Original subtitles

That's good.

Our world is gone now.

Smashed by the wars.

Now I am the keeper of his body.

And armed here in the Egyptian ways.

I followed him as Pharaoh.

And have now ruled 40 years.

I am the victor.

But what does it all mean when there is no one left to remember?

The great cavalry charged Gog and Mela, or the mountains of the Hindu Kush.

And we crossed a hundred thousand man army into India.

He was a god, Kadmos.

Or as close as anything I've ever seen.

Tyrant, they yell so easily, I laugh.

No tyrant ever gave back so much.

And what do they know of the world? These schoolboys.

It takes strong men to rule.

Alexander was more. He was Prometheus, a friend to man. He changed the world.

Before him, there were tribes.

And after him, all was possible.

There was suddenly a sense the world could be ruled by one king.

and be better for all.

18. Great Alexandria, as he built, it was an empire not of land and gold, but

of the mind.

Hellenic civilization.

Open to all.

How can I say it?

How can I tell you what it was like to be young, to dream?

Big dreams.

To believe when Alexander looked you in the eye, you could do anything.

Anything.

In his presence, by the light of Apollo, we were better than ourselves.

Truly, I've known many great men in my life, but only one

colossus.

Only now and old do I understand who this force of nature really was.

Or do I?

Did such a man as Alexander exist?

Of course not.

We idolize him, make him better than he was.

Men.

All men reach and fall.

Reach.

In the East, the vast Persian Empire ruled almost all the known world.

In the West, the once great Greek city-states, Thebes, Athens, Sparta,

had fallen from pride.

For a hundred years now, the Persian kings had bribed the Greeks.

to their gold to fight as mercenaries.

It was Philip, the one-eyed, who changed all this, uniting tribes of

illiterate sheepherders from the high and low lands.

With his blood and guts, he built a professional army that brought the

devious Greeks to their knees.

He then turned his eye on Persia, where it was said the new great king, Darius

himself,

on his throne in Babylon, feared Philip.

It was from these loins of war that Alexander was born in Pella.

Some called his mother

Queen Olympias.

a sorceress, and said that Alexander was the child of Dionysus, others,

Zeus.

But truly, there was not a man in Macedonia who didn't look at father and

son side by side and wonder.

She is your friend.

Take it.

If you hesitate, she will strike.

Remember that.

Never hesitate.

They are like people.

You can love them for years, feed them, nurture them.

But still, they can turn on you.

He calls me a barbarian.

Philip makes a mockery of Dionysus every night.

Women are the only ones who know Dionysus.

My little Achilles.

I am of Achilles royal blood.

Blood of Heracles runs in my veins.

You are nothing but a drunken whore.

Shut your foul mouth, you scented bitch from Hades, which you thought I cursed

in early days on you.

You think people respect you?

You think they don't know you're bastards?

And

your

sons are sold to keep them here like one of your snakes!

I told you not! Told you not!

You'll obey me.

I will not.

You'll obey me, and I'll kill you with my own hands.

Amy! Your Majesty!

No!

the world he grew up to.

I've come to believe it wasn't friendship that Alexander found his

sanity. You don't need much to fight when you're in the front ranks of a

battle facing some northern barbarian tribe.

Courage won't be in the lining of your stomach, Mearchus.

It's in the heart of a man.

You don't need to eat every day, or until you're full, Solomon. You don't

need to lie in bed in a morning, and you can have some good bean soup, Cassandra,

after a forced nightmare.

Come on, Alexander.

Come on!

Whoever respects you as a king, do you think it's because of your father? The

first rule of war is to do what you ask your men to do. No more, no less.

That's it. Well done, Heistian.

Good wrestling.

That's what I want.

Come, come, come.

You did well, but you lost.

Now, both of you congratulate the other.

Go on.

Would you want me to let you win, Alexander?

You're right.

But I promise you I will beat you one day, Heistian.

It was said later, that Alexander was never defeated except by Hephaestion's

thighs.

Although an inferior race, the Persians control at least four-fifths

of the known world.

But is it possible that the source of Egypt's mighty river Nile could rise in

these distant mountains of the outer earth? If so, an experienced navigator

could find his way.

Here, by this river, east, down into the great plains of India, out into the

eastern ocean, at end of the world, and by this route, up the

Nile, back to Egypt, into the middle sea, and home to Greece.

Now, if only these frogs could look outward and act on their favored

position at the center.

Greece could rule the world.

Why is it, Master, in myth these lands you speak of are known?

India, where Heracles and Dionysus traveled.

All these men who went east, Theseus, Jason, Achilles, were victorious.

From generation to generation, their stories have been passed on. Why?

Unless there is truth to them.

Tales of Amazons? No,

Alexander.

Only common people believe these tales, as they believe most anything.

We are here precisely to educate ourselves against such foolish passions.

But if we are superior to the Persians, as you say, why do we not rule them?

It is... It has always been our Greek dream to go east.

The east has a way of swallowing men and their dreams.

Master? Yes? Master? Out with it, out with it. Why are the Persians so cruel?

That is not the subject for today, Nearchus, but it is true.

The Oriental races are known for their barbarity and their slavish devotion to

their senses.

Excess in all things is the undoing of men.

That is why we Greeks are superior. We practice control of our senses.

Moderation. We hope.

Then what of Achilles at Troymaster?

Was he not excessive?

Achilles simply lacks restraint.

He dominates other men so completely that even when he withdraws from battle,

crazed with grief over his dead lover, Patroclus, he seriously endangers his

own army. He is a deeply selfish man.

Then would you say that the love between Achilles and Patroclus is a corrupting

one?

When men lie together in lust, it is a surrender to the passions and does

nothing for the excellence in us.

Nor does any other excess, Cassander.

Jealousy among them. But when men lie together and knowledge and virtue are

passed between them, that is pure and excellent.

When they compete to bring out the good, the best in each other, this is the love

between men that can build a city-state.

and lift us from our frog pond.

Philip brought such as Aristotle from Athens to educate our rough people.

Growing more ambitious, he now planned the invasion of Persia.

Is that the best you can do, Clyde?

to the phalanx with you. I'll ride him myself.

No, no, ride that creature, Majesty.

Don't we all, eh?

He's been breeding far too often.

My noble king, he's a high-spirited animal, yes.

High-spirited and worthy of Philip of Macedon. No, for three and a half times,

I couldn't possibly make a profit on him. But for you... Why would I want

such a beast?

I already have a wife.

Do I seem so old?

Broken neck comes free, you fool.

He's too nervous for battle. Just sell him for me. Buy him for me, father.

I'll ride him.

And if you don't?

I'll pay for him myself.

With what?

Your singing voice?

I'll pay you.

I tell you, the horse can't be ridden, lad.

His mind is broken.

It can't be ridden.

By me.

If you can rule that horse, I'll make him yours.

At half the price.

That horse will kill him, Philip.

He'll break a boy in two. Really?

Perhaps you'll make a musician out of him yet.

The boy doesn't have the craft, Philip.

He could hurt himself.

He'll have to figure that out for himself.

It's time.

You don't like your shadow, do you?

A second.

Dark spirit coming up to get you.

Did you see?

That's us.

It was just a trick of Apollo's.

He's the god of... ...sun.

I'll show you how to outwit him.

You and me together.

Deucephalus and Alexander.

Come now.

Let's ride together.

Now,

Deceptilus, show them.

My son.

My son!

You

remember

Achilles?

He's my favorite.

Why?

Because he loved Patroclus and avenged his death.

Of his face?

That he must die young, but with great glory.

Do you have a choice?

Oh, yes.

I could live a long life, but there would be no glory.

You dream of glory, Alexander.

Your mother encourages you.

There's no glory without suffering, and this she will not allow.

One day I'll be on walls like these.

Prometheus stole the secret of fire and gave it to man.

He made Zeus.

So angry, he chained Prometheus to a rock in the Great Caucasus, and each day

his eagle pecked out the poor man's liver.

Each night it grew back again so that it could be eaten the next day.

Miserable fate.

Why?

Who knows these things?

Anyway...

Oedipus tore out his eyes and found out he murdered his father and

married his mother.

Knowledge that came too late.

Medea, she slaughtered her two children in vengeance and Jason left her for a

younger wife.

My mother would never hurt me.

It's never easy to escape our mothers, Alexander.

All your life, beware of women.

Far more dangerous than men.

Heracles, even after he accomplished his 12 labors, he was punished with madness.

Slaughtered his three children.

Poor Heracles.

Great Heracles.

All greatness comes from loss.

Even you.

With God so one day.

Judge. Harshly.

But I'm king like you one day, father.

Don't rush the day, boy.

You risk all.

My father threw me into battle before I knew how to fight.

When I killed my first man, he said,

I hated him then, but I understand why now.

A king isn't born, Alexander.

He's made by steel and by suffering.

A king must know how to hurt those he loves.

It's lonely.

Ask Heracles.

Ask any of them.

Fate is cruel.

No man or woman could be too powerful or too beautiful without disaster

befalling.

They laugh when you rise too high and crush everything you've built with the

women.

But glory they give in the end they take away.

They make of us slaves.

Pregnant. So soon.

The little whore.

You will marry her in the spring, during Dionysus Festival.

And when her first son is born, her sweet uncle Atlus will convince Philip

to name the boy his successor, with himself as regent.

And you.

You will be sent on some impossible mission against some monstrous northern

tribe. To be mutilated in one more meaningless battle over cattle.

And I, no longer queen, will be put to death with your sister and the remaining

members of our family.

I wish.

Sometimes you could see the light, Mother.

The truth is, he's taken nothing from you that you've not been long without.

The only way is to strike.

Announce your marriage to a Macedonian.

Now, beget a child of pure blood.

He would be one of them, not mine.

And he would have no choice but to make you king.

There is still Kinani.

Eurydice was perfect.

If your father, that pig, had not ravaged her first... Say nothing more of

my father.

Do you hear me? Say nothing.

You're right.

Forgive me.

A mother... Love's too much.

Who shall I sing to sleep at night anymore?

I wish... I wish we could spend more time together.

Like we used to.

When you were the sweetest boy.

Since I was a child, I've been groomed to be ever the best.

Oh, my poor child.

You're like Achilles, cursed by your greatness.

Take my strength.

You must never confuse your feelings.

with your duties, Alexander.

A king must make public gestures for the common people.

I know.

But you will be 19 this summer, and the girls already say you don't like them.

You like Weisschen more.

I understand.

It's natural for a young man.

But if you go to Asia without leaving your successor, you risk all.

Weisschen loves me.

Loves.

Loves.

In the name of Dionysus, understand how

Philip thinks.

For your own sake, your life hangs in the balance.

His spies are inside your closest circle.

I'm his only worthy son.

He'd never hurt me.

Even if Eurydice had a boy, he'd be 20 before he'd let him rule.

Yes.

And you would be 40.

Old and wise, like Parmenion.

And Philip's young son would be 20.

Like you, now.

But raised by him.

His blood.

He will never give you the throne now, Alexander.

Never.

Come,

Alexander.

Drink this sadness away.

If only thirst could quench sorrow.

There's only one... There's one thing better than winning a battle, son.

That's the taste of a new woman.

You'll find it far sweeter than South Guinea.

Rosanius, you're boring me. Alexander!

You're going with him.

Alexander, finally the right girl.

What's your name, darling? Antigone.

What's your name?

Antigone.

I love you, my little limb.

And I love you, Cletus.

A toast!

A toast!

A toast!

A toast!

A toast! A toast! A toast!

And to our new union, Macedonia and Greece, equals in brightness.

And to Philip, our king, without whom this union could not

be possible.

Come, Agnes, leave some damn air in the hall.

And last, I drink to the king's marriage to my niece, Eurydice, a

Macedonian...

Apologize by Zeus before you dishonor me He's afraid the man who called my mother

whore and me a bastard and I dishonor you. Ah, you listen like your mother

Atlas is my family now the same as you then choose your relatives more

carefully Don't expect me to sit here and watch you shame yourself

You insult me! I insult you!

And I'm not fit to lick the ground my mother walks on.

You talk, questioning your queen's shame.

I've nothing to be ashamed of, you arrogant brat.

I'll marry the girl if I want.

And I'll have as many sons as I want. And there's nothing you or your harpy

mother can do about it. Why, you drunken man, must you think everything I do and

say comes from my mother? Because I know her heart, by hero.

And I see her in your eyes.

You covet this throne too much.

Now we all know that she who for the mother of yours wants me dead.

Well, you can both dream, boy.

Come, Philip, this is the wine talking.

Leave the boy. It'll wait till morning. Now!

I command you.

Apologize to your kinsmen.

Apologize! No kinsmen to me.

Good night, old man.

And when my mother remarries, I'll invite you to her wedding.

You bastard!

You're a baby! Come here!

And this is the man who was going to take you from Greece to Persia!

He can't even make it from one couch to the next.

Get out of my palace!

You're exiles! You bastards!

Banished from the land! You're not welcome here!

You're no son of mine!

Everything suddenly changed for him.

His father, King Philip, was murdered, and Alexander XX

became the new ruler of Macedonia.

Breaking their treaties with us, dismissing Alexander as an untried boy,

several Greeks at his states rose up in revolt, much to Persia's delight and

perhaps sponsored by their gold.

Truly, Alexander could love like no other, but to betray him was to rouse a

vast and frightening anger, and he massacred several thousand of the men of

that tragic city, Thebes, and sold the survivors into slavery.

This, as intended, stunned and defeated the Greeks, and though in the end he

treated most populations with magnanimity, it is these exceptions,

Thebes,

Gaza in Syria and later Persepolis in Persia, and others that are always

remembered by those who hate Alexander and all he stood for.

At 21, Alexander invaded Asia with an army of 40,000 trained men,

and liberating one city-state after the other, he conquered all of Western Asia,

south to Egypt, where he was declared pharaoh of Egypt.

worshipped as a god.

It was in Egypt that the respected oracle at Siwa

declared him the true son of Zeus.

He finally provoked Darius himself to battle in the heart of the Persian

Empire near Babylon.

It was mad.

40,000 of us against 250,000 barbarians.

It was the day Alexander had waited for all his life.

Alexander, son of a god.

It was a myth, of course.

At least it started as a myth.

I know.

I was there.

I saw his eyes.

There.

In the crack of the Persian line.

Look over the head.

Kill Darius?

The gods have brought him to us at last.

If I die, it's one Macedonian. But the Persians, they cannot move without

Darius' command.

Here.

Right here, we cut the throat of the Persian army. This is madness.

You'll never get within a hundred paces of him. Have you seen the sheer size of

his force, Alexander?

Not if you hold them on the left, my brave Parmenion, with your son Philotas,

for just one, two hours tomorrow.

And you, unbreakable Antigonus, the center phalanx, Perdiccas,

Leonidas, Nearchus, Polyperton.

If you pin them on the walls of your sarissas here, in the center, their

cavalry will follow me out to the right.

And when bold Cassander breaks, stretching their left, a hole will open.

Then I and my cavalry, our revered Cleitus, Ptolemy, and

Hephaestion, will strike through that gap and deal the death blow to

Darius's head.

Alexander, even with luck timing the gods, we must rout them tomorrow,

destroy their army completely, or we'll be picked apart by banded tribes on a

long journey home. Right.

You speak of home.

And retreat.

But do you understand, Parmenion?

Babylon's my new home.

Alexander, if we must fight,

Do so with stealth.

Use your numbers well. We should attack tonight when they least expect us.

I didn't cross Asia to steal this victory, Cassandra.

No.

You are too honorable for that.

No doubt influenced from sleeping with tales of Troy under your pillow.

But your father was no lover of Homer's.

The lands west of the Euphrates, Alexander.

the hand of his daughter in marriage.

Since when has a Greek ever been given such honours?

These are not honours, Hermione, they're bribes, which the Greeks have accepted.

Too long.

Do you forget that the man who murdered my father lies across the valley floor?

Come, Alexander, we're still not really sure if it was Persian gold behind the

assassination. That is the matter!

Listen to me, Hermione, you know that's not true.

Your father taught you never to surrender your reason to your passion.

I urge you, regroup.

Fall back to the coast, raise a larger force.

I would, if I were Parmenion.

But I am Alexander.

And no more than Earth has two sons, will Asia bear two kings?

These are my terms.

And if Darius isn't a coward who hides behind his men...

Then he'll come to me tomorrow.

And when he bows down to grace, Alexander will be merciful.

By every chance he's got balls, man.

I mean, give the man his dupe, I mean.

And lads, feast tonight.

For tomorrow we will die in Hades.

To whom do you pray?

Phobos.

Fear.

More so for Darius.

I've come to believe the fear of death drives all men, Hephaestion.

At least we didn't learn as schoolboys.

It is the cause of all our misfortunes.

So, mighty Craterus. Your Majesty.

Are you ready for tomorrow's dawn?

It's been too long coming, if you ask me.

The man skitters his coats.

Good. Fear makes men fight better.

Host your sentries alertly, but rest them well.

You are the general. I'm going to sleep with my eyes open as a baby's arse.

Only because someone might steal his loot, Sire.

After tomorrow, even the thrifty among you shall be kings.

Father, with us, Your Majesty.

Stay in the ground.

The Persian blood, my king.

I've always believed.

Alexander, but this seems so much bigger than us.

Did Patroclus down Achilles when they stood side by side at the siege of Troy?

Patroclus died first.

If you do, if you were to fall at Feistian, even if Macedonia were to lose

a king, I will avenge you and follow you down to the house of death.

I would do the same.

It's hardest to be alone.

Then perhaps... Perhaps this is a farewell.

My Alexander.

Fear not, I advise you.

We are at the beginning.

makes the world rise blood makes the rain fall

blood makes the earth

grow and in blood all men are born

and die blood is the

food of the gods below

Today we write to a destiny.

Dave Ptolemus.

I remember you the day you jumped the siege tower at Tyre.

You were a giant.

And today, how will you fight?

Dexibus.

By Athene, how far was it you threw your man wrestling at the last Olympic Games?

Will you match it with your spear?

And Temander, son of Menander, a great soldier to my father.

I still mourn your brother, Adaios, who died so bravely at Halicarnassus.

What an honored family you descend from, Temander.

You fight for them today.

You've all honored your country and your ancestors.

And now we come to this most distant place in Asia.

Where across from us Darius has at last gathered a vast

Ask yourselves, who is this great king who pays assassins in gold coins

to murder my father, our king, in a most despicable and cowardly

manner?

Who is this great king, Darius, who enslaves his own men to fight? Who is

this king but a king of air?

These men do not fight for their homes.

They fight because this king tells them they must.

When they fight, they will melt away like the air.

We are not here today as slaves.

We are here today as Macedonian free men.

Some of you, perhaps myself, will not live

to see the sun set over these mountains today.

But I say to you, what every warrior has known since the beginning of time,

conquer your fear!

And I promise you, you will conquer death!

answer. I was here this day at Daugamela for the freedom

and glory.

Where does he go?

I don't know, Majesty.

Invulp him, Vessus.

My son!

He makes a mistake, Parnacus.

Yes, great king.

And if he won't listen, then survive me and avenge this betrayal!

Pay attention, lad!

Your father still watches over you!

God tend to your wounds.

What shall I call you?

Glaucus, my king. Glaucus.

And where's your home?

Illyria.

Let your body go loose.

Think of home now.

Be brave again, Glaucus.

And you will live on in glory.

Alexander.

The Persian Empire, the greatest the world had yet known, was destroyed.

And Alexander, at 25, was now king of all.

Alexander once said to me, we are most alone when we are with the myths.

And thus it came to pass in a dream

as mythical to all Greeks as Achilles defeating the Trojans.

At this one glorious moment in time, Alexander is loved by all.

But in the end, I believe Babylon was a far easier mistress to enter than she

was to leave.

Imagine the minds that conceived this.

With architects and engineers like these, we could build cities such as

we've only dreamed.

Aristotle may have called them barbarians, but he never saw Babylon.

We have enough gold here to support another three generations of Macedonian

armies.

And Macedonia would soon corrupt, Cassander.

Wealth in great quantities brings the crows.

Not for the men who fought.

I trust.

We'll pay them well, Antigonus.

But not as mercenaries for future services.

Now you sound like Philip.

Philip never saw Babylon.

No, he didn't defy us, did he?

Alexander,

I know you think me a stiff old sod, but whatever our differences, know this day,

your father will be very proud of you.

I ask you to forgive me my own anger, my pride.

They too blind me.

Yes, grandsons of goat herders, we now rule two million square miles.

None of you keep giving it all away.

What?

None of you fear this great fortune.

may drive us all to destruction.

You overvalue us.

For as long as Darius breathes, he's the legitimate king of Asia, and I, but the

king of air.

But he has no power, Alexander.

He's lost in the mountains with no arm. As long as he's lost, Philotas, he can

be believed in.

Only when he's found will it be decided.

Seems you've already made up your mind, Alexander.

We must finish what we failed to do at Gaugamela, Parmenion.

We must hunt Darius down, if it be, to the ends of Earth. That was not your

father's mission.

And I am not my father.

Come on.

Have you so quickly forgotten?

Fortune favors the bold.

By the gods, what is this?

I wondered Darius Flebney had this to come back to.

I venture one for every night of the year.

Me Aphrodite.

How will I ever go back to Lysimache after this?

I advise you not to touch Leonatus here. I'll take care of it for you.

Aristotle was perhaps present.

Do these images fool us with their beauty and degrade our souls?

Great King Alexander.

the princess of the thousand roses, and eldest daughter of the formerly great

King Nereus, Stataera.

Noble Alexander.

I come to beg for the lives of my sisters, my

mother, my grandmother.

Princess to Tyra.

He too is Alexander.

Please.

I plead for my family's lives.

Sell me as a slave, great king. Look now.

And so be it.

You and your family shall be treated as my family.

You shall live in this palace as long as you choose.

Have you any other requests for me, my noble princess?

She would be a perfect match for you, but you do nothing.

Three months you have been in Babylon, and leave me and Bella at the mercy of

your enemies, of which you have many.

Antipater, accustomed now to the power that you have given him, I must watch

him grow stronger.

I am certain that he communicates secretly with Parmenion, who is

dangerous.

But beware, most of all, of those closest to you.

They are like snakes and can be turned.

General Kravis!

Cassander is Antipater's son.

Even Clytus, your father's favorite.

And Ptolemy, your friend, yes.

But beware of men who think too much. They blind themselves.

Only Hephaestion do I live out.

But all of them you make rich.

While your mother and yourself, you live in generous poverty.

Why won't you ever believe me?

It is only a dark mind like mine that can know the secrets of the heart.

For they are dark, Alexander.

the light of the world.

Your companions will be shadows in the underworld when you are a name living

forever in history as the most glorious shining light of youth, forever young,

forever inspiring.

Never will there be an Alexander like you, Alexander the Great.

Remember, bring me to Babylon as you promised.

I can only help you.

For they know if they harm you, they will face my wrath as queen of Babylon.

It's a high ransom she charges for nine months lodging in the womb.

Bring her, Alexander.

It'll give her such joy.

Joy?

When I'm the cracked mirror of her dreams.

I'll take my own bath.

Thank you, Bogot.

The generals question your obsession with Darius.

They say it was never meant for you to be king of Asia.

They want only to return to their homes rich with gold. But I've seen the future

of Feistian. I've seen it now a thousand times on a thousand faces.

These people want... need change.

Aristotle was wrong about them.

How so?

Look at those we've conquered.

They leave their dead unburied.

They smash their enemy's skulls and drink them as dust.

They made him public.

What can they think?

or sing or write when none can read.

But as Alexander's army, they can go where they never thought possible.

They can soldier or work in the cities, the Alexandries, from Egypt to the outer

ocean.

We could connect these lands, Hephaestion, and the people.

Some say these Alexandries have become extensions of Alexander himself.

to the cities so as to make slaves.

But we freed them, Ephesus, from the Persia where everyone lived as slaves.

To free the people of the world, such would be beyond the glory of Achilles,

beyond Heracles, a feat to rival Prometheus, who was always a

friend to man.

Remember the fates of these heroes.

When it's over, all that matters is what you've done.

You once said the fear of death drives all men.

Are there no other forces?

Is there not love in your life?

Alexander.

I wonder sometimes...

It's not your mother you run from.

So many years, so many miles between you.

What is it you fear?

Who knows these things?

When I was a child, my mother taught me to find my father weak.

Which I may have faced him.

It is you I love, Hephaestion.

No other.

You still hold your head cocked.

You're everything I care for.

And by the sweet breath of Aphrodite, I'm so jealous of losing you to this

world you want so badly.

You'll never lose me, Hephaestus.

I'll be with you.

The campaign in the northeast of Persia turned into a hard guerrilla war of

almost three years.

We chased Darius towards Bactria, but missed taking him by hours.

He was dying when we found him, sire.

He asked for water.

He drank and died.

The great king Darius had been betrayed by his own commanders.

Fully honoring his corpse, Alexander hunted down these commanders into

unknown lands, crossing even beyond the river Oxus to Soglia.

We fought them as far as the unknown steppes of Scythia, where only legendary

heroes had once trod.

The surveyors told us we were now on the borders of where Europe and they should

meet.

In fact, they were totally lost.

Here, Alexander founded his tenth Alexandria, and settled it with

veterans, their women, and any who would dare the frontier life.

Unable to accept defeat in any form, Alexander persisted in breaking every

tribe that resisted, until the day he received the head of his last enemy in

surrender.

For Alexander, there could be no pretender to the throne of Asia, which

now included all of Sogdia and Bactria.

It was here that Alexander made one of his most mysterious decisions.

Guys tell me she cares for you, Alexandra.

Perhaps too much.

In the ways of my country, those who love too much lose everything.

Those who love with irony.

Chief's daughter. By Athena's justice. This girl has spirit.

Well, what's the point, Alexander?

Just take her as your concubine.

Because I want a son.

Damn you, Philotas.

Then half your nobles have sisters. You'd make fine Macedonian mothers. To

take an Asian as my queen, not a captive, is a sign of deep respect for

our subjects.

It will, more than anything, bring us together, unify us.

Which is not to say I won't take a Macedonian one day.

As a second wife, you'll insult Macedonia.

Alexander!

This is about the honor of our kingdom. Exactly.

What can be won, Alexander?

We came here to Asia to punish them for their crimes. We've achieved that.

Seven years from home, now we drift from one far region to another, chasing

nomads and bandits when Macedonia bleeds its manpower. For what? To build roads

in Asia?

To give these people cities?

To found cities and expand our regions. Not to drift, Parmenion. What benefit to

Macedon? It's far richer than before.

What could you give them? With respect for your age, Parmenion, had you fought

better at Dogomelo when your flank was crumbling, we could have had the riot.

I'll spare you, Nearchus. General.

Alexander spread our flag too thin. There was nothing my father, any of you

could have done.

Alexander, I've known you since you were born.

I supported you at your father's death.

At the very least, for Zeus' sake.

And in respect to the counselor who chose you king, give us a Macedonian

heir. A Macedonian heir.

You've been heard clearly.

Permit him.

And after the wedding, you'll take two brigades back to Babylon.

Where I look to you and Antipater and Greece to maintain our empire and supply

this expedition.

I'll winter in the north with my advance army at Maracanth. Then I pray to Apollo

you'll soon realize how far you've turned from your father's path.

Ah, damn you, Parmenion, by the gods and your Apollo.

Woe is in my father's guts.

Wasn't overripe and reasoned like yours. He never lusted for war, Alexander, or

enjoyed it so.

He consulted his peers in council among equals, hmm? The Macedonian way.

He didn't make decisions based on his personal desires.

I've taken us further than my father ever dreamed.

Old man, we're in new worlds.

Alexander, be reasonable!

Were they ever meant to be our equals?

Share our rewards?

You remember what Aristotle said.

An Asian?

What would a wedding vow ever mean to a race that has never kept their word to a

Greek? Aristotle, be damned!

By Zeus and all the gods, what makes you so much better than them?

Cassander.

Better than you really are.

In you and those like you is this.

Alexander.

What disturbs me most is not your lack of respect for my judgment.

It's your contempt for a world far older than ours.

And so ten years after his mother's insistence he marry a Macedonian.

Through our union, Greek and barbarian. The most powerful man in the world took

a girl of no political significance.

Why?

Some say it was for alliance with the

tribes.

Others? the desire for a successor.

And yet others said Alexander truly fell in love.

Who Rokshana really was, I doubt that any of us ever saw further than the

pools of those black eyes.

Alexander!

Special for you.

glorious occasion.

I toast this great army that has given so much. And in honor of them, those of

you who set out with us seven long years ago, I pronounce all your debts paid

forthwith from the royal treasury.

And in honor of my bride, my beautiful

bride.

recognize the many women who shared the long hard road with us and grant them

dowries befitting a proper marriage.

And lastly, lastly, the

gods demand no less of us that your children with these women be given a

proper Greek education and military training under our protection.

so as to be the new soldiers of our kingdom in Asia.

in Egypt.

The man who sold it to me said it came from a time when man worships sun and

stars.

I'll always think of you as the sun, Alexander, and I pray you dream.

I wish you a son.

Thank you.

A man searches for a woman at birth.

I can't know.

Who is this woman you call your queen, Alexander?

A hill girl.

You with your breeding.

Already she makes enemies with her strong, clumsy nature.

Do not confuse us.

I was never a barbarian, as Philip said.

We are of Achilles' royal blood.

She brings you some happiness.

But hear me when I tell you, act. And act soon.

After seven years, people wonder, who is this king, Alexander?

I have given you ample proof.

Antipater daily undermines your authority.

Return to Babylon and strengthen your center.

Or come home to Macedonia and reorganize. But do not chase your dream

further east.

Your life.

And mine depend on it.

Remember, my only thoughts are of you.

As you too must face your glorious destiny.

Think kindly of your mother.

Provide for me.

Protect me from your enemies when you are gone.

And remember, always, it is I who love you more than any.

The conspiracy deeply upset Alexander, not only because it involved the young

pages who'd shared his dream, but, more intimately, it implicated Philotas,

his companion from boyhood, who was captain of Alexander's royal guards.

Alexander, remember me for who I am.

I do remember you, Philotas, but not as you remember yourself.

It appears to me and your peers here that the true weather of your soul is

ambition. None of us defended Philotas. But then again, none of us ever liked

him. And of course, his power was carved up by the rest of us.

Before he

died, we tortured him to find out what his father, Parmenion, knew.

But this we never learned.

But what to do with Parmenion and his 20,000 troops guarding our supply lines

was a far more delicate matter.

Was he innocent in this, or had he decided to act before age further

withered his power?

He'll be divided.

The men will follow their king.

Alexander won't be there.

Necessity required Alexander to act.

He sealed the camp within the hour of the first accusations against Philotas.

Then go, Antigonus.

And Clitus.

And go quickly.

Three days hard riding sent Antigonus and Clitus to Parmenion.

His soldiers accepted the finding of guilt against Parmenion.

as they understood that the head of family is responsible for the behavior

of all.

I remember a remark of Bogoas's once, that love eluded Alexander as much, if

not more, in finding the end of the world.

In the spring, Alexander marched an army of 150,000 across the passes of the

Hindu Kush, into the unknown.

In his dream, It was the promised route to the end of the world.

We were now a mobile empire, stretching back thousands of miles to Greece.

Cooks and architects, doctors and surveyors, moneylenders and wives,

children, lovers, whores, and forget not the slaves, that anonymous, bent,

working spine of this new beast, ravaged or expanded for better or worse.

no occupied territory remained the same again.

Although devoted to Rokshana, Alexander's visits to her tent

diminished as a year, then two, went by without a successor,

wounding Alexander's great pride.

The surveyors are saying that Zeus chained Prometheus up there, in one of

those caves.

They say there's a giant eagle's nest just above it.

Suppose he drops down each night to peck how poor Prometheus's liver.

Do you remember what Aristotle told us of these mountains?

Yes, I do.

That when we reach these heights, we look back and see Macedonia to the west

and the outer ocean to the east.

But I fear this world is far larger than anyone dreamed.

A world of titans.

The scouts have been up every known trail, Alexander.

There is no way across.

Except to the south.

Into India.

Are we gods we'd breach these walls to the eastern ocean?

We will, Alexander.

In a few years' time, we will return.

But first, the men must... To see the homes.

Have you found your home, Ptolemy?

More and more I think it will be Alexandria.

Well, at least it's hot.

The sails... She loved it there.

Alexander, where your mother awaits your invitation.

Yes, I have Babel.

But each land, each boundary I cross, I strip away another illusion.

I sense death will be the last.

Yet still I...

We must go on, Ptolemy.

Until we find an end.

India, the land where the sun was born, fated to be even richer than Persia,

had never been explored or conquered.

From the beginning, Alexander struggled to unify a land without a center.

Kings who conspired against one another.

A labyrinth of tribes urged on by zealots and philosophers to die by the

thousands for their strange gods.

Craterus and the advanced party fought against men with hairy skins who were

tiny and lived in the midst of trees.

until Hephaestion convinced us these were animals who imitated men but wore

their own skin.

They called this tribe Monkey.

And then...

There was the rain.

Never before had we seen water that fell from the guards for 60 days and nights.

You know better, MacCainus.

What's your son going to say?

Come on, man. The older you get, the stronger.

I'm afraid, Jane.

Come on, house.

I'll be with you at your side.

Tight ass!

Bring the snake healers!

What happened, lad? It's to the neck.

Oh, no!

This is no... Hold on. They must hold on. Be brave.

Brave.

Oh, this is...

Our quest for gold and glory evaporated as we realized there was none to be had.

Tempers worsened.

We massacred all Indians who resisted.

And with the local water putrid, we drank the strong wine.

As we moved southeast, Alexander often returned the lands we'd conquered to

their defeated kings, so as to make of them allies.

But this did not sit well with the army, and began to wonder if Alexander was on

some crazed quest to imitate the glory of Heracles.

and to my mother's god, Dionysus, who, we're told by our Indian allies,

traveled here before Heracles some 6,000 years ago to a hero.

I lose face.

These Indians, they are low, evil people.

You don't try to understand them.

I try.

But this I know, Alexander.

In Persia, you are a great king.

Here, they hate you.

Let us go back to Babylon.

There you are strong.

And I shall wait.

Good night, my king.

Your Majesty.

From the 30,000 beautiful Persian boy,

we're training to fight in this great army.

To the memory of Philip, how did he live?

To see his Macedonians transformed into such a pretty army.

To fill it to a real hero.

To Glytus and his new appointment as Setraper Bactria.

It's a fancy way of putting it Ptolemy.

But we all know what a pension and an exile is after 30 years service. You

call governing this major province exile?

Has your majesty given any of his closest companions a province so far

from home? Then you won't make a very good satrap, will you, Clytus?

So be it.

Let me rot in Macedonian rags rather than shine.

in eastern pomp.

I won't quake and bow down like the sycophants you have around you, the

Phaistian, Nearchus, Perdiccas.

As governor of one of our most Asian of satrapies, Clytus, does it not occur to

you that if my Persian subjects bow down before me, it's important for them to do

so? Do I insist on Greeks doing the same?

You accept Greek offerings as a son of Zeus, do you not?

Only when offered.

Then why don't you refuse these vain flatteries? What freedom is this to bow

before you?

You bow before Heracles, do you not? And he was mortal, but a son of Zeus.

How can you, so young, compare yourself to Heracles?

Why not?

I've achieved more in my years.

Traveled as far.

Probably farther.

Herakles did it by himself.

Did you conquer Asia by yourself, Alexander?

I mean, who planned the Asian invasion?

Was it not your father?

Or is his blood no longer good enough?

Zeus? Ammon, is it? You insult me, Clydus.

You mock my family. Be careful.

Never!

father have taken barbarians as his friends, asked us to fight with them as

equals in war.

Are we not good enough any longer?

I remember a time when we could talk as men, straight to the eye, none of this

scraping, groveling.

Now you kiss them?

Take a barbarian, childless wife, and dare call her queen?

Go quickly.

Before you ruin your life.

Doesn't your great pride fear the gods any longer?

This army?

This army's your blood, boy!

Without it, you're nothing!

I will no longer serve the purpose of this march! Get him from my sight! I

don't serve your purpose!

What was I serving? I'll save your puppy life! A gargabella! Do you think we'd be

forced now?

To mate with brown apes!

Please, George!

Turn out the guards!

Arrest him for treason!

Who's with him?

Who's with him?

I call Father Zeus to witness. I call you to trial before him. And we'll see

how deep this conspiracy can't stake him.

You speak about plots against you? What about poor Parmenion? Made me do your

foul deed.

Have you no shame?

Hypocrites, despots, false kings.

You and your barbarian mother living shame.

I want to see him. I've waited three days.

He says none.

Not even you.

He needs me. No, he doesn't.

And he needs you.

Meister, you make a mistake.

The army needs your reassurance.

old lover they forget, but they will never forget.

You know more than any great deeds done by men who took and never regretted.

Dear Alexander, pity and grief will only destroy you.

Have I become so arrogant that I am blind?

And light has spoke true.

I am become a tyrant.

All my life I've waited to see Greeks scrabble with respect for Macedonia.

Today is that day.

They say already, Philip is a great general, but Alexander is simply

great.

But if you ever insult me again, I'll kill you.

I missed you.

In the spring, Persia.

I command my horse from the right.

I'm honored, father.

I wouldn't miss it for all the gold in the world.

Which one day you'll have.

Making himself a thirteenth ghost.

He's drunk so much wine, my poor Philip, he's lost his mind.

Your Majesty?

Artemis.

I hope the prince is enjoying the spectacle as much as our regent.

He's very tired.

Hey.

Xenius, bring the rest of the guard.

Royal guard, to the arena.

March!

No gouging, Majesty.

In all this crowd, Greeks all over the place.

Glytus.

Glytus.

Glytus.

This man you can always trust, Alexander.

Treat him as you would me.

I'll guard your back for you.

That's fine.

People are guarding today, Glytus.

Let these Greeks see for themselves how I can walk through my people.

Then let them call me tyrant.

Bring the main guard in after my injury only.

Clydus, make sure the wine flows steady all day.

I want them to like me.

Weren't you told?

I go in alone.

Follow with the main guard.

Go on.

Go on.

Father, it's best I go with you.

You want the world to say you're my successor?

Is that what she wants?

Don't look so hurt all the time, Alexander.

Be a man.

You count yourself lucky you're here at all today, after your public display.

By Heracles, by Zeus, by all the gods, obey me this once!

Have courage, father.

And go on your way rejoicing that at each step.

and they recall your valor.

In Haudenosaunee, his wedding games begin!

You're king now. You're king.

it was meant to be.

This isn't how I wanted to become king.

No one blames you. They blame me already behind my back. It's secret.

Slander is not power. Shame is.

Who killed my father?

Tell me.

Tell me or shall I put you on trial for his murder?

He had help.

Did you help him?

Why would I?

So many wanted it.

Greeks, Persians, men. You're mad.

You're cursed.

You've unleashed furies you don't even know their power.

Oh, now who is exaggerating?

Even if it was the wish of your heart. That's a lie!

He was my father! I loved him! He was not your father!

You owe no blood debt to that man!

You lie and lie and lie!

So many lies you've spun like a sorceress, confusing me. Look at you.

Look at you.

You are everything that he was not.

He was coarse.

You are refined.

He was a general.

You are a king.

He could not rule himself.

And you shall rule the world.

Mourn him.

What do you know of Philip?

No, Alexander.

Zeus is your father.

Act like it. My first act would be to kill you.

You murdered me in my cradle.

You birthed me in a sack of hate. Hate you have for those stronger than you.

Hate you have for men.

I taught you my heart, Alexander.

And by Zeus and Dionysus you grew beautiful.

Damn your sorcerous soul.

Your soul is mine, Alexander.

No! No!

You take it from me! Every day I'm there I'm lost! Maybe you... Stop it! Stop

acting like a boy! You're a king!

Act like one!

Parmenion is with us for once.

Execute the Atlas without delay, then confiscate their lands and root out that

family forever.

You're a decaying never.

I'll love you, monster.

You heartbreaker.

How will you live out the year like this?

Have you learned nothing from Philip?

No.

What have I done to make you hate me so?

One day you will understand this.

But I have only you in my heart.

I know what you need.

Now is the time that gods favor you.

Great wealth, power, conquest.

All you desire.

The world is yours.

Take it.

Take it.

He never saw his mother again.

And while he was away fighting the northern tribes, Olympias had Philip's

new wife, Eurydice, and her infant son murdered.

By necessity, he had her uncle, Attalus, executed.

Of course you have fears.

We all have fears.

Because no one has ever gone this far before.

And now we are weeks from the encircling ocean, our route home.

We'll build a fleet of ships and sail all the way back down the Nile to Egypt.

And from Alexandria, we shall be home within weeks.

There to be reunited with our loved ones, to share our great treasures and

tales of Asia.

and to enjoy our imperishable glory to the ends of time!

Follow Alexander!

What?

Silence? We're with you, Alexander!

Pluchestus, a hero!

Where are these great Amazons of myth who dare to fight and kill men? Where

have they gone?

You, Meleager, who are these tribes ahead compared to those we've

vanquished?

Lysimachus?

Antigonus?

You break my heart, you men!

Afraid!

Praterus? Praterus!

Not another one.

Praise glory.

My king.

I don't like no belly aching. I won't tolerate in any of my units.

I lost many a man.

Young ones never been with a woman.

Some died of disease.

Some were butchered in Scythia by the banks of the Oxus.

Some died good.

Some just didn't get no luck.

But they died.

40,000 I come over with eight years ago.

And we march after you more than 10,000 miles.

In the rain, in the sun, we fought for you. Some of us, 50 battles we've been

in.

We killed many a barbarian.

And now when I look around, how many of them faces do I see?

And now you want us to fight more of these crazy monkey tribes east of here.

We hear talk of thousands of these elephant monsters.

Cross a hundred more rivers.

Craterous!

Good Craterous.

Who better than you to speak?

Most noble of men.

But you know there's no part of me without a scar or a bone broken.

By sword, knife, stone, catapult, and club, I've shared every hardship with

all of you. And you have, my king, and we love you for it. You have!

You have!

But by Zeus, too many have died.

You have no children, Alexander, and we're just humble men. We seek no

disturbance with the gods.

All we wish for...

is to see our children and our wives and our grandchildren one last time

before we join our brothers in the dark house they call Hades.

Yes.

You're right, Crotters.

I have been negligent.

I should have sent you veterans home sooner, and I will.

The first of you should be the Silver Shields.

And then every man who served seven years with full pensions from our

treasury.

And respected, rich, loved.

You'll be treated by your wives and children as heroes for the rest of your

lives. And enjoy a peaceful death.

But you dream, Craterus.

Your simplicity long ended when you took... persian mistresses and children

and you thickened your holdings with plunder and jewels because you've fallen

in love with all the things in life that destroy men do you not see

and you as well as i know that as the years decline

and the memories stale and all your great victories fade it will

always be remembered

You left your king in Asia!

For I will go out with my Asians!

To the jackals were you then, Alexander!

We come for you, and you just fear shame!

Alexander!

You're tired of glory!

You want to see our wives and children before we die?

You've got blood, son of a bitch!

I've paid for your foster children.

I've taken nothing for myself.

And all I've asked of you is one more month.

I've taken you further than my father ever dreamed.

I look to the barbarians for their courage.

I go east.

Who said that? You're a despicable coward.

Come forth.

Make your accusations public.

Son of Zeus.

Hide.

Hide in this mob because I will take you.

Arrested! Arrested!

Arrested! Arrested! Arrested!

Arrested!

Come on, then!

Where are your daggers?

He drove on, south to the outer ocean.

In smashing the mutiny and executing the ringleaders, he did nothing, to my mind,

that any general in wartime would not have done.

But clearly the army was divided, and Alexander was no longer

loved by all.

Be calm.

Together we are strong as gods.

Cover with your left.

Strike hard with your right.

Fear is rot. A waste of time.

Look, shields!

Battle position!

Prepare your knives!

Follow me!

We must reach Kronos before it's too late!

the answer.

Tis only sun and shadow.

You and I together, one last time, you settlers.

Isn't it a lovely thing to live with great courage and to die leaving an

everlasting fate?

God bless the Dominions! Why do you retreat?

We want to live forever!

In the name of Zeus, attack!

It was the bloodiest of his battles. Pure butchery.

The end of all reason.

We'd never be men again.

his life should have ended in india but that's myth

in life heracles died of a poisoned shirt given him in error

by his jealous wife making his devotions

to the gods at the end of the great journey alexander bade the east farewell

and marched his army directly west across the great gedrosian desert

seeking the shortest route home to Babylon.

To this day, there is no accounting of how many died.

It was the worst blunder of his life.

And when he finally re-entered Babylon after six years in the Far East,

Alexander again seized the imagination of the world by taking two more wives.

It's the water, your majesty.

He mixed it with the wine.

But how can this be?

Typhus of India?

Why wouldn't you tax yourself, your majesty? A few good nights rest will do

it. But no wine or cone shakes?

Come, doctor.

We leave for Arabia in the spring and I couldn't leave without you.

Arabia.

You used to dress me up like a sheik.

Wave your wooden samazar.

You were the only one who'd never let me win.

The only one who's ever been honest with me.

You saved me from myself.

Please don't leave me, Feistian.

My Alexander.

I remember the young man who wanted to be Achilles and then out did him. And

you, Patroclus.

And then what happened?

Ours is a myth only young men believe.

But how beautiful a myth it was.

Oh, we reach, we fall.

I worried for you without me.

I am nothing without you.

Come, fight, Hephaestus.

We will die together.

It's our destiny.

We'll have children with our wives.

And our sons will play together as we once did.

A thousand ships will launch from here, Hephaestion.

We'll round Arabia and sail up the Gulf to Egypt.

From there, we'll build a channel through the desert and out to the Middle

Sea.

And then we'll move on Carthage.

And that great island, Sicily, they'll pay large tribute.

After that, the Roman tribe, good fighters, will beat them.

And then explore the northern forests.

And add the pillars of Hercules to the western ocean.

And then one day, not ten years from now, Babylon, with its deep water

harbor, will be the center of the world.

Alexandries will grow.

Populations will mix and travel freely.

Asia and Europe will come together.

And we'll grow old.

The Feist Gym.

Looking out our balcony at this new world.

The Feist Gym.

The Feist Gym.

Where is this

d-

I can't explain this, your majesty.

It's not possible.

I swear by Apollo... Execute him!

Take him out now and execute him!

Come away. Come away. Liars!

Liars! I'm all of you!

Are you drunk again?

Get out.

He's dead.

Who? Many hated him.

But I don't think any other would have dared.

Are you mad?

From me all that I've ever loved! But all of fury's too time! Time, you

miserable heart!

Baby!

Alexander! I have your child!

Alexander!

No! No!

No!

No!

No!

No! No!

Alexander! I have your child!

Alexander! My husband! My king!

My happy son!

My poor, poor ill-fated son.

Never touch me again.

One last toast!

For the daughter.

Friends. And

to

the myths.

Alexander, we beg you, tell us who.

Who will rule this great empire?

Zeus is your father.

Alexander, the army will divide.

Satrapies will revolt. Without your orders, there'll be war.

Who will it be?

Pray tell us. Who?

What did he say?

To the best.

He said to the best. No, no.

He said to Craterus. To Craterus? Why wouldn't he say Craterus?

the 10th of june a month short of his 33rd year alexander's great heart

finally gave out and as he vowed he joined hephaestion

but in his short life he achieved without

doubt the mythic glory of his ancestor achilles and more

His sacrifice was an early death, but in keeping to his side of the bargain, I

cannot help but feel he conquered death as well.

Olympius's transgression in the murder of his father is, to my mind, a

probability, his a burden.

Alexander was too in love with glory for him to steal it, but by blood, and blood

alone,

He was guilty.

Within hours, we were fighting like jackals for his corpse.

Wars of the world had begun.

Forty years, off and on, they endured.

Cassander in Greece, Craterus and Antigonus in Western Asia, Sir Lucas and

Perdiccas in the East, myself in Egypt, until we divided his empire in four

parts.

Cassander certainly proved his will to power when seven years later he had

Olympias executed.

And within twelve years he achieved the complete destruction of Alexander's

bloodline. When he poisoned Roxana,

and Alexander's 13-year-old son, the true heir to the empire.

But the truth is never simple.

And yet it is.

The truth is, we did kill him.

By silence, we consented.

Because... Because we couldn't go on.

What by Ares did we have to look forward to but to be discarded in the end, like

Clitus? After all this time to give away our wealth to ancient sycophants we

despised, mixing the races, harmony?

Ha!

How he talked of these things.

But wasn't it really about Alexander and another population ready to obey him?

I never believed in his dream.

None of us did.

That's the truth of his life.

The dreamers exhaust us.

They must die before they kill us with their blasted dreams.

I'll just throw all that away, Cadmus.

It's an old fool's rubbish.

You shall write, he died of fever and a weakened condition.

Yes, quite fatal.

Oh, he could have stayed home in Macedonia, married, raised a family.

He'd have died a celebrated man.

But this was not Alexander.

All his life, he fought to free himself from fear.

And by this, and this alone, he was made free.

The freest man.

I've ever known.

His tragedy was one of increasing loneliness and impatience with

those who could not understand.

And if his desire to reconcile Greek and barbarian ended in failure,

what failure is

failure?

towered over other men's successes.

I've lived long life, Cadmus, but the glory and the memory of man

will always belong to the ones who followed their great visions.

And the greatest of these is the one they now call

Megas.

Alexandros. The greatest Alexander of them all.

Thank you.

Thank you.