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But how, as a foreign invader, would he ever win the hearts and minds of his new subjects? Alexander understood the power of the visual techniques used by Darius, but he had to come up with an image all of his own.
Archaeologists had always known how Alexander had won the war. But what's still remained a mystery was how he had planned to win the peace. Where did his image come from, the image he would use to win hearts and minds? The obvious place to start the search was where he had planned his campaign, his homeland, Macedonia.
Macedonia is now part of modern Greece, but back in the 4th century B.C., it was an independent kingdom with a warlike reputation. The problem for the archaeologists was that little remained of Alexander's palaces. They'd already been destroyed. So they turned to the royal tombs underground. Here again, it was a similar story of destruction.
"Tomb after tomb was discovered, but each one had already been ransacked by raiders. Then in 1978, a team of Greek archaeologists at last found one that was intact. It was one of the great archaeological discoveries of our time."
They came across a tunnel leading deep underground. It revealed the face of a tomb, still intact.
"The moment the tomb opened, it was like a dream. I had no idea of the significance of our discovery. It was just a miracle."
"They had discovered the secret tomb of Philip of Macedonia, Alexander's father. Its walls were still covered with the traces of magnificent paintings and what awaited them inside was a huge treasure trove."
The centerpiece was a gold sarcophagus with the symbol of the Macedonian king.
words to remember:
1. warlike : 好战的
2. ransack: ravage , plunder 掠夺
eg: ransack a dictionary to find just the right word
The house had been ransacked of all that was worth anything.
3. sarcophagus : 石棺
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