What if Alexander didn't burn Persepolis?

[Vera Strawberry]

Persepolis was the ceremonial capital of the Achaemenid Empire until the empire was conquered by Alexander the Great in 330 BC. Shortly after the city was captured, the city was destroyed in a fire, probably set deliberately by either Alexander himself or somebody with him.

What if this fire hadn't been set?

 

[SunKing105]

It has very little impact, Persepolis is slowly plundered anyway during the wars of the Diadochi, as it loses Achaemenid imperial patronage and was intimately associated it's ideology and conceptions. It was also not a real city like Susa or Ecbatana were, but a giant royal palatial complex which was, again, dependent on that same patronage.

 

[PatrickMoore]

It is difficult for me to say whether something would have changed or how much things would have changed if he had not burned the city. But I know for sure, that if Alexander didn't burn Persepolis, learning, art, and culture of ancient Persia wouldn't have been destroyed.
Also, I read somewhere that he regretted his decision, but it's complicated to say why so.

 

[SunKing105]

It is difficult for me to say whether something would have changed or how much things would have changed if he had not burned the city. But I know for sure, that if Alexander didn't burn Persepolis, learning, art, and culture of ancient Persia wouldn't have been destroyed.

Yes, I agree with you. I don’t think that not destroying that city would have changed much in the history. But yes, loosing such a historical heritage is a pity

If you're thinking of literary works, it's important to remember that an Old Persian tradition of literature didn't exist in the same way it did for Greece or even Babylonia. To be honest the supposed "destruction" of Persepolis is way too overblown, and devolves into a subjectivist mess, it wasn't that impactful in the grand scheme of things.

 

[ordinarylittleme]

It has very little impact, Persepolis is slowly plundered anyway during the wars of the Diadochi, as it loses Achaemenid imperial patronage and was intimately associated it's ideology and conceptions. It was also not a real city like Susa or Ecbatana were, but a giant royal palatial complex which was, again, dependent on that same patronage.

While Persepolis would be plundered I doubt that the lost information would stay lost