XI. At the age of twenty he succeeded to the throne of Macedonia, a
perilous and unenviable inheritance: for the neighbouring barbarian
tribes chafed at being held in bondage, and longed for the rule of
their own native kings; while Philip, although he had conquered Greece
by force of arms, yet had not had time to settle its government and
accustom it to its new position. He had overthrown all constituted
authority in that country, and had left men's minds in an excited
condition, eager for fresh changes and revolutions. The Macedonians
were very sensible of the dangerous crisis through which they were
passing, and hoped that Alexander would refrain as far as possible
from interfering in the affairs of Greece, deal gently with the
insurgent chiefs of his barbarian subjects, and carefully guard
against revolutionary outbreaks. He, however, took quite a different
view of the situation, conceiving it to be best to win safety by
audacity, and carrying things with a high hand, thinking that if he
showed the least sign of weakness, his enemies would all set upon him
at once. He crushed the risings of the barbarians by promptly marching
through their country as far as the river Danube, and by winning a
signal victory over Syrmus, the King of the Triballi. After this, as
he heard that the Thebans had revolted, and that the Athenians
sympathised with them, he marched his army straight through
Thermopylae, with the remark that Demosthenes, who had called him a boy
while he was fighting the Illyrians and Triballi, and a youth while he
was marching through Thessaly, should find him a man when he saw him
before the gates of Athens.
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