Ancient Civilisations - Alexander the Great

Episode Date: April 3, 2025

Though he ruled for just 13 years, Alexander the Great is as famed for his hedonistic lifestyle as his military genius. But how did he become one of the best known military leaders in history? What inspired such loyalty among his troops? And what drove this young man in his endless quest to conquer the known world? A Noiser production, written by Linda Harrison. With thanks to author Philip Freeman, a professor of humanities at Pepperdine University, Malibu. For ad-free listening, exclusive content, and early access to new episodes across the Noiser network, join Noiser+. Now available for Apple and Android users. Click the Noiser+ banner on Apple or go to noiser.com/subscriptions to get started with a free trial. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

It is 346 BC in the ancient kingdom of Macedonia, on the northern fringes of modern-day Greece. The sun blazes down on a crowd assembled on an open-air horse market on the plains outside the capital Pella. Pomegranate trees stand unmoving in the still air, heavy with their crimson fruit. A boy, whose name is Alexander, watches as nobles and others dressed in cotton tunics and leather sandals walk around examining the fine beasts. But one animal in particular catches the boy's eye, a wild, giant black stallion, which is refusing to be mounted. The magnificent horse snorts and shakes its head.

A royal attendant, highly experienced in taming horses, ducks out of the way as it kicks its powerful back legs. He slowly circles before trying to grab the reins and mount it again. But the horse rears up, a wild look in its eyes, throwing the attendant onto the hard ground with a loud thumb. Its hooves clatter back down, and it starts to run, scattering the nobles and servants. The Macedonians are proud horsemen, and none more so than Alexander's father, the ambitious King Philip II, who observes the scene with amusement.

Alexander has grown up at court, watching on as his father transformed the tiny kingdom of Macedonia into a military powerhouse. The young prince is immersed in his father's dream of one day pushing east and conquering the mighty Persian Empire. A disciplined army and mighty cavalry are key to that ambition. But it seems this stallion is not destined to be part of it. When the vendor tells Philip the price of the horse, the king dismisses him with a haughty flick of his hand. It is ridiculously high, especially for a horse so skittish. But Alexander disagreed.

He may be just 12 years old, but he has spotted something which no one else has. He takes a deep breath and proposes a deal to Philip. Give him a chance to tame the stallion, and if he fails, he will pay the full price himself. The crowd erupts with laughter. Philip strokes his beard, considering his son. Shrugging, he agrees. Very calmly, Alexander approaches the stallion. skin glistening in the heat. Touring over him, it dips its head, revealing a large white star shape

on its brow. The boy reaches up and takes the reins. He speaks softly into the animal's twitching ear for a moment, before gently turning its face towards the sun. What he alone has noticed is that the animal is afraid of its own shadow. Now it immediately starts to relax. Alexander waits until it is calm, then casts aside his cloak and swings himself up onto its back. He holds tight to the leather straps as the horse trots past the stunned crowd before letting it accelerate and gallop across the grassy plain. The wind whips Alexander's hair as the horse's hooves pound the ground beneath them. Ahead, clouds skim Mount Olympus where it rises majestically on the horizon. When he returns, the cheers and applause are deafening.

He is surprised to see that his father is bursting with pride, tears in his eyes. When Alexander dismounts, Philip embraces him. He declares that his son should find a kingdom worthy of his talents, for Macedonia is too small for him. This statement will turn out to be truer than Philip could ever imagine. His son will grow up to become legendary leader Alexander the Great. ruler of a vast empire stretching from Greece to India. He'll have a lifelong bond with the stallion,

who he names Busephalus, meaning ox head. Although Alexander ruled for just 13 years, he became one of history's most influential figures. As famed for his heavy drinking, as his military genius, Alexander's life was full of controversy and excess that would sometimes be fatal for those closest to him. So how did he become one of the best known leaders in history? What inspired such loyalty among his troops?

And what drove this young man in his endless quest to conquer the known world? I'm John Hopkins, and this is a short history of Alexander the Great. On a baking hot July day in 256 BC, in an opulent room in Pellas Royal Palace, the young Queen Olympius of Macedonia is giving birth to her first child. Nine months ago, the night before her wedding, she dreamt that the god Zeus shot into her bedchamber in the form of a lightning bolt and struck her womb. Now she presses her feet onto the cool tiles, grips the midwife's hand and gives one final push. Soon the room fills with the cries of a baby.

It is believed that the prince, called Alexander, meaning a defender or protector of men, can trace his royal roots back to the great hero Hercules. Olympus lies exhausted, gently cradling her baby. But her husband, Alexander's father, Philip, is elsewhere in Macedonia, recapturing the city of Potadaya. According to legend, it's a busy newsday for the king. When the messenger reaches Philip's tent in the army camp to tell him of the new arrival, there are two other couriers ahead of him. The first is there to inform him of a major victory against the Illyrians.

The second has ridden from the 106th Olympic Games. where the king's horse has won its race. Philip is thrilled with all the news, and soon he issues a decree to honour that which he values the most. He commands a special silver coin to be struck, to celebrate the victory of his horse. This is not the only story surrounding events on the day of Alexander's birth. The Temple of Artemis at Ephesus in Turkey also burns to the ground, the goddess apparently too distracted by attending Alexander's birth to save it. Persian priests or Magi are said to run madly around the temple ruins, beating their faces and declaring that the one who will bring calamity on the Persian Empire has been born that day. Meanwhile, there are tales that Olympius

slept with snakes before giving birth to Alexander. The serpents are seen as a sign of her son's divine origin, either from the Greek god Zeus or the Egyptian deity Ammon, who could both take the shape of a snake. In later years, more legends and versions of stories develop around Alexander's life. There are tales of him ascending into the sky in a carriage, lifted by griffins and journeying to the bottom of the sea inside a diving bell. While good records exist from this time, they are quite limited. As such, Alexander's life remains an intriguing mix of fact and fiction. Philip Freeman is a professor of humanities at Pepperdine University in Malibu, California, and author of a book on Alexander the Great's life.

It's interesting because even in the sources that survive, we get such different versions of him. But the sources of Alexandria we have in regards to people of the ancient world are very good. So we do have sources of people who knew him. We have sources of people that come along not that long afterwards. I think we can create a fairly good historic picture of Alexander, but there are always those mythological tales, mythological influences that come up that are sometimes hard to separate out.

The Macedonia of Alexander's birth is also immersed in mythology and folklore. More than two centuries before the birth of Christ, the popular deities include Zeus and Aphrodite, believed to live in a cloud palace above Mount Olympus. Alexander's homeland is cut off from Greece by the mountain and its surrounding peaks. Viewed from above, Macedonia is like a great bowl tipping into the beautiful waters of the Aegean. The Macedonians have their own rules, names, and language, and see themselves as separate to Greece. This is fine by most cultured Greeks. Certainly Macedonia's forests of pine and oak are useful for building warships, and its people are fine to trade with. But to the sophisticated

residents of the great city-states like Athens to the south, the natives of Macedonia are considered little more than barbarians. It was always seen by the people down in Athens. and Sparta as Thebes as the Wild West or the Wild North, I suppose. And it was a reputation that was well deserved. The nearest analogy I can think of is Game of Thrones. It was a place where murder, assassination, rivalries, plots were constant. And it was very dangerous to live in because the king of Macedonia for generations more likely was going to die by a sword than die of old age in his bed. And so it was the sort of place that was absolutely unlike what we might think of ancient Athens being, although Athens certainly had its difficulties, but it was truly a crazy, wild, murderous sort of place.

For years, treachery, violence, and love triangles, whether hetero or homosexual, are part of everyday life in the Macedonian court. Alexander's grandfather survived a murder plot hatched by his own wife and her younger lover. His son is murdered by his cousin, who is in turn slain by another cousin. It is not unknown for the kingdom to have several kings in one year, but the Macedonians are proud people who see the Greeks as feeble, effeminate, self-important snobs. Until recently, Macedonia had been a weak and threatened kingdom, which stayed clear of the constant squabblings between neighboring Athens, Sparta, and Thebes. But under Philip, this all changes.

A brilliant warrior who reforms the army, he introduces new equipment and enforces strict discipline and training. Using a mix of war, diplomacy, and marriage alliances, he conquers most of classical Greece. For the first time, states are joined together into an alliance as one political entity. This Greek council, called the League of Corinth, is allied against the Persian Empire, with Philip its military leader. In less than a decade, Philip has transformed Macedonia from a tiny backwater into the leading nation of a powerful empire. The jewel in the empire's crown is Pella. While Britain is in the midst of the Iron Age, with people living in hill forts and tribal territories, Pella is a modern, vibrant and diverse city, a crossroads between Mediterranean and Baltic civilizations.

Philip invests in grand buildings, temples, theaters, and a grid system of streets. In the center lies the Agora, a public space for the city's sporting and political life. Pella also boasts sophisticated systems for freshwater and sewage. The young Alexander grows up in Pella's royal palace, which Philip has turned into a cultural hub. It's part of a vast complex spanning almost four acres with its own outdoor theater, orchards, and vineyards. Philip has several wives, and Alexander grows up weighted on by slaves and servants, but he remains very close to his mother. Olympias was a brilliant and devious and scheming woman, and she was absolutely determined that Alexander was going to inherit the throne,

and there was plenty of competitions for that. She was never well respected by the Macedonian nobility, the people around Philip, because she came from a country called Ipirus, which is basically modern-day Albania, far to the west. And so she was always seen as an outsider, and Alexander, even though he was the son of Philip, was seen as half Macedonian. And so many people who were in the court of Philip

were not particularly fond of Alexander, and they wanted Philip to marry somebody who would have a full Macedonian son so that he could inherit the kingdom. But while Alexander enjoys a privileged childhood, he begins his military training from almost the day he can walk. He is drilled in archery, swordplay, and above all, horsemanship. Most days the young prince can be found

tearing across the Macedonian plains on horseback. By his teens, as crown prince, he's also receiving an education from the famous philosopher Aristotle, who visits the palace to tutor Alexander for several years. Alexander developed a great interest in literature, mathematics, biology, geography, logic, everything that Aristotle was the absolute master of. And so he grew up in a way that was a combination of both physical, martial training for war, but also intellectual, philosophical, scientific training.

It was, I think, a marvelous combination. He was a very studious young man, very intellectual, but he could also stand up for himself, and he could also defend himself quite well. Alexander would have gone into the city of Pella regularly. He would not have led a sheltered life at all. He would have become very familiar with all of the people. You get the feeling that Alexander was a very amicable young man.

On his visits to Pella, amid the shops and brightly colored buildings, Alexander encounters people from all over the world. The busy marketplaces throng with Greeks, Persians, Egyptians, Italians, and Celts from Central Europe, maybe even from Britain. But he doesn't see much of his father, who is often away on campaigns, either in Macedonia or Greece. By his teens, Alexander has proven his confidence and determination through the taming of the stallion bucephalus, and his father gradually gives him more military responsibility. But things are far from harmonious between the two. Alexander had a difficult relationship with Philip,

and Philip in return also had a difficult relationship with his son. But he saw in Alexander, I think, somebody who had tremendous talent, tremendous ability, somebody who was perhaps even a threat to him. He certainly learned a lot from Philip and was not afraid both to do, what Philip had taught him, but also to innovate along the way. And so I think Alexander certainly respected his father, but as so often with fathers and sons, there was a rivalry, there was a difficulty there between them, especially because Philip did face pressure to have a full Macedonian son. Philip was very interested in expanding his empire, and he was planning to invade the Persian Empire.

Alexander was certainly caught up in this and learned from his father this incredible driving ambition, I think, which is the defining quality of Alexander, an ambition that just went beyond anything that we are used to. Everything changes in 336 BC when Philip walks into a theatre in ancient Virginia, a heartland of Macedonia and burial place of its kings. The room is set for a decadent banquet to celebrate the wedding of his daughter, attended by dignitaries from all over Greece and the Balkans. Though he's limping, scarred, and missing an eye, he wears his battle wounds proudly. A golden wreath on his head, he is a man who radiates power. But then, one of his own bodyguards, Porcanias, also his former lover, approaches. The two have had a tremendous quarrel, and Porcanius is out for revenge.

Under his cloak lies a dagger. He takes his chance and lunges. skillfully stabbing Philip between the ribs. The king cries out and collapses, his white cloak quickly turning red as his blood spreads over the stone floor. He dies in minutes, assassinated in front of his adoring crowd. Within hours of Philip's murder, his son is on the throne. King Alexander III is now head of a unified and flourishing Macedonia and of its formidable army. He is just 19 years old. The young king must move swiftly to prove

prove himself. He has plenty of enemies. First, Alexander launches a campaign against the rebelling northern tribes of Greece. His victory cements his worth as a great military commander, and Greek states agree to supply troops for his planned campaign against Persia. Not wasting any time, two years later, he leads his troops east. After defeating the Persian King Darias III, he conquers Western Persia. Next, he heads to Egypt, where his army is victorious in battle after battle until he controlled the whole eastern Mediterranean coast. Here he founds the port city of Alexandria, naming it after himself as he will so many other cities. Crossing back into Asia, he takes on some of the toughest fighters in the world, all the time

riding the mighty Busephalus. Undefeated, Alexander's army remains fiercely loyal. He never asked his men to do anything that he didn't. So he was always out there, risking his life on the front lines with his sword. If there was ever a difficulty, if there was ever rocks to be moved out of the trail, Alexander was there, moving the rocks along with his men. His men grew to respect him not only as a great leader, not only as a great fighter, but somebody who was willing to share their difficulties. And he did this from the very start.

And this was a pattern that made his men trust and love him and follow him to the ends of the world. In a battle, there are many basic rules of warfare, such as you never charge uphill against an enemy. You always try to be on the top, but Alexander repeatedly charged uphill, and he would always move much faster than anybody expected him to. He would break all of the rules, and he would take tremendous chances in battle, but it always paid off for him. Alexander is also known for exploiting the local terrain in his own. favor and although often outnumbered he is an expert in catching his enemy off guard.

The beating heart of the army is the Macedonian phalanx, rows of tightly packed soldiers, each armed with long Sarissa spears. Combined with Alexander's military innovation, it makes them a formidable opponent. There is nothing that inspires an army like victory. And of course when you defeated the enemy in battle in the ancient world, you took whatever spoils the enemy left behind, whether it be weapons or gold or silver. So every time Alexander won a battle, his men profited from this. But it wasn't just about money. It was the glory, the success, the feeling that they were the greatest army in the world that

kept driving them on. By 331 BC, Alexander's troops are preparing to take on the great King Darius for a second time. It will be one of their most decisive battles. It's October on the eve of the Battle of Gagamella. an area in present-day northern Iraq. As night falls, a young Macedonian soldier, far from home, sits beside a fire with the rest of the troops in their camp, eating bread and dried figs under a clear desert sky. He knows that just a few miles away on the other side of the hills, there are at least

a hundred thousand Persians. Along with their king, they will be preparing for the upcoming battle. The conversation starts to die off, and the conversation starts to die off, and And the soldier notices that the others are looking up. The starlit sky is slowly becoming darker. Before long, the entire moon has turned blood red. Unaware that this is a total lunar eclipse, where the moon has passed completely into the shadow of the earth, the young man gets to his feet, dumbstruck. To him, the movements of the heavenly bodies are a divine mystery, but the timing of the event

sends him and his fellow soldiers into a panic. Forgetting their food, the men call out to those already inside their tents, and soon the whole battalion is staring into the sky, shouting in fear. Could the blood-red moon be a sign from the gods of upcoming slaughter in tomorrow's battle? Then the men go quiet. Their leader, Alexander, has emerged from his command tent and is striding to the center of the camp. In the eerie darkness, the men, Men listen as their king tells them that blood on the moon is a sign from the gods.

But it means that they are going to win. The great king of Persia is going to be eclipsed by the Macedonian army. The fighters erupt into cheers. If their leader tells them they will be victorious, they have nothing to fear. They lift their weapons high into the air, knowing that, come tomorrow, the blades will drip with the blood of their enemies. The next morning the Macedonian army is ready. After breakfast, Alexander strides out from his tent to eat with his men. Like his soldiers, he's clad in upper body armor made from layers of laminated linen. The soldiers wear bronze helmets, some decorated with plumes of feathers, and each man carries a shield and a 15-foot pike. After making a sacrifice, Alexander mounts Busephalus and leads his troops into battle against the entire Persian army.

knows his men are vastly outnumbered. Darias can draw on warriors from all over his empire, including Indian mercenaries. They're heavily armed with swords and lances, but also have battle elephants and chariots. This hot, dusty plain is home turf for the Persians who've put out obstacles and traps. But Alexander has a plan. He knows Darias will expect him to charge and try to break through the Persian ranks. So instead, just before he meets the enemy lines, he swerves off with his best horsemen to the right. They race hard, as if running away.

Confused, the enemy is forced to spread out, leaving the center of the line exposed. Now, Alexander takes his chance. He immediately wheels all his horsemen around and charges through the thinned Persian line straight at Darius. To win this battle, He doesn't need to kill every soldier.

He just needs the king. This is called Shammat in Persian. It's where we get our word checkmate from. If you can kill the king, then you win. And so Alexander charges and he almost does it. He almost gets to Darius, but he is able to kill many of the people around Darius, and he's able to drive Darius off the battlefield. And when the king leaves the battlefield, the rest of the army collapses,

and Alexander wins. And so, of course, he had a lot of casualties, but he won this battle. He won the Persian Empire, really, with this battle, because the Persians were never able to organize a resistance to him again. What ends in disastrous defeat for the Persians proves to be the greatest battle of Alexander's career. His military tactics are studied for many centuries afterwards. At the age of 25, Alexander is now king of Asia and the most powerful man in the world.

He is fascinated by the people he conquered. But he also realizes that he can't rule over the entire Persian Empire as a Macedonian king. There aren't enough of his countrymen to occupy it. He needs to create a new kind of culture, a fusion of Macedonian and Persian. To help achieve this, he starts wearing traditional Persian dress, a purple and white tunic plus a diadem, a crown worn by Persian royalty. He encourages his officers to wear similar clothes and to learn the local language. This all proves profoundly unpopular with his men.

This caused a lot of difficulties, but Alexander was insistent, and he was very interested in bringing the defeated Persians into his army, and so he began to train Persian troops to fight in Macedonian ways. He wanted to make this new kind of cosmopolitan empire that was a fusion of cultures from all around, from India, Macedonia, Egypt, Babylon everywhere to make this new sort of world. The deeply religious Alexander prays and makes sacrifice to the gods before each battle, and the oracle he visits encourages him to believe, as his mother did, in his own divine status.

To him, the victories over the Persians confirm that he is a god. To cement that image, he takes to sitting on an elevated gold throne surrounded by guards. He introduces the Persian custom of proscenesis. in which those addressing him must first kneel and kiss his hand, or even prostrate themselves before him. But it's not something the Macedonians take kindly to. Alexander would eventually in his life come to believe that he was perhaps a son of Zeus himself,

just like Hercules from Greek mythology. And how much of this was what Alexander truly believed, and how much of it was propaganda that he used is hard to say. But I always think that there was at least part. of Alexander that truly believed there was something divine in him. It's on one particular autumn day in 328 BC that Alexander really shows the gulf widening between himself and his fellow Macedonians. He and his men are in their camp at the walled city of Samarkand, in modern-day Uzbekistan. Capital of the ancient region of Sogdiana,

it is one of the key garrisons in the northern reaches of his new empire. Alexander's men have followed him 200 miles across plains and highlands, to capture the city. Before that, they braved the soaring peaks of the mountainous Hindu Kush. It's a hot afternoon. Tired soldiers rest in the large group of tents around Alexander's own quarters, recovering from two long years in this wild part of Central Asia. Inside Alexander's tent, preparations are being made for a banquet. The man himself stalks around, still nursing a sore head from last night's festivities. The entrance flaps open, and he turns to see Clytem, one of his most trusted generals walking in.

Alexander greets him warmly, calling for wine. The two men sit and a musician is called for. The sumptuous tent fills up. The table is laid with fruits, meats and delicacies, and soon day is turning into night. But though everyone wants an audience with Alexander, it's Clitus who sits beside him. They've been close for many years. He even once saved Alexander's life on the battlefield. The Macedonians are renowned for their heavy drinking, favoring things.

thick, potent wines that others in ancient Greece insist on diluting. Alexander is no exception. No self-respecting Macedonian attends a banquet without becoming steaming drunk, so he takes another swig from his cup. He's in high spirits, and when some of his companions start insulting his father, Philip, and arguing Alexander's superiority, he roars with laughter. Then he joins in. His own victories, he says, rival those of the God Hercules, towering over his

his father's meager conquests. Beside him, Clytus frowns. Once an officer in Philip's army, he retains a sense of loyalty to the old king. Amid the din, he clutches the table and pulls himself to his feet. He slams his fist onto the table, knocking bolts of food to the floor. Slurring his words, the general shouts that Alexander would be nothing without the achievements of his father, a far greater man than he will ever be. The mood in the tent to turns to ice. Alexander explodes from his seat, lunging at Clytus. Both men are restrained by friends, but Alexander swings around. He grabs the first thing he can see, an apple, and throws it at Clytus. The general is dragged from the tent, but he breaks free and stumbles back in. Enraged, Alexander shakes

off his own bodyguard and snatches his spear before the servant has a chance to stop him. Roaring, Alexander rushes at Clitus, who tries to dodge him as he sees the weapon glinting in the light, but is too late. Alexander plunges the spear into his old friend. Stunned, Clitus collapses. Blood blooming out onto the rugs beneath him. It's not until the old general draws his last breath, that Alexander, suddenly sober, realizes what he's done. He drops to his knees, the spear slipping from his blood. mud-soaked hands.

Alexander throws back his head and screams. Alexander ends up killing him right there in the banquet, and then he tries to kill himself because he feels so bad about this. Clytus was one of his best generals, one of his best teachers. The episode of Clytus, I think, is very telling, but he regretted deeply what he did afterwards. Wrecked with guilt, Alexander lies in bed for three days, weeping and refusing to eat.

Later, when he emerges from his quarters, he orders a grand funeral for Clitus. Alexander's men are relieved to have their leader back, but they can't help wondering. If he can be so violent to one of his closest friends, who could be next? Most of the misery he inflicts, though, is reserved for those he conquers. Great success comes at a price, and while Alexander's men kill countless numbers on the battlefield, many others are enslaved, and many ancient historic buildings and statues destroyed. But even then, some historians argue that he is not necessarily interested in violence for its own sake. Alexander was no more brutal than anybody else. In many ways, Alexander actually tried to be less brutal.

He didn't want to kill everybody. He was not like Attila the Hun going in and trying to slaughter everybody he could find. He did no more, certainly, and I think less than many of the other leaders of the ancient world who could be quite cruel. and it's a difficult subject in some ways. But we have to try to look at Alexander in the context of their own world, in their own culture in which they live. And when we do that, I think Alexander actually comes across better than most. Alexander continues to push his troops on through Asia. The following year, 327 BC, in Bactria, modern-day Afghanistan, several captives are taken.

Among them is Roxanne, a daughter of a local local, Lord. Alexander is said to be smitten and marries her. The wedding is held beneath a soaring mountain. According to ancient Macedonian tradition, Alexander splits a fresh loaf of bread in two with his sword and shares it with his bride. Roxanne's father attends, along with Persians, Syrians, soldiers and courtiers. Though the Macedonian officers disapprove, they still offer their warmest congratulations. After the murder of Clitus, they've learned to hold their tongues. The marriage isn't purely based on passion, and it isn't monogamous. Like many wealthy Greeks and Macedonians, Alexander has had relationships with both men and women,

and has no intention of letting marriage stop him pursuing affairs. The union is also driven by politics. After years of conquests, Alexander is ruler of Macedonia and the Greeks, king of Persia and leader of Egypt. He has a huge empire, now including the restless land of Bactria, but has no heir. Later that year, Alexander reaches India, defeating several local rulers. His last great battle is at the Hydaspe's River in what is now the Punjab region of Pakistan. But it's here that his beloved Busephalus dies after being struck by a spear.

So devastated is Alexander that he names a local city Busephala in his honor. Meanwhile, the tide is turning on his campaign. Battle scarred, drenched by the Indian monsoon, and having endured everything for the city of From tropical diseases to venomous snakes, his weary troops refuse to go any further. Alexander is initially furious about the mutiny. But soon he accepts that it's time, after 12 years, to begin the long march back to Macedonia. Though his military exploits wane, he's still determined to blend Macedonian and Persian cultures. Once back in the city of Sousa, the administrative center of the Persian Empire,

he arranges a mass wedding between 80 officers and the daughters of local nobles. Alexander himself takes two Persian brides, including the daughter of his former enemy, Darius. The mass ceremony is a grand affair, but many officers are unhappy about their unions. Though they consider foreign women fine for amusement, they want respectable wives from their homeland. Few of the marriages consummated at Susa endure. The following year, Alexander walks through the gates of Babylon, in modern-day Iraq. He has big plans for this ancient city. said to be the new capital of his empire and base for future campaigns.

He wanted to go back to India. He wanted to go west. Even going to Britain and Ireland were part of his dreams. He certainly was planning to conquer Arabia. That was next on his list, was to march down and conquer the land of frankincense and myrrh. And to create a link around to Egypt. He had many, many dreams, many, many ideas. However, Alexander doesn't get the chance to fulfill these aspirations. In June 3.23 BC, he falls ill.

After a couple of days with a high fever in the Babylonian heat, he dies, in pain, in his bed. He's just 32 years old. His sudden death sparks rumors that he's been murdered. However, it is just as likely to be down to natural causes. He had certainly been wounded many times in battle, so he had different sorts of injuries that were always acting up. And so we don't know why Alexander died, what killed him. Some people, of course, said poison. That was inevitable that you would get conspiracy theories.

It came on very quickly. It was perhaps malaria. Nobody really knows. His generals all gather around him, and the story is that with his last breath, they say, to whom do you leave your kingdom? And he says, to the strongest. And then he dies. It's a great dramatic moment.

But it's also a moment that leads to chaos. People weep at the news, running through the streets in panic, as, despite having three wives and Roxanne being pregnant with their son, Alexander still has no air. A bitter power struggle breaks out among his generals. In the violent turbulence that follows, his empire rapidly splits into warring factions. Unable to agree, several generals divide the empire to establish their own kingdoms. Egypt, for example, goes to Alexander's childhood friend Ptolemy, who establishes. the new line of pharaohs. It is 321 BC, two years since Alexander's death. People crowd along a street in Babylon,

waiting patiently, shading their eyes from the fierce sun. A young boy in a tunic in sandals is being pushed and pulled by the throng, trying to get a better view of this once-in-a-lifetime moment. He ducks, trying to push his way through the excited spectators, the smell of sweat thick in his nostrils. He winds his way through his way through the excited crowd and he finally reaches his goal.

Emerging at the front, he looks up, his breath catching in his throat. Passing in front of him is the enormous funeral procession of Alexander. He smells the mules before he sees them, pulling the carriage, their tails lazily batting away flies. He counts 64 of them. Each of their heads adorned with a golden crown, with precious stones decorating their heavy collars. Now the gigantic carriage approaches, covered with gold, gems, and ornate decorations. With its statues, golden roof, a colonnade with a golden net and tower and columns, it is like a mobile temple on four big iron wheels. He hears ringing from the bells that hang from it. The mules' hooves clomp as they heave their load. A golden olive

on the top of the vehicle catches in the sun, flashing like lightning. The boy picks out more detail, fabulous paintings showing scenes of war, and panels depicting Alexander, his officers, soldiers, cavalry, and elephants being prepared for battle. As the carriage glides past, the boy spots the coffin inside, draped in purple and gold. He smells aromatic spices and perfumes, packed in to help preserve the corpse. that's embalmed in honey. It is followed by an entourage of guards, road menders, mechanics and soldiers. The crowd catches a final glimpse as they start to make their long journey to Syria

and then onto Macedonia, to Alexander's ancestral burial ground. But the procession never reaches Macedonia. Alexander's former general, Ptolemy, wants control of the body as a way to strengthen his own rule as king of Egypt. So he hijacks it on route in Syria and brings it to the city of Alexandria where he is said to build a grand mausoleum for his friend. For years, wars rage of a possession of Alexander's body. People worship the tomb like the temple of a god. Around 200 years later, Julius Caesar himself will travel to visit it.

Then, around 360 AD, parts of the area are destroyed by wars and riots. plus an earthquake and a tsunami, and the tomb of Alexander the Great is lost. The body was so important because Alexander was a symbol of power. If you could have the body of Alexander there in your kingdom, then you were saying, I am the heir of Alexander. All of the glory of Alexander has passed to me. Somewhere in Alexandria is the tomb of Alexander,

But so much of Alexandria over the centuries has been damaged by earthquakes. A lot of it has literally fallen into the sea. But people are always looking for the tomb of Alexander, always hoping they might find it. In every couple of years you get an article in the New York Times. It says somebody has found the tomb of Alexander, but of course it never actually turns out that way. But maybe someday people will find it. Alexander the Great built an empire larger even than that of the Romans and at meteoric speed. Many believe he laid the foundations of Western culture.

Thanks to him, Greek language and literature spread around the world. And when the New Testament was created, it wasn't written in Aramaic the language of Jesus, but in Greek. He founded around 70 cities in the lands he conquered, naming many of them after himself. As well as Alexandria in Egypt, archaeologists have found others in modern-day Afghanistan, complete with Greek statues. and writings. His skills as a leader and military tactician, not to mention assimilator of cultures, are what earned him his lofty title

and continue to inspire today. But how has his legend endured throughout the millennia when so many others have been forgotten? The thing that has fascinated people for over 2,000 years is how can somebody who was truly a young man, somebody who was 19 when he took the throne, He does all of his conquest in his 20s, back when most of us are still trying to figure out who we are, but also somebody who had a vision for bringing together the world in a way which had never really been done before,

certainly not by anybody in the Greek world, a way of bringing in all of these different cultures into one. Several centuries later, people would ask Hannibal, the great Carthaginian general, who almost conquered Rome. They asked him who was the best general, and he was. would say without hesitation, Alexander the Great. The same with Julius Caesar, the same with any of the great Roman generals that we know of. It's always Alexander. He became a hero, a model for them in both how the technicalities of fighting war, but also just in his attitude, his ambition, his goal, his inability to ever admit defeat. Alexander is so fascinating to so many people, even today because there is nobody who had such a personification of ambition.

I mean, we all have ambition, we all have goals, but I don't think any of us can hold a candle to this young man who was absolutely determined to make his mark on the world. Next time, we'll bring you Sutton Who. This quantity of gold, there was nothing like that previously known anywhere in England. And again, with the ten-year... of archaeologists, I think it must be said now as well as then, to light the bling. It was a massively exciting find. That's next time.