"I observe, gentlemen, that when I would lead you on a new
venture you no longer follow me with your old spirit. I have asked you
to meet me that we may come to a decision together: are we, upon my
advice, to go forward, or, upon yours, to turn back? If you have any complaint to make about the results of your efforts
hitherto, or about myself as your commander, there is no more to say.
But let me remind you: through your courage and endurance you have
gained possession of Ionia, the Hellespont, both Phrygias, Cappadocia,
Paphlagonia, Lydia, Caria, Lycia, Pamphylia, Phoenicia, and Egypt; the
Greek part of Libya is now yours, together with much of Arabia, lowland
Syria, Mesopotamia, Babylon, and Susia; Persia and Media with all the
territories either formerly controlled by them or not are in your hands;
you have made yourselves masters of the lands beyond the Caspian Gates,
beyond the Caucasus, beyond the Tanais, of Bactria, Hyrcania, and the
Hyrcanian sea; we have driven the Scythians back into the desert; and
Indus and Hydaspes, Acesines and Hydraotes flow now through country
which is ours. With all that accomplished, why do you hesitate to extend
the power of Macedon–yourpower–to the Hyphasis and the tribes on
the other side ? Are you afraid that a few natives who may still be
left will offer opposition? Come, come! These natives either surrender
without a blow or are caught on the run–or leave their country
undefended for your taking; and when we take it, we make a present of it
to those who have joined us of their own free will and fight on our
side. For a man who is a man, work, in my belief, if it is directed
to noble ends, has no object beyond itself; none the less, if any of you
wish to know what limit may be set to this particular camapaign, let me
tell you that the area of country still ahead of us, from here to the
Ganges and the Eastern ocean, is comparatively small. You will
undoubtedly find that this ocean is connected with the Hyrcanian Sea,
for the great Stream of Ocean encircles the earth. Moreover I shall
prove to you, my friends, that the Indian and Persian Gulfs and the
Hyrcanian Sea are all three connected and continuous. Our ships will
sail round from the Persian Gulf to Libya as far as the Pillars of
Hercules, whence all Libya to the eastward will soon be ours, and all
Asia too, and to this empire there will be no boundaries but what God
Himself has made for the whole world. But if you turn back now, there will remain unconquered many warlike
peoples between the Hyphasis and the Eastern Ocean, and many more to the
northward and the Hyrcanian Sea, with the Scythians, too, not far away;
so that if we withdraw now there is a danger that the territory which
we do not yet securely hold may be stirred to revolt by some nation or
other we have not yet forced into submission. Should that happen, all
that we have done and suffered will have proved fruitless–or we shall be
faced with the task of doing it over again from the beginning.
Gentlemen of Macedon, and you, my friends and allies, this must not be.
Stand firm; for well you know that hardship and danger are the price of
glory, and that sweet is the savour of a life of courage and of
deathless renown beyond the grave. Are you not aware that if Heracles, my ancestor, had gone no further
than Tiryns or Argos–or even than the Peloponnese or Thebes–he could
never have won the glory which changed him from a man into a god, actual
or apparent? Even Dionysus, who is a god indeed, in a sense beyond what
is applicable to Heracles, faced not a few laborious tasks; yet we have
done more: we have passed beyond Nysa and we have taken the rock of
Aornos which Heracles himself could not take. Come, then; add the rest
of Asia to what you already possess–a small addition to the great sum of
your conquests. What great or noble work could we ourselves have
achieved had we thought it enough, living at ease in Macedon, merely to
guard our homes, accepting no burden beyond checking the encroachment of
the Thracians on our borders, or the Illyrians and Triballians, or
perhaps such Greeks as might prove a menace to our comfort ? I could not have blamed you for being the first to lose heart if I,
your commander, had not shared in your exhausting marches and your
perilous campaigns; it would have been natural enough if you had done
all the work merely for others to reap the reward. But it is not so. You
and I, gentlemen, have shared the labour and shared the danger, and the
rewards are for us all. The conquered territory belongs to you; from
your ranks the governors of it are chosen; already the greater part of
its treasure passes into your hands, and when all Asia is overrun, then
indeed I will go further than the mere satisfaction of our ambitions:
the utmost hopes of riches or power which each one of you cherishes will
be far surpassed, and whoever wishes to return home will be allowed to
go, either with me or without me. I will make those who stay the envy of
those who return."
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