could have boasted that he was the elder brother. He earned the good
opinion of Alexander by his military successes in Asia, and gained his
gratitude by saving his life when he was in danger among the Oxydracæ,
near the river Indus; and moreover, Alexander looked up to him as the
historian whose literary powers and knowledge of military tactics were
to hand down to the wonder of future ages those conquests which he
witnessed.

Alexander's victories over Darius, and march to the river Indus, are no
part of this history: it is enough to say that he died at Babylon eight
years after he had entered Egypt; and his half-brother Philip Arridæus,
a weak-minded, unambitious young man, was declared by the generals
assembled at Babylon to be his successor. His royal blood united more
voices in the army in his favour than the warlike and statesmanlike
character of any one of the rival generals. They were forced to be
content with sharing the provinces between them as his lieutenants;
some hoping to govern by their power over the weak mind of Arridæus, and
others secretly meaning to make themselves independent.

In this weighty matter, Ptolemy showed the wisdom and judgment which
had already gained him his high character. Though his military rank and
skill were equal to those of any one of Alexander's generals, and his
claim by birth perhaps equal to that of Arridæous, he was not one of
those who aimed at the throne; nor did he even aim at the second place,
but left to Perdiccas the regency, with the care of the king's person,
in whose name that ambitious general vainly hoped to govern the whole of
Alexander's conquests. But Ptolemy, more wisely measuring his strength
with the several tasks, chose the province of Egypt, the province which,
cut off as it was from the rest by sea and desert, was of all others
the easiest to be held as an independent kingdom against the power of