sea into which it flows. some authors826 also have stated that he was meditating a voyage round the larger portion of arabia, the country of the ethiopians, libya (i.e. africa), and numidia beyond mount atlas to gadeira (i.e. cadiz),827 inward into our sea 370(i.e. the mediterranean); thinking that after he had subdued both libya and carchedon (i.e. carthage), he might with justice be called king of all asia.828 for he said that the kings of the persians and medes called themselves great kings without any right, since they did not rule the larger part of asia. some say that he was meditating a voyage thence into the euxine sea, to scythia and the lake maeotis (i.e. the sea of azov); while others assert that he intended to go to sicily and the iapygian cape,829 for the fame of the romans spreading far and wide was now exciting his jealousy. for my own part i cannot conjecture with any certainty what were his plans; and i do not care to guess. but this i think i can confidently affirm, that he meditated nothing small or mean; and that he would never have remained satisfied with any of the acquisitions he had made, even if he had added europe to asia, or the islands of the britons to europe; but would still have gone on seeking for unknown lands beyond those mentioned. i verily believe that if he had found no one else to strive with, he would have striven with himself. and on this account i commend some of the indian philosophers, who are said to have been caught by alexander as they were walking in the open meadow where they were accustomed to spend their time.830 at the sight of him and his army they did nothing else but stamp with their feet on the earth, upon which they were stepping. when he asked them by means of interpreters what was the meaning of their action, they replied as follows: “o king alexander, every man possesses as much of the earth as this upon which we have stepped; but thou being only a man like the rest of us, except in being meddlesome and arrogant, art come over so great a part of the earth from thy own 371land, giving trouble both to thyself and others.831 and yet thou also wilt soon die, and possess only as much of the earth as is sufficient for thy body to be buried in.”