In consequence of this, it is
said that there never again, even in sport, was any dispute between
them.
XLVIII. Philotas, the son of Parmenio, was a man of much importance
among the Macedonians; for he was courageous and hardy, and the most
liberal man, and the most devoted to his friends in all the army
except Alexander himself. We are told of him that once a friend of his
came to him to borrow money, and he at once commanded one of his
servants to let him have it. His purse-bearer answered that he had no
money, upon which Philotas exclaimed, "What! Have I no plate or
furniture upon which you can raise money for my friend?"
His lofty carriage, his immense wealth, and the splendour in which he
lived, caused him to appear too great for a private station, while
his pride and vulgar ostentation made him generally disliked. His own
father, Parmenio, once said to him: "My son, I pray you show a little
more humility." He had long been an object of suspicion to Alexander,
who was kept constantly informed about him by the following
means:--After the battle of Issus, when the baggage of Darius was
captured at Damascus, there was taken among the captives a beautiful
Greek girl, named Antigone. She fell to the lot of Philotas, and
became his mistress; and the young man, who was much enamoured of her,
used to boast to her over his wine that all the conquests of the
Macedonians were really due to the prowess of his father and himself,
and that Alexander was merely a foolish boy, who owed his crown and
his empire to their exertions.
Pages:
512
513
514
515
516
517
518
519
520
521
522
523
524
525
526
527
528
529
530
531
532
533
534
535
536