numerous predecessors and successors were rather inclined to draw on
imagination, the result is a very extravagant tale.

In the romance, as we know it, Alexander is described as a mediaeval rather
than an ancient hero. After giving the early history of Macedon, the poet
tells of the birth of Alexander,--which is ascribed to divine
intervention,--and dwells eloquently upon the hero's youthful prowess.
Philip's death and the consequent reign of Alexander next claim our
attention. The conquest of the world is, in this romance, introduced by the
siege and submission of Rome, after which the young monarch starts upon his
expedition into Asia Minor, and the conquest of Persia. The war with Porus
and the fighting in India are dwelt upon at great length, as are the riches
and magnificence of the East. Alexander visits Amazons and cannibals, views
all the possible and impossible wonders, and in his fabulous history we
find the first mention, in European literature, of the marvelous "Fountain
of Youth," the object of Ponce de Leon's search in Florida many years
later.

When, in the course of this lengthy romance, Alexander has triumphantly
reached the ends of the earth, he sighs for new worlds to conquer, and even
aspires to the dominion of the realm of the air. To wish is to obtain. A
magic glass cage, rapidly borne aloft by eight griffins, conveys the
conqueror through the aerial kingdom, where all the birds in turn do homage
to him, and where he is enabled to understand their language, thanks to the
kind intervention of a magician.

But Alexander's ambition is still insatiable; and, earth and air having
both submitted to his sway, and all the living creatures therein having
recognized him as master and promised their allegiance, he next proposes to
annex the empire of the sea. Magic is again employed to gratify this wish,
and Alexander sinks to the bottom of the sea in a peculiarly fashioned
diving bell. Here all the finny tribe press around to do him homage; and
after receiving their oaths of fealty, and viewing all the marvels of the
deep, as conceived by the mediaeval writer's fancy, Alexander returns to
Babylon.

Earth, air, and sea having all been subdued, the writer, unable to follow
the course of Alexander's conquests any further, now minutely describes a
grand coronation scene at Babylon, where, with the usual disregard for
chronology which characterizes all the productions of this age, he makes
the hero particip