[Krokodilli]

ALEXANDER THE GREAT OF ILLYRIA (ALBANIA)

It is not surprising that filmakers or even historians cannot
capture the whole picture of Alexander the Great. First of all his mother was from
an Illyrian (Albanian) tribe. His father's grandmother was an Illyrian
(Albanian) noblewoman of the Illlyrian tribe Lycestis.

To begin with, the original name of Macedonia was 'Emathia' which in Albanian means the 'great land' hence the appellation 'Alexander the Great'.
(The same was true with Constantine the Great and Justinian the Great, all
originating from the general area of Macedonia...sometimes the area was more
inclusive during the Roman times).

To capture Alexander the Great as a soldier one need only look to
the successive generations of Illyrians (Albanians) to witness their exploits.
Gibbon, in his"Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire" refers to them as 'a
series of great princes who derive their obscure origin from the marital provinces
of Illyricum'. The Albanians literally took over the Ottoman Empire with the
Kuprili family - of obscure origin from Albania. In Greece, early 1800's,
Lord Byron witnessed the Albanian families fighting for Greek Independence - the
first President of Greece was George Kondouriti of Hydra, an Albanian. In
Egypt, Mohammed Ali made himself King in the early 1800's - of obscure Albanian
origin. The first Prime Minister of Italy was Fancesco Crespi, an Albanian.
The father of Modern Turkey, Ataturk, was of Albanian parents. It would be
very interesting to view Alexander's existence with the characteristics of the
successive generations that followed.

Historical documents are replete with exploits of Albanians in the
long European history - emphazing the same characteristics century after
century.
It would be difficult to change the understanding of Alexander the Great as
a Greek, but it is fiction and not fact. The truth would be told if one
would understand what Alexander the Great was by ethnic birth - an Illyrian
(Albanian) - and the research exposed the characteristics of the ethnic Albanians
throughout the centuries.

It would be a remarkable accomplishment to put to film and book
alike in a more truthful light. Audiences would really come to know the fact and
not the fiction.

James Wm. Brooks
Author/Publisher (1980)