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.of the group of Persian exiles.As they neared the shores ofthe Caspian Sea, Bessus stabbed and killed his cousin, thenescaped.Alexander arrived just hours too late.He coveredDarius body with his own cloak and had the corpse sent toPersepolis for burial.The search was over.The King of Kingswas dead.Now, if ever, was the time for Alexander to turn for home.He had been away from Macedonia for four years, and he hadaccomplished far more than anyone might have expected.Theformer Persian Empire was now his.He could have arrangeda dual sort of empire, with capitals both at Pella, Macedonia,and another at Susa or Persepolis.Certainly his faithfulMacedonians believed the time had come to return.Alexander never gave them the choice.He told his menthat they must pursue Bessus, the escaped assassin.Otherwise,66 ALEXANDER THE GREATBessus would set himself up as a rival monarch in Bactria.IfAlexander was to be the lord of all Asia, he must be done withBessus and all other pretenders.There was grumbling aplenty, but no sign of mutiny.TheMacedonians wanted to go home, but they had long sincelearned to trust in the leadership of this boy who they had seenturn into a man.The pursuit of Bessus began.Bactria had long been the eastern most part of the PersianEmpire.If its extent were to be approximated today, Bactriawould encompass all of what is today Afghanistan, a slice ofwhat is now Pakistan, and the southern parts of the republicsof Tajikistan and Uzbekistan.It was, therefore, an immensebody of land and contained landscapes that varied from themountains of the Hindu Kush to the plains of Central Asia.From here had come the cavalrymen who had been the bestpart of the Persian army, and from here tribute had flowed toSusa and Persepolis.Bessus reached Bactria long beforeAlexander and the his pursuit.Bessus was already the satrapof Bactria.Now, with Darius dead, Bessus proclaimed himselfthe King of Bactria.Alexander s progress was delayed by two things.First, sometribesmen in the area just south of the Caspian Sea had madeoff with a number of the Macedonian horses among themthe old and treasured Bucephalus.Over the years they had beentogether, Bucephalus had probably saved Alexander s life half adozen times.The horse was too old now to be ridden verymuch.He accompanied the army on its march, and Alexanderrode him only on special occasions.Yet his importance toAlexander could not be underestimated.Alexander sent awarning that he would ravage the entire area and destroyevery settlement unless his dearest companion was returned.According to Plutarch, the tribesmen brought Bucephalus andsimultaneously rendered homage to Alexander.So relieved wasAlexander that he gave them their freedom, and even paid themransom money for Bucephalus.TO THE ENDS OF THE WORLD 67The second factor that delayed the Macedonian march wasunrest among some of his King s Companions.Soon after thedeath of Darius, Alexander began to wear Persian clothing.Hehad two or three new Persian advisers foremost among themwas Artazabus, who taught him about the traditions of courtetiquette.Soon both Persians and Macedonians were expectedto bow and scrape the ground on meeting Alexander.This typeof behavior went completely against the Macedonian grain.The strength of the system that King Philip had built, andwhich Alexander had inherited, was the type of kinship andfamiliarity between the King and his Companions.Alexander snew conduct offended some of his oldest friends, and therewere quiet stirrings of mutiny among the Macedonians.Sometime that year, Alexander learned of a plot against hislife.The plot was neither very sophisticated nor very advancedin its planning, but Alexander was shocked nevertheless.Morethan anything, he depended on the personal type of loyalty thathe had enjoyed since his youth.To be threatened from withinwas something new and foreign to him.But worse news was yetto come.Alexander learned that Philotas, the commander ofthe King s Companions, had been informed of the plot and hadneither informed Alexander nor acted to forestall the plan.Philotas was one of the three sons of Parmenion; twoothers had already died in Alexander s service.It was unthink-able that such a man would not inform Alexander of any threat.With the evidence of Philotas treason in his hands, Alexanderacted as swiftly as he had against any of his other foes.The camp was cordoned off; no one was allowed in or out.Philotas was brought to trial in the Macedonian style.Enragedover this treachery, Alexander acted as one of the prosecutors.Philotas was condemned and swiftly put to death.At the same time, three of Alexander s couriers were speed-ing back to Ectabana, where Parmenion was in commandof the Macedonian rear guard.Parmenion had not beenimplicated in the plot, but Alexander and all the Macedonians68 ALEXANDER THE GREATAlexander chose to pursue Bessus over the rugged mountains of theHindu Kush a harsh route that pushed the army to the limits.Manysuffered the effects from the cold, but Alexander encouraged hismen along and somehow got his men to successfully complete theirmarch in the spring of 328 B.C.were well aware of the importance of blood feud. Thisfamilial type of loyalty insisted that a man of honor avenge thedeaths of his relatives.If Parmenion had not been a secretaccomplice to the plot, he would nevertheless seek to avengePhilotas death.The couriers went straight to Parmenion,TO THE ENDS OF THE WORLD 69who received them alone without bodyguards.Some recordsindicate that the couriers waited until Parmenion opened thetwo letters: one was from Alexander and the other was fromPhilotas.Seeing the letter from his son, Parmenion smiled.At that moment, the couriers became assassins.They struckdown the 70-year-old Parmenion, wise and trusted general offirst Philip II, and then his son Alexander.What did the two letters contain? Was there a trap, laid byAlexander? Had Parmenion frowned, or had he been surprisedat the letter from his son? Might the courtiers have stayed theirhands and knives? We do not know.Generally speaking,Alexander abhorred any kind of artifice or sneak attack.But hehad been deeply shaken by the plot, and the hand of Philotaswithin that plot.Alexander had acted with such speed and secrecy becausehe feared a rebellion from the troops of Parmenion.He nowfound other remedies.Those of Parmenion s soldiers whospoke against their King were grouped together in one newregiment and shown less favor
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