Alexander Page #10

In the rain and the sun,

we fought for you.

Some of us, 50 battles we've been in.

We killed many a barbarian.

And now when I look around,

how many of them faces do I see?

Now you want us to fight more

of these crazy monkey tribes east of here.

We hear talk of thousands

of these elephant monsters...

...cross a hundred more rivers.

Crateros. Good Crateros.

Who better than you to speak,

most noble of men.

But you know there's no part of me

without a scar or a bone broken.

By sword, knife, stone, catapult and club.

I've shared every hardship with all of you.

Aye, you have, my king,

and we love you for it.

But, by Zeus, too many have died.

You have no children, Alexander,

and we're just...

...humble men, we seek no disturbance

with the gods. All we wish for...

...is to see our children and our wives

and our grandchildren one last time...

...before we join our brothers

in that dark house they call Hades.

Yes. You're right, Crateros.

I have been negligent.

I should've sent you

veterans home sooner, and I will.

The first of you

shall be the Silver Shields.

Then every man who's served seven years.

With full pensions from our treasury.

And respected, rich, loved.

You'll be treated by your wives and children

as heroes for the rest of your lives...

...and enjoy a peaceful death.

But you dream, Crateros.

Your simplicity long ended when

you took Persian mistresses and children...

...and you thickened your holdings

with plunder and jewels.

Because you've fallen in love

with all the things in life that destroy men.

Do you not see?

And you, as well as I, know...

...that as the years decline

and the memories stale...

...and all your great victories fade...

...it will always be remembered,

you left your king in Asia!

For I will go on, with my Asians.

- To the jackals with you, then, Alexander.

- We come for you, and you discard us.

- Shame!

- We want to go home, Alexander.

We're tired of glory.

We want to see our wives

and children before we die.

I've got children I haven't even seen.

I want to see my children.

I paid for your bastard children.

I've taken nothing for myself.

And all I've asked of you

is one more month.

- Shame.

- That's your king.

What would your father say?

I've taken you further

than my father ever dreamed.

So go home. I look to the

barbarians for their courage.

I go east.

He wants us dead

so we can't speak of his crimes.

- Who said that?

- We won't make it to Macedonia.

You despicable coward. Come forth.

- Make your accusations public.

- So you can have us killed?

- Son of Zeus.

- You desecrate your real father's memory.

- Or did you murder him like you did Cleitus?

- Hide in this mob because I'll take your life.

You men insult my honor, my paternity.

Arrest him.

And him. Yes.

And you, this loudmouth Demetrius.

You call me murderer?

I have no such blood on my hands.

And him.

Yes, you'll know the pain of treason.

You mock my shame for Cleitus and say

I'd harm a hair of my father's head.

Arrest him.

After all I've done for you, you swine.

You cowards. Traitors.

Come on, then.

Where are your daggers?

In smashing the mutiny

and executing the ringleaders...

...he did nothing, to my mind, that any

general in wartime would not have done.

But clearly, the army was divided.

And Alexander was no longer

loved by all.

He drove on, south to the outer ocean.

I confess a disappointment.

Especially on these reports of your

taking on Eastern ways.

Beware how these manners inflame

the senses with pride.

However, I have lived long enough now...

...to question...

...when so many others invest

such emotion in their disrespect for you.

I can only hope that you continue

what you began as the boy I knew at 12.

Be that man always, Alexander,

and you will not slip.

And perhaps you will prove

this old materialist...

...as you always thought me:

A dreamer after all.

Stay calm.

Together we are strong as gods.

Cover with your left,

strike hard with your right.

Fear is rot. A waste of time.

Lock shields.

Battle positions.

Move.

Choppers, prepare your knives.

Follow me.

Strike hard, boys. Strike hard.

Come, Macedonians.

Why do you hang back? Hurry.

Cavalry!

Split to thirds. Regroup and encircle.

Hold the line.

We must hide!

- Oh, no. Cavalry on me.

- Follow Alexander.

Charge. Charge. Charge.

The phalanx is in jeopardy.

Meleager, ride to Pharnakes

and tell him return to the center.

Find Hephaistion at the riverbank

and bring all cavalry to the center.

We must reach Crateros

before it's too late.

Hephaistion. To the center.

Come, Macedonians. Ride.

Ride!

Coenus! Get out of there.

No.

- The horses won't go.

- On foot, then.

Fall back, men! Fall back!

Come, Bucephalus.

Fear not, my friend.

Bucephalus.

'Tis only sun and shadow.

Bucephalus and Alexander.

One last time, it's you and me.

Isn't it a lovely thing

to live with great courage...

...and to die leaving an everlasting fame?

Come, Macedonians.

Why do you retreat?

Do you want to live forever?

In the name of Zeus, attack.

Attack.

Alexander!

Alexander.

- The king is down!

- To the king!

It was the bloodiest of his battles.

Pure butchery.

We'd never be men again.

Get out.

Go.

How can you behave

so shamelessly in public?

Because it was meant to be.

This isn't how I wanted to become king.

- No one blames you.

- They blame me behind my back! In secret.

- Slander is not power.

- Shame is?

Who killed my father?

Tell me.

Tell me, or shall I put you on trial

for his murder?

- Pausanias.

- He had help!

Did you help him?

No, never.

Why? Why would I?

So many wanted it.

Greeks, Persians, men, women.

I'd be shocked if there were not

a god he had not profaned.

How ironic though, in the end...

...a boy he rutted with once too often

returned the favor.

You're mad. You're cursed.

You've unleashed Furies,

you don't know their power.

Now who is exaggerating?

Even if it was the wish of your heart...

That's a lie! He was my father!

I loved him!

He was not your father!

You owe no blood debt to that man.

You lie and lie and lie.

So many lies you've spun

like a sorceress, confusing me.

Look at you. Look at you.

You are everything that he was not.

He was coarse, you are refined.

He was a general, and you are a king.

He could not rule himself...

...and you shall rule the world.

You're so cursed by all the gods

when you speak like this.

Such thick pride...

...and no mourning for your husband.

Mourn...

...him?

What do you know of Philip?

No, Alexander. Zeus is your father.

- Act like it.

- My first act would be to kill you!

You murdered me in my cradle.

You birthed me in a sack of hate.

Hate you have for those

stronger than you.

- Hate you have for men.

- I taught you my heart, Alexander!

And by Zeus and Dionysus,

you grew beautiful.

Damn your sorceress soul.

Your soul is mine, Alexander.

No! No!

You've taken from me everything

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