Death & Fragmentation
Military History: Alexander the Great
Chapter 10 · Capstone: Alexander's Death & the Real Fragmentation of His Empire
In June 323 BCE, in Babylon, Alexander died at the age of 32, after a reign of just under thirteen years. He
left the largest empire yet seen, an army that had never lost a major battle — and no adult heir and no
plan for what should happen next. This chapter covers his final years and death, the crisis that followed in
Babylon, and the first wars among his generals. It then looks back across the whole course.
The Last Years, 324–323 BCE
- Early 324 BCE Back in Persia after the Gedrosian desert (Chapter 8), Alexander punishes governors who misruled in his absence.
- 324 BCE At Susa, Alexander and about 90 of his officers marry Persian and other Iranian noblewomen in a mass wedding.
- 324 BCE At Opis, Alexander announces that veterans will be sent home. Resenting the new Persian units (Chapter 9), the Macedonian army mutinies. Alexander begins giving Persians Macedonian unit titles, and the soldiers give way; the two sides are reconciled at a great banquet.
- Autumn 324 BCE Hephaestion, Alexander's closest friend, dies suddenly at Ecbatana. Alexander's grief is extreme; that winter he campaigns brutally against the Cossaean hill tribes.
- Spring 323 BCE In Babylon, Alexander prepares a new expedition, probably to Arabia, and a larger fleet.
Death in Babylon, June 323 BCE
The Final Illness
After a series of banquets, Alexander fell ill with a fever that grew worse over about two weeks. He lost the power of speech, and his soldiers were allowed to file past his bed. He died around 10–11 June 323 BCE.
What Killed Him?
Nobody knows. Suggestions include malaria, typhoid, other infections, the effects of years of heavy
drinking and old wounds (especially the chest wound from the Malli, Chapter 8), and poison. A poisoning
story, blaming Antipater's family, circulated soon after his death, but it was politically useful to
Antipater's enemies, and most historians doubt it. Without a body or reliable medical detail, the question
can't be settled.
"To the Strongest"
Asked on his deathbed to whom he left his empire, Alexander is said to have answered "to the strongest,"
and to have given his signet ring to his general Perdiccas. The first story may well be a later invention
that fitted what happened next. Either way, Alexander made no workable plan for the succession.
The Crisis at Babylon
Alexander left no adult son. His wife Roxana was pregnant; his only surviving half-brother, Arrhidaeus, was an adult but was thought unable to rule alone. The army split.
| The cavalry and senior officers | The infantry | |
|---|---|---|
| Leader | Perdiccas | Meleager, a phalanx commander |
| Candidate | Roxana's unborn child, if a son | Arrhidaeus, a son of Philip and a full Macedonian |
| Concern | Keeping power in the hands of the senior commanders | Resentment of a half-Asian heir, after the tensions of Chapter 8 |
The Army Divides Along Its Own Lines
The split followed the army's structure: cavalry against infantry, nobles against the rank and file. The
two sides came close to fighting in the streets of Babylon before the Greek secretary Eumenes helped
negotiate a compromise. The same infantry that had refused to go on at the Hyphasis (Chapter 8) was again
showing it could not be ignored.
Two Kings
Arrhidaeus became king as Philip III. When Roxana's son was born later in 323 BCE, he became joint king as Alexander IV. Perdiccas became regent, the real ruler.
A Purge
Soon afterwards Perdiccas had the leaders of the infantry opposition executed, and Meleager was killed.
The Provinces Shared Out
The generals were given provinces to govern: among them, Ptolemy took Egypt, Antipater kept Macedonia and Greece, Antigonus held much of Asia Minor, Lysimachus received Thrace, and Eumenes Cappadocia.
The First Wars, 323–320 BCE
- 323–322 BCE The Lamian War: Athens and other Greek states revolt against Macedon. Antipater is besieged at Lamia but relieved; the Greeks are defeated on land at Crannon and at sea, ending Athens's independence as a naval power.
- 321 BCE Ptolemy intercepts Alexander's funeral carriage, on its way to Macedonia, and takes the body to Egypt — a claim to Alexander's legacy. It was later placed in a tomb in Alexandria (Chapter 6).
- 321–320 BCE The generals turn on Perdiccas. He invades Egypt, but a disastrous attempt to cross the Nile drowns many of his soldiers, and his own officers murder him.
- 320 BCE At Triparadisus, the surviving generals redivide the empire. Antipater becomes regent.
Where the Story Goes Next
These were only the first of the Wars of the Successors, which lasted decades. Both kings
were murdered within about fifteen years, and the empire broke up into separate kingdoms, including the
Ptolemies in Egypt and the Seleucids in Asia. That political story is told in Greek & Roman History,
Chapter 5; the military legacy of these kingdoms is in Chapter 9 of this course.
Looking Back Across the Course
| Thread | Where it appeared |
|---|---|
| Philip's army and combined arms | Chapter 1's system, used at the Granicus, Issus, Gaugamela, and the Hydaspes (Chapters 3, 4, 7, 8), and allowed to decay by the successors (Chapter 9) |
| Defeating a navy on land | The plan begun at Miletus (Chapter 3), completed at Tyre and in Egypt (Chapters 5, 6) |
| The source problem | Disputed figures and stories in almost every chapter, from Philip's murder (Chapter 2) to "to the strongest" |
| King of Macedon or king of Asia | Siwa (Chapter 6), the killings of Parmenion and Cleitus (Chapter 8), Opis, and the army split at Babylon |
| The limits of one man | The Hyphasis mutiny, the desert march (Chapter 8), and an empire that didn't survive its founder |
Closing the Military History Sub-Series
This course fills the last gap in the site's Military History sub-series, between the Greeks' own warfare
(Military History: The Greeks) and the Roman legions that later defeated Alexander's successors (Military
History: The Romans). A lesson from the sub-series' final course (Military History: US Wars in Asia —
Korea & Vietnam) applies here too: winning battles, however brilliantly, is not the same as reaching a lasting
political result.
Questions to Sit With
If Alexander had lived another twenty years, could his empire have held together? What would it have needed?
Was his failure to plan for the succession a personal failing, or a problem any Macedonian king would have faced?
Looking back across the course, what do you think was Alexander's single greatest military strength, and his greatest weakness?
Quick Reference — Chapter 10
- 324 BCE: the Susa weddings, the Opis mutiny and reconciliation, and Hephaestion's death
- Alexander died in Babylon around 10–11 June 323 BCE, aged 32, after about two weeks of fever; the cause is unknown and poisoning is doubted
- "To the strongest" and the ring given to Perdiccas may be later stories; there was no workable succession plan
- The cavalry under Perdiccas and the infantry under Meleager nearly fought; the compromise made Philip III and the infant Alexander IV joint kings, with Perdiccas as regent
- The provinces were divided among the generals (Ptolemy in Egypt, Antipater in Macedonia, Antigonus in Asia Minor, Lysimachus in Thrace, Eumenes in Cappadocia)
- The Lamian War (323–322 BCE), Ptolemy's seizure of the body (321 BCE), Perdiccas's failed invasion of Egypt and murder, and the Triparadisus settlement (320 BCE) began the Wars of the Successors
Course Complete
This completes Military History: Alexander the Great, 10/10 chapters — and with it, every course in the site's Military History sub-series.