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It is very extraordinary that King Darius took his wife and all his family with him, and a large portion of his treasures, on this expedition against Alexander. His mother, whose name was Sysigambis, was in his family, and she and his wife came, each in her own chariot, immediately after the king.
When he reached Susa, he established Sysigambis and the children there in great state. This had been their usual residence in most seasons of the year, when not at Persepolis, so that here they were, as it were, at home.
In this condition, and with a mind in an agony of suspense and fear at the thought of worse tortures which he knew were to come, Alexander sent him as a second present to Sysigambis, to be dealt with, at Susa, as her revenge might direct.
Alexander makes Tyre his rendezvous. Festivities. Alexander prepares to march east. The captive queens. Alexander's treatment of the queens. Death of Statira. Agony of Sysigambis. Grief of Darius. Alexander crosses the Euphrates. Darius crosses the Tigris. Alexander reaches the Tigris. He crosses the river. Fording the river. The passage effected. Plan of Darius. The plain of Arbela. The caltrop.
He immediately made arrangements for having the body embalmed, and then sent it to Susa, for Sysigambis, in a very costly coffin, and with a procession of royal magnificence. He sent it to her that she might have the satisfaction of seeing it deposited in the tombs of the Persian kings. What a present!
Darius calls for water. The interpreter. Darius's message to Alexander. Affecting scene. Alexander's grief at Darius's death. He sends the body to Sysigambis. Crossing the Oxus. Capture of the traitor Bessus. Mutilation of Bessus. He is sent to Sysigambis. Terrible punishment of Bessus. Alexander's march from Susa to Persepolis was less a march than a triumphal progress.
Accordingly, Alexander did every thing in his power to magnify the importance of his royal captives, by the splendor of their retinue, and the pomp and pageantry with which he invested their movements. Sysigambis was the mother of Darius. She was in the greatest agony of grief. She was lying upon the floor of her tent, surrounded by the ladies of her court, and entirely overwhelmed with sorrow.
In striking contrast to this mournful scene of sorrow in the palace of Sysigambis, there was an exhibition of the most wild and tumultuous joy in the streets, and in all the public places of resort in the city of Athens, when the tidings of the death of the great Macedonian king arrived there.
Effects of the news of Alexander's death. Death of Sysigambis. Rejoicings at Athens. Demosthenes. Joy of the Athenians. Phocion. Measures of the Athenians. Triumphant return of Demosthenes. Grand reception of Demosthenes. Preparations for the funeral. Destination of Alexander's body. A funeral on a grand scale. The funeral car. Its construction and magnitude. Ornaments and basso relievos.
The mountaineers were driven away, and the conqueror advanced toward the great Persian capital. March to Persepolis. Reckless cruelty. The banquet. Thais proposes to burn the Persian palace. Conflagration of the palace. Sublimity of the scene. Olympias. Her letters to Alexander. Sysigambis. Alexander's kindness to her. Darius at Ecbatana. His speech to his army. Conspiracy against Darius.
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