Terra X: Alexander der Große (2014–…): Season 1, Episode 2 - Terra X: Alexander der Große - full transcript
[instrumental music]
[narrator] Alexander the Great,
the shining light of ancient Greece.
The Prince from remote Macedonia
would become
the greatest conqueror of all times.
[yelling]
[rumbles]
[in German] No one would have thought
that someone would try
to conquer the whole world
and that he would almost succeed.
[tense music]
[narrator] At the age of 16,
his father made him co-regent.
These were troubled times.
An assassination made him king.
And his allies made Alexander
the most powerful man in Greece.
His campaign against King Darius of Persia
resembled the battle
between David and Goliath.
But like Achilles,
his hero from the legend,
Alexander was determined
to bring victory to the Greeks.
[in German] Only very few people
had as much influence on history
as Alexander the Great.
[horse whinnying]
[seagulls squawking]
[narrator] It was spring
when Alexander passed the strait
between Europe and today's Turkey.
Together with 37,000 soldiers
from all over Greece.
The Macedonian had a clear mission.
He and his men were to free
the Greek colonies from the Persians.
First Alexander went to Troy.
At Achilles' grave
he had his weapons blessed.
And he brought a sacrifice.
[solemn music]
Since childhood, The Iliad's hero
had been Alexander's role model.
He wanted to live up to Achilles' glory
and even exceed his deeds.
This war of liberation was his chance
but he also needed
protection from the gods.
With their blessing
his retaliation campaign
became a holy war.
But thus far,
no one had managed to bring Persia,
the world empire, to its knees.
[horse whinnying]
In their advance into occupied territory,
the Persian army tried to stop them.
To no avail.
In 334 BC, Alexander won the battle
at the river Granicus.
Apparently, the Persian court
had underestimated the Macedonian King.
They hadn't sent their imperial army,
but a troop of professional soldiers.
King Darius had relied on them.
A mistake, as it turned out.
Your Majesty,
I'm sorry for the bad news I have to bear.
-Alexander won the battle.
-How is that possible?
Alexander has got fewer soldiers,
but his tactics are clever,
not only on the battlefield.
Explain.
He promises a democratic constitution
modeled after Athens
for those cities that surrender
without a fight.
And he promises everyone
they don't have to pay you tribute.
Is that true?
[gasps]
I heard that he rules
like a king in Macedonia.
The governance of the people is nonsense.
What does he really want?
[soldier] The Greek want to take revenge
for the destruction of Athens
and the occupation of Anatolia.
But Alexander wants more.
What does he want?
Power.
-He wants my throne.
-[soldier] That's right.
The defense of your country
shouldn't be left to vassals.
Who could lead our army better than you?
He will regret
that he ever left his mother's lap.
[suspenseful music]
Gather our troops and tell them
their king will go to war.
[narrator] The Persian empire reached
from the Greek borders and Egypt
all the way to the East
over the Hindu Kush to India,
the end of the known world.
The empire stretched across
three continents.
And at its heart was Persepolis
in the south of what is Iran today.
[tranquil music]
Persepolis was also
the religious center of Persia.
Even 2,000 years later
the palaces and temples
still convey the empire's power.
Reliefs show the many nationalities
of the giant empire.
Twenty eight peoples in total.
Among them Syrians, Egyptians,
Babylonians, Greeks, Indians and Arabs.
They all gathered to offer presents
to the king on New Year's Day.
The Persians were role models.
They implemented a political order
that allowed peaceful coexistence
of the nations.
But there was also resistance
from the Greek colonies.
Almost all of them saw Alexander
as a liberator.
[inspiring music]
The Macedonian conquered
the big coastal cities
within a few months.
And he had large parts of Turkey
under his control
when he chose Gordion
to be his winter quarters.
In the temple, he discovered
Phrygian King Gordias' famous cart.
And this is supposed
to be a cart for a king?
It belonged to Gordias, King of Phrygia.
[man] When the Phrygians
looked for a king,
the oracle told them to choose
the first man they saw on a cart. [gasps]
[Alexander]
And by chance that was Gordias?
Is that how quickly
you can become a king here?
[chuckles]
Yes, but that's not the whole story.
Do you see this knot?
[Alexander] What about it?
It says whoever can untie this knot
will reign the Persian empire.
The knot doesn't seem
to have a beginning or an end.
[narrator] The story of the Gordian Knot
is just a legend
and it was clever propaganda.
[in German]
To cut the knot with a sword says
Alexander does things his own way.
Everyone failed,
and he showed them how to do it.
[narrator] But liberating
the Greek colonies wasn't the end.
Alexander wanted
to knock Darius off his throne.
Darius gathered his army in the borderland
between Turkey and Syria.
Alexander also moved his troops.
But the two armies passed each other
without noticing.
[tense music]
Suddenly the Persians were behind them
and blocked the exit route.
The land battle took place at Issus.
The Macedonian King against Darius,
the most powerful man in the world.
And against more than 70,000 warriors.
The enemy stands between us and our home.
We will triumph or die.
Retreat is impossible.
Don't be blinded by the glamour
and size of our enemy.
I see what you see.
But none of you can see it with my eyes.
[indistinct chatter]
[Alexander] The Great King
underestimates us.
Be brave,
because this is not the first time
we have faced superior numbers
and it will not be the last time
we will triumph.
[cheering]
[adventure music intensifies]
[narrator] King Darius believed
it would be an easy victory.
He relied on the superior numbers
of his army.
[deep rumble]
The Macedonian leader was brave
and relied on his cavalry.
[music stops]
The Battle of Issus, 333 BC.
The battle is depicted
on the famous Alexander sarcophagus.
The Macedonian King
is the hero in this scene.
The Persians who were superior
in numbers dominated at first,
but then Alexander managed
to push through enemy lines.
[commotion]
Darius' life was in danger
as Alexander attacked
the elite troops around the king.
[screams]
In the end, Darius could only flee.
This sealed the Persian defeat.
[in German] Alexander's success
is partly due to the fact
that he acted unexpectedly.
It's almost like in football.
The team that doesn't play
with a predictable strategy
scores more goals.
And Alexander's strategy
was very risky
from a military point of view.
Seemingly headless,
he attacked the enemy
at their strongest points.
But the war wasn't won yet.
Darius was still free.
He escaped into the desert.
[adventure music]
The Macedonians rushed to the South.
The inhabitants of Tyre went to war.
But like everyone
who rose against Alexander,
they faced grave consequences.
[screams]
But most of Persia's allies
celebrated Alexander as a liberator.
The Egyptians greeted him with open arms.
Their feud with the empire
had lasted for too long.
[music fades]
Like all Greeks,
Alexander admired high culture.
Rule over pharaonic Egypt
would be highly regarded back home.
After taking power,
he offered sacrifices to the gods
and consulted the oracle.
He got what he had hoped for.
Alexander was made a god-like pharaoh.
[tense music]
His portrait was even carved into stone
as an acknowledgement
that he was the rightful son
of the highest god Amun-Re.
Shortly after, the new Pharaoh set a sign.
He founded Alexandria,
modeled on Greek cities.
It was a symbol of his passion
for establishing his own culture
in the conquered territories.
All in all, Alexander founded
at least ten cities with his name.
But the metropolis by the Mediterranean
was the most important one.
[in German]
The fact that Alexander founded cities
has special meaning because it shows
that he didn't only want
to conquer territories,
but he wanted
to establish lasting sovereignty.
We can see that very clearly
with the foundation of Alexandria.
He had the vast resources in mind
that Egypt and the Middle East offered.
Economic resources.
He planned a big seaport...
that would connect Egypt
with the Mediterranean like a hub.
[inspiring music]
[narrator] In the spring of 331 BC,
the Macedonians moved
to the Euphrates in today's Iraq.
Alexander couldn't be stopped
in his advance.
He didn't want to agree
on a peace pact with the Persians.
[crescendo]
Alexander's army crossed the Euphrates.
So... he didn't take up my offer.
How many soldiers does he have?
We estimate about forty thousand.
Forty thousand...
We are by far superior in numbers.
We've got more than twice as many.
[narrator] In September,
Alexander's troops
crossed the Tigris as well.
Darius awaited him at Gaugamela.
The Persian King had carefully
chosen the battleground.
There were wide plains
on which his army could march.
The Persian army exceeded anything
Alexander had ever seen.
They were over 100,000 men.
Why didn't you make peace with Darius?
What did he offer you?
All territories west of Euphrates
and 10,000 talents.
No more than we had already
taken ourselves.
It's easy to offer something
you don't own.
[Parmenion] I would have taken him up
on his offer,
instead of risking everything now.
If I'd been you, Parmenion,
I might have done so.
But there are no two suns in the sky
and there can't be
two kings ruling Persia.
[Philotas gasping] And I thought we
took revenge for their attacks on Greece.
But it is not about that anymore.
You want to surpass your late father.
You want to surpass everyone.
And even if.
So far we've only liberated territories
the Persians had conquered.
Now we are on their territory
and we will conquer them.
Let's surprise them
and start the attack tonight.
That would be cowardly.
I don't want to steal the victory.
I want to fight honorably.
-[Alexander] Eye for an eye at dawn.
-[Hephaestion] You've heard it.
Set up camp.
We will face a challenge.
[deep rumble]
[narrator] Darius' super army
extended across five kilometers.
A frontal attack
would have been pointless.
Alexander started a diversionary maneuver.
[cheering]
[screams]
At first he moved parallel
to the Persian front.
Simultaneously,
his infantry attacked the center.
[tense music]
The Persians thought
he would attack the wings.
But he made them follow him
until their front broke apart.
Then he suddenly
turned his cavalry around.
He pressed into the gap in the center
in order to attack
the Persian King directly.
He applied the strategy
he used at Issus again.
[screams]
Tirelessly, he attacked the troops
around the Persian King.
[screams]
Alexander wanted a final decision
in a fight of man against man.
Darius!
[yelling]
Move.
[narrator] Darius abandoned his troops.
They fought to the bitter end.
Alexander, we need you at the left flank
or the Persians will storm our camp.
I don't believe it. The old fool.
Darius!
[narrator] Darius' escape
sealed the Persians' second big defeat.
[screams]
It was the last chapter of his reign.
Still on the battlefield,
Alexander proclaimed himself the new king.
His reputation as bearer of peace
went before him.
[suspenseful music]
[in German] His victory at Gaugamela
showed the Persian people
that Persian military power
wasn't reliable anymore.
Alexander didn't have
to conquer a big city.
Babylon, Sousa, Ecbatana.
They all opened their gates.
"Come in, have our treasures."
[triumphant music]
[narrator] Alexander entered Babylon
as a world ruler.
His arrival turned
into a triumphal procession.
Babylon had been in Persian hands
for 200 years.
They had made the biggest
and most beautiful oriental city
their second seat of government.
[music stops]
[Alexander] Unbelievable.
Even Athens would pale
in comparison to Babylon.
[narrator] Its size, splendor and luxury
were not of this world,
claims the legend of Babylon's foundation.
Not kings but the gods themselves
had built it.
The Macedonians had only known
this legendary city
from stories told by Aristotle.
He didn't hold it in high regard.
But Alexander was impressed.
He wanted to make it even more glamorous.
And he wanted to reside in Babylon
like his predecessor Darius.
The King of ostracized Macedonia
had made his dreams come true.
He avenged Greece and achieved victory.
He achieved sovereignty
over the biggest empire in the world.
Aristotle called
the Babylonians barbarians?
Probably because he never saw their city.
If barbarians can perform such miracles...
I'm happy to be their king.
[solemn music]
[narrator] Soon after,
Alexander moved via Sousa to Persepolis.
The Persian capital held the treasury
that he desperately needed.
The war chest was almost empty
and the soldiers had to be paid.
Most of them thought Persepolis
would be their last stop.
The retaliation campaign
was supposed to end here.
[laughs]
We took revenge on the battlefield!
Let's complete our work with a torch!
[all cheering]
[Parmenion] Alexander...
[cheering]
...what are you doing?
You are King of Persia now.
Why would you want to burn
your own palace down?
Maybe he is right.
[Philotas] What kind of men are you?
We are not allowed to abuse their women
and now we are being denied a bonfire.
Is that what your revenge looks like?
[Parmenion] Let it be.
We have completed our mission.
We should finally return to Greece.
[Alexander] Never.
Not before Darius kneels in front of me
in the dust.
All this is worth nothing
as long as he is free.
[narrator] The feast ended in catastrophe.
The palace burned down almost entirely.
What the flames spared
the soldiers carried away.
There has been much speculation over it.
Until today it's unclear
whether Alexander only acted on impulse.
[in German] There is one possible reason,
often missed in literature.
Alexander wanted to make Babylon
the capital, not Persepolis.
A second center bore the danger
of growing opposition.
He wanted to make Babylon the center,
and that's why he destroyed Persepolis.
[suspenseful music]
[narrator] A little later the day came,
he sent home large parts of his troops.
First of all,
the soldiers of the Greek allies.
He was left with Macedonians
and Greek mercenaries.
He went looking for Darius with them.
But the pursuit of the Persian King
took an unexpected turn.
[soldier] We have found him.
[narrator] After Alexander's victory,
Darius not only lost his empire
but also his support.
He was betrayed, ambushed and killed
by his own men.
[ominous music]
He is dead.
Now you've got what you wanted.
Time to return.
A king needs to die
at the hands of a king.
His assassins question my authority also.
-They have to be punished.
-[Philotas] Enough, Alexander.
You are the King of Persia.
What else do you want?
If you and your father
had been braver at Gaugamela
I could have killed Darius.
You wouldn't have made it that far.
If you don't stop,
you'll end up like Darius in the dust.
Are you threatening me?
Shut up or I'll forget myself!
Enough! No one questions me.
Neither friend nor foe.
It is not the first time
Philotas is against me.
-Philotas--
-This time he went too far.
Philotas is hot-headed.
He didn't even tell me
that my soldiers are against me.
And now I know why.
He is the instigator of this conspiracy.
But it won't help him.
-I will preempt him.
-Alexander.
We're childhood friends.
We have to stick together.
Do you want me to wait until he kills me?
He's threatened to kill me.
That's treason.
[intensified suspenseful music]
Punishable by death.
[narrator] Alexander didn't hesitate.
He had his general and friend
tortured and executed.
As a warning.
Whether they were soldiers or confidants,
this message got across.
The Macedonian could only stay in power
if he was cold and calculating.
That's why he ordered a second execution.
[suspenseful music stops]
[in German]
Then Alexander sent his death squad
to Ecbatana
to kill his friend's father also.
These were the rules of the time.
Alexander knew that revenge
was paramount in this case.
The father would've had to take revenge
for his son,
and with the possibilities
he had in the western part of the empire,
it's easy to see what would've happened.
[narrator] Following Alexander's wishes,
Darius was buried honorably.
He was entombed
in the Persian royal burying ground.
His murderer, however, had to be executed.
When Alexander set off
to today's Afghanistan,
his army was over 50,000 men strong.
Among them many tribes
from the Persian empire.
The Macedonian needed them
to crush the pockets of resistance
in the remote areas of his empire.
[upbeat music]
But there was no end
to the bloody battles.
Time and again Alexander
had to deal with defeat.
But then a young princess
fell into the general's hands
and he captured her.
It is said that Alexander
immediately fell in love with her.
Her name was Roxana,
little star.
Alexander officially made her his wife.
But this marriage was also about politics.
It served to establish peace
and a Persian-Greek dynasty.
[in German] Of course marriages
between Greeks and Persians
had existed before.
But not among royals.
It was extraordinary that Alexander
didn't choose a Greek to be his wife,
which he could have done
and was expected to.
His father married a Greek
in his second marriage.
He made a statement
in marrying a Persian princess,
so that everyone could see
he was the new Persian King.
[narrator] Alexander adopted
Persian culture without hesitation.
He also expected genuflection
and hand-kissing.
Even from his own people.
But it wasn't delusion of grandeur,
it was the calculus of a ruler.
The Persians would have despised him
if he had not adopted the rituals
of the people he ruled.
[suspenseful music]
For his friends, however,
they were an imposition.
They were used to different behavior.
Cleitus, who saved
Alexander's life before,
refused this gesture of submission.
Don't you want to pay respect to me?
I do,
but I only kneel before the gods.
I am of divine descent.
My deeds are greater
than those of Heracles and Achilles.
And even if they were.
You are just human like we all are.
We fought side by side
and succeeded together.
And now you ask us
to kneel in front of you?
I am the Great King.
I demand the respect I am entitled to.
You treat us like Persian barbarians.
You forget who your friends are.
I gave you more fame and wealth
than you could have dreamed of.
Fame? [chuckles]
The fame that we've all earned
should be only yours now?
Quiet.
And your gold...
is not enough to buy back
the respect you've lost.
Quiet! I said, be quiet!
No!
[both grumbling and gasping]
[ominous music]
[narrator] A crime of passion.
It happened at one of the Macedonians'
infamous drinking bouts.
In a dispute about rank and honor
Alexander and Cleitus
went for each other's throats.
They were probably drunk.
[Hans-Joachim] I actually believe
that the murder of Cleitus
was an emotional act.
They were close friends.
Cleitus was one of his best friends.
And I think Alexander
killed Cleitus in a rage.
Which he later, once sobered up,
deeply regretted.
But the man was dead.
[narrator] Just a few weeks later,
this seemed to be forgotten.
Soon after, the emperor
went onto a scouting expedition.
He heard about an old mountain pass,
often used by merchants.
Alexander planned to extend
his empire to the East.
The route was supposed
to lead across Afghan borders.
He demanded that his people
would follow him to the end of the world.
To a place where no Greek had ever been.
[suspenseful music]
The route led along the Hindu Kush
at a height of 1,000 meters.
Beyond lay a land
that had never been conquered.
Do you remember what Aristotle
once told us about these mountains?
No, I can't remember.
[gasps]
He called them
"peaks no eagle could pass."
And beyond them is the end of the world.
No Greek has ever seen it.
[gasps]
I will give the order
to leave at dawn. [gasps]
At about midday we should
have conquered the first pass.
[narrator] After many bloody battles
and enormous hardship
Alexander tempted fate again.
[in German]
After having conquered the Persian empire,
one could say
that Greece had got its revenge.
But it is interesting
that Alexander didn't stop
and return at this point.
His contemporaries couldn't understand it.
They thought it was "pothos,"
a longing, that drove Alexander forward.
[narrator] At that time,
the end of the then known world
was believed to be in India.
The exotic country was said
to border the world ocean
that surrounded the globe.
But the earth is larger
than ancient scholars suspected.
Allegedly,
135,000 volunteer soldiers dared
to make the journey across
the dangerous Khyber Pass to India.
The core army was more than twice as large
as it was at the beginning
of the conquest.
[music stops]
In the spring of 326 BC,
they reached the Indus Valley
in today's Pakistan.
The army fought heat and humidity.
The fauna was exotic
and full of mosquitos.
The monsoon had turned the soil
into impassable marshland.
But nature wasn't the only challenge.
[trumpeting]
[narrator] At the river Hydaspes
the Indian King Poros attacked Alexander
with an equally strong army
and with war elephants.
It was a bloody battle,
evenly balanced for long periods.
But in the end the conquerors
from the West succeeded.
It was the last big battle they fought.
[screams]
Alexander's army was
at the end of its forces.
And it is said that he faced
the greatest loss of his life.
Bucephalus, his beloved horse,
died from exhaustion.
His death allegedly
broke Alexander's heart.
But despite the setbacks
he wanted to move on.
After eight years
and 18,000 kilometers, however,
his men were tired of war.
They became mutinous
and wanted to return to Greece.
[Alexander] And?
Have you made a decision?
We've almost reached our destination.
We will be able to see
the end of the world.
It's a heroic act
that no one will ever outdo.
Our names will be immortal.
I understand you, Alexander.
And you know I was a loyal companion.
But I can only tell you
that you won't convince your men
to carry on.
They will oppose you if you coerce them.
They would rather die here,
at your hands,
than follow you to the end of the world.
Do you remember Achilles and Patroclus?
We wanted to be like them.
We were like them. We even surpassed them.
They died in battle. It was their fate.
And they'd asked for it.
And us?
What awaits us?
A life at royal court.
Surrounded by flatterers and bootlickers.
In the lap of beautiful women.
And on boring hunting excursions.
That's what awaits us back home.
Do you really want that?
Alexander.
You conquered a world empire
from the back of your horse,
but you can't rule it
from the back of your horse.
If you want to be at war forever
your empire will not last.
[narrator]
So close to the fulfillment of his dream,
Alexander felt let down.
But eventually he gave the order
to return home.
[in German] After 70 days of rain
you don't want to walk any further.
Alexander then had the ingenious idea
of locking himself in his tent.
He was sulking and went into a sit-in.
But as the people wouldn't give in,
he consulted the gods.
The gods were consulted by the priests.
And the priests knew what they wanted
and said,
"We're really sorry, but the gods oppose."
And Alexander said,
"If the gods oppose, I have to return."
But he returned on a different route.
He sailed with a fleet down the Indus
to the Indian Ocean.
So he reached the end
of the world after all.
Then he split his forces.
The ships explored
the sea route to Persia.
And Alexander went overland
with his troops.
[rumble]
The soldiers had to cross one
of the most forbidding places on Earth.
The march through the Gedrosian Desert
became a death march.
When Alexander finally arrived in Babylon,
he had lost more men than in any battle.
[tranquil music]
And the setbacks didn't stop.
Hephaestion, his closest friend,
fell severely ill.
It was probably malaria.
[Alexander]
You can't leave me alone just now.
We've still got so much to do.
[gasps]
I am Patroclus.
[gasps]
And you are... Achilles.
I have to die before you, my friend.
[sobbing]
[gasping] It is written in The Iliad.
[narrator] But unlike the poem,
Hephaestion didn't die on the battlefield.
Their shared dream of fame
through heroic death didn't come true.
Alexander mourned his friend
on an overwhelming scale.
For three days he held
funeral games in Babylon.
Just like Achilles did it for Patroclus.
[ominous music]
Just half a year later,
Alexander also fell ill.
During the preparations
for a new campaign to Arabia.
Some say, there was poison involved.
But he probably had malaria as well.
The emperor was closer to death than life.
The court worried
about the future of the empire.
Roxana was pregnant with his son,
but Alexander didn't name a successor.
Alexander.
Who is supposed to rule your empire?
The most powerful one of you.
Alexander the Great
died on 10 June, 323 BC.
In Greece a bitter fight
about his succession started.
The empire he founded broke apart
within just a few decades.
But he spread Greek culture
over three continents
all the way to India.
And he was
the first European world ruler in history.
He was buried in Alexandria.
In the city that carried his name.
The exact location fell into oblivion.
He formed the image
of Alexander the heroic conqueror.
But the honorary title "the Great"
was given to him only by the Romans.
Others continued to tell his legend
across generations and borders.
What remains is the fascination with a man
who changed the world.
[music ends]
[narrator] Alexander the Great,
the shining light of ancient Greece.
The Prince from remote Macedonia
would become
the greatest conqueror of all times.
[yelling]
[rumbles]
[in German] No one would have thought
that someone would try
to conquer the whole world
and that he would almost succeed.
[tense music]
[narrator] At the age of 16,
his father made him co-regent.
These were troubled times.
An assassination made him king.
And his allies made Alexander
the most powerful man in Greece.
His campaign against King Darius of Persia
resembled the battle
between David and Goliath.
But like Achilles,
his hero from the legend,
Alexander was determined
to bring victory to the Greeks.
[in German] Only very few people
had as much influence on history
as Alexander the Great.
[horse whinnying]
[seagulls squawking]
[narrator] It was spring
when Alexander passed the strait
between Europe and today's Turkey.
Together with 37,000 soldiers
from all over Greece.
The Macedonian had a clear mission.
He and his men were to free
the Greek colonies from the Persians.
First Alexander went to Troy.
At Achilles' grave
he had his weapons blessed.
And he brought a sacrifice.
[solemn music]
Since childhood, The Iliad's hero
had been Alexander's role model.
He wanted to live up to Achilles' glory
and even exceed his deeds.
This war of liberation was his chance
but he also needed
protection from the gods.
With their blessing
his retaliation campaign
became a holy war.
But thus far,
no one had managed to bring Persia,
the world empire, to its knees.
[horse whinnying]
In their advance into occupied territory,
the Persian army tried to stop them.
To no avail.
In 334 BC, Alexander won the battle
at the river Granicus.
Apparently, the Persian court
had underestimated the Macedonian King.
They hadn't sent their imperial army,
but a troop of professional soldiers.
King Darius had relied on them.
A mistake, as it turned out.
Your Majesty,
I'm sorry for the bad news I have to bear.
-Alexander won the battle.
-How is that possible?
Alexander has got fewer soldiers,
but his tactics are clever,
not only on the battlefield.
Explain.
He promises a democratic constitution
modeled after Athens
for those cities that surrender
without a fight.
And he promises everyone
they don't have to pay you tribute.
Is that true?
[gasps]
I heard that he rules
like a king in Macedonia.
The governance of the people is nonsense.
What does he really want?
[soldier] The Greek want to take revenge
for the destruction of Athens
and the occupation of Anatolia.
But Alexander wants more.
What does he want?
Power.
-He wants my throne.
-[soldier] That's right.
The defense of your country
shouldn't be left to vassals.
Who could lead our army better than you?
He will regret
that he ever left his mother's lap.
[suspenseful music]
Gather our troops and tell them
their king will go to war.
[narrator] The Persian empire reached
from the Greek borders and Egypt
all the way to the East
over the Hindu Kush to India,
the end of the known world.
The empire stretched across
three continents.
And at its heart was Persepolis
in the south of what is Iran today.
[tranquil music]
Persepolis was also
the religious center of Persia.
Even 2,000 years later
the palaces and temples
still convey the empire's power.
Reliefs show the many nationalities
of the giant empire.
Twenty eight peoples in total.
Among them Syrians, Egyptians,
Babylonians, Greeks, Indians and Arabs.
They all gathered to offer presents
to the king on New Year's Day.
The Persians were role models.
They implemented a political order
that allowed peaceful coexistence
of the nations.
But there was also resistance
from the Greek colonies.
Almost all of them saw Alexander
as a liberator.
[inspiring music]
The Macedonian conquered
the big coastal cities
within a few months.
And he had large parts of Turkey
under his control
when he chose Gordion
to be his winter quarters.
In the temple, he discovered
Phrygian King Gordias' famous cart.
And this is supposed
to be a cart for a king?
It belonged to Gordias, King of Phrygia.
[man] When the Phrygians
looked for a king,
the oracle told them to choose
the first man they saw on a cart. [gasps]
[Alexander]
And by chance that was Gordias?
Is that how quickly
you can become a king here?
[chuckles]
Yes, but that's not the whole story.
Do you see this knot?
[Alexander] What about it?
It says whoever can untie this knot
will reign the Persian empire.
The knot doesn't seem
to have a beginning or an end.
[narrator] The story of the Gordian Knot
is just a legend
and it was clever propaganda.
[in German]
To cut the knot with a sword says
Alexander does things his own way.
Everyone failed,
and he showed them how to do it.
[narrator] But liberating
the Greek colonies wasn't the end.
Alexander wanted
to knock Darius off his throne.
Darius gathered his army in the borderland
between Turkey and Syria.
Alexander also moved his troops.
But the two armies passed each other
without noticing.
[tense music]
Suddenly the Persians were behind them
and blocked the exit route.
The land battle took place at Issus.
The Macedonian King against Darius,
the most powerful man in the world.
And against more than 70,000 warriors.
The enemy stands between us and our home.
We will triumph or die.
Retreat is impossible.
Don't be blinded by the glamour
and size of our enemy.
I see what you see.
But none of you can see it with my eyes.
[indistinct chatter]
[Alexander] The Great King
underestimates us.
Be brave,
because this is not the first time
we have faced superior numbers
and it will not be the last time
we will triumph.
[cheering]
[adventure music intensifies]
[narrator] King Darius believed
it would be an easy victory.
He relied on the superior numbers
of his army.
[deep rumble]
The Macedonian leader was brave
and relied on his cavalry.
[music stops]
The Battle of Issus, 333 BC.
The battle is depicted
on the famous Alexander sarcophagus.
The Macedonian King
is the hero in this scene.
The Persians who were superior
in numbers dominated at first,
but then Alexander managed
to push through enemy lines.
[commotion]
Darius' life was in danger
as Alexander attacked
the elite troops around the king.
[screams]
In the end, Darius could only flee.
This sealed the Persian defeat.
[in German] Alexander's success
is partly due to the fact
that he acted unexpectedly.
It's almost like in football.
The team that doesn't play
with a predictable strategy
scores more goals.
And Alexander's strategy
was very risky
from a military point of view.
Seemingly headless,
he attacked the enemy
at their strongest points.
But the war wasn't won yet.
Darius was still free.
He escaped into the desert.
[adventure music]
The Macedonians rushed to the South.
The inhabitants of Tyre went to war.
But like everyone
who rose against Alexander,
they faced grave consequences.
[screams]
But most of Persia's allies
celebrated Alexander as a liberator.
The Egyptians greeted him with open arms.
Their feud with the empire
had lasted for too long.
[music fades]
Like all Greeks,
Alexander admired high culture.
Rule over pharaonic Egypt
would be highly regarded back home.
After taking power,
he offered sacrifices to the gods
and consulted the oracle.
He got what he had hoped for.
Alexander was made a god-like pharaoh.
[tense music]
His portrait was even carved into stone
as an acknowledgement
that he was the rightful son
of the highest god Amun-Re.
Shortly after, the new Pharaoh set a sign.
He founded Alexandria,
modeled on Greek cities.
It was a symbol of his passion
for establishing his own culture
in the conquered territories.
All in all, Alexander founded
at least ten cities with his name.
But the metropolis by the Mediterranean
was the most important one.
[in German]
The fact that Alexander founded cities
has special meaning because it shows
that he didn't only want
to conquer territories,
but he wanted
to establish lasting sovereignty.
We can see that very clearly
with the foundation of Alexandria.
He had the vast resources in mind
that Egypt and the Middle East offered.
Economic resources.
He planned a big seaport...
that would connect Egypt
with the Mediterranean like a hub.
[inspiring music]
[narrator] In the spring of 331 BC,
the Macedonians moved
to the Euphrates in today's Iraq.
Alexander couldn't be stopped
in his advance.
He didn't want to agree
on a peace pact with the Persians.
[crescendo]
Alexander's army crossed the Euphrates.
So... he didn't take up my offer.
How many soldiers does he have?
We estimate about forty thousand.
Forty thousand...
We are by far superior in numbers.
We've got more than twice as many.
[narrator] In September,
Alexander's troops
crossed the Tigris as well.
Darius awaited him at Gaugamela.
The Persian King had carefully
chosen the battleground.
There were wide plains
on which his army could march.
The Persian army exceeded anything
Alexander had ever seen.
They were over 100,000 men.
Why didn't you make peace with Darius?
What did he offer you?
All territories west of Euphrates
and 10,000 talents.
No more than we had already
taken ourselves.
It's easy to offer something
you don't own.
[Parmenion] I would have taken him up
on his offer,
instead of risking everything now.
If I'd been you, Parmenion,
I might have done so.
But there are no two suns in the sky
and there can't be
two kings ruling Persia.
[Philotas gasping] And I thought we
took revenge for their attacks on Greece.
But it is not about that anymore.
You want to surpass your late father.
You want to surpass everyone.
And even if.
So far we've only liberated territories
the Persians had conquered.
Now we are on their territory
and we will conquer them.
Let's surprise them
and start the attack tonight.
That would be cowardly.
I don't want to steal the victory.
I want to fight honorably.
-[Alexander] Eye for an eye at dawn.
-[Hephaestion] You've heard it.
Set up camp.
We will face a challenge.
[deep rumble]
[narrator] Darius' super army
extended across five kilometers.
A frontal attack
would have been pointless.
Alexander started a diversionary maneuver.
[cheering]
[screams]
At first he moved parallel
to the Persian front.
Simultaneously,
his infantry attacked the center.
[tense music]
The Persians thought
he would attack the wings.
But he made them follow him
until their front broke apart.
Then he suddenly
turned his cavalry around.
He pressed into the gap in the center
in order to attack
the Persian King directly.
He applied the strategy
he used at Issus again.
[screams]
Tirelessly, he attacked the troops
around the Persian King.
[screams]
Alexander wanted a final decision
in a fight of man against man.
Darius!
[yelling]
Move.
[narrator] Darius abandoned his troops.
They fought to the bitter end.
Alexander, we need you at the left flank
or the Persians will storm our camp.
I don't believe it. The old fool.
Darius!
[narrator] Darius' escape
sealed the Persians' second big defeat.
[screams]
It was the last chapter of his reign.
Still on the battlefield,
Alexander proclaimed himself the new king.
His reputation as bearer of peace
went before him.
[suspenseful music]
[in German] His victory at Gaugamela
showed the Persian people
that Persian military power
wasn't reliable anymore.
Alexander didn't have
to conquer a big city.
Babylon, Sousa, Ecbatana.
They all opened their gates.
"Come in, have our treasures."
[triumphant music]
[narrator] Alexander entered Babylon
as a world ruler.
His arrival turned
into a triumphal procession.
Babylon had been in Persian hands
for 200 years.
They had made the biggest
and most beautiful oriental city
their second seat of government.
[music stops]
[Alexander] Unbelievable.
Even Athens would pale
in comparison to Babylon.
[narrator] Its size, splendor and luxury
were not of this world,
claims the legend of Babylon's foundation.
Not kings but the gods themselves
had built it.
The Macedonians had only known
this legendary city
from stories told by Aristotle.
He didn't hold it in high regard.
But Alexander was impressed.
He wanted to make it even more glamorous.
And he wanted to reside in Babylon
like his predecessor Darius.
The King of ostracized Macedonia
had made his dreams come true.
He avenged Greece and achieved victory.
He achieved sovereignty
over the biggest empire in the world.
Aristotle called
the Babylonians barbarians?
Probably because he never saw their city.
If barbarians can perform such miracles...
I'm happy to be their king.
[solemn music]
[narrator] Soon after,
Alexander moved via Sousa to Persepolis.
The Persian capital held the treasury
that he desperately needed.
The war chest was almost empty
and the soldiers had to be paid.
Most of them thought Persepolis
would be their last stop.
The retaliation campaign
was supposed to end here.
[laughs]
We took revenge on the battlefield!
Let's complete our work with a torch!
[all cheering]
[Parmenion] Alexander...
[cheering]
...what are you doing?
You are King of Persia now.
Why would you want to burn
your own palace down?
Maybe he is right.
[Philotas] What kind of men are you?
We are not allowed to abuse their women
and now we are being denied a bonfire.
Is that what your revenge looks like?
[Parmenion] Let it be.
We have completed our mission.
We should finally return to Greece.
[Alexander] Never.
Not before Darius kneels in front of me
in the dust.
All this is worth nothing
as long as he is free.
[narrator] The feast ended in catastrophe.
The palace burned down almost entirely.
What the flames spared
the soldiers carried away.
There has been much speculation over it.
Until today it's unclear
whether Alexander only acted on impulse.
[in German] There is one possible reason,
often missed in literature.
Alexander wanted to make Babylon
the capital, not Persepolis.
A second center bore the danger
of growing opposition.
He wanted to make Babylon the center,
and that's why he destroyed Persepolis.
[suspenseful music]
[narrator] A little later the day came,
he sent home large parts of his troops.
First of all,
the soldiers of the Greek allies.
He was left with Macedonians
and Greek mercenaries.
He went looking for Darius with them.
But the pursuit of the Persian King
took an unexpected turn.
[soldier] We have found him.
[narrator] After Alexander's victory,
Darius not only lost his empire
but also his support.
He was betrayed, ambushed and killed
by his own men.
[ominous music]
He is dead.
Now you've got what you wanted.
Time to return.
A king needs to die
at the hands of a king.
His assassins question my authority also.
-They have to be punished.
-[Philotas] Enough, Alexander.
You are the King of Persia.
What else do you want?
If you and your father
had been braver at Gaugamela
I could have killed Darius.
You wouldn't have made it that far.
If you don't stop,
you'll end up like Darius in the dust.
Are you threatening me?
Shut up or I'll forget myself!
Enough! No one questions me.
Neither friend nor foe.
It is not the first time
Philotas is against me.
-Philotas--
-This time he went too far.
Philotas is hot-headed.
He didn't even tell me
that my soldiers are against me.
And now I know why.
He is the instigator of this conspiracy.
But it won't help him.
-I will preempt him.
-Alexander.
We're childhood friends.
We have to stick together.
Do you want me to wait until he kills me?
He's threatened to kill me.
That's treason.
[intensified suspenseful music]
Punishable by death.
[narrator] Alexander didn't hesitate.
He had his general and friend
tortured and executed.
As a warning.
Whether they were soldiers or confidants,
this message got across.
The Macedonian could only stay in power
if he was cold and calculating.
That's why he ordered a second execution.
[suspenseful music stops]
[in German]
Then Alexander sent his death squad
to Ecbatana
to kill his friend's father also.
These were the rules of the time.
Alexander knew that revenge
was paramount in this case.
The father would've had to take revenge
for his son,
and with the possibilities
he had in the western part of the empire,
it's easy to see what would've happened.
[narrator] Following Alexander's wishes,
Darius was buried honorably.
He was entombed
in the Persian royal burying ground.
His murderer, however, had to be executed.
When Alexander set off
to today's Afghanistan,
his army was over 50,000 men strong.
Among them many tribes
from the Persian empire.
The Macedonian needed them
to crush the pockets of resistance
in the remote areas of his empire.
[upbeat music]
But there was no end
to the bloody battles.
Time and again Alexander
had to deal with defeat.
But then a young princess
fell into the general's hands
and he captured her.
It is said that Alexander
immediately fell in love with her.
Her name was Roxana,
little star.
Alexander officially made her his wife.
But this marriage was also about politics.
It served to establish peace
and a Persian-Greek dynasty.
[in German] Of course marriages
between Greeks and Persians
had existed before.
But not among royals.
It was extraordinary that Alexander
didn't choose a Greek to be his wife,
which he could have done
and was expected to.
His father married a Greek
in his second marriage.
He made a statement
in marrying a Persian princess,
so that everyone could see
he was the new Persian King.
[narrator] Alexander adopted
Persian culture without hesitation.
He also expected genuflection
and hand-kissing.
Even from his own people.
But it wasn't delusion of grandeur,
it was the calculus of a ruler.
The Persians would have despised him
if he had not adopted the rituals
of the people he ruled.
[suspenseful music]
For his friends, however,
they were an imposition.
They were used to different behavior.
Cleitus, who saved
Alexander's life before,
refused this gesture of submission.
Don't you want to pay respect to me?
I do,
but I only kneel before the gods.
I am of divine descent.
My deeds are greater
than those of Heracles and Achilles.
And even if they were.
You are just human like we all are.
We fought side by side
and succeeded together.
And now you ask us
to kneel in front of you?
I am the Great King.
I demand the respect I am entitled to.
You treat us like Persian barbarians.
You forget who your friends are.
I gave you more fame and wealth
than you could have dreamed of.
Fame? [chuckles]
The fame that we've all earned
should be only yours now?
Quiet.
And your gold...
is not enough to buy back
the respect you've lost.
Quiet! I said, be quiet!
No!
[both grumbling and gasping]
[ominous music]
[narrator] A crime of passion.
It happened at one of the Macedonians'
infamous drinking bouts.
In a dispute about rank and honor
Alexander and Cleitus
went for each other's throats.
They were probably drunk.
[Hans-Joachim] I actually believe
that the murder of Cleitus
was an emotional act.
They were close friends.
Cleitus was one of his best friends.
And I think Alexander
killed Cleitus in a rage.
Which he later, once sobered up,
deeply regretted.
But the man was dead.
[narrator] Just a few weeks later,
this seemed to be forgotten.
Soon after, the emperor
went onto a scouting expedition.
He heard about an old mountain pass,
often used by merchants.
Alexander planned to extend
his empire to the East.
The route was supposed
to lead across Afghan borders.
He demanded that his people
would follow him to the end of the world.
To a place where no Greek had ever been.
[suspenseful music]
The route led along the Hindu Kush
at a height of 1,000 meters.
Beyond lay a land
that had never been conquered.
Do you remember what Aristotle
once told us about these mountains?
No, I can't remember.
[gasps]
He called them
"peaks no eagle could pass."
And beyond them is the end of the world.
No Greek has ever seen it.
[gasps]
I will give the order
to leave at dawn. [gasps]
At about midday we should
have conquered the first pass.
[narrator] After many bloody battles
and enormous hardship
Alexander tempted fate again.
[in German]
After having conquered the Persian empire,
one could say
that Greece had got its revenge.
But it is interesting
that Alexander didn't stop
and return at this point.
His contemporaries couldn't understand it.
They thought it was "pothos,"
a longing, that drove Alexander forward.
[narrator] At that time,
the end of the then known world
was believed to be in India.
The exotic country was said
to border the world ocean
that surrounded the globe.
But the earth is larger
than ancient scholars suspected.
Allegedly,
135,000 volunteer soldiers dared
to make the journey across
the dangerous Khyber Pass to India.
The core army was more than twice as large
as it was at the beginning
of the conquest.
[music stops]
In the spring of 326 BC,
they reached the Indus Valley
in today's Pakistan.
The army fought heat and humidity.
The fauna was exotic
and full of mosquitos.
The monsoon had turned the soil
into impassable marshland.
But nature wasn't the only challenge.
[trumpeting]
[narrator] At the river Hydaspes
the Indian King Poros attacked Alexander
with an equally strong army
and with war elephants.
It was a bloody battle,
evenly balanced for long periods.
But in the end the conquerors
from the West succeeded.
It was the last big battle they fought.
[screams]
Alexander's army was
at the end of its forces.
And it is said that he faced
the greatest loss of his life.
Bucephalus, his beloved horse,
died from exhaustion.
His death allegedly
broke Alexander's heart.
But despite the setbacks
he wanted to move on.
After eight years
and 18,000 kilometers, however,
his men were tired of war.
They became mutinous
and wanted to return to Greece.
[Alexander] And?
Have you made a decision?
We've almost reached our destination.
We will be able to see
the end of the world.
It's a heroic act
that no one will ever outdo.
Our names will be immortal.
I understand you, Alexander.
And you know I was a loyal companion.
But I can only tell you
that you won't convince your men
to carry on.
They will oppose you if you coerce them.
They would rather die here,
at your hands,
than follow you to the end of the world.
Do you remember Achilles and Patroclus?
We wanted to be like them.
We were like them. We even surpassed them.
They died in battle. It was their fate.
And they'd asked for it.
And us?
What awaits us?
A life at royal court.
Surrounded by flatterers and bootlickers.
In the lap of beautiful women.
And on boring hunting excursions.
That's what awaits us back home.
Do you really want that?
Alexander.
You conquered a world empire
from the back of your horse,
but you can't rule it
from the back of your horse.
If you want to be at war forever
your empire will not last.
[narrator]
So close to the fulfillment of his dream,
Alexander felt let down.
But eventually he gave the order
to return home.
[in German] After 70 days of rain
you don't want to walk any further.
Alexander then had the ingenious idea
of locking himself in his tent.
He was sulking and went into a sit-in.
But as the people wouldn't give in,
he consulted the gods.
The gods were consulted by the priests.
And the priests knew what they wanted
and said,
"We're really sorry, but the gods oppose."
And Alexander said,
"If the gods oppose, I have to return."
But he returned on a different route.
He sailed with a fleet down the Indus
to the Indian Ocean.
So he reached the end
of the world after all.
Then he split his forces.
The ships explored
the sea route to Persia.
And Alexander went overland
with his troops.
[rumble]
The soldiers had to cross one
of the most forbidding places on Earth.
The march through the Gedrosian Desert
became a death march.
When Alexander finally arrived in Babylon,
he had lost more men than in any battle.
[tranquil music]
And the setbacks didn't stop.
Hephaestion, his closest friend,
fell severely ill.
It was probably malaria.
[Alexander]
You can't leave me alone just now.
We've still got so much to do.
[gasps]
I am Patroclus.
[gasps]
And you are... Achilles.
I have to die before you, my friend.
[sobbing]
[gasping] It is written in The Iliad.
[narrator] But unlike the poem,
Hephaestion didn't die on the battlefield.
Their shared dream of fame
through heroic death didn't come true.
Alexander mourned his friend
on an overwhelming scale.
For three days he held
funeral games in Babylon.
Just like Achilles did it for Patroclus.
[ominous music]
Just half a year later,
Alexander also fell ill.
During the preparations
for a new campaign to Arabia.
Some say, there was poison involved.
But he probably had malaria as well.
The emperor was closer to death than life.
The court worried
about the future of the empire.
Roxana was pregnant with his son,
but Alexander didn't name a successor.
Alexander.
Who is supposed to rule your empire?
The most powerful one of you.
Alexander the Great
died on 10 June, 323 BC.
In Greece a bitter fight
about his succession started.
The empire he founded broke apart
within just a few decades.
But he spread Greek culture
over three continents
all the way to India.
And he was
the first European world ruler in history.
He was buried in Alexandria.
In the city that carried his name.
The exact location fell into oblivion.
He formed the image
of Alexander the heroic conqueror.
But the honorary title "the Great"
was given to him only by the Romans.
Others continued to tell his legend
across generations and borders.
What remains is the fascination with a man
who changed the world.
[music ends]