304 HISTORICAL TALES.

Persian king killed him and left only his dead body
to the victor’s hands.

For years afterwards Alexander was occupied in
war, subduing the eastern part of the empire, and
marching into India, where he conquered all before
him. War, incessant war, was all he cared for. No
tribe or nation he met was able to stand against his
army. In all his career he never met a reverse in
the field. He was as daring as Darius had been
cowardly, exposed his life freely, and was more than
once seriously wounded, but recovered quickly from
his hurts.

At length, after eleven years of almost incessant
war, the conqueror returned to Babylon, and here,
while preparing for new wars in Arabia and else-
where, indulged with reckless freedom in that intox-
ication which was his principal form of relaxation
from warlike schemes and duties. As a result he
was seized with fever, and in a week’s time died, just
at the time he had fixed to set out with army and
fleet on another great career of conquest. It was
in June, 323 B.c., in his thirty-third year. He had
reigned only twelve years and eight months,