Alexander was been the king of a tiny realm. He was only twenty when he embarked on one of history’s most cherished dream : to unite the East and the West. He proved to be a political and military genius and he succeeded in conquering the greatest empire of his time, an empire that reached to the borders of India. In only thirteen years, he imposed a new vision onto the world.

With this film, the series begins 2 300 years ago at the outset of his great conquest : after leaving Macedonia, Alexander and his army headed for the great Achaemenid empire of Persia. He fought memorable battles against Darius and conquered a territory stretching from Afghanistan to India. Following Alexander closely, we also witness what he discovers for himself : the intelligence and sheer splendour of the Persian and Egyptian cultures. The experience had a profound effect on him – he became fascinated by the different forms of government… When his army deserted him upon reaching the Indus, he turned back, disenchanted. He died three years later on 13 June 323, probably by a fever he caught in Babylon. He was not even 33 years old.

The Greek universe, which had ended at Byzance only ten years earlier, now stretched to the Indus valley. But his dream to « unite all under the same law, just like the infinite light of the sky » died with Alexander.