Alexander Page #5

But beware of men who think too much.

They blind themselves.

Only Hephaistion do i leave out.

But all of them you make rich...

...while your mother and yourself,

you leave in generous poverty.

Why won't you ever believe me?

it is only a dark mind like mine

that can know these secrets of the heart.

For they are dark, Alexander.

So dark.

But in you, the son of Zeus...

...lies the light of the world.

Your companions will be shadows

in the underworld...

...when you are a name living forever

in history as the most glorious...

...shining light of youth, forever young,

forever inspiring.

Never will there be an Alexander like you.

Alexander the Great.

Remember, bring me to Babylon

as you promised.

i can only help you, for they know

if they harm you...

...they will face my wrath,

as Queen of Babylon.

It's a high ransom she charges

for nine months' lodging in the womb.

Bring her, Alexander.

-It'll give her such joy.

-Joy?

When I'm the cracked mirror

of her dreams?

Stay with me tonight, Hephaistion.

I'll take my own bath.

Thank you, Bagoas.

What bothers you?

I see in her everything I fear.

Yet I have no idea what it is, this fear.

She was always so sure

I was born of Zeus.

Why, Hephaistion?

I think there are things

beyond our imagining...

...like the lightning,

tales of strange conceptions.

I don't doubt it.

What is being told me?

What destiny do we-? Do I have?

Well, if I'm Patroclus, I die first.

Then you, Achilles.

The generals are upset.

They question your obsession

with Darius.

They say it was never meant

for you to be king of Asia.

Naturally.

They want only to return to their homes,

rich with gold. But I've seen the future.

I've seen it now 1000 times,

on 1000 faces.

These people want...

Need change.

-Aristotle was wrong about them.

-How so?

Look at those we've conquered.

They leave their dead unburied.

They smash their enemies' skulls

and drink them as dust.

They mate in public.

What can they think or sing or write

when none can read?

But as Alexander's army, they can go

where they never thought possible.

They can soldier or work in the cities.

The Alexandrias,

from Egypt to the outer ocean.

We could connect these lands,

Hephaistion...

...and the people.

Some say these Alexandrias have become

extensions of Alexander himself.

They draw people into the cities

to make slaves of them.

But we freed them, Hephaistion, from

the Persia where everyone lived as slaves.

To free the people of the world...

...such would be beyond the glory

of Achilles, beyond Herakles...

...a feat to rival Prometheus...

...who was always a friend to man.

Remember the fates of these heroes.

-They suffered greatly.

-We all suffer.

Your father, mine.

They all came to the end of their time.

And in the end, when it's over,

all that matters is what you've done.

You once said,

"The fear of death drives all men. "

Are there no other forces?

Is there not love in your life...

...Alexander?

What would you do if you

ever reached the end of the world?

I'd turn back and conquer its opposite.

I wonder sometimes if it's not

your mother you run from.

So many years,

so many miles between you.

What is it you fear?

Who knows these things?

When I was a child, my mother thought

me divine. My father, weak.

Which am I, Hephaistion?

Weak or divine?

All I know is...

...I trust only you in this world.

I've missed you.

I need you.

It is you I love, Hephaistion.

No other.

You're everything I care for...

...and by the sweet breath of Aphrodite...

...I'm so jealous of losing you

to this world you want.

You'll never lose me, Hephaistion.

I'll be with you always.

Till the end.

The campaign in the northeast of Persia...

...turned into a hard guerrilla war

of almost three years.

We chased Darius towards Bactria...

...but missed taking him by hours.

He was dying when we found him, sire.

He asked for water.

He drank and died.

The Great King Darius had been betrayed

by his own commanders.

Fully honoring his corpse...

...Alexander hunted down

these commanders into unknown lands...

...crossing even beyond

the River Oxus into Sogdia.

We fought them as far as

the unknown steppes of Scythia...

...where only legendary heroes

had once trod.

The surveyors told us we were now on

the borders of where Europe and Asia meet.

in fact, we were totally lost.

Here, Alexander founded

his 10th Alexandria...

...and settled it with veterans, their women

and any who would dare the frontier life.

Unable to accept defeat in any form...

...Alexander persisted in breaking

every tribe that resisted...

...until the day he received the head

of his last enemy who'd surrendered.

For Alexander, there could be

no pretender to the throne of Asia...

...which now included all

of Sogdia and Bactria.

it was here that he made

one of his most mysterious decisions.

Ten years after his mother's insistence

he marry a Macedonian...

Through our union...

...Greek and barbarian...

...may be reconciled in peace.

...the most powerful man in the world

took a girl of no political significance.

Why?

Some say it was for

alliance with the tribes.

Others, the desire for a successor.

And yet others said

Alexander truly fell in love.

Who Roxane really was...

...I doubt that any of us ever saw further

than the pools of those black eyes.

On this glorious occasion...

...I toast this great army

that has given so much.

And in honor of them, those of you

who set out with us seven long years ago...

...I pronounce all your debts paid forthwith

from the royal treasury.

Praise Alexander!

And in honor of my bride...

...my beautiful bride...

...we recognize the many women

who've shared the long road with us...

...and grant them dowries

befitting a proper marriage.

And what about our boys?

And lastly...

...lastly, the gods demand no less of us...

...that your children be given

a proper Greek education...

...and military training

under our protection...

...so as to be the new soldiers

of our kingdom...

...in Asia.

Your father must be turning in his grave.

After all this time, a hill chief's daughter.

You call this

tribal wedding legitimate?

Do you forget my father

took a barbarian as his queen?

Yes, but few would call it

a profoundly happy marriage.

But what's the point, Alexander?

She's your captive.

Just take her as your concubine.

Because I want a son.

Damn you, Philotas.

Then half your nobles have sisters

who'd make fine Macedonian mothers.

To take an Asian as my queen,

not a captive...

...is a sign of respect

for our subjects.

It will bring us together, unify us.

Which is not to say I won't take

a Macedonian.

As a second wife? You insult Macedonia.

Never will our people

accept this girl's son as king.

They'll be angry enough to find out their

husbands all have second wives in Barbaria.

Then they'll learn!

By Athena's justice, this girl has spirit.

She'll breed a brave son.

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