323 BC. The great Alexander is dead--and the uneasy peace of his former empire is unraveling. Machon, the late king's friend and ally, is the scapegoat for Alexander's downfall, charged with the capital crime of the corruption of a god. As an Athenian and an outsider, Machon is prepared to accept the challenge of his accusers and tell the truth behind Alexander's meteoric rise and fall. From his bloody ascent to power and his string of victories, to the seething hatred of the people he conquered, to his slow descent into drunkenness, madness, and wanton brutality, this is a stunning and tragic saga of a peerless military leader who proclaimed himself a god--and lost his humanity.