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Show "THE STORyWaLCOHOL ' How- It Has Spread Through the World How It Has Been Conquered " ' - -t v " i " . r , 1 (.1 J. '" v 1 ' - - . - ; 1 " i . " . : . . ' 'v , 1 m ( y i ' t i i - i t f 10. 10 THAIS SUGGESTING TO ALEXAKDEK THE BUEXIXG OF PEESEPOLIS. . Alexander the Great was a glaring example of the hard drinking that had become so widespread in the days of the decadence of ancient Greece, when Athens and all the other proud little states were compelled to yield submission sub-mission to the Macedonian. Tradition credits Alexander with being able to finish at one sitting an enormous cup of wine that held no less than a gallon and a half. After one of these feats it Is said that he complained of not feeb ing well, which seems a rather naive remark. Alexander did not, despite the prevalence preva-lence cf hard drinking in Greece, acquire ac-quire his taste for alcohol in Europe. While there he was noted for temperance temper-ance both in eating and drinking. In the intervals between his Asiatic conquests, con-quests, however, he yielded more and more to the temptation of the wine cup. It was on one of these occasions that he slew Clitus, his staunchest follower. fol-lower. The two most famous of these escapades esca-pades culminated in the burning of the palace at Persepolis and in the conqueror's con-queror's death. The first of theBe furnished fur-nished the subject for the painter who depicted the scene ahove. Plutarch says that Alexander and his warriors had been drinking deeply when one of the girls present, a Greek named Thais, suggested that he revenge himself him-self upon the ancient enemies of Attica At-tica by burning the Persian palace at Persepolis. Alexander fell in eagerly with the proposal and, with his head bound with flowers and bearing a lighted torch, he led the band of revellers, revel-lers, who set fires in the corridors of the magnificent structure. All the revellers were In various stages of intoxication. in-toxication. The drinking habits of the age are well illustrated in the last days of Alexander's Al-exander's life. Although Babylon was notoriously unhealthy, the conqueror drank freely at a feast held in the daytime. day-time. But instead of going to bed he stayed up all night and drank steadily until dawn. He spent the ijext day Bleeping off his drunkenness, but that night he again spent In heavy drinking. drink-ing. It is not remarkable that, with the germs of fever already in his blood, he hardly rose again, from his couch. In considering the Influence of alcohol alco-hol upon history, this last debauch of Alexander's may be regarded as one that had tremendous results. -He was only 32 years of age when he died. He had a sound constitution and he had steeled his body by his numerous hard campaigns. It seems more than probable prob-able that he might have recovered from the fever if he had not Indulged in this protracted orgy. With this indomitable energy and his lust for conquest it is not likely that he would long have remained content with peace. But there was no formidable formid-able enemy left him in Asia, and only Rome in Europe had strength enough to attract him. Had he lived he must almost inevitably have warred against the growing power by the Tibur. Most historians believe that Rome at that period had not become strong enough to have withstood him and that, had Alexander lived, no distinctive Roman civilization would have arisen. What might have happened in that event i something too big for speculation, but it would have been something that I would have affected the destinies of al- ' most everyone living today. The whole, course of human history would have been wrested away from the path that , it has followed. |