The Greatest General in History? Alexander the Great (All Parts) — Transcript

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1. 0:00Alexander the Great (All Parts)
2. 0:01In 334 BC, Alexander, King of Macedonia, began one of the greatest military campaigns in history
3. 0:09- against the superpower of the age - the Persian Empire.
4. 0:18Just 20 years-old, his brilliant and fearless leadership won him battle after battle.
5. 0:25And in an astonishing 10 year campaign that took him to the edge of the known world,
6. 0:30he carved out one of the largest empires ever known.
7. 0:35Few men have had such a massive impact on the course of history.
8. 0:41To the Persians, he was Alexander the Accursed, but to the west,
9. 0:47he was immortalised... as Alexander the Great.
10. 0:53EPIC HISTORY TV
11. 0:55And Invicta
12. 0:57Aleksander the Great Part I
13. 1:01Ancient Greece.
14. 1:06From around 500 BC, this rugged land was the scene of remarkable developments in art, philosophy, and warfare.
15. 1:20Its two greatest city-states were Athens, a naval power, where democracy, art, drama and philosophy flourished;
16. 1:31and Sparta, an austere, militaristic society, famed for its formidable army.
17. 1:40In 480 BC, these two city-states had joined forces
18. 1:46to fight an invasion by the mighty Persian Empire.
19. 1:51At the narrow pass of Thermopylae, a small Greek force, led by 300 Spartans,
20. 1:59held up the enormous Persian army for three days, before they were finally encircled and killed.
21. 2:08Then, in the straits of Salamis, the Greek fleet defeated the Persian navy ...
22. 2:17But they couldn't prevent the Persians burning the sacred temples of the Athenian acropolis.
23. 2:26The next year, at Plataea, the Greeks won a decisive land battle against the Persians,and forced them to abandon their invasion.
24. 2:40The next fifty years were the golden age of classical Greece.
25. 2:45But rising tension between Athens and Sparta, and their allies, eventually led to war,
26. 2:52dragging the Greek world into decades of destructive fighting.
27. 2:57Wars between the Greek city-states continued for almost a century, leaving them exhausted...
28. 3:05and vulnerable to a new, rising power to the north...
29. 3:11For centuries, sophisticated Greeks had viewed the mountainous kingdom of Macedonia
30. 3:16as a backwater, hicksville - barely Greek at all.
31. 3:23But under King Philip II, Macedonia emerged as a formidable military force.
32. 3:31His most famous reform: the introduction of the sarissa, an 18 foot pike, twice the length of a normal Greek spear,
33. 3:40and wielded by trained infantry fighting in close formation, known as a phalanx.
34. 3:51In 338 BC, at the Battle of Chaeronea, Philip's army crushed the joint forces of Thebes and Athens.
35. 4:02Through alliance and conquest, Philip had already gained control over most of his neighbours.
36. 4:09Now, following this victory, he united all Greece in an alliance known as the Hellenic League,
37. 4:16or League of Corinth, with Philip as hegemon – or supreme commander.
38. 4:23Only Sparta stood aside.
39. 4:28Philip began to plan a great campaign - a Panhellenic, or all-Greek, war against the Persian Empire.
40. 4:37Their old foe was now an ailing superpower, its great riches ripe for the taking...
41. 4:46But on the eve of launching his war, Philip was assassinated by his own bodyguard
42. 4:53– victim of Macedonia's brutal court rivalries.
43. 5:00He was succeeded by his 20 year-old son Alexander: brilliant, restless, tutored by the great philosopher Aristotle,
44. 5:10and already an experienced military commander.
45. 5:15Alexander inherited his father's grand plan to invade Persia, but first he had to secure his own position as king:
46. 5:24At home, he had potential rivals executed, then crushed rebellions in Illyria, Thessaly, and central Greece.
47. 5:34He made a special example of Thebes – completely destroying the ancient city, and selling its people into slavery.
48. 5:44In the spring of 334 BC, now ready to launch his war against the Persian Empire, Alexander led his army across the Hellespont into Asia Minor.
49. 5:57It was the start of one of the greatest military campaigns in history.
50. 6:03The Macedonian Army
51. 6:10Alexander's army was about 40,000 strong, drawn from all parts of Greece.
52. 6:16The infantry were commanded by the veteran Macedonian general Parmenion.
53. 6:23In the front rank, 9,000 Macedonian phalangites, armed with the 18-foot sarissa.
54. 6:31These were professional soldiers, well-trained and drilled, who formed up for battle in the phalanx, 16 ranks deep.
55. 6:39This packed formation presented a solid wall of iron spear-tips, and was virtually unstoppable.
56. 6:47But it was also difficult to manoeuvre, and highly vulnerable to attacks on its flanks or rear.
57. 6:55So 3,000 elite infantry, the hypaspists, or 'shield-bearers', armed with shorter spears,
58. 7:02guarded its flanks. They were commanded by Parmenion's son, Nikanor.
59. 7:11The second line of Alexander's army was made up of 7,000 Greek allies and 5,000 mercenaries,
60. 7:18armed as hoplites. They took their name from the hoplon, their large round shield, and carried, shorter, 8 foot spears.
61. 7:31A hoplite phalanx was not as effective as the Macedonian phalangites, but still well-armed and heavily armoured for the time.
62. 7:44The Agrianes were the army's elite skirmishers, expert javelin-throwers from what's now southern Bulgaria.
63. 7:53Other skirmishers from Thrace, and Illyria, were armed with javelins, slings and bows.
64. 8:04The shock troops of Alexander's army were the Companion Cavalry, 1,800 elite horsemen armed with spear and sword,
65. 8:14commanded by Philotas, another son of Parmenion. Alexander led the royal squadron in person.
66. 8:24There were also 1,800 cavalry from Thessaly, commanded by Kallas,
67. 8:30600 from other parts of Greece, led by Erigyius, and 900 mounted scouts from Thrace and Paeonia, under Kassander.
68. 8:47THE GRANICUS
69. 8:56The great Persian Empire was divided into provinces, called satrapies. Each satrapy was ruled by a governor, or satrap.
70. 9:08Those in Asia Minor now threatened by Alexander's invasion met to discuss strategy.
71. 9:15Memnon of Rhodes, a skilled Greek general in Persian service, urged them to avoid battle with Alexander.
72. 9:24Instead, he advised them to use a 'scorched earth' strategy
73. 9:28– to burn villages and crops, and withdraw to the interior - Alexander's army, he promised, would quickly starve.
74. 9:38It was good advice. But the satraps were unwilling to lay waste to their own provinces without a fight.
75. 9:50So they decided to face Alexander's army at the River Granicus.
76. 9:59The Persian army formed up behind the river, which was shallow, but 60 feet wide with steep banks.
77. 10:09Their front line was a wall of cavalry, about 10,000 horsemen from across the empire
78. 10:16– Medes and Hyrcanians from modern Iran, Bactrians from Afghanistan, and Paphlagonians from Turkey's Black Sea coast.
79. 10:27Behind, in reserve, were the infantry – several thousand Greek mercenaries,
80. 10:33a common sight in Persian armies at this time. These men fought for Persian gold,
81. 10:39and were armed with the round shield and short spear of hoplites.
82. 10:44The Persians may have been unsure if they could trust these men in combat against fellow Greeks, and so placed them at the rear.
83. 10:54Alexander, determined to attack and destroy this Persian force before it could retreat, raced to the Granicus with his best troops.
84. 11:04On his left wing, he posted Thessalian, Greek and Thracian cavalry, under Parmenion's command.
85. 11:14In the centre, were the massed spears of the phalanx, its six divisions commanded by Perdikkas, Koinos, Amyntas, Philip, Meleager, and Krateros.
86. 11:29On the right, Alexander himself, with the Companion Cavalry under Philotas, as well
87. 11:35as the elite hypaspists, the Agrianes javelin-throwers, and the archers.
88. 11:43Alexander, with 13,000 infantry, and 5,000 cavalry in all, was probably slightly outnumbered.
89. 11:52But ignoring advice to wait until dawn to cross the river, he ordered an immediate assault.
90. 11:59He sent a squadron of Companion cavalry to ford the river, followed by a regiment of hypaspists and the Paeonian light cavalry.
91. 12:08Alexander, calling on his men to show their courage, then led his right wing across the river.
92. 12:22As they reached the middle of the river, the Greeks came under a hail of javelins,
93. 12:26darts and arrows from the Persian line. Those that made it to the far bank were immediately charged by the Persian cavalry.
94. 12:39🎶
95. 12:43Alexander was in the thick of the fighting.
96. 12:50“he attacked where the whole mass of their cavalry and leaders were stationed.
97. 12:55Around him a desperate conflict raged... horses were jammed against horses and men against men,
98. 13:04the Macedonians striving to drive the Persians away from the river bank, the Persians determined to prevent them crossing
99. 13:13and to push them back into the river.”
100. 13:18🎶
101. 13:23Alexander's attack seemed reckless, but he was buying time for the rest of his army to cross the river,
102. 13:31including the irresistible Macedonian phalanx.
103. 13:39Then suddenly Alexander was fighting for his life, charged by two Persian nobles.
104. 13:47“Rhoesaces rode up to Alexander and struck him on the head with his sword,
105. 13:52breaking off a piece of his helmet. But the helmet broke the force of the blow, and Alexander struck him down with his lance.
106. 14:00Then, from behind, Spithridates raised his sword against the king, but Black Cleitus,
107. 14:06son of Dropidas, anticipated his blow, struck his arm, and cut it off, sword and all.”
108. 14:20Now the Greek army was across the river, and the Persian cavalry faced a wall of Macedonian spears. Most turned and fled.
109. 14:35🎶
110. 14:38The speed and shock of Alexander's attack meant Persia's Greek mercenaries hadn't even had time to join the battle.
111. 14:46Alexander, in a blood-rage, or possibly regarding these Greeks as traitors, ignored their appeals for mercy.
112. 14:57The mercenaries were surrounded on all sides, and massacred.
113. 15:10Alexander had won a great victory. Asia Minor now lay at his mercy.
114. 15:18But the Persian Empire was still a land of immense wealth and power.
115. 15:24Already it was mobilising its vast resources to face him.
116. 15:29If Alexander was to conquer this empire and take his place in history, he'd next have to face Darius, King of Kings, himself...
117. 15:44Now, as Alexander approached Sardis, capital of the Persian province of Lydia, its commander surrendered without a fight.
118. 15:55But before Alexander could advance further, he needed to neutralise Persian naval power
119. 16:03Persia had a powerful fleet, with major naval bases around the eastern Mediterranean - that
120. 16:08could potentially cut his lines of communication back to Greece.
121. 16:15Rather than challenge the Persians at sea, Alexander decided to attack their nearest bases:
122. 16:22the Greek coastal cities of Miletus and Halicarnassus.
123. 16:27Both put up determined resistance, but were taken by winter.
124. 16:35The following spring of 333 BC, Alexander continued his advance into Lycia... and Phrygia.
125. 16:45At Gordium, he was shown the legendary 'Gordian Knot' – a prophesy said that whoever could unpick it would rule all Asia.
126. 16:54Alexander simply took his sword, and sliced it in half.
127. 17:05Meanwhile Memnon of Rhodes, a skilled Greek general in Persian service, led Persian warships into the Aegean,
128. 17:14and captured the islands of Chios and Lesbos.
129. 17:18But after Memnon's sudden death from illness, the offensive was abandoned.
130. 17:26The Battle of Issus
131. 17:3318 months had passed since Alexander's army crossed the Hellespont and invaded the Persian Empire.
132. 17:40Now Alexander led his men into Cilicia... and was soon poised to cross the Nur Mountains into Syria.
133. 17:50But then the main Persian army, led by King Darius III himself, emerged behind the Greek army, to the north.
134. 18:01Darius was determined to trap and destroy Alexander's army, which he outnumbered almost 2 to 1.
135. 18:09So he blocked Alexander's only escape route, by moving his army to the coastal plain near Issus,
136. 18:15just 6 miles wide from mountains to sea.
137. 18:24The narrow battlefield would force Alexander to fight, but it also prevented Darius exploiting his huge numerical advantage.
138. 18:35His army, by some estimates, was up to 100,000 strong, and contained some of the finest soldiers in his vast empire
139. 18:43- including 10,000 of his own household troops, known as the Immortals.
140. 18:51His best cavalry were massed on his right, towards the sea, where the ground was better for horses.
141. 18:59His best infantry, his Greek mercenary hoplites, formed the centre.
142. 19:07Persian infantry formed his left wing.
143. 19:14Alexander deployed his own army for battle, once again entrusting his left wing, nearest the sea, to Parmenion
144. 19:22, with the Greek cavalry and infantry.
145. 19:27In the centre, as always, was the Macedonian phalanx.
146. 19:33Alexander positioned himself and his best troops on the right wing, toward the mountain slopes –
147. 19:39his elite Agriane javelin-throwers, his archers, and behind them, the Hypaspists and the Companion cavalry.
148. 19:51When Alexander saw the strength of the Persian cavalry facing Parmenion on the left,
149. 19:57he moved across his Thessalian cavalry to reinforce him.
150. 20:03Despite his overwhelming numbers, Darius held his position behind a small river, the Pinarus, and waited for Alexander to attack.
151. 20:15He didn't have to wait long.
152. 20:20Alexander called out to his men, urging them to fight bravely, picking out some by name.
153. 20:27Then, at the head of his army's right wing, he charged.
154. 20:39Once again, the speed and shock of the Macedonian advance sent the enemy reeling back.
155. 20:48But in the centre of the battlefield, the Macedonian phalanx was in trouble.
156. 20:54In its effort to keep up with Alexander, its formation had become disordered.
157. 20:59Now, in fierce fighting, with Darius's Greek mercenaries, the phalanx was slowly being driven back.
158. 21:12Alexander, seeing the danger, regrouped, and led the Companions in a headlong charge straight at the Persian centre.
159. 21:24The Greek mercenaries, threatened on their flank, were soon in disarray,
160. 21:29and the Macedonian phalanx was able to resume its advance.
161. 21:35Alexander fought his way towards the Great King, Darius himself.
162. 21:43Rather than face this apparently mad and fearless Macedonian king, Darius fled the battlefield in his royal chariot.
163. 21:55Meanwhile the Macedonian left wing, under Parmenion, was in a desperate fight against the best of the Persian cavalry.
164. 22:04If the Persians could break through here, they could envelop Alexander's army, and snatch victory from the jaws of defeat.
165. 22:12But Parmenion and his troops fought doggedly, and continued to hold the Persians at bay.
166. 22:21As the news that Darius had fled spread among his troops, they abandoned the fight, and tried to save themselves.
167. 22:37The battle turned into a massacre.
168. 22:43Ptolemy, one of the Macedonian commanders, told Alexander there were so many Persian dead,
169. 22:50his men had used them to fill a deep ravine, so they could cross over it.
170. 23:03Son of Amun
171. 23:12The Battle of Issus was a stunning victory for Alexander.
172. 23:17And amongst the spoils of victory, were Darius's wife, mother, and three children, all taken alive, and well treated by Alexander.
173. 23:30With the Persian field army in retreat, Alexander now turned to subduing the western territories of the Persian empire.
174. 23:42The next year, 332, the coastal cities of Phoenicia submitted to Alexander
175. 23:48– ending Persian naval power in the Mediterranean.
176. 23:52But the island-city of Tyre resisted.
177. 23:58Tyre's defenders fought bravely and skilfully – even when Alexander began building a causeway to the island,
178. 24:05protected by two giant siege towers... which they counter-attacked with fire ships.
179. 24:12But after seven months, the city walls were breached, and Tyre fell. Most of its citizens were killed or enslaved.
180. 24:22Gaza too was taken by siege.
181. 24:27Alexander continued to Pelusium, on the Nile Delta,
182. 24:32where the Persian governor of Egypt surrendered the entire province to Alexander, along with the royal treasury.
183. 24:45At Memphis, priests of this ancient land welcomed Alexander as their liberator from Persian rule, and crowned him Pharaoh.
184. 24:57At the mouth of the Nile, he founded a new city, Alexandria...
185. 25:02then travelled to the desert oracle of Siwah, where, according to some accounts, the priests welcomed
186. 25:09him as son of Amun, king of the gods.
187. 25:16Alexander returned east to Tyre... where in 331 BC, he received news of trouble back home.
188. 25:26Despite his great victories over the Persians, many Greeks regarded Alexander as a tyrant.
189. 25:33King Agis of Sparta, with Persian support, now launched a revolt against Macedonia.
190. 25:41Antipater, Alexander's commander in Greece, was already dealing with rebellion in Thrace.
191. 25:48But he quickly marched south... and met Agis in battle near the city of Megalopolis.
192. 25:59Even the legendary Spartans were now no match for Macedonian military power.
193. 26:10The Spartan army was crushed. King Agis himself was among the fallen.
194. 26:29With his base in Greece secure once more, Alexander advanced towards the Persian heartlands,
195. 26:36seeking a final showdown with Darius.
196. 26:39He received a letter from the Persian king, offering him a fortune in gold,
197. 26:44his daughter in marriage, and half his empire in exchange for peace.
198. 26:50But Alexander's stunning victories, all the oracles and acclamations, had now convinced him that his destiny was to rule the world...
199. 27:00He rejected the Persian king's offer. He didn't want half the empire - he was coming to take it all...
200. 27:18In 334 BC, Alexander, 21 year-old ruler of the small Greek kingdom of Macedonia,
201. 27:26led an invasion of the vast Persian Empire.
202. 27:32It seemed impossible odds, but thanks to Greek military dominance, and Alexander's fearless leadership,
203. 27:40he won two great battles against the Persians… at the River Granicus, and at Issus.
204. 27:52Having subdued Persian lands west of the Euphrates River, he now headed east into the empire's heartlands,
205. 28:01seeking a final showdown with the Persian King, Darius III.
206. 28:09Receiving news that a great Persian army, led by Darius, had assembled at Gaugemela,
207. 28:14near modern Mosul in Iraq – he made straight for it.
208. 28:20This was Darius's last chance to stop Alexander – and Alexander's chance to smash Persian power once and for all.
209. 28:31The Battle of Gaugamela
210. 28:39Darius had chosen to fight on open ground, where his advantage in numbers would be more telling.
211. 28:46His soldiers had also worked hard to clear and flatten the terrain, to make it suitable for Persian war chariots.
212. 28:56By modern estimates, the Persian Army was between 50 and 80,000 strong,
213. 29:01and made up of contingents from across the empire:
214. 29:06infantry from Syria and Babylonia...
215. 29:12cavalry from Armenia, India and Central Asia...
216. 29:19up to 200 scythed chariots... even a handful of war elephants.
217. 29:29Alexander's army was smaller, and may have been outnumbered by as much as two to one.
218. 29:36He deployed his units in their usual formation:
219. 29:40On the left flank, Thracian and Thessalian cavalry, commanded by Parmenion.
220. 29:49In the centre, the Macedonian veterans of the phalanx – each armed with their 18 foot sarissa pike.
221. 29:59On the right flank, Alexander with his elite cavalry, the Companions; and his best infantry, the hypaspists.
222. 30:09These were the units with which Alexander planned to launch his main attack.
223. 30:16Greek hoplites formed a second line, and supported both wings – which were angled back,
224. 30:22to guard against encirclement by the Persians.
225. 30:31The battle began when Alexander led his wing out to the right – a move that took the Persians by surprise.
226. 30:40Could Alexander really be trying to encircle their huge army?
227. 30:48The Persians mirrored his movement, taking troops away from their centre, to outflank Alexander,
228. 30:55and prevent him leaving the area they'd cleared for the Persian chariots.
229. 31:01But Alexander's unusual manoeuvre was a trap - to entice the Persians to weaken their centre.
230. 31:08When he saw that it had worked, he ordered his Greek cavalry to charge, to keep the Persians fixed in position.
231. 31:18A giant cavalry battle developed on the right wing.
232. 31:24Darius, meanwhile, judging this to be the decisive moment, unleashed his chariots.
233. 31:39But expert Agrianes javelin-throwers took out horses and crews
234. 31:45– while the Greek infantry opened lanes, allowing the chariots to pass harmlessly through.
235. 31:59Now Alexander led his Companion cavalry, and parts of the Macedonian phalanx,
236. 32:05in a headlong charge straight at the weakened Persian centre, fighting his way towards Darius himself.
237. 32:13The sudden ferocity of Alexander's assault threw the Persians into panic
238. 32:18– the centre of the army broke and ran - King Darius himself leading the rout.
239. 32:30But Alexander's left wing was in serious trouble – Parmenion, facing a huge onslaught by Persian cavalry,
240. 32:39was virtually surrounded - Indian and Scythian horsemen had even ridden through a gap in the Greek line
241. 32:46– but rather than wheeling and attacking the Greeks from behind, they'd carried straight on to loot their camp.
242. 32:58Parmenion sent a desperate appeal to Alexander for help.
243. 33:06The King abandoned his pursuit of Darius, regrouped, and charged the Persian right wing.
244. 33:22It was the hardest and bloodiest fighting of the battle – claiming the lives of sixty of Alexander's Companions.
245. 33:34Finally, as news of Darius's flight spread across the battlefield, the last Persian horsemen turned and fled.
246. 33:48The Battle of Gaugamela was a stunning and complete victory for Alexander.
247. 33:54According to ancient sources, he lost just a few hundred men, while the Persians lost thousands.
248. 34:07Alexander had routed Darius's great army, and now the road to Babylon – the empire's main capital - lay open.
249. 34:18The Macedonian king entered the great city in triumph, recognised by Persian officials as its new rightful ruler.
250. 34:28So too at the city of Susa, where Alexander ceremonially took his seat upon the royal throne of Persia.
251. 34:38In the Zagros mountains, at a pass known as the Persian Gates,
252. 34:43a courageous Persian force held up Alexander's army for a month.
253. 34:49The Greeks eventually found a mountain path that bypassed their position,
254. 34:54allowing them to encircle and wipe out the defenders.
255. 34:59In early 330 BC, Alexander reached Persepolis, the empire's ceremonial capital.
256. 35:07Alexander wanted to appear as a liberator to the Persians – as a legitimate successor to King Darius
257. 35:17- but now, he ordered Persepolis to be pillaged and burnt – retribution for the Persian invasion of Greece,
258. 35:25and the burning of Athens' sacred temples in 480 BC.
259. 35:35Alexander now headed north into Media, where Darius had taken refuge in the royal city of Ecbatana.
260. 35:44Alexander was determined to capture Darius – but the fugitive king fled east in the hope of raising a new army
261. 35:52in the provinces of Parthia, Bactria, and Sogdia.
262. 35:58It was not to be. As Alexander closed in, the Persian king was murdered by one of his own governors,
263. 36:05Bessus, who then proclaimed himself the empire’s new ruler.
264. 36:13Alexander gave orders for Darius to be buried in the royal tombs of Persepolis, alongside his ancestors.
265. 36:22Then he paused to organise his vast new empire.
266. 36:28Alexander appointed viceroys to rule the provinces on his behalf,
267. 36:33keeping several Persians - who had sworn loyalty - in their posts.
268. 36:39Then he resumed his march east. His goal: to find and kill the usurper Bessus...
269. 36:47subjugate the empire's eastern provinces... and reach the far edge of the world...
270. 37:04In 330 BC, Alexander continued his march east.
271. 37:11His goal: to find and kill Bessus - a Persian usurper, claiming to be the rightful king
272. 37:19– and to subjugate the empire's eastern provinces...
273. 37:28Alexander headed first for Aria, today part of Afghanistan, where the Persian governor Satibarzanes
274. 37:37had launched a revolt – after initially pretending to submit to Alexander.
275. 37:43The rebellion was crushed, and Satibarzanes killed in single combat by a Greek cavalry officer.
276. 37:52Nearby, Alexander founded the city of Alexandria Ariana, modern Herat – one of around a dozen cities
277. 38:01that Alexander would eventually found, almost all bearing his name.
278. 38:09Alexander marched on to Phrada.
279. 38:14The Macedonian court had a long tradition of plots and assassination.
280. 38:20Six years before, Alexander's own father, King Philip, had been murdered by his bodyguard.
281. 38:28He was now informed that Philotas, commander of his Companion Cavalry,
282. 38:33had uncovered a plot to assassinate Alexander, but kept it secret.
283. 38:40Philotas, and his father Parmenion, were among the most respected of Alexander's commanders,
284. 38:46and had played crucial roles in all his great victories.
285. 38:52But when Philotas confessed under torture, Alexander had him executed.
286. 38:58then sent assassins back to Ecbatana, where Parmenion was governor, to kill him before he even heard of his son's death,
287. 39:07and had a chance to turn against Alexander.
288. 39:12In 329, Alexander resumed his pursuit of Bessus.
289. 39:17En route, he founded the city of Alexandria Arachosia – modern Kandahar, in southern Afghanistan.
290. 39:27As he reached Kunduz, Bessus was betrayed by his own men, and handed over in chains.
291. 39:35Alexander sent him back to Persia for execution, as a king-slayer.
292. 39:44Alexander pushed on into modern Tajikistan, where the Sogdians rose up against him.
293. 39:53He had to fight off attacks by local tribes, and take several towns by assault.
294. 40:03On the banks of the Jaxartes River, he founded the city of Alexandria-Eschate, meaning Alexandria 'the Furthest'
295. 40:12– so-named because he had, at last, reached the limit of the Persian Empire.
296. 40:23This frontier was frequently raided by nomads, known to the Greeks as Scythians.
297. 40:30Alexander lured them into a decisive battle near the Jaxartes.
298. 40:45The result was a crushing victory for the Macedonian king, that put an end to the raids.
299. 40:54But fighting against Bactrian and Sogdian tribes continued, frustrating Alexander,
300. 41:00and tying him down in a difficult guerilla war.
301. 41:05Tyrant
302. 41:11By now, many of the Macedonian troops were unhappy with Alexander.
303. 41:16Most had not seen their homes in years, but their king seemed bent on conquest without end.
304. 41:23What was worse, he'd begun to adopt the rituals and dress of their defeated Persian enemy
305. 41:30– customs they viewed as effeminate, and decadent.
306. 41:39At Maracanda, modern Samarkand, after a furious, drunken argument, Alexander killed Cleitus the Black.
307. 41:50Cleitus had been one of Alexander's best generals, and the man who'd saved his life at the Battle of the Granicus.
308. 41:59Alexander was full of remorse, but his growing arrogance was alienating more and more old comrades.
309. 42:09When he tried to make his countrymen perform the traditional Persian ritual of proskynesis
310. 42:15– prostrating themselves before the king - he crossed a line.
311. 42:20To Greeks this was blasphemy – only a god was worthy of such respect - and Alexander was forced to back down.
312. 42:33In Bactria, another plot to assassinate Alexander was uncovered. This time the ringleader was a royal page
313. 42:43– one of the sons of Macedonian nobility who attended the king.
314. 42:48Hermolaus had become murderously bitter towards Alexander over a perceived injustice. He and his accomplices were tortured,
315. 42:58and then stoned to death.
316. 43:02Callisthenes, Alexander's official historian, was also implicated in the conspiracy.
317. 43:10He was thrown in prison, where he later died.
318. 43:15That summer, in 327 - according to legend - Alexander became captivated by the beauty of Roxana, daughter of a Bactrian lord.
319. 43:26Their marriage was also a sound political move, helping to end local revolt against his rule
320. 43:33– and allowing him to continue his advance... into modern Pakistan, and India.
321. 43:44To the Edge of the World
322. 43:51Alexander now prepared to subdue the Persian Empire's most eastern provinces, which had yet to recognise his kingship.
323. 44:04To do so he would first have to cross the Hindu Kush mountains and reach the Indus river valley.
324. 44:18Advancing in two columns, his army won a series of skirmishes against the Aspasii and Assaceni,
325. 44:27as they fought their way into what's now the Swat Valley of northern Pakistan.
326. 44:34After a fierce siege, Alexander took the Assacenian capital of Massaga.
327. 44:41According to legend it was ruled by a beautiful queen, Cleophis, who bore Alexander a son, and was allowed to keep her throne.
328. 44:53The ruler of Taxila, near modern Islamabad, had formed an alliance with Alexander.
329. 45:00Together they marched to face Porus, king of Pauravas, at the Battle of the Hydaspes.
330. 45:11It was Alexander's costliest battle, as Porus's war elephants inflicted terrible casualties amongst the Greeks.
331. 45:20But despite Porus's fearless leadership, the battle ended in a decisive victory for Alexander, winning him control of the Punjab.
332. 45:32Alexander wanted to push on into India, to reach the great river which ancient Greek geographers said formed the edge of the world.
333. 45:43But at the River Hyphasis, known today as the Beas, his army mutinied.
334. 45:52His men had marched thousands of miles, fought countless battles, and not seen their homes in 8 years.
335. 46:01They'd heard rumours of gigantic armies waiting for them in India.
336. 46:07They refused to go any further.
337. 46:14Alexander was furious, but had to turn the army around.
338. 46:20He followed the rivers of the Punjab to the sea – a journey that took 10 months.
339. 46:26On the way, he defeated the Mahlians, but while leading the assault on their capital, was wounded in the chest and nearly killed.
340. 46:41After reaching the coast, part of the army under Nearchus, she boarded and returned by sea to Persia.
341. 46:51sailing through the Strait Hormuz and swam to the Persian Gulf.
342. 46:58It was one of the great ancient voyages of exploration, as these waters had been previously unknown to Greeks.
343. 47:09Meanwhile Alexander led the rest of the army back by land through the Gedrosian desert,
344. 47:16today in southern Pakistan. But extreme heat and shortages of food and water led to terrible suffering,
345. 47:25and many deaths among his army.
346. 47:30On his return to Persia, Alexander executed several of his viceroys and governors
347. 47:37- men accused of ruling unjustly, and robbing temples and tombs, during his long absence in the east.
348. 47:47At Susa, he arranged a magnificent mass-marriage of Macedonian officers to 80 Persian noblewomen,
349. 47:55to strengthen bonds between his two kingdoms.
350. 47:59Alexander himself married two Persian princesses.
351. 48:04He also paid all his soldiers debts, and ordered 30,000 youths from across the empire to be trained in the Macedonian art of war.
352. 48:19But at Opis, his Macedonian troops mutinied.
353. 48:25They were offended by Alexander's apparent preference for Persian advisors and Persian ways. Alexander had the ringleaders executed,
354. 48:34and made a speech to the men, reminding them of the glories they'd won together,
355. 48:39and leading eventually to an emotional reconciliation.
356. 48:47At Ecbatana, Alexander's closest and most trusted friend, Hephaestion, died of fever.
357. 48:56The king was grief stricken, went days without eating, and ordered a period of public mourning across the empire.
358. 49:10Alexander waged a successful campaign against the mountain raiders of Cossaea,
359. 49:16who not even the Persian kings had been able to subdue.
360. 49:21Returning to Babylon, he was met by embassies from distant peoples,
361. 49:26come to recognise his greatness – Aethiopians, Libyans, European Scythians, Lucanians, Etruscans, Gauls and Iberians.
362. 49:44Alexander's Bactrian wife Roxana was now pregnant...
363. 49:49But as he planned his next campaign, to Arabia and beyond, he developed a sudden fever,
364. 49:57and died days later, aged just 32.
365. 50:05The cause of Alexander's death has never been established. It may have been malaria, cholera, typhus... or poison.
366. 50:18The Successors
367. 50:26Alexander died undefeated in battle. His reputation as a brilliant, fearless and daring military commander remains undimmed.
368. 50:37His decade long campaign created one of the largest empires ever known, stretching from Greece to Pakistan.
369. 50:46But it was vast and unstable, held together only by his own brilliance and name.
370. 50:53Alexander left no plans for his succession, and his generals soon began fighting among themselves
371. 51:00to carve out their own empires.
372. 51:04In the Wars of the Successors, Alexander's widow Roxana and his young son were murdered.
373. 51:13His own gold sarcophagus, en route to Macedonia for burial was hijacked, and ended up in Alexandria, in Egypt.
374. 51:23Today, it's location remains one of the world's great unsolved mysteries.
375. 51:31Few men have ever had such an impact on the course of history as Alexander the Great.
376. 51:39The breath-taking achievements of his short life ushered in the Hellenistic Age,
377. 51:45as Greek ideas spread across the territory of his former empire, fusing with local traditions to trigger
378. 51:51new developments in art, science, government and language.
379. 51:59Some of the successor kingdoms to his great empire were short-lived
380. 52:04– others endured for centuries.. but all, in turn, would fall to new forces... and in the west, to the rising power of Rome.
381. 52:28Research and artwork for this video comes from Osprey Publishing's extensive range of books on ancient history.
382. 52:35Every Osprey book examines a particular battle, campaign or combat unit in authoritative, meticulous detail.
383. 52:43And with more than 3,000 titles, they cover everything from ancient warfare to modern conflict.
384. 52:49Visit their website to see their online catalogue.
385. 52:53Thank you to all the Patreon supporters who made this video possible, and to the channel ‘Invicta’
386. 53:00– find out more about key moments from the past in their ‘Moments in History’ series.
387. 53:07Joachim wrote and translated
388. 53:15He writes and translates into several languages: Joachim Moczko