Alexander: Child of a Dream (1) Paperback – October 1, 2001 by Valerio Massimo Manfredi

Description

Author: Manfredi Valerio Massimo

Brand: Washington Square Press

Features:

• Used Book in Good Condition

Package Dimensions: 23x216x549

Number Of Pages: 368

Release Date: 01-10-2001

Details: Product Description
Before his birth, omens foretold that Alexander, son of the warrior-king Philip of Macedonia, was destined for greatness. From boyhood, the prince was trained by the finest scholars and mightiest soldiers to attain extraordinary strength of body and spirit. A descendant of Heracles and Achilles, Alexander aimed to surpass his ancestors’ heroism and honor, and his chosen companions strove to be worthy to share his godlike fate.
Even as a youth, Alexander’s deeds were unequaled. In a single day, he tamed the fierce steed Bucephalus. In his first battle, his troops defeated the invincible Sacred Band. And as he grew to manhood, surrounded by deadly plots and intrigue, his friends pledged to follow him to the ends of the world. With the support of that loyal group of men, Alexander’s might would transform dreams of conquest into reality amid the fabled cities of Persia and the mysterious East…and his destiny would carry them all to glory.
About the Author
Dr. Valerio Massimo Manfredi is an Italian historian, archaeologist, and journalist. The professor of archaeology in the “Luigi Bocconi” University in Milan and a familiar face on European television, he has published a number of scientific articles and essays as well as thirteen novels, including the
Alexander trilogy and
The Last Legion. Alexander was published in thirty-six languages in fifty-five countries and was sold for a major film production in the U.S., and
The Last Legion is soon to be a major motion picture starring Colin Firth and Ben Kingsley. Dr. Manfredi is married with two children and lives in a small town near Bologna.
Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.
Chapter One

Olympias’s decision to visit the Sanctuary of Dodona was the result of a strange premonition that had come to her as she slept alongside her husband, Philip II, King of the Macedonians, who lay that night in a wine- and food-sated slumber.

She had dreamed of a snake slithering slowly along the corridor outside and entering their bedchamber silently. She could see it, but she could not move, and she could not shout for help. The coils of the great reptile slid over the stone floor, its scales glinting copper and bronze in the moonlight that penetrated the room through the window.

For a moment she wanted Philip to wake up and take her in his arms, to hold her against his strong, muscular chest, to caress her with his big warrior’s hands, but immediately she turned to look again on the
drakon, the huge animal that moved like a ghost. A magic creature, like the creatures the gods summon from the bowels of the earth whenever the need arises.

Now, strangely, she was no longer afraid of it. She felt no disgust; indeed, she felt ever more attracted and almost charmed by the sinuous movement, by the graceful and silent force.

The snake worked its way under the blankets, it slipped between her legs and her breasts. She felt it take her, light and cold, without hurting her at all.

Olympias dreamed that its seed mingled with the seed her husband had already thrust into her with the strength of a bull, with all the vigor of a wild boar, before he had collapsed under the weight of exhaustion and of wine.

The next day the King had put on his armor, dined with his generals on wild hog’s meat and sheep’s milk cheese, and left to go to war against the Triballians. A people more barbarous than his Macedonians, they dressed in bearskins, wore hats of fox fur and lived along the banks of the Ister, the biggest river in Europe.

All Philip said to Olympias was, “Remember to offer sacrifices to the gods while I am away and bear me a man-child, an heir who looks like me.”

Then he had mounted his bay horse and set off at a gallop with his generals, the courtyard resounding with the noise of the steeds’ hooves, echoing with the clanging of their weapons.

Olympias took a warm bath following her husband’s departure, her maidservants massaging he