[00:00] Alexander the Great (All Parts)
[00:01] In 334 BC, Alexander, King of Macedonia, began one of the greatest military campaigns in history
[00:09] - against the superpower of the age - the Persian Empire.
[00:18] Just 20 years-old, his brilliant and fearless
leadership won him battle after battle.
[00:25] And in an astonishing 10 year campaign that
took him to the edge of the known world,
[00:30] he carved out one of the largest empires ever known.
[00:35] Few men have had such a massive impact on
the course of history.
[00:41] To the Persians, he was Alexander the Accursed,
but to the west,
[00:47] he was immortalised...  as  Alexander the Great.
[00:53] EPIC HISTORY TV
[00:55] And Invicta
[00:57] Aleksander the Great Part I
[01:01] Ancient Greece.
[01:06] From around 500 BC, this rugged land was the
scene of remarkable developments in art,  philosophy, and warfare.
[01:20] Its two greatest city-states were Athens,
a naval power, where democracy, art, drama and philosophy flourished;
[01:31] and Sparta, an austere, militaristic
 society, famed for its formidable army.
[01:40] In 480 BC, these two city-states had joined
forces
[01:46] to fight an invasion by the mighty  Persian Empire.
[01:51] At the narrow pass of Thermopylae, a small
Greek force, led by 300 Spartans,
[01:59] held up  the enormous Persian army for three days,
before they were finally encircled and killed.
[02:08] Then, in the straits of Salamis, the Greek
fleet defeated the Persian navy ...
[02:17] But they couldn't prevent the Persians burning
the sacred temples of the Athenian acropolis.
[02:26] The next year, at Plataea, the Greeks won
a decisive land battle against the Persians,and forced them to abandon their  invasion.
[02:40] The next fifty years were the golden age of
classical Greece.
[02:45] But rising tension between Athens and Sparta,
and their allies, eventually led to war,
[02:52] dragging  the Greek world into decades of destructive
fighting.
[02:57] Wars between the Greek city-states continued
for almost a century, leaving them exhausted...
[03:05] and vulnerable to a new, rising power to the
north...
[03:11] For centuries, sophisticated Greeks had viewed
the mountainous kingdom of Macedonia
[03:16] as a  backwater, hicksville - barely Greek at all.
[03:23] But under King Philip II, Macedonia emerged
as a formidable military force.
[03:31] His most famous reform: the introduction of
the sarissa, an 18 foot pike, twice the length of a normal Greek spear,
[03:40] and wielded by trained
infantry fighting in close formation, known as a phalanx.
[03:51] In 338 BC, at the Battle of Chaeronea, Philip's
army crushed the joint forces of Thebes and Athens.
[04:02] Through alliance and conquest, Philip had
already gained control over most of his neighbours.
[04:09] Now, following this victory, he united all
Greece in an alliance known as the Hellenic  League,
[04:16] or League of Corinth, with Philip
as hegemon – or supreme commander.
[04:23] Only Sparta stood aside.
[04:28] Philip began to plan a great campaign - a
Panhellenic, or all-Greek, war against the Persian Empire.
[04:37] Their old foe was now an ailing
superpower, its great riches ripe for the taking...
[04:46] But on the eve of launching his war, Philip
was assassinated by his own bodyguard
[04:53] – victim  of Macedonia's brutal court rivalries.
[05:00] He was succeeded by his 20 year-old son Alexander:
brilliant, restless, tutored by the great philosopher Aristotle,
[05:10] and already an experienced
military commander.
[05:15] Alexander inherited his father's grand plan
to invade Persia, but first he had to secure his own position as king:
[05:24] At home, he had potential rivals executed,
then crushed rebellions in Illyria, Thessaly, and central Greece.
[05:34] He made a special example of Thebes – completely
destroying the ancient city, and selling its people into slavery.
[05:44] In the spring of 334 BC, now ready to launch
his war against the Persian Empire, Alexander led his army across the Hellespont  into Asia
Minor.
[05:57] It was the start of one of the greatest military
campaigns in history.
[06:03] The Macedonian Army
[06:10] Alexander's army was about 40,000 strong,
drawn from all parts of Greece.
[06:16] The infantry were commanded by the veteran
Macedonian general Parmenion.
[06:23] In the front rank, 9,000 Macedonian phalangites,
armed with the 18-foot sarissa.
[06:31] These were professional soldiers, well-trained
and drilled, who formed up for battle in the phalanx, 16 ranks deep.
[06:39] This packed formation presented a solid wall
of iron spear-tips, and was virtually unstoppable.
[06:47] But it was also difficult to manoeuvre, and
highly vulnerable to attacks on its flanks  or rear.
[06:55] So 3,000 elite infantry, the hypaspists, or
'shield-bearers', armed with shorter spears,
[07:02] guarded its flanks. They were commanded by
Parmenion's son, Nikanor.
[07:11] The second line of Alexander's army was made
up of 7,000 Greek allies and 5,000 mercenaries,
[07:18] armed as hoplites. They took their name from
the hoplon, their large round shield, and carried, shorter, 8 foot spears.
[07:31] A hoplite phalanx was not as effective as
the Macedonian phalangites, but still well-armed and heavily armoured for the time.
[07:44] The Agrianes were the army's elite skirmishers,
expert javelin-throwers from what's now southern Bulgaria.
[07:53] Other skirmishers from Thrace, and Illyria,
were armed with javelins, slings and bows.
[08:04] The shock troops of Alexander's army were
the Companion Cavalry, 1,800 elite horsemen armed with spear and sword,
[08:14] commanded by Philotas,
another son of Parmenion. Alexander led the royal squadron in person.
[08:24] There were also 1,800 cavalry from Thessaly,
commanded by Kallas,
[08:30] 600 from other parts  of Greece, led by Erigyius, and 900 mounted scouts from Thrace and Paeonia, under Kassander.
[08:47] THE GRANICUS
[08:56] The great Persian Empire was divided into
provinces, called satrapies.  Each satrapy was ruled by a governor, or satrap.
[09:08] Those in Asia Minor now threatened by Alexander's
invasion met to discuss strategy.
[09:15] Memnon of Rhodes, a skilled Greek general
in Persian service, urged them to avoid battle with Alexander.
[09:24] Instead, he advised them to
use a 'scorched earth' strategy
[09:28] – to burn  villages and crops, and withdraw to the interior - Alexander's army, he promised, would quickly starve.
[09:38] It was good advice. But the satraps were unwilling
to lay waste to their own provinces without a fight.
[09:50] So they decided to face Alexander's army at
the River Granicus.
[09:59] The Persian army formed up behind the river,
which was shallow, but 60 feet wide with steep banks.
[10:09] Their front line was a wall of cavalry, about
10,000 horsemen from across the empire
[10:16] – Medes and Hyrcanians from modern Iran, Bactrians
from Afghanistan, and Paphlagonians from Turkey's Black Sea coast.
[10:27] Behind, in reserve, were the infantry – several
thousand Greek mercenaries,
[10:33] a common sight in Persian armies at this time. These men fought for Persian gold,
[10:39] and were armed with the round shield and short spear of hoplites.
[10:44] The Persians may have been unsure if they
could trust these men in combat against fellow Greeks,  and so placed them at the rear.
[10:54] Alexander, determined to attack and destroy
this Persian force before it could retreat, raced to the Granicus with his best troops.
[11:04] On his left wing, he posted Thessalian, Greek
and Thracian cavalry, under Parmenion's command.
[11:14] In the centre, were the massed spears of the
phalanx, its six divisions commanded by Perdikkas, Koinos, Amyntas, Philip, Meleager, and Krateros.
[11:29] On the right, Alexander himself, with the
Companion Cavalry under Philotas, as well
[11:35] as the elite hypaspists, the Agrianes javelin-throwers,
and the archers.
[11:43] Alexander, with 13,000 infantry, and 5,000
cavalry in all, was probably slightly outnumbered.
[11:52] But ignoring advice to wait until dawn to
cross the river, he ordered an immediate assault.
[11:59] He sent a squadron of Companion cavalry to
ford the river, followed by a regiment of hypaspists and the Paeonian light cavalry.
[12:08] Alexander, calling on his men to show their
courage, then led his right wing across the river.
[12:22] As they reached the middle of the river, the
Greeks came under a hail of javelins,
[12:26] darts and arrows from the Persian line. Those that
made it to the far bank were immediately charged by the Persian cavalry.
[12:39] 🎶
[12:43] Alexander was in the thick of the fighting.
[12:50] “he attacked where the whole mass of their
cavalry and leaders were stationed.
[12:55] Around him a desperate conflict raged... horses were
jammed against horses and men against men,
[13:04] the Macedonians striving to drive the Persians
away from the river bank, the Persians determined to prevent them crossing
[13:13] and to push them
back into the river.”
[13:18] 🎶
[13:23] Alexander's attack seemed reckless, but he
was buying time for the rest of his army to cross the river,
[13:31] including the irresistible
Macedonian phalanx.
[13:39] Then suddenly Alexander was fighting for his
life, charged by two Persian nobles.
[13:47] “Rhoesaces rode up to Alexander and struck
him on the head with his sword,
[13:52] breaking off a piece of his helmet. But the helmet broke
the force of the blow, and Alexander struck him down with his lance.
[14:00] Then, from behind,
Spithridates raised his sword against the king, but Black Cleitus,
[14:06] son of Dropidas,
anticipated his blow, struck his arm, and cut it off, sword and all.”
[14:20] Now the Greek army was across the river, and
the Persian cavalry faced a wall of Macedonian spears. Most turned and fled.
[14:35] 🎶
[14:38] The speed and shock of Alexander's attack
meant Persia's Greek mercenaries hadn't even had time to join the battle.
[14:46] Alexander, in a blood-rage, or possibly regarding
these Greeks as traitors, ignored their appeals for mercy.
[14:57] The mercenaries were surrounded
on all sides, and massacred.
[15:10] Alexander had won a great victory. Asia Minor now lay at his mercy.
[15:18] But the Persian Empire was still a land of
immense wealth and power.
[15:24] Already it was mobilising  its vast resources to face him.
[15:29] If Alexander was to conquer this empire and
take his place in history, he'd next have to face Darius, King of Kings, himself...
[15:44] Now, as Alexander approached Sardis, capital
of the Persian province of Lydia, its  commander surrendered without a fight.
[15:55] But before Alexander could advance further,
he needed to neutralise Persian naval power
[16:03] Persia had a powerful fleet, with major naval
bases around the eastern Mediterranean - that
[16:08] could potentially cut his lines of communication
back to Greece.
[16:15] Rather than challenge the Persians at sea,
Alexander decided to attack their nearest bases:
[16:22] the Greek coastal cities of Miletus
and Halicarnassus.
[16:27] Both put up determined resistance, but were
taken by winter.
[16:35] The following spring of 333 BC, Alexander
continued his advance into Lycia... and Phrygia.
[16:45] At Gordium, he was shown the legendary 'Gordian
Knot' – a prophesy said that whoever could unpick it would rule all Asia.
[16:54] Alexander simply took his sword, and sliced
it in half.
[17:05] Meanwhile Memnon of Rhodes, a skilled Greek
general in Persian service, led Persian warships into the Aegean,
[17:14] and captured the islands
of Chios and Lesbos.
[17:18] But after Memnon's sudden death from illness,
the offensive was abandoned.
[17:26] The Battle of Issus
[17:33] 18 months had passed since Alexander's army
crossed the Hellespont and invaded the Persian Empire.
[17:40] Now Alexander led his men into Cilicia...
and was soon poised to cross the Nur Mountains into Syria.
[17:50] But then the main Persian army, led by King
Darius III himself, emerged behind the Greek army, to the north.
[18:01] Darius was determined to trap and destroy
Alexander's army, which he outnumbered almost 2 to 1.
[18:09] So he blocked Alexander's only escape route,
by moving his army to the coastal plain near Issus,
[18:15] just 6 miles wide from mountains to
sea.
[18:24] The narrow battlefield would force Alexander
to fight, but it also prevented Darius exploiting his huge numerical advantage.
[18:35] His army, by some estimates, was up to 100,000
strong, and contained some of the finest soldiers in his vast empire
[18:43] - including 10,000 of his
own household troops, known as the Immortals.
[18:51] His best cavalry were massed on his right,
towards the sea, where the ground was better for horses.
[18:59] His best infantry, his Greek mercenary
hoplites, formed the centre.
[19:07] Persian infantry formed his left wing.
[19:14] Alexander deployed his own army for battle,
once again entrusting his left wing, nearest the sea, to Parmenion
[19:22] , with the Greek cavalry
and infantry.
[19:27] In the centre, as always, was the Macedonian
phalanx.
[19:33] Alexander positioned himself and his best
troops on the right wing, toward the mountain slopes –
[19:39] his elite Agriane javelin-throwers,
his archers, and behind them, the Hypaspists and the Companion cavalry.
[19:51] When Alexander saw the strength of the Persian
cavalry facing Parmenion on the left,
[19:57] he moved  across his Thessalian cavalry to reinforce
him.
[20:03] Despite his overwhelming numbers, Darius held
his position behind a small river, the Pinarus, and waited for Alexander to attack.
[20:15] He didn't have to wait long.
[20:20] Alexander called out to his men, urging them
to fight bravely, picking out some by name.
[20:27] Then, at the head of his army's right wing,
he charged.
[20:39] Once again, the speed and shock of the Macedonian
advance sent the enemy reeling back.
[20:48] But in the centre of the battlefield, the
Macedonian phalanx was in trouble.
[20:54] In its  effort to keep up with Alexander, its formation
had become disordered.
[20:59] Now, in fierce fighting, with Darius's Greek
mercenaries, the phalanx was slowly being driven back.
[21:12] Alexander, seeing the danger, regrouped, and
led the Companions in a headlong charge straight at the Persian centre.
[21:24] The Greek mercenaries,
threatened on their flank, were soon in disarray,
[21:29] and the Macedonian phalanx was able to resume
its advance.
[21:35] Alexander fought his way towards the Great
King, Darius himself.
[21:43] Rather than face this apparently mad and fearless
Macedonian king, Darius fled the  battlefield  in his royal chariot.
[21:55] Meanwhile the Macedonian left wing, under
Parmenion, was in a desperate fight against the best of the Persian cavalry.
[22:04] If the Persians could break through here, they could envelop Alexander's army, and snatch victory from
the jaws of defeat.
[22:12] But Parmenion and his troops fought doggedly,
and continued to hold the Persians at bay.
[22:21] As the news that Darius had fled spread among
his troops, they abandoned the fight, and tried to save themselves.
[22:37] The battle turned into a massacre.
[22:43] Ptolemy, one of the Macedonian commanders,
told Alexander there were so many Persian dead,
[22:50] his men had used them to fill a deep
ravine, so they could cross over it.
[23:03] Son of Amun
[23:12] The Battle of Issus was a stunning victory
for Alexander.
[23:17] And amongst the spoils of victory, were Darius's
wife, mother, and three children, all taken alive, and well treated by Alexander.
[23:30] With the Persian field army in retreat, Alexander
now turned to subduing the western territories of the Persian empire.
[23:42] The next year, 332,
the coastal cities of Phoenicia submitted to Alexander
[23:48] – ending Persian naval power
in the Mediterranean.
[23:52] But the island-city of Tyre resisted.
[23:58] Tyre's defenders fought bravely and skilfully
– even when Alexander began building a causeway to the island,
[24:05] protected by two giant siege
towers... which they counter-attacked with fire ships.
[24:12] But after seven months, the city walls were
breached, and Tyre fell. Most of its citizens were killed or enslaved.
[24:22] Gaza too was taken by siege.
[24:27] Alexander continued to Pelusium, on the Nile
Delta,
[24:32] where the Persian governor of Egypt surrendered the entire province to Alexander, along with the royal treasury.
[24:45] At Memphis, priests of this ancient land welcomed
Alexander as their liberator from Persian rule,  and crowned him Pharaoh.
[24:57] At the mouth of the Nile, he founded a new
city, Alexandria...
[25:02] then travelled to the  desert oracle of Siwah, where, according to some accounts, the priests welcomed
[25:09] him as  son of Amun, king of the gods.
[25:16] Alexander returned east to Tyre... where in
331 BC, he received news of trouble back home.
[25:26] Despite his great victories over the Persians,
many Greeks regarded Alexander as a tyrant.
[25:33] King Agis of Sparta, with Persian support,
now launched a revolt against Macedonia.
[25:41] Antipater, Alexander's commander in Greece,
was already dealing with rebellion in Thrace.
[25:48] But he quickly marched south... and met Agis
in battle near the city of Megalopolis.
[25:59] Even the legendary Spartans were now no match
for Macedonian military power.
[26:10] The Spartan army was crushed. King Agis himself was among the fallen.
[26:29] With his base in Greece secure once more,
Alexander advanced towards the Persian heartlands,
[26:36] seeking a final showdown with Darius.
[26:39] He received a letter from the Persian king,
offering him a fortune in gold,
[26:44] his daughter  in marriage, and half his empire in exchange for peace.
[26:50] But Alexander's stunning victories, all the
oracles and acclamations, had now convinced him that his destiny was to rule the world...
[27:00] He rejected the Persian king's offer. He didn't
want half the empire - he was coming to  take it all...
[27:18] In 334 BC, Alexander, 21 year-old ruler of
the small Greek kingdom of Macedonia,
[27:26] led an invasion of the vast Persian Empire.
[27:32] It seemed impossible odds, but thanks to Greek
military dominance, and Alexander's fearless leadership,
[27:40] he won two great battles against
the Persians… at the River Granicus, and at Issus.
[27:52] Having subdued Persian lands west of the Euphrates
River, he now headed east into the empire's heartlands,
[28:01] seeking a final showdown with
the Persian King, Darius III.
[28:09] Receiving news that a great Persian army,
led by Darius, had assembled at Gaugemela,
[28:14] near modern Mosul in Iraq – he made straight
for it.
[28:20] This was Darius's last chance to stop Alexander
– and Alexander's chance to smash Persian power once and for all.
[28:31] The Battle of Gaugamela
[28:39] Darius had chosen to fight on open ground,
where his advantage in numbers would be more telling.
[28:46] His soldiers had also worked hard to clear
and flatten the terrain, to make it suitable for Persian war chariots.
[28:56] By modern estimates, the Persian Army was
between 50 and 80,000 strong,
[29:01] and made  up of contingents from across the empire:
[29:06] infantry from Syria and Babylonia...
[29:12] cavalry from Armenia, India and Central Asia...
[29:19] up to 200 scythed chariots... even a handful
of war elephants.
[29:29] Alexander's army was smaller, and may have
been outnumbered by as much as two to one.
[29:36] He deployed his units in their usual formation:
[29:40] On the left flank, Thracian and Thessalian
cavalry, commanded by Parmenion.
[29:49] In the centre, the Macedonian veterans of
the phalanx – each armed with their 18 foot sarissa pike.
[29:59] On the right flank, Alexander with his elite
cavalry, the Companions; and his best infantry, the hypaspists.
[30:09] These were the units with
which Alexander planned to launch his main attack.
[30:16] Greek hoplites formed a second line, and supported
both wings – which were angled back,
[30:22] to guard against encirclement by the Persians.
[30:31] The battle began when Alexander led his wing
out to the right – a move that took the Persians by surprise.
[30:40] Could Alexander really be trying to encircle
their huge army?
[30:48] The Persians mirrored his movement, taking
troops away from their centre, to outflank Alexander,
[30:55] and prevent him leaving the area
they'd cleared for the Persian chariots.
[31:01] But Alexander's unusual manoeuvre was a trap
- to entice the Persians to weaken their centre.
[31:08] When he saw that it had worked, he ordered
his Greek cavalry to charge, to keep the Persians fixed in position.
[31:18] A giant cavalry battle developed on the right
wing.
[31:24] Darius, meanwhile, judging this to be the
decisive moment, unleashed his chariots.
[31:39] But expert Agrianes javelin-throwers took out
horses and crews
[31:45] – while the Greek infantry opened lanes, allowing the chariots to pass harmlessly through.
[31:59] Now Alexander led his Companion cavalry, and
parts of the Macedonian phalanx,
[32:05] in a headlong charge straight at the weakened Persian centre, fighting his way towards Darius himself.
[32:13] The sudden ferocity of Alexander's assault
threw the Persians into panic
[32:18] – the centre of the army broke and ran - King Darius himself leading the rout.
[32:30] But Alexander's left wing was in serious trouble
– Parmenion, facing a huge onslaught by Persian cavalry,
[32:39] was virtually surrounded - Indian and Scythian 
horsemen had even ridden through a gap in the Greek line
[32:46] – but rather
than wheeling and attacking the Greeks from behind, they'd carried straight on to loot their camp.
[32:58] Parmenion sent a desperate appeal to Alexander
for help.
[33:06] The King abandoned his pursuit of Darius,
regrouped, and charged the Persian right wing.
[33:22] It was the hardest and bloodiest fighting
of the battle – claiming the lives of sixty of Alexander's Companions.
[33:34] Finally, as news of Darius's flight spread
across the battlefield, the last Persian horsemen turned and fled.
[33:48] The Battle of Gaugamela was a stunning and
complete victory for Alexander.
[33:54] According to ancient sources, he lost just
a few hundred men, while the Persians lost thousands.
[34:07] Alexander had routed Darius's great army,
and now the road to Babylon – the  empire's main capital - lay open.
[34:18] The Macedonian king entered the great city
in triumph, recognised by Persian officials as its new rightful ruler.
[34:28] So too at the city of Susa, where Alexander
ceremonially took his seat upon the royal throne of Persia.
[34:38] In the Zagros mountains, at a pass known as
the Persian Gates,
[34:43] a courageous Persian force  held up Alexander's army for a month.
[34:49] The Greeks eventually found a mountain path
that bypassed their position,
[34:54] allowing them  to encircle and wipe out the defenders.
[34:59] In early 330 BC, Alexander reached Persepolis,
the empire's ceremonial capital.
[35:07] Alexander wanted to appear as a liberator
to the Persians – as a legitimate  
 successor to King Darius
[35:17] - but now, he ordered Persepolis
to be pillaged and burnt – retribution for the Persian invasion of Greece,
[35:25] and the burning
of Athens' sacred temples in 480 BC.
[35:35] Alexander now headed north into Media, where
Darius had taken refuge in the royal city of Ecbatana.
[35:44] Alexander was determined to capture
Darius – but the fugitive king fled east in the hope of raising a new army
[35:52] in the provinces
of Parthia, Bactria, and Sogdia.
[35:58] It was not to be. As Alexander closed in,
the Persian king was murdered by one of his own governors,
[36:05] Bessus, who then proclaimed
himself the empire’s new ruler.
[36:13] Alexander gave orders for Darius to be buried
in the royal tombs of Persepolis, alongside his ancestors.
[36:22] Then he paused to organise his vast new empire.
[36:28] Alexander appointed viceroys to rule the provinces
on his behalf,
[36:33] keeping several Persians - who  had sworn loyalty - in their posts.
[36:39] Then he resumed his march east. His goal: to find and kill the usurper Bessus...
[36:47] subjugate the empire's eastern provinces... and reach the far edge of the world...
[37:04] In 330 BC, Alexander continued his march east.
[37:11] His goal: to find and kill Bessus - a Persian
usurper, claiming to be the rightful king
[37:19] – and to subjugate the empire's eastern
provinces...
[37:28] Alexander headed first for Aria, today part
of Afghanistan, where the Persian  governor  Satibarzanes
[37:37] had launched a revolt – after
initially pretending to submit to Alexander.
[37:43] The rebellion was crushed, and Satibarzanes
killed in single combat by a Greek cavalry officer.
[37:52] Nearby, Alexander founded the city of Alexandria
Ariana, modern Herat – one of around a dozen cities
[38:01] that Alexander would eventually found,
almost all bearing his name.
[38:09] Alexander marched on to Phrada.
[38:14] The Macedonian court had a long tradition
of plots and assassination.
[38:20] Six years before,  Alexander's own father, King Philip, had been murdered by his bodyguard.
[38:28] He was now informed that Philotas, commander
of his Companion Cavalry,
[38:33] had uncovered a  plot to assassinate Alexander, but kept it secret.
[38:40] Philotas, and his father Parmenion, were among
the most respected of Alexander's commanders,
[38:46] and had played crucial roles in all his great
victories.
[38:52] But when Philotas confessed under torture, Alexander had him executed.
[38:58] then sent assassins  back to Ecbatana, where Parmenion was governor, to kill him before he even heard of his son's death,
[39:07] and had a chance to turn against Alexander.
[39:12] In 329, Alexander resumed his pursuit of Bessus.
[39:17] En route, he founded the city of Alexandria
Arachosia – modern Kandahar, in southern Afghanistan.
[39:27] As he reached Kunduz, Bessus was betrayed
by his own men, and handed over in chains.
[39:35] Alexander sent him back to Persia for execution,
as a king-slayer.
[39:44] Alexander pushed on into modern Tajikistan,
where the Sogdians rose up against him.
[39:53] He  had to fight off attacks by local tribes,
and take several towns by assault.
[40:03] On the banks of the Jaxartes River, he founded
the city of Alexandria-Eschate, meaning Alexandria  'the Furthest'
[40:12] – so-named because he had,
at last, reached the limit of the Persian Empire.
[40:23] This frontier was frequently raided by nomads,
known to the Greeks as Scythians.
[40:30] Alexander lured them into a decisive battle
near the Jaxartes.
[40:45] The result was a crushing  victory for the Macedonian king, that put an end to the raids.
[40:54] But fighting against Bactrian and Sogdian
tribes continued, frustrating Alexander,
[41:00] and tying him down in a difficult guerilla war.
[41:05] Tyrant
[41:11] By now, many of the Macedonian troops were
unhappy with Alexander.
[41:16] Most had not seen  their homes in years, but their king seemed bent on conquest without end.
[41:23] What was worse,  he'd begun to adopt the rituals and dress of their defeated Persian enemy
[41:30] – customs they viewed as effeminate, and decadent.
[41:39] At Maracanda, modern Samarkand, after a furious,
drunken argument, Alexander killed Cleitus the Black.
[41:50] Cleitus had been one of Alexander's best generals,
and the man who'd saved his life at the Battle of the Granicus.
[41:59] Alexander was full of remorse, but his growing
arrogance was alienating more and more old comrades.
[42:09] When he tried to make his countrymen perform
the traditional Persian ritual of proskynesis
[42:15] – prostrating themselves before the king
- he crossed a line.
[42:20] To Greeks this was blasphemy – only a god
was worthy of such respect - and Alexander was forced to back down.
[42:33] In Bactria, another plot to assassinate Alexander
was uncovered. This time the ringleader was a royal page
[42:43] – one of the sons of Macedonian
nobility who attended the king.
[42:48] Hermolaus had become murderously bitter towards Alexander over a perceived injustice. He and his accomplices were tortured,
[42:58] and then stoned to death.
[43:02] Callisthenes, Alexander's official historian,
was also implicated in the conspiracy.
[43:10] He  was thrown in prison, where he later died.
[43:15] That summer, in 327 - according to legend
- Alexander became captivated by the beauty of Roxana,  daughter of a Bactrian lord.
[43:26] Their marriage was also a sound political
move, helping to end local revolt against his rule
[43:33] – and allowing him to continue
his advance... into modern Pakistan, and India.
[43:44] To the Edge of the World
[43:51] Alexander now prepared to subdue the Persian
Empire's most eastern provinces, which had yet to recognise his kingship.
[44:04] To do so he would first have to cross the
Hindu Kush mountains and reach the Indus river valley.
[44:18] Advancing in two columns, his army won a series
of skirmishes against the Aspasii and Assaceni,
[44:27] as they fought their way into what's now the
Swat Valley of northern Pakistan.
[44:34] After a fierce siege, Alexander took the Assacenian
capital of Massaga.
[44:41] According to legend it was ruled by a beautiful
queen, Cleophis, who bore Alexander a  son, and was allowed to keep her throne.
[44:53] The ruler of Taxila, near modern Islamabad,
had formed an alliance with Alexander.
[45:00] Together they marched to face Porus, king
of Pauravas, at the Battle of the Hydaspes.
[45:11] It was Alexander's costliest battle, as Porus's
war elephants inflicted terrible casualties amongst the Greeks.
[45:20] But despite Porus's fearless leadership, the
battle ended in a decisive victory for Alexander, winning him control of the Punjab.
[45:32] Alexander wanted to push on into India, to
reach the great river which ancient Greek geographers said formed the edge of the world.
[45:43] But at the River Hyphasis, known today as
the Beas, his army mutinied.
[45:52] His men had marched thousands of miles, fought
countless battles, and not seen their homes in 8 years.
[46:01] They'd heard rumours of gigantic
armies waiting for them in India.
[46:07] They refused to go any further.
[46:14] Alexander was furious, but had to turn the
army around.
[46:20] He followed the rivers of the Punjab to the
sea – a journey that took 10 months.
[46:26] On the way, he defeated the Mahlians, but while
leading the assault on their capital, was wounded in the chest and nearly killed.
[46:41] After reaching the coast, part of the army under
Nearchus, she boarded and returned by sea to Persia.
[46:51] sailing through the Strait
Hormuz and swam to the Persian Gulf.
[46:58] It was one of the great ancient voyages of
exploration, as these waters had been previously unknown to Greeks.
[47:09] Meanwhile Alexander led the rest of the army
back by land through the Gedrosian desert,
[47:16] today in southern Pakistan. But extreme heat
and shortages of food and water led to terrible suffering,
[47:25] and many deaths among his army.
[47:30] On his return to Persia, Alexander executed
several of his viceroys and governors
[47:37] - men accused of ruling unjustly, and robbing temples
and tombs, during his long absence in the east.
[47:47] At Susa, he arranged a magnificent mass-marriage
of Macedonian officers to 80 Persian  noblewomen,
[47:55] to strengthen bonds between his two kingdoms.
[47:59] Alexander himself married two Persian princesses.
[48:04] He also paid all his soldiers debts, and ordered
30,000 youths from across the empire to be trained  in the Macedonian art of war.
[48:19] But at Opis, his Macedonian troops mutinied.
[48:25] They were offended by Alexander's apparent preference for Persian advisors and Persian ways. Alexander had the ringleaders executed,
[48:34] and made a speech to the men, reminding them
of the glories they'd won together,
[48:39] and leading eventually to an emotional reconciliation.
[48:47] At Ecbatana, Alexander's closest and most
trusted friend, Hephaestion, died of fever.
[48:56] The king was grief stricken, went days without
eating, and ordered a period of public mourning across the empire.
[49:10] Alexander waged a successful campaign against
the mountain raiders of Cossaea,
[49:16] who not even the Persian kings had been able to subdue.
[49:21] Returning to Babylon, he was met by embassies
from distant peoples,
[49:26] come to recognise his greatness – Aethiopians, Libyans, European Scythians, Lucanians, Etruscans, Gauls and Iberians.
[49:44] Alexander's Bactrian wife Roxana was now pregnant...
[49:49] But as he planned his next campaign, to Arabia
and beyond, he developed a sudden fever,
[49:57] and died days later, aged just 32.
[50:05] The cause of Alexander's death has never been
established. It may have been malaria, cholera, typhus... or poison.
[50:18] The Successors
[50:26] Alexander died undefeated in battle. His reputation
as a brilliant, fearless and daring military commander remains undimmed.
[50:37] His decade long campaign created one of the
largest empires ever known, stretching from Greece to Pakistan.
[50:46] But it was vast and unstable, held together
only by his own brilliance and name.
[50:53] Alexander left no plans for his succession,
and his generals soon began fighting among themselves
[51:00] to carve out their own empires.
[51:04] In the Wars of the Successors, Alexander's
widow Roxana and his young son were murdered.
[51:13] His own gold sarcophagus, en route to Macedonia
for burial was hijacked, and ended up in Alexandria, in Egypt.
[51:23] Today, it's location remains one of the world's
great unsolved mysteries.
[51:31] Few men have ever had such an impact on the
course of history as Alexander the Great.
[51:39] The breath-taking achievements of his short
life ushered in the Hellenistic Age,
[51:45] as Greek  ideas spread across the territory of his former
empire, fusing with local traditions to trigger
[51:51] new developments in art, science, government
and language.
[51:59] Some of the successor kingdoms to his great
empire were short-lived
[52:04] – others endured for centuries.. but all, in turn, would fall to new forces... and in the west, to the rising power of Rome.
[52:28] Research and artwork for this video comes
from Osprey Publishing's extensive range of books on ancient history.
[52:35] Every Osprey book examines a particular battle, campaign or combat unit in authoritative,
meticulous detail.
[52:43] And with more than 3,000 titles, they cover
everything from ancient warfare to modern conflict.
[52:49] Visit their website to see their online catalogue.
[52:53] Thank you to all the Patreon supporters who
made this video possible, and to the  channel ‘Invicta’
[53:00] – find out more about key
moments from the past in their ‘Moments in History’ series.
[53:07] Joachim wrote and translated
[53:15] He writes and translates into several languages: Joachim Moczko