The shadow of Alexandros

That is not a proper TL to speak of. I wrote a few years ago the beginning of a scenario in which Alexander the Great got a brother, Cleopatra of Macedon being born a boy instead in 355 BC, thus ensuring a successor to Alexander and the survival of the Argead Empire.

Here's the text, telling events of the year 269 BC.

269 BC
Perdikkas IV Philadelphe dies, 86 years old, after a 54 years long reign. While his long gone brother Alexandros III had actually brought the borders of the Argead realm from the Aegean Sea to the Indus river, the credit of giving this empire solid foundations, keeping under one rule a myriad of peoples, goes to Perdikkas IV.
The borders of Sogdiane and Thrace have been pacified, Arab and Nubian chieftains all around the Erythrean Sea now give the tribute to Babylon. Ten years after Alexandros III's only setback, a great expedition had succeeded in placating the threat of Chandragupta Maurya and extended the Argead realm up to to the upper reaches of the Ganges river.
Even though military successes were many, he had been mostly an administrator.
The throne goes to his oldest son alive, Philippos. 41 years old, he is also the heir of the Achaemenids through his mother Drypetis. However, his cousin, Basileus Pyrrhos of Epiros disputes his claim, supported in his bid by a part of the Macedonian and Greek nobility that despises the 'Persian Bastard'.

That year, following the disputed succession of Bindusara, the Maurya Empire had come under the rule of Ashoka, an agressive king who hadn't wasted time to declare war on the Argeads. While the old Perdikkas IV couldn't leave his palace of Babylon, he dispatched Prince Philippos at the head of a powerful royal army to fight off the Mauryas.
When the Basileus Basileion died, the Greek cities, agitated by agents of Pyrrhos, took the opportunity of the royal army being fighting a powerful enemy in a far away country to revolt once again.
After Philippos III was proclaimed Basileus Basileion in the midst of his campaign, the Greek revolt, the intrigues at Babylon forced him to suspend the offensive. Leaving at Mathura a reduced force under the command of a trusted and able satrape to hold the Mauryas at bay, he begins his march to Hellas.

Hellas had been partially demilitarized after the last revolt. Perdikkas IV had dismantled shipyards and weapon factories, relocating these productions to Macedon, Ionia, Syria or Egypt. Contingents of soldiers conscripted in Greek cities had been spread over garrisons in Scythia, Bactria, India to reduce their ability to revolt, their resource to sustain it. Garrisons in Hellas proper were made up of foreign troops, mostly Macedonian, who often settled here along their families. That policy caused much friction and occasionally riots. The uprising of this year began as a wave of riots that grew around a core of veterans, those who weren't forced to settle. The intervention of Epirotes on the call of the revolted cities prevented the local satrap to put down the uprising, a seemingly easy task against insurgents poor on weaponry and training thanks to Perdikkas IV. Worse, caught by Pyrrhos' army, the satrap had to vacate Thessaly, and the garrisons which still resisted were only supplied from sea; in Peloponnesos, Sparta's garrison had to retreat into Messenia where it rallied the Helotes and could rely on the port of Pylos. However, the maritime advantage was short-lasting as Pyrrhos' fleet, inherited from his father-in-law Agathocles at the same time as Sicily and Megale Hellas, came in. The defeat of Argead navy, surprised at Pitiousa [today Spetses], leads to the surrender of Argos and Piraeus, and the abandon of Pylos. The last pocket of resistance in Peloponnesos didn't make it to the next year, facing the landing of a Sicilian contingent at Pylos.

At the same time, the new of the uprising triggers a wave of mutinies among Greek contingents in Philippos III's army and in the garrisons spread across the Empire. Alexandria of Egypt even falls for a brief time to their hands before the local satrap, based at Memphis, mercilessly suppress the mutiny. Passing through Bactria, Philippos III puts down local mutinies and recruits mercenaries among Scythians to bolster his forces. Once in Babylon where he did prepare for a proper sacre, he learnt of Galates having invaded Macedonia and Thrace, routing local troops and killing the satrap; both Pella and Aigai were sacked. Actually, the Galates had been invited by Pyrrhos; the uprising of Greek cities and the apparent impotence of the Argead had convinced Galate leaders, Brennos the first, to try the invasion.

END OF FIRST YEAR
The empire looks shaken but the legacy of Perdikkas IV is about to show its full potential as, thanks to his father, Philippos III has a powerful tool.
The Basileus Basileion can hire in his vast empire important forces and easily replace his losses, which at the exception of the Mauryas, is not true for his enemies; his large treasury enable him to recruit mercenaries in Great Scythia and Arabia, among the best cavalrymen of the known world. Actually, at the exception of the European and Indian provinces, Philippos III would always enjoy the full resources of his empire, thus keeping intact his financial resources along a Royal Treasury left full by Perdikkas IV.
Another legacy of Perdikkas IV is the wide expansion of the Royal Roads on which the armies of Philippos III can move swiftly, bring reinforcements and supplies....
 
Alexander the Great was Alexander III, and it is likely that his successors would follow the regnal order, making your A3, Alexander V.
 
Actually, the Alexandros III mentionned here is Alexander the Great.
I shall have made more clear that Perdikkas IV succeeded to his brother, Alexander the Great, both being sons to Philip II of Macedon and Olympias (I said above the POD is Cleopatra of Macedon being born a boy instead and named Perdikkas).
The succession between the two brothers, aside of the greek revolt, is quite smooth; nobodycares much when Perdikkas has Roxane strangled to secure a quick and safe succession.
 
I'm incredibly skeptical Alexander's brother would remain alive long enough succeed him, since he would be a clear threat to the throne, and Alexander was pretty ruthless with getting rid of them. The only reason Arrhidaeus didn't suffer that fate was because of his mental incapacity. Though I assume it's possible.
 
Both are Olympias' sons and if he could distrust a cousin, he surely can trust his own brother.
His cousin Amyntas was a threat as he had been king once and had a strong claim rivaling Alexander's, while Eurydice's son had been once considered an heir by Philip II while his relations with Alexander were at a low; as for Arridhaeus, you said it, his mental condition disqualified any claim to the throne. Perdikkas and Alexander are born only with a year of difference and have likely grown together.
 
You are on the same page as I am,but I was thinking about what would happen if Alexander III had an identical twin instead,so when Alexander dies,there's still another 'Alexander'.
Actually, the Alexandros III mentionned here is Alexander the Great.
I shall have made more clear that Perdikkas IV succeeded to his brother, Alexander the Great, both being sons to Philip II of Macedon and Olympias (I said above the POD is Cleopatra of Macedon being born a boy instead and named Perdikkas).
The succession between the two brothers, aside of the greek revolt, is quite smooth; nobodycares much when Perdikkas has Roxane strangled to secure a quick and safe succession.
But why would nobody care much?She was pregnant with Alexander's child,surely those loyal to Alexander III would have a different opinion?
 
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If the Makedonians are doing this well, wouldn't that have significant butterflies on the Indian dynasts which come to power?

Alexander the Great was Alexander III, and it is likely that his successors would follow the regnal order, making your A3, Alexander V.

It's more likely they wouldn't use numbers at all, as in OTL, and would stick with epithets and nicknames. ;)
 
But why would nobody care much?She was pregnant with Alexander's child,surely those loyal to Alexander III would have a different opinion?
Nobody knows then if it's a girl or a boy, and between a possible 'king in utero' and an adult and able brother, the legitimacy goes 'to the strongest'. Doing so, Perdikkas IV just follows the path of his brother.
Then, looking at what happened after Alexander the Great's OTL death, aside of Perdiccas, I don't see much loyalty.
 
If the Makedonians are doing this well, wouldn't that have significant butterflies on the Indian dynasts which come to power?

It's more likely they wouldn't use numbers at all, as in OTL, and would stick with epithets and nicknames. ;)
From the accounts I've read, some sides of the 'Maurya Revolution' led by Chandragupta against the Nanda Empire look to me as some kind of nationalist reaction to the intrusion of Alexander in India; this may not be entirely true due to historical distortions, it's still the same story I took. Chandragupta overthrows the Nanda dynasty and prepares to attack the Argead realm like he did IOTL but here, Perdikkas IV has gathered an army to 'teach him a lesson'.

This Great Expedition takes place in the mid 310's and has been organized by Perdikkas as a way of cementing his legitimacy as war leader, as aside of operations in the Aegean Sea against Memnon of Rhodes, he hadn't the occasion to prove himself as competent as his brother; actually, it has been in preparation since Perdikkas IV rose on the throne, and the 'administrator' he was used all these years to gather intel on India, relief, rivers, cities, politics, to extend the Royal Road up to the Indus valley (although I doubt whether it would be achieved in time or not) ... At this point, the rise of Chandragupta Maurya was an occasion, a pretext to seize. Perdikkas conquered the upper reaches of the Ganges river and pushed as far as Pataliputra but losses were high due to both battles, climate and disease, and Chandragupta resources were far from exhausted. Perdikkas' objectives, namely to check the Maurya's threat and to prove himself as a war leader by doing what his brother was unable to, were completed so he withdrew, forcing peace on the Mauryas; the region of Mathura was kept as a buffer area to protect Gandhara and the Indus valley.

As for the dynastic numbers, I'm not convinced they would be reset; they are tied to the Argead dynasty, not to their land, be it only Macedon or from Greece to the Indus.
 
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