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Article: ALEXANDER THE GRUESOME; He is portrayed as the noblest of warriors but in fact Alexander was a drunken, sex-obsessed butcher, addicted to torture whose favourite sport was crucifying his rivals.
- Article from:
- Daily Mail (London)
- Article date:
- January 8, 2003
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2003 Solo Syndication Limited. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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Byline: TREVOR GROVE
THE most terrifying man in the ancient world was drunk.
After a hard summer spent massacring and enslaving local tribesmen, young King Alexander was relaxing in his usual fashion, with prodigious quantities of alcohol.
He was no solitary drinker. Gathered around him in the royal palace of Samarkand were senior officers from his northern Greek kingdom of Macedonia.
They had been with him from the moment, back in the spring of 334 BC, when the Macedonian army made its historic crossing of the Hellespont and he, Alexander, had been the first to leap ashore, thrusting his spear into the Trojan beach, bent on conquering ...