Tristan Hughes

So you have this and you have this odd mixture.

There are clearly some mistakes.

You know, at one point they camp in dried up water course, which floods when it rains.

It's fairly obvious stuff you probably should work out, but they don't.

But you have the classic moment as well as they start to lose stragglers.

People are left behind, but they're running short of water.

They have none left.

And somebody finds enough to fill a helmet, brings it to Alexander, presents it to him, and he makes a big display of pouring it out onto the sand.

I mean, you feel he could have perhaps given it to the man who brought it to him.

But nevertheless, the message is, if you're not drinking, I'm not drinking either.

So you get Alexander the...

incredible leader, along with Alexander, the unfocused, what's he doing here?

What's this going on?

So it's probably not the losses that are reported, the numbers of casualties are probably greatly exaggerated, but it's still a nasty moment for an army that's already tired.

And the fact that it is tired means that some of them are reaching the end of their tether and more vulnerable to collapse before they get there.

So it's a very odd thing where you have another epic, you have this golden Alexander moment, but then the whole setting for it all, why this is happening in the first place, because there's nothing there worth conquering in this area.

And as you say, if there had been any attempt to keep in touch with the fleet, that's long since failed.

But again, once Alexander's committed to something, Alexander doesn't quit.

He keeps going.

And of course, he does get away with it in the end.