Alexander: The Last Series, I think

..behold, a fourth beast, so dreadful and terrible,
and strong exceedingly; and it had great iron teeth.
It devoured and broke in pieces, and stamped
the residue with the feet of it; and it was diverse
from all the beasts that were before it, and it
had ten horns.

I am sure right now you all know how much Alexander had impressed me. The thing is to me, the King still has a commanding presence; his body might have decayed but his ideals still live on till this day. Such a character he is, how can I not write something abt him again?..:)

I wouldn't know for sure if he was a tyrant or a hero, coz historic journals on him vary so much. But I suppose he can be considered the greatest military strategist of all time. He died at a very young age, the cause no one exactly knows. Speculations however are aplenty; heavy drinking, apendicitis, internal bleeding, fever, Hephastion's death and so on. These ancient Greeks believed so much in myths and legends, that they actually claimed his early death was expected: it seemed to them that all his successful campaigns and victorious great battles made his heart burnt faster than the other mortals. His triumphs as a conquerer had somehow denied him a long life.

I may have to admit here, probably he was a crazy guy, especially under the influence of alcohol. Few incidences: the burning of Persepolis, the murder of Cleitus, Parmenion, Philotas and Amyntas. As a result, he wasnt very popular back then, and the Athenians were actually celebrating when they learnt that their King had died.

After that, Ptolemy became the Egyptian king, Seleuccas the Persian king, Perdiccas the ruler of Epirus, Lysimacchus the ruler of the Thracian region: but they never prospered like before. In fact Perdiccas was killed in a battle with Ptolemy. All the mixed marriage concept between the Persians and the Greeks were abandoned after Seleuccas's death. And unity was never achieved in the true sense. The once glorious Macedonian empire suffered a terrible fate.

Like I said there are many stories thus too many possibilites. Maybe somethings are better left undiscovered so he can be remembered as a hero. A real hero.


Eternal glory: maybe