What if Alexander the Great hadn't died in 323 BC?

[Tim Smith]

What if Alexander hadn't died at the tender age of 32, but had lived another 33 years, dying in 290 BC at the age of 65?

Would he have conquered the whole of the known world at that time, adding Arabia, North Africa, Spain, Gaul, Italy, and Illyria to his already vast empire? Defeating the maritime power of Carthage and the budding land power of Rome?

I think he would have aimed at such a goal.

[ThomasG]

Alexander the Great lived dangerously. He was wounded many times in battles and I doubt he would stay alive long enough to win conquer all those countries.

[Tim Smith]

Alexander the Great lived dangerously. He was wounded many times in battles and I doubt he would stay alive long enough to win conquer all those countries.

Granted. But what if he did?

[Walhalla]

Alexander was wounded in the chest at Multan roughly 2 years before his death
The arrow penetrated his lungs, he barely survived.
The loss of Hephastion struck him Greatly, apparently he completly shaved his head after his death, and for months he was in deprresion.
Also he had sever war exhaustion, which showed even before the battle of Issus

It is possible that his lungs just gave up on him and died on pneumonia or malaria.
Remember, he was an example among his men. He was always doing things and leading up front. War was his life.
Its funny to imagine but we can say that rest/lack of war meant death for him, almost as if he was addicted to warfare.

All in all, the man would have died within 5 years of his return to Babylon, he was just completely worn down.
An additional factor could be the fact that after returning to Babylon, he realized that he will never be able to reach the "ocean of the East". India proved a vast, though nut.

[Tim Smith]

Alexander could have survived, with reduced physical strength due to his many wounds, which could have persuaded him to not expose himself to so much danger, but stay in the rear like other generals.

Most generals of that era became more cautious about fighting personally as they got older, even the hero-worshipping Gauls. The older generals would only throw themselves into the fight if the situation was really serious and the tide seemed to be turning in the enemy's favour.

[Polynikes]

What if Alexander hadn't died at the tender age of 32, but had lived another 33 years, dying in 290 BC at the age of 65?

Would he have conquered the whole of the known world at that time, adding Arabia, North Africa, Spain, Gaul, Italy, and Illyria to his already vast empire? Defeating the maritime power of Carthage and the budding land power of Rome?

I think he would have aimed at such a goal.

For his times and for the way he lived, Alexander lived a long life.

A better question might be: What if Alexander had died at the Grannicus?

[Cantankerous]

Since Alexander the Great intended to make Babylon the capital of his empire, if he had been treated for typhoid fever and given medicine to allow him to get over typhoid fever, he might have held his empire together and sent emissaries to the Indus River Valley, Egypt, and Central Asia to give the greenlight for construction of Greek temples in those regions while sponsoring the building of triumphal arches in Mesopotamia to commemorate his victories over the Persians.

[Terry Duncan]

Thread Necromancy from 2008 brought to people by Cantankerous. Topic locked.

Terry