consider this before viewing conquerors
Alexander the Great what do you know
about Alexander the Great what made him
such a great leader as you watch the
program think about the concept of
strong leadership and identify
Alexander's personality traits strategic
abilities and leadership methods that
justify this label assignment discovery
now presents conquerors Alexander the
Great out of the wilds of ancient Greece
a magnificent Empire arose the heroic
vision of one man in just 13 years he
swallowed up most of the Western world
and pushed deep into uncharted territory
he crushed the mightiest powers on earth
and was hailed a king an emperor even a
God the first true Conqueror Alexander
the Great paved the road to glory
on a brisk autumn morning in 331 BC a
small but valiant band of warriors
prepares for battle their enemy an army
five times their size and the most
powerful force on earth the Persian
Empire their leader Alexander the
fair-haired King of Macedonia is barely
26 years old for the last four years he
has led his troops from Greece to Egypt
and conquered half of the known world
but today his men are uneasy already
tired and homesick after a 2,000 mile
crusade they now face staggering odds
still Alexander is convinced this will
be their finest hour
you are Macedonians atronics protected
by Zeus
Alexander was born to conquer the son of
a warrior king he is heir to a powerful
throne his father Philip of Macedon was
the first to unite Greece's fiercely
independent city-states after a century
of bitter infighting
Alexander has to be tough enough to not
only defend this new Kingdom but to
avenge his country's honor at his rugged
outpost in Macedonia Philip harbours a
dream cherished by all Greeks across the
Aegean Sea in Anatolia now modern Turkey
the long despised Persian Empire
occupies several revered Greek cities
including the birthplaces of ESOP
Pythagoras and Homer Philip is
determined to punish the Persians for
their invasion of Greece 150 years
earlier by driving them out with such
ambitions a father must forge in his son
a spirit as strong as iron
but Phillip also knows that a ruler has
to have brains as well as brawn he
brings none other than the celebrated
philosopher Aristotle from Athens to
teach Alexander how to observe reason
and think ahead his lessons will make
Alexander the first great strategist in
military history but it's an epic poem
that fires the boys imagination
Homer's The Iliad an account of the
Trojan Wars is mythology with a message
in it the Greek hero Achilles wins a
bloody victory over Hector at the city
of Troy but Achilles is no brute after
the battle he shows compassion by
returning the body of his dead foe to
his father King trial might tempered by
Mercy is an idea not lost on the young
Alexander for the rest of his life he
will carry a copy of the Iliad wherever
he goes and Achilles brave fearless the
paragon of virtue will become his role
model and hero
by the time he's 20 Alexander has
already gone with his father on several
campaigns to strengthen Macedonian rule
over the rest of Greece along the way
he's learned to command the movements
and the respect of the man with the
promising young general at his side and
a United Kingdom behind him Phillip is
now ready to attack Persia an empire 40
times larger than his own while an
advanced guard set sail for Anatolia
Phillip stays behind to attend the
wedding of his daughter a union that
will ensure peace with a neighboring
Kingdom on his way to the ceremony
Philip notices an old acquaintance a
former bodyguard
the king is greeted with a dagger to the
ribs quickly soldiers surround the young
French to protect others chase down the
assassin and kill him only 21 years old
when he ascends the throne in 336 BC
many questioned if Alexander has the
stuff of warriors but when a false rumor
sweeps through Greece that he's been
killed it ignites a revolt against the
new Macedonian ruler as a warning to
other Greeks Alexander marches south to
Thebes the hotbed of the rebellion there
he strikes ruthlessly the news spreads
put Alexander's conquest even reaches
the Oracle at Delphi who declares him
invincible by the time Alexander arrives
in Athens no one dares oppose it but
instead of punishing his enemies he
offers them a proposition if all of
Greece will band together and provide
him with soldiers ships and supplies he
will fulfill their dream and launch a
war to liberate the Greek cities in
Anatolia occupied by the Persians in 334
BC with an army of 45,000 and his
boyhood friend have hastened 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 to Achilles
shield for good luck in battle
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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 fighting
shoulder-to-shoulder with his men
Alexander plunges into the thick of the
battle an enemy acts even splits his
helmet in two but the Persians suffer
far worse stunned and disheartened by
the surprise attack they lose a third 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 with an army half
the size of the Persians Alexander
continues his push through Anatolia the
two armies converge at Isis and the
battle lines are drawn the centrepiece
of Alexander's fighting machine is a
formation called a phalanx in tightly
knit blocks foot soldiers wield 18-foot
Lance's tipped in bronze called sir
Issus
as each rank lowers its line of sarissas
it creates a deadly wall of spikes with
a Macedonian cavalry engaged on both
flanks Alexander sends his phalanx is
straight into the center of the Persian
lines trapped from behind by their own
men row after row of hapless Persians
are in paid their lines fall in bloody
ribbons before the Macedonian onslaught
seeing the day is lost during its 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 a feast e'en 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
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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 at age 23
Alexander King of Macedonia has driven
the Persians out of the entire
Mediterranean now he can return home to
a life of comfort and ease instead he
chooses a soldier's life and pushes ever
deeper into the Persian Empire after the
Battle of Issus Alexander traveled 500
miles along the coast through Palestine
across the desert and is now poised to
take Egypt sailing down the Nile he
gazes upon a civilization that has
already 2,000 years old linked by years
of Persian oppression Greece and Egypt
are at last united under a single
sovereign
in 331 BC at Memphis Egypt's capital
Alexander is proclaimed Pharaoh because
his new subjects believe pharaohs are
descended from gods Alexander is
regarded as divine
but Alexander has other more practical
ambitions the Nile is the Gateway to
Africa here where it flows into the
Mediterranean he will build a great city
in the Greek style he calls it
Alexandria over the next few years he
will christen a dozen more like it
throughout the Middle East each of them
is a miniature Greece transplanted to
alien soil but this Alexandria will be
his best and most enduring back in
Persia his palace empty of family and
friends
the fugitive King Darius hopes for a
political solution 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 were 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 what aisle exam dear scoffs if I was
Parmenion
many of his men began to wonder if their
leader has finally gone too far he's
gambling all day one 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 Duras 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 Gorga Miele
on the 20th of September 331 BC
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 their eyes
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realizing that he is in grave danger
Uriah Swan Segen loses his nerve he
turns and runs abandoned by their king
the Persians can find no reason to
continue fighting the victory belongs to
Alexander in the weeks following gorga
Mila 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 yoke but the
civilization the Greeks scorned 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 sixty
billion dollars 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 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 Falls of
Persepolis of blades reducing to ruins
one of the architectural wonders of the
ancient world
Alexander's conquest goes far beyond
subjugation he intends to colonize the
east using the vast resources of his
Treasury he builds ten cities throughout
Persia Afghanistan Turkestan and India
in each believes contingents of his
entourage planting seeds of Greek
civilization thousands of miles from the
Aegean Sea his troops now some 100,000
strong meet little resistance with no
maps to guide them the Macedonians are
blind to the vastness that lies before
them beyond the jungle awaits the
unknown
the incessant rains of the monsoon are
the last straw they refused to go
further in 324 BC 3 years after the
expedition set off he delivers the
rugged remnants of his army back to
Persia after month spent consolidating
the empire and reorganizing his army
alexander sets in motion the plans for a
new invasion this time he will expand
his empire to the west by leading an
assault into Arabia North Africa Sicily
and Italy but before he can begin his
next conquest disaster finds the
indestructible Alexander's Achilles heel
the man who has survived countless
life-threatening battle wounds is struck
down by a common disease malaria
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four days between bouts of pain and a
soaring temperature alexander meets with
his generals to discuss plans for the
invasion of arabia but as the end draws
near his men break down and week as
Alexander's officers file past each asks
who do you give the empire to
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the strongest is this enigmatic reply
but who among them could approach such
genius and daring or inspire such
loyalty Alexander died on June 10th 323
BC after 13 years of fighting he had
conquered 2 million square miles but
without his force of will and charisma
to hold the empire together it
eventually began to crumble torn apart
by the squabbling of rival generals and
petty kingdoms on the road to world
conquest Caesar and Napoleon would pay
homage to the brilliant young general
who set the standard for all future
conquerors and the Aegean to Afghanistan
he had marched 22 thousand miles and
never lost a battle he planted the seeds
of a culture full of vitality and new
ideas and left in his wake the roots of
a new civilization builder of cities
warrior Emperor hero God
twenty-three hundred years later his
name still carries Thunder Alexander the
Great
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keep watching discussion topics and
activity and resources for conquerors
Alexander the Great are up next on
assignment discovery
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now that you've seen conquerors
Alexander the Great talked about this
Alexander spread his Empire through
three continents and the imposed Greek
culture and law throughout these
conquered lands discuss the ethics of
starting wars for the purpose of
territorial expansion what would happen
if a present-day leader carried out this
kind of campaign now try this
imagine that Alexander had to face the
media today choose one event from the
documentary and compile a list of
questions that you as a modern reporter
would ask him then discuss how he might
respond for videos CD ROMs lesson plans
and teacher resources on this topic and
more log on to discovery.com/mythbusters
in the footsteps of Alexander the Great
by Michael Wood the preceding program is
part of Cable in the classroom a free
service of the cable communications
industry and your local cable company
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