2 - The succession to Alexander

Summary

FROM THE DEATH OF ALEXANDER TO TRIPARADISUS (323–321)

At the time of Alexander's death in June 323, the actual military conquest of the East was to all intents and purposes complete. It had come to an end – despite the king's wishes – on that day in 326 when his troops had refused to follow him further across the plains of the Indus. But the organization of this immense empire was still only roughly sketched out and ideally the Conqueror should have lived a good many more years to enable this colossal and disparate body, held together only by the will and genius of the king, to acquire some homogeneity and some hope of permanence. This very year in which Alexander died would in all likelihood have proved decisive from the point of view of his political work. On the one hand, his choice of Babylon as capital (though this choice is not certain) was probably the prelude to a definitive organization of the central administration, a very necessary task, since everything so far had been more or less improvised. On the other hand, certain recent incidents (the proskynesis affair, the mutiny at Opis, and so on) must necessarily have led the king to a more precise and at the same time more restricted definition of his powers, of the relations between Macedonians and Persians, and the like. In short, the great epic adventure was over, and the task of reflection was beginning. It demanded prudence and imagination, tact and boldness. No one can say whether Alexander would have been equal to this task (some have doubted it), and his death leaves all the questions open.