Cleitus the Black was not a Macedonian nobleman like so many others of Alexander’s Companions. Cleitus was the brother to Alexander’s nurse. He had been handpicked to serve King Philip, Alexander’s father, as one of his personal body guards. He was one of the king’s selected Companions.
After Philip’s death, Alexander relied on the knowledge and experience of his father’s Companions to raise an army and bring his dream of conquering Persian to life.
The Companions were Alexander’s mounted escort and the nucleus of the Macedonian cavalry. Cleitus attended the young king at all times, not just in battle. There was a familiarity allowed, even encouraged, between the king and his Companions. They fought with Alexander and they celebrated his victories with him after each battle.
Cleitus had saved the young king’s life, but their leader was sorely wounded. In the close-quarters mounted duel the king had taken a blow to the head which sheared through his winged helmet and laid his scalp open to the bone. Thousands died on both sides in the battle of Granicus, but due to his loyalty and strength, Cleitus had saved the king.
Alexander, still upright through his doggedly stubborn will power, let the fleeing enemy live to fight another day. Greeks who joined forces with the Persians against Alexander were chained and marched back to Macedonia to labor in the mines as punishment for standing against their fellow Greeks.
The following day, the king celebrated his victory with the burial of his fallen warriors, as tradition dictated, in their full armor on a funeral pyre. It was the Greek’s belief that the body had to be cremated before the soul could transcend its earthly bond to an eternal life with the gods in the heavens above.
Eight years later, when Alexander murdered Cleitus during a drunken quarrel in Samarkand, the king would show remorse for his action, but he would fail to give the old warrior a proper burial, leaving his soul to roam the world for eternity. Alexander had inadvertently created the first vampire.
After Philip’s death, Alexander relied on the knowledge and experience of his father’s Companions to raise an army and bring his dream of conquering Persian to life.
The Companions were Alexander’s mounted escort and the nucleus of the Macedonian cavalry. Cleitus attended the young king at all times, not just in battle. There was a familiarity allowed, even encouraged, between the king and his Companions. They fought with Alexander and they celebrated his victories with him after each battle.
Cleitus had saved the young king’s life, but their leader was sorely wounded. In the close-quarters mounted duel the king had taken a blow to the head which sheared through his winged helmet and laid his scalp open to the bone. Thousands died on both sides in the battle of Granicus, but due to his loyalty and strength, Cleitus had saved the king.
Alexander, still upright through his doggedly stubborn will power, let the fleeing enemy live to fight another day. Greeks who joined forces with the Persians against Alexander were chained and marched back to Macedonia to labor in the mines as punishment for standing against their fellow Greeks.
The following day, the king celebrated his victory with the burial of his fallen warriors, as tradition dictated, in their full armor on a funeral pyre. It was the Greek’s belief that the body had to be cremated before the soul could transcend its earthly bond to an eternal life with the gods in the heavens above.
Eight years later, when Alexander murdered Cleitus during a drunken quarrel in Samarkand, the king would show remorse for his action, but he would fail to give the old warrior a proper burial, leaving his soul to roam the world for eternity. Alexander had inadvertently created the first vampire.
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