Tristan Hughes

I mean, I do love, I think it's happened just before this, the only time that he allows some of his Macedonian troops to go back to Macedonia.

And I think they're just the newlyweds, aren't they?

Yes.

They've just been married.

So they're allowed to go back to Macedonia over the winter or something like that to spend time with their new wives.

Yes.

And they do, isn't it?

They have that little time off and then they come back knowing many of them will never ever see Macedonia again.

Sorry.

I should have said that better, like not realizing that for many of them, it's the last time they'll ever be back home for a period of time.

So from Gordium, it's now 333 BC.

So he's been campaigning for a year.

He's done quite a lot.

He's taken a lot of the Persian Western territories in the Mediterranean.

But continuing that thing of taking the port.

So his next stop is going towards what is one day Syria, Southeast Turkey today and Talia, I guess.

He knows that sooner or later Darius is going to be ready.

It's interesting you mentioned that ancient region known as Cilicia or Cilicia, that's southeastern Turkey.

If you're picturing the Mediterranean, think of the eastern Mediterranean where Cyprus is, north and east of that in that top east corner of the Mediterranean.

That border area is Cilicia.