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Heat. What I'm about to say shouldn't stop you from going home. As for me, you can go wherever you want. But I want you to know how you treated me and how I treated you. I will begin, as befits, with my father Philip. When he found you, you were simple peasants in skins, grazing sheep on the slopes of the mountains and barely able to protect them from your neighbors. Thanks to him, you began to live in cities with good laws and customs. He turned you from slaves into masters over the very barbarians who plundered your lands. He conquered most of Thrace, captured the best harbors, ensuring trade and prosperity, and established the operation of the mines. Thessalians, they once inspired
fear in you. Well, now we manage them. The Athenians and Thebans, who were always looking for an opportunity to attack Macedonia, have been so subdued -I also had a hand in this-that they no longer collect tribute from Macedonia, but instead depend on our protection. My father came to the Peloponnese and restored order there. He was then declared the supreme commander of all Greeks for the campaign against the Persians. This is an honor not only for him, but for all Macedonians. This is what my father Philip did for you. This is already a great achievement, but nothing compared to what you received from me. I crossed the Hellespont, although the Persians still ruled the
sea at that time. I defeated the satraps of the great king Darius. I made you rulers of Ionia, Aeolis, Phrygia, and Lydia, and besieged Miletus. The remaining lands surrendered voluntarily, and their riches became yours. All the treasures of Egypt and Cyrene, which I captured without a fight, are now yours. Syria, Palestine, Mesopotamia, Babylonia-all belong to you. The riches of Lydia, the treasures of Persia, the jewels of India and the outer sea. What have I left for myself, except this purple cloak and diadem? Nothing. No one will reproach me for my wealth. Only what I save for all of you. And what would I do with them? I eat what you eat. I don't rest any more than you do. Many
times I spent the night on guard so that you could sleep peacefully. Which of you thinks he worked harder for me than I did for him? Well, because. If you have scars, take off your clothes and show them to me. I'll show you mine. There is no part of my body, at least in front, that is not covered in wounds. My body is covered in scars from every weapon imaginable Swords, arrows, stones, sticks. All this for the sake of your lives, your fame, and your wealth. And yet here I am, leading you as a conqueror of land and sea, rivers, mountains and plains. We celebrated our weddings together. Many of your children will become cousins or sisters to my own. I paid your debts without asking how you
acquired them, even though you are paid well and you plunder every city we take. Many of you wear golden crowns-insignia of courage and honor bestowed by me. We buried each of us who died, who met a glorious death, with all honors. Many are now immortalized in bronze statues in Macedonia. Their families are honored and do not pay taxes. Under my command, not a single man was killed while fleeing from the enemy. And now I wanted to send back some of you who were wounded, maimed, or old, to be welcomed home as heroes. But since you all want to go, then go all of you. Go home and tell them that your king Alexander, the conqueror of the Persians,
Medes, Bactrians, and Scythians, who now rules the Parthians, the Khorezmians, and the Hyrcanians as far as the Caspian Sea, who passed through the Hindu Kush mountains, crossed the Oxus and Tanais rivers, and even the Indus-the first since Dionysus himself. I would cross these high cliffs if you weren't scared. He who entered the great sea from the mouth of the Indus. The one who crossed the desert of Gedrosia, where no one had ever led an army. The one who captured Carmania while my fleet was sailing through the Persian Gulf. When you get home, tell them that when you returned to Susa, you abandoned it and went home, leaving it under the protection of the foreigners you conquered.
Perhaps this report of yours will seem glorious in the eyes of men and worthy in the eyes of the gods. Go away. Heat. Thank you to all our Patreon sponsors who make this channel possible. Find out how you can get early access to all of our videos without ads, plus other benefits, by visiting Epic History TV's Patreon page. Heat.
