Page:General History of Europe 1921.djvu/152

IO2* General History oj Europe speeches' denouncing King Philip are called, are among the finest specimens of Greek eloquence. After a long series of hostilities Philip defeated the Greek forces in a final battle of Chseronea (338 B.C.) and firmly established his position as head of a league of all the Greek states except Sparta, which still held out against him. He had begun operations in Asia Minor intended to set free the Greek cities there, when, two years after the battle of Chaeronea, he was stabbed by conspirators during the revelries at the wedding of his daughter (336 B.C.). 154. Education and Character of Alexander the Great. The kingship passed into the hands of Philip's son Alexander, a youth of only twenty years. Seven years before, when Alexander was thirteen, his father had summoned to the Macedonian court the great philosopher Aristotle to be the teacher of the young prince. Under his instruction Alexander had learned to know and love the masterpieces of Greek literature, especially the Homeric scngs. The deeds of the ancient heroes touched and kindled his youthful imagination and lent a heroic tinge to his whole character. 155. Alexander subjugates the Greek States. The Greek states were still unwilling to submit to Macedonian leadership, and they fancied they could easily overthrow so young a ruler as Alexander. They were soon to learn how old a head there was on his shoulders. When Thebes revolted against Macedonia for the second time after Philip's death, Alexander captured and completely destroyed the city, sparing only the house of the great poet Pindar. All Greece was thus taught to fear and respect his power, but learned at the same time to recognize his reverence for Greek culture. The Greek states, accordingly, with the exception PORTRAIT BUST OF DEMOSTHENES