Alexander the Great Page #2

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do not easily forget years of slaughter

and burning and pillage,

and deep and bitter hatreds.

And the cry of "Philip the Barbarian"

still echoes through the land.

He may conquer, but he will not rule.

Do you know how vast

the Persian Empire is?

From the Nile to the Indus,

from Samarkand to Babylon.

And beyond. Do you know

how many different people live there?

By heart. Carians, Armenians,

Jews, Parthians, Egyptians.

- I know their customs and their gods.

- Yes.

For this is more than an empire,

this is Colossus.

To rule it would take a man

as great as you can be.

That is why I say patience.

Patience? My time is short.

Short?

When the great god Zeus,

father of Achilles,

gave him his choice between a long life of

obscurity and a short one filled with glory,

he chose glory.

So did I.

Achilles died young.

Your friends are waiting for you

on the field. It's your turn to throw.

We Greeks are the chosen, the elect.

Our culture is the best,

our civilisation the best, our men the best.

- Now watch.

- (Aristotle) All others are barbarians,

and it is our moral duty

to conquer them, enslave them,

and, if necessary, destroy them.

Wonders are many, but none

is more wonderful than man himself.

The Persian way of life has

the seed of death and fear in it,

the Greek, of life and courage.

The gods of the Greeks

are made in the image of man.

Not men with birds' heads

and bulls with lions' heads,

but men who can be understood and felt.

"Thus beneath great-hearted Achilles

his whole-hooved horses

trampled corpses and shields together,

and with blood

all the axle-tree below was sprinkled,

for blood drops from

the horses' hooves splashed them,

and blood drops from

the tyres of the wheels."

"But the son of Peleus

pressed on to win glory,

flecking with gore his irresistible hands."

To place such responsibility on his

shoulders, to thrust manhood on a boy!

- Aristotle, we waste words.

- You waste a great man. In another year...

Another year?! In a year

I once swept through half Greece.

In another year they may sweep me back.

- This time victory is not on my spears.

- You asked for my opinion.

- I treasure it.

- You won't take it.

- Tell him why.

- There are many whys.

- I know them all.

- I know one. The queen.

- I know that one.

- Listen to him.

Listen to what?

Does he say the boy's not loyal?

- To you?

- To me.

- He'd lay his life down...

- I for him.

But you are asking him to make a choice

between the mind and the heart.

He'd make the right one.

I hold him to be a man.

An Illyrian spear through the knee.

What's an arm or a leg or an eye

for the sake of glory?

You've grown.

A year ago, when I left you here...

- Almost two.

- So it is.

Tall and straight as a spear.

A Macedonian spear.

- Do you come from Pella?

- No.

- Straight from the battlefield, to see you.

- Me?

- How's your mother?

- When I last saw her, well.

- When was that?

- Several months ago. Why?

- Aristotle tells me you excel.

- Except in patience.

He's told me that, too.

And that you thirst for glory.

- When we hear news of your victories...

- Victories? There are none.

For the first time in 20 years,

Macedonians retreat.

- I've heard that, too.

- And what do you think?

That my father's name

is Philip of Macedonia.

Can you rule in Pella while I fight?

- Rule in Pella?

- There is a revolt there.

In my capital, in my palace!

That's why I'm back.

There must be loyalty

here to the House of Philip.

Can you rule? Aristotle stands opposed.

Who else?

Attalus.

And you?

I rode 200 leagues to Mieza.

I can rule.

- At all costs?

- I can rule.

Tomorrow morning, when the sun is high,

I want you and your companions

to ride into Pella.

And there, in full view

of the entire populace,

I'll proclaim you regent in Macedonia.

- I'll go and tell the others.

- Alexander.

There's work to do. Farewell, Aristotle.

Farewell. Take these words with you,

and use them for what they're worth.

Alexander is many things.

He's logic and he's dreams.

He's warrior and he's poet.

He's man and he's spirit.

He's your son, but he's also hers,

and he believes himself to be a god.

(dog barks)

(women's laughter and music)

Alexander!

The night was a thousand years.

When I heard last night that you...

You heard last night that I was coming?

From whom?

Oh, a man... a soldier... a messenger.

I don't remember.

I couldn't wait.

I wanted to come to you, to warn you.

- To what?

- No. No, not to warn you. To beg you.

- To warn me? To beg me?

- I vowed to the gods that...

Mother, say what you want to say.

He's gone mad.

No one was safe in Pella this night.

Philip has gone mad.

- Send them away.

- They're my friends, here for safety.

Send them away!

What's all this about my father?

To the sword, the cross, the rack,

men that have been his friends for years.

Now everyone is his enemy. He accuses

everyone of conspiring against him.

Even me. You'll hear that story,

Alexander. You'll hear it from him.

But you mustn't believe it.

You mustn't. You don't, do you?

Why should he accuse you?

He wants to get rid of me.

He's been wanting to for years.

He wants to marry again.

- Who?

- Attalus's niece.

You be careful of Attalus.

You be careful of all of them.

She's no fool.

She won't let him throw her away like

he's done with all the others. She's young.

Mother!

Whatever he asks of you, do.

Whatever he says, agree with.

For when you're regent...

When you're regent, then... we'll rule.

We?

Your father will see you now.

Have you seen your mother?

Yes.

An act of revolt

against the state is treason.

In giving you the regency,

I give you power.

Power is absolute -

if you don't use it, you lose it.

- My father always spoke bluntly.

- Did he?

That's not what people say.

They say "Philip, the cunning", "the fox".

- Speak bluntly now.

- I do not choose to.

- Then I do not choose to answer.

- Who says choice is yours? Alexander!

All I ask is truth.

- I've been at Mieza all this time.

- You saw her. Many times you saw her.

- Whenever I could.

- And never did you hear about this plot?

It's your choice as king

to put me on the rack.

There's a man on the rack now,

a kinsman of your mother's,

who, before he died, screamed her name.

Torture makes men scream blasphemies.

- Is it blasphemy to speak her name?

- In foul lies, yes.

And if I brought you proof

that this revolt was brewed by her?

If I brought you proof, and you brought

me proof, and we swore to heaven?

Here we stand,

and you believe in me or you don't!

I want to.

- And I want you to.

- Then listen.

And listen carefully, boy. This woman...

- My mother.

...wants to rule.

She is the queen.

You asked for blunt words -

so she's called.

There is no love between us. She can

only rule through you. You are her power.

And her pawn.

- I'm no one's pawn.

- Are you sure?

A rumour here in Pella -

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