Alexander

Alexander, the army will divide.

Satrapies will revolt.

Without your orders, there'll be war.

We beg you. Tell us who.

Our world is gone now.

I'm the last left alive.

Whether that's a blessing or a curse...

...who by Hades would know.

But I've paid my price...

...in blood.

And in broken dreams.

They say we were the greatest

fighting force ever known to man.

Greater even than the expedition to Troy.

But how can I say it?

How can I tell you what it is like

to be young...

...and to dream big dreams?

To believe when Alexander looked you

in the eye, you could do anything.

Anything.

In his presence, by the light of Apollo,

we were better than ourselves.

Truly, I've known many great men

in my life...

...but only one colossus.

And only now, when old...

...do I understand

who this force of nature really was.

Or do I?

Did such a man as Alexander exist?

Of course not.

We idolize him,

make him better than he was.

Men, all men, reach and fall...

...reach and fall.

In the East, the vast Persian Empire

ruled almost all the known world.

In the West,

the once great Greek city-states...

...Thebes, Athens, Sparta,

had fallen from pride.

For 100 years now, the Persian kings

had bribed the Greeks...

...with their gold

to fight as mercenaries.

It was Philip, the one-eyed,

who changed all this...

...uniting tribes of illiterate sheepherders

from the high and lowlands.

With his blood and guts,

he built a professional army...

...that brought the devious Greeks

to their knees.

He then turned his eye on Persia...

...where it was said the

Great King Darius himself...

...on his throne in Babylon,

feared Philip.

Philip was murdered...

...much to Persia's delight and

perhaps sponsored by their gold.

And Alexander, at 20

became the new ruler of Macedonia.

Announcing revenge

for the death of Philip...

...Alexander liberated

all of the cities of western Asia...

...south to Egypt...

...where he was declared

Pharaoh of Egypt...

...and worshipped as a god.

And finally, he provoked

the rise to battle...

...in the heart of the Persian Empire,

near Babylon.

it was mad.

Forty thousand of us against

hundreds of thousands...

...of barbarian races unknown to us...

...gathered under Darius himself.

East and west had now come together...

...to decide the fate of the known world.

it was the day Alexander

had waited for all his life.

Son of a god.

it was a myth, of course.

At least it started as a myth.

i know.

i was there.

In the crack of the Persian line,

we'll go for the head.

Kill Darius?

The gods have brought him

to us at last.

If I die, it's one Macedonian.

But the Persians, they cannot move

without Darius' command.

Here. Right here, we cut the throat

of the Persian army.

This is madness. You'll never get

within 100 paces of him.

Have you seen the sheer size

of his force?

Not if you hold them on the left,

my brave Parmenion...

...with your son Philotas

for just one, two hours tomorrow.

And you, unbreakable Antigonus,

the center phalanx.

Perdiccas, Leonnatus...

...Nearchus, Polyperchon.

If you pin them on the walls

of your sarissas, here in the center...

...their cavalry will follow me

out to the right.

And when bold Cassander breaks,

stretching their left...

...a hole will open.

Then I and my cavalry-

Our revered Cleitus...

...Ptolemy and Hephaistion.

-will strike through that gap...

...and deal the deathblow

to Darius' head.

Since when, by the light of Apollo, has

cavalry been used to break an infantry line?

What was it we did to

Chaeronea, Parmenion?

Alexander, even with luck, timing, the gods,

they're at least five to our one...

...which means in truth we must rout them

tomorrow, destroy their army completely.

Or we'll be picked apart by bandit tribes

on the long journey home.

Right.

You speak of home and retreat...

...but do you understand, Parmenion?

Babylon's my new home.

Alexander...

...if we must fight...

...do so with stealth.

Use your numbers well. We should attack

tonight when they least expect us.

I didn't cross Asia

to steal this victory, Cassander.

No, you are too honorable for that.

No doubt influenced from sleeping

with Tales of Troy under your pillow.

But your father

was no lover of Homer's.

The lands west of the Euphrates, Alexander,

the hand of his daughter in marriage.

Since when has a Greek

been given such honors?

There are not honors, Parmenion,

they're bribes...

...which the Greeks

have accepted too long.

Do you forget that

the man who murdered my father...

-... lies across the valley floor?

-Come, Alexander...

...we're still not really sure if it was

Persian gold behind the assassination.

But that is no matter!

Your father taught you never to surrender

your reason to your passion.

Now I urge you...

...with all my experience, regroup.

Fall back to the coast,

raise a larger force.

I would, if I were Parmenion.

But I am Alexander.

And no more than Earth has two suns

will Asia bear two kings.

These are my terms.

And if Darius isn't a coward

who hides behind his men...

...then he'll come to me tomorrow.

And when he bows down to Greece...

...Alexander will be merciful.

By Ares' chains, he has got balls, men.

I mean, give the man his due,

Parmenion.

And, lads, feast tonight,

for tomorrow we will dine in Hades.

I've seen one before.

It was still alive.

To whom do you pray?

Phobos.

Fear?

A bad omen.

More so for Darius.

I've come to believe the fear of death

drives all men, Hephaistion.

And this we didn't learn as schoolboys.

It is the cause of all of our misfortunes.

-So, mighty Crateros.

-Your Majesty.

-Are you ready for tomorrow?

-It's been too long coming if you ask me.

The men are skittish as colts and

the damn bulls won't shut their snouts.

Good. Fear makes men fight better.

Post your sentries alertly

but rest them well.

Don't you worry, general. I'm known to

sleep with my eyes open as a baby's arse.

Only because someone

might steal his loot, sire.

Well, someone owes Crateros

for his cheapness.

He buys neither gloves nor blankets

to warm himself.

Who needs gloves

when you come from grace?

Who needs clothes

when you can fight naked?

He's right.

After tomorrow, even the thrifty

among you shall be kings.

-The gods are with us, Your Majesty.

-We'll stain the ground...

...in Persian blood, my king.

You're on the first row tomorrow, boy.

I've always believed, Alexander...

...but this seems so much bigger than us.

Did Patroclus doubt Achilles when they

stood side by side at the seat of Troy?

Patroclus died first.

If you do...

If you were to fall, Hephaistion,

even if Macedonia were to lose a king...

...I will avenge you.

And follow you down

to the house of death.

I would do the same.

On the eve of battle,

it's hardest to be alone.

Then perhaps...

Perhaps this is farewell then...

...my Alexander.

Fear not, Hephaistion.

We are at the beginning.

Blood makes the world rise.

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