S01E01 Son of God
As Michael Wood stood on the bridge over the river at Issus, his view was obstructed by power lines and superhighways. It was hard to imagine the intensity of that now-famous battle in such ordinary...
In The Footsteps of Alexander the Great
S01E03: Across the Hindu Kush
Alexander had now set a determined pace that would bring his army straight into heart of the Persian empire, the city of Persepolis. While one of Alexander's generals lead his troops on a southerly loop through Shirazz, Alexander and 20,000 elite soldiers took a short cut through a narrow path in the Zagros Mountains known as the Persian Gates. Alexander was deep into the pass before he realized he had fallen into a trap. The Persians had built a wall at the narrowest part of the gap and were waiting for him. Stones, javelins, and artillery rained down on the unsuspecting troops. Leaving their dead behind, Alexander's men withdrew. There had to be another way, but Alexander interrogated prisoners to no avail. Finally, a local shepherd came forward. There might be a way, he offered; a narrow and difficult path around the back of the pass. Could an army pass through there, Alexander asked. Absolutely not, the shepherd replied. Alexander ordered his men forward on that very route. Against all odds, Alexander's army crossed the secret and treacherous trail at night and closed his own trap on the Persians. Exactly where was this path? Our local guides debated this well into the night. But, morning found us on the path one of them first thought impossible. Alexander came here in January, he said. The snows would be too deep. Yet this had to be the only way.
Overview
In the Footsteps of Alexander the Great was a BBC documentary television series first shown in 1998. It was written and presented by British historian and broadcaster Michael Wood.
Wood retraced the travels of Alexander the Great, from Vergina in Macedonia, where his father Philip II of Macedon died and Alexander was proclaimed king, through seventeen present-day countries to the borders of India and back to Mesopatamia, where he died. Whereas most of Wood's documentary series had titles beginning "In Search of...", the title of this series reflected a slightly different approach.
The series was directed by David Wallace.
Episodes
S01E02 Lord of Asia
One wonders what makes this area in northern Iraq one of history's major fault lines -- places marked over and over again by historic eruptions that literally change the course of time -- places where...
S01E03 Across the Hindu Kush
Alexander had now set a determined pace that would bring his army straight into heart of the Persian empire, the city of Persepolis. While one of Alexander's generals lead his troops on a southerly loop...
S01E04 To the Ends of the Earth
Alexander made an encampment here in the foothills of the Hindu Kush. The Russians did as well, establishing their main base here during the Afghan war. It was also the site of one of the...
Cast
Michael Wood
