Alexander dies riding Bucephalus

Alexander, as a boy of 12 years, managed to tame the untamable horse Bucephalus. What if, Bucephalus gets spooked and throws Alexander, killing the young prince before he can ever ahieve greatness? How does Macedonia fare without his legendary leadership?
 
Macedonm should do fairlöy well, I'd say. There is considerable disagreement on the mattewr, but I believe without Alexander at a dangerous age, Philippus will not be assassinated and thus continues to be king for at least ten more years, hopefully longer - time for another capable heir to grow into manhood. With a staff of advisors like Nearchus, Parmenion, Ptolemy, Aristarchus and such, no Macedonian king need rely on his own genius, so almost anything short of an outright idiot could have run the state. The good times were rolling anyway. I envision a successful campaign in Asia Minor that subjects all of Ionia to Macedon and turns Lydia, Karia, Bithynia and Pontus, possibly Cilicia and Syria, into vassal states and makes some kind of dynastic tie between the Macedonians and the Achaemenids a condition of the peace treaty. THat way you have a more focussed Greek 'empire' that can play its cards in the coming dissolution of Persia and project power into the West more easily. Even if the Hegemony eventually falls apart (as it well may), it is likely nicer than the constant infighting of charismatic warleaders at the head of mercenary hosts.
 
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