Now that I've got your attention out to say, but this happened IOTL! I am not talking about the actual Byzantine Empire and the Macedonian dynasty, but it occurred to me today just how many parallels that a hypothetical Macedonian Empire under a Philip II that survived assassination would have with the OTL Byzantines. Well, aside from the absolutely massive technological differences, political, religious, and economic situation. But still, it would be roughly similar in territory, and there would be loose parallels, such as a constant tug-of-war with Persia, the court, and even the location of the capital. He did not want to go as far as Alexander, and would likely have accepted Darius' offer to cede everything west of Mesopotamia.
Say that Pausanias and co, along with a bunch of other conspirators who would very much like to provide Philip with a one-way trip to Hades, attempt to ambush him on the way to the wedding of Alexander the Molossian and Cleopatra Eurydice, but end up killing Alexander instead. Grief-stricken, Philip chooses Caranus as his new heir, and makes arrangements to clean up the court and secure the succession for him, and then departs for Asia, defeating the Achaemenids and taking the whole western portion of the empire, up to the Euphrates, while Armenia breaks off under Orontes as a buffer state, accepting Darius' treaty ceding these territories, a large sum of money, and offering his daughter's hand in marriage. Philip then goes to conquer Carthage, and sends one of his subordinates to conquer the Iberian coast, while asserting hegemony in Magna Graecia and Sicily, and possibly taking Byzantium and moving his capital there. The idea was for Darius to be deposed by some of his nobles and generals, who place his infant son on the throne, inadvertantly creating a dynamic similar to the Parthians and Sassanids that would allow it to survive crises, and a system of formalized noble houses based on the descendants of the seven conspirators of Darius, and also becoming more cohesive and centralized, less tolerant, and adopting a different manner of warfare in response to losing it's western territories, and then constantly engaging in a tug-of-war with the Macedonians over Syria and Mesopotamia, beginning in response for Philip taking revenge for the treacherous murder of his father-in-law Darius.
How plausible is it, that the Macedonians give an entirely different meaning to the words, "Byzantine Empire"? What would the impact this would have on the Hellenistic world? Could the Macedonians maintain their gains after the man who transformed them from a bunch of sheep-herders into one of the most powerful armies and empires in history? OTL Diadochi wars are certainly not happening, but local satraps might attempt to break off. What would such a world look like?
Say that Pausanias and co, along with a bunch of other conspirators who would very much like to provide Philip with a one-way trip to Hades, attempt to ambush him on the way to the wedding of Alexander the Molossian and Cleopatra Eurydice, but end up killing Alexander instead. Grief-stricken, Philip chooses Caranus as his new heir, and makes arrangements to clean up the court and secure the succession for him, and then departs for Asia, defeating the Achaemenids and taking the whole western portion of the empire, up to the Euphrates, while Armenia breaks off under Orontes as a buffer state, accepting Darius' treaty ceding these territories, a large sum of money, and offering his daughter's hand in marriage. Philip then goes to conquer Carthage, and sends one of his subordinates to conquer the Iberian coast, while asserting hegemony in Magna Graecia and Sicily, and possibly taking Byzantium and moving his capital there. The idea was for Darius to be deposed by some of his nobles and generals, who place his infant son on the throne, inadvertantly creating a dynamic similar to the Parthians and Sassanids that would allow it to survive crises, and a system of formalized noble houses based on the descendants of the seven conspirators of Darius, and also becoming more cohesive and centralized, less tolerant, and adopting a different manner of warfare in response to losing it's western territories, and then constantly engaging in a tug-of-war with the Macedonians over Syria and Mesopotamia, beginning in response for Philip taking revenge for the treacherous murder of his father-in-law Darius.
How plausible is it, that the Macedonians give an entirely different meaning to the words, "Byzantine Empire"? What would the impact this would have on the Hellenistic world? Could the Macedonians maintain their gains after the man who transformed them from a bunch of sheep-herders into one of the most powerful armies and empires in history? OTL Diadochi wars are certainly not happening, but local satraps might attempt to break off. What would such a world look like?
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