Leaving his army behind he travelled towards Libya with his closest companions . He travelled across the Nile for up to 9 days in order to reach Sewa in Egypt where the Oracle of Amonra was . It is thought that during his journey he encountered two life threatening situations , the first was when he ran out of water in the middle of the dessert yet luckily it rained and the second was when they got lost but fortunately birds led them back on track . He soon entered Sewa which suprisingly is in the middle of the desert yet is incredibly fertile . Sewa was the place where Zeus was believed to have spoken directly to mankind . He then went to the Oracle to seek the answer to whether or not Zeus was indeed his father . He asked his question and was answered by the Priests who greeted him as the son of god. That was all he needed to hear and so he left . It is thought that they celebrated that night . Alexander was an opportunist and a visionary which made him incredibly dangerous .
He headed back to the Nile and back to meet his army .On his way he stopped at Luxor to honour his father.
Episode 2
He know turned his attention towards Persia . By Persia I mean what is now northern Iraq , Kurdistan .
It is thought that this was in 331 B.C. He met Darius there and successfully defeated his army yet Darius fled . Babylon then surrended to Alexander’s rule . His invasion of Persia had begun . He then went to Souza and sat on Darius’ throne , but seeing as Alexander was so short his feet didn’t reach the the floor and so a table was pulled up to rest his feet . All of a sudden a man started crying in the corner of the room, he said that that table that had just been placed under Alexander's feet was the same table that his master Darius had used to eat his food on . They were just about to remove the table when one of Alexander’s companions suggested that they keep the table there to signify his new power .
He now met reinforcements from Greece and headed towards the Zagros mountains . He decided that he would lead a surprise attack on Darius and so decided that the majority of the army would continue on the long route while he would lead the rest on a shortcut through the mountains . Alexander must have had intelligence on that route because it was a tricky hard to get by route that would only have been known of by the locals . Anyway they continued on this route until they were deep in the mountains , when they suddenly realised that they had been trapped by the Persians , for once Alexander had been outsmarted , they were surrounded by Persians standing up above them throughing stones at them . He was forced to retreat for he had been outwitted . He was now desperate and so when he heard of another route that this local shepherd talked of he welcomed it . The shepherd told him that it was impossible to get all his troops through this treacherous path yet Alexander was desperate and so took this route . The lives of himself and his army were in the hands of one shepherd , the shepherd could have been sent by the Persians yet Alexander had to take the chance . The troops had to keep dead silent for if they were heard the Persians may have cut them off . It was especially dangerous travelling that night for they had to travel in absolute darkness. One local man held the key to a kingdom , could he be trusted ? They stopped at a platter to have some food and divide the army . They would be split into three , one group led by Alexander would go one way while another division led by a general would go another way . The final third were the Royal Troops who had fought for Alexander’s father , they were told to wait until the other two divisions were in place and then they would attack . Luckily the shepherd had let them correctly and so they now had the Persian army surrounded , they attacked and defeated the Persians even though they put up a good fight .
The local shepherd who had led Alexander’s troops correctly was given a fortune equivalent to ¼ million pounds . It shows how much Alexander appreciated his honesty and guidance . Alexander now had the capital of the Persian Empire Percipus and he alone walked through the palace on his own and he knew that he had won revenge on the Persians , even though Darius and his nobles had escaped . The Palace was a magical site full of beautiful carving and gold . This tale that I have just told you is the tale of the victors , the Persians believed that Persia was truly theirs and that Alexander was the devil , nevertheless Alexander now had more gold than that at Fort Knox . He could finance any war needed , he was now truly the
Lord Of Asia . One problem remained and that was that Darius was still alive and so no Persians acknowledged Alexander’s rule . It is thought that that night they had a big feast and that during that feast a women spoke up and said that they should burn down the Palace as a shrine to Alexander’s rule and Darius’ end . Alexander agreed and so the Palace was burnt to bits .
The Zoroastrians who are the followers of one of the oldest religions believe that they preserve the true story of Alexander . They say that he persecuted them and forced their women to marry his soldiers . They believe that he killed their Priests , they believe that he was the devil and that he was cursed .
They claim to this day to have preserved the fire that burnt down the palace . They preach that he was the Devils disciple and that he covered the earth in blood . They believed that those who he wished to kill will kill him and that he would be swept out of Persia .
Anyway he now headed North to capture Darius , it was thought that Darius was headed towards Afghanistan . Some of Darius’ ministers believed that it would be best to accept Alexander and his wealth yet Darius would not . Alexander travelled 400 miles in 11 days during which half his forces died , the rate at which they travelled was extremely fast . During that time Darius and his Nobles held a conference about how they wanted a new leader . They decided that for now the Kinsman would take over yet Darius refused to give up his crown . He was arrested and placed in gold chains .
Alexander caught up with Darius’ army at first light. Darius was advised to flee yet he wouldn’t and so was slain by Bessus who was one of Darius’ best friends. He was then left to die in a small stream. One of Darius’ soldiers came looking for him and found him laying in that same stream bleeding to death. Darius handed him a note and a prayer , he asked that the note should be given to Alexander . Meanwhile the Persian army were defeated and Alexander could now proclaim himself Lord Of Asia . He had one problem though , his army were low on moral and so wanted to end this crusade and head back to Macedonia . Alexander used his charm to turn them around telling them how they can’t turn back now and it worked . He had pursuaded his whole army to continue . He held games to keep up the morale of the army , this seemed to work quite well . He now had plans to train thousands of Persians to fight for Macedonia , he even started to wear Persian clothes . It was obvious that he had been influenced by Persian culture . He was now approached by the leader of a band of female warriors . She told him how if they had a child together that it would be the ultimate warrior . He agreed but was unable to satisfy her . After two weeks she left not even pregnant , her plan had failed . Anyway the Macedonian army continued , they had now reached the Caspian Sea . Which they thought held the key to conquering the world . Alexander now headed towards Afghanistan .
Episode 3
Alexander now headed towards India via Afghanistan, he planned to wipe out Bessus who had killed Darius and so be proclaimed to be King of Asia. Alexander had heard that Bessus was waiting for him in the Hindu Kush and so he set out there desperate to kill the man who proclaimed his title . Bessus had known that Alexander was coming and so covered the whole main route with mines , yet he didn’t know Alexander very well for Alexander opted to take a fraction of his army on another treacherous route east . He had to just as before put all his trust in the hands of local guides . If they led him well then they would receive enormous rewards but if they led him wrongly they would be slain . To add to his problems Alexander had to carry all the food with him from the beginning for the local people had covered their crops . As he took this route he encountered many problems one of which was the cold and the chronic fatigue from the altitude that his men were suffering from . The army where also starving . Alexander heavily relied on engineers to clear the way for the army for the route was very unstable . He had now reached a point where they were dying from hunger and so Alexander had to trust a guide to lead them to a small village where there was good fishing and plenty of food . Luckily the gamble paid off and so the army were able to replenish themselves and regain their strength . Luckily there was no resistance from villagers . Besus was now on the run for wherever he went Alexander went . It was now summer and so there was a great water problem . Alexander was forced to give the army wine to drink instead but the after effect was almost fatal for the whole army had a hangover the next day . The army made rafts and so crossed the river in pursuit of Bessus . On their travel they found a village where all the people spoke Greek. Alexander soon found out that they were the ancestors of the people who helped the Persians against their own people . Alexander massacred the whole population of the town and set the town alight . Bessus now had no help or support . There was a last resistance before the empire collapsed . Bessus was caught and his ears and nose were cut off and he was sent to Persia to be impaled . Alexander then founded another city and called it Alexander the father .There he built a statue to a Greek god . Then it is said that he came across a city that he couldn’t defeat for they were such great horsemen . Alexander had never faced an army that used a hit and run tactic .It was said that he had now lost both sight and speech because of war . He was crippled and suffered from malnutrition . The opposition surrounded his army but luckily they were defeated . He had beaten the locals and so now teamed up with five other armies on find and destruct missions . Alexander soon after held a banquet which Khites a man who had saved his life attended. That night things got out of hand and Khites told Alexander how his father was a better man then he . Alexander killed Khites in cold blood and after that night became melancholy and crazy , he even suspended free speech . Alexander had still not conquered Southern Asia , and so he set out to defeat the rebels . He found them in the Sogdian mountains . They stood at the top and believed that the Macedonians would never be able to climb the mountains yet in the late hours of the night 300 climbers set out up the mountain . 32 died but they finally made it . The barbarians were scared, they couldn’t believe it and so they gave up . This was proof of Alexander’s ability . Suddenly there was an amazing twist for that night a Sogdian man held a banquet which Alexander and his men attended . At which there was a girl Roxanne who was the daughter of a baron . She danced before him and he showed interest in her . He asked her to marry him and even instructed some of his generals to marry locals too. He was around 29 and she was in her mid teens, but that wasn’t the amazing thing. The thing that astonished many was the fact that he had previously been homosexual like most Greeks yet had now changed sexuality . His marriage to her signified his conquest of Southern Asia . He then prepared for his conquest of India . He first headed to a place called Balkh above Afghanistan where he announced that he wanted to be worshipped as a god Persian Style . This didn’t go down too well and some of his pagers began to plot against him . They were disobeyed and tortured . But that wasn’t the end for Kalistolis who was the official historian of expedition and nephew of Aristotle qoated from the Illiad a line about how Retrolis Achilles friend was by far the better man than Achilles insisting that there are better man than he . There was a savage response from Alexander and he arrested Kalistolis and had him tortured and crusified . Questions began to arise about how far his men would follow him .
Episode 4
Alexander was now heading towards India , he had defeated Central Asia and so now believed that he was heading towards what he believed was the ends of the world . The invasion of India had begun . He found the customs in India weird and different to any he had previously encountered . The locals took him to Dianises where their were the descendants of the Kalash lived . Some of the army married the locals even . They marched up the river swat and then climbed Pirsoe . They were then taken by a local guide at night to the rivein . It took them seven days and seven nights to build a bridge . They finally crossed the bridge and massacred the Indians . Alexander had now even surpassed Hercules . They paused briefly in Taxides which was one of the first Greek cities in India . Alexander had to now march into unknown land . Meanwhile the local governor prepared a massive army to attack him . Alexander crossed the river and crushed the massive army . But he was stunned by their bravery and so gave back the Empire to Boris . They became allies . Alexander’s army had incurred massive casualties . He now reached the Beas Banks and found out about new river near Dhili where a large army awaited them . But only one thing stood in his way . His army, they were tired and at breaking point . They wanted to return to their families in Greece. For three days Alexander remained in his tent sulking because he wanted to take India . He asked the god’s for a sign , it came and so he accepted their will and began on a long journey back home . He made Alsas to gods . He then ordered a fleet to be built to get the troops across India . They were made and so some of the army crossed with the fleet while others marched . During this time he had a child but it sadly died . It took the army 7 months to cross the Indus . On his way he attacked a city in the lower Punjab . He broke through the tower of blood and began to climb the wall (using a ladder) that surrounded the city . The army didn’t want to fight another war so he alone and two bodyguards jumped into the city and fought desperately for their lives . The army panicked and knocked down the wall for they depended on Alexander to get them home . They massacred the whole city . Alexander had been hit by an arrow and collapsed . He was operated on by Coenus . The arrow was removed but it was poisoned and so he never really recovered . He was now close to death . He was taken down the Indus and on the way a new Alexandria was found. It is said that they survived on Oysters etc for their food supply was low . Admiral Nearchus took the army by sea while Alexander travelled by land . In October they began the journey home via the Macran Dessert . On their journey they came across flash floods and once they camped in a stream bed and many were killed. They stopped at the Torbat Fortress which is on route to Iran . Alexander took a different route towards sea . Which was through especially hard terrain . He didn’t take the main route and so the army suffered for there were no streams for 50 km and so they had to carry water with them. They carried on along the coast and pretty soon the journey became a nightmare . Their feet sank in the sand and they had to go through nights without water . The dying were left behind as the rest continued . Why he went along the coast is unknown ? Along the route some water was found . It was just enough for the leader . It was presented to him in a helmet . He took it and tipped it into the sand for if his army weren’t going to drink then neither would he . The route he took was deemed impossible for an army and that’s why he took it, for the challenge, 60 days later they reached Iran. At that time Iran was the centre of the Universe , he now regretted his earlier action of burning down the Palace . He still wanted to conquer the west . His close friend Histien died , Alexander was in despair . He went to Babylon ignoring the warning made by the gods to him . He died there on the 10th June . He had a bad fever . The veterans took a last look at his body to confirm his death to the people and to themselves . He had always taken recognition of the veterans . Alexander had been broken by the insanity of absolute power .
