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Welcome to Part 8. Let's get on with the show.

Now, nothing was ever the same after the death of Clytus.

So after six years on campaign, the Macedonians had almost reached their limits and were prepared to go only so much further, physically and mentally.

So returning to what is now Afghanistan,

and when you think that he started in Macedon, which is sort of modern day Greece, he's gone so far. Yeah, yeah. Geographically is incredible. The stack of lonely planet guides that he'll be sort of carting around with him in his bag. It's now getting quite heavy. Alexander resolved nevertheless to turn east towards the Himalayas.

Wow.

And so to what he thought was the great encircling sea that lay just beyond that mountain range.

But the battles fought in eastern Afghanistan, Pakistan and Punjab, were among the hardest of Alexander's career.

And at times he came close to losing perilously close, in fact.

And yet, he was still able to produce great feats of strategy and skill, as well as daring do, such as his victory over the hilltop fortress known as Sogdian Rock, so built on the plateau of a mountain, the rock had sheer clips on three sides.

And Alexander was told he would need men with wings to capture it.

Not so, he said.

All I need are volunteers and a small cohort willing to climb up the mountainside.

300 men clambering up with tent pegs and flaxen ropes.

30 them fell to their death.

30. 30.

Wow.

By the 29th bloke, you think of yourself, I'm not sure I fancy this anymore.

Yeah.

Those who remained were able to reach the top of the rock and produce a psychological blow sufficient to cause the defenders to surrender.

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