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7:38
The Greatest Speech in History? Alexander the Great and the Opis Mutiny
Epic History
·
May 12, 2026
Open on YouTube
Transcript
0:40
What I’m about to say isn't meant to stop
you returning home. As far as I care, you
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can go wherever you wish. But I want you to
know how you have behaved towards me, and
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how I have treated you.
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I’ll begin, as is right, with my father,
Philip.
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When he found you, you were mere peasants,
wearing hides, tending a few sheep on the
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mountain slopes, and you could barely defend
them from your neighbours.
1:12
Under him, you began living in cities, with
good laws and customs. And he turned you from
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slaves into rulers over those very barbarians
who used to plunder your land.
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1:26
He conquered most of Thrace, taking the best
harbours so there was trade and prosperity,
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and put the mines to steady work.
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The Thessalians - they used to terrify you!
Well, we rule them now!
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The Athenians and Thebans, always looking
for a chance to attack Macedonia, were so
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humbled – myself playing my small part in
the war - that they no longer take tribute
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from Macedonia, but instead depend on us for
their protection!
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My father went to the Peloponnese and put
their house in order. Then he was declared
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supreme commander of all the Greeks for the
campaign against the Persians – an honour
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not just for himself, but for all Macedonians.
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This is what my father Philip did for you.
Great enough on its own – but small compared
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to what you’ve gained from me!
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I crossed the Hellespont, even though back
then the Persians still commanded the sea.
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I defeated the satraps of the Great King Darius,
and made you rulers of Ionia, Aeolis, Phrygia
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and Lydia, and took Miletus by siege.
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The rest of the land surrendered willingly,
and their wealth became yours.
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All the riches of Egypt and Cyrene, which
I won without a fight, are yours now. Syria,
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Palestine, Mesopotamia, Babylonia, all belong
to you! The wealth of Lydia, the treasures
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of Persia, the jewels of India and the outer
sea! You are now satraps. You are generals,
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and captains. What have I held back for myself,
apart from this purple cloak and diadem?
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Nothing. No man can point to my riches - only
the things I hold in trust for you all.
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And what would I do with them anyway? I eat
what you eat. I get no more rest than you.
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Many times I spent the night on watch so that
you could sleep soundly.
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Who among you believes he's worked harder
for me than I have for him?!
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Come on! If you’ve got scars, strip and
show them to me! I’ll show you mine. There
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isn’t one part of my body – the front,
at least – that doesn't bear a wound. My
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body's covered in scars from every weapon
you can think of – swords, arrows, stones,
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clubs.
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All for the sake of your lives, your glory
and your wealth.
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And yet here I still am, leading you, as conqueror
of land and sea, rivers, mountains and the
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plains.
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We’ve celebrated our weddings together.
Many of your children will be cousins of my
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own.
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I’ve paid off your debts, without asking
how you got them, even though you’re paid
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well enough and pillage every city we take.
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Many of you wear golden crowns – badges
of courage and honour given you by me.
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Any one of us who was killed, who met a glorious
end, we buried with full honours. Many now
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stand immortalised by bronze statues in Macedonia.
Their families are honoured, and pay no taxes.
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Under my command, not one man has been killed
fleeing the enemy.
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And now I wanted to send back some of you
who’ve been wounded or crippled, or have
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grown old, to be welcomed back home as heroes.
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But since you all wish to go, then all of
you – go!
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Go home and tell them that your king, Alexander,
conqueror of the Persians, Medes, Bactrians,
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and Scythians;
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who now rules over the Parthians, Chorasmians
and Hyrcanians as far as the Caspian Sea;
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who’s marched over the mountains of the
Hindu Kush, crossed the Oxus and Tanais rivers,
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even the Indus – the first to cross it since
Dionysus himself. I would have crossed the
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Hyphasis too if you hadn't cowered in fear…
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… who sailed into the Great Sea from the
mouth of the Indus, crossed the desert of
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Gedrosia, where no one had ever led an army.
Who took Carmenia, while my fleet sailed the
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Persian Gulf…
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When you get home, you tell them that when
you made it back to Susa, you abandoned him
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and went home, leaving him under the protection
of the foreigners you’d conquered.
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Perhaps this report of yours will seem glorious
in the eyes of men, and worthy in the eyes
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of the gods.
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Be gone!
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helped create this video.
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— end of transcript —
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