The LIttle King

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Taunted with effeminacy, a Greek Pankration champion*, Dioxippus, meets a Macedonian bully named Coragus in front of Alexander.  The officer shows up in full armor, sword, spear, the works.  Dioxippus arrives naked and oiled, carrying a small club.  Coragus throws the spear, the Greek ducks it, slams the loudmouth bully to the ground, and is about to beat him to death when the enraged king stopped the fight.  Later Dioxippus is crudely framed for theft, he will kill himself out of impotent fury and humiliation.  The king knew his troops were guilty of this and did nothing about it.  For all their reputation as great warriors it should be noted that Rome swept Macedonia aside and ended it's pretensions for all time.

*http://ancientolympics.arts.kuleuven.be/eng/TC007cEN.html


Dateline Samarkand, 328 BC.  Alexander III of Macedon is slipping into alcoholism and paranoia.  Uh, more like just paranoia, he had been a ferocious drunk since he was a teen.  Tonight he will attend a symposium, a hard drinking party for the senior officers.  Tensions have built up between him and one of his best generals and good friends, Cleitus the Black.  Cleitus had saved Alexander's life at the battle of Granicus.  
Alexander announced that Cleitus would be taking up his new position as governor of Bactria, far from the King and a demotion for someone as high ranking as Cleitus.  Words were exchanged, including Cleitus pointing out that Alexander had wielded the weapon his father forged, true enough but not something to say to a delusional dead-drunk murderous megalomaniac with unlimited power.  As Alexander called for a knife, friends got Cleitus out of the palace, while the king demanded the alarm trumpets sounded and all the armed men left the king's vicinity, very wise.  Then Cleitus got back in and started shouting at the king.  Somewhere Alexander came up with a spear and killed Cleitus.  We know that the king was stricken with remorse but so what?  He had been demoting the generals of his father's age to put his own people in power.  It took 3 days but Alexander was finally convinced that Cleitus was at fault for his own death by returning to the banquet, and he quit sulking in his tent and resumed commanding his army.
Alexander the Great had far too much power for an impetuous young warrior, and the world paid the price.


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