Oxyantes thought it best to submit, and came to Bactra, where A. received him with distinction. Here a new conspiracy was discovered, at the head of which was Hermolaus, and, among the accomplices, Callisthenes. All the conspirators were condemned to death, except Callisthenes, who was mutilated, and carried about with the army in an iron cage, until he terminated his torments by poison. A. now formed the idea of conquering India, the name of which was scarcely known. He passed the Indus, and formed an alliance with Taxilus, the ruler of the region beyond this river, who assisted him with troops and 130 elephants. Conducted by Taxilus, he marched towards the river Hydaspes, the passage of which, Porus, another king, defended at the head of his army. A. conquered him in a bloody battle, took him prisoner, but restored him to his kingdom. He then marched victoriously through India, established Greek colonies, and built, according to Plutarch, 70 towns, one of which he called Bucephala, after his horse, which had been killed on the Hydaspes. Intoxicated by success, he intended to advance as far as the Ganges, when the murmurs of his army compelled him to return, in doing which he was exposed to great dangers. When he had reached the Hydaspes, he built a fleet, in which he sent a part of his army down the river, while the rest proceeded along the banks. On his march, he encountered several Indian princes, and, during the siege of a town belonging to the Mallii, was severely wounded. Having recovered, he continued his march, sailed down the Indus, and thus reached the sea. Nearchus, his admiral, sailed hence to the Persian gulf, while A. directed his march by land to Babylon. He had to wander through immense deserts, in which the greater part of his army, destitute of water and food, perished in the sand. Only the fourth part of the troops, with which he had set out, returned to Persia. On his route, he quelled several mutinies, and placed governors over various provinces. In Susa, he married two Persian princesses, and rewarded those of his Macedonians who had married Persian women, because it was his intention to unite the two nations as closely as possible. He distributed rich rewards among his troops. At Opis, on the Tigris, he declared his intention of sending the invalids home with presents. The rest of the army mutinied; but he persisted, and effected his purpose. Soon after, his favorite, He. phæstion, died. His grief was unbounded, and he buried his body with royal splendor. On his return from Ecbatana to Babylon, the magicians are said to have predicted that this city would be fatal to him. The representations of his friends induced him to despise these warnings. He went to Babylon, where many foreign ambassadors waited for him, and was engaged in extensive plans for the future, when he became suddenly sick, after a banquet, and died in a few days, 323 B. C. Such was the end of this conqueror, in his 32d year, after a reign of 12 years and 8 months. He left behind him an immense empire, which became the scene of continual wars. He had designated no heir, and, being asked by his friends to whom he left the empire, answered, "To the worthiest." After many disturbances, the generals acknowledged Aridæus, a man of a very weak mind, the son of Philip and the dancer Philinna, and Alexander, the posthumous son of A. and Roxana, as kings, and divided the provinces among themselves, under the name of satrapies. They appointed Perdiccas, to whom A. on his death-bed had given his ring, prime minister of the infant kings. The body of A. was interred, by Ptolemy, in Alexandria, in a golden coffin, and divine honors were paid to him, not only in Egypt, but also in other countries. His sarcophagus, since 1802, has been in the British museum. Arrian, Diodorus, Plutarch and Curtius are the sources from whence the history of A. is drawn. (See also St. Croix, Exam. critique des Historiens d' Alex., 4to., Paris, 1804.) Secunder is the oriental name of A. ALEXANDER BALAS, king of Syria, was, according to some, the natural son of Antiochus Epiphanes, but, according to others, a young man of mean extraction at Rhodes, suborned by Heraclides, at the instigation of Ptolemy, Attalus and Ariarthes, to personate the son of Antiochus, and under that title to lay claim to the crown of Syria, in opposition to Demetrius. In a war between the two competitors, A. was slain, B. C. 145. ALEXANDER JANNEUS, king of the Jews, succeeded to the throne B. C. 106. His fourth brother endeavored to deprive him of the crown, and was put to death. A. began his reign by leading an army against Ptolemais, but was obliged to return to defend his own dominions against Ptolemy Lathyrus, and was defeated on the banks of the Jordan. He subsequently conquered Gaza, made war on the Ara ALEXANDER. bians, and was engaged in quarrels with his own subjects. After reducing them to order, he extended his conquests through Syria, Idumæa, Arabia and Phoenicia. On returning to Jerusalem, he devoted himself to drinking and debauchery, and died B. C. 79. ALEXANDER SEVERUS, a Roman emperor, was born at Acre, in Phoenicia, in the year 205. He was the son of Genesius Marcianus and of Mammaa, niece to the emperor Severus. He was admirably educated by his mother, and was adopted and made Cæsar by his cousin Heliogabalus, then but a few years older than himself, at the prudent instigation of their common grandmother, Mæsa. That contemptible emperor, however, soon grew jealous of his cousin, and would have destroyed him, but for the interference of the prætorian guards, who soon after put Heliogabalus himself to death, and raised Alexander to the imperial dignity in his 17th year. Alexander adopted the noble model of Trajan and the Antonines; and the mode in which he administered the affairs of the empire, and otherwise occupied himself in poetry, philosophy and literature, is eloquently described by Gibbon. On the whole, he governed ably both in peace and war; but, whatever he might owe to the good education given him by his mother, he allowed her a degree of influence in the government, which threw a cloud over the latter part of his reign, as is usually the case with the indirect exercise of female political influence. A. behaved with great magnanimity in one of the frequent insurrections of the prætorian guards; but, either from fear or necessity, he allowed many of their seditious mutinies to pass unpunished, although, in one of them, they murdered their prefect, the learned lawyer Ulpian, and, in another, compelled Dion Cassius, the historian, then consul, to retire into Bithynia. At length, undertaking an expedition into Gaul, to repress an incursion of the Germans, he was murdered, with his mother, in an insurrection of his Gallic troops, headed by the brutal and gigantic Thracian, Maximin, who took advantage of their discontent at the emperor's attempts to restore discipline. This event happened in the year 235, after a reign of 12 years. A. was favorable to Christianity, following the predilections of his mother, Mammæa; and he is said to have placed the statue of Jesus Christ in his private temple, in company with those of Orpheus and Apollonius Tyaneus. In return, the Christian writers all speak very favorably of him. Herodian, on the contrary, accuses him of great timidity, weakness, and undue subjection to his mother; bit exhibits a disposition to detract from his good character on all occasions, in a way that renders his evidence very suspicious. He was thrice married, but left no children. Ælius Lampridius tells the following singular story of A.:-Ovinius Camillus, a Roman senator, conspired against him. A., learning the fact, sent for Ovinius, thanked him for his willingness to relieve him from the burden of government, and then proclaimed him his colleague. A. now gave him so much to do, that he had hardly time to breathe, and, on the breaking out of a war with Artaxerxes, the fatigues to which A. exposed himself, and which Ovinius was compelled to share, so overwhelmed the latter, that, at last, he besought A. to permit him to return to a private station. He was accordingly allowed to resign the imperial dignity. ALEXANDER; the name of several popes. Alexander I reigned from 109 to 119, and is known only as having introduced the use of holy water.-A. II, Anselm of Milan, previously bishop of Lucca, was, in 1061, raised to the papal throne by the party of Hildebrand, afterwards Gregory VII, while the adherents of the German king, and of the nobility of Rome, chose Honorius II at Basle. This antipope expelled A. from Rome, but Hildebrand, then the soul of the papal government, supported him; a synod at Cologne acknowledged him in 1062, and the Romans themselves revolted, in 1063, from Honorius. Thus A. attained quiet possession of Rome, and of the papal power, which, however, Hildebrand administered in his name. The papal bulls, therefore, against lay investiture, against the marriage of priests, and the divorce of Henry IV, and the haughty summons of this king to appear before the papal chair, must be ascribed to the influence of Hil debrand, who used the weak A. II as his tool. A. died in 1073. (See Gregory VII.) A. III reigned from 1159 to 1181, and struggled with various fortune, but undaunted courage, against the party of the emperor Frederic I, and the antipopes Victor III, Paschal III, and Calixtus III, who rose, one after the other, against him. He was obliged to flee to France in 1161, where he lived in Sens, until the dissatisfaction of the Lombards with the government of Frederic, the assistance of the German ecclesiastical princes, and the desire of the Romans, opened a way for his return, in 1165. He now strengthened his power by a league with the cities of Lombardy, but was obliged to retire, in 1167, before the imperial army, and resided in Benevento, Anagni and Venice, until after the victory of the Lombards over the emperor at Legnano, followed by the peace of Venice (so humiliating to the pride of the emperor Frederic, who was compelled to kiss the feet and hold the stirrup of A., in 1177), the abdication of the third antipope, and the return of the victor to Rome. A. humbled, also, Henry II, king of England, who had exposed himself to the papal vengeance by the assassination of Becket. The terms, on which the German and English sovereigns were restored to favor, were such as to increase the power of the pope in both countries. He placed Alfonso II on the throne of Portugal, and laid Scotland under an interdict on account of the disobedience of the king. The rest of his labors to augment the papal power, and his persevering efforts, in the spirit of Gregory VII, till the period of his death, are related in the article Popery.-A. IV, count of Segni and bishop of Ostia, ascended the papal throne in 1254, at a very unfavorable time. Conquered by Manfred of Sicily, implicated in the quarrels of the Guelphs and Ghibellines, despised in Italy, this pope, with good intentions, and a peaceable disposition, was not able to prevent, either by his prayers or his excommunications (which were only laughed at), the disturbances prevailing over the whole country. At his death, in 1261, he left the papal power in a state of great weakness.-A. V., a Greek from Candia, under the name of Peter Philargi, a mendicant friar, rose to the dignity of cardinal, and was chosen pope in 1409, at the same time with the antipopes Gregory XII and Benedict XIII. He was considered by the greater part of Christendom legitimate pope, but carried his prodigality and luxury in Bologna, where he constantly resided, to an extent injurious to the interests of the church. At the council of Pisa, he promised to reform the abuses prevailing in the church, but took no steps towards it. While occupied in the condemnation of the doctrines of Wickliffe, and in preparations for the trial of the Bohemian reformer, Huss, he died in 1410, probably by poison.-A. VI. (See the following article.-A. VII, who was employed, when cardinal Chigi, as papal nuncio, in negotiations of peace at Munster and Osnabruck, and was revered on account of his pious zeal for the church and holy life, laid aside the mask of sanctity after his elevation to the papal throne, April 8, 1655, and gave himself openly up to luxury and voluptuousness. He surrounded himself with show and splendor, and appeared in the character of an intriguing politician. For an account of his condemnation of the 5 points of Jansen's Augustinus, and the quarrels in which he was consequently involved in France, see Jansen. He quarrelled not only with the Sorbonne, and the parliament, but even with king Louis XIV; so that the latter declared war against him, took Avignon and Venaissin, and forced him, in 1663, to make a disgraceful peace at Pisa. His improvements in the city of Rome, his attempts at poetry, and encouragement of learned men, could not indemnify the Roman court for the loss of authority in France, and he died without glory, May 22, 1667. -A. VIII, an Ottoboni from Venice, became pope in 1689. By artful negotiations, he induced Louis XIV to deliver up Avignon and Venaissin, and to renounce the privileges belonging to the quarter of his ambassador in Rome. He supplied the Venetians with men, money and ships to carry on a war against the Turks. Less intent upon the weal of the church than on enriching his own family, he delayed the condemnation of the 4 articles of the Gallican church, in order to gain advantages for his relations. He was hostile towards the Jesuits, and condemned their doctrine of the philosophical sin; at the same time, however, 31 theses of the Jansenists. (See Jansen.) The library of the Vatican is indebted to him for the purchase of the excellent library of the queen Christina of Sweden. He died in 1691, 81 years old. ALEXANDER VI, a notorious pope, was born at Valencia, in Spain, in 1430, and ascended the papal throne in 1492. His name was Rodrigo Lenzuoli; but he took the ancient and renowned name of his mother's family, Borgia. In his youth he was noted for dissipation, though not destitute of talent. He had 5 children by a woman famous for her beauty, Rosa Vanozza. Cæsar Borgia and Lucretia are the most known; the latter was four times married, and was suspected of incestuous intercourse with her father and brothers. A. was made a cardinal by pope Calixtus III, his uncle. By bribing the cardinals Sforza, Riario and Cibo, he prepared his way to the papal throne, after the death of Innocent VIII. The long residence of the popes in Avignon, at a distance from their dominions in Italy, had ALEXANDER. diminished both their authority and revenues. To make up for this loss, A. VI endeavored to impair the power of the Italian princes, and seize upon their possessions, for the benefit of his own family. To effect this end, he employed the most execrable means. His policy, foreign as well as domestic, was faithless and base, particularly in the case of France, whose king, Charles VIII, was his enemy. He understood how to extract immense sums of money from all Christian countries. He decided the dispute between the kings of Portugal and Castile concerning America, dividing their conquests, in 1494, by a line running from pole to pole, 370 miles west of the Azores. A. died, 74 years old, in 1503. Machiavelli abhorred this detestable miscreant, and says of him, Malò valenza, e per aver riposo Lussuria, simonia e crudeltade. QUAlexander. Several kings of Scotland VOL. I. 14 escape. He died in the 17th year of his ALEXANDER I, PAULOWITSCH (that is, principles of an enlightened age. His first governor, count Nich. Soltikoff, received orders from Catharine not to give the young prince any instruction in poetry and music, as requiring too much time for the attainment of proficiency. Professor Kraft instructed him in natural philosophy, and Pallas, a short time, in botany. He took part, it is probable, in the conspiracy against his father, though it is not likely that he had the most distant thought against his life. He wished to save himself and many nobles of the empire from the mad persecution of the emperor, and nothing short of dethroning him could afford them safety. He is often said, therefore, to have acted in self-defence. The history of his government may be divided into 3 periods: The first was peaceful, and entirely devoted to the execution of the schemes of Peter the Great and Catharine II, respecting the internal administration. The second, extending from 1805 to 1814, was a time of war with France, Sweden, the Porte and Persia, and developed the resources and the national feeling of the people. In the third period, he used the experience acquired in the two preceding, to carry into effect the declaration of Peter the Great, made 100 years before, in 1714, after a victory over the Swedish fleet, near the Aland islands:-"Nature has but one Rus.sia, and it shall have no rival."-A. was distinguished for moderation, activity and attention to business, personally superintending the multiplied concerns of his vast empire, while his simple and amiable manners gained him the love and confidence of his subjects. He understood and was zealous in promoting the welfare of his people. Great attention was paid, during his reign, to education and intellectual culture, and many improvements were introduced into the internal administration of the empire; e. g. the establishment of the senate by the ukase of 1802, of the imperial council and the ministry of 8 divisions by the ukase of 1810, of the provincial administration in the governments, &c. The shackles which hung on the industry of the nation were removed, and its cominerce increased.-A. has likewise advanced the military establishments of Russia to a high degree of perfection; he has developed in his people the sentiments of union, courage and patriotism; and, lastly, he has raised Russia to a high rank in the political system of Europe, and has made its importance felt even in Asia. It must be also acknowledged that, during his reign, taste and intelligence began to be diffused among the higher classes, as well as emi nent and even liberal statesmen to be formed, though it is in this, as in so many other things, difficult to distinguish what is owing to the prince, and what to the spirit of the age.-Among the most intimate associates of the emperor were general Jermoloff, afterwards Wolchonsky, Araktschejeff and Diebitsch. In the earlier part of his reign, some Greeks stood high in his favor, as did the French ambassador, count Caulaincourt, from 1807 to 1812.-Among the merits of A. are to be reckoned his exertions for the improvement of the Sclavonian nations, and the cultivation of their language and literature. He founded or new-modelled 7 universities, at Dorpat, Kazan, Charkov, Moscow, Wilna, Warsaw and St. Petersburg; 204 academies, many seminaries for the education of instructers, and above 2000 common schools, partly after the system of Lancaster. He did much for the distribution of the Bible, by the aid which he rendered to the Bible societies (abolished in 1826). He granted important privileges, by a ukase of 1817, to Jews becoming Christians. He appropriated large sums for the printing of impor tant works, as the Voyage of Krusenstern, the History of Russia by Karamsin, &c. He esteemed and rewarded literary merit, both in and out of Russia. He purchased rare and valuable collections. In 1818, he invited two orientalists, Demange and Charmoy, from Paris to Petersburg, to advance the study of the Arabic, Armenian, Persian and Turkish languages. He attended particularly to the education of young men of talent, whom he sent to travel through foreign countries. He endeavored, at the same time, by moderate measures, to relieve his subjects from the tyranny of their lords, the nobles, the boyars, starosts, &c. Servitude was abolished in 1816, in Esthonia, Livonia and Courland; and A. declared, that he would no longer transfer with the crown-lands the boors who cultivated them. He forbade the advertising of human beings for sale, and gave leave to a number of boors, a part of the bondmen of the late chancellor Romanzoff, to ransom themselves from their master. He endeavored, with much earnestness, to give to his people a good system of law, but the civil code of Russia still requires many improvements. The law-school, opened in 1807, ceased in 1810.-The custom of slitting the nose and branding, hitherto connected with whipping with the knout, was abolished |