revolt in his rear.

THE MACEDONIAN CAMPAIGN. In the spring B.C. 334 Alexander crossed
the Hellespont into Asia. His army consisted of thirty-four
thousand foot and four thousand horse. He had with him only
seventy talents in money. He marched directly on the Persian
army, which, vastly exceeding him in strength, was holding the
line of the Granicus. He forced the passage of the river, routed
the enemy, and the possession of all Asia Minor, with its
treasures, was the fruit of the victory. The remainder of that
year he spent in the military organization of the conquered
provinces. Meantime Darius, the Persian king, had advanced an
army of six hundred thousand men to prevent the passage of the
Macedonians into Syria. In a battle that ensued among the
mountain-defiles at Issus, the Persians were again overthrown. So
great was the slaughter that Alexander, and Ptolemy, one of his
generals, crossed over a ravine choked with dead bodies. It was
estimated that the Persian loss was not less than ninety thousand
foot and ten thousand horse. The royal pavilion fell into the
conqueror's hands, and with it the wife and several of the
children of Darius. Syria was thus added to the Greek conquests.
In Damascus were found many of the concubines of Darius and his
chief officers, together with a vast treasure.

Before venturing into the plains of Mesopotamia for the final
struggle, Alexander, to secure his rear and preserve his
communications with the sea, marched southward down the
Mediterranean coast, reducing the cities in his way. In his
speech before the council of war after Issus, he told his
generals that they must not pursue Darius with Tyre unsubdued,