Mediterranean sea. Most of the inhabitants are Mohammedans, the rest Jews, oriental Christians, and Europeans. The city lost two thirds of its houses, and 8000 inhabitants, by the earthquakes in 1822 and 1823. Lon. 37° 10′ E.; lat. 36° 11′ N. ALESIA, the capital of the Mandubii, a Gallic people, who dwelt in what is now Burgundy, was an important fortress, the siege and taking of which was, undoubtedly, the greatest military exploit of Cæsar. All Gaul had risen against the Romans, even the Ædui, the old allies of the oppressors; but Cæsar conquered them under Vercingetorix, and besieged them in Alesia. 80,000 men were shut up in the town; Cæsar, with 60,000 troops, lay before it. He erected, immediately, a line of contravallation, extending 4 leagues, in order to reduce the place by famine, since its situation on a hill, 1500 feet high, and on all sides abrupt, between the rivers Ope and Operain, rendered an attack impossible. Vercingetorix, after making several furious but unsuccessful sallies, called all the Gauls to arms, and, in a short time, 250,000 men appeared before the place. Cæsar had, in the mean time, completed his line of circumvallation, protecting himself against any attack from without by a breast-work, a ditch with palisadoes, and several rows of pit-falls. These defences enabled him to repel the desperate attack of 330,000 Gauls against the 60,000 Romans under his command, though he was assailed both in front and rear. The Gauls were unable to force his lines at any point. Vercingetorix, reduced to extremity by hunger, was compelled to surrender, without having carried into execution his design of murdering all the persons in the town who were unqualified for battle. But the whole tribe of the Mandubii, which had been expelled from the city by the Gauls, and were not allowed by the Romans to pass into the open country, died of famine between the two camps. Afterwards, A. rose again to a flourishing condition, until it was destroyed, in 864, by the Normans. Vestiges of wells, aqueducts, broken tiles, coins and the like, found in the fields where A. once stood, prove the former existence of the city. At the foot of the ancient citadel (now mount Auxois), is a village called Alise (depart. Côte d' Or), with several hundred inhabitants.

ALESSANDRIA. (See Alexandria.) ALEUTIAN ISLANDS; a group belonging to Russia, and separating the sea of Kamtschatka from the northern part of

the Pacific ocean, extending nearly 700 miles from E. to W., from lon. 169° to 183° E.; lat. 53° N. They form a chain connecting Asia and America, and include what have generally been called, in English geographical works, the Fox islands, Behring's and Copper islands, and the group formerly divided into the Aleutian and Andrenovian isles, altogether above 100, comprising about 10,000 square miles, all rocky, some containing volcanoes and hot springs. The most known and largest are the Oonalashka, Behring's island and Kodiak. The principal place is Alexandria, the seat of the governor, and the chief emporium. No tree grows on these islands, and no domestic animal thrives there; but they afford an abundance of valuable fur and of fish. The inhabitants belong to the same stock with the natives of Kamtschatka; they are a harmless race of hunters and fishers. Their number has been reduced by the small pox and the venereal disease to 1000. The Russians, to whom they pay tribute, visit these inhospitable islands only for the sake of fur.

The officers of the Russian-American company treat the inhabitants so cruelly, that Krusenstern made a report about it to the Russian government.Müller's Sammlung Russischer Geschichte, vol. iii.; Coxe's Account of the Russian Discoveries; Tooke's View of the Russian Empire; Krusenstern's Voyage round the World; Cooke, &c.

ALEXANDER THE GREAT, Son of Philip of Macedon, was born in Pella, B. C. 356. His mother was Olympias, the daughter of Neoptolemus of Epirus. In his early youth, he showed the marks of a great character. When he heard of the victories of Philip, he exclaimed, "My father will not leave any thing for me to do." Philip confided the charge of his education first to Leonidas, a relation of his mother, and to Lysimachus; afterwards to Aristotle. At a distance from the court, this great philosopher instructed him in all the branches of human knowledge, especially those necessary for a ruler, and wrote for his benefit a work on the art of government, which is unfortunately lost. As Macedon was surrounded by dangerous neighbors, Aristotle sought to cultivate in his pupil the talents and virtues of a military commander. this view he recommended to him the reading of the Iliad, and revised this poem himself. The copy revised by Aristotle was the favorite book of A., who never lay down without having read some pages in it. At the same time he formed

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his body by gymnastic exercises. When very young, as every body knows, he tamed the horse Bucephalus, which no one else dared to mount. When he was 16 years old, Philip, setting out on an expedition against Byzantium, delegated the government to him during his absence. He performed prodigies of valor, two years later (338), in the battle at Chæronea, where he obtained great reputation by conquering the sacred band of the Thebans. "My son," said Philip, after the battle, embracing him, "seek another empire, for that which I shall leave you is not worthy of you." The father and son, however, quarrelled when Philip repudiated Olympias. A., who took the part of his mother, was obliged to flee to Epirus, to escape the vengeance of his father; but he soon obtained pardon, and returned. He afterwards accompanied Philip on an expedition against the Triballi, and saved his life in a battle. Philip, having been elected chief commander of the Greeks, was preparing for a war against Persia, when he was assassinated, B. C. 336. A., not yet 20 years of age, ascended the throne, punished the murderer, went into the Peloponnesus, and received, in the general assembly of the Greeks, the chief command in the war against Persia. After his return, he found the Illyrii and Triballi in arms, went to meet them, forced a passage through Thrace, and was every where successful. But the Thebans, having heard a rumor of his death, had taken up arms, and the Athenians, urged by Demosthenes, were about to join them. A. hastened to prevent this junction, appeared before Thebes, and, having summoned it in vain to surrender, took and destroyed the city. 6000 of the inhabitants were put to the sword, and 30,000 carried into captivity. The house and family of the poet Pindar alone were spared. This severity terrified all Greece. The Athenians suffered less. A. demanded only the banishment of Charmides, who had spoken most bitterly against him. Leaving Antipater to govern in his stead in Europe, and being confirmed as commander in chief of the Greek forces, in the general assembly of the Greeks, he crossed over into Asia, in the spring of 334, with 30,000 foot and 5,000 horse. To secure the protection of Minerva, he sacrificed to her, on the fields of Ilium, crowned the tomb of Achilles, and congratulated this hero, from whom he was descended through his mother, on his good fortune in having had such a friend as Patroclus, and such a poet as

Homer. When he approached the Granicus, he learned that several Persian satraps, with 20,000 foot, and as many horse, awaited him on the other side. A., without delay, led his army through the river, and obtained a complete victory; having overthrown, with his lance, Mithridates, the son-in-law of Darius, and exposed himself to every danger. The Macedonians, encouraged by his example, bore down every thing before them, and the whole army crossed the river. The Greek auxiliaries of the Persians, who were formed in phalanxes, resisted longer, and were all destroyed, except 2000, who were taken prisoners. A. performed splendid funeral ceremonies in honor of those of his army who had fallen, and granted privileges to their fathers and children. Most of the cities of Asia Minor, even Sardis, opened their gates to the victor. Miletus and Halicarnassus resisted longer. A. restored democracy in all the Greek cities. In passing through Gordium, he cut the Gordian knot, and conquered Lycia, Ionia, Caria, Pamphylia and Cappadocia. But a dangerous sickness, brought on by bathing in the Cydnus, checked his course. On this occasion he showed the elevation of his character. He received a letter from Parmenio, saying that Philip, his physician, had been bribed by Darius to poison him. A. gave the letter to the physician, and at the same time drank the potion which he had prepared for him. Scarcely was he restored to health, when he advanced towards the defiles of Cilieia, whither Darius had imprudently betaken himself, with an immense army, instead of awaiting his adversary on the plains of Assyria. The second battle took place near Issus, between the sea and the mountains. The disorderly masses of the Persians were broken by the charge of the Macedonians, and fled in wild confusion. On the left wing, 30,000 Greeks, in the pay of the Persian king, resisted longer; but they also were obliged to yield. The treasures and family of Darius fell into the hands of the conqueror. The latter were treated most magnanimously. A. did not pursue Darius, who fled towards the Euphrates, but, in order to cut him off from the sea, turned towards Cœloyria and Phoenicia. Here he received a letter from Darius, proposing peace. A. answered, that, if he would come to him, he would restore to him not only his mother, wife and children without ransom, but also his empire. This answer produced no effect. The victory at Issus

had opened the whole country to the Macedonians. A. took possession of Damascus, which contained a large portion of the royal treasures, and secured all the towns along the Mediterranean sea. Tyre, imboldened by the strength of its situation, resisted, but was taken, after seven months of incredible exertions, and destroyed. A. continued his victorious march through Palestine, where all the towns surrendered, except Gaza, which shared the fate of Tyre. Egypt, weary of the Persian yoke, received him as a deliverer. In order to confirm his power, he restored the former customs and religious rites, and founded Alexandria, which became one of the first cities of ancient times. Hence he went through the desert of Libya, to consult the oracle of Jupiter Ammon. Some historians assert that the god recognised him as his son, but others reject all that has been related respecting this journey. At the return of spring, A. marched against Darius, who, in the meantime, had collected an army in Assyria, and rejected the proposals of A. for peace. A battle was fought at Gaugamela, not far from Arbela, in 331. Justin estimates the forces of Darius at 500,000 men; Diodorus, Arrian and Plutarch at more than double that number. Notwithstanding the immense numerical superiority of his enemy, A. was not a moment doubtful of victory. At the head of his cavalry, he attacked the Persians, and routed them immediately; he then hastened to the aid of his left wing, which had been, in the mean time, severely pressed. His wish was to take, or kill, the king of Persia. The latter was on an elevated chariot, in the midst of his body-guards. These, when they saw how A. overthrew every thing, fled. Darius then mounted a horse, and fled likewise, leaving his army, baggage and immense treasures to the victor. Babylon and Susa, where the riches of the East lay accumulated, opened their gates to A., who directed his march towards Persepolis, the capital of Persia. The only passage thither, Pyla Persidis, was defended by 40,000 men under Ariobarzanes. A. attacked them in the rear, routed them, and entered Persepolis triumphant. From this time the glory of A. began to decline. Master of the greatest empire in the world, he became a slave to his own passions; gave himself up to arrogance and dissipation; showed himself ungrateful and cruel, and, in the arms of pleasure, shed the blood of his bravest generals. Hitherto sober and moderate, this hero,

who strove to equal the gods, and called himself a god, sunk to the level of vulgar men. Persepolis, the wonder of the world, he burned in a fit of intoxication. Ashamed of this act, he set out with his cavalry to pursue Darius. Learning that Bessus, satrap of Bactriana, kept the king prisoner, he hastened his march with the hope of saving him. But Bessus, when he saw himself closely pursued, caused Darius to be assassinated (B. C. 330), because he was an impediment to his flight. A. beheld, on the frontiers of Bactriana, a dying man, covered with wounds, lying on a chariot. It was Darius. The Macedonian hero could not restrain his tears. After interring him with all the honors usual among the Persians, he took possession of Hyrcania, the land of the Marsi, and Bactriana, and caused himself to be proclaimed king of Asia. He was forming still more gigantic plans, when a conspiracy broke out in his own camp. Philotas, the son of Parmenio, was implicated. A., not satisfied with the blood of the son, caused the father also to be secretly murdered. This act of injustice excited general displeasure. At the same time, his power in Greece was threatened. Agis, king of Sparta, had collected 30,000 men to shake off the Macedonian yoke; but Antipater, at the head of a numerous army, overcame the Spartans, and dissolved the league of the Greeks. In the mean time, A. marched, in the winter, through the north of Asia, as far as it was then known, checked neither by mount Caucasus nor the Oxus, and reached the Caspian sea, hitherto unknown to the Greeks. Insatiable of glory, and thirsting for conquest, he spared not even the hordes of the Scythians. Returning to Bactriana, he hoped to gain the affections of the Persians, by assuming their dress and manners, but this hope was not realized. The discontent of the army gave occasion to the scene which ended in the death of Clitus. A., whose pride he had offended, killed him with his own hand at a banquet. Clitus had been one of his most faithful friends and bravest generals, and A. was afterwards a prey to the keenest remorse, In the following year, he subdued the whole of Sogdiana. Oxyantes, one of the leaders of the enemy, had secured his family in a castle built on lofty rocks. The Macedonians stormed it. Roxana, the daughter of Oxyantes, one of the most beautiful virgins of Asia, was among the prisoners. A. fell in love with and married her. Upon the news of this

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 JANNÆUS, 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

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 Mammsa, niece to the emperor Severus. He was admirably educated by his mother, and was adopted and inade 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