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BOOK VII.
CHAPTER I.
Alexander's Plans. — The Indian Philosophers.
When Alexander arrived at Pasargadae and Persepolis,[1] he was seized with an ardent desire to sail down the Euphrates and Tigres[2] to the Persian Sea, and to see the mouths of those rivers as he had already seen those of the Indus as well as the sea into which it flows. Some authors[3] also have stated that he was meditating a voyage round the larger portion of Arabia, the country of the Ethiopians, Libya (i.e. Africa), and Numidia beyond Mount Atlas to Gadeira (i.e. Cadiz),[4] inward into our sea
- ↑ Pasargadae was the ancient capital of Cyrus, but Persepolis was that of the later kings of Persia. The tomj) of Cyrus has been discovered at Murghab; consequently Parsagadae was on the banks of the river Cyrus, N.E. of Persepolis. The latter city was at the junction of the Araxes and Medus. Its extensive ruins are called Chel-Minar, "the forty columns."
- ↑ The Tigris rises in Armenia, and joins the Euphrates ninety miles from the sea, the united stream being then called Shat-el-Arab. In ancient times the two rivers had distinct outlets. In the Hebrew the Tigris is called Chiddekel, i.e. arrow. The Greek name Tigres is derived from the Zend Tighra, which comes from the Sanscrit Tig, to sharpen. Its present name is Dijleh. The respective lengths of the Euphrates and Tigris are 1,780 and 1,146 miles.
- ↑ Among these were Curtius (x. 3); Diodorus (xviii. 4); and Plutarch (Alex., 68).
- ↑ Gadeira or Gades was a Phoenician colony. The name is from the Hebrew 'li, a fence. Cf. Pliny (iv. 36); appellant Poeni Gadir ita Punica lingua septum significante. Also Avienus (Ora Maritima, 268): Punicorum lingua conseptum locum Gaddir vocabat. According to Pliny (v. 1), Suetonius Paulinus was the first Eoman general who crossed the Atlas Mountains.
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