Alexander The Great doesn't die in 323 BC

Okay, I've been playing around in my head a few ideas for timelines, and I decided to do this one, since it hasn't been explored that well. Though it's unclear if Alexander just got sick or was poisoned, I've decided to go with the assumption that he was.
Keep in mind that I'm a first-timer at this, so I'm no expert at getting all the important elements. Anything to make it better or add more will be very welcome.


Outside of Babylon
323 BC

As Alexander arrived at Babylon, a man known as Demetrius came out to greet him. Alexander knew him as a low-ranking officer who had served in the conquest of Persia. "My King, I have been sent to invite you to a celebration hosted by Medius. But I must warn you, it is actually a trap. I am forever loyal to you, otherwise I would have no reason to tell you.
Alexander knew immidiately it could not be a lie. He knew many Macedonian officers were angry at being forced to intermarry people that lived in the conquered lands. "Tell me who is behind this." he said.

The Life of Alexander the Great
Ptolemy Agrippa
published 275 BC

...And so Alexander had executed all those that had conspired against him, including Medius, Iollas, Philippus, and Cassander. He, however, pardoned those who were willing to give information about the how and why of it. Demetrius for his part in informing Alexander was promoted. Right after that, Alexander announced that they were going to Arabia, before the soldiers could return home, if they so choosed. So they invaded Arabia, and conquered the kingdoms of Saba' Mina and Himyartic...

johnp said:

Okay, I've been playing around in my head a few ideas for timelines, and I decided to do this one, since it hasn't been explored that well. Though it's unclear if Alexander just got sick or was poisoned, I've decided to go with the assumption that he was.
Keep in mind that I'm a first-timer at this, so I'm no expert at getting all the important elements. Anything to make it better or add more will be very welcome.

Click to expand...

I'd say you got all the important elements.

a very interesting take on a surviving Alexander.

I foresee many fine posts from you, in all manner of threads.

...And so Alexander had executed all those that had conspired against him, including Medius, Iollas, Philippus, and Cassander. He, however, pardoned those who were willing to give information about the how and why of it.

Click to expand...

why would he pardon people if all they did to "earn" it was to tell him how ticked-off they were?

Demetrius for his part in informing Alexander was promoted. Right after that, Alexander announced that they were going to Arabia, before the soldiers could return home, if they so choosed. So they invaded Arabia, and conquered the kingdoms of Saba' Mina and Himyartic...

Click to expand...

Great plan, o king of kings...once Alexander realizes that his goal is on the other side of a desert from where he's standing.


please, don't let me discourage you.

Okay, I kind of thought Alexander could march down the Red Sea coast, but there's desert between there as well. If Alexander had any idea where they were located, I'd say he would use ships to sail around the Arabian peninsula. Or else there might be oasises. Please enligten me on that, and if the Macedonians and Greeks had any idea of the location of the Arabian kingdoms.

Rank-and-file

Despite the discovery of the conspiracy, wouldn't the rank-and-file have still mutinied at the thought of yet one more conquest? Plus, I would think Alexander would have his eye on Carthage instead, and his planned fusion of Persian and Greek culture.

johnp said:

Okay, I kind of thought Alexander could march down the Red Sea coast, but there's desert between there as well. If Alexander had any idea where they were located, I'd say he would use ships to sail around the Arabian peninsula. Or else there might be oasises. Please enligten me on that, and if the Macedonians and Greeks had any idea of the location of the Arabian kingdoms.

Click to expand...

the only Arabian kingdom within easy reach would be the Nabataeans...but I think they're still more raiders at this era.

my apologies; I do wish I could be of more assistance.

bill_bruno
Despite the discovery of the conspiracy, wouldn't the rank-and-file have still mutinied at the thought of yet one more conquest? Plus, I would think Alexander would have his eye on Carthage instead, and his planned fusion of Persian and Greek culture.

Click to expand...

I spefically remember reading that Alexander wanted to conquer Arabia. But Keenir said he would realize that was mostly unrealistic because of the desert. Besides I realized Alexander's men wouldn't want to march that far, anyway.I'll try to make some revisions tomorrow, because I really don't have the time right now. And if anybody can tell me more about Arabian history at this time, I'd like to know.

johnp said:

Okay, I kind of thought Alexander could march down the Red Sea coast, but there's desert between there as well. If Alexander had any idea where they were located, I'd say he would use ships to sail around the Arabian peninsula. Or else there might be oasises. Please enligten me on that, and if the Macedonians and Greeks had any idea of the location of the Arabian kingdoms.

Click to expand...

He could establish a naval base at Ezion Gebir (sp?) in southern Palestine and sail down the Red Sea from there.

if he can avoid the march, it might be do-able.

johnp said:

I spefically remember reading that Alexander wanted to conquer Arabia. But Keenir said he would realize that was mostly unrealistic because of the desert. Besides I realized Alexander's men wouldn't want to march that far, anyway.I'll try to make some revisions tomorrow, because I really don't have the time right now. And if anybody can tell me more about Arabian history at this time, I'd like to know.

Click to expand...

the Nabataean kingdoms (see link below) were around during the time of the Roman civil war (they sided with Antony, since their rival Judaea was allied to Octavian).
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nabataean

there was a Roman attempt to get to the south of the Arabian penninsula, but that failed (one of the few times the Romans jumped into a venture not sufficiently prepared), and the Nabataeans were blamed for the failure.

in the pic I've supplied, the green patches are where I think there were permanent settlements...its been over a year since I did the research, and my brain resembles swiss cheese on a good day.

I wish you the very best with this project.

Toynbee's What If? had Alex conquering Arabia, Carthage, Rome etc. And China of course. The empire converts to Buddism and Hannibal becomes a great explorer landing on the shores of Atlantis (North America). Jesus as a boy watches a steam locomotive pass by his house. That is all I remember.

I remember reading somewhere that Alexander was building a 2 fleets before he died one to conquer arbia the other to explore the caspian sea. Presumably he did not want to repeat the the mistake that he made marching back from India through the desert killing of most of his soldiers.

Orginally posted by Keenir
the Nabataean kingdoms (see link below) were around during the time of the Roman civil war (they sided with Antony, since their rival Judaea was allied to Octavian).
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nabataean

Click to expand...

From that wikipedia article, I can sufficently say that the Nabataens were aroundat this time.

Originally posted by Keenir
in the pic I've supplied, the green patches are where I think there were permanent settlements...its been over a year since I did the research, and my brain resembles swiss cheese on a good day.

Click to expand...

Mine's the same way. It's why I think of any details of Alexander's conquest of Rome yet. I read Isaac Asimov's book on the Roman republic which told me all the details I would need, but I don't remember anything but names. Guess I'll have to look on wikipedia to see what the Etruscans and Saminites were doing at this time in relation to the Romans.

Originally posted by robertp6165
He could establish a naval base at Ezion Gebir (sp?) in southern Palestine and sail down the Red Sea from there.

Click to expand...

Thanks anyway, but the next guy who mentions the possibility of a fleet(which I thought of) has what looks like actual facts. I still think you have a good suggestion though.

Originally posted by monkey I remember reading somewhere that Alexander was building a 2 fleets before he died one to conquer arbia the other to explore the caspian sea. Presumably he did not want to repeat the the mistake that he made marching back from India through the desert killing of most of his soldiers.

Click to expand...

Thank you all. I admit, I'm not sure exactly what Alexander's men would do if they had to conquer one more land, being as I think it would take several months to semicircumnavigate Arabia (what would sailing 3/4ths around it be?) but they were always loyal to him, even if a lot of his generals weren't. I'll mention Alexander sailing his fleet to Southwest Arabia first, then stopping where Robert said, and then conquer Nabatae, before he finally goes home. I'll post the revision here as soon as I'm done posting on the MYO terrorist thread.

johnp said:

if they had to conquer one more land, being as I think it would take several months to semicircumnavigate Arabia (what would sailing 3/4ths around it be?)

Click to expand...

probably...."circumnavigate most of Arabia"

Here's the revised version. Sorry for the delay. I was kicked off the Internet no less than four times because of people calling(once right after I clicked Submit Reply,) and had to eat dinner.

Outside of Babylon
323 BC

As Alexander arrived at Babylon, a man known as Demetrius came out to greet him. Alexander knew him as a mid-ranking officer who had served in the conquest of Persia. "My King, I have been sent to invite you to a celebration hosted by Medius. However it is a trap. I am forvever loyal to you, and in awe of your accomplishments, and so I don't believe you deserve to die because some generals are mad at you.
Alexander knew immidiately it could not be a lie. There were several of his officers who were angry at being forced to take Persian wives. "Tell me who is behind this." he said heatily, with a voice that could've broken glass. Demetrius told him and Alexander asked him to lead him to the palace. He did so, and Alexander and the rest of his men entered the palace. As Medius attempted to greet him, Alexander raised his hand for silence, and had the room surrounded. "All of you are under arrest." Everybody in the palace looked very scared, except for Cassander, named as the top conspirtor who's face was a mask of fury as much as Alexander's. Alexander would have no doubt ordered everybody in the room at the time he entered executed on the spot. But then, Antigonus, whom Alexander trusted, whispered something in his ear. At first, Alexander slapped him roughly away, and even stabbed him with his sword. But even though his blood was boiling very hot, what Antigonus said somehow sank in. He told evrybody to stop, and had the trial of the conspirators convened within the hour.


The Life of Alexander the Great
Ptolemy Agrippa
published 275 BC


......And so Alexander had executed most of those who conspired against him including Cassander, Iollas, and Phillippus. He, however, gave Medius and a number of lesser figures lesser punishments by having their hands chopped off in public showing after they agreed to give information in exchange for not being executed. Demetrius, the one who notified Alexander of the conspiracy, was promoted. Alexander then embarked on his plans to conquer Arabia. Leaving Antigonus in charge of Babylon after he was told to find out out about the exploratory fleet of the Caspian Sea, Alexander and his army set off in ships that had been built in a month or so.
They sailed down to the Persian Gulf ,and to Dilmun, an ancient trading post which surrendered without a fight when the fleet arrived. Alexander left some men to secure it and continued sailing for two and a half months to the Southwest corner, where the Arabian kingdoms were located. The armies disembarked and defeated the Himyartic and Sabean kingdoms in a few battles. Like Persia, Alexander kept several high officials in power, showed respect for Arab ways, and made a number of his generals take Arab wives.
After hearing that the Sinai was a month or so to the north, Alexander left a small Macedonian garrison and sailed up to the Sinai. Strong winds blew him and his fleet into the gulf in the west. Alexander and his army again disemabarked. Some of the men were given instructions to build a port at the location, and they camped their for the night, only to get attacked by raiders from the east. Some of them were captured and proved to be Nabataens, from a kingdom to the east.
Alexander desparately wanted to conquer it, but he had just survived an assassination attempt on him by one of hiswn guards. He would have likely died, if the assassin hadn't made excessive noise, and allowed the other guard to put a sword in his back. Alexander had then ordered an execution of the men he believed responsible for the attempt on his life. So he had Demetrius take a fifth of his army[1]to the east, while leaving a company to oversee the construction of the port, and he marched north to Tyre, where he awaited messages on Nabatae and what the Caspian Sea fleet had found....
[1] I'm don't think it would have taken that many men to conquer the Nabataens, but I can't say for sure.

P.S If I have skimmed over some details, like Alexander's Arab conquest, please let me know, and how I can improve that. The next post should come in a week or so.

Alexander's first step in taking over Arabia was going to involve a fleet that would sail and take the ancient trading center of Dilmun (Bahrain). That would provide a good base for pushing through the Strait of Hormuz to the southern coast.

Origianlly posted by GBW Alexander's first step in taking over Arabia was going to involve a fleet that would sail and take the ancient trading center of Dilmun (Bahrain). That would provide a good base for pushing through the Strait of Hormuz to the southern coast.

Click to expand...

Thanks. I'll edit the timeline to include that.

I'm sorry to say that but Alexander the Great wouldn't start conquering ENYTHING just after returning to Babilon. Or later. Why? Simple - he just built an empire that he had to cosolidate, probably put down the uprisings from time to time, not mentioning that most of his soldiers were thinking of going home. If he would like to start another campaign, he would have to recruit the soldiers from Syria, Egipt, Persia etc., train them in Macedonian warfare... it would take a few years. And just on a verge of starting the attack some satrap would rebel...

Tizoc said:

I'm sorry to say that but Alexander the Great wouldn't start conquering ENYTHING just after returning to Babilon. Or later. Why? Simple - he just built an empire that he had to cosolidate, probably put down the uprisings from time to time, not mentioning that most of his soldiers were thinking of going home. If he would like to start another campaign, he would have to recruit the soldiers from Syria, Egipt, Persia etc., train them in Macedonian warfare... it would take a few years. And just on a verge of starting the attack some satrap would rebel...

Click to expand...

There was an entire corps of Bactrians (30,000 men) trained to fight as a phalanx that arrived in Babylon just before his death. Also consider the amount of troops his successors went through while fighting the wars of the Diadochi and quickly assembling troops is apparently no Herculean effort.

As for the satraps, yes that's always a problem, but considering these were guys like Ptolemy, Antigonus and Perdiccas who literally worhipped Alexander and the odds of this are pretty slim.
The one men most able the revolt was Antipater, who commanded Macedonia throughout Alexander's conquests and thus could command a lot of highly capable troops, but never revolted. Instead he continuously send reinforcements to help sustain Alexander's campaign.

I'm not able to edit for some reasonso i'm reposting the whole thing. I wanted to add something about the Bactrian corps, and decided to take out the book reference, because I have seen other TLs that didn't have that.

Outside of Babylon
323 BC
As Alexander arrived at Babylon, a man known as Demetrius came out to greet him. Alexander knew him as a mid-ranking officer who had served in the conquest of Persia. "My King, I have been sent to invite you to a celebration hosted by Medius. However it is a trap. I am forvever loyal to you, and in awe of your accomplishments, and so I don't believe you deserve to die because some generals are mad at you.
Alexander knew immidiately it could not be a lie. There were several of his officers who were angry at being forced to take Persian wives. "Tell me who is behind this." he said heatily, with a voice that could've broken glass. Demetrius told him and Alexander asked him to lead him to the palace. He did so, and Alexander and the rest of his men entered the palace. As Medius attempted to greet him, Alexander raised his hand for silence, and had the room surrounded. "All of you are under arrest." Everybody in the palace looked very scared, except for Cassander, named as the top conspirtor who's face was a mask of fury as much as Alexander's. Alexander would have no doubt ordered everybody in the room at the time he entered executed on the spot. But then, Antigonus, whom Alexander trusted, whispered something in his ear. At first, Alexander slapped him roughly away, and even stabbed him with his sword. But even though his blood was boiling very hot, what Antigonus said somehow sank in. He told evrybody to stop, and had the trial of the conspirators convened within the hour.
Alexander's arab conquest.


......And so Alexander had executed most of those who conspired against him including Cassander, Iollas, and Phillippus. He, however, gave Medius and a number of lesser figures lesser punishments by having their hands chopped off in public showing after they agreed to give information in exchange for not being executed. Demetrius, the one who notified Alexander of the conspiracy, was promoted. Alexander then embarked on his plans to conquer Arabia. Leaving Antigonus in charge of Babylon after he was told to find out out about the exploratory fleet of the Caspian Sea,
Alexander and his army, much of which consisted of a Bactrian corps that
had recently arrived,set off in ships that had been built in a month or so.
They sailed down to the Persian Gulf ,and to Dilmun, an ancient trading post which surrendered without a fight when the fleet arrived. Alexander left some men to secure it and continued sailing for two and a half months to the Southwest corner, where the Arabian kingdoms were located. The armies disembarked and defeated the Himyartic and Sabean kingdoms in a few battles. Like Persia, Alexander kept several high officials in power, showed respect for Arab ways, and made a number of his generals take Arab wives.
After hearing that the Sinai was a month or so to the north, Alexander left a small Macedonian garrison and sailed up to the Sinai. Strong winds blew him and his fleet into the gulf in the west. Alexander and his army again disemabarked. Some of the men were given instructions to build a port at the location, and they camped their for the night, only to get attacked by raiders from the east. Some of them were captured and proved to be Nabataens, from a kingdom to the east.
Alexander desparately wanted to conquer it, but he had just survived an assassination attempt on him by one of hiswn guards. He would have likely died, if the assassin hadn't made excessive noise, and allowed the other guard to put a sword in his back. Alexander had then ordered an execution of the men he believed responsible for the attempt on his life. So he had Demetrius take a fifth of his army[1]to the east, while leaving a company to oversee the construction of the port, and he marched north to Tyre, where he awaited messages on Nabatae and what the Caspian Sea fleet had found.
[1] I'm don't think it would have taken that many men to conquer the Nabataens, but I can't say for sure.
P.S If I have skimmed over some details, like Alexander's Arab conquest, please let me know, and how I can improve that. The next post should come in a week or so.

Archdevil said:

The one men most able the revolt was Antipater, who commanded Macedonia throughout Alexander's conquests and thus could command a lot of highly capable troops, but never revolted. Instead he continuously send reinforcements to help sustain Alexander's campaign.

Click to expand...

However since here two of his sons (Cassander and Iollas) are executed he might. Alexander would certainly fear he might. Look up why Parmenion was killed.

"He, however, gave Medius and a number of lesser figures lesser punishments by having their hands chopped off in public.." Umm, the Greeks were not much given to mutilation of citizens. Usually it was execution and/or confiscation of property

well in all likeley hood, the Greek revolt which started the Lamnian War IOTL at Alexanders death would have gone ahead anyway; it had been in planing for a while.

Alexander may be able to conquor Arabia, even Carthage and Rome; but the true test will come when he dies, lets say in 280BC, and his son Alexander IV takes the throne. Alex IV would have lived in his fathers shadow all his life, there would be a demand for AlexIV to out do his father: perhaps Alex IV would try to attack India?

of course by about this time the Celts start to appear, and Alex will have to fight the invaders in Anatolia and his European lands.

This all depends on how loyal his fathers Generals are to him; although by this stage many of Alexander IV's generals would be Persian. Perhaps Macedon could rise in revolt led by Antipater, and Alex IV would be left ruling a Persian oriented Empire...