Alexander listened to Damocles and was persuaded to leave the orators in their own city, for he believed that the fate of Thebes would make Athens afraid to rebel.
Of the loyalty of the Greek troops the king was sure, for were they not going to avenge the invasion of Greece by Xerxes?
The king did not mean to return to Macedon to reign, rather did he dream of a throne in one of the great cities which he was going to conquer. So before he marched away, he divided his royal domain and his wealth among his friends.
Perdiccas, one of his friends, was dismayed at the generosity of the king, and asked him what he was keeping for himself.
‘Hope,’ answered Alexander. Then Perdiccas refused to accept his share of the king’s gifts, saying, ‘We who go forth to fight with you need share only in your hope.’
Antipater, one of his father’s generals, Alexander left in Macedon to look after his kingdom.
At length in the spring of 334 B.C., after saying good-bye to his mother, whom he dearly loved, the king marched with an enormous force to the Hellespont and crossed it. The great expedition had really begun.
CHAPTER XCIII
THE BATTLE OF GRANICUS
Before Alexander crossed the Hellespont he had seen that the opposite shore was held by his Macedonians. While the army landed he himself sailed to the ‘Harbour of the Achæans.’ Midway in the strait he took a golden dish in his hand, and flung from it an offering to Poseidon and to the Nereids. It is said that the king himself steered the ship in which he sailed to the Mysian shore.