Departure from Amphipolis

I am so thrilled! Today is the day I take off on my expedition with our new emperor, Alexander III. It’s impressive to see the enormous gathering of men and supplies and there is definitely a sense of nervous excitement in the air. I have been preparing for my journey and have tried to bring as much as I could carry. I hope to document as much as I can over the next few years.

We all gathered at the port in Amphipolis today and will be leaving from here in a few hours. Amphipolis is a town in

Greece and the name literally means “around the city”. It was originally a colony of ancient Athens and was the site of a famous battle between the Spartans and the Athenians in 422 BC. I guess we are leaving from here because it’s a big naval base town and because Alexander’s three most important generals, Nearchus, Androsthenes, and Laomedon all live here. Aside from this, Amphipolis has several large, beautiful temples that Alexander just built here because he believes it’s an important city for commerce, and economic growth. We will be leaving through the Bridge of Amphipolis which crosses the Strymon river. Amphipolis was strategically placed around the isthmus of the river because it would control access between Macedonia and the Chalkidike in the west and Thrace in the east.

I have seen several famous people from Amphipolis walking around the city as I await the start of the expedition. Demetrius (student of Plato), Philip (famous Greek writer), and Xena (Warrior Princess) were all having lunch at a local café. Wish I could hang out with them, but I have more important things to do like conquering the world with emperor Alexander!