1 (man singing melody in distance) (singing continues) (whispered conversations) (woman sobbing) (woman panting and sobbing) (strained gasping) (groaning sigh) (waves lapping) (seabirds crying softly) MAN: Our world is gone now,... smashed by the wars. Now I am the keeper of his body, embalmed here in the Egyptian ways. I followed him as pharaoh, and have now ruled 40 years. I am the victor. (chuckles) But what does it all mean when there is no one left to remember the great cavalry charge of Gaugamela? Or the mountains of the Hindu Kush... when we crossed a hundred-thousand-man army into India. (waves lapping gently) He was a god, Cadmus. 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 a Prometheus, a... 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 Alexandrias he built. It was an empire not of land and gold but of the mind. Hellenic civilisation, open... to all. But how can I say it? How can I tell you what it was like to be young, to dream big dreams, and believe when Alexander looked you in the eye you could do anything? Anything. (chuckles) In his presence, by the light of Apollo, we were better than ourselves. Surely... I've known many great men in my life, but only one colossus. Only now when old do I understand who this force of nature really was. Or do I? Did such a man as Alexander exist? Of course not. They idolise him, make him better than he was. Men... all men reach and fall. Reach and fall. (birds chirping) In the east, the vast Persian Empire ruled almost all the known world. In the west, once great Greek city-states ` Thebes, Athens, Sparta ` had fallen from pride. For a hundred years now, the Persian kings had bribed the Greeks for 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. (chuckles) 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. WOMAN: # ...Are yours for keeping # (door opens) (raucous laughter) (singing continues) 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. (Olympias continues singing) (hissing) OLYMPIAS: # Trust the ones who # # Give you love # # Life has just begun, son. # (whispering): Her skin is water. Her tongue is fire. She is your friend. Take it. If you hesitate, she will strike. Remember that, hmm? Never hesitate. Yes. (man laughing in distance) They are like people. You can love them for years, feed them, nurture them, but still, they can turn on you. Mm... (softly): Hold her. Good. (door opens) (door slams) (raucous laughter and cheering) And he calls me a barbarian. Philip makes a mockery of Dionysus every night. Women are the only ones who know Dionysus. (soft hissing) (laughter in distance) (laughs softly) Ah, my little Herakles. (metallic clinking) Mmm. (kisses) (door opens and slams) Stay, Alexander. Don't, don't. What is it you... (both grunting) Six months... No! No, no, not here! Proud bitch. No! I'm still your king. King of what? Sheep herders? (Philip grunts in pain) No! (Philip laughing) I am of Achilles' royal blood. The blood of Herakles runs in my veins. You are nothing but a drunken whore. Shut your foul mouth, you 10-titted bitch from Hades. I curse that I ever laid eyes on you! You think people respect you? You think they don't know your bastards? No! (Alexander gasps) What? (panting) Damn your sorcerous soul! You keep him here like one of your snakes! I told you not! Told you not! (Olympias laughing) You will obey me. I will not. You will obey me, or I will kill you with my own hands. ALEXANDER: No! No! Stop! (Philip roars ferociously) Obey me! Your Majesty! No! (panting) (loud grunt) OLYMPIAS: In the name of the Gods, he will never be yours! Never! In my womb, I carried my avenger! (long, anguished yell) In the world he grew up to, I've come to believe it was in 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. It's in the heart of a man. You don't need to eat every day or until you're full, Ptolemy. You don't need to lie in bed in the morning. You can have some good bean soup, Cassander, after a forced night march. (grunts) Come on, Alexander. Come on! Who'll ever respect you as a king? Do you think it's because of your father? The first rule of war is to do what you have asked your men to do. No more, no less. (grunting) Good! That's it. Well done. Good wrestling. That's what I meant. Hey, hey, hey, hey, come, come, come, 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, Hephaistion. It was said later that Alexander was never defeated, except by Hephaistion's thighs. ARISTOTLE: 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 favoured position at the centre, Greece could rule the world. Why is it, master, in myth these lands you speak of are known? India, where Herakles and Dionysus travelled. All these men who went east, Theseus, Jason, Achilles, were victorious. From generation to generation, their stories have been passed on. Why, unless there was truth to them? Tales of Amazons, huh? 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. NEARCHUS: Master? Master? Master? Yes? Yeah, out with it, out with it. Why are the Persians so cruel? Oh, come on, Nearchus. That is not the subject for today, Nearchus, but, uh, it is true that 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 practise control of our senses. Moderation, we hope. Then what of Achilles at Troy, master? Was he not excessive? ARISTOTLE: 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. (indistinct shouting) PTOLEMY: Philip brought such as Aristotle from Athens to educate our rough people, and growing more ambitious, he now planned the invasion of Persia. (neighing, snorting) (laughing) Is that the best you can do, Cleitus? Back to the phalanx with you. I'll ride him myself! No one will ride that beast, Your Majesty! Not with your leg. He's been beaten far too often. MAN: My noble King, he's a high-spirited animal, yes. High-spirited and worthy of` of Philip of Macedon! Ah, f-for, f-for three-and-a-half talents, I couldn't possibly make a, make a profit on him, but for you, my lord... PHILIP: Why would I want such a beast? I already have a wife! (laughing) Do I seem so old? (indistinct talking) Oh... (neighing) A broken neck comes free, you fool. He's too nervous for battle. You'll sell him for meat. Buy him for me, Father. I'll ride him. (neighing) 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. He can be ridden. By me. If you can rule that horse, I'll make him yours, at half the price. CLEITUS: That horse'll kill him, Philip. He'll break the boy in two. Will he? Perhaps she'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. ALEXANDER: You don't like your shadow, do you? It's like a dark spirit coming up to get you. Do you see? That's us. It's just a trick of Apollo's. He's the God of... the sun. (neighing) Shh. But I'll show you how to outwit him, you and me together. Shh. Shh. Shh. (crowd gasping) (whispering): Bucephalus. That's what I'll call you. Strong and stubborn. Bucephalus and Alexander. Come now. Let's ride together! (cheering) (bird cawing) Ah, he's got some Titan in him yet! Attalus! Cleitus! For Zeus's sake, he beat you, man! (laughs) Now, Bucephalus, show them. (cheering) (laughing) My son. My son! (cheering) 1 PHILIP: You remember Achilles? He's my favourite. Why? Because he loved Patroclus and avenged his death. And his fate? That he must die young but with great glory. Did he have a choice? Oh, yes. He could live a long life, but there would be no glory. You dream of glory, Alexander. Your mother encourages you. But there's no glory without suffering, and this she will not allow. One day, I'll be on walls like these. Prometheus, who stole the secret of fire and gave it to man. It 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 when he found out he'd murdered his father and married his mother. Knowledge that came too late. Medea, she slaughtered her two children in vengeance when 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. They're far more dangerous than men. Herakles. Even after he accomplished his Twelve Labours, he was punished with madness, slaughtered his three children. Poor Herakles. Great Herakles. All greatness comes from loss. Even you, the Gods will one day judge harshly. When 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, 'Now you know.' 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 Herakles. Ask any of them. Fate is cruel. No man or woman can be too powerful or too beautiful without disaster befalling. They laugh when you rise too high and crush everything you've built with a whim. What glory they give, in the end they take away. They... they make of us slaves. (water sloshing) OLYMPIAS: Pregnant so soon. The little whore. He will marry her in the spring, during Dionysus' Festival, and when her first son is born, her sweet Uncle Attalus 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. 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 Kynnane. 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 loves too much. Who shall I sing to sleep at night any more? I wish... I wish we could spend more time together. Like we used to, when you were the sweetest boy. There's never been time, Mother. 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. Ah, yes, 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 Hephaistion more. I understand. It's natural for a young man, but if you go to Asia without leaving your successor, you risk all. Hephaistion loves me as I am, not who. 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. Stop! I'm his only worthy son. You crazed woman. 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. (indistinct crowd conversations) (drunkenly): # Bacchus made # # A drink from grapes # # There is no other medicine # # To cure the pain... # Ah, come, Alexander, drink this sadness away! If only thirst could quench sorrow, Ptolemy. (bellowing): Ah... ha! There's only one thing better than winning a battle, son... ...and that's the taste of a new woman. You'll find it far sweeter than self-pity. Pausanias, you bore me. CLEITUS: Alexander! Be gone with you! Alexander, I found you the right girl! What's your name, darling? WOMAN: Antigone! Huh? What's your name? Antigone! Huh? I love you, my little imp! And I love you, Cleitus. MAN: Pausanias! PAUSANIAS: Please! No! PHILIP: There you go. PAUSANIAS: Don't! Would you prefer a seat, Cleitus? CLEITUS: I'll sleep in my grave, Hephaistion. While alive, I prefer dancing. ATTALUS: Pausanias! Ow! Who's your new friend? Here, take him away. There's your new friend, then. No, please, don't! Don't! Go to him! ATTALUS: A toast! A toast! I drink to our Greek friends, and to our new union, Macedonia and Greece ` equals in greatness! (cheering) And to Philip, our King... MAN: Yay! ...without whom this union could not be possible. Come, Attalus, leave some damn air in the hall! (laughing) And last, I drink to the king's marriage to my niece, Eurydice, a Macedonian queen we can be proud of! (cheering) MAN: Eurydice! ATTALUS: To Philip and Eurydice and to their legitimate sons! (cheering) ATTALUS: To Philip... CLEITUS: Alexander, don't! What am I, you son of a dog? Come, then! (grunts) (shouting) ATTALUS: How dare you! (shouting) PTOLEMY: Hephaistion, keep him back! (groaning) PHILIP: Shut up! Shut up, all of you! Alexander, please! This is my wedding, not some public brawl! ATTALUS: Insolent pup! Hephaistion, get back! Apologise, by Zeus, before you dishonour me! You defend the man who called my mother a whore and me a bastard... and I dishonour you?! Agh! You listen like your mother! Attalus 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! Shame? You insult me! I insult you?! A man not fit to lick the ground my mother walks on! Shame? You dog, questioning your queen! 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 Hera... and I see her in your eyes! You covet this throne too much! Now we all know that she-wolf of a mother of yours wants me dead! Well, you can both dream, boy! Come, Philip, this is the wine talking. Leave the boy. Now! It'll wait till morning. I command you... apologise to your kinsmen! Apologise! No kinsman to me. Goodnight, old man. And when my mother remarries, I'll invite you to her wedding. You bastard! You'll obey me! Come here! Aah...! (Philip yelling) And this is the man who is going to take you from Greece to Persia? (Philip yelling) He can't even make it from one couch to the next. Get out of my palace! You're exiled, you bastard! 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, at 20, became the new ruler of Macedonia. And breaking their treaties with us, dismissing Alexander as an untried boy, several Greek city-states rose up in revolt, much to Persia's delight and... perhaps sponsored by their gold. (wind whistling) (Ptolemy laughs) 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. (wry laughter) It was in Egypt that the respected oracle at Siwah 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, we'll go for 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's 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 Antigonous, the centre phalanx. Perdiccas... Leonnatus... Nearchus... Polyperchon. If you pin them on the walls of your sarissas here, in the centre, 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 Hephaistion, will strike through that gap and deal the death blow to Darius's head. PARMENION: Alexander, even with luck, timing, the Gods, we must rout them tomorrow, destroy their army completely, or we'll be picked apart by bandit tribes on the long journey home. Right. You speak of home... and retreat... but do you understand, Parmenion, Babylon's my new home. (men laughing) Alexander... if we must fight, do so with stealth. Use your numbers well. We should attack tonight, when they least expect us. PARMENION: What?! I didn't cross Asia to steal this victory, Cassander. No... you are too honourable for that. No doubt influenced from sleeping with Tales of Troy under your pillow. But your father was no lover of Homer's. PARMENION: 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, Parmenion, 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... MAN: That is no matter! Parmenion, you know that's not true! Your father taught you never to surrender your reason to your passion. Now 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 suns 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 Greece... Alexander will be merciful. By Ares' chains, he's got balls, men. I mean, give the man his due, Parmenion. And lads, feast tonight, for tomorrow we will dine in Hades. (model soldiers clattering) To whom do you pray? Phobos. HEPHAISTION: Fear? Bad omen. More so for Darius. I've come to believe that fear of death drives all men, Hephaistion. This we didn't learn as schoolboys. It is the cause of all our misfortunes. So, mighty Crateros. Your Majesty. Are you ready for tomorrow's dawn? Ah, it's been too long coming, if you ask me. The men are skittish as colts. ALEXANDER: Good! Fear makes men fight better. Post your sentries alertly, but rest them well. Don't you worry, General. I'm known to sleep with my eyes open as a baby's arse. Only because someone might steal his loot, sire. (men laughing) After tomorrow, even the thrifty among you shall be kings. The Gods are with us, Your Majesty. They are. We'll stain the ground with Persian blood, my King. I've always believed, Alexander, but... this seems so much bigger than us. Did Patroclus doubt Achilles when they stood side by side at the siege of Troy? Patroclus died first. If you do... if you were to fall, Hephaistion, 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. On the eve of battle, it's hardest to be alone. Yeah. Then perhaps... perhaps this is farewell... my Alexander. Fear not, Hephaistion. We are at the beginning. (sighs gently) (wind whistling) Staying on top can take an extra boost. Sometimes you need an energy drink with something more - something smarter, healthier. Introducing new Berocca Forward. We've added vitamins, minerals and the natural energy of guarana. Now that's forward thinking. Berocca Forward - more than just energy. 1 ARISTANDER: Blood makes the world rise. (bellowing) Blood makes the rain fall. Blood makes the earth grow. In blood, all men are born and die. Blood... is the food of the Gods below. (bellows) (bull screeches, body thuds) Come, Bucephalus, today, we ride to our destiny. ANTIGONOUS: Cavalry, group! Regroup! ANTIGONOUS: Phalanx, turn right! (drums beating) Phalanx! Attention! (drums stop) (hoofbeats approaching) Neoptolemus... I remember you the day you jumped the siege tower at Tyre. You were a giant. And today? How will you fight? (shouting and cheering) (shields rattling) (snorts, whinnies) Dexippos... by Athena, how far was it you threw your man wrestling at the last Olympic Games? Will you match it with your spear? (shouting) (laughing) And Timander, son of Menander, a great soldier to my father. I still mourn your brother, Addaios, who died so bravely at Halicarnassus. What an honoured family you descend from, Timander. You fight for them today. You've all honoured 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 army to stand with him... (caws) (distant rumbling) (rumbling continues) ALEXANDER: Oh, yes, these Persians do seem to be so many! But look again at this horde and 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. And when they fight, they will melt away like the air, because they know no loyalty to a king of slaves. But we are not here today as slaves. We are here today as Macedonian free men! (shouting and cheering) (spears and shields rattling) (air whipping) (shouting fades down) 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! (shouting) (air whipping) (fly buzzing) When they ask you why you fought so bravely, you will answer, 'I was here this day at Gaugamela... 'for the freedom... 'and glory... 'of Greece!' (cheering) Zeus be with us! (horse whinnies) (cheering continues) (spears rattling) (air whipping) Cassander! Four columns, go! Where does he go? I don't know, Majesty. Envelop him, Bessus. (grunts) Hephaistion, go! (shouting) Ya! (yelling) Phalanx! Move! (shouting) (yells) Forward, march! (blows clarion call) CHANTING: Enyehalos! (chanting): Oo-hah, oo-hah, oo-hah! He makes a mistake, Pharnakes. Yes, Great King. (whooshing) (yelling and grunting) OFFICER: Hold your line, men! (yelling) (chanting): Enyehalos! Enyehalos! Enyehalos! Enyehalos! Enyehalos, Enyehalos! (camels lowing) Enyehalos, Enyehalos! (yelling) (shouting) PARMENION: Be brave, men! Steady on the left, lads! Bend if you must, but never break, and keep watching the cavalry on the left! (distant shouting) SOLDIER: Attack, attack, attack! Pick up the pace! Pick up the pace! (yelling) Prepare to repel chariots! (shouting) Hold! (whinnies) (screams) (horse neighing) (shouting) (wind whipping) (shouting) (horse whinnies) (chorus chanting) Cassander! Hyah! Go! Forward, men! Forward! (grunts) Left turn! Infantry, clear. Out! Now! Circle to the left! (shouting) (yelling) (metal clanking) (grunting and groaning) Hold your position! Hold your position! (clarion call blows) (chorus singing) (spears rattling) Hold! Father! We must fall back to the gully, Father! No, hold! Where is he? We're far too thin! Get word to Alexander! Move! Yes, sir! (snorting) (yells) ALEXANDER: Come, Macedonians, ride, ride! OFFICER: To Alexander! Shields, break off! Break off! The shields are here! (yells) Drive for the hole! Drive for the hole! Drive for the hole! (yelling) (horse neighs) (horse whinnies) (grunts) Forward! (blows clarion call) (chanting): Enyehalos! Enyehalos! Enyehalos! Enyehalos! (distant shouting) ALEXANDER: Stay in line! St... Echelon, back and to the left! Back and to the left! Philotas! Philotas! Father! Go! Tell Alexander yourself! And if he won't listen, then survive me and avenge this betrayal! (grunts) Hyah! (yells) (yells) Pay attention, lad! Your father still watches over you! (grunts) (yells) (grunting and groaning) (agonised groan) Darius! Find your horses! (grunting and groaning) (yells) Darius! (yells) (grunts) Go! Go! No! We can reach those mountains by sunset! Go all night and catch Darius at dawn! Provision the horses! (blows clarion call) Alexander! Alexander, my father's lost! They've overrun the flank! They're into the baggage train! Parmenion's crumbling! (yells) Alexander, if you chase him, you risk losing your army here! And if we capture him, we gain an empire! (pants) (neighs) You can run to the ends of the Earth, you coward, but you'll never run far enough! To Parmenion! Parmenion! Parmenion! 1 (indistinct voices) (moaning and groaning) You bleed free, my lord. May I tend to your wound? No, Hermolaus, not now. There's far worse than me. Go to them. Help them. (moaning) (man groaning) Your Majesty. You're very brave. What shall I call you? Glaukos, my King. Glaukos. And where's your home? Illyria. (sobbing) Let your body go loose. Think of home now. Be brave again, Glaukos, and you will live on in glory. Alexander... (sobbing) PTOLEMY: 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.' MAN: Phalanx! Position! Parade! (horns blowing) PTOLEMY: 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 was loved by all. But in the end, I believe Babylon was a far easier mistress to enter than she was to leave. (cheering) (shouting) (cheering) (roaring) (chanting): 'Sikander! 'Sikander! (laughing) 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. (distant music playing) ANTIGONOUS: Not for the men who fought, I trust? We'll pay them well, Antigonous, but not as mercenaries for future services. Now you sound like Philip. (chuckling) HEPHAISTION: Philip never saw Babylon. NEARCHUS: No, he didn't, Hephaistion. (shouting, cheering) Alexander, I know you think me a stiff old sod, but whatever our differences, know this day your father would be very proud of you. CLEITUS: Come and say hello to Cleitus! Thank you, Parmenion. I ask you to forgive me my own anger, my pride. They, too, blind me. Yes, the grandsons of goat herders, we now rule two million square miles. Not if you keep giving it all away. But none of you fear that this great fortune may drive us all to destruction. You overvalue us. For as long as Darius breathes, he is 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 army. 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. (women laughing) Come on. Have you so quickly forgotten fortune favours the bold? By the Gods, what is this? NEARCHUS: No wonder Darius fled, when he had this to come back to. I venture one for every night of the year. LEONNATUS: Help me, Aphrodite. How will I ever go back to Lysimache after this? I advise you not to touch, Leonnatus. Here, I'll take care of it for you. Uh-oh. Apologies. (indistinct talking) Aristotle was perhaps prescient. Do these images fool us with their beauty and degrade our souls? (birds chirping) Great King Alexander. The Princess of the Thousand Roses and eldest daughter of the formerly Great King, Darius, Stateira. Noble Alexander... (chuckling) I come... to beg for the lives of my sisters, my mother, my grandmother. You are not wrong, Princess Stateira. He, too, is Alexander. (laughing) Please... I plead for my family's lives. Sell me as a slave, Great King, but please do not... Look now, in my eyes,... Princess,... and tell me, how would you like to be treated? As I am... a Princess. Then so be it. You and your family shall be treated as my family. (indistinct talking) You shall live in this palace as long as you choose. Have you any other requests for me, my noble Princess? No. Everything I wish, I have... PHARNAKES: Requested. STATEIRA: ...requested. You truly are... a Queen. OLYMPIAS: Yes, she would be a perfect match for you, but you do nothing. Three months you have been in Babylon, and leave me in Pella 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. (shouting) 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 Crateros! (cheering) Cassander is Antipater's son. Even Cleitus, your father's favourite, and Ptolemy, your friend, yes, but beware of men who think too much. They blind themselves. (cheering) Only Hephaistion do I leave out. But all of them you make rich, while your mother and yourself you leave in generous poverty. Why won't you ever believe me? It is only a dark mind like mine that can know these secrets of the heart, for they are dark, Alexander, so dark, but in you, the son of Zeus, lies 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? Stay with me tonight, Hephaistion? I'll take my own bath. Thank you, Bagoas. (thunder rumbles) The generals question your obsession with Darius. They say it was never meant for you to be king of Asia. Naturally. They want only to return to their homes rich with gold. But I've seen the future, Hephaistion. 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 enemies' skulls and drink them as dust. They mate in 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 Alexandrias from Egypt to the Outer Ocean. We could connect these lands, Hephaistion, and the people. Some say these Alexandrias have become extensions of Alexander himself. They draw people into the cities so as to make slaves of them. But we freed them, Hephaistion, from the Persia where everyone lived as slaves. To free the people of the world, such would be beyond the glory of Achilles, beyond Herakles, a feat to rival Prometheus, who was always a friend to man. Remember the fates of these heroes. They suffered greatly. Oh, we all suffer. Your father, mine. They all came to the end of their time, and in the end, 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 if 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 thought me divine, my father weak. Which am I, Hephaistion? Weak or divine? All I know is, I trust only you in this world. I've missed you. I need you. It is you I love, Hephaistion. No other. You still hold your head cocked... like that. I've stopped that. No, like a deer, listening in the wind. You strike me still, Alexander. And you have eyes like no other. I sound as stupid as a schoolboy about it. 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, Hephaistion. I'll be with you always. Till the end. 1 PTOLEMY: The campaign in the north-east of Persia turned into a hard guerrilla war of almost three years. (wind blowing) 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. Phalanx, halt! PTOLEMY: The Great King Darius had been betrayed by his own commanders. Fully honouring his corpse, Alexander hunted down these commanders into unknown lands, crossing even beyond the River Oxus into Sogdia. 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 Asia meet. In fact, we were totally lost. Here Alexander founded his 10th 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. (indistinct chatter) (rhythmic dance music playing) (indistinct chatter) (laughing) (crowd cheering) Hey! Cleitus! Cleitus! (yelling) (indistinct shouting) (shouts) (growling) (low and indistinct chatter) (roars) Her eyes tell me she cares for you, Alexander... perhaps too much. In the ways of my country, those who love too much lose everything. And those who love with irony... lust. (cheering) PARMENION: Your father must be turning in his grave, Alexander. After all this time, a hill chief's daughter. By Athena's justice! This girl has spirit! PHILOTAS: But 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 who'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. PHILOTAS: As a second wife? You insult Macedonia. Alexander, this is about the honour 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 reach is not to drift, Parmenion! What benefit to Macedon? It's far richer than before! Look what you give them! With respect for your age, Parmenion, had you fought better at Gaugamela when your flank was crumbling, we could've had Darius then. How dare you, Nearchus! You criticise him! General Nearchus to you, boy. Alexander spread our flank too thin! There was nothing my father, any of you, could have done! Philotas! Sit down. (crowd talking outside) 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 Council that chose you king, give us a Macedonian heir. A Macedonian heir. You have been heard clearly. But, Alexander... Parmenion! And after the wedding, you'll take two brigades back to Babylon, where I look to you, and Antipater in Greece, to maintain our Empire and supply this expedition. I'll winter in the north with my advance army at Marakand. Then I pray to Apollo you soon realise how far you've turned from your father's path. Ah, damn you, Parmenion, by the Gods and your Apollo! War was in my father's guts! Wasn't overripe and reason 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. CASSANDER: 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! Alexander! 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. HEPHAISTION: Alexander. What disturbs me most is not your lack of respect for my judgment... but your contempt for a world far older than ours! (rumbling) PTOLEMY: And so ten years after his mother's insistence he marry a Macedonian... That through our union, Greek and barbarian... PTOLEMY: ...the most powerful man in the world took a girl of no political significance. Why? (cheering) 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 Roxane really was, I doubt that any of us ever saw further than the pools of those black eyes. Alexander! Special for you. On this glorious occasion... I toast this great army that has given so much. And in honour 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. (all cheer) And in honour of my bride, my beautiful bride, we recognise the many women who've shared the long, hard road with us, Hear! Hear! and grant them dowries befitting a proper marriage! (all cheer) And what about our boys?! 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. (crowd cheering) (cheering continues) (knocking) Shh. (floor creaks) Uh, I found it in Egypt. The man who sold it to me said it came from a time when man worshipped sun and stars. I'll always think of you as the sun, Alexander, and I pray your dream will shine on all men. I wish you a son. You're a great man. (door closes) Many will love you, Alexander, but none so pure and deep... (music playing in distance) You... love him? He is Hephaistion. There are many different ways to love, Roxane. Come. No, no, no, no! (grunting and yelling) (grunting) (cloth ripping) No! (yelling and grunting) (hisses) (grunts) (ring clinks) You have no fear. It's fitting. A man searches for a woman at Earth's top and finds her. The myth becomes real. (yells) (exhales deeply) (Alexander grunts) Great man! 'Sikander? You, I kill now. Do it. End it. I would do... I would do the same. I'll die a fool for this... love. (panting) (panting) My life is now yours. You... will have my son. (moans softly) 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. (panting) Do not confuse us. I was never a barbarian, as Philip said. And we are of Achilles' royal blood. Zeus is your father. (Alexander gasps) Oh, I understand, 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 centre or come home to Macedonia and reorganise, 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. If only you were not a pale reflection of my mother's heart. (horse neighing) (distant chatter) (footsteps approach) (wind whistling softly) (horse neighs) (shuddering breaths) Who did this? Tell me. Philotas. PHILOTAS: Never will you find a man as devoted as I, yes... PTOLEMY: 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. Oh! 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? They'll be divided. The men will follow their king. Alexander won't be there. PTOLEMY: Necessity required Alexander to act, and he sealed the camp within the hour of the first accusations against Philotas. Then go, Antigonous... and Cleitus. And go quickly. PTOLEMY: Three days' hard riding sent Antigonous and Cleitus to Parmenion. His soldiers accepted the finding of guilt against Parmenion, as they understood that the head of family is responsible for the behaviour of all. Cleitus, Antigonous. Parmenion. (loud grunt) (grunts) (gasps) (weak gasp) 1 PTOLEMY: I remember a remark of Bagoas' once that love eluded Alexander as much, if not more, than 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 Roxane, 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. (horse neighs) They say there's a giant eagle's nest just above it. I suppose he drops down each night to peck out poor Prometheus's liver. (men shouting in distance) Do you remember what Aristotle told us of these mountains? Yes, I do. That when we reach these heights, we'd 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. Were 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 see their homes. Have you found your home, Ptolemy? More and more I think it will be Alexandria. Well, at least it's hot. And Theus... she loved it there. Women bring men home. I have no such feeling. Oh, you have Babylon, Alexander. Where your mother awaits your invitation. Yes, I have Babylon. But each land, each boundary I cross, I strip away another illusion. I sense death will be the last. Yet still, I push harder and harder to reach this... home. Where has our eagle gone? We must go on, Ptolemy... until we find an end. (thunder rumbling) PTOLEMY: India, the land where the sun was born, fabled to be even richer than Persia, had never been explored or conquered. From the beginning, Alexander struggled to unify a land without a centre. 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. Crateros and the advance party fought against men with hairy skins who were tiny and lived in the tops of trees. (monkeys screeching) (men shouting) (shouting) Until Hephaistion convinced us these were animals who imitated men but wore their own skin. Get that away from me. They called this tribe... 'monkey.' Monkey. Monkey. Look at his hands. Look, Roxane. Hello, little man. Do they speak? No. PTOLEMY: And then there was the rain. (thunder crashing) Never before had we seen water that fell from the Gods for six days and nights. You know better. What's your son going to say? Come on, man, you'll be getting stronger. Oh, Great King, I'll be with you... (mumbling) (man shrieks) Snake! Snake! Hold him. Hold him. Cleitus! Bring the snake healers! (shouting) What happened, lad? It's to the neck. Oh, no! No! Hold on. Hold on. Be brave. Be brave. Aw... PTOLEMY: Our quest for gold and glory evaporated as we realised 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. (percussive music playing) (various shouts) (crowd 'ooh-ing') (shouts and laughter) (men whooping) As we moved south-east, Alexander often returned the lands we conquered to their defeated kings, so as to make of them allies. But this did not sit well with the army, who began to wonder if Alexander was on some crazed quest to imitate the glory of Herakles. (men whooping) (laughter) (talking and chuckling) (bell dings) (crowd quiets) (woman giggles) (crowd 'ooh-ing') Go on. Kiss him! (various shouts) (shouting continues) Give him a kiss! (loud cheering and laughter) (man whooping) ALEXANDER: To the Gods! ALL: To the Gods! (cups clinking) And to my mother's God, Dionysus. MAN: Dionysus! Who we're told by our Indian allies, travelled here before Herakles, some 6000 years ago. To a hero. ALL: To a hero! (men cheering) (cheering continues) (cheering subsides) Roxane. You lose face. These Indians ` they are a 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. (crowd chattering and laughing) Let us go back to Babylon. There you are strong. We'll talk about this later. Yes. Later. Talk. I shall come. Tonight. And I shall wait. Good night, my King. Your Majesty. A toast to Bagoas! OTHERS: To Bagoas! One of 30,000 beautiful Persian boys we're training to fight in this great army. (men cheering) Here's to the boys! And to the memory of Philip. Had he lived to see his Macedonians transformed into such... a pretty army. (laughter) To Philip, to a real... hero. (cheering) Hero! To Cleitus... and his new appointment as satrap of Bactria! OTHERS: Cleitus! Cleitus! A fancy way of putting it, Ptolemy, but we all know what a pension and an exile is after 30 years' service. ALEXANDER: 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, Cleitus? (laughter) 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: Hephaistion,... (crowd murmuring) ...Nearchus, Perdiccas. As governor of one of our most Asian of satrapies, Cleitus, 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 Herakles, do you not, and he was mortal, but... a son of Zeus. How can you, so young, compare yourself to Herakles? Why not? I've achieved more in my years, travelled as far. Probably farther. CLEITUS: 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, Amon, is it? You insult me, Cleitus. You mock my family. Be careful! CLEITUS: Never would your father take barbarians as his friends, ask 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, grovelling. And now you kiss them? Take a barbarian, childless wife and dare call her queen? Go quickly, Cleitus, 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! You no longer serve the purpose of this march! Get him from my sight! I don't serve your purpose? What was I serving when I saved your puppy life at Gaugamela? Do you think we'll be forced now to mate with grown apes? Alexander! Alexander! Turn out the guards! Arrest him for treason! (gasps) Who's with him? No. Who's with him?! I call Father Zeus to witness! I call you to trial before him! I will see how deep this conspiracy cuts! Take him! You speak about plots against you? What about poor Parmenion?! You made me do your foul deed! Have you no shame? Hah? Hypocrite! Despot! False king! May you and your barbarian mother live in shame! (fierce yelling) (gasping) (yells) (gasps weakly) (grunts) (groans) (weak groaning) (gasps) Cleitus! No... (moaning): Oh... You might only drive short distances to work each day. You might park securely at work. You may not drive your car to work at all. At Youi, we tailor your insurance premium to how you use or don't use your car. It could save you lots. Call: 1 Let me pass. Not permitted, Your Highness. I am the queen! (thunder crashing) 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? Hephaistion, you make a mistake. HEPHAISTION: The army needs your reassurance. Alexander. Yes... like an old lover, they forgive, but they never forget. You know, more than any, great deeds are done by men who took and never regretted. You're Alexander! Pity and grief will only destroy you. Have I become so arrogant that I am blind? Sometimes... to expect the best of everyone is arrogance. Then Cleitus spoke true. I am become a tyrant. You're mortal... and they know it, and they forgive you because you make them proud of themselves. But I failed... utterly. (thunder rumbling) (crowd cheering) (drums beating) Philip, King of Macedonia, and leader of the Greeks. All my life, I've waited to see Greeks grovel with respect for Macedonia. MAN: May the mighty Zeus...! Today is that day! (horses whinny) They say already, 'Philip was a great general, but Alexander is simply great.' But if you ever insult me again, I'll kill you. I've missed you. In the spring, Persia! You'll command my horse from the right. I'm honoured, Father. I wouldn't miss it for all the gold in the world. Which one day, you'll have. (laughing) OLYMPIAS: Making himself a 13th god. He's drunk so much wine, my poor Philip, he's lost his mind. Your Majesty. Attalus. (baby crying) I hope the prince is enjoying the spectacle as much as our regent. He's very tired. (crowd cheering) Here. (grunts) Pausanias! Bring the rest of the guard! Royal guard! To the arena! March! No guard, Your Majesty? In all this crowd? Greeks all over the place. Cleitus... Cleitus... my Cleitus. This man you can always trust, Alexander! Treat him as you would me. He'll guard your back for you. Yes, Father. My people are guard enough today, Cleitus! 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 entry only. Cleitus, make sure the wine flow is steady all day. I want them to like me. Weren't you told? I go in alone. You follow with the main guard. Go on. Go on! Father, it's best I go with you. You want the world to see you're my successor. Is that what she wants? Ah, don't look so hurt all the time, Alexander! Be a man! You count yourself lucky you were here at all today, after your public display. By Herakles, by Zeus, by all the Gods, obey me this once! Have courage, Father, and go on your way rejoicing that at each step, you may recall your valour. (crowd cheering) (fanfare playing) HERALD: And now, our beloved King, Philip, in whose honour these wedding games begin! (cheering and applause) Pausanias, I told you... (grunts) (applause fades) (groaning) (yells) (crowd screaming) MAN IN CROWD: Murder! (clamouring) WOMAN: They've murdered our king! (groaning) (gasping) (groans) (clamouring) (grunting) (sobbing) (clamouring, shrieking) (baby crying) (yells) (screaming) The King lives! Alexander, son of Philip! May the Gods bless the King! You're king now. You're king. May the Gods bless Alexander! Alexander! (cheering) Get out. Go. How can you behave so shamelessly in public? Because 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! In 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? Pausanias. He had help! Did you help him? No, never. Why? 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. You're so cursed by all the Gods when you speak like this. Such thick pride, and no mourning for your husband. 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've taken from me everything I've ever loved and made me you! Stop it! Stop acting like a boy! You're a king! Act like one! Parmenion is with us, for once. Execute Attalus without delay, then confiscate their lands, and root out that family forever. Eurydice? Never. Laugh, you monster. You heartbreaker. How will you live out the year like this, hmm? Have you learned nothing from Philip? No, from you, Mother. The best. 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. The Gods favour you. Great wealth, power, conquest ` all you desire ` the world is yours! Take it. (voice breaks): Take it. (both sobbing) PTOLEMY: 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. SERVANT: Your Majesty? PTOLEMY: By necessity, he had her uncle, Attalus, executed. (wind whistling) 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! SOLDIER: Follow Alexander! SOLDIER 2: I'll follow you! SOLDIER 3: We've fought with you all the way, Alexander! (shouting fades) What? Silence? SOLDIER: We're with you, Alexander! Peucestas ` a hero! Where are these great Amazons of myth, who dare to fight and kill men? Where have they gone? We'll never leave you, Alexander! We're with you, Alexander! You, Meleager, who are these tribes ahead, compared to those we've vanquished? Lysimachus? SOLDIER: Follow your king! Antigonous? You break my heart. You men... afraid? (distant): Crateros? SOLDIER: Crateros? (murmuring) Crateros! Crateros! (murmuring, shouting grows) Crateros! (murmuring continues) My king. I don't like no bellyachin', I won't tolerate it in any of my units... ...but 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. (men murmuring) In the rain and 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! (men grumbling) Crateros. SOLDIER: Quiet! Good Crateros. 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! Aye, you have, my King, and we love you for it! (men shouting) 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 that dark house they call Hades! SOLDIER (distant): Follow your king! SOLDIER 2: Kill the traitors! Yes... you're right, Crateros. I have been negligent. I should've sent you veterans home sooner, and I will. The first of you shall be the silver shields. (murmuring agreement) And then every man who's served seven years... (cheering) ...with full pensions from our treasury! (cheering) How much, Alexander? How much? 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, Crateros! 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 on, with my Asians! To the jackals with you then, Alexander! We come for you and you discard us! Shame! (men shouting) We want to see our wives and children before we die! Yeah! I've got grandchildren I haven't even seen! (clamouring) I want to see my children! I've paid for your bastard children! I've taken nothing for myself! And all I've asked of you is one more month! (clamouring continues) Shame! That's your king! What would your father say? I've taken you further than my father ever dreamed! Too far! ALEXANDER: So go home! I look to the barbarians for their courage! I go east! He wants us all dead, so no one can speak of his crimes! Who said that? We'll never make it back to Macedonia! You despicable coward! Come forth! Make your accusations public! Why? So you can have us killed? Son of Zeus! You desecrate your real father's memory! Or did you murder him like you did Cleitus? Hide! Hide in this mob! Cos I will take your life... (yells) You men insult my honour and my paternity! Arrest him! And him! Yes! And you, this loudmouth Demetrius! You call me murderer? I have no such blood on my hands! SOLDIER: Back off! And him. Yes, you'll know the pain of treason! Archias, you mock my shame for Cleitus when you tell me that I would harm a hair of my father's head! Arrest him! After all I've done for you, you swine! You cowards! Traitors! SOLDIER: Stand! Go back to the tents! Come on, then! Where are your daggers? PTOLEMY: He drove on, south to the Outer Ocean. 1 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. (rumbling) CRATEROS: Stay calm. Together, we are strong as gods. Cover with your left, strike hard with your right. (rumbling, distant shouting) NEARCHUS: Fear is rot. A waste of time! (banging shields) (roaring) Lock shields! Battle positions! (horn blowing) Move! (shouting) Move! (pounding footsteps) Choppers, prepare your knives! Follow me! (shouting) (exhales) (roaring, trumpeting) Strike hard, boys! Strike hard! (grunting) Come, Macedonians! Why do you hang back? Hurry! Cavalry! (shouting) Split to thirds! Regroup and encircle! (trumpeting) (screaming) Hold the line! We must hold! (screaming) (screaming) (shouting) (trumpeting) Oh, no! Cavalry on me! SOLDIER: Follow Alexander! Follow our king! Charge! Charge! (yells) The phalanx is in jeopardy. Meleager, ride to Pharnakes and tell him return to the centre at once! Yes, sir! Amyntas, find Hephaistion at the riverbank and bring all cavalry to the centre! Yes, my King! We must reach Crateros before it's too late! (trumpeting and roaring) (yelling) (grunting) ALEXANDER: Hephaistion, to the centre! Alexander! Come, Macedonians! Ride! Ride! (trumpeting) (metal clanging, grunting) (screams) (roaring) (yelling) Coenus! Get out of there! No! (screams) (trumpeting) (horses whinnying) (roaring and trumpeting) (whinnying) (shouting) The horses won't go! On foot, then! Fall back, men! Fall back! Come, Bucephalus. 'Tis only sun and shadow. You and I, together, one last time, Bucephalus. (grunting) Isn't it a lovely thing to live with great courage and to die leaving an everlasting fame? Come, Macedonians! Why do you retreat?! Do you want to live forever? In the name of Zeus, attack! (panting and grunting) Attack! Alexander! (yelling) (shouts) Alexander! (screams) (groans) (whinnies) The king is down! To the king! (yells) (horn blowing) (Bucephalus whinnies) (metal clanking) (shouting) (roaring) (yelling) (screaming) (whinnying) (bellowing) (grunting) (bellowing) PERDICCAS: How is he? How is he? (trumpeting) PTOLEMY: It was the bloodiest of his battles, pure butchery, the end of all reason. (roaring and trumpeting) We'd never be men again. (snorting softly) 1 (voices murmuring) MAN (distantly): Alexander is alive! He lives! Alexander! (cheering) Alexander! (cheering fades) Men of Macedon, we're going home. What? What? What? Home? Home? We're going home? What? (cheering) We're going home. (cheering) Yes! (cheering continues) PTOLEMY: His life should have ended in India... but that's myth. In life, Herakles 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. (horses whinnying) (soft gasping) Just last night he was... It's the water, Your Majesty. He mixed it with the wine. But how can this be? Typhus, of India? Oh, I wouldn't tax yourself, Your Majesty. A few good nights' rest will do it. But no wine or cold chicken... Get! Come, Doctor. Come, get out. I feel better. Soon, I'll be up. 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 scimitar. 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, Hephaistion. (whispering): My Alexander. I remember the young man who wanted to be Achilles, and then outdid 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. (sobbing): Oh, Hephaistion! (groaning) I worry for you without me. I am nothing without you. Come, fight, Hephaistion. We will die together. It's our destiny. (groaning) We'll have children with our wives, and our sons will play together as we once did. A thousand ships we'll launch from here, Hephaistion. 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. We'll beat them. And then explore the northern forests, and out the Pillars of Herakles to the Western Ocean. And then one day, not 10 years from now, Babylon, with its deep-water harbour, will be the centre of the world. Alexandrias will grow, populations will mix and travel freely. Asia and Europe will come together. And we'll grow old, Hephaistion, looking out our balcony at this new world. Hephaistion? Hephaistion? (Alexander screaming) Where is this doctor?! I can't explain this, Your Majesty. It's not possible. I-I swear by Apollo... Execute him! (wailing) Take him out now and execute him! Come away. Come away. Liars! Liars! You all hated him, all of you. Get out. Get out now! (rumbling) Be gone with you! Harpies! Get out! Get out! Are you drunk again? Get out. He's dead. Who? Many hated him. But I don't think any other would have dared. Hephaistion is dead? Are you mad? You monster. (shrieks) Are you mad? You've taken from me all that I've ever loved! May all the Furies ... on your miserable heart. (yelling) Alexander... I am with child! Alexander! (grunting) (yelling) YOUNG ALEXANDER: No! (man laughing) (yelling) Oh, Your Majesty! Alexander... I have your child. Alexander, my husband, my King... we have a son. My poor, poor, ill-fated son. Never touch me again. (panting) (screaming): No! (music playing) MAN: One last toast...! (men laughing) ...before the dawn. To my old friends. (growls) And to the myths. ALL: The myths! The myths! MAN: Drink it, Alexander. (men yelling encouragement) (cheering) (cheering continues) (man laughing) To the next dawn. (gagging) (clattering) (distant yelling) MAN: Yes, come. Come to Babylon. I await you. Your only loving son. (gasping) (ragged breathing) Wait. Wait. Vultures! Wait! Your son, Alexander! Just three more months. Please! My son! Alexander, we beg you, tell us who... who will rule this great empire if you leave us? (echoing voice): Fear not, you are a great man. (children laughing) (echoing voices) (voice whispering) (rumbling) (jumbled, echoing voices) OLYMPIAS: 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? ALEXANDER: To the best. (metallic scraping) He said to the best. No, no. No, he said 'to Crateros.' 'To Crateros'? Why would he say Crateros? (chains rattling) (ragged breathing) (wind whistling) (ragged breathing continues) (ragged breathing continues) (groaning) (clattering) PTOLEMY: On the 10th of June, a month short of his 33rd year, Alexander's great heart finally gave out, and, as he vowed, he joined Hephaistion. (wind whistling) 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. Olympias'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. (hawk squawking) (anguished yelling) Within hours, we were fighting like jackals for his corpse. The wars of the world had begun. 40 years, off and on, they endured ` Cassander in Greece, Crateros and Antigonous in Western Asia, Salucus and Perdiccas in the east, myself in Egypt ` until we divided his empire in four parts. Gentlemen, we are not savages! PTOLEMY: Cassander certainly proved his will to power, when seven years later, he had Olympias executed. And within 12 years, he achieved the complete destruction of Alexander's bloodline, when he poisoned Roxane 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 Cleitus? After all this time, to give away our wealth to Asian sycophants we despised, mixing the races, harmony. Pah! Oh, 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. Ah, 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, Great Pharaoh. 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... Ah... What failure! (laughing) His failure towered over other men's successes. I've lived... I've lived a long life, Cadmus, but the glory and the memory of man will always belong to the ones who follow their great visions. And the greatest of these is the one they now call... Megas Alexandros... ...the greatest Alexander of them all. www.able.co.nz Captions were made possible with funding from NZ On Air. Able 2015