1 00:00:40,840 --> 00:00:47,190 What I’m about to say isn't meant to stop you returning home. As far as I care, you 2 00:00:47,189 --> 00:00:54,589 can go wherever you wish. But I want you to know how you have behaved towards me, and 3 00:00:54,590 --> 00:00:56,760 how I have treated you. 4 00:00:56,759 --> 00:01:02,049 I’ll begin, as is right, with my father, Philip. 5 00:01:02,049 --> 00:01:08,569 When he found you, you were mere peasants, wearing hides, tending a few sheep on the 6 00:01:08,569 --> 00:01:12,319 mountain slopes, and you could barely defend them from your neighbours. 7 00:01:12,319 --> 00:01:19,629 Under him, you began living in cities, with good laws and customs. And he turned you from 8 00:01:19,629 --> 00:01:26,170 slaves into rulers over those very barbarians who used to plunder your land. 9 00:01:26,170 --> 00:01:32,070 He conquered most of Thrace, taking the best harbours so there was trade and prosperity, 10 00:01:32,069 --> 00:01:36,250 and put the mines to steady work. 11 00:01:36,250 --> 00:01:44,609 The Thessalians - they used to terrify you! Well, we rule them now! 12 00:01:44,609 --> 00:01:49,950 The Athenians and Thebans, always looking for a chance to attack Macedonia, were so 13 00:01:49,950 --> 00:01:55,368 humbled – myself playing my small part in the war - that they no longer take tribute 14 00:01:55,368 --> 00:02:02,340 from Macedonia, but instead depend on us for their protection! 15 00:02:02,340 --> 00:02:07,859 My father went to the Peloponnese and put their house in order. Then he was declared 16 00:02:07,859 --> 00:02:13,219 supreme commander of all the Greeks for the campaign against the Persians – an honour 17 00:02:13,219 --> 00:02:17,568 not just for himself, but for all Macedonians. 18 00:02:17,568 --> 00:02:25,709 This is what my father Philip did for you. Great enough on its own – but small compared 19 00:02:25,709 --> 00:02:33,000 to what you’ve gained from me! 20 00:02:33,000 --> 00:02:40,620 I crossed the Hellespont, even though back then the Persians still commanded the sea. 21 00:02:40,620 --> 00:02:48,289 I defeated the satraps of the Great King Darius, and made you rulers of Ionia, Aeolis, Phrygia 22 00:02:48,289 --> 00:02:55,539 and Lydia, and took Miletus by siege. 23 00:02:55,539 --> 00:03:01,030 The rest of the land surrendered willingly, and their wealth became yours. 24 00:03:01,030 --> 00:03:07,908 All the riches of Egypt and Cyrene, which I won without a fight, are yours now. Syria, 25 00:03:07,908 --> 00:03:16,180 Palestine, Mesopotamia, Babylonia, all belong to you! The wealth of Lydia, the treasures 26 00:03:16,180 --> 00:03:24,040 of Persia, the jewels of India and the outer sea! You are now satraps. You are generals, 27 00:03:24,039 --> 00:03:31,359 and captains. What have I held back for myself, apart from this purple cloak and diadem? 28 00:03:31,360 --> 00:03:39,670 Nothing. No man can point to my riches - only the things I hold in trust for you all. 29 00:03:39,669 --> 00:03:46,679 And what would I do with them anyway? I eat what you eat. I get no more rest than you. 30 00:03:46,680 --> 00:03:52,280 Many times I spent the night on watch so that you could sleep soundly. 31 00:03:52,280 --> 00:03:57,509 Who among you believes he's worked harder for me than I have for him?! 32 00:03:57,509 --> 00:04:04,098 Come on! If you’ve got scars, strip and show them to me! I’ll show you mine. There 33 00:04:04,098 --> 00:04:09,430 isn’t one part of my body – the front, at least – that doesn't bear a wound. My 34 00:04:09,431 --> 00:04:16,579 body's covered in scars from every weapon you can think of – swords, arrows, stones, 35 00:04:16,579 --> 00:04:17,590 clubs. 36 00:04:17,589 --> 00:04:24,779 All for the sake of your lives, your glory and your wealth. 37 00:04:24,779 --> 00:04:31,149 And yet here I still am, leading you, as conqueror of land and sea, rivers, mountains and the 38 00:04:31,149 --> 00:04:32,349 plains. 39 00:04:32,350 --> 00:04:38,650 We’ve celebrated our weddings together. Many of your children will be cousins of my 40 00:04:38,649 --> 00:04:39,709 own. 41 00:04:39,709 --> 00:04:45,219 I’ve paid off your debts, without asking how you got them, even though you’re paid 42 00:04:45,220 --> 00:04:49,300 well enough and pillage every city we take. 43 00:04:49,300 --> 00:04:57,270 Many of you wear golden crowns – badges of courage and honour given you by me. 44 00:04:57,269 --> 00:05:05,839 Any one of us who was killed, who met a glorious end, we buried with full honours. Many now 45 00:05:05,839 --> 00:05:15,299 stand immortalised by bronze statues in Macedonia. Their families are honoured, and pay no taxes. 46 00:05:15,300 --> 00:05:22,110 Under my command, not one man has been killed fleeing the enemy. 47 00:05:22,110 --> 00:05:27,020 And now I wanted to send back some of you who’ve been wounded or crippled, or have 48 00:05:27,019 --> 00:05:32,448 grown old, to be welcomed back home as heroes. 49 00:05:32,449 --> 00:05:36,770 But since you all wish to go, then all of you – go! 50 00:05:36,769 --> 00:05:44,589 Go home and tell them that your king, Alexander, conqueror of the Persians, Medes, Bactrians, 51 00:05:44,589 --> 00:05:45,918 and Scythians; 52 00:05:45,918 --> 00:05:52,769 who now rules over the Parthians, Chorasmians and Hyrcanians as far as the Caspian Sea; 53 00:05:52,769 --> 00:05:59,899 who’s marched over the mountains of the Hindu Kush, crossed the Oxus and Tanais rivers, 54 00:05:59,899 --> 00:06:06,079 even the Indus – the first to cross it since Dionysus himself. I would have crossed the 55 00:06:06,079 --> 00:06:09,370 Hyphasis too if you hadn't cowered in fear… 56 00:06:09,370 --> 00:06:15,629 … who sailed into the Great Sea from the mouth of the Indus, crossed the desert of 57 00:06:15,629 --> 00:06:23,210 Gedrosia, where no one had ever led an army. Who took Carmenia, while my fleet sailed the 58 00:06:23,209 --> 00:06:26,079 Persian Gulf… 59 00:06:26,079 --> 00:06:31,870 When you get home, you tell them that when you made it back to Susa, you abandoned him 60 00:06:31,870 --> 00:06:38,098 and went home, leaving him under the protection of the foreigners you’d conquered. 61 00:06:38,098 --> 00:06:44,490 Perhaps this report of yours will seem glorious in the eyes of men, and worthy in the eyes 62 00:06:44,490 --> 00:06:53,598 of the gods. 63 00:06:53,598 --> 00:07:11,149 Be gone! 64 00:07:11,149 --> 00:07:14,109 Thank you to all the Patreon supporters who helped create this video. 65 00:07:14,110 --> 00:07:18,889 If you’d like exclusive early access to videos like this, and the chance to vote on 66 00:07:18,889 --> 00:07:22,490 future topics, please visit the Epic History TV Patreon page.