If Alexander is alive or leave as heir an already born son with a solid powerbase behind him (read: NOT a son of Roxane or a minor consort, but a son from a Persian princess or Macedonian noblewoman) is unlikely who his generals will betray his family: without a power vacuum they would have no reason for rebelling (and would have little to none support in a rebellion AGAINST Alexander)
WI: Alexander the Great lives to 75?
- Thread starter DominusNovus
- Start date
The difference between the successor states and Alexander is immense:
First he has ALL the resources they had combined. He can afford to fight on more fronts.
Second by coopting the persians instead of opressing them the number of forces available to him will again multiply.
An empire built on his principles will be much much more powerful than any Empire like the successor states.
Alexander was also the best among his generals, while Augustus was dependent from Agrippa for military matters (and both knew it very well)
I'm of the opinion that the early years are the most dangerous. Once a decade has passed the mixed weddings will have produced mixed children who likely would have been sent to be educated together to serve at first as hostages, and later as ambassadors. Of course it's impossible to know for sure, but Alexander definitely appeared to be trying to erase the idea that he ruled Greece and Persia and Egypt, and instead write the idea that he ruled one new empire.
Otto Kretschmer
Banned
I am not sure how mixed children turn out.
If they are mixed, they will raised in both Greek and Persian cultures. They likely will not feel more affinity to either. If they also marry Persians then their children will be even more Persian.
Whatifalthist expressed an opinion that Alexander himself was half Persian culturally when he died
If they are mixed, they will raised in both Greek and Persian cultures. They likely will not feel more affinity to either. If they also marry Persians then their children will be even more Persian.
Whatifalthist expressed an opinion that Alexander himself was half Persian culturally when he died
I think the idea was that the mixtures would continue. A Greco-Persian might marry an Egyptian, or an Indian. If Arabia is conquered expect Greek and Persian brides and grooms to be provided to the children of tribal leaders there. Again, we can't be sure since there was not time for it, but I don't think the weddings at Susa were meant to be a one time thing. If he could craft a lasting peace between the Greek and Persian elements in the army from that, I assume he would look to repeat it, even if not in such a grand fashion.
A darkly amusing thought I had, in response to everyone talking about likely heirs from Alexander's Persian brides and their legitimacy relative to Alex IV: When Alexander the Great dies at 75, he'll likely have several sons and daughters, all legitimate, each in their 30s or older, and with children of their own.
All we may have done is delay the broad civil war by a generation or or so, and put everyone at the heads of the armies with a blood claim to the throne. What happens when it is Alexander IV, eldest son, vs Phillip III, first born of Alexander's royal wife, vs whichever of Alexander's generals gets to marry his eldest daughter, vs etc etc etc?
All we may have done is delay the broad civil war by a generation or or so, and put everyone at the heads of the armies with a blood claim to the throne. What happens when it is Alexander IV, eldest son, vs Phillip III, first born of Alexander's royal wife, vs whichever of Alexander's generals gets to marry his eldest daughter, vs etc etc etc?
Now that is a very real possibility, although not everyone had the complete lack of succession rules the Romans had. Macedon and Persia had both managed stable successions multiple times. There was certainly drama often enough, but not empire shattering civil wars each time the king died.
Just empire-weakening civil wars. Macedon might have been able to weather such problems, Persia might have been able to, but what of this amalgamated Macedon-Persia empire?
Alexander will NOT marry his daughters to his generals or their sons (excluding Hephaestion’s, who also would have royal Persian blood by their mother).
Exactly. And looking at precedents I see Alexander’s son with Stateira securing his crown without too many troubles.
The worst who can happen is a split between Macedonia and the rest of Empire depending from Adea Eurydice’s ATL wedding: if she married either Alexander or Neoptolemus of Epirus (son of Alexander’s sister Cleopatra and their maternal uncle) her son would have great chances to be elected as King of Macedonia
Honestly, by the time Alexander dies, assuming he is a competent ruler on top of being a conqueror, which considering his efforts to co-opt the existing Persian power structures and fusing Macedonian ones onto them I believe he is, we can do as your previous post has said and look to empire both before and after him.
What I believe to be highly likely in this old-age scenario is that his successors holding Afghanistan area itself would be tenuous going forward and holding to the Indus impossible, with the secure hold of the Anatolia-Mesopotamia-Persian core while Egypt, the European provinces, and the Arabian peninsula slowly assert independence with some potential for some weakening civil wars a couple of generations in.
Well, assuming he actually had a son by Stateira. It could very well turn out that he only has the one, after all, and either has a lot of daughters or just only has a few children in the end.
Is a good glance at what this might look like not obtained by looking at the Seleucid Empire? At the end of the day, Hellenistic culture still predominated, though Hellenistic culture itself, as sort of implied in its name, takes on influences from the east.
Pretty likely he would have a surviving son by either Stateira or at least Parysatis. At the worst a daughter by either (or a daughter of Hephaestion and Drypetis) would be married to Alexander’s son and heir, giving him the needed Persian royal blood.
Alexander had bigger plans and if he survived cultural integration would be much bigger than OTL