The death of Alexander #6 - The Armenian Alexander Romance

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Alexias
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The death of Alexander #6 - The Armenian Alexander Romance

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The (Armenian) Romance of Alexander the Great by Pseudo-Callisthenes translated by Albert Mugrdich Wolohojian ©1969

259

And he had written this letter to his mother, Olympias, while he was in Babylon and was preparing to quit his mortal life. And the evil spirit gave a great and clear sign, for this omen occurred. When one of the local women gave birth to a child, the upper part of its body, as far as the navel, was completely human and according to nature, but the lower extremities were those of a wild beast… And the child was dead and his body blue…the woman put it in fold of her robe… And she came to the palace of Alexander … And he happened to be resting in his room at midday….And when she entered, the king ordered those who were there to leave… When Alexander saw it, he was filled with wonder and great amazement. And he called together the magi and the Chaldean sign readers and ordered them to make a reading concerning it….Those who were present said that Alexander was the greatest of men and the terror of his enemies and that he held sway over land and sea…. That the mighty and terrible monsters placed beneath the human body meant this: that he is to rule the mightiest men and that no one shall be mightier than he. .. And after them, the other Chaldean returned from his trip and came to the king. And upon seeing the state of the omen, he gave a great outcry and rent his clothing and was greatly troubled and saddened at the transformation that was to befall the great king. And when the king saw that the man was so smitten by the happenings, he was greatly frightened; .. And he said this to him: "King, hereafter, you are no longer among the living; rather your body has left its mortal state. For such is the meaning of the marvellous omen." "O bravest of all men, you are the human body, and the wild animal forms are the soldiers who are with you. If the human part of the body were alive and moving, you would have been destined to rule all men. But it is this very part that is dead; and the beasts are alive…" .. And the Chaldean thought it best to burn the child.

260
When Alexander heard this, he was touched to the very heart and saddened. He said: "Aramazd, you have brought the fraudulent game to an end for me. So if such is your desire, take me, this mortal man, to you also." And this is what he meant: that Dionysos, when the evil deeds done him by those under his rule were revealed, was judged to be one of the gods. So, too, Heracles, since he had distinguished himself to the whole world, was considered in the same way, for his deeds , to be a companion of all the gods.

261
And his mother, Olympias, wrote many times to him about Antipater, saying that he had deeply humiliated and spurned and dishonoured her because she was Alexander's mother, and that Antipater was still doing as he pleased and was writing slanderous accusations about her… Alexander wanted to cross to Epirus, for he knew how to put an end to Antipater's hostility to his mother. And he sent forth and summoned Antipater to him from Macedon by sending Krateros. And since Antipater was aware of Alexander's cleverness, he plotted the death of the world conqueror to be administered by the soldiers, for he was afraid that some evil might befall himself. For he had heard and bore in mind that Alexander had grown very proud as a result of the successes that had befallen him. And he sent out and bought the gentian drug whose power he knew was very deadly. And he put it in the hoof of a mule…. For no other dish… could support the strength of the drug… and gave it to Kassandros with instructions to discuss with Iollas, his brother, the administration of the drug.

262
And when Kassandros arrived in Babylon, he found Alexander making sacrifices and receiving foreigners. He spoke with Iollas who was Alexander's chief cupbearer. And it so happened that a few days earlier Alexander had hit him on the head with a club for some misdemeanour. Thus, since the boy was prone to anger, he gladly listened to the suggestion of committing the crime. And he took as his helper Mandios, a Thessalian, who was a friend of Alexander and his own lover. And this fellow considered it a criminal injustice that Iollas had received a caning. So, of his own will and desire, he agreed that they would give him the poison to drink.

263
Meanwhile, Alexander was enjoying himself with his close friends and the Dionysian artists. For many had come to Babylon to crown Alexander ceremoniously…

264
And when he got up and wanted to go to rest, Medios came to him and beseeched him to come to his friends… and Alexander was persuaded by Medios' cunning.

265
And twenty men were gathered there: Perdikkas, Meleadros, Pithon, Leonatos, Kasandros, Pokestes, Ptlomeos, Lysimachus, Philip, Olkias, Eumenes, Philip the doctor, Nearchos the Crete, Heraclides, Europpeos, Ariston, Pharsalios, Philip who had mechanical skills, Philotas, Menandres, Dardana. Of these men, Perdikkas and Ptlomeos, Olkias and Lysimachos, Eumenes and Asandros did not know what had been planned. But all the others were associated in the act… For they longed for material possession, and they were wary of Alexander, and in their hearts, they were greatly dismayed by his overweening pride.

266
When the king had stretched out, Iollas offered him the drink. .. those who were there.. busily added remarks to the conversation to draw out as long as possible the taking of the drugs. Suddenly, Alexander cried out as though he had been hit in the liver by an arrow. For a short while, he controlled himself and, supporting the pain, went off by himself, biding those who were there to drink. And they were very frightened, and then and there broke up the party… Alexander wanted very badly to bring up the wine and asked for a feather, ..And Iollas contaminated it with the drug… Because of this, the drug overcame him all the more effectively… And Alexander was very ill and trying in vain to vomit, he passed the entire night in awful pain…

267
And on the next day, he realized his bad state, for he was uttering indistinct and unclear sounds because his tongue was already growing stiff. He sent everyone out, so that he might be quiet and alone to talk about what he wanted to. And Kasandros conferred with his brothers, and at night, rushed off to the hills, boldly taking his cup from Iollas. For he had made a pact with Iollas that if the king died, he would be freed from all responsibility. And he sent it to his parent in Macedonia…

268
And at nightfall, Alexander ordered everyone to leave the house. Among those he dismissed were Kombaphe and Roxiane, his wife. And from the house there was an exit toward the river called Euphrates … He ordered it opened and that no one be at the places they customarily stood guard. And when it was the middle of the night, he got up from his bed, put out the light, and crawled on all fours toward the river. And he saw his wife, Roxiane, advancing toward him… And his wife embraced him and said, "Are you abandoning and leaving me, Alexander, by committing suicide?" And he said: "Roxiane, it is small deprivation for you that my glory be taken away from you…" And he turned away from Roxiane and went back home in concealment.

269
And when it was day, he ordered Perdikkas and Ptlomeos and Lysimachos to come in. He told them that no one else should approach him until he wrote a will about his affairs. And they went out. And then he seated near him the will makers, Kobahe and Hermogenes, who were young men. …And when night fell, the secretaries began to write. And the king ordered that Perdikkas and Loukias and Ptlomeos and Lysimachos be summoned to him…

270
And suddenly a great shout arose from all the Macedonians. And they all rushed upon the palace saying that they would kill the guards unless they showed them their king. And Alexander heard the noise of the uproar… He ordered that his couch be lifted and put in a place where the army might pass and see him … so that they make no trouble amongst themselves and start fighting. The Macedonians entered and passed close by him and gave him encouragement. And there was no one who was not grieved over what had happened to such a great and world-conquering king.

271
And one of them named Peukalaos, who was not unattractive in appearance, but an ignorant country lad… said, "O Alexander, Philip your father ruled Macedonia well." He changed languages and sadly continued in Macedonian: "Lo, you are abandoning us. And all of Macedonia is lost by your dying. It is well for all us Macedonians to die with you who made your ancestral city worthy of Aramazd." And Alexander was saddened; and he stretched forth his right hand and clasped the hand of the Macedonian and very clearly acknowledged his entreaties… Once again he sent Perdikkas out and ordered Olkias to read the will he had written…

276
And Alexander was anointed with a certain assuaging balm which Roxiane put on him, and he was protected from great pain. And a light sleep came. Because of this, the demise was deferred for five days. Alexander asked for water to rinse out his mouth. And once again, Iollas altered the cup with the drug and offered it to him. And he took it and rinsed out his mouth. And then and there, oppressed by his pains, he cried out loudly; and he gave up hope in life and in the vain futility of this world.

277
He summoned Perdikkas and Ptlomeos and Loukias and Lysimachos, the Macedonian princes, and spoke thus to them: "Men, I have given definite instructions about the kingdom…." And he said to Ptlomeos seated near him, "And you, go to Egypt and you shall take care of our body." But he spoke softly to him so that no one might hear, for Ptlomeos too was overcome by tears, and he hid his face in his robe and secretly wept.

278
But the illness was strengthening its hold upon the emperor, and he was no longer able thereafter to speak. And he suffered great distress and anguish… And hard pressed by his illness, he gave his ring to Perdikkas.

279
And Roxiane cried loudly and rent her clothing and wanted to fall at the feet of her husband, Alexander. And Alexander sobbed and groaned deeply and placed his hand on her head. And he took her by the right hand and handed her to Perdikkas. And at a glance, he made it clear that he was entrusting her to his care. And as he was doing this, the malady was pressing hard upon him. At that time, Roxiane was standing on his right, and around the three were Perdikkas, Ptlomeos, and Loukias. And he gave up the ghost and they laid out his body.

280
And thus did Alexander, the world conqueror and great king, pass onto the gods, after having lived thirty-three years…

281
And Ptlomenos came to him, and said, "Alexander, to whom do you leave your kingdom?" He replied, "To him who has the ability, the will power, the perseverance, and the power of accomplishment." And just as he said this, a dark mist crossed the sky and a bolt of lightning was seen to fall from heaven into the sea and with it a great eagle. And the bronze statue of Aramazd in Babylon quivered; and the lightening ascended into heaven and the eagle went with it, taking with it a radiant star. And when the star disappeared in the sky, Alexander too had shut his eyes….

285
Alexander fought with many kings, and dying, left them behind him. For he lived thirty-three years. He started warring at eighteen and fought for seven years until he was twenty-five. And the other eight years, he lived in peace. And he was cut off in the middle of his days by the treachery of adversaries….

286
This mighty and fortunate world conqueror, Alexander, was born in the month of Tubi (January)of the Egyptian calendar, on the first day at sunrise. And he came to his end on the fourth day of the month of Parmouphir, towards nightfall…. This life that was directed by Providence above ended in man's common death.
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