Diadochi WI: A bigger role for Alexander the Great's Epirote niece and nephew?

So I asked this question about 4 or so years ago but never got a real answer. Now that Alexander the Great threads are so popular again I thought I should try again.When Alexander the Great died everyone and their mother (literally in the case of Olympias) tried to claim his vast empire. What I always found odd is the two members of the royal family that weren't used as pawns or otherwise involved: Alexander the Great's niece and nephew by his full sister Cleopatra, Neoptolemus II of Epirus and Cadmeia. Is there a particular reason they weren't involved in the later wars of the Diadochi? I get that they were both very young when their uncle died, but why weren't they used later like their cousins Alexander IV and Heracles and why didn't Neoptolemus II get involved when he grew up? The only thing I can find about him is that he became King after the deposition of the (in)famous Pyrrhus in 302 BC and was murdered by his predecessor in 297. Info on his sister Cadmeia is more sketch but according to Who's Who in the Age of Alexander the Great: Prosopography of Alexander's Empire she was still alive during her brother's reign, as it was at her house that Neoptolemus boasted of a plan to kill their cousin Pyrrhus.

So what if the two (Alexander's closest relatives outside of his children) played a bigger role in the Succession wars? Could Neoptolemus try and claim Macedon and Greece? If more proactive could the two present themselves as the only legitimate successors to their uncle left and make a play for part of the empire? Or were they mere minor players at best, doomed to the periphery?
 
Best way is to have Alexander live a few more years. Had Neoptolemos bee about 16, he might well have been with his uncle, learning the art of war at first hand, so his chances would have been better.

I don't know how popular Epirotes were with the Macedonian army (next door neighbours often don't like each other much) but Alexander himself was one on his mother's side, so presumably it wouldn't be an insuperable obstacle.
 
Best way is to have Alexander live a few more years. Had Neoptolemos bee about 16, he might well have been with his uncle, learning the art of war at first hand, so his chances would have been better.

I don't know how popular Epirotes were with the Macedonian army (next door neighbours often don't like each other much) but Alexander himself was one on his mother's side, so presumably it wouldn't be an insuperable obstacle.

Not sure how Neoptolemos being older would mean he would be with Alexander. I mean he was heir presumptive to the throne of Epirus and if he was older than chances are his mother and grandmother would be pushing for his enthronement.
 
Not sure how Neoptolemos being older would mean he would be with Alexander. I mean he was heir presumptive to the throne of Epirus and if he was older than chances are his mother and grandmother would be pushing for his enthronement.


Being a king in those days meant principally being an army leader, so he would have been getting military training from quite an early age. Alexander's army would be an obvious place to get it.
 
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