300 HISTORICAL TALES.

turned to flee also. The vast host in the rear
trampled one another down in their wild haste to
get beyond the enemy’s reach. The Macedonians
must have looked on in amazement. The battle—or
what ought to have been a battle—was over before
it had fairly begun. The Persian right wing, in
which was a body of Greeks, made a hard fight;
but these Greeks, on finding that the king had fled, ©
marched in good order away. The Persian cavalry,
also, fought bravely until they heard that the king
had disappeared, when they also turned to fly.
Never had so great a host been so quickly routed,
and all through the cowardice of a man who was
better fitted by nature to turn a spit than to com-
mand an army.

But Alexander was not the man to let his enemy
escape unscathed. His pursuit was vigorous. The
slaughter of the fugitives was frightful. Thousands
were trodden to death in the narrow and broken
pass. The camp and the family of Darius were
taken, together with a great treasure in coin. The
slain in all numbered more than one hundred thou-
sand,

The panic flight of Darius and his utter lack of
ability did more than lose him a battle: it lost him
an empire. Never was there a battle with more
complete and great results. During the next two
years Alexander went to work to conquer western
Persia. Most of the cities yielded to him. Tyre re-
sisted, and was taken and destroyed. Gaza, another
strong city, was captured and its defenders slain.
These two cities, which it took nine months to cap-