Alexander the Great
In Our Time
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What's the State of Mind of a Man?
Romans speculated extensively as to whether what alexander really wanted to do was to find the encircling ocean. He ends up having to leave the place garrisoned with small groups of greek and macedonian soldiers who absolutely hate being there. The geographer strabo, writing later, says that you can't grow olives in central asia. And i suppose we could use that as a bench mark of what to an ancient greeks is a definition of a civilized place to live. As he gets into india, this opposition within the army builds until the point at which he finally has to turn back.
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