[00:40] What I’m about to say isn't meant to stop
you returning home. As far as I care, you
[00:47] can go wherever you wish. But I want you to
know how you have behaved towards me, and
[00:54] how I have treated you.
[00:56] I’ll begin, as is right, with my father,
Philip.
[01:02] When he found you, you were mere peasants,
wearing hides, tending a few sheep on the
[01:08] mountain slopes, and you could barely defend
them from your neighbours.
[01:12] Under him, you began living in cities, with
good laws and customs. And he turned you from
[01:19] slaves into rulers over those very barbarians
who used to plunder your land.
[01:26] He conquered most of Thrace, taking the best
harbours so there was trade and prosperity,
[01:32] and put the mines to steady work.
[01:36] The Thessalians - they used to terrify you!
Well, we rule them now!
[01:44] The Athenians and Thebans, always looking
for a chance to attack Macedonia, were so
[01:49] humbled – myself playing my small part in
the war - that they no longer take tribute
[01:55] from Macedonia, but instead depend on us for
their protection!
[02:02] My father went to the Peloponnese and put
their house in order. Then he was declared
[02:07] supreme commander of all the Greeks for the
campaign against the Persians – an honour
[02:13] not just for himself, but for all Macedonians.
[02:17] This is what my father Philip did for you.
Great enough on its own – but small compared
[02:25] to what you’ve gained from me!
[02:33] I crossed the Hellespont, even though back
then the Persians still commanded the sea.
[02:40] I defeated the satraps of the Great King Darius,
and made you rulers of Ionia, Aeolis, Phrygia
[02:48] and Lydia, and took Miletus by siege.
[02:55] The rest of the land surrendered willingly,
and their wealth became yours.
[03:01] All the riches of Egypt and Cyrene, which
I won without a fight, are yours now. Syria,
[03:07] Palestine, Mesopotamia, Babylonia, all belong
to you! The wealth of Lydia, the treasures
[03:16] of Persia, the jewels of India and the outer
sea! You are now satraps. You are generals,
[03:24] and captains. What have I held back for myself,
apart from this purple cloak and diadem?
[03:31] Nothing. No man can point to my riches - only
the things I hold in trust for you all.
[03:39] And what would I do with them anyway? I eat
what you eat. I get no more rest than you.
[03:46] Many times I spent the night on watch so that
you could sleep soundly.
[03:52] Who among you believes he's worked harder
for me than I have for him?!
[03:57] Come on! If you’ve got scars, strip and
show them to me! I’ll show you mine. There
[04:04] isn’t one part of my body – the front,
at least – that doesn't bear a wound. My
[04:09] body's covered in scars from every weapon
you can think of – swords, arrows, stones,
[04:16] clubs.
[04:17] All for the sake of your lives, your glory
and your wealth.
[04:24] And yet here I still am, leading you, as conqueror
of land and sea, rivers, mountains and the
[04:31] plains.
[04:32] We’ve celebrated our weddings together.
Many of your children will be cousins of my
[04:38] own.
[04:39] I’ve paid off your debts, without asking
how you got them, even though you’re paid
[04:45] well enough and pillage every city we take.
[04:49] Many of you wear golden crowns – badges
of courage and honour given you by me.
[04:57] Any one of us who was killed, who met a glorious
end, we buried with full honours. Many now
[05:05] stand immortalised by bronze statues in Macedonia.
Their families are honoured, and pay no taxes.
[05:15] Under my command, not one man has been killed
fleeing the enemy.
[05:22] And now I wanted to send back some of you
who’ve been wounded or crippled, or have
[05:27] grown old, to be welcomed back home as heroes.
[05:32] But since you all wish to go, then all of
you – go!
[05:36] Go home and tell them that your king, Alexander,
conqueror of the Persians, Medes, Bactrians,
[05:44] and Scythians;
[05:45] who now rules over the Parthians, Chorasmians
and Hyrcanians as far as the Caspian Sea;
[05:52] who’s marched over the mountains of the
Hindu Kush, crossed the Oxus and Tanais rivers,
[05:59] even the Indus – the first to cross it since
Dionysus himself. I would have crossed the
[06:06] Hyphasis too if you hadn't cowered in fear…
[06:09] … who sailed into the Great Sea from the
mouth of the Indus, crossed the desert of
[06:15] Gedrosia, where no one had ever led an army.
Who took Carmenia, while my fleet sailed the
[06:23] Persian Gulf…
[06:26] When you get home, you tell them that when
you made it back to Susa, you abandoned him
[06:31] and went home, leaving him under the protection
of the foreigners you’d conquered.
[06:38] Perhaps this report of yours will seem glorious
in the eyes of men, and worthy in the eyes
[06:44] of the gods.
[06:53] Be gone!
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