WI: Alexander does not burn down Persepolis

[QuoProQuid]

"As the drinking went on, Thais delivered a speech which was intended partly as a graceful compliment to Alexander and partly to amuse him. What she said was typical of the spirit of Athens, but hardly in keeping with her own situation. She declared that all the hardships she had endured in wandering about Asia had been amply repaid on that day, when she found herself revelling luxuriously in the splendid palace of the Persians, but that it would be an even sweeter pleasure to end the party by going out and setting fire to the palace of Xerxes, who had laid Athens in ashes. She wanted to put a torch to the building herself in full view of Alexander, so that posterity should know that the women who followed Alexander had taken a more terrible revenge for the wrongs of Greece than all the famous commanders of earlier times by land or sea. Her speech was greeted with wild applause and the king's companions excitedly urged him on until at last he allowed himself to be persuaded, leaped to his feet, and with a garland on his head and a torch in his hand led the way."

Following the capture of Persepolis in 330 Alexander the Great threw a massive celebration, which ended in the burning of the entire city including the magnificent palace which dominated the area. The army had been there for months and although looting had taken place, large parts of the city were still salvagable and the Palace had been mostly untouched by the violence until the burning.


So, what if Alexander the Great returns to his senses and does not utterly destroy the city?

 

[robertp6165]

Following the capture of Persepolis in 330 Alexander the Great threw a massive celebration, which ended in the burning of the entire city including the magnificent palace which dominated the area. The army had been there for months and although looting had taken place, large parts of the city were still salvagable and the Palace had been mostly untouched by the violence until the burning.


So, what if Alexander the Great returns to his senses and does not utterly destroy the city?

Possibly the Seleucids and/or the Parthians use it as a capital, although that's probably not very likely since Persepolis wasn't strategically located to control an important trade route or anything like that. If so, the city lasts for a few more centuries and is probably abandoned during the early centuries of the Common Era...maybe it even lasts up to the Arab invasion of the 7th century A.D. If not, it withers away like Babylon did when the Seleucids built Seleucia, but probably more quickly, sometime during the last few years B.C.

What impact would that have? We have some marginally better preserved ruins today. And there are tales of archives consisting of documents written on cowhide with gold ink, which were supposedly destroyed in the fire. If those survived the succeeding centuries...a questionable proposition at best...it might greatly enhance our understanding of Achaemenid Persia and early Zoroastrianism. Other than that, not much.