The tragic and untimely death of Alexander the Great

Across a twelve-year career, Alexander the Great conquered most of the world known to the ancient Greeks.

In 336 BC, at age about the age of 20, he became king of Macedon following the murder of his father, Philip II.

Philip had been consolidating power in Greece and was preparing to invade Persia when he was assassinated.

Alexander invaded Persia in 334 BC with an army of some 30,000 troops. After defeating Darius III at the Battle of Gaugamela in 331 BC, he took control of the Persian empire.

Alexander then proceeded to march his army across the region of modern Afghanistan, conquering much of the area, and reaching as far as India.

Along the way, he founded a number of cities that bear his name, including the famous Alexandria in Egypt.

In 327 BC, while on campaign in India, his troops mutinied and refused to go any further. Alexander was forced to turn back and head west.

After making his way through the deserts of Central Asia, he arrived in Babylon in 323 BC.

It was here, at age 32, that Alexander died suddenly in the palace of Nebuchadnezzar II in Babylon.

The cause of his death is unknown, but a number of theories have become popular.

The most popular theory is that Alexander the Great was poisoned. It is known that he fell ill after drinking a cup of wine at a banquet in Babylon.

He developed a high fever and died several days later.

The ancient sources seem to identify the poisoner as a man named Antipater, who had been the governor of Macedon during Alexander's military invasion of Persia.

Antipater had only recently been removed from his post and summoned to Babylon to meet Alexander.

Antipater may have feared that he was to be put to death as a punishment for corruption and it is said that he had arranged for Alexander to be poisoned by Alexander's wine-pourer.

A second theory that has been proposed is that Alexander the Great died of malaria.

This is based on the fact that he was known to have been ill with a fever before he died.

However, there is no conclusive evidence that this was the cause of his death.

A third theory regarding the cause of his death has arisen more recently. This version suggests that Alexander the Great actually died of typhoid fever.

This is based on the fact that many of his symptoms, such as abdominal pain and diarrhea, are consistent with this disease.

Unfortunately, since over 2000 years have passed since his death, and Alexander's body has long been lost, we may never know for sure what ultimately killed him.

Many commentators tend to conclude that a natural cause is most likely, since Alexander had pushed his body to its physical limits after years of war, many physical wounds, constant marching and his reputation as a heavy drinker of wine.

Any disease, no matter how mild, may have been enough to kill him.

Alexander's death left behind a massive empire that was divided among his generals.

These generals, known as the Diadochi, fought for control of Alexander's empire. The wars of the Diadochi were characterized by constant fighting and resulted in the breakup of Alexander's empire into several smaller kingdoms. 

The most prominent generals were Ptolemy, Seleucus, Antigonus, Cassander, and Lysimachus. Ptolemy took control of Egypt and founded the Ptolemaic dynasty.

Seleucus took control of Syria and Mesopotamia and founded the Seleucid dynasty.

Antigonus took control of Asia Minor and parts of Greece and founded the Antigonid dynasty.

Cassander took control of Macedon and the rest of Greece.

Lysimachus took control of Thrace and Anatolia and founded the Kingdom of Lysimachia.

The wars lasted for nearly three decades, from 322 to 281 BC. However, these conflicts only weakened each of the kingdoms, since they were constantly fighting each other.

This paved the way for the rise of challenger kingdoms in the different regions that Alexander had conquered.

None of the successors would eventually take over the title of the single ruler of the Greek world.

Instead, the Wars of the Diadochi only destabilised the ancient world and set the stage for the rise of the Roman Empire several centuries later.

The Hellenistic Period is generally considered to have begun in 323 BC with the death of Alexander the Great and lasted until 31 BC with the death of Cleopatra.

It was a time of great change and transformation for the Greek world. Alexander’s conquest of Persia spread Greek culture across Asia and Egypt.

Hellenism is the name given to the process of spreading Greek language, culture and ideology throughout other regions.

Alexander's rapid expansion of the Macedonian empire acted as a catalyst for Hellenism, which gave birth to almost three centuries where Hellenistic culture dominated the ancient world.

During the Hellenistic period, the Greek language was used to conduct official business, as this was the language that all parts of Alexander's territories shared in common.

While each region had its natural languages, if kingdoms wanted to interact with each other, either in trade, diplomacy or scholarship, it was done in Greek.

As a result, many important ancient texts were written in this language.

However, during this time, there was also a decline in cultural and literary production back in Greece itself.

This was due to the fact that many of the leading intellectuals of the time were living in Alexander’s new eastern territories, where they were exposed to different cultures and philosophies.

This was particularly true of ancient Egypt, as the city of Alexandria became the hub of revolutions in science and technology.

Ambitious people readily left their homelands to live and work in the city, and to study at the famous Library of Alexandria.

However, Hellenism didn't just change the ideology of Alexander's conquered territories. It also had an impact on the political ideology of many Greeks.

During the Classical Period, the city-state ideal was central to Greek identity, with many cities rejecting the role of autocrats, tyrants and kings.

However, with each of the Diadochi declaring themselves king, as the heirs to Alexander's empire, all of the Greek world had to become comfortable with monarchies.

Monarchies had already been a part of Greek life before Alexander, especially in Macedon where Alexander himself came from.

It wasn't the Diadochi's rise that led to the fall of democracy, but the continual power struggles and political changes throughout the Hellenistic period that weakened the old democratic city-states.

As a result, the democratic ideas of Athens quickly faded into the past. 

The Hellenistic era also saw an increase in trade and commerce. This was facilitated by the establishment of new cities and colonies.

However, the Hellenistic period came to an end with the rise of Rome in the west and the Parthian Empire in the east.