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Ancient Worlds: Episode 4: Return of the King

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Return of the King

Episode 4

Episode 4: Return of the King

BBC Two - Ancient Worlds, Return of the King

Richard Miles traces the battle-scarred career of Alexander the Great.

Richard Miles examines the legacy of Alexander the Great. In Pakistan he discovers traces of a city where west and east were united in an intriguing new way.

In Richard Miles's epic story of civilization, there have been plenty of examples of the great men of history, but none came close to the legend of Alexander of Macedon, known to us as 'the Great'. Uniting the fractious Greek city-states, he led them on a crusade against the old enemy, Persia, and in little more than a decade created an empire that stretched from Egypt in the west to Afghanistan in the east.

But it was Alexander's successors, the Hellenistic Kings, who had to make sense of the legacy of this charismatic adventurer. By knuckling down to the hard graft of politics, taxation and public works, they created something far more enduring than a mere legend - they built a civilization.

Richard traces Alexander's battle-scarred route through Turkey, Syria and Lebanon to Egypt and ultimately to the western Punjab, Pakistan, where he discovers fascinating traces of a city where Greek west and Buddhist east were united in an intriguing new way.

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Factual: History

Archaeologist and historian Richard Miles explores the roots of civilisation.

Archaeologist and historian Richard Miles explores the roots of civilisation in an epic series that runs from the creation of the first cities in Mesopotamia to the fall of the Roman Empire.

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