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• The Spirit of Laws.
• Book XX.: Of Laws In Relation to Commerce, Considered In Its Nature and Distinctions.
• Chap. I.: Of Commerce.
• Chap. II.: Of the Spirit of Commerce.
• Chap. III.: Of the Poverty of the People.
• Chap. IV.: Of Commerce In Different Governments.
• Chap. V.: Of Nations That Have Entered Into an œconomical Commerce.
• Chap. VI.: Some Effects of an Extensive Navigation.
• Chap. VII.: The Spirit of England, With Respect to Commerce.
• Chap. VIII.: In What Manner the œconomical Commerce Has Been Sometimes Restrained.
• Chap. IX.: Of the Prohibition of Commerce.
• Chap. X.: An Institution Adapted to œconomical Commerce.
• Chap. XI.: The Same Subject Continued.
• Chap. XII.: Of the Freedom of Commerce.
• Chap. XIII.: What It Is That Destroys This Liberty.
• Chap. XIV.: The Laws of Commerce Concerning the Confiscation of Merchandises.
• Chap. XV.: Of Seizing the Persons of Merchants.
• Chap. XVI.: An Excellent Law.
• Chap. XVII.: A Law of Rhodes.
• Chap. XVIII.: Of the Judges of Commerce.
• Chap. XIX.: That a Prince Ought Not to Engage Himself In Commerce.
• Chap. XX.: The Same Subject Continued.
• Chap. XXI.: Of the Commerce of the Nobility In a Monarchy.
• Chap. XXII.: A Singular Reflection.
• Chap. XXIII.: To What Nations Commerce Is Prejudicial.
• Book XXI.: Of Laws Relative to Commerce, Considered In the Revolutions It Has Met With In the World.
• Chap. I.: Some General Considerations.
• Chap. II.: Of the People of Africa.
• Chap. III.: That the Wants of the People In the South Are Different From Those of the North.
• Chap. IV.: The Principal Difference Between the Commerce of the Ancients and the Moderns.
• Chap. V.: Other Differences.
• Chap. VI.: Of the Commerce of the Ancients.
• Chap. VII.: Of the Commerce of the Greeks.
• Chap. VIII.: Of Alexander. His Conquest.
• Chap. IX.: Of the Commerce of the Grecian Kings After the Death of Alexander.
• Chap. X.: Of the Circuit of Africa.
• Chap. XI.: Of Carthage and Marseilles.
• Chap. XII.: The Isle of Delos. Mithridates.
• Chap. XIII.: Of the Genius of the Romans As to Maritime Affairs.
• Chap. XIV.: Of the Genius of the Romans With Respect to Commerce.
• Chap. XV.: Of the Commerce of the Romans With the Barbarians.
• Chap. XVI.: Of the Commerce of the Romans With Arabia, and the Indies.
• Chap. XVII.: Of Commerce After the Destruction of the Western Empire.
• Chap. XVIII.: A Particular Regulation.
• Chap. XIX.: Of Commerce After the Decay of the Roman Power In the East.
• Chap. XX.: How Commerce Broke Through the Barbarism of Europe.
• Chap. XXI.: The Discovery of Two New Worlds, and In What Manner Europe Is Affected By It.
• Chap. XXII.: Of the Riches Which Spain Drew From America.
• Chap. XXIII.: A Problem.
• Book XXII.: Of Laws In Relation to the Use of Money.
• Chap. I.: The Reason of the Use of Money.
• Chap. II.: Of the Nature of Money.
• Chap. III.: Of Ideal Money.
• Chap. IV.: Of the Quantity of Gold and Silver.
• Chap. V.: The Same Subject Continued.
• Chap. VI.: The Reason Why Interest Was Lowered One Half After the Conquest of the Indies.
• Chap. VII.: How the Price of Things Is Fixed In the Variation of the Sign of Riches.
• Chap. VIII.: The Same Subject Continued.
• Chap. IX.: Of the Relative Scarcity of Gold and Silver.
• Chap. X.: Of Exchange.
• Chap. XI.: Of the Proceedings of the Romans With Respect to Money.
• Chap. XII.: The Circumstances In Which the Romans Changed the Value of Their Specie.
• Chap. XIII.: Proceedings With Respect to Money In the Time of the Emperors.
• Chap. XIV.: How the Exchange Is a Constraint On Despotic Power.
• Chap. XV.: The Practice of Some Countries In Italy
• Chap. XVI.: The Assistance a State May Derive From Bankers.
• Chap. XVII.: Of Public Debts.
• Chap. XVIII.: Of the Payment of Public Debts.
• Chap. XIX.: Of Lending Upon Interest.
• Chap. XX.: Of Maritime Usury.
• Chap. XXI.: Of Lending By Contract, and the State of Usury Amongst the Romans.
• Chap. XXII.: The Same Subject Continued.
• Book XXIII.: Of Laws In the Relation They Bear to the Number of Inhabitants.
• Chap. I.: Of Men and Animals, With Respect to Multiplication of Their Species.
• Chap. II.: Of Marriage.
• Chap. III.: Of the Condition of Children.
• Chap. IV.: Of Families.
• Chap. V.: Of the Several Orders of Lawful Wives.
• Chap. VI.: Of Bastards In Different Governments.
• Chap. VII.: Of the Father’s Consent to Marriage.
• Chap. VIII.: The Same Subject Continued.
• Chap. IX.: Of Young Women.
• Chap. X.: What It Is That Determines to Marriage.
• Chap. XI.: Of the Severity of Government.
• Chap. XII.: Of the Number of Males and Females In Different Countries.
• Chap. XIII.: Of Sea-port Towns.
• Chap. XIV.: Of the Productions of the Earth Which Require a Greater Or Less Number of Men.
• Chap. XV.: Of the Number of Inhabitants With Relation to the Arts.
• Chap. XVI.: The Concern of the Legislator In the Propagation of the Species.
• Chap. XVII.: Of Greece, and the Number of Its Inhabitants.
• Chap. XVIII.: Of the State and Number of People Before the Romans.
• Chap. XIX.: Of the Depopulation of the Globe.
• Chap. XX.: That the Romans Were Under a Necessity of Making Laws, to Encourage the Propagation of the Species.
• Chap. XXI.: Of the Laws of the Romans Relating to the Propagation of the Species.
• Chap. XXII.: Of the Exposing of Children.
• Chap. XXIII.: Of the State of the World After the Destruction of the Romans.
• Chap. XXIV.: The Changes Which Happened In Europe, With Regard to the Number of the Inhabitants.
• Chap. XXV.: The Same Subject Continued.
• Chap. XXVI.: Consequences.
• Chap. XXVII.: Of the Law Made In France to Encourage the Propagation of the Species.
• Chap. XXVIII.: By What Means We May Remedy a Depopulation.
• Chap. XXIX.: Of Hospitals.
• Book XXIV.: Of Laws As Relative to Religion, Considered In Itself, and In Its Doctrines.
• Chap. I.: Of Religion In General.
• Chap. II.: A Paradox of Mr. Bayle’s.
• Chap. III.: That a Moderate Government Is Most Agreeable to the Christian Religion, and a Despotic Government to the Mahometan.
• Chap. IV.: Consequences From the Character of the Christian Religion, and That of the Mahometan.
• Chap. V.: That the Catholic Religion Is Most Agreeable to a Monarchy, and the Protestant to a Republic.
• Chap. VI.: Another of Mr. Bayle’s Paradoxes.
• Chap. VII.: Of the Laws of Perfection In Religion.
• Chap. VIII.: Of the Connection Between the Moral Laws and Those of Religion.
• Chap. IX.: Of the Essenes.
• Chap. X.: Of the Sect of Stoics.
• Chap. XI.: Of Contemplation.
• Chap. XII.: Of Penances.
• Chap. XIII.: Of Inexpiable Crimes.
• Chap. XIV.: In What Manner Religion Has an Influence On Civil Laws.
• Chap. XV.: How False Religious Are Sometimes Corrected By the Civil Laws.
• Chap. XVI.: How the Laws of Religion Correct the Inconveniencies of a Political Constitution.
• Chap. XVII.: The Same Subject Continued.
• Chap. XVIII.: How the Laws of Religion Have the Effect of Civil Laws.
• Chap. XIX.: That It Is Not So Much the Truth Or Falsity of a Doctrine Which Renders It Useful Or Pernicious to Men In Civil Government, As the Use Or Abuse of It.
• Chap. XX.: The Same Subject Continued.
• Chap. XXI.: Of the Metempsychosis.
• Chap. XXII.: That It Is Dangerous For Religion to Inspire an Aversion For Things In Themselves Indifferent.
• Chap. XXIII.: Of Festivals.
• Chap. XXIV.: Of the Local Laws of Religion.
• Chap. XXV.: The Inconveniency of Transplanting a Religion From One Country to Another.
• Chap. XXVI.: The Same Subject Continued.
• Book XXV.: Of Laws As Relative to the Establishment of Religion and Its External Polity.
• Chap. I.: Of Religious Sentiments.
• Chap. II.: Of the Motives of Attachment to Different Religions.
• Chap. III.: Of Temples.
• Chap. IV.: Of the Ministers of Religion.
• Chap. V.: Of the Bounds Which the Laws Ought to Prescribe to the Riches of the Clergy.
• Chap. VI.: Of Monasteries.
• Chap. VII.: Of the Luxury of Superstition.
• Chap. VIII.: Of the Pontificate.
• Chap. IX.: Of Toleration In Point of Religion.
• Chap. X.: The Same Subject Continued.
• Chap. XI.: Of Changing a Religion.
• Chap. XII.: Of Penal Laws.
• Chap. XIII.: A Most Humble Remonstrance to the Inquisitors of Spain and Portugal.
• Chap. XIV.: Why the Christian Religion Is So Odious In Japan.
• Chap. XV.: Of the Propagation of Religion.
• Book XXVI.: Of Laws, As Relative to the Order of Things On Which They Determine.
• Chap. I.: Idea of This Book.
• Chap II.: Of Laws Divine and Human.
• Chap. III.: Of Civil Laws Contrary to the Law of Nature.
• Chap. IV.: The Same Subject Continued.
• Chap. V.: Cases In Which We May Judge By the Principles of the Civil Law, In Limiting the Principles of the Law of Nature.
• Chap. VI.: That the Order of Succession Or Inheritance Depends On the Principles of Political Or Civil Law, and Not On Those of the Law of Nature.
• Chap. VII.: That We Ought Not to Decide By the Precepts of Religion, What Belongs Only to the Law of Nature.
• Chap. VIII.: That We Ought Not to Regulate By the Principles of the Canon Law, Things Which Should Be Regulated By Those of the Civil Law.
• Chap. IX.: That Things Which Ought to Be Regulated By the Principles of Civil Law, Can Seldom Be Regulated By Those of Religion.
• Chap. X.: In What Case We Ought to Follow the Civil Law Which Permits, and Not the Law of Religion Which Forbids.
• Chap. XI.: That Human Courts of Justice Should Not Be Regulated By the Maxims of Those Tribunals Which Relate to the Other Life.
• Chap. XII.: The Same Subject Continued.
• Chap. XIII.: In What Cases, With Regard to Marriage, We Ought to Follow the Laws of Religion; and In What Cases We Should Follow the Civil Laws.
• Chap. XIV.: In What Instances Marriages Between Relations Should Be Regulated By the Laws of Nature; and In What Instances By the Civil Laws.
• Chap. XV.: That We Should Not Regulate By the Principles of Political Law, Those Things Which Depend On the Principles of Civil Law.
• Chap. XVI.: That We Ought Not to Decide By the Rules of the Civil Law, When It Is Proper to Decide By Those of the Political Law.
• Chap. XVII.: The Same Subject Continued.
• Chap. XVIII.: That It Is Necessary to Enquire, Whether the Laws Which Seem Contradictory, Are of the Same Class.
• Chap. XIX.: That We Should Not Decide Those Things By the Civil Law, Which Ought to Be Decided By Domestic Laws.
• Chap. XX.: That We Ought Not to Decide By the Principles of the Civil Law, Those Things Which Belong to the Law of Nations.
• Chap. XXI.: That We Should Not Decide By Political Laws, Things Which Belong to the Law of Nations.
• Chap. XXII.: The Unhappy State of the Ynca Athualpa.
• Chap. XXIII.: That When, By Some Circumstance, the Political Law Becomes Destructive to the State, We Ought to Decide By Such a Political Law As Will Preserve It, Which Sometimes Becomes a Law of Nations.
• Chap. XXIV.: That the Regulations of the Police Are of a Different Class From Other Civil Laws.
• Chap. XXV.: That We Should Not Follow the General Disposition of the Civil Law, In Things Which Ought to Be Subject to Particular Rules Drawn From Their Own Nature.
• Book XXVII.: Of the Origin and Revolutions of the Roman Laws On Successions.
• Chap. I.
• Book XXVIII. Of the Origin and Revolutions of the Civil Laws Among the French.
• Chap. I.: Different Character of the Laws of the Several People of Germany.
• Chap. II.: That the Laws of the Barbarians Were All Personal.
• Chap. III.: Capital Difference Between the Salic Laws and Those of the Visigoths and Burgundians.
• Chap. IV.: In What Manner the Roman Law Came to Be Lost In the Country Subject to the Franks, and Preserved In That Subject to the Goths and Burgundians.
• Chap. V.: The Same Subject Continued.
• Chap. VI.: How the Roman Law Kept Its Ground In the Demesne of the Lombards.
• Chap. VII.: How the Roman Law Came to Be Lost In Spain.
• Chap. VIII.: A False Capitulary.
• Chap. IX.: In What Manner the Codes of Barbarian Laws, and the Capitularies Came to Be Lost.
• Chap. X.: The Same Subject Continued.
• Chap. XI.: Other Causes of the Disuse of the Codes of Barbarian Laws, As Well As of the Roman Law, and of the Capitularies.
• Chap. XII.: Of Local Customs. Revolution of the Laws of Barbarous Nations, As Well As of the Roman Law.
• Chap. XIII.: Difference Between the Salic Law, Or That of the Salian Franks, and That of the Ripuarian Franks, and Other Barbarous Nations.
• Chap. XIV.: Another Difference.
• Chap. XV.: A Reflection.
• Chap. XVI.: Of the Ordeal, Or Trial By Boiling Water, Established By the Salic Law.
• Chap. XVII.: Particular Notions of Our Ancestors.
• Chap. XVIII.: In What Manner the Custom of Judicial Combats Gained Ground.
• Chap. XIX.: A New Reason of the Disuse of the Salic and Roman Laws, As Also of the Capitularies.
• Chap. XX.: Origin of the Point of Honour.
• Chap. XXI.: A New Reflection Upon the Point of Honour Among the Germans.
• Chap. XXII.: Of the Manners Relative to Judicial Combats.
• Chap. XXIII.: Of the Code of Laws On Judicial Combats.
• Chap. XXIV.: Rules Established In the Judicial Combat.
• Chap. XXV.: Of the Bounds Prescribed to the Custom of Judicial Combats.
• Chap. XXVI.: Of the Judiciary Combat Between One of the Parties, and One of the Witnesses.
• Chap. XXVII.: Of the Judicial Combat Between One of the Parties, and One of the Lord’s Peers. Appeal of False Judgment.
• Chap. XXVIII.: Of the Appeal of Default of Justice.
• Chap. XXIX.: Epoch of the Reign of St. Lewis.
• Chap. XXX.: Observations On Appeals.
• Chap. XXXI.: The Same Subject Continued.
• Chap. XXXII.: The Same Subject Continued.
• Chap. XXXIII.: The Same Subject Continued.
• Chap. XXXIV.: In What Manner the Proceedings At Law Became Secret.
• Chap. XXXV.: Of the Costs.
• Chap. XXXVI.: Of the Public Prosecutor.
• Chap. XXXVII.: In What Manner the Institutions of St. Lewis Fell Into Oblivion.
• Chap. XXXVIII.: The Same Subject Continued.
• Chap. XXXIX.: The Same Subject Continued.
• Chap. Xl.: In What Manner the Judiciary Forms Were Borrowed From the Decretals.
• Chap. Xli.: Fiux and Reflux of the Ecclesiastic and Temporal Jurisdiction.
• Chap. Xlii.: the Revival of the Roman Law, and the Result Thereof. Change In the Tribunals.
• Chap. Xliii.: the Same Subject Continued.
• Chap. Xliv.: of the Proof By Witnesses.
• Chap. Xlv.: of the Customs of France.
• Book XXIX.: Of the Manner of Composing Laws.
• Chap. I.: Of the Spirit of a Legislator.
• Chap. II.: The Same Subject Continued.
• Chap. III.: That the Laws Which Seem to Deviate From the Views of the Legislator, Are Frequently Agreeable to Them.
• Chap. IV.: Of the Laws Contrary to the Views of the Legislator.
• Chap. V.: The Same Subject Continued.
• Chap. VI.: That Laws Which Appear the Same, Have Not Always the Same Effect.
• Chap. VII.: The Same Subject Continued. Necessity of Composing Laws In a Proper Manner.
• Chap. VIII.: That Laws Which Appear the Same, Were Not Always Made Through the Same Motive.
• Chap. IX.: That the Greek and Roman Laws Punished Suicide, But Not Through the Same Motive.
• Chap. X.: That Laws Which Seem Contrary, Proceed Sometimes From the Same Spirit.
• Chap. XI.: How We Are to Judge of the Difference of Laws.
• Chap. XII.: That Laws Which Appear the Same, Are Sometimes Really Different.
• Chap. XIII.: That We Must Not Separate Laws From the End For Which They Were Made. of the Roman Laws On Theft.
• Chap. XIV.: That We Must Not Separate the Laws From the Circumstances In Which They Were Made.
• Chap. XV.: That Sometimes It Is Proper the Law Should Amend Itself.
• Chap. XVI.: Things to Be Observed In the Composing of Laws.
• Chap. XVII.: A Bad Method of Giving Laws.
• Chap. XVIII.: Of the Ideas of Uniformity.
• Chap. XIX.: Of Legislators.
• Book XXX.: Theory of the Feudal Laws Among the Franks, In the Relation They Bear to the Establishment of the Monarchy.
• Chap. I.: Of Feudal Laws.
• Chap. II.: Of the Source of Feudal Laws.
• Chap. III.: The Origin of Vassalage.
• Chap. IV.: The Same Subject Continued.
• Chap. V.: Of the Conquests of the Franks.
• Chap. VI.: Of the Goths, Burgundians, and Franks.
• Chap. VII.: Different Ways of Dividing the Land.
• Chap. VIII.: The Same Subject Continued.
• Chap. IX.: A Just Application of the Law of the Burgundians and of That of the Visigoths In Relation to the Division of Lands.
• Chap. X.: Of Servitudes.
• Chap. XI.: The Same Subject Continued.
• Chap. XII.: That the Lands Belonging to the Division of the Barbarians Paid No Taxes.
• Chap. XIII.: Of Taxes Paid By the Romans and Gauls, In the Monarchy of the Franks.
• Chap. XIV.: Of What They Called Census.
• Chap. XV.: That What They Called Census Was Raised Only On the Bondmen, and Not On the Freemen.
• Chap. XVI.: Of the Feudal Lords Or Vassals.
• Chap. XVII.: Of the Military Service of Freemen.
• Chap. XVIII.: Of the Double Service.
• Chap. XIX.: Of Compositions Among the Barbarous Nations.
• Chap. XX.: Of What Was Afterwards Called the Jurisdiction of the Lords.
• Chap. XXI.: Of the Territorial Jurisdiction of the Churches.
• Chap. XXII.: That the Jurisdictions Were Established Before the End of the Second Race.
• Chap. XXIII.: General Idea of the Abbé Du Bos’ S Book On the Establishment of the French Monarchy In Gaul.
• Chap. XXIV.: The Same Subject Continued. Reflection On the Main Part of the System.
• Chap. XXV.: Of the French Nobility.
• Book XXXI.: Theory of the Feudal Laws Among the Franks, In the Relation They Bear to the Revolutions of Their Monarchy.
• Chap. I.: Changes In the Offices and In the Fiefs. of the Mayors of the Palace.
• Chap. II.: How the Civil Government Was Reformed.
• Chap. III.: Authority of the Mayors of the Palace.
• Chap. IV.: Of the Genius of the Nation In Regard to the Mayors.
• Chap. V.: In What Manner the Mayors Obtained the Command of the Armies.
• Chap. VI.: Second Epocha of the Humiliation of Our Kings of the First Race.
• Chap. VII.: Of the Great Offices and Fiefs Under the Mayors of the Palace.
• Chap. VIII.: In What Manner the Allodial Estates Were Changed Into Fiefs.
• Chap. IX.: How the Church-lands Were Converted Into Fiefs.
• Chap. X.: Riches of the Clergy.
• Chap. XI.: State of Europe At the Time of Charles Martel.
• Chap. XII.: Establishment of the Tithes.
• Chap. XIII.: Of the Election of Bishops and Abbots.
• Chap. XIV.: Of the Fiefs of Charles Martel.
• Chap. XV.: The Same Subject Continued.
• Chap. XVI.: Confusion of the Royalty and Mayoralty. the Second Race.
• Chap. XVII.: A Particular Circumstance In the Election of the Kings of the Second Race.
• Chap. XVIII.: Charlemaign.
• Chap. XIX.: The Same Subject Continued.
• Chap. XX.: Lewis the Debonnaire.
• Chap. XXI.: The Same Subject Continued.
• Chap. XXII.: The Same Subject Continued.
• Chap. XXIII.: The Same Subject Continued.
• Chap. XXIV.: That the Freemen Were Rendered Capable of Holding Fiefs.
• Chap. XXV.: The Principal Cause of the Humiliation of the Second Race. Changes In the Allodia.
• Chap. XXVI.: Changes In the Fiefs.
• Chap. XXVII.: Another Change Which Happened In the Fiefs.
• Chap. XXVIII.: Changes Which Happened In the Great Offices, and In the Fiefs.
• Chap. XXIX.: Of the Nature of the Fiefs After the Reign of Charles the Bald.
• Chap. XXX.: The Same Subject Continued.
• Chap. XXXI.: In What Manner the Empire Was Transferred From the Family of Charlemaign.
• Chap. XXXII.: In What Manner the Crown of France Was Transferred to the House of Hugh Capet.
• Chap. XXXIII.: Some Consequences of the Perpetuity of Fiefs.
• Chap. XXXIV.: The Same Subject Continued.

CHAP. VIII.

Of Alexander. His Conquest.

FOUR great events happened in the reign of Alexander, which entirely changed the face of commerce: the taking of Tyre, the conquest of Egypt, that likewise of the Indies, and the discovery of the sea which lies south of that country.

The empire of Persia extended to the Indus.* Darius, long before Alexander, had sent† some vessels, which sailed down this river, and passed even into the Red sea. How then were the Greeks the first who traded to the Indies by the south? Had not the Persians done this before? Did they make no advantage of seas which were so near them; of the very seas that washed their coasts? Alexander, it is true, conquered the Indies; but was it necessary for him to conquer a country, in order to trade with it? This is what I shall now examine.

Ariana,* which extended from the Persian gulph as far as the Indus, and from the South Sea to the mountains of Paropamisus, depended indeed in some measure on the empire of Persia; but in the southern part it was barren, scorched, rude, and uncultivated. Tradition† relates, that the armies of Semiramis and Cyrus perished in these desarts; and Alexander, who caused his fleet to follow him, could not avoid losing in this place a great part of his army. The Persians left the whole coast to the Ichthyophagi,‡ the Oritæ, and other barbarous nations. Besides, the Persians were no§ great sailors, and their very religion debarred them from entertaining any such notion as that of a maritime commerce. The voyage undertaken by Darius’s direction upon the Indus, and the Indian sea, proceeded rather from the capriciousness of a prince vainly ambitious of shewing his power, than from any settled regular project. It was attended with no consequence, either to the advantage of commerce, or of navigation. They emerged from their ignorance, only to plunge into it again.

Besides, it was a received opinion,* before the expedition of Alexander, that the southern parts of India were uninhabitable.† This proceeded from a tradition that‡ Semiramis had brought back from thence only twenty men, and Cyrus but seven.

Alexander entered by the north. His design was to march towards the east; but having found a part of the south full of great nations, cities, and rivers, he attempted to conquer it, and succeeded.

He then formed the design of uniting the Indies to the western nations by a maritime commerce, as he had already united them by the colonies he had established by land.

He ordered a fleet to be built on the Hydaspes, then fell down that river, entered the Indus, and sailed even to its mouth. He left his army and his fleet at Patala, went himself with a few vessels to view the sea, and marked the places where he would have ports to be opened, and arsenals erected. Upon his return from Patala, he separated the fleet, and took the route by land, for the mutual support of fleet and army. The fleet followed the coast from the Indus along the banks of the country of the Oritæ, of the Ichthyophagi, of Carmania and Persia. He caused wells to be dug, built cities, and would not suffer the Ichthyophagi§ to live on fish, being desirous of having the borders of the sea inhabited by civilized nations. Nearchus and Onesecritus wrote a journal of this voyage, which was performed in ten months. They arrived at Susa, where they found Alexander, who gave an entertainment to his whole army.

This prince had founded Alexandria, with a view of securing his conquest of Egypt; this was a key to open it, in the very place where the kings his* predecessors had a key to shut it; and he had not the least thought of a commerce, of which the discovery of the Indian sea could alone give him the idea.

It even seems, that after this discovery, he had no new design, in regard to Alexandria. He had, indeed, a general scheme of opening a trade between the East Indies and the western parts of his empire; but as for the project of conducting this commerce through Egypt, his knowledge was too imperfect to be able to form any such design. It is true, he had seen the Indus, he had seen the Nile, but he knew nothing of the Arabian seas between the two rivers. Scarce was he returned from India, when he fitted out new fleets, and navigated on the Euleus,† the Tigris, the Euphrates, and the ocean: he removed the cataracts, with which the Persians had encumbered those rivers; and he discovered that the Persian gulph was a branch of the main sea. But as he went to view this sea,‡ in the same manner as he had done in regard to that of India; as he caused a port to be opened for a thousand ships, and arsenals to be erected at Babylon; as he sent five hundred talents into Phœnicia and Syria, to draw mariners into this service, whom he intended to distribute in the colonies along the coast; in fine, as he caused immense works to be erected on the Euphrates, and the other rivers of Assyria, there could be no doubt but he designed to carry on the commerce of India by the way of Babylon and the Persic gulph.

There are some who pretend that Alexander wanted to subdue Arabia,* and had formed a design to make it the seat of his empire: but how could he have pitched upon a place, with which he was entirely unacquainted.† Besides, of all countries, this would have been the most inconvenient to him; for it would have separated him from the rest of his empire. The Caliphs, who made distant conquests, soon withdrew from Arabia, to reside elsewhere.

[* ]Strabo, lib. xv.

[† ]Herodotus in Melpomene.

[* ]Strabo, lib. xv.

[† ]Strabo, lib. xv.

[‡ ]Pliny, lib. vi. cap. 23. Strabo, lib. xv.

[§ ]They sailed not upon the rivers, lest they should defile the elements. Hyde’s Religion of the Persians. Even to this day they have no maritime commerce. Those who take to the sea, are treated by them as atheists.

[* ]Strabo, lib. xv.

[† ]Herodotus (in Melpomene) says, that Darius conquered the Indies; this must be understood only to mean Ariana; and even this was only an ideal conquest.

[‡ ]Strabo, lib. xv.

[§ ]This cannot be understood of all the Ichthyophagi, who inhabited a coast of ten thousand furlongs in extent. How was it possible for Alexander to have maintained them? How could he command their submission? This can be understood only of some particular tribes. Nearchus, in his book, Rerum Indicarum, says, that at the extremity of this coast, on the side of Persia, he had found some people, who were less Ichthyophagi than the others. I should think that Alexander’s prohibition related to these people, or to some other tribe, still more bordering on Persia.

[* ]Alexandria was founded on a flat shore, called Rhacotis, where, in ancient times, the kings had kept a garrison, to prevent all strangers, and more particularly the Greeks, from entering the country. Pliny, lib. vi. cap. 10. Strabo, lib. xviii.

[† ]Arrian. de expedit. Alexandri, lib. vii.

[‡ ]Ibid.

[* ]Strabo, lib. vi. towards the end.

[† ]Seeing Babylon overflowed, he looked upon the neighbouring country of Arabia as an island. Aristob. in Strabo, lib. xvi.