Alexander: Part One

Copyright © 2019 by J.J. Parker.

ISBN:                  Softcover                        978-1-7960-6526-8

                            eBook                              978-1-7960-6525-1

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Rev. date: 10/09/2019

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Contents

Introduction

Beatsheet for Alexander: Part I

Prologue

Act I

Act II

Act III

Introduction

Why did this author write about Alexander, the so-called Great?

Why not?

If William Shakespeare himself couldn’t (or at least didn’t) write a play about the youthful would-be world conqueror (and Alex did plan to conquer Arabia, and then North Africa, before sweeping the world slate clean by vanquishing Western Europe, including the nascent empires of Carthage and Rome) … why should anyone else?

It’s because Alexander’s tale is as intriguing a story as he was a conqueror.

The Macedonian army, featuring not only seemingly unbeatable infantry (phalanx soldiers carrying fearsome 16-foot long, double-ended sarissas, or spears), but also the world’s best cavalry, including the Companions, who, like Alexander, grew up in the saddle — except saddles didn’t exist in those ancient days. Nor did stirrups, so the Macedonians used their muscular thighs to clamp themselves to their horses.

Alexander’s story is not a revenge tale — he sought not to avenge his father’s murder, because his killer had already been executed. Also, evidence suggests that Alexander and his virago mother, Olympias, a lunatic Molossian, not quite a Macedonian — had been peeved when Alexander’s dad, the roguish King Philip, proclaimed his newest wife’s son his true heir. So maybe, Alexander and his crazy mom planned the assassination.

But probably not.

Anyhow, Alexander did what few, if any, mortals ever have: he subdued much of the then-known world. He probably would have tried to take the rest (of India to the Outer Ocean) had he lived.

But what caused Alexander’s macho, mass subjugation? And why recreate it in a play?

William, Bastard Duke of Normandy, is remembered since he conquered England. Hitler and Napoleon, also, are recalled, perhaps regrettably for abortive attempts to dominate Europe. Civilization’s sustainers, it seems, are often forgotten — yet the grabbers of territory are written about and studied in history.

Alexander, nonetheless, was well-educated, and tutored by Aristotle, a legendary philosopher and polymath. And Alexander could think for himself — at age 12, he tamed the unruly horse Bucephalas, mainly because he noticed what no adult did: the animal was scared of its own shadow.

As to Alexander’s death: some have implied that he drank his way to oblivion. Actually, the 30ish Alexander apparently was infected by malaria, or some other disease (West Nile Virus?) that in those ancient days meant death (without antibiotics or antiviral medication). Some historians have implied that he was poisoned, but that’s ridiculous: once he became sick, it took nearly a week for him to perish.

So where should Alexander, only half Macedonian, though son of King Philip, who created the mighty Macedonian army, rest in historic terms? Along with, yet ahead of, Attila, Ghengis Khan, Napoleon, and Hitler. For Alexander blazed the path toward whatever it is that world conquerors seek, and his mind and soul contained the spark that set him onward: Alexander, for some reason, desired world conquest more than anything else. And, without his fatal illness, he may have achieved it.

-J.J.P.

Sources:

Foreman, Laura. Alexander the Conqueror. (no city listed): Da Capo Press, 2004.

Green, Peter. Alexander of Macedon, 356-323 B.C.: A Historical Biography. Berkeley, Calif.: U. of California Press, 1991.

Greenblatt, Miriam. Alexander the Great and Ancient Greece. New York: Benchmark Books, 2000.

Rogers, Guy MacLean. Alexander: The Ambiguity of Greatness. New York: Random House, 2004.

Wells, H.G. The Outline of History: The Whole Story of Man, vol. I. pp276-295. Garden City, N.Y.: Doubleday and Co., Inc., 1956.

Setting: Macedonia, Greece, Egypt, Asia (Persia to India)

Time: 356 to 331 B.C.

A man of genius makes no mistakes. His errors are volitional, and are the portals of discovery. -James Joyce, Ulysses

There is a pleasure sure, In being mad, which none but madmen know! -John Dryden, The Spanish Friar

Beatsheet for Alexander: Part I

Prologue: in 365 B.C., a pregnant Olympias, wife of King Philip of Macedon, dreams about a thunderbolt that touches her belly (containing her about-to-be-born son Alexander) and flames away, indicating to her that her son will become a powerful man.

I, 1: After a successful siege, King Philip learns his wife has in fact given birth to a son. Also, a royal horse of Philip’s won a race on which he bet, and he prepares to loot the town he’s besieged. Pleased with his work, Philip says his son will eventually oversee an empire which his father will create.

I, 2: In 343, 13-year-old Alexander rides a wild horse that no one else can tame. Alex boasts to his father that he will conquer the world the way he tamed the rebellious horse.

I,3: Alex, 14, is to be tutored by Aristotle, a polymath philosopher. However, the boy plays and acts silly instead of scholastically, as the philosopher wants.

I, 4: In a war council in 338, Philip explains why he will invade Thebes and Athens. Alex, 18, convinces his father to take him along on the military expedition — and give him a command.

I, 5: At the battle of Chaeronea, against the Thebans and Athenians, young Alexander distinguishes himself and impresses his father.

I, 6: Pella, Macedon’s capital, in 337: at a meeting of Grecian leaders is Philip, now dean of them. He says they’ll be unified — but under his rule — for the invasion of Persia, which he justifies as retribution for the Persians’ earlier incursion into Greece. To his chief general Parmenio, Philip disparages Alex as a dim-witted half-breed, and hints that he will disinherit him in favor of a younger son.

I, 7: At the wedding banquet of Philip and his new bride, the bride’s father wishes that the union will produce a legitimate heir. The overhearing Alexander is angered, believing he’s considered illegitimate because he’s only half Macedonian. A drunken Philip rises to rebuke his son, but falls, and Alex mocks him. Olympias, Philip’s other wife, chastises him for insulting her beloved son Alexander.

I, 8: Oct. 336: At a wedding reception of Philip’s daughter, he’s assassinated by a disgruntled former servant. A couple guards imply that Alexander must be the new king, for no one else is as qualified.

I, 9: The next day, at the palace, Alexander is named king of Macedon. He takes charge by ordering about officers and guards, who unquestionably obey.

I, 10: King Alexander learns that the Thebans and Athenians rebel against his nascent rule. Incensed, he says he will militarily discipline the rebels. Later, he visits Diogenes, a loner and existential philosopher, whom a still-idealistic Alexander admires though the older man mocks him.

I, 11: Alexander and his army visit Thrace. There, Alex learns that Theban rebels and soldiers will not take part in his invasion of Persia. He marches his army to Thebes and, after a Theban mocks them, devastates the town. It is burned and leveled — a shocking development for a fellow Grecian city-state.

II, 1: In spring 334, in Dium, Macedonia, Alexander makes sacrifices animals to propitiate the gods prior to his Persian invasion. His adviser/general Antipater — who will rule Macedonia in Alexander’s absence — reports the strength of the Macedonian expeditionary force, which is considerable.

II, 2: In Ilium, Asia Minor, Persian King Darius, encamped with his massive army, listens to a plan from a senior officer to trap the military neophyte Alexander and his minions in Persian territory. Darius, because the Macedonian phalanxes concern him in an open battle, wants to ambush them.

II, 3: In Alexander’s camp outside Ilium, he and his boyhood friends, including Harpalus and Hephaestion — now officers in his army — discuss the site of ancient Troy; Alex is a fan of the Iliad and the Age of Heroes (from 700-800 years past). They then, after a foot race, visit the temple of the goddess Athena.

II, 4: Late spring, 334: in Darius’s camp east of Ilium, a spy informs the Persian king that the Macedonians are near. So, he assembles his troops in battle formation. Alexander decides to attack immediately, in the late afternoon, as a surprise, instead of a dawn attack. The ensuing battle, Granicus, will be Alex’s first as army commander.

II,5: By the Granicus River, the two armies collide. Alexander is nearly slain, but Cleitus saves his life. Alex’s army wins, and gives no quarter to the routing enemy, pursuing and killing many of its soldiers. Unsatisfied, Alexander wants to continue his invasion until all of the Persian Empire is his, and Darius is no longer its ruler.

II, 6: In a Macedonian field hospital after the battle, Alexander is tender toward his wounded soldiers. He feels guilt that, though his casualties were light, they were fellow citizens who suffered and/or died. He and Parmenio debate the effects of war.

II, 7: The Macedonian army moves into Persia. Speaking to Hephaestion, Alexander reveals his darkening character.

II, 8: Outside Ephesus, Alexander browbeats the Ephesians into letting he and his army inside the walled city. He executes its Persian guards and claims the town for his spreading empire. Next, Alexander’s minions capture Miletos, a Grecian town resisting the upstart Macedonians.

II, 9: By the Miletian coast, Alexander orders his admiral to demobilize the fleet. The admiral is shocked, for the invading army’s flank will be unprotected by ships. But Alexander says his cavalry will guard the seaward flank as the army marches deeper into Persia. Halicarnassos is captured, and Alexander surprises everyone by choosing a woman satrap to rule it in his place.

II, 10: In the Persian province Lycia, Alexander confers with Callisthenes, his unofficial historian and philosopher. This man prophesizes that Alex will conquer all Asia — if he wishes.

II, 11: In spring 333, along the Mediterranean Sea coast, Alexander discusses battle plans with Philotas, commander of the Companions, the elite Macedonian cavalry unit. Alexander also learns that a Greek traitor has captured towns for the Persians in the Aegean Sea islands. But Alexander says he will send ships and troops to free the islands and kill the traitor.

II, 12: In Gordium, capital of Phrygia, Alexander meets local officials. They show him the thick-roped Gordian Knot, which no one’s undone. According to them, only someone destined to rule Asia may untie the knot — which Alex does (cheatingly) with his sword.

II, 13: On a sea coast, in late August 333, Alexander learns that the vast Persian army is assembling near Babylon. A scout indicates the Persians will greatly outnumber the Macedonians. Thus, Alexander decides to postpone an attack

II, 14: The next month, in Tarsus, along the sea coast, Alexander is sickened. A Greek alternative-medicine physician cures him. Then, Alex learns that the Persian army is even bigger than it had been in August. He decides to occupy high ground and a strong defensive position. Meanwhile, in the Persian camp, Darius reveals his overconfidence about defeating the Macedonians led by what he says is a boy.

II, 15: Sept. 333: The Macedonian army marches to Babylon. Alexander’s scouts locate the Persian army by nearby Issus. His army forms between a mountain and the sea, awaiting an attack.

II, 16: Alexander psyches up his officers before the coming battle.

II, 17: On a plain by Issus, the two armies fight. The Macedonians rout the Persians, but their King Darius escapes.

III, 1: Alexander performs sacrifices to the gods in thanks for the great victory of Issus. He also comforts a Mace. soldier about to lose an arm to amputation. Later, in Damascus, Alex and his best friend Hephaestion enter Darius’ royal tent, bedazzled by its opulence. Alex then mercifully deals with the spouses and other kin of slain Persians.

III, 2: Alexander sits on Darius’ throne under the large Persian royal tent in Damascus. He learns a Persian fleet is threatening Greek islands in the Aegean Sea. He orders the pirates to be destroyed. Then an envoy gives Alexander a threat from Darius; the envoy returns to Darius to say that the upstart king plans to capture Egypt.

III, 3: Feb. 332: in coastal Sidon, on the way to Egypt, Alexander convinces local officials to surrender their town without a fight. But at Tyre, an island surrounded by high walls, the residents rebuff him. Alexander says he will besiege and then ravish the girded town — a half mile from the mainland — no matter how long it takes.

III, 4: March 332: Alex’s army invests the seemingly impenetrable island fortress Tyre. He orders engineers to build siege towers, and an earthern mole leading the invasion force to the island citadel. In October, this pier-like mole is completed. After rebuffing Tyrian ships that attack his mole, Alexander’s army assaults Tyre. Once his catapaults burst holes through a wall, Macedonian troops — frustrated after the lengthy siege — stream through, slaughtering all the Tyrians they find.

III, 5: In Sept. 332, Alexander’s army tries to break through the walled town of Gaza. He orders a wall to be undermined, and sends a company of soldiers to enter the town from underneath. Other Greek soldiers — from above — emerge from siege towers, fighting along the walls’ tops. Before the Macedonians enter the citadel, though, a Gazan deserter tries to kill Alexander, who instead slays him. Then, the Maces capture the town, and the usual atrocities occur.

III, 6: In Pelusium, Egypt, the Persian governor learns that Alexander’s army marches towards his province. He decides to surrender to the Greeks rather than risk slaughter. After the surrender, Pelusians and Macedonians celebrate the bloodless transfer of power. Then, Alexander says he must leave his army to slog through the desert to reach Siwah, to hear an oracle’s prophecy about his divine future.

III, 7: In Memphis, Egypt, March 331: Alexander, Hephaestion, and a cavalry squadron trek through the sands to the oasis of Siwah. There, Alexander learns that Ammon, the oracle, says that the death of King Philip has been avenged, and that Alexander’s army will be undefeated — letting him master the world, if he chooses.

III, 8: April 331: Alexander founds the city of Alexandria, by the northern Egyptian coast. It will become a great seaport and metropolitan area, with the world’s largest library (until it’s destroyed by savages).

III, 9: A few days later, in Memphis, Egypt, Alexander organizes a combination Olympics/celebration before undertaking another campaign versus the Persians. Finally, the Macedonian army forms into battleline outside Memphis — ready to assail the Persian horde in a climactic battle.

Prologue

FADE IN:

INT.: KING AND QUEEN’S BEDROOM - NIGHT

Onscreen writing says: Pella, Macedonia, 356 B.C.

Olympias, wife of King Philip, lies abed. A square hole in the wall (ala a window) allows moonlight into the room. She is nine months pregnant, her nightgowned belly swollen as she lies on her back. She tosses and turns in her sleep. Philip is away, campaigning with his troops.

Pan to show a window, through which we see and hear rain, and see lightning and hear thunder. Close up Olympias’s face: she’s dreaming; dissolve into her reverie:

She hears a loud crack of thunder, awakening, and sees a thunderbolt strike her belly, inside of which is the fetus Alexander. A blinding light consumes the room. Olympias, alarmed, sees a flame arise from her abdomen. She watches the flame exit through the window, and spread across the countryside. Then it explodes, and disappears. She appears surprised, but then