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.
l'm the last left alive.
Whether that's a blessing or a curse...
...who by Hades would know.
But l'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 l say it?
How can l 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.
ln his presence, by the light of Apollo, we were better than ourselves.
Truly, l've known many great men in my life...
...but only one colossus.
And only now, when old...
...do l understand who this force of nature really was.
Or do l?
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.
ln the East, the vast Persian Empire ruled almost all the known world.
ln the West, the once great Greek city-states...
...Thebes, Athens, Sparta, had fallen from pride.
For 1 00 years now, the Persian kings had bribed the Greeks...
...with their gold to fight as mercenaries.
lt 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.
ln the crack of the Persian line, we'll go for the head.
Kill Darius?
The gods have brought him to us at last.
lf l 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 1 00 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.
lf 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 l 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.
l 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 l urge you...
...with all my experience, regroup.
Fall back to the coast, raise a larger force.
l would, if l were Parmenion.
But l 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.
l mean, give the man his due, Parmenion.
And, lads, feast tonight, for tomorrow we will dine in Hades.
l've seen one before. lt was still alive.
To whom do you pray?
Phobos.
Fear?
A bad omen.
More so for Darius.
l've come to believe the fear of death drives all men, Hephaistion.
And this we didn't learn as schoolboys.
lt is the cause of all of our misfortunes.
-So, mighty Crateros. -Your Majesty.
-Are you ready for tomorrow? -lt'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. l'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.
l'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.
lf you do....
lf you were to fall, Hephaistion, even if Macedonia were to lose a king...
...l will avenge you.
And follow you down to the house of death.
l 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.
Blood makes the rain fall.
Blood makes the earth grow.
And in blood, all men are born and die.
Blood is the food of the gods below.
Come, Bucephalus. Today we ride to our destiny.
Company, group! Regroup!
Phalanx, turn right!
Phalanx, attention!
Neoptolemus.
l remember you the day you took the siege tower at Tyre.
You were a giant. And today, how will you fight?
Dexippos, by Athena.
How far was it you threw your man wrestling at the last Olympic Games?
Will you match it with your spear?
And Timander, son of Menander, a great soldier to my father.
l still mourn your brother, Addaios, who died so bravely at Halicarnassus.
What an honored family you descend from, Timander.
You fight for them today.
You've all honored your country and your ancestors.
And now we come to this most distant place in Asia...
...where across from us, Darius has at last gathered a vast army....
But ask yourselves...
...who is this great king who pays assassins in gold coins...
...to murder my father, our king...
...in a most despicable and cowardly manner?
Who is this great king, Darius, who enslaves his own men to fight?
Who is this king but a king of air?
These men do not fight for their homes.
They fight because this king tells them they must.
And when they fight, they will melt away like the air...
...because they know no loyalty to a king of slaves.
But we are not here today as slaves.
We are here today...
...as Macedonian freemen!
And though outnumbered...
...l say to you who know the price of tyranny...
...who've carried the Persian yoke too long...
...you have a strength born of your hearts...
...and all their arms, their numbers...
...their chariots and all their fine horses...
...will mean nothing in the hands of slaves.
Some of you...
...perhaps myself...
...will not live to see the sun set over these mountains today.
For l will be in the very thick of battle with you.
But remember this:
The greatest honor a man can ever achieve...
...is to live with great courage and to die with his countrymen...
...in battle for his home.
l say to you...
...what every warrior has known since the beginning of time.
Conquer your fear...
...and l promise you, you will conquer death.
And someday l vow to you...
...your sons and your grandsons will look into your eyes.
And when they ask why you fought so bravely at Gaugamela...
...you will answer...
...with all the strength of your great, great hearts:
''l was here this day at Gaugamela...
...for the freedom...
...and glory...
...of Greece!''
Zeus be with us!
Cassander! Four columns, go!
Where does he go?
l don't know, Majesty.
Envelop him, Bessus.
Hephaistion, go!
Phalanx!
He makes a mistake, Pharnakes.
Yes, great king.
Be brave, men.
Steady on the left, lads!
Bend if you must, but never break.
And keep watching the cavalry on the left.
Pick up the pace!
Prepare to repel chariots!
Forward!
Cassander!
-Forward, men! -Forward!
-Left turn! -lnfantry, clear! Out now!
Hold your positions!
Father! We must fall back to the gully, Father.
No, hold.
Where is he? We're far too thin! Get word to Alexander!
-Move! -Yes, sir.
Come, Macedonians! Ride! Ride!
Drive for the hole!
-Drive for the hole! -Drive for the hole!
Prince Merdicus, bring these men up.
Back and to the left! Back and to the left!
-General! -Get to your home! And go home fast.
l cannot see!
-Philotas! Philotas! -Father.
Go. Tell Alexander yourself.
And if he won't listen, then survive me and avenge this betrayal!
Pay attention, lad! Your father still watches over you!
Darius!
Find your horses.
Darius!
Go! Go!
We can reach those mountains by sunset, go all night and catch Darius at dawn.
Provision the horses.
Alexander! Alexander, my father's lost.
They've overrun the flank. They're into the baggage train.
Parmenion's crumbling.
Alexander, if you chase him, you risk losing your army here.
And if we capture him, we gain an empire.
You can run to the ends of the earth, you coward...
...but you'll never run far enough!
To Parmenion!
You bleed free, my lord.
-May l tend to your wound? -No, Hermolaus, not now.
There's far worse than me. Go to them.
Help them.
How was this done, soldier?
Spear.
But l got two of the buggers.
Your Majesty.
You're very brave.
What shall l call you?
-Glaukos, my king. -Glaukos.
-And where's your home? -lllyria.
Let your body go loose.
Think of home now.
Be brave again, Glaukos...
...and you will live on in glory.
Alexander.
The Persian Empire, the greatest the world had yet known...
...was destroyed.
And Alexander, at 25, was now king of all.
lf you hesitate, she will strike.
Yes.
They are like people.
You can love them for years. Feed them, nurture them...
...but still, they can turn on you.
Don't hurt her.
Good.
Now....
He calls me a barbarian.
He makes a mockery of Dionysus every night.
Some called his mother, Queen Olympias, a sorceress...
...and said that Alexander was the child of Zeus.
Others, Dionysus.
Women are the only ones who know Dionysus.
But truly, there was not a man in Macedonia who didn't look...
...at father and son, side by side, and wonder.
My little Achilles.
Stay, Alexander, down. Down.
What is it you want?
Six months. Did you miss me?
-No. Not here! -Proud bitch. l'm still your king.
King of what? Sheepherders?
-l am of Achilles' royal blood. -The blood of Herakles runs in my veins.
-You are nothing but a drunken whore. -Shut your mouth.
You 1 0-titted bitch from Hades!
Which god could l curse to have ever laid eyes on you!
Do you think people respect you?
You think they don't know your bastards?
Damn your sorceress soul! You keep him here like one of your snakes!
l told you not! l told you not.
-You'll obey me. -l will not.
You'll obey me, or l'll kill you with my own hands.
Let her go! No! Stop! Papa!
-Obey me! -Your Majesty! No!
ln the name of the gods.
He will never be yours! Never!
ln my womb, l carried my avenger!
in the world he grew up to...
...i've come to believe it was in friendship that Alexander found his sanity.
You don't need much to fight.
When you're in the front ranks of a battle, facing some Northern barbarian tribe...
...courage won't be in the soles of your feet, Perdiccas.
Or in the thickness of your tunic, Philotas.
Or in the lining of your stomach, Nearchus.
lt's in the heart of a man.
You don't need to eat every day or until you're full, Ptolemy.
You don't need to lie in bed in a morning...
...when you can have some good bean soup, Cassander, after a forced night march.
Come on, Alexander.
Where's your hunger to twist Hephaistion's head off?
ls he stronger than you? Then beat him another way.
Who will respect you as a king? You think because of your father?
The first rule of war is to do what you ask your men to do. No more, no less.
Good, Hephaistion. That's it.
Well done. Good wrestling, Hephaistion. That's what l want.
Come, come, come.
You did well, but you lost.
Now, both of you, congratulate the other. Go on.
Would you want me to let you win, Alexander?
You're right.
But l promise you, l will beat you one day, Hephaistion.
it was said later that Alexander was never defeated...
...except by Hephaistion's thighs.
Although an inferior race...
...the Persians control at least four-fifths of the known world.
From Ethiopia and Egypt in the south...
...to Caucasus and the two inland seas in the north....
Philip brought such as Aristotle from Athens to educate our rough people.
They rule, and we sit around like frogs.
-Master? -Yes?
-Master! -Out with it!
-Why are the Persians so cruel? -Oh, come on, Nearchus.
That is not the subject for today, Nearchus.
But it is true that the Oriental races are known for their barbarity...
...and their slavish devotion to their senses.
Which are so dull, they castrate young boys...
...such as yourselves, for their sexual pleasure.
Yes. Excess in all things is the undoing of men.
That is why we Greeks are superior.
We practice control of our senses.
Moderation, we hope.
Then what of Achilles at Troy, master?
-Was he not excessive? -Achilles simply lacks restraint.
He dominates others so completely that even when he withdraws from battle...
...crazed with grief over his dead lover, Patroclus...
...he seriously endangers his own army. He is a deeply selfish man.
Would you say the love between Achilles and Patroclus is a corrupting one?
When men lie together in lust, it is a surrender to the passions...
...and does nothing for the excellence in us.
Nor does any other excess, Cassander, jealousy among them.
But when men lie together, and knowledge and virtue are passed between them...
...that is pure and excellent.
When they compete to bring out the good, the best in each other...
...this is the love between men that can build a city-state...
...and lift us from our frog pond.
But can a man love a woman equally, master?
A woman? Of course not.
A woman is a slave to her passion, Hephaistion.
Oh, naturally there are exceptions, and we must honor them.
Such as Pallas Athena, goddess of wisdom and war.
But never forget, she is sprung not from the loins of Zeus, but from his mind.
Now, you think on all this, my young frogs...
...for in you resides the future of Greek civilization.
To strive for honor is the highest purpose of all.
To rule over our baser emotions.
To follow reason, the divine part in each of you.
Yes...
...to love excellence is truly to love the gods.
Now, will you stop distracting me?
Back to geography and things that we know.
ls it possible that the source of Egypt's mighty River Nile...
...could rise in these distant mountains of the outer earth?
lf so, an experienced navigator could find his way here...
...by this river east, down into the great plains of lndia...
...out into the eastern ocean at end of the world...
...and by this route up the Nile...
...back to Egypt, into the Middle Sea and home to Greece.
Now, if only these frogs could look outward...
...and act on their favored position at the center...
...Greece could rule the world.
Why is it, master, in myth, these lands you speak of are known?
lndia, where Herakles and Dionysus traveled.
All these men who went east, Theseus, Jason, Achilles, were victorious.
From generation to generation, their stories have been passed on.
Why? Unless there was truth to them?
Tales of Amazons? Minotaurs, Gorgons, lcarus flying into the sun? No, Alexander.
Only common people believe these tales, as they believe most anything.
We are here precisely to educate ourselves against such foolish passions.
But if we are superior to the Persians, as you say, why do we not rule them?
lt is-- lt has always been our Greek dream to go east.
My father long wants it.
The East has a way of swallowing men and their dreams.
But still, to think it's these myths that lead us forward to the greatest glory...
...why is it wrong to act on them?
l can only warn you, not teach you.
Beware of what you dream for.
The gods have a way of punishing such pride.
And growing more ambitious, he now planned the invasion of Persia.
The best you can do, Cleitus? Back to the phalanx with you, l'll ride him myself.
No one will ride that beast, Your Majesty.
Not with your leg.
He's been beaten far too often.
My noble king, he's a high-spirited animal, yes.
High-spirited and worthy of Philip of Macedon.
For three and a half talents...
...l couldn't make a profit on him, but for you--
Why would l want such a beast? l already have a wife.
Do l seem so old?
-Stay down, stay down. -Hold him!
A broken neck comes free. He's too nervous for battle. Sell him for meat.
Buy him for me, Father. l'll ride him.
And if you don't?
-l'll pay for him myself. -With what, your singing voice?
l'll pay you!
l tell you, that horse can't be ridden, lad. His mind is broken.
He can be ridden. By me.
lf you can rule that horse, l'll make him yours...
...at half the price.
That horse will kill him, Philip.
-He'll break the boy in two. -Will he?
Perhaps she'll make a musician out of him yet.
You don't like your shadow, do you?
lt's like a dark spirit coming up to get you.
Do you see? That's us.
lt's just a trick of Apollo's.
He's the god of the sun.
But l'll show you how to outwit him, you and me together.
The boy doesn't have the craft, Philip. He could hurt himself.
He'll have to figure that out for himself. lt's time.
Good idea.
lndeed there are times, Philip, when l wonder if he is your blood.
-l only worry that-- -What was that, Attalus?
Nothing.
l was just noticing how the people like seeing you and Eurydice together.
You go, boy!
You ride that horse and by Zeus l say, you can rule the world.
Bucephalus.
That's what l'll call you. Strong and stubborn.
Bucephalus and Alexander.
Come now, let's ride together.
He's got some Titan in him yet.
Attalus! Cleitus! For Zeus' sake, he beat you, man!
Now, Bucephalus, show them.
My son.
My son!
You remember Prometheus...
...who stole the secret of fire and gave it to man.
lt made Zeus so angry...
...he chained Prometheus to a rock in the great Caucasus...
...and each day, his eagle pecked out the poor man's liver.
Each night, it grew back again so that it could be eaten the next day.
Miserable fate.
Oedipus tore out his eyes when he found out...
...he'd murdered his father...
...and married his mother. Knowledge that came too late.
Jason...
...he went east and brought back the Golden Fleece...
...and married a barbarian wife, Medea.
Later, when he left her for a younger wife...
...Medea slaughtered their two children in vengeance.
My mother would never hurt me.
lt's never easy to escape our mothers, Alexander.
All your life, beware of women. They're far more dangerous than men.
l'm sure you remember Achilles from Tales of Troy.
-He's my favorite. -Why?
Because he loved Patroclus and avenged his death.
Because he lived without fear, and slew Hector.
Some say he was a hotheaded fool...
...who fought for himself and not the Greeks.
But he was a hero, the greatest at Troy.
And his fate?
That he must die young but with great glory.
Did he have a choice?
Oh, yes. He could have a long life, but there would be no glory.
You dream of glory, Alexander. Your mother encourages you.
There's no glory without suffering, and this she will not allow.
She makes you weak.
The gods have never made it easy for man.
Look, Herakles.
Even after he accomplished his 1 2 labors...
...he was punished with madness, slaughtered his three children.
Poor Herakles.
Great Herakles.
All greatness comes from loss.
Even you, the gods will one day judge harshly.
When l'm king like you, Father?
Don't rush the day, boy. You risk all.
My father threw me into battle before l knew how to fight.
When l killed my first man, he said:
''Now you know.''
l hated him then, but l understand why now.
A king isn't born, Alexander.
He's made by steel and by suffering.
A king must know how to hurt those he loves.
lt's lonely. Ask Herakles.
Ask any of them. Fate is cruel.
No man or woman can be too powerful or too beautiful without disaster befalling.
They laugh when you rise too high and crush everything you've built with a whim.
What glory they give, in the end, they take away.
They make of us slaves.
Truth is in our hearts, and none will tell you this but your father.
Men hate the gods.
The only reason we worship any of them is because we fear worse.
What's worse?
The Titans.
lf they were ever to be set free...
...it would be a darkness such as we have never seen before.
Could they ever come back?
Can Zeus imprison the Titans forever under Mount Olympus?
lt's said that when Zeus burned them to dust with his lightning bolt...
...they took the Titans' ashes and, in a cold revenge...
...mixed it with those of mortal men.
Why?
Who knows these things?
One day, things will change.
Men will change.
But first, the gods must change.
But all this you'll forget, Alexander.
That's why we call them myths.
We can't bear to remember them.
l'll remember.
And one day, l'll be on walls like these.
Alexander once said to me:
''We are most alone when we are with the myths. ''
Phalanx!
And thus, it came to pass in a dream...
...as mythical to all Greeks as Achilles defeating the Trojans.
At this one glorious moment in time...
...Alexander was loved by all.
But in the end, i believe Babylon was a far easier mistress to enter...
...than she was to leave.
Sikander! Sikander!
Aristotle may have called them barbarians, but he never saw Babylon.
We have enough gold here to support three generations of Macedonian armies.
And Macedonia would soon corrupt, Cassander.
-Wealth in great quantities brings the crows. -Not for the men who fought, l trust.
We'll pay them well, Antigonus, but not as mercenaries for future services.
Now you sound like Philip.
Philip never saw Babylon.
No, he didn't, Hephaistion.
-Hello! -Hello!
Alexander, l know you think me a stiff old sod...
...but whatever our differences, know this day...
...your father would be very proud of you.
Thank you, Parmenion.
l ask you to forgive me my own anger, my pride.
They, too, blind me.
A magnicifent mainland work from the last century.
The golden age, Alexander. Worth much to Athens and to our alliances.
Take back what is ours...
...but spare what belongs to the Persians.
Yes. We're the richest men to walk the earth, my friends.
-Not if you keep giving it all away. -The grandsons of goat herders...
...we now rule 2 million square miles.
But....
None of you fear that this great fortune may drive us all to destruction.
You overvalue us.
For as long as Darius breathes, he is the legitimate king of Asia...
...and l but the king of air.
But he has no power, Alexander. He's lost in the mountains with no army.
As long as he's lost, Philotas, he can be believed in.
Only when he's found will it be decided.
lt seems you've already made up your mind.
We must finish what we failed to do at Gaugamela.
We must hunt Darius down.
-That was not your father's mission. -And l am not my father.
Come on. Have you so quickly forgotten?
Fortune favors the bold.
No wonder Darius fled when he had this to come back to.
One for every night of the year.
How will l go back to Lysimache after this?
l advise you not to touch, Leonnatus. Here, l'll take care of it for you.
Aristotle was perhaps prescient.
Do these images fool us with their beauty and degrade our souls?
Bagoas, great king. Darius' boy.
-Bagoas. -Nicely gilded, Your Majesty.
Most successful. He was certainly one of the great king's favorites.
How old? ls great well with the years.
What are you now, Bagoas? Eighteen, 1 9?
-Where does he come from? -The north, sire.
From the hills near Susa.
You speak our language.
-Good. l'd like to learn yours. -ls learnable, my lord.
So tell me, Bagoas...
...do my eyes betray me or do you wish to be set free...
...to go back to your homeland?
All my family's long dead, great king.
With your permission, l will stay on.
Very well then, Bagoas.
Ptolemy, administer this.
And that's the same of every person in the harem, woman and eunuch.
Whoever wishes to be sent home to their families, let them.
What?
-Hear that, boys? -He set us free.
Great King Alexander.
The princess of the thousand roses...
...and eldest daughter of the formerly Great King Darius...
...Stateira.
Noble Alexander...
...l come to beg for the lives...
...of my sisters...
...my mother, my grandmother.
You are not wrong, Princess Stateira.
He, too, is Alexander.
Please.
l plead for my family's lives.
-Sell me as a slave, great king, but-- -Look now...
...in my eyes...
...princess...
...and tell me...
...how would you like to be treated?
As l am...
...a princess.
Then so be it.
You and your family shall be treated as my family.
You shall live in this palace as long as you choose.
Have you any other requests for me, my noble princess?
No.
Everything l wish...
...l have requested.
You truly are...
:::a queen:
Yes, she would be a perfect match for you...