It is said
that when Alexander heard Philotas piteously beg Hephaestion for mercy,
he exclaimed aloud, "Are you such a coward as this, Philotas, and yet
contrive such daring plots?" To be brief, Philotas was put to death,
and immediately afterwards Alexander sent to Media and caused Parmenio
to be assassinated, although he was a man who had performed the most
important services for Philip, had, more than any other of the older
Macedonians, encouraged Alexander to invade Asia, and had seen two of
his three sons die in battle before he perished with the third. This
cruelty made many of the friends of Alexander fear him, and especially
Antipater,[417] who now formed a secret league with the AEtolians, who
also feared Alexander because when he heard of the destruction of the
people of Oeneadae, he said that he himself, and not the sons of the
people of Oeneadae, would be revenged upon the AEtolians.
L. Not long after this followed the murder of Kleitus, which, if
simply told, seems more cruel than that of Philotas; but if we
consider the circumstances under which it took place, and the
provocation which was given, we shall treat it rather as a misfortune
which befel Alexander during a fit of drunken passion than as a
deliberate act. It happened as follows. Some men came from the
sea-coast, bringing Greek grapes as a present to Alexander. He admired
their bloom and ripeness, and invited Kleitus to see them, meaning to
present him with some of them.
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