Alexander the Great

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P earson E ducation L im ited E dinburgh G ate, Harlow. Essex C M 20 2JE. England and Associated C om panies th ro u g h o u t the world. ISBN: 978-1-4058-8206-4 I irst published by Penguin Books 2004 T his edition first published by Pearson E ducation Ltd 2008 1 3 5 7 9 10 8 6 4 2 Text copyright Fiona Beddall 2004 Illustrations by V irginia Gray (G raham -C am eron Illustration) Tht* m oral right o f the a u th o r has b een asserted Typeset by G raphicraft Ltd, H o n g K ong Set in I I /1 4pt B em bo P rinted in C hina S W T C /O l A ll rights reserved; //«» pari of this publication may he reproduced, stored iua retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by anymeans, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the Publishers. Published by Pearson Education Ltd in association w ith Penguin Books I til. both com panies being subsidiaries o f Pearson Pic a c o m p le te list o f the titles available in th e P e n g u in R e a d e rs series please w rite to y o u r lo t . earson Longm an office o r to: Penguin R eaders M arketing D epartm ent. Pearson Education. E dinburgh Gate, 1larlow. Essex C M 2 0 2JE. England.

Contents page v Introduction I C hapter 1 The Greek W orld 5 C hapter 2 A M acedonian Prince C hapter 3 The Young King 10 C h a p te r 4 First Battles in Asia 15 C hapter 5 Face to Face with D arius 20 C hapter 6 South to Egypt 24 C hap ter 7 K ing o f Asia 29 C hapter 8 To the Ends o f the Earth 35 C h a p te r 9 T h e Last Years 43 C h a p te r 10 A fter A lexander 48 A ctivities 52

Introduction Alexander cried when Anaxarchus talked about the number of worlds beyond the stars. H e explained his tears: ‘There are so many worlds, and I have not yet conquered even one.' Alexander becam e king o f M acedonia 336 years before the birth o f C hrist, at the age o f twenty. W ithin ten years, he was the ruler o f the biggest em pire that the w orld had ever seen. His lands stretched from G reece in the west to India in the east, covering nearly two m illion square kilometres. B ut A lexander died w hen he was only thirty-tw o. H e had no chance to rule the em pire that he had created so quickly. H e was very successful and very young. T he great R om an general Julius Caesar lived three centuries later. H e read about A lexander and cried, because at the age o f thirty-tw o Caesar had achieved nothing and Alexander had conquered an empire. A bout th ree-q u arters o f a m illion Asians lost th eir lives because o f A lexander’s great m arch east. In m any lands, he is rem em bered as a bloodthirsty m urderer, n o t as a c o n q u e rin g hero. B ut he m ade close friends as well as enem ies a m o n g th e people that he conquered. H e m arried three Asian w om en, and filled his arm y and his court w ith Asian m en. H e believed that a m ix o f Greek and Asian traditions could create a strong em pire that would continue for m any years. A lexander’s em pire did n o t, in fact, last long. B ut he jo in e d East and West for the first time, and after this, ideas spread m ore freely betw een countries. A lthough he lived m ore than 2,300 years ago, A lexander the G reat shaped the w orld that we live in today. v

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Chapter 1 T he G reek W orld O n his black warhorse Bucephalas, Alexander, king o f M acedonia, rode at the head o f his army. U nlike m ost o f his soldiers, he had no beard. His skin was fair and his light-coloured, wavy hair grew long and low on his neck. H e was in India, and proud o f the past few years. Finally, he had proved that he was the greatest general in history. A nd he now ruled the greatest em pire that the w orld had ever seen. His soldiers had joined him from many parts o f the world. T here were Thracians, M acedonians and Greeks from southeastern Europe; Scythians, Bactrians and Sogdians from central Asia; and Indians, riding their enorm ous, arm oured war elephants. It seemed that no one could stop the m arch o f this extraordinary army. C ertainly n o t the Persians, w ho had once ruled m uch o f Asia but were now com pletely defeated by A lexander the Great. Two centuries earlier, the Persians’ enem y in Europe was Greece, no t M acedonia. In those days, and d uring A lexanders lifetime, Greece was not a country. It was a collection o f independent city-states w hich shared a language, a religion and a way o f life. A thens and Sparta w ere tw o o f th e m ost fam ous city- states, b u t there w ere almost 1,500 others. T hey were not only found in the area that w e call G reece today. G reek people lived in coastal areas all aro u n d th e M ed iterran ean and the Black Sea. N aples in Italy, M arseille in France and Izm ir in Turkey all started life as G reek city-states. By 500 b c * , the G reek city-states in Asia had lost their independence. T hey were under the control o f the Persian Em pire and had to pay h ig h taxes to th e Persian king, D arius I. In 499 b c , * b c : before the birth o f Christ 1

they fought for their independence, w ith the help o f the Athenians. U nfortunately, they suffered a serious defeat. As punishm ent for this trouble-m aking, D arius decided to conquer the w hole o f present-day Greece. In 490 b c , he sent an enorm ous arm y to Athens, but the A thenians defeated it at the Battle o f M arathon. A fter the battle, a m essenger called Pheidippides ran straight hom e to A thens to tell everyone the good news. From M arathon to Athens was a distance o f 42.195 kilom etres — th e sam e distance is called a ‘m a ra th o n ’ today in m em ory o f that great run. W h en K ing D arius died, his son Xerxes continued the war against Greece. In 480 b c he sent another army, even larger than his father’s one. It defeated th e Spartans at T h erm o p y lae (w hich m eans ‘Gates o f F ire’) and m arched tow ards A thens. T h e A thenians had to leave their city to escape the Persian army. W hile the A thenians w ere away, the Persians destroyed the buildings on the Acropolis, the religious part o f the city. To the Greeks, this was unforgivable. B ut the Greeks soon made the Persians pay for their crimes. A thenian ships beat the Persians at sea in the Battle o f Salamis, and th en the arm ies o f all G reece fou g h t side by side to defeat the Persians at Plataea. So o n th e Persian arm y re tu rn e d to Asia. T h e danger had passed. B ut the Greeks never forgot that they had nearly becom e part o f the Persian Empire. A lthough they had fought together in the Persian Wars, the city-states continued to be independent from each other. Some were ruled by a king, or a small group o f noblem en. O thers, like Athens, were dem ocracies and were ruled by the people. U nlike o u r dem ocracies today, th e ord in ary p eople m ade all the political decisions. At least forty times a year, they came together in enorm ous num bers to discuss and vote on m atters o f g o v ern m en t —w h e th e r to go to war, w h e n to have public holidays, o r how to reduce the num ber o f accidents at sea. W om en could 2

not vote, but the ordinary m en o f these G reek democracies had real power. R e lig io n was an im p o rta n t p art o f G reek life. T h e re w ere m any Greek gods. Zeus was the king o f the gods, and he used thunder and lightning to punish the people on earth and send messages to them. H e had many children, and they too were gods. His son Dionysus was god o f the forces o f nature; his daughter A thene was connected with learning; and there were many more. All over th e G reek w orld, p eople used to visit special places to ask the gods for advice. T hey asked w h eth er they should start a new business o r choose a wife; as city officials, they asked w h e th e r they should build a new tem ple or go to war. C om m unicating through religious officials, the gods gave them com plicated answers that could often be understood in different ways. In the sixth century B C , for exam ple, the A thenians sent officials to the Greeks’m ost im portant religious centre, Delphi. They asked the god Apollo how they should protect themselves from attack by the Persians, and w ere told that they w ould be safe from the Persians behind a wall o f w ood. After m uch discussion, the A thenians d ecided th at th e ‘wall o f w o o d ’ m ean t ships. T h ey built warships and learn t to sail th em . A few years later, they defeated the Persians at sea. T he Greeks believed that the greatest heroes, like Hercules, w ent to live w ith the gods w hen they died. O rdinary people w ent to a dark place below the earth called the U nderw orld. Each G reek city-state was under the protection o f one or m ore o f the gods. Each o f these gods usually had a tem ple, built in a style that has been copied in the W estern w orld for almost 2,500 years. To keep their gods happy, the people o f the city held regular religious celebrations. T hey brought gifts, and perform ed special songs and dances. T he Greeks are rem em bered for their love o f the theatre, w hich they perform ed in celebration o f the god Dionysus. T h e plays o f 3

great w riters like E u rip id es are still p e rfo rm ed today. O th e r form s o f literature w ere popular too. The Iliad and The Odyssey by H om er were long poem s w hich told stories about the heroes o f the Trojan War. O th e r Greeks w rote beautiful love poem s and the W estern w orlds earliest works o f history. Philosophy was invented in Greece, and the w ork o f Plato and A ristotle is still im p o rta n t today. T h e G reeks also m ade m any discoveries in m athem atics and science. H ippocrates, a doctor o f th e fifth cen tu ry b c , is n o w called ‘th e fath er o f m e d ic in e ’. M edical students all over th e w o rld have to prom ise to follow his rules for looking after patients. T he Greeks thought it was im portant to exercise both their minds and their bodies. T hey were great admirers o f physical beauty in m en as well as w o m en . T h e social cen tre o f a typical G reek city was its gym nasium , w h ere rich citizens to o k physical exercise. Every four years, the city-states sent their best sportsmen to the city o f O lym pia for the O lym pic Games. There, com petitions were held in running, jum ping, fighting, horse- riding, chariot racing and spear throwing. T he greatest sportsmen at the Olym pic Games became heroes o f the Greek world, and were celebrated in poem s by w riters like Pindar. B ut the com petitio n betw een G reek city-states was n o t always peaceful. There were often wars too. Except in Sparta, Greek armies did no t have professional soldiers; the soldiers w ere usually farmers. Fighting took place in the sum m er m onths, and the soldiers w ent hom e in the autum n to look after their fields. T he wars were usually about land. N o city w anted other cities to control too m uch land or becom e too powerful. At the end o f the fifth century b c , A thens and Sparta were at w ar for tw enty-seven years. It was a tim e o f great suffering all over th e G reek w orld. At that time, M acedonia in the north was n o t an im portant part o f Greece. In fact, m ost Greeks did not think that M acedonia was p art o f G reece at all. T h e M acedonians spoke a strange fo rm o f 4

Greek that other Greek speakers had difficulty understanding. M acedonian noblem en liked horse-riding, hunting, eating m eat and drinking wine. They did not share other Greeks’ interest in literature, science and philosophy. M acedonia was ruled by a royal family that believed they were relatives o f th e great g od Z eus. T h e k in g lived in Pella, M aced o n ia’s capital city. T h e palace was as beautiful as th e finest buildings in Greece, and the M acedonian kings w anted their country to be m ore Greek. T hey w elcom ed several im portant Greeks there, including m any w ho were escaping the wars. T he w riter Pindar and the doctor H ippocrates were guests o f the M acedonian kings, and E uripides w rote one o f his greatest plays in Pella. A nd th en , in 359 b c , A lex an d er’s father P hilip becam e king, and M acedonia’s relationship w ith the rest o f G reece changed for ever. Chapter 2 A M acedonian Prince A lthoug h A lex an d er’s achievem ents w ere extraordinary, in m any ways his father, K ing Philip, was responsible for his success. W h e n Philip becam e king o f M acedonia, he threw all his energy into increasing his power. H e conquered the lands east o f M acedonia, w hich w ere rich in gold. W ith this gold, he was able to pay for a full-tim e, professional army, w hich gave him a great advantage over the part-tim e arm ies o f the G reek city-states to his south. It was a w ell-trained, w ell-organized army, and soon it had defeated all M a c e d o n ia ’s neighbours. W h e n he died, P h ilip ’s em pire covered m ost o f m odern-day M acedonia, Greece, Albania, Bulgaria and European Turkey. In M acedonia, m en were allowed to have m ore than one wife at the same tim e. Philip had six wives. His first wife, his queen and the m other o f Alexander, was called Olympias. Olympias was a princess from the neighbouring state o f Epirus. She had a strong 5

character and a quick tem per. If she had a serious argum ent w ith som eone, that person was unlikely to stay alive for long. T here were many stories about her w ild behaviour and her love o f the god Dionysus. In the G reek w orld it was norm al to kill a few animals as gifts to th e gods. B u t w h e n O lym pias organized religious celebrations, thousands o f anim als w ere killed as gifts to Dionysus; then Olym pias and her friends drank the animals’blood. T hey played w ith poisonous snakes too; it was said that Olympias liked to sleep w ith a snake in her bed. It is n o t surprising, w ith parents like this, that A lexander was brave and adventurous. His teachers too helped to make him a strong and successful leader. His first teacher was a relative o f O lym pias —a m an called Leonidas. A lexander hated him . Leonidas made Alexander exercise w ithout having breakfast, and gave him only a small snack for his evening meal. H e even checked A lexander’s school bags, so O lym pias could n o t hide food in them . A lexander loved music and literature, but his favourite hobby was hunting. H e h u nted w ith dogs, and he was always fond o f them . M any years later he even nam ed a city in India after his pet dog Peritas. A h u n te r also n eed ed a horse, and A lexander’s horse was one o f the m ost famous in history. A G reek friend o f Philip b o u g h t it for an e n o rm o u s sum o f m o n ey an d gave it to Philip as a present. Alexander, aged twelve, w ent w ith his lather to see this gift. It was a powerful black warhorse, but it was wild. It jum ped and kicked and tu rned. N o b o d y was able to ride it. W h en Philip ordered his m en to take the horse away, A lexander asked his father to wait. H e turned the horse towards the sun, so it could not see its ow n shadow. It im m ediately becam e less frig h ten ed. W h isp erin g in its ear, A lexander gently clim bed o n th e h o rse ’s back and rode it proudly round the field. Everyone was full o f adm iration. Philip, it was said, had tears in his eyes as he w atch ed his sm iling son. Alexander kept the horse, w hich he called Bucephalas, and for the next tw enty years m an and horse were rarely separated. 6

H e turned the horse towards the sun.

As Philip becam e ric h e r and m ore pow erful, he hired philosophers, artists, m usicians and eng in eers from all over the G reek world. His court at Pella was an exciting place for a young prince to grow up. A lexander could talk to people w ho had lived in Egypt, and made friends w ith a man w ho had been a governor in the Persian Em pire. M acedonia was now w ell-connected in the w ider world. Philip was too busy leading his arm y to spend m uch tim e w ith his son. B ut he m ade sure that A lexanders teacher during his teenage years w ould be the best that m oney could buy. W hen A lexander was thirteen, his father hired A ristotle, a student o f the great philosopher Plato. At that time, A ristotle was an unknow n teacher w ith th in legs and small eyes. H e also had one o f the sharpest and m ost questioning m inds in history. A ristotle later w rote many im portant works o f philosophy. H e was one o f the first people to use scientific m ethods to learn m ore about plants and animals. H e studied the stars and the way that the sea shapes the land. H e w rote about politics and literature. T h e list o f his interests and achievem ents is extraordinary. N obody knows how m uch he taught Alexander. Aristotle later w rote that it was a waste o f tim e teaching political science to a y o u n g m an, because ‘he has n o ex p erien ce o f life, and still follows his e m o tio n s’. Was he describing his pupil A lexander here? Perhaps. B u t as A lexander grew up, like his teacher he never stopped asking questions. W henever Pella had visitors from other parts o f the w orld, A lexander learn t as m u c h as h e could from them . Alexander, like Aristotle, had a hunger for knowledge. A lexander was n o t A risto tle’s only p u p il in M acedonia. A ristotle also taught the sons o f leading noblem en, and am ong them were m any o f A lex an d er’s future com m anders: Ptolem y, Perdiccas, Seleucus, N earchus, and A lexander’s best frien d H ephaistion. T hese friends, like the horse Bucephalas, followed A lexander loyally to the ends o f the earth.

Alexander grew up quickly into a responsible and intelligent youne m an. W h en he was sixteen, he was allowed to take charge o f the governm ent w hile Philip was away w ith the army. Soon after this, a tribe to the east o f M acedonia started to cause trouble, and A lexander him self led a small arm y to defeat it. T hen, w h en he was eigh teen , h e co m m an d ed p art o f his fa th e r’s great arm y at the Battle o f C haeronea. In this battle the M acedonians finally defeated th e G reek city-states and forced th e m to accept Philip as their leader. Philip started to make plans to free the G reek cities in Asia from Persian rule. A lexander felt that he w ould have an im portant part to play in his fa th e r’s w ar against Persia. T h e future looked good. B ut then his father fell in love. Eurydice was the daughter o f a M acedonian noblem an. She was young and very beautiful. Soon Philip was planning their wedding. O lym pias was very angry because, as P h ilip ’s n ew wife, E urydice w ould be m ore powerful than she was. A nd if Eurydice had a son, he could be ch osen as k in g instead o f A lexander. A t the w edding, there was a big argum ent. A lexander attacked his father, although no one was hurt. A lexander and his m other left the court im m ediately; A lexander soon returned, b u t his m o th er w ent to live in her hom e country, Epirus. W ith o u t his m other, A lexander was very nervous about his position at court. T hen he heard news that made him even more w orried. In preparation for his w ar on Persia, Philip was in contact w ith the king o f Caria, on the w estern edge o f the Persian Empire, and the tw o rulers w an te d to arrange a fam ily m arriage. As w ell as A lexander, P hilip h ad a n o th e r son, A lex an d er’s half-b ro th er Arrhidaeus. H e had learning difficulties and could never be given adult responsibilities. Philip suggested that Arrhidaeus should m arry a Carian princess. A lexander could n o t understand w hy his father w anted this 9

royal m arriage for A rrhidaeus and not for him . H e sent friends to the C arian co u rt to say that he w ould make a m uch better husband than his half-brother. T h e C arian king was pleased at first. B ut Philip was very angry w hen he heard w hat Alexander had done. H e did n o t w ant to waste Alexander on a small country like Caria. A lex an d er’s friends w ere sent away from M acedonia, and soon the Carian king got w orried and lost interest in a m arriage w ith anyone in P h ilip ’s family. A lexander had ru in e d everything. His position at court becam e even weaker than before. As Philip sent part o f his arm y into Asia to start the w ar against Persia, he p lan n ed a n o th e r w edding. C leopatra, A lexander’s sister, was m arrying her uncle, the king o f Epirus. All the local rulers in P h ilip ’s em pire w ere there. B u t O lym pias, w h o was C leo p atra’s m o th e r as w ell as th e k in g o f E p iru s’s sister, was n o t at the wedding. Since he was jo in in g the royal families o f Epirus and M acedonia w ith this new marriage, Philip did no t need Olympias and her Epirote connections. After the w edding, Philip was walking to the celebrations w ith A lexander and his d a u g h te r’s n ew husband. H is endless battles had left him w ith one eye and a bad leg, bu t he was still full o f energy, dream ing o f a successful w ar in Persia. Suddenly, a m an m oved towards th em . It was o n e o f P h ilip ’s bodyguards. W ith o u t a w ord, he pushed a knife in to P h ilip ’s chest. T h e n he ran. B u t he fell as he trie d to get o n his horse, and P h ilip’s o th e r bodyguards so o n killed him . T here was no hope for K ing Philip. H e was dead. Chapter 3 The Young King We will never know w hy Philip was killed. H e certainly had m any political enem ies inside and outside his em pire w ho had the m oney to pay for his m urder. Som e people at the tim e said that 10

Philip an d his m u rd erer had argued a b o u t a lover. B ut it is m ore likely that Olym pias was responsible. Philip had not included his first w ife in his plans for M aced o n ia’s great future, so O lym pias, quick-tem pered and dangerous, had arranged his m urder. She w ould have m o re p o w er as K ing A lex an d er’s m o th e r th an as K ing P h ilip’s u n w a n te d wife. B ut in M acedonia, rule did n o t always pass to the dead k in g ’s oldest son. A t th e tim e o f his fath er’s m urder, m any people did n o t w ant A lexander as th e ir king. H e was still only tw enty — to o young, they said, to take on the responsibility o f M acedonian rule. H e was half Epirote, n o t a true M acedonian, because his m o th er was from Epirus. A nd his E pirote m o th er was w ild and irresponsible —perhaps even h er h u sb an d ’s m urderer. There were tw o other serious possibilities for the next king. O n e was G eneral A ttalus, E u ry d ice’s uncle, w h o w anted to rule M acedonia th ro u g h E ury d ice and P h ilip ’s n ew baby son. T h e other was Amyntas. Tw enty-three years earlier, Amyntas had been a child o f two w h en his father, K ing Perdiccas, h ad died. Philip was Perdiccas’s younger brother and had ruled in the place o f his baby nephew ; w hen Amyntas becam e an adult, Philip was so powerful and successful that nobody questioned his right to continue ruling. Amyntas was now twenty-five. C om pared to Alexander, he had the advantage o f age and experience, and his blood was equally royal. H e was popular w ith the noblem en o f M acedonia. B ut A lexander stayed one step ahead o f his enemies. H e ordered the m u rd e r o f E u ry d ic e ’s baby, his o w n half-brother. G eneral Attalus, w h o was w ith the arm y in Asia, could do noth in g to stop him. Soon Attalus and Amyntas were m urdered too. This was not unusual — in those days the rule o f a new king almost always started w ith a few m urders. Alexander reduced taxes for the people o f M aced o n ia and, since n o o th e r suitable kings w ere left alive, they seem ed happy to accept h im as th e ir n e w ruler. 11

T he situation was m ore difficult abroad. W hen news o f Philips m urder spread around his empire, the tribes in the north and the city-states in the south decided to free themselves from M acedonian rule. W ithin a few m onths o f his fathers death, Alexander had to fight to keep the em pire together. H e first w ent to the G reek state o f Thessaly. T h e usual route was along a narrow valley in the m ountains, but this was now guarded by the Thessalians. A lexander decided that it was too dangerous to take the M aced o n ian soldiers and w arhorses this way. Instead, he created a new path. H e ordered the soldiers to cut steps in the steep rockface o f a m ountain on the border betw een M acedonia and Thessaly. A fter weeks o f hard w ork, his arm y entered Thessaly by the new road, took the Thessalians by surprise and defeated th em easily. T h e Thessalians w elcom ed A lexander as th eir new leader. A march at lightning speed then took A lexanders army on a tour o f G reek city-states. O ne by one, they realized that battle w ould end in disaster, so they quickly m ade peace w ith him instead. O n ly Sparta refused to accept A lex an d er as th eir leader, sending the message: ‘It is o u r fathers’ h ab it n o t to follow others but to lead them .’Alexander was not too w orried. T he rest o f the Greeks hated Sparta m ore than they hated M acedonia. H e could manage w ithout Spartan help. T here were also problem s in the no rth . A fter his to u r o f Greece, Alexander had to fight the Thracians, w ho lived beside the R iver D anube. T h ey could n o t defeat A lexander’s w ell-trained arm y and soon they were forced to accept M acedonian rule. B ut bad news followed. T he M acedonian forces in Asia were retreating; A ttalus, m urd ered o n A lex an d er’s orders, had been a good general, and his death had probably w eakened the arm y there. In M acedonia itself, Olympias was behaving typically and had m urdered Eurydice. And in Greece, news was spreading that Alexander had been killed on the Danube; the city-state o f Thebes 12

was leading a new fight for independence w hich was fast grow ing out o f control. A lexander knew that he had to act quickly. H e rushed his army to T hebes and started a siege o f th e city. W h e n an unguarded gate in the city wall was found, the M acedonians soon forced their way into the city. Alexander called a m eeting w ith the neighbouring G reek city- states, w ho had for m any years suffered bad treatm ent at the hands o f pow er-hungry Thebes. W hen he asked them w hat should happen to Thebes, they voted to destroy it completely. T hebes cam e to a v io len t end. T h e city ’s riches w ere taken. A few houses were left untouched — 150 years earlier the Theban w riter Pindar had w ritten poems for the M acedonian king, and now his house was safe —b u t the rest w ere b u rn t to the ground. 30,000 Thebans, including w om en and children, were taken prisoner and sold as slaves. T he terrible news soon spread around Greece. N o other city- state was interested in continuing their fight for independence now. E veryone rushed to prove that they w ere A lex ander’s greatest allies. At last A lexander could turn his attention to Asia. It was tim e to plan his w ar against the Persian Empire. A lexander called to g e th e r forces from m any lands —foot soldiers from Illyria and Thrace, horsem en from Thessaly, warships from A thens, archers from C rete, as w ell as th e highly trained M acedonian army. To this he added doctors, long-distance runners, engineers, religious m en, specialists in digging for gold and jewels, and a historian called Callisthenes to record his great achievem ents. A lexander left his m o th er Olym pias in charge o f M acedonia, w ith his fath er’s loyal general A n tip ater to lead her army. T h e n he marched to the Dardanelles, a narrow piece o f water that separates E urope from Asia in present-day Turkey. 13

W hile Alexanders second-in-com m and, General Parmenion, led the m ain arm y into Asia by the shortest sea crossing, A lexander him self decided to see som e sights. His destination was the ruined city o f Troy, scene o f the legendary Trojan War, w here Greeks and Asians had fought for the first time. T h e Greeks believed that the w ar had started 1,000 years before the tim e of Alexander, w hen Paris, a Trojan prince, stole the beautiful H elen from her Greek husband Menelaus. ♦ O f all the heroes o f th e Trojan War, th e greatest was Achilles. W h e n he was a baby, his im m ortal m other had held his heel and covered the rest o f his body in the w ater o f the legendary R iver Styx. After this, he could only be h u rt on his heel. Achilles grew up handsom e and brave. A t the start o f the Trojan War, his m o th er gave him a choice: he could stay at hom e, live a norm al life and die an old m an, or he could go to Troy, die young and be fam ous for ever. O f course Achilles chose Troy. H e was the fastest runner and the strongest fighter in the G reek army. B ut he also had a quick tem per. A fter an argum ent about a female prisoner w ith his general, A gam em non, Achilles decided to stop fighting in the war. W ithout Achilles, the Greeks were nearly defeated. Patroclus, A chilles’s best friend, fo u g h t in A chilles’s arm our to give the Greeks confidence; but soon he was killed by the Trojan hero, Hector. Achilles felt very sad and very guilty. It was his fault that his best friend was dead. Dressed in new arm our created by the gods, he returned to battle and did no t stop fighting until he had killed Patroclus’s killer, H ecto r. H e tied H e c to r’s b o d y to his chario t and pulled it through the dust. B ut later in the war, Achilles him self was killed w hen Paris shot him in the heel w ith a poisoned arrow. 14

This was a story that A lexander had read from his early childhood. H e was even th ought to be a relative o f Achilles, through his m other, O lym pias, and the royal family o f Epirus. His teacher A ristotle had prepared for h im a special copy o f The Iliad, H o m e r’s great poem about Achilles; this copy was so im portant to A lexander that he liked to rest his head on it w hen he slept. For m any years people had com pared A lexander and his best friend H ephaistion to Achilles and Patroclus. A nd now Alexander, like the Greeks o f the Trojan War, had com e across the Dardanelles to attack th e p eo p le o f Asia. As A lex an d er’s boat to u ch ed th e beach, he th rew his spear at the g ro u n d as a sign th at this land was n o w his. W ith his friends, he walked up the hill to the ruins o f Troy. H e gave gifts to the gods. T h e n he and H eph aistio n ran —A lexander to th e to m b o f Achilles, his best friend to the tom b o f Patroclus. N e x t he w ent to the tem ple o f A thene, w here he exchanged his ow n arm our for a shield w hich, according to legend, had been used in the Trojan War. W ith his beautiful shield from the Age o f Heroes, he w ent to rejoin his arm y as th e n ew Achilles. W e can only w o n d er if he thought about the choice o f futures that Achilles had been given by his m other. Like Achilles, A lexander chose to fight battles and live famously. D id he guess that, like Achilles, he w ould never retu rn to his hom eland or live to m iddle age? Chapter 4 First Battles in Asia U ntil A lexander could prove that he was stronger than the Persian Em pire, the G reek cities in Asia refused to help him . H e had very little food or pay left for his m en. H e needed to defeat the Persians in battle quickly. But the Persian com m anders were discussing o ther plans. At this time, the soldiers in the Persian army were mostly Greek. 15

People talk o t A lex an d ers G reeks’ defeating th e 'Persians’, b u t there were 50,000 Greeks in the Persian arm y and only 7,000 in A lexand er’s. In Greece, it was difficult to earn a living if you did not own land. T h ere w ere p len ty o f slaves, so landow ners and businessm en rarely w anted to em ploy paid workers. T he shipping business was a possibility, b u t storm s at sea were com m on and fortunes were lost as often as they w ere m ade. F or many, th e m ost attractive choice was a life in th e h ighly paid Persian army. T h e arm y was full o f failed Greek farm ers and businessmen, younger sons w ho ow ned no land, and politicians w ho were not welcom e jn the city o f their birth. A Greek general called M em non had been responsible for the M acedonians m ost recent defeats. H e had grow n up on the island o f R hodes, spent som e tim e living in M acedonia, and com e to Asia fifteen years before Alexander. His wife Barsine was Persian, and he now ow ned a large farm , a present from the Persian king for his loyal service. M em non now had a plan to defeat Alexander. T he Persians should not face the M acedonians in battle, he advised. Instead, they should b u rn th e ir o w n farm s and m ake sure A lex ander’s arm y could get no food. If Alexander did not w in a battle, the Greek cities w ould no t help him . Soon his h u n g ry soldiers w ould have to return to Europe. T he rest o f the Persian com m anders disagreed w ith M em non. Instead, they decided to defend their country in battle. T he Persian arm y grouped on the east bank o f the R iver Granicus. W hen Alexander heard the news, he realized his luck and ordered his soldiers to m arch there as quickly as possible. Som e o f A lexander’s advisers w arn ed h im that for religious reasons it was not a good m onth for a battle. Alexander acted typically: he created a new m onth. A lexander and his arm y reached the G ranicus in late afternoon. 16

Alexander and his army reached the Granicus in late afternoon.

T he Persians had chosen their position well. T h e river was tw enty metres wide and ran fast betw een steep, m uddy banks. IfAlexander ordered his arm y to cross the river, it w ould be easy for the Persians to cut them dow n in the m ud. Alexander had read in the w ork o f a G reek historian that the Persians liked to cam p som e distance from their chosen battle ground and did no t march before the sun came up. T he M acedonians crossed the river in the early hours o f the m orning and found it undefended. They now had the advantage o f surprise. Alexander led his horsem en against the enemy. T h e Persian horsem en fought back, but they were badly organized because o f the surprise attack. W h e n A lexander’s spear broke d u rin g the fighting, a Persian com m ander saw his opportunity and struck Alexander on the head. B ut Alexander was no t hurt, and before the Persian could strike again, a M acedonian called Cleitus came to pro tect his king. C leitu s’s sister had b e e n A lex an d er’s nurse as a baby, and n o w C leitus saved his life. As the fighting continued, the Persians failed to organize a strong defence. M any o f their com m anders w ere killed, several by A lexander himself. Soon the Persians on horseback were retreating. As the M acedonians surrounded the Persian camp, about 17,000 hired G reek foot soldiers tried to defend it. T hey m anaged to hu rt A lexander’s horse, b u t th ere w ere m any m o re M acedonian attackers. They could not hope to w in. 2,000 were taken prisoner, and later sent to M acedonia as slaves; th e rest w ere killed. A lexander used this cruel treatm en t as a message to o th e r Greeks: ‘Leave the Persian arm y and stop fighting y o u r o w n co u n try m en - if you d o n ’t, y o u r suffering will be w orse than th e Persians’.’ After his success at the Granicus, the G reek cities in Asia quickly op en ed th e ir gates to A lexander. H e sent m essengers to all the cities that he had already passed, telling them to becom e democracies, to create their ow n laws, and to stop paying tax to 18

the Persian king. This was a clever trick, because it made Alexander popular w ith tax-payers. T h e tax to the Persian king was no t really stopped; it was given a n ew nam e, and paid as a ‘gift’ to the M acedonian arm y instead. B ut the trick was successful. T he Persian-supported local rulers lost their pow er w ithout any danger to the M acedonian army. T he cities becam e dem ocratic, and A lexander grew so popular that many people in the area started to th ink o f h im as a god. Alexander m arched south into Caria, w here he had in the past ho p ed to m a rry th e d au g h ter o f his fa th e r’s ally, the C arian king. At the border, he was m et by Q ueen Ada, w ho had been the wife o f an earlier king. N ow she was almost a prisoner in her own hom e under the new king, a Persian called O rontobates. She had a strange suggestion for Alexander: he should becom e her adopted son and take O ro n to b a te s’s place as th e tru e king. But first he had to defeat K ing O rontobates. O rontobates and General M em non, w ho was then com m ander o f the w hole Persian army, w ere preparing a defence o f Halicarnassus (now called B o d ru m , in T urkey). T h e city was fam ous for its M ausoleum —the great to m b o f A d a’s brother, K in g M ausolus, w h ich was one o f the Seven W onders o f the W orld. Halicarnassus had the strongest city defences on the Asian coast, circled by walls and w ith a w ell- built castle. Persian warships defended it by sea; Alexander, w ho had sent his A thenian warships hom e a few m onths earlier because they w ere so expensive, had no w arships at all. T he siege was difficult. T he M acedonians broke part o f the city wall, b u t the Persians pushed them back. M any lives were lost from both armies. In the end, the Persians had too few soldiers to defend th e city. T h e y retreated to th e castle, w h ic h they held for a year. B ut A lexander was able to m ove his forces into the m ain part o f the city. As Q u e e n A da’s ad o p ted son, A lexander becam e king o f Caria. Preparations now had to be made for the winter. Alexander 19

decided to send h o m e to M aced o n ia all th e soldiers w h o had m arried just before the start o f the war. This was a popular decision. A lex an d er’s arm y n o w loved th e ir leader m ore than ever. A lexander left his ‘m o th e r’, Q u e e n Ada, in charge o f Caria. W ith the rest o f the army, he m arched to G ordium (in central Turkey), and w aited there for the return o f the new ly m arried soldiers. D uring the w inter Alexander becam e interested in a local legend. In the palace at G ordium , w hich had in the past been the hom e o f the kings o f Phrygia, there was an old chariot. It was tied to a piece o f w ood by a com plicated knot that no one had ever managed to untie. A ccording to legend, Asia w ould one day be ruled by the person w ho could untie the knot. A lexander d ecid ed th at he w o u ld u n tie th e k n o t. In front o f all his soldiers, he m oved towards the chariot. After som e m inutes, the knot was broken. B ut there were tw o different stories from the people w h o w ere w atching. Som e said that A lex ander’s success w ith the k n o t was real; others said that they saw him use his knife to cut it. We will never know. B ut that night the gods seem ed to send a sign o f their support w hen thunder and lightning filled the sky. W ord spread am o n g his soldiers and the local people: Alexander, w ho had untied the Gordian K not, was the future ruler o f all Asia. Chapter 5 Face to Face w ith D arius W hile Alexander was at G ordium , the Persians started to make m ore plans to defeat him. T he M acedonians had no warships; the Persians had 300. It was tim e for the Persians to take advantage o f their pow er at sea. Led by G eneral M em non, they to o k back the G reek islands o f C hios and Lesbos. T hey planned to continue by sea towards central Greece, and they hoped that Sparta w ould soon lead a Greek 20

independence m ovem ent against the M acedonians. If the Persians created enough problems in Greece, Alexander w ould have to go home. T h ey also decided, finally, to b u rn all th e fields before A lexander reached them , so his arm y w ould have n o th in g to eat. M arching south, A lexander found burning fields everyw here. T hen, w hen he got to the city o f Tarsus (in present-day southern Turkey), he becam e ill w ith a h ig h fever, perhaps because o f a sw im in an icy river. His docto rs feared for his life. B u t a G reek d o cto r called Philip, w h o had lo o k ed after A lexander as a boy, suggested a treatm ent that m ight help. As the d o cto r w ent to prepare the medicine, Alexander was given a letter from General Parm enion, his second-in-com m and; it said that Philip had been paid by the Persian king to kill Alexander. B ut w hen Philip returned w ith the m edicine, A lexander drank it im m ediately w ith o u t questioning his d o c to r’s loyalty, and after several w eeks he g o t better. In A lexander’s world, death by poison was not uncom m on and the ability to know friend from enem y was very useful. M e m n o n was n o t as lucky as A lexander. W h ile fighting on Lesbos, h e suddenly becam e ill an d died. T his was a serious problem for the Persians. W ithout M em non and his know ledge o f Greece, they did no t feel confident that they could fight a war successfully against the M acedonians in Europe. A lthough M e m n o n ’s plan had w o rk ed very w ell u n til th en , they decided to change it completely. T he G reat K ing o f Persia, Darius III, took personal control o f the situation. W e know little about this king. A lthough he had royal blood, he was no t a close relative o f the Persian kings that had ruled before him. He had been the governor o f Arm enia and fought bravely in battles there; he had then becom e king o f Persia after m any m em bers o f the royal family were poisoned by a pow er-hungry politician called Bagoas. Persia itself was in present-day Iran, but the Great K ing 21

controlled all the lands from E gypt to Pakistan, and from U zbekistan to the Arabian Sea. His riches w ere legendary, and he received the treatm ent o f a god. H e was protected by a bodyguard o f 10,000 soldiers; they were called the Im m ortals because w hen one m an died o r becam e ill, his p o sitio n was im m ediately filled by another man. T h e G reat K ing gave land to the m en that served him well. T he lan d -o w n in g Persians had a very com fortable w ay o f life that was often a subject o f w onder am ong the Greeks. T hey had soft carpets on their floors and beautiful gardens full o f flowers; they ate the finest food, and h u ndreds o f servants lo o k ed after all th e ir needs. B ut w ith one word, the all-powerful king could take away their good fortune for ever. W ide, w ell-b u ilt roads c o n n e c te d th e G reat K in g ’s m ost im portant cities, Babylon, Susa and Persepolis, w ith the far corners o f his empire. T he best o f these roads was the R oyal R oad, w hich led 2,300 kilom etres from Susa, in the heart o f the empire, to Sardis, on the M editerranean coast. Every tw enty-five kilom etres along the route, there was a place to buy food and stay the night. O nly the G reek cities in the west o f the Persian Em pire paid tax in the fo rm o f m oney. E veryw here else, tax to th e G reat K ing was paid in food; in silver and gold; and in horses, w ar chariots and fighting m en. K ing D arius now pu t together an enorm ous army. O nly the lands on the eastern borders o f the em pire did not send men; they were too far away to be useful. T h e Persian arm y ’s strength lay in its w ell-train ed archers and horsem en, because riding and archery were the traditional hobbies o f the Persian landowners. Tens o f thousands o f these m en joined th eir king, b u t fo o t soldiers w ere less easy to find. D ariu s’s arm y included a large num ber o f teenage boys w ith no experience o f battle. To help them , the K ing also called for th e hired G reek soldiers w h o had been fighting w ith M e m n o n at sea; he needed them now for a great land battle. 22

Historians at the time w rote that he had betw een 300,000 and 600,000 m en in his army, bu t n o t all o f them w ere soldiers. Each Persian horsem an, for example, had twelve servants. A nd w hen the king com m anded the army, his politicians, his wives and his children came w ith him. T he M acedonians, whose army only num bered about 50,000 men, received reports that the enem y had camped near the Syrian border w ith Cilicia (southern Turkey). T hey m arched along the M editerranean coast towards the Persian camp, covering the distance in half the usual time. U nknow n to Alexander, the Persians had left their camp and were also m arching. W hile the M acedonians followed the coast road south, the Persians followed the inland road north. A lthough they were only a few kilom etres away from each other, neither arm y k n e w w h e re th e o th e r o n e was. Such confusion is hard to im agine today, in a w orld w here cameras in space can be used to spy on every m ovem ent that an arm y makes. T he M acedonians realized first that the tw o arm ies had passed each o th er by mistake. T hey had already had several days o f hard m arching. N o w A lexander asked his soldiers to tu rn round and march again. After an evening meal, they m arched north in the dark, had a short sleep, then m arched again at first light. A round m idday they cam e to a river near the to w n o f Issus. O n the far side o f the river stood the Persian army, on a flat piece o f land about tw o kilom etres w ide. To the west there was beach and the M editerranean Sea; to the east there were m ountains. T he fighting area was too narrow for D arius to take advantage o f his greater num bers o f soldiers. It was a good battlefield for the Macedonians. Alexander, riding Bucephalas, led a charge o f horsem en across the river towards the enemy. T he Persian horsem en rode to m eet them , and the battle began. In the centre o f the battlefield were the M acedonian foot soldiers, w ho fought w ith six-m etre-long spears. 23

A lthough they w ere difficult to defeat on flat ground, the M acedonians were having problems on the steep river banks. They w ere close to defeat at the hands o f the hired G reek soldiers w ho fought for the Persians. B u t ju st in tim e, A lex an d er’s h o rsem en broke th ro u g h the Persian line and came to help the foot soldiers. Soon the M acedonians were w inning the battle. King D arius was w atching the fighting from his chariot. As A lexander and his M acedonian horsem en m oved towards him from tw o sides, the eyes o f the two kings m et for a m om ent. T hen D arius, realizing that the battle was lost, tu rn ed his chariot and quickly retreated. Chapter 6 South to Egypt Darius escaped over the m ountains on horseback, leaving his spear in his chariot. B u t the Battle o f Issus was a serious defeat for the Persians. E norm ous num bers o f Persians died. T he rest o f the Persian arm y broke into small groups, and m ost o f the hired Greeks sailed hom e in Persian warships. K ing D arius lost m uch m ore than his soldiers and ships. T he M acedonians found extraordinary riches left near the battlefield, and even m ore at the city o f Damascus. T here were 220 kilograms o f silver, and as m any gold coins as A lex an d er’s father, K ing Philip, had received in tax from his em pire in a w hole year. T here were piles o f cups, bowls and boxes made o f gold. Alexander liked one gold box so m uch that he decided to keep his favourite copy o f The Iliad in it. T h e re w ere thousands o f servants, including 329 female musicians, 319 cooks and 70 w ine waiters, w ho had com e to look after the Great K ing w hile he com m anded the army. And, m ost im p o rta n t o f all, the M acedonians to o k p riso n er D ariu s’s wife, m other and children. 24

Darius, realizing that the battle was lost, quickly retreated.

A lexander m ade sure that the Persian royal family received royal treatm ent. T hey were given fine clothes and jew ellery to wear, and had a com fortable place to live. Soon D arius w ro te to A lexander asking for his fam ily’s retu rn . B u t A lexander replied th at the royal family would only be freed if Darius called him K ing Alexander o f Asia. ‘I f you th in k you have a rig h t to y o u r em pire, stand and fight for it,’ w ro te A lexander. ‘D o n o t ru n away, because I w ill com e after you, w herever you go.’ A n o th e r p riso n e r was th e dead G eneral M e m n o n ’s beautiful Persian wife, Barsine. She had lived for a short tim e in M acedonia w hen her father, a Persian governor, had becom e unpopular w ith the Persian king. In M acedonia, B arsine had k n o w n A lexander as a boy. N o w he was a m an and she was his prisoner. A lexander fell in love w ith h er and they w ere close for the n ex t five years. Alexander now needed to take the ports in Phoenicia (present- day Lebanon). M ost o f them were happy to welcome the M acedonians and say goodbye to Persian rule, b u t the city o f Tyre was different. Tyre stood on an island about a kilom etre o u t to sea and was rin g e d by a wall fifty m etres high. Few cities w ere as difficult to attack, b u t A lexander, as usual, w asted no tim e in w orrying about the difficulty o f his job. H e told his engineers to build a w ide road across the sea to the island o f Tyre. U sing stone from coastal ruins to fill in the sea, the first part o f this road was built quickly. B ut the last 200 m etres cost m any lives. T h e Tyrians shot arrow s at th e M acedonians as th ey w orked, bu t the M acedonians used stone-throw ing m achines to clear the archers from their shooting positions. T he m achines w ere also used to make holes in the city walls, but the walls w ere soon rebuilt. W h en the Tyrians sailed bu rn in g ships into enem y lines to destroy the M acedonians’ w ooden war machines, the M acedonians found other ways to destroy the Tyrian defences. T he M acedonians tried 26

to climb the walls, but the Tyrians show ered them w ith red h o t sand that poured inside their arm our and b u rn t their bodies horribly. As tim e w ent on, Alexander was helped by other Phoenician cities, and by the Greeks w ho lived on C yprus and R hodes. M ore than six m onths after the start o f the siege, the M acedonians and th eir allies attacked th e island o n all sides w ith ships and m achines o f war. Finally, A lexander and his soldiers m anaged to fight their way over the walls. T h e Tyrians defended themselves bravely, but the city was taken. 10,000 Tyrians were killed and 30,000 were sold as slaves. T h e results o f A lex an d er’s siege can still be seen. Tyre exists today, b u t it is n o t o n an island. T h e coastline was changed for ever by the road th at A lex an d er’s soldiers b u ilt across th e sea. South o f Tyre, A lexander took the city o f Gaza after a tw o- m o n th siege. T h e w hole male population was killed. T h en A lexander tied the feet o f their dead king, Batis, to his chariot and pulled it ro u n d th e city. H is hero Achilles h ad d o n e the same in The Iliad, w ith th e b o d y o f P atroclus’s killer, H ector. Alexander then m arched south to Egypt, a land rich in gold and farmland. In later years, w hen R o m e was all-powerful and had a city population o f one million, most o f the R om ans’ food came from the valley o f the Nile. T he Egyptians were understandably proud o f their long history. T heir religion and their w riting had begun almost 3,000 years before the tim e o f Alexander, and their form o f governm ent had too. T he Egyptians had built extraordinary tom bs for their kings, o r ‘p h arao h s’. T h e greatest o f these, th e to m b o f K hufu at Giza, continued to be the tallest building in the w orld until the nineteenth century. B ut w hen it was built in the twenty-sixth century B C , the Greeks had not yet even learnt how to write. For centuries, Egypt had been one o f the most powerful countries in the M iddle East, but in 525 b c it had fallen under 27

Persian rule. Its people had never fully accepted this situation, and had regularly fought for their independence. N o w they w elco m ed A lexander as th e ir n e w ruler. T h ey w ere deeply religious, and they saw that A lexander had a better attitude than the Persian kings to the Egyptian gods. T hey gladly made him th eir ‘p h a ra o h ’. As Pharaoh, he was believed to be a living god, son o f the Egyptian creator-god Amun. A fter spending tim e in E g y p t’s capital city M em phis (near present-day Cairo), Alexander travelled north to the m outh o f the R iv er N ile. T h e re he organized the b u ild in g o f a new city, Alexandria. It was not the only city o f that name; one had already been built near Issus, and before he died A lexander built m ore than tw enty others. B ut this Alexandria was perhaps his greatest gift to the future. In the centuries that followed, it becam e one o f the M ed iterran ean w o rld ’s m ost im p o rta n t centres o f learning and o f political and econom ic power. Leaving m ost o f his arm y in Alexandria, A lexander travelled 200 kilom etres west along the M editerranean coast w ith a small group o f soldiers. H e came to the G reek city o f Paraitonion, then turned south into the Libyan desert. This tim e his destination was not an enem y city - it was Siwah, hom e o f the Libyan god A m m on. Siwah, in Libya, was k n o w n all over th e G reek w orld as a place w here people could ask A m m on for advice and receive an honest answer. T h e answers w ere co m m u n icated to visitors by A m m o n ’s religious officials. A m m on was connected w ith the Egyptian god Amun and the Greek god Zeus. It seems that A lexander had an im portant question to ask the god. B ut his jo u rn e y across the desert to Siwah alm ost cost him his life. For fo u r days the travellers w ere lost in a sandstorm . T hey drank all th e ir w ater and soon becam e very thirsty. B u t suddenly there w ere clouds in th e sky and it started to rain - ‘n o t w ith o u t the help of the gods’, according to A lex an d er’s friends. T hey travelled at night, w hen it was cooler, and soon they lost their way 28

again. This tim e, it was said, they w ere helped by birds and snakes w hich showed them the right direction. Finally, after m ore than a week in the desert, they reached Siwah. Alexander com m unicated privately w ith the god A m m on, possibly about his hopes o f becom ing K ing o f Asia. Later, in public, the religious m e n o f Siw ah w elcom ed h im as ‘Son o f Z eu s’. Was this ju st a G reek translation o f th e P h a ra o h ’s title, Son o f A m un? O r had they heard that A lexander’s m o th e r O lym pias som etim es told strange stories ab o u t a g od b ein g h e r so n ’s father? We do n o t know. B u t certainly A lexander’s visit to Siw ah had a pow erful effect on him . A ccording to his soldiers, he started to believe that he truly was the son o f the great god Zeus. Like the Greek hero Hercules, he was m ore than hum an; because o f this, there was nothing that he could no t achieve. Chapter 7 K ing o f Asia D uring the siege o f Tyre, K ing D arius had w ritten another letter to Alexander. H e had offered him all the lands west o f the R iv er Euphrates, a fortune in gold, and m arriage to his daughter; in exchange, D arius had asked for peace and the return o f his wife, m other and children. It was a generous offer, but Alexander had refused it. D arius then realized that he had no choice - he had to fight again. W hile A lexander was in Egypt, D arius called together a new army. Soldiers came from the farthest corners o f his empire, and it was a w hole year before the arm y was ready to fight. A lexander m arched from Egypt to Tyre and waited. In his next battle, he w anted to defeat the Persians completely, and he could not do this against an incom plete army. To entertain his bored soldiers, he organized the perform ance o f G reek plays and musical concerts. T h e n finally th e M acedonians m arched east. 29

By b u rn in g th e E uphrates valley, th e Persians forced A lexander to take the only oth er possible route east. This brought him to Darius s choice o f battlefield: Gaugamela, in present-day Iraq. D arius m ade sure that, unlike at Issus, the battlefield was w ide enough for him to take advantage o f his enorm ous army. A lthough Alexander had been jo in ed by new soldiers from M acedonia, Greece and the Asian M editerranean coast, these only took the place o f the m en w ho had died. Against Alexanders 7,000 horsem en and 4 0,000 fo o t soldiers, D a riu s’s had 3 0,000 horsem en and 200,000 foot soldiers to send into battle. At first A lexander planned to take the Persians by surprise in the early m orning. B ut w hen it becam e clear that Darius was expecting them , the M acedonians took tim e to look carefully at the battlefield. In the centre o f the field, they saw that spears had been stuck in the ground to hurt any horses that ran at the enemy lines. T hey saw elephants, a frightening sight for m en w ho had never m et such enorm ous animals before, and for their horses. T hey also noticed that uneven ground had been flattened to help the drivers o f the famous Persian w ar chariots. D arius had 200 o f these chariots, w ith spears pointing out in front o f the horses and lo n g knives fixed to th e w heels. It is unlikely th at the ordinary M acedonian soldiers were feeling confident before the battle. T he following m orning, Alexander spoke to his m en and their confidence retu rn ed . H e called to th e gods, ‘I f I am truly the son o f Zeus, you will defend us and help to m ake us strong.’ T h en he led the attack. H orsem en and foot soldiers charged towards the centre o f the Persian line, then suddenly turned right to an area w here there w ere no spears o r elephants. D ariu s’s h o rse m e n from the centre rushed to m eet them , but they were unable to surround the M acedonians as they had ho p ed . F ighting hard, th e M acedonians drove them back. At the same time, the Persian chariots charged at the foot 30

soldiers in th e M aced o n ian centre. B u t A lex ander’s archers m anaged to kill m any o f the chariot drivers before they reached the soldiers. W h en a chariot came close, the M acedonians m oved sideways and the chariot, w hich could no t tu rn quickly, w ent straight through the hole in the line. T he chariots were no t causing the damage that D arius had hoped for. O n A lex an d er’s left, th e Persians broke th ro u g h the M acedonian defences. B ut they did not use the situation to their advantage. Instead they w ent in search o f the Persian royal family and tried to free D a riu s’s m other. N o w A lexander too k his chance. W h e n the enem y horsem en had rushed to m eet the first M acedonian charge, they had left a w eak p o in t in th e centre o f D a riu s’s line. A lexander attacked at this point, passing the elephants and going straight towards the chariot o f the Persian king. A lexander, it is said, th re w a spear at D arius, b u t it m issed and killed his ch ario t driver instead. Soon, as at Issus, Darius was rushing from the battlefield in his chariot. This tim e Alexander did not w ant him to escape. H e took 2,000 horsem en and hurried after him . B ut the dust made it difficult to see, and m any Persians w ere try in g to follow th e ir king as well. In the confusion, H ep h aistio n and m any o f A lex an d er’s o th e r friends were hurt. T he M acedonians continued the chase at high speed, b u t D arius m an ag ed to get away. W ith the disappearance o f their king, the Persian soldiers were soon defeated. As at Issus, enorm ous num bers o f Persians died. T he M acedonians too lost many m en, and more than a thousand horses died in the battle or from their race to catch Darius. A lexander m arched through rich farm land to Babylon. Its governor came to m eet him, and offered him the city w ithout a fight. A lexander entered the city gates in his chariot, riding through streets covered w ith flowers. T he Babylonians, like the Egyptians, had suffered 200 years o f unpopular Persian rule, and w elcom ed a change enthusiastically. Alexander was careful not to 31

follow the Persian habit o f insulting the Babylonian gods. H e gave gifts to the great god Bel M arduk, and paid for the rebuilding o f temples w hich had been dam aged under the Persians. H e spent a few weeks relaxing in the great city w ith his army. H e probably found tim e to visit the famous H anging Gardens —a park planted w ith trees and flowers on m any different levels. Like the M ausoleum at Halicarnassus, this was one o f the Seven W onders o f the World. A lexander left B abylon to be ruled by its Persian governor, w h o had fought against the M acedonians at Gaugamela just a short tim e before. M any people were surprised at this, thinking that only G reek speakers should rule A lexander’s n ew em pire. B u t later there were other Persian-born governors. T h e n ex t great city on A lexander’s ro u te east was Susa. T h e climate there was so hot, it was said, that at m idday snakes could n o t cross th e road for fear o f b ein g b u rn t by th e sun. B u t its people gave A lexander a w arm w elcom e, and its great riches m ade it an attractive destination. After sitting in the royal seat o f gold in D ariu s’s palace, A lexander to o k con tro l o f o n e and a h alf m illion kilograms o f gold. His financial difficulties at the start o f the war were now just a m em ory T h en came Persepolis, in the heart o f Persia itself. It was natural to expect the Persians to defend their hom eland. Alexander led a small group o f horsem en and foot soldiers through the m ountains to defeat any Persian forces that were defending the m ountain roads. T he path was steep, narrow and covered in snow. After four days’ climb, the M acedonians came to the Persian Gates, a wall o f rock in the m ountains that m arked the entrance to the Persian hom eland. As they passed, they were attacked by an enem y arm y w hich was m uch larger than their ow n small group. Great stones fell on top o f them from the m ountain heights, and they were shot at on all sides by Persian archers and stone-throw ers. A lexander had no choice: he had to order a retreat. 32

Great stones fe ll on top o f them from the mountain heights.

If A lexander left these Persians undefeated, they could attack his m ain army, led by his se c o n d -in -c o m m a n d , P arm en io n , on its way to Persepolis. T here was only one hope o f success, but it was very dangerous. W ith half his soldiers, A lexander followed a local guide along a small path used only by animals and their owners. At night, as the w in d blew snow in th e ir faces, they ran th ro u g h the m ountains. In the early m orning, they rejoined the main path beyond the Persians’ position and took the Persians by surprise. W ith M acedonians in front and behind them , the Persians suffered a terrible defeat. O nly a few escaped death. Finally, in January 330 b c , Persepolis lay undefended. A lexander’s soldiers m oved th ro u g h th e city, destroying everything and everyone in their path in their search for riches. For many, the long jo u rn e y from E u ro p e was n o w well rew arded, as they found extraordinary quantities o f gold and silver, jew ellery and expensive clothes. B ut the greatest riches were saved for the M acedonian king. At Persepolis, A lexander found three million kilograms o f royal Persian gold. It took 15,000 animals to move it, un der A lexander’s orders, to Susa. Alexander chose a new governor for Persepolis - a Persian noblem an w hose father had been killed at the Granicus. It seemed that Persepolis was going to receive similar treatm ent to Babylon and Susa. T hen, after a celebratory meal, the A thenian girlfriend o f A lexander’s frien d P tolem y m ade a suggestion. A lexander should burn the palace w here they were eating, she said, to punish the Persians for burning the A thenian Acropolis m any years before. Alexander and his friends agreed, and soon the historic palace o f the kings o f Persia was in flames. W hile Alexander was in Persepolis, D arius and about 10,000 soldiers waited 700 kilom etres north in Ecbatana (present-day H am adan). B ut w hen A lexander led his arm y north, D arius ordered a retreat. First he planned to go far away to Bactria (part o f present-day Afghanistan); then he decided to defend the 34

Caspian Gates, w hich were m uch closer. His m en were getting annoyed w ith these changes o f plan. Eventually some o f them took their king prisoner. W h e n A lexander heard w h at had h ap p en ed , he follow ed as quickly as he could. R a c in g th ro u g h th e desert, by day and night, he finally caught up w ith the Persian soldiers. B ut their prisoner king was not w ith them . Tired and thirsty after the long and unsuccessful chase, o n e o f A lexander’s officers left the road in search o f water. By chance he found a dead body. It was K ing Darius, m urdered by his ow n men. Exactly 150 years after K ing X erx es’s w ron g d o ings in A thens, the rule o f the Persian kings was at an end. A lexander started w earin g th e G reat K in g ’s royal hat and purple-edged clothes, m aking it clear to the Persians that he was now their Great King. It was a shock for the M acedonians to see their king in Persian clothes. They did not understand w hy he w anted to look like the enemy. T hey had w on battles that no one had expected them to win, and had becom e rich beyond their wildest dreams. N ow their thoughts turned to home. To his soldiers’ surprise, Alexander made no plans to go back to Europe. Instead he co n tin u ed to m arch east, and it is a sign o f his extraordinary skills as a leader th at his soldiers agreed to follow. Chapter 8 To the Ends o f the Earth T h e first aim was to defeat Bessus, o n e o f D ariu s’s m urderers. Bessus was n ow in Bactria, calling him self K ing o f Asia. General P arm en io n , A lex an d er’s seco n d -in -c o m m a n d , stayed in Ecbatana w ith 25 ,000 m en. C leitus, w h o had saved A lexander’s life at the Battle o f the Granicus, was given 6,000 foot soldiers and was told to pro tect th e gold in th e city. T h e o th e r 32,000 soldiers in the M acedonian arm y m arched w ith A lexander towards Bactria. 35

The quiet com plaints about A lexanders new Persian habits now grew m ore serious. A group o f M acedonians planned to m urder their king. Philotas, son o f General Parm enion and com m ander o f the M acedonian horsem en, was told about these plans but failed to warn Alexander. W hen the m urder plans were eventually know n, Philotas s earlier silence seem ed strange. People began to w onder if the m urder had been his idea. Philotas was found guilty and killed. We know that Philotas was a powerful com m ander w ho had openly criticized Alexander. We do not know if he was really responsible for the m urder plans. Now, though, A lexander had real cause to w orry, because Philotas’s father, G eneral P arm enion, controlled h alf o f th e arm y at th e tim e o f his so n ’s death. It was possible that Parm enion w ould turn against Alexander in anger at the treatm ent o f his son; it was even possible that Parm enion himself had m ade the plans to m urder Alexander. A lexander could not afford to wait and see w hat Parm enion w ould do. Instead, he organized the m urder o f this great general, w ho had been such an im portant com m ander in the M acedonian arm y since th e days o f A lexander’s father, K ing Philip. After this, A lexander was very careful. His soldiers’ letters to their families were secretly opened. A special group o f soldiers was form ed o f p eople w h o had criticized th e king. In this way, their dangerous views could n o t spread to o th e r soldiers w h o w ere still loyal to A lexander. In future battles these soldiers fought especially bravely, to prove that they deserved to stay w ith the arm y and not be left behind. After these unpleasant events, the M acedonians m arched again towards Bactria. T heir route took them straight over the m ountains n o w called the H in d u K ush (‘K iller o f H in d u s’). T hey clim bed 3,000 metres through snow and ice. T he arm y suffered terribly from cold and hunger, and found it difficult to breathe in the thin air. A lexander walked beside his soldiers, helping m en 36

w ho had fallen. T he horses suffered m ost, and were eventually killed and eaten —u n co o k ed , as n o firew ood could be fo u n d u n d er the thick blanket o f snow. Finally they arrived in Bactria. Bessus, w ho had not expected A lexander’s w in te r crossing o f th e H in d u K ush, decided to retreat beyond the R iver Oxus. M ost o f his soldiers left his army, annoyed that he did n o t w ant to stand and fight. A lexander to o k B actria’s capital city, Bactra, th en m arched in the footsteps o f the retreating Bessus. Two m onths before, his m en w ere freezing. N o w they had to suffer the terrible heat o f a stony desert. T hey travelled eighty kilometres w ith almost no water. Alexander shared their suffering, refusing to drink a small cup o f w ater that had been found for him . Soon they reached the R iver Oxus. Bessus had destroyed all the bridges and boats, so A lexander ordered his m e n to fill th e ir leath er tent-bags w ith dried grass and use th e m to sail across th e w ide river. O n the far side, they discovered that, like D arius before him , Bessus had been taken prisoner by his ow n m en. N o w he was given to Alexander. Alexander sent him back to Ecbatana, where his ears and nose were cut off and he was later killed. This was the traditional Persian punishm ent for killing a king. To please his new Persian allies, A lexander was punishing the m urderer o f D arius, w ho he him self had w anted to kill for so m any years. A lexander now learnt o f trouble in the lands that he had already conquered. T he people o f Sogdiana (present-day Uzbekistan) and B actria w ere ang ry at th e way that A lex an d er’s h u n g ry arm y had taken food and animals from their farms, and started fighting for their independence. T here w ere sieges in seven cities. Eventually the cities were taken, the enem y soldiers killed, and the w om en and children sold into slavery. T h e n new s cam e o f trouble at the city o f M aracanda (now Sam arkand). T he M acedonian soldiers there were 37

surrounded by an enem y siege. A lexander had to send an arm y to help them . B ut the Scythians on the far side o f the R iver Jaxartes seem ed dangerous too. H e decided to send only a small force to M aracanda, and to use his m ain arm y to defeat the Scythians. His ow n battle against the Scythians was successful, and their leaders were soon asking for peace. B ut in M aracanda, the situation w ent from bad to worse. The M acedonians were m et by enemy horsem en. W ith o u t A lexander to lead them , they fought badly, were forced onto a river island and were killed. M ore than 2,000 m en w ere lost. It was th e first real defeat that A lex an der’s arm y had suffered. Alexander spent the sum m er o f 328 b c trying to win back control o f Sogdiana. Before he had fully succeeded, a terrible argum ent started over dinner one night. It was betw een Alexander and C leitus, th e m an w h o had saved A lex an d er’s life at the Battle o f the G ranicus. It is possible that th e arg u m en t was about A lexander’s attitu d e to his old er com m anders, and to his dead father P h ilip ’s m em ory. Since his visit to Siw ah, A lexander believed that he was the son o f the god Zeus; perhaps Cleitus thought that Alexander was forgetting the im portance o f his hum an father. Certainly m any insults were exchanged, and in the end Alexander killed Cleitus w ith a spear. In the m orning, A lexander felt terrible about losing his tem per so violently. H e w ent to his tent and refused to com e o u t for several days. B ut the m urder could n o t be undone. A fter this, it seems likely that his relationship w ith his com m anders was different. Cleitus had been killed because he had criticized the king. N o b o d y else w anted to die for the same reason. T h e war, though, started to go b etter after this. T h e Sogdians, led by Oxyartes, waited behind steep hilltop defences. They told A lexander that they w ould only becom e his allies if he could find soldiers w ith wings. Instead, he chose 300 soldiers to climb the rockface during the night, ju st like m o d ern rock climbers. T hey 38

M any insults were exchanged.

clim bed to a position above the Sogdians. W hen the Sogdians woke up and saw the rock climbers, they thought for a m om ent that the M acedonian arm y really had grow n wings. They im m ediately accepted defeat and were taken prisoner. A m o n g th e p riso n e rs was O x y a rte s’s b eau tiful d au g h te r R oxane. A lexander fell in love w ith h er and soon they w ere m arried. Politically, this was a good idea too. Oxyartes was a powerful noblem an in Sogdiana, and now he had a strong reason to stay loyal to Alexander. O th ers w ere less loyal. A lexander soon learn t o f an o th e r plan to m urder him. Callisthenes, w ho was a pupil and close relative o f A ristotle and was w ritin g the history o f A lex ander’s heroic adventures, was blam ed for the plan and killed. B eyond B actria lay India (present-day Pakistan as well as India). Very few Greeks had ever been there, but many strange stories were told o f this mysterious land. People said that it was rich in gold, w hich was dug by enorm ous insects, and that Indian w ool grew on trees. (C o tto n was n o t know n in the -M editerranean area at that time.) T hey said that people lived for 200 years; that there was a tribe o f o n e-fo o ted m en; and that to the east o f India lay the Eastern Ocean, the edge o f the world. A lexander led his arm y east into India, m ore for the adventure than to build an em pire. By now, the soldiers w ere m ostly Asian, not European: Asian Greeks from the eastern M editerranean, and Bactrian, Sogdian and Scythian horsem en and archers. B ut his m ost im portant com m anders were his loyal childhood friends, including Perdiccas, Ptolem y and Seleucus. His best friend, H ephaistion, was now his second-in-com m and. A t first A lexander was surprised by the w arm w elcom e that he was given. A group o f Indian kings asked to be his allies and sent him twenty-five elephants to use in battle. B ut other tribes were n o t as w elcom ing. O n e after the other, th e ir cities w ere taken and their people killed, until most o f the local kings accepted 40

A lexander as th e ir conqueror. If they did this, they w ere allow ed to continue their rule in peace. B ut one king, Porus, preferred to fight. H e positioned his arm y and m ore than a hundred war elephants on the far bank o f the R iv e r H ydaspes. A lexander’s horses w ere frig h ten ed o f elephants, and because it was the rainy season the river was very deep and fast. A lexander co u ld n o t cross th e riv er and h o p e for an easy battle. Every night, A lex an d er’s soldiers p re te n d e d to start an attack, shoutin g th e M aced o n ian w ar cry ‘Alalalalai’. Every night, P o ru s’s m en g o t ready to defend them selves, b u t as soon as the enem y had got o u t o f bed, A lexander stopped his ‘attack ’. S oon P o rus’s m en were suffering badly from too little sleep. Porus saw that Alexander had collected enough food to feed his m en until the end o f the rainy season, and decided that in fact he was n o t planning to cross the river for m any m onths. H e ordered his m en n o t to listen to the nightly M acedonian warcries. T h en A lexander attacked. O n a rainy night, he sailed across the river about twenty-five kilometres away from the main armies. His boats landed on an island in the m iddle o f the river, not on the tar bank. By the tim e the mistake was discovered, it was almost light. There was no tim e to go back to the boats. Instead, Alexander clim bed onto the back o f his horse Bucephalas, w ho walked the rest o f th e crossing w ith w ater up to his shoulders. A lexander’s soldiers followed, some on horseback and some on foot. Soon the fastest o f P o ru s’s soldiers arrived, b u t th e ir chariots got stuck in m ud and they were quickly defeated. T hen Alexander marched on P orus’s m ain army, tw enty-five kilom etres away. At th e front o f P o ru s’s battle line w ere th e elephants. A lexander’s friends H ephaistion and Perdiccas led horsem en to the far left o f the line, b ey o n d th e elephants, and P o ru s’s m en m oved to m eet their attack. T h en Alexander sent soldiers to attack their right, w h ich was alm ost u n d efended. S o o n P o ru s’s arm y was in a state o f 41

confusion, and many fighters used their elephants for protection. W hile A lex an d er’s archers sh o t at th e elep h an ts’ drivers, his foot soldiers cut at their legs. T h e elephants w ent mad, picking m en up and throw ing them violently to the ground. T hen, frightened and tired, they walked slowly backwards. T he battle had ended. For Alexander, there was just one sad result o f the battle. Bucephalas was h u rt by P orus’s chariots soon after he had crossed the river. A few hours later, he died. Alexander built a new city on the banks o f the river and called it Bucephala, in m em ory o f his m uch-loved horse. A lexander’s arm y c o n tin u e d east, th ro u g h the m ud o f the P u n jab ’s rainy season. W h e n rivers broke th e ir banks, the m en had to escape the w ater in local hilltop villages. T h e snakes o f the area did the same, and many m en died from the poisonous bites o f snakes hiding in tents, clothes and cooking pots. They reached the banks o f the R iver Hyphasis, and at this point a local king gave A lexander some unw elcom e inform ation. They were still a long way from the Eastern O cean, w hich for Greeks m eant the edge o f the w orld. To get there, they had to cross the R iver Ganges, m ore than five kilom etres w ide, and fight the powerful K ing o f M aghada and his 4,000 elephants. A lexander was n o t especially w orried by this news. Fie had defeated elephants before, and destroyed an em pire greater than M aghada’s. H e called his m en to g eth er and told th em ab o u t the adventures and achievements that the future held. B ut his m en greeted his w ords w ith silence. Som e o f them had m arched 18,000 kilom etres since they had first arrived in Asia. T hey had not seen their families for eight long years. A nd after three terrible m onths o f rain, they were muddy, w et and tired. T hey did not w ant to cross the Hyphasis and attack another great empire. They w anted to go home. Finally, one o f the com m anders told A lexander their feelings. Soon all th e co m m anders refused to c o n tin u e east. T h e first 42

personal defeat in A lexanders life cam e from his ow n army. H e realized that he had no choice. M any o f his m en had tears in their eyes as they heard the g o o d news: A lexander was going to lead them home. In his ten t, A lexander was n o t as happy as his m en. His defeat had been very public, and it h u rt him greatly. T here was a philosopher called Anaxarchus w ho was travelling w ith the army. H e tried to make Alexander feel better. B ut according to legend, Alexander cried w hen Anaxarchus talked about the num ber o f worlds b eyond th e stars. H e explained his tears:‘T h e re are so m any worlds, and I have not yet conquered even one.’ C hapter 9 T he Last Years A lexander refused to go back the way that he had come. His taste for adventure was satisfied a little w hen his m en agreed, instead, to build boats. T hey planned to follow the Hydaspes and Indus rivers south to the Arabian Sea. T h e jo u rn e y started well, b u t it was difficult to sail so m any boats on unfam iliar waters. W h en the river was too fast, the boats lost control, and many crashed into each other and broke. O n one occasion, A lexander had to swim for his life. A lexander w an ted to c o n q u e r all th e tribes that he passed. T he M alloi, w h o lived in and around the city o f M ultan, caused him the m ost trouble. W ith a small force, A lexander surrounded M ultan. T h e n he led an attack on the city walls. H e clim bed a ladder and ju m p e d dow n inside the city. B ut the enem y m anaged to break the rest o f the M acedonian ladders, and only three o f his bodyguards w ere able to follow him . T hey fought bravely, but they w ere attacked o n th ree sides. O th e r M acedonians arrived as quickly as they could, clim bing o n each o th e r’s shoulders to get to the top o f the walls. B ut w hen they reached their king, he had a 43