While Alexander had been conquering the towns along the coast of Asia, Darius had been gathering together another great army, which numbered, so it was said, six hundred thousand men. The king himself commanded the vast army, and in the spring of 333 B.C. he set out to find Alexander.
Darius was not a skilful general, nor was he a brave king, but he had no doubt that he would conquer Alexander.
When Alexander still lingered in one of the coast towns, Darius deemed that it was cowardice that kept him there, so little did he know of the character of his foe. It was illness alone that kept Alexander from advancing against the great king.
Some said that it was the hardships of the battlefield that had made the king ill, others that while he was still heated after a long march he had bathed in a river, the waters of which were very cold.
To the dismay of his soldiers, who adored their brave leader, the king grew worse and worse. He was so ill that it seemed that he must die.
His physicians were afraid to give the king medicine, for should he die they would be accused of giving him poison.
At length one of the physicians, named Philip, to whom Alexander had shown great kindness, determined that whatever happened to him, he would do his utmost to save the king’s life.
Alexander himself was content to take what Philip ordered, so impatient was he to be well and at the head of his army once again.
So Philip left the king for a few moments to prepare the medicine that he believed would cure him.
While he was absent, a letter was brought to Alexander from his officer Parmenio. It besought the king not to trust Philip, as he had been bribed by Darius to poison him. Vast sums of money and the hand of the great king’s daughter, said Parmenio, were to be the reward of the physician.