Alexander and the Robber

The robber’s name was Diomedēs.—Gesta Romanorum, cxlvi.

You are thinking of Parmenio, and I of Alexander—i.e., you are thinking what you ought to receive, and I what I ought to give; you are thinking of those castigated, rewarded, or gifted; but I of my own position, and what punishment, reward, or gift is consistent with my rank. The allusion is to the tale about Parmenʹio and Alexander, when the king said, “I consider not what Parmenio should receive, but what Alexander should give.”

Only two Alexanders. Alexander said, “There are but two Alexanders—the invincible son of Philip, and the inimitable painting of the hero by Apellēs.”

The continence of Alexander. Having gained the battle of Issus (B.C. 333) the family of King Darius fell into his hand; but he treated the ladies as queens, and observed the greatest decorum towards them. A eunuch, having escaped, told Darius of this noble continence, and Darius could not but admire such nobility in a rival.—Arrian Anabasis of Alexander, iv. 20. (See Continence.)

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Entry taken from Dictionary of Phrase and Fable, edited by the Rev. E. Cobham Brewer, LL.D. and revised in 1895.