WI: Alexander The Footnote

So what would be the effects of Alexander dying pretty close to the time he took the throne? Say he get thrown from his horse in the chaos following the assassination of his dad and breaks his neck in the fall. What happens to the Macedonian state and lacking his campaigns (and the state his father built likely in total chaos)?
 
How much is even known about his half brother?

Well IIRC, he was poisoned by Olympias which is why he was practically mentally incapacitated for the rest of his life. At least if he wasn't poisoned yet, he's mentally stable and competent to rule. All we really know about him though IIRC is from when he was already a halfwit. So you can really insert whatever personality you want into Arrhidaeus.
 
And watch the civil war as Macedon's succession - yet again - is bloody and chaotic.

So much for Macedonian dreams of greatness.
 
Well IIRC, he was poisoned by Olympias which is why he was practically mentally incapacitated for the rest of his life. At least if he wasn't poisoned yet, he's mentally stable and competent to rule. All we really know about him though IIRC is from when he was already a halfwit. So you can really insert whatever personality you want into Arrhidaeus.

OK you do know that was just a rumor and theres no real proof one way or the other if he was poisoned or just born that way. It always sounded like something spread by Olympias' enemies. Just like the rumor that Alexander was assassinated. No proof.
 
And watch the civil war as Macedon's succession - yet again - is bloody and chaotic.

So much for Macedonian dreams of greatness.

Well Phillip managed to survive a bloody succession struggle and turn it around, so there's still a chance Macedon could at least come to dominate Greece again.

I admit though, it's very unlikely and the Macedonian state is just racked by continuous strife. Maybe the Celts coming around make the final nail in the coffin?
 
Well Phillip managed to survive a bloody succession struggle and turn it around, so there's still a chance Macedon could at least come to dominate Greece again.
Not so much. Philip took the throne without all that much trouble internally, compared to most of his predecessors.

Macedon, at best, is going to be bogged down in civil war for some time. That's going to loosen its control of a lot of territories.

I admit though, it's very unlikely and the Macedonian state is just racked by continuous strife. Maybe the Celts coming around make the final nail in the coffin?

Very probably.
 
Well IIRC, he was poisoned by Olympias which is why he was practically mentally incapacitated for the rest of his life. At least if he wasn't poisoned yet, he's mentally stable and competent to rule. All we really know about him though IIRC is from when he was already a halfwit. So you can really insert whatever personality you want into Arrhidaeus.

Halfwit really doesn't sound like "competent to rule".
 
Not so much. Philip took the throne without all that much trouble internally, compared to most of his predecessors.

Macedon, at best, is going to be bogged down in civil war for some time. That's going to loosen its control of a lot of territories.
Very true but if it can somehow (very unlikely) stabilize itself again, it might be in a position to (try) to dominate Greece again.

Very probably.
Yeah. I'd be interested to see what happens to the Persian Empire in this TL.
 
Very true but if it can somehow (very unlikely) stabilize itself again, it might be in a position to (try) to dominate Greece again.

It'd have to work to rebuild to the position Philip was at relative to Macedon's traditional rivals, Greece is sometime off.
 
For a successor besides Alexander, how about his cousin Amyntas IV? He was king before he was replaced with Philip and married to Philip's daughter Cynane. I think he would have been the closest Argead relative after Alexander. Espically sense the future Philip III is out.
 
For a successor besides Alexander, how about his cousin Amyntas IV? He was king before he was replaced with Philip and married to Philip's daughter Cynane. I think he would have been the closest Argead relative after Alexander. Espically sense the future Philip III is out.

I'm not sure what "closest' has to do with it. Except maybe "closest to achieving the support of the kingdom".
 
For a successor besides Alexander, how about his cousin Amyntas IV? He was king before he was replaced with Philip and married to Philip's daughter Cynane. I think he would have been the closest Argead relative after Alexander. Espically sense the future Philip III is out.

Just for the sake of moving the discussion away from Macedonian succession I'll say yes to him. I kind of hoped to talk more about what happens to the Achaemeads and that whole area.
 
Just for the sake of moving the discussion away from Macedonian succession I'll say yes to him. I kind of hoped to talk more about what happens to the Achaemeads and that whole area.

Well, a lot of what happens to that whole area depends on what happens to Macedon. If Macedon is reduced to - roughly - what it was before Philip, it won't have much influence on the area.

It's not really important who takes over, but how messy it is can be anywhere from quick and brutal to long and drawn out.
 
Well, a lot of what happens to that whole area depends on what happens to Macedon. If Macedon is reduced to - roughly - what it was before Philip, it won't have much influence on the area.

It's not really important who takes over, but how messy it is can be anywhere from quick and brutal to long and drawn out.

I tend to think the death of Philip and his best heir would doom Macedonian control of Greece and reduce their territory by a lot. And yeah your right.
 
I tend to think the death of Philip and his best heir would doom Macedonian control of Greece and reduce their territory by a lot. And yeah your right.

I agree - Macedon got lucky OTL, for a given definition of, in having Alexander.

Someone else might be better in the long run, though.
 
Weren't the Achaemenids just re-emerging from a civil war? If so, maybe Darius attempts some foreign expedition to garner support for his rule? Greece may be an option for him to look into-the city states weakened by Phillip, Macedon tearing itself apart. Maybe he could look to instate someone of his choosing on the Macedonian throne?

Though admittedly this could be completely ASB my knowledge of the Achaemenid situation is relatively nill.
 
For a successor besides Alexander, how about his cousin Amyntas IV? He was king before he was replaced with Philip and married to Philip's daughter Cynane. I think he would have been the closest Argead relative after Alexander. Espically sense the future Philip III is out.
Yes, if Alexander will die in the months after Philip's assassination, the most likely scenario is who Amyntas will become again king in short time and without many troubles or opposition with Cynane as his queen and surely he will try to reaffirm the Macedonian hegemony on the Greece.
 
Yes, if Alexander will die in the months after Philip's assassination, the most likely scenario is who Amyntas will become again king in short time and without many troubles or opposition with Cynane as his queen and surely he will try to reaffirm the Macedonian hegemony on the Greece.

Why is it so likely that Macedon will have a smooth succession when that's been virtually unheard of in its history?

Competent heir or no.
 
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