He gently reproved them for this, saying that he was
surprised that men who had fought so often and in such great battles,
did not remember that the victors always sleep more sweetly than the
vanquished, and that they did not perceive, when they imitated the
luxury of the Persians, that indulgence is for slaves, but labour for
princes. "How," he asked, "can a man attend to his horse, or clean
his own lance and helmet, if he disdains to rub his own precious body
with his hands? And do you not know, that our career of conquest will
come to an end on the day when we learn to live like those whom we
have vanquished?" He himself, by way of setting an example, now
exposed himself to greater fatigues and hardships than ever in his
campaigns and hunting expeditions, so that old Lakon, who was with him
when he slew a great lion, said, "Alexander, you fought well with the
lion for his kingdom." This hunting scene was afterwards represented
by Kraterus at Delphi. He had figures made in bronze of Alexander and
the hounds fighting with the lion, and of himself running to help him.
Some of the figures were executed by the sculptor Lysippus, and some
by Leochares.
XLI. Thus did Alexander risk his life in the vain endeavour to teach
his friends to live with simplicity and hardihood; but they, now that
they had become rich and important personages, desired to enjoy
themselves, and no longer cared for long marches and hard campaigns,
so that at last they began to murmur against him, and speak ill of
him.
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