Video 1
IN 334 B.C., WITH AN ARMY OF 45,000 AND HIS BOYHOOD FRIEND HEPHAESTION BY HIS SIDE, ALEXANDER EMBARKS ON A HISTORIC CRUSADE, THE CONQUEST OF A CONTINENT. TO ENSURE THE SUCCESS OF HIS HEROIC QUEST, ALEXANDER MAKES A PILGRIMAGE TO THE NEARBY RUINS OF THE FALLEN CITY OF TROY AND THE TOMB OF ACHILLES. TO THE GREEK HERO, HE OFFERS UP PRAYERS AND GIFTS, BUT HE TAKES SOMETHING TOO, ACHILLES' SHIELD FOR GOOD LUCK IN BATTLE. - [screams] narrator: HIS FIRST CHANCE TO BRANDISH IT COMES UNEXPECTEDLY SOON. AT THE RIVER GRANICUS, HE SPIES THE ARMY OF A LOCAL GOVERNOR, 40,000 PERSIAN TROOPS. [horse neighs] [men screaming] FIGHTING SHOULDER-TO-SHOULDER WITH HIS MEN, ALEXANDER PLUNGES INTO THE THICK OF THE BATTLE. AN ENEMY AXE EVEN SPLITS HIS HELMET IN TWO, BUT THE PERSIANS SUFFER FAR WORSE. [men screaming] STUNNED AND DISHEARTENED BY THE SURPRISE ATTACK, THEY LOSE 1/3 OF THEIR MEN BEFORE FLEEING THE FIELD. BUT 2,000 MILES AWAY IN PERSEPOLIS, THE CAPITAL OF PERSIA, THE EMPEROR DARIUS IS STINGING FROM THE DEFEAT. NOW IT'S UP TO HIM TO STOP THE AUDACIOUS, YOUNG KING. ANXIOUS TO DESTROY ALEXANDER, DARIUS ASSEMBLES AN ARMY OF UP TO 100,000 AND INVITES HIS COURT, INCLUDING HIS WIFE, CHILDREN, AND HIS MOTHER TO COME ALONG AND SAVOR HIS VICTORY. [crowd cheering] WITH AN ARMY HALF THE SIZE OF THE PERSIANS, ALEXANDER CONTINUES HIS PUSH THROUGH ANATOLIA. THE TWO ARMIES CONVERGE AT ISSUS, AND THE BATTLE LINES ARE DRAWN. THE CENTERPIECE OF ALEXANDER'S FIGHTING MACHINE IS A FORMATION CALLED A PHALANX. IN TIGHTLY-KNIT BLOCKS, FOOT SOLDIERS WIELD 18-FOOT LANCES TIPPED IN BRONZE CALLED SARISSAS. AS EACH RANK LOWERS ITS LINE OF SARISSAS, IT CREATES A DEADLY WALL OF SPIKES. WITH THE MACEDONIAN CALVARY ENGAGED ON BOTH FLANKS, ALEXANDER SENDS HIS PHALANXES STRAIGHT INTO THE CENTER OF THE PERSIAN LINES. [men screaming] TRAPPED FROM BEHIND BY THEIR OWN MEN, ROW AFTER ROW OF HAPLESS PERSIANS ARE IMPALED. THEIR LINES FALL IN BLOODY RIBBONS BEFORE THE MACEDONIAN ONSLAUGHT. SEEING THE DAY IS LOST, DARIUS COMMITS THE UNFORGIVABLE. HE DESERTS HIS POST AND FLEES. BUT THE FIELD IS NOT THE ONLY THING THE PERSIAN KING ABANDONS. HIS FAMILY HAS ALSO BEEN LEFT BEHIND. HIS WIFE AND MOTHER THROW THEMSELVES AT THE MERCY OF THEIR CONQUEROR, BUT THEY MISTAKE THE TALLER HEPHAESTION FOR THE KING. ALEXANDER TAKES PITY ON THE MOTHER. HE OFFERS HER A PLACE IN HIS ENTOURAGE. IN THE DAYS AHEAD, SHE PERSONALLY TAKES CHARGE OF HIS FOOD AND COMFORT AND BECOMES ONE OF HIS MOST LOYAL SUBJECTS. ALEXANDER BELIEVES THAT A LEADER SHOULD BE ONE WITH HIS MEN, SHARING BOTH THEIR PAIN AND THE SPOILS OF WAR. IF HIS BRAVERY IN BATTLE WINS THEIR RESPECT, HIS COMPASSION AND GENEROSITY INSPIRES THEIR DEVOTION. Transcript
Video 2
BACK IN PERSIA, HIS PALACE EMPTY OF FAMILY AND FRIENDS, THE FUGITIVE KING DARIUS HOPES FOR A POLITICAL SOLUTION. - [speaking native language] narrator: HE OFFERS TO RANSOM HIS FAMILY WITH A PEACE TREATY, GOLD, THE HAND OF HIS DAUGHTER IN MARRIAGE, AND ALL THE LANDS WEST OF THE EUPHRATES RIVER. - [speaking native language] narrator: HIS OFFER IS GENEROUS. THE GREEKS CAN RETURN HOME CONQUERING HEROES WITH AN EMPIRE STRETCHING FROM THE BALKANS TO LIBYA AND AS FAR EAST AS THE EUPHRATES. ONE OF ALEXANDER'S MOST EXPERIENCED GENERALS, PARMENION, IS DELIGHTED BY THE TERMS. "IF I WAS ALEXANDER, HE URGES, "I WOULD ACCEPT THE TRUCE AND END THE WAR WITHOUT FURTHER RISK. "SO WOULD I, ALEXANDER SCOFFS, "IF I WAS PARMENION. MANY OF HIS MEN BEGIN TO WONDER IF THEIR LEADER HAS FINALLY GONE TOO FAR. HE'S GAMBLING ALL THEY WON AGAINST THE WEIGHT OF THE PERSIAN EMPIRE. WHEN THE ARMIES MEET, THE BATTLE WILL BE FOUGHT BY NEARLY 400,000 MEN, BUT IT WILL HINGE ON THE COURAGE OF ONLY ONE. ALEXANDER HAS REJECTED DARIUS' OFFER OF RANSOM, SETTING THE TWO ADVERSARIES ON A COLLISION COURSE. THE PERSIAN KING HAS LITTLE CHOICE BUT TO PREPARE FOR A DECISIVE CONFRONTATION. SUMMONING ALL HIS TROOPS FROM AS FAR AWAY AS INDIA AND AFGHANISTAN, HE FORMS ONE VAST IMPERIAL ARMY OF 300,000 MEN. THE TWO ARMIES CONVERGE AT A PLACE CALLED GAUGAMELA. [horse neighs] ON THE 20TH OF SEPTEMBER, 331 B.C., ALEXANDER'S FORCES, SOME 50,000 STRONG, MARCH ON THE FULL MIGHT OF THE PERSIAN EMPIRE. AFTER YEARS OF WAITING, THESE TWO BITTER RIVALS ARE FINALLY POISED FOR THE ULTIMATE SHOWDOWN. ALEXANDER SIGNALS HIS TROOPS TO TURN AND CHARGE STRAIGHT AT DARIUS. [men screaming] REALIZING THAT HE IS IN GRAVE DANGER, DARIUS ONCE AGAIN LOSES HIS NERVE. [men screaming] [horse neighs] HE TURNS AND RUNS. [crowd cheering] ABANDONED BY THEIR KING, THE PERSIANS CAN FIND NO REASON TO CONTINUE FIGHTING. THE VICTORY BELONGS TO ALEXANDER. Transcript
Video 3
IN THE WEEKS FOLLOWING GAUGAMELA, ALEXANDER MARCHES TO BABYLON, THEN DEEP INTO PERSIA TO THE GREAT FORTRESS CITY OF PERSEPOLIS. AT LAST, HE STANDS AT THE VERY HEART OF THE EMPIRE THAT FOR MORE THAN A CENTURY HAS KEPT THE MEDITERRANEAN UNDER ITS YOLK. BUT THE CIVILIZATION THE GREEKS SCORN AS BARBARIC IS ACTUALLY MORE ADVANCED AND SOPHISTICATED THAN THEIR OWN. BEFORE THEIR EYES GLITTER MAGNIFICENT PALACES, ORNATE STATUARY, AND GOLD. IN PERSEPOLIS ALONE, ALEXANDER REAPS 120,000 TALENTS OF GOLD. IN TODAY'S TERMS, ABOUT $60 BILLION. HE GIVES MUCH OF IT TO HIS GENERALS AND THE SOLDIERS WHO MARCHED WITH HIM ALL THE WAY FROM MACEDONIA. STILL, WHEN THE FINAL ACCOUNTING IS DONE, HE IS THE RICHEST MAN IN THE WORLD. PROBABLY THE RICHEST MAN IN HISTORY. AFTER FOUR LONG YEARS OF CAMPAIGNING, HIS TROOPS ARE EAGER TO GO HOME. FABULOUSLY WEALTHY, THEY WILL BE CELEBRATED HEROES IN GREECE, BUT ALEXANDER HAS UNFINISHED BUSINESS. BESIDES, HIS PERSIAN EMPIRE STRETCHES AS FAR TO THE EAST AS IT DOES TO THE WEST. HE WANTS TO LAY CLAIM TO THE REST OF WHAT IS RIGHTFULLY HIS. [fire crackling] ON THE EVE OF THE EXPEDITION, ALEXANDER LETS LOOSE HIS FINAL REVENGE ON THE PERSIANS WHO SACKED AND TORCHED ATHENS A CENTURY AND A HALF AGO. HIS MEN SET THE PALACES AND GREAT HALLS OF PERSEPOLIS ABLAZE, REDUCING TO RUINS ONE OF THE ARCHITECTURAL WONDERS OF THE ANCIENT WORLD. Transcript
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Follow Up Question 1:
What King is determined to take over the Persian Empire?
Follow Up Question 2:
What does Darius do that is shameful?
Follow Up Question 3:
What does Darius offer to Alexander as a peace treaty?
Follow Up Question 4:
How much wealth does Alexander the Great acquire?
