To marvel properly at one of the finest pieces of craftmanship from the ancient world you really do have to drop to your knees. Carved in lustrous white marble, the sides are adorned with reliefs of battles and hunts charged with energy and grace. If one looks carefully, it’s possible to see the remnants of painted colours that highlighted the figures all the more, and the tiny holes where once tiny spears and swords were carefully positioned. One side shows Alexander at the hunt, a popular pastime amongst the Macedonian nobility and one of Alexander’s favourite pleasures. On another is Alexander at war, astride his trusty steed Bucephalas, rearing up on muscular legs above a fallen Persian horseman. The king himself, his head encased in a lion helmet, symbol of Hercules, stretches his right arm back over his shoulder with spear at the ready.

It was in the spring of 334BC that Alexander embarked on his epic expedition to overthrow the Persian empire. As he sailed from the Gallipoli peninsula across the Hellespont, the modern Dardanelles, he stopped mid way to sacrifice a bull and pour libations from a golden cup to placate Poseidon and the ocean. Then, dressed in full armour at the prow of the royal trireme, always a king with a showman’s instincts, he hurled his spear into the soil claiming the continent as his, won by right of conquest. Needless to say he was the first to jump from his ship and set foot on the sands of Asia.

When I visited Troy the start-point of my walk, I felt rather like many travellers first exploring the site, confused and a little disappointed. There are no great colonnaded streets decked with marbles and mosaics to inspire awe, instead you have to let your imagination fly and let ancient myths consume your thoughts. This is what Alexander did almost immediately after arriving in Asia Minor. He stripped naked, anointed himself with oil, and ran to place a garland on the tomb of Achilles. It was a symbolic gesture, the new great warrior paying homage to his own personal hero, who had fought a thousand years before Alexander (if there is any truth in Homer’s story of the Trojan war). Next, having climbed up to the temple of Athena, he donated his own suit of armour and was given in return the finest relics from heroic times, including Achilles’ celebrated five layer shield, which was to save Alexander’s life during a siege in India.

My walk began in March and as I walked inland I shivered my way through hills decked in snow. Thankfully welcoming villagers were on hand calling me into their tea houses, plying me with hot cocoa, and presenting me with a cornucopia of tasty treats. Heading south having already worn out one pair of boots, I reached Ephesus. While Troy requires a leap of faith, this city needs no effort at all to bring its ruins to life. Although almost all of what can be seen today is Roman, dating to the time when the city was the capital of the province of Asia, it was an important city hundreds of years before when Alexander marched through.