 The ox-cart still stood in the palace of the former kings of Phrygia at Gordium in the fourth century BC when Alexander arrived, at which point Phrygia had been reduced to a satrapy, or province, of the Persian Empire.An oracle had declared that any man who could unravel its elaborate knots was destined to become ruler of all of Asia.Alexander wanted to untie the knot but struggled to do so without success.