‘It wasn’t long in coming. Eventually, Afghanistan proved too much even for him. By the time he turned twenty-eight his army had been in occupation here for three years and achieved virtually nothing. He’d spent more of his life, spilled more of his own blood and lost more of his men here than anywhere else in his whole empire covering Egypt, Turkey, Syria, Iraq and Iran. It’s reckoned that he massacred over 120,000 Bactrian people. While huge numbers of his soldiers had died in battle, the bulk of his losses were down to the environment itself. Mountain crossings in winter, starvation, disease took a massive toll just like they would on every invading force of the future. And like them, Afghanistan marked Alexander, as a man and as a leader. He was never the same again after this place. He was worn down and sick from repeated battle injuries, and he’d taken to drinking so heavily that he’d often be unconscious for days on end. Meanwhile his men’s faith in their king had weakened. He’d been focused on Bactria for so long that his imperial domains elsewhere were crumbling.

‘And so, soon afterwards, he decided to call it quits and leave Afghanistan for good. He left behind him ten thousand infantry and over three thousand cavalry, which was by far the biggest occupying force he’d ever needed to deploy in any of his territories until then. Just goes to show how, as ever, Afghanistan was the exception to the rule.’

Chapter 29

Both Ramin and Father Bugnolio had nodded off to sleep by now, and the camp fire was just a smouldering glow in the darkness. It would soon be time for the next watch. Holt and the others were huddled around in a group, quite apart from Ben, Wolf and Madison and discussing their next plans in low voices. Tomorrow would be another day, but for the moment Ben and Wolf were in another world, transported deep into the living past of a country they’d both fought in themselves but had known so little about.

‘Where did Alexander go from there?’ Wolf asked.

‘Home to rest?’ Madison replied. ‘Hang up the old armour and sword, put his feet up and enjoy life with his beautiful new Afghan bride, Roxana? Oh no, not our golden boy. No matter how worn out he might have been, all he could think about was going off a-conquering again. India was his next target, a nice juicy territory he could add on to his empire. So now he marched the army through the mountains once again into Pakistan and through the Indus Valley, attacking cities and laying waste to everything in his path just like he’d done in Bactria. There were victories, and plenty of atrocities.