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now to the letter A,

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the number two, platinum.com/podcast. Hello

1:55

everyone, welcome to the history

1:57

of Persia. I'm

1:59

Trevor. Kali and this is episode 1-2-3,

2:01

Fever Pitch. Time

2:06

is running out, so please, please,

2:08

please send me those questions for

2:10

the episode 1-25 AMA.

2:14

I will keep taking questions right

2:16

up to the moment we record

2:18

that episode, but that clock is

2:20

officially ticking. Email

2:23

[email protected], message me on

2:25

social media, send a

2:28

carrier pigeon, have

2:30

a Greek messenger sprint across rough

2:32

terrain like the Persians have just

2:35

invaded Marathon. Just

2:37

get those questions in. Alright,

2:41

let's review. Last

2:43

time, we talked about

2:45

Alexander the Great's extended family

2:47

and sex life, which,

2:51

unusually for this show, did

2:53

not overlap. Before

2:56

that, I talked about how Alexander

2:58

was preparing to invade Arabia in

3:00

June of 323,

3:02

how he orchestrated a gigantic wedding

3:05

at Susa, and how

3:07

he mourned the death of Hephaestion.

3:10

Before that, I talked about the

3:12

voyage of Naiarchus in the Indian

3:15

Ocean and how Alexander's crossing of

3:17

the Gedrosian Desert exacted

3:19

a brutal toll as they

3:21

left their conquered Indian territories

3:23

behind. Being

3:25

Alexander of Macedon, lord of

3:28

all Asia, has been a

3:30

very busy conqueror for these

3:32

last 18 or so

3:34

episodes. But

3:36

now, I briefly want everyone to cast

3:39

their memories back to episodes 1-13 and

3:41

14, the Battle

3:45

of Gaugamela and Alexander's

3:47

Seizure of Babylon. Gaugamela

3:50

coincided with a lunar

3:52

eclipse, a great

3:55

big omen in the sky to

3:57

many ancient societies including the Greeks

3:59

and the Greeks. Babylonians. In

4:02

their state of war, the Babylonian

4:04

priesthood warned that this was a

4:07

sign that the king could not

4:09

enter Babylon. Well, Darius

4:11

III had no intention of being

4:13

in Babylon at the time because he was

4:16

hoping to be reconquering

4:18

his Western Empire. Of

4:21

course, that plan did not work

4:24

out and Alexander marched right into

4:26

the city, declaring himself

4:28

their new king. The priests

4:31

of Marduk warned the conquerors

4:33

about their omens and prophecy

4:35

and said to appease

4:37

their god Alexander should renovate

4:40

the Esagila, Marduk's great

4:42

temple at the heart of the city.

4:45

Alexander started preparing to give the

4:47

order, but his own Greek soothsayers

4:50

and oracles denied the Babylonian claim

4:52

and said it was all

4:54

a plot to con Alexander out of his

4:56

money. Well,

4:59

fast forward to early 323 and Alexander

5:01

the Great was really starting to

5:05

feel like he had offended some

5:07

sort of god. Supposedly,

5:10

an Indian philosopher the

5:12

Greeks called Kalinos traveled

5:14

to Sousa with the

5:17

army before dramatically self-immolating

5:19

and giving Alexander a parting

5:21

message. We shall

5:24

meet again in Babylon, apparently

5:26

a portent of the king's death. Maybe

5:30

completely fictitious, maybe just not

5:32

a very dramatic prediction if

5:34

you consider that Alexander was

5:37

still recovering from recently being

5:39

impaled and crossing the desert,

5:42

but to Alexander the Great this

5:44

was supposedly still worrying. So

5:47

Alex drew up plans to level

5:49

the whole ziggurat and

5:52

rebuild the Esagila from scratch

5:54

in the most dramatic renovation

5:56

Babylon had seen in centuries.

6:00

actually began on this project

6:02

and archaeologists can identify a

6:04

distinct layer of debris from

6:07

when Alexander ordered 20,000 soldiers

6:09

to tear the temple down and start

6:12

from scratch. In

6:14

May of 323, while Alexander was

6:16

out of the palace for a

6:19

day, an escaped prisoner slipped

6:21

into the throne room, donned

6:23

Alexander's diadem, and sat on

6:25

the throne in the king's

6:27

sacred place. This

6:30

man, predictably, was detained

6:32

once again and executed for his

6:35

stunt. Alexander's

6:37

Greek advisors took this as a

6:39

bad omen, but one theory suggests

6:42

that the Babylonian clergy were actually

6:44

in on the whole escapade. There

6:48

is not much direct evidence

6:50

for it in Babylonian history

6:52

specifically, but other

6:54

ancient West Asian cultures

6:57

practiced ceremonial scapegoating. When

7:00

a prophecy foretold doom to the king,

7:02

a prisoner, peasant, or

7:04

some other person of less

7:06

political importance would ceremonially

7:09

be king for the day

7:12

to act as a scapegoat for

7:14

the real king's prophecy. Then

7:17

he would be executed, hypothetically

7:20

manipulating circumstances so that a

7:22

king died as predicted, but

7:25

not the actual ruler. One

7:28

theory is that the Babylonian

7:30

priests orchestrated this whole thing

7:32

to give Alexander a scapegoat.

7:36

If that's true, it

7:38

probably wasn't worth the effort.

7:41

By June, Alexander was

7:43

increasingly irritable and paranoid.

7:47

He had lost his closest friend, suffered

7:49

many betrayals by men he had known

7:51

and relied on all his life, and

7:54

his body was crisscrossed with the

7:57

scars of multiple wounds incurred during

7:59

his conquest. Not

8:01

to mention whatever internal damage was

8:03

done by the new and exciting

8:05

diseases he must have encountered over

8:08

the preceding decade. A

8:10

few days into the months Alexander

8:13

started feeling sick after a

8:15

heavy drinking session, but

8:18

this escalated quickly to

8:20

being entirely bedridden. However

8:23

it is still one

8:25

of those very same Babylonian priests

8:28

who watched the skies for omens in

8:30

the course of the Sun and Moon

8:32

and stars that provides

8:34

our single contemporary account

8:37

of what happened next. This

8:40

priest, anonymous in the style of

8:43

Babylonian writing at the time, was

8:45

watching the skies early on the evening

8:48

of the 29th day of the month

8:50

of Ajaru in the 14th

8:52

year of King Alexander using

8:55

inclusive counting. AKA

8:59

June 11th

9:01

323 BCE. As

9:04

our priest looked up lamenting that

9:06

there was too much cloud coverage

9:08

to make any good observations, a

9:11

great commotion broke out in the

9:13

palace. From his

9:16

rooftop vantage point our anonymous astronomer

9:18

might have been able to see

9:20

soldiers running around the city and

9:23

messengers crisscrossing the ancient

9:25

metropolis. Before

9:28

long bells began

9:30

to toll and eventually

9:32

news reached this temple

9:34

observatory. The astronomer jotted down

9:37

a simple note about that evening's observations

9:39

on a clay tablet that has survived

9:41

for over 2300 years. The day of

9:44

the 29th, the king died, clouds. Plutarch

9:54

says that the Macedonian royal diaries

9:56

placed this around the ninth hour

9:58

of daylight. somewhere between

10:00

3 and 6 p.m. Alexander

10:04

the Great, conqueror of the

10:06

Persian Empire, started fading from

10:09

consciousness, and

10:11

his guards gathered their king's

10:13

closest companions and advisors. He

10:16

was 33 years old, just

10:19

over a month shy of his 34th birthday.

10:24

Alexander had been king of

10:26

Macedon for 13 years, lord

10:29

of all Asia for 10 years,

10:32

Pharaoh of Egypt for 9. He

10:35

was the son of the great

10:37

god Zeus Ammon and conqueror of

10:39

the last king of kings, surpassing

10:42

even the Kashyathia

10:44

Kashyathianum. And

10:47

it is here that our usual

10:49

cast of Alexandrian sources has

10:51

to narrow even further. Plutarch's

10:55

life of Alexander and

10:57

Arian's Anabasis Alexandri are

11:00

strict biographies and end at

11:02

the king's death, leaving

11:04

us primarily with Kurtius and Deodorus

11:06

to deal with the aftermath, filling

11:09

in bits of references from

11:11

sources like Justin. And

11:14

after this episode, you

11:17

better get really friendly with

11:19

Deodorus Siculus and Justin, because

11:22

they are basically all we've got for

11:24

the narrative for about the

11:26

next 60 years of history. As

11:29

his voice faded away for the last

11:32

time, Alexander muttered something

11:34

that history would record forever after

11:36

as the words, At

11:41

its core, this is the Greek

11:43

word kratos, meaning strength

11:46

or power, also not

11:48

coincidentally the name of the protagonist in

11:50

the God of War series. And

11:54

through the bizarre magic of linguistics,

11:56

it's actually related to the English

11:58

word, hard. Cratistos

12:00

is the ancient Greek

12:02

equivalent to IFT. So

12:07

Cratistos is the strongest,

12:10

and since grammar is conveyed through inflection,

12:12

the oi ending in this case indicates

12:15

direction. Alexander's

12:17

last words were supposedly

12:20

to the strongest, seemingly

12:24

willing his empire to whoever

12:26

could take it by force.

12:29

Except... Cratistos

12:32

is also the root word

12:34

for the name Craterus, one

12:37

of Alexander's close friends and best

12:40

generals, and these were

12:42

the slurred words of a dying man.

12:45

So there is a valid interpretation

12:47

that Alexander was trying to declare

12:49

Crateros as either his

12:51

successor or at least regent until

12:53

the son potentially waiting to be

12:56

born from Roxana came of age.

12:59

That would make a lot of

13:02

sense, seeing as Alexander had just

13:04

sent Craterus back to Macedon to

13:06

take over as regent. It's

13:09

also entirely possible that this story

13:11

was made up to justify the

13:13

actions of Alexander's generals. The

13:16

only clear decision in those final

13:19

moments was that Alexander handed his

13:21

signet ring to Perdicus, allowing

13:24

him to act as de facto leader

13:26

of the empire in Babylon for

13:29

the time being. As

13:31

words spread through the city that Alexander

13:33

was dead, a multicultural

13:36

mourning period erupted

13:39

as Iranian, Mesopotamian, Elamite,

13:41

Syrian, Phoenician, Egyptian, and

13:43

Greek people all began

13:45

to grieve in their own way. This

13:49

might sound odd if you were expecting

13:51

Alexander to still be treated as a

13:53

conqueror, but he took

13:55

Babylon almost eight years ago. He

13:58

was the king. and more importantly,

14:01

his army was still around. So

14:04

public mourning was the order of the day. That

14:08

doesn't mean that rebellion wasn't a

14:10

concern though. Babylonian

14:12

guards and Macedonian soldiers alike spent

14:14

that first night out in force

14:17

to keep watch over the city

14:19

and prevent any descent from rising

14:22

above murmurs in the street. While

14:25

the city officially mourned the passing

14:27

of a great king under guard, Alexander's

14:30

bodyguards, generals, and advisors

14:33

were embroiled in an

14:35

increasingly heated debate up

14:37

in the palace. Many

14:40

of the middling and low-ranking officers

14:42

couldn't even get inside because so

14:44

many soldiers had gathered at the

14:46

doors awaiting the outcome

14:48

of these arguments. Who

14:51

would succeed to the throne?

14:53

Who would inherit Macedon's sprawling

14:55

new empire? Were

14:57

all of these famed generals about to

14:59

murder one another? This

15:02

was all very up in the air the

15:05

moment Alexander's body went limp.

15:08

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15:11

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15:45

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15:47

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15:49

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15:51

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15:55

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17:38

Since he had the signet

17:40

ring, Perdicus had the singular

17:42

unlucky job of trying to

17:44

corral all the highest ranking

17:47

nobles into making decisions from

17:49

his position sitting in the

17:52

throne that once belonged to Alexander,

17:55

which in turn had been inherited

17:57

from the Achaemenids. And

17:59

it must have felt like an awfully big

18:01

seat to fill. Perdicus

18:04

declared that they should make arrangements

18:06

for their first true imperial funeral

18:09

to general agreement, but

18:11

then he proposed discussing the

18:13

succession. And these

18:15

are the words that Curtius puts in his

18:17

mouth. "'Fellow soldiers,

18:20

we need a leader. Whether

18:23

that should be one man or more is up

18:25

to you, but you must

18:27

realize an army of soldiers

18:29

without any leader is a body

18:32

without a soul. This

18:34

is the sixth month of

18:36

Roxana's pregnancy. We pray

18:38

that she gives birth to a boy who

18:40

will assume the throne when he comes of

18:42

age with the blessing of the gods. Until

18:46

then, you must decide

18:48

how many leaders you want

18:50

and who that should be.'" Néarcus

18:53

was the first to speak. He

18:56

declared that only Alexander's bloodline

18:58

could possibly inherit the throne,

19:01

and suggested that rather than waiting

19:03

to see if Alexander would have

19:05

a son by Roxana, they

19:08

installed Heracles, Alexander's supposed

19:10

illegitimate son by Barcine.

19:14

Never mind that Heracles' actual

19:16

parentage was extremely dubious, didn't

19:18

fit the timeline of events,

19:21

and that the boy was now Néarcus'

19:23

stepson. As Curtius

19:25

puts it, nobody liked

19:27

Néarcus' suggestion. Ptolemy

19:31

then broke through the clamoring voices

19:33

to go on a sarcastic tirade

19:35

about how, regardless of

19:37

their father, no

19:39

son of Roxana and Barcine

19:41

could be accepted in Macedon

19:44

and Greece, which

19:46

would view half Iranian kings

19:48

as the inheritors of Darius

19:50

and Xerxes rather than Alexander.

19:53

He proposed appointing nobody, leaving

19:56

the throne empty and governing as a

19:59

council of Alexander. favored generals

20:01

and advisors, just as

20:03

they were doing in that moment. That

20:06

could plausibly work for the short

20:09

term, but it wasn't exactly

20:11

a great plan for generational

20:13

success. So

20:15

the debate raged on. Leonotus,

20:18

another officer and close friend

20:20

of Perdicus, suggested that since

20:23

Alexander said to the strongest

20:25

and gave Perdicus his ring,

20:28

that they should interpret this as naming

20:30

Perdicus heir. But Perdicus

20:32

refused that nomination outright.

20:35

The general Melieger broke in at

20:38

this point and declared that even

20:40

Perdicus presiding over this council was

20:43

unbecoming of a noble, because

20:45

simply holding a ring gave him no

20:47

right to rule as regent. Melieger

20:50

said that they could not truly make

20:52

a decision until Roxane's child was born.

20:55

If it were a son, they'd

20:57

have a clear next step. Choose

20:59

a regent until Alexander's rightful heir

21:01

came of age. If

21:04

it were a daughter, they could just revisit

21:06

this debate at that time. But,

21:10

by taking a stance against

21:12

the existence of this council

21:14

in the first place, Melieger

21:16

had somewhat inadvertently driven the

21:18

crowd inside the throne room

21:20

towards a riot. A

21:23

low ranking Macedonian soldier who

21:25

had pressed in through the

21:27

crowd outside started shouting out

21:29

in favor of Aridaius, Alexander's

21:33

elder half-brother, who

21:35

was a living legitimate heir to the

21:37

throne. This man

21:40

argued that they would never find

21:42

an equal to replace Alexander, but

21:44

Aridaius had the best claim by

21:47

every Macedonian precedent. Based

21:49

on Kurt's throne room towards

21:52

a riot. A

21:54

low ranking Macedonian soldier who had pressed

21:56

in through the crowd outside started shouting

21:58

out in favor of Aridaius, shouting out

22:01

in favor of Aridaius, Alexander's

22:04

elder half-brother, who

22:06

was a living, legitimate heir to the

22:08

throne. This

22:10

man argued that they would never

22:13

find an equal to replace Alexander,

22:15

but Aridaius had the best claim

22:17

by every Macedonian president. Based

22:21

on Kurtius' version of the story, you

22:23

do feel a bit bad for Aridaius

22:25

here, because the room fell

22:28

silent for a moment before many

22:30

of the commoners started demanding Aridaius

22:32

be brought into the council. It

22:36

sounds a bit like everyone kinda

22:38

forgot that the poor guy even

22:40

existed. Unfortunately, this

22:42

also escalated to the lowly

22:44

soldiers calling all of the

22:47

presiding officers traitors and demanding

22:49

their executions, which

22:51

only pushed everyone closer to

22:53

a riot. Paethon,

22:56

one of Alexander's bodyguards, began

22:59

speaking out against Aridaius and

23:01

in favor of an interim

23:04

government until Roxana's child was

23:06

born, bringing more

23:08

and more people around to this idea. But

23:12

now reminded of Aridaius,

23:14

Melieger stormed off, found

23:17

the prince and a few other men, and

23:20

they hailed Aridaius as King

23:23

Philip III, though history

23:25

remembers him better as Philip

23:27

Aridaius. Back

23:29

near the throne, Paethon was leading

23:31

the assembly through a plan to

23:34

divvy up responsibilities between the highest

23:36

officers and swear an

23:38

oath of allegiance to Alexander's unborn

23:40

son. But

23:42

then Melieger stormed into the chamber

23:45

with Philip Aridaius in tow and

23:47

declared that the assembly of officers

23:49

were all traitors, throwing

23:51

everyone back into disarray, and by

23:54

disarray I obviously mean the brink of

23:56

civil war. Through

23:58

all of these episodes on Alexander

24:00

we've heard the low hum

24:03

of a Macedonian traditionalist streak

24:06

among the infantry. Often

24:09

among the first who would

24:11

resist Alexander's drive to travel

24:13

further east or adopt Persian

24:15

customs and so on. Well

24:18

many of these phalangites agreed

24:21

with Melieger. Macedonian

24:23

precedent was clear. Philip

24:26

Aridaius was the logical heir to

24:28

the throne, so they took

24:30

up arms, got into formation,

24:33

and were led by Melieger himself

24:35

wearing hastily assembled armor in a

24:37

parade around the palace grounds, proclaiming

24:40

Philip as king. Perdicus

24:42

responded by ordering the chamber with

24:44

Alexander's body still lying in it,

24:47

locked and put under guard, including

24:49

600 veterans likely

24:52

from Alexander's phopospists and

24:54

the cavalry, as well as

24:57

Ptolemy leading a quote, company

24:59

of royal boys, the children

25:03

who acted as pages and servants

25:05

at arms for the nobles, as

25:08

well as messengers and other low

25:11

functionaries for the Macedonian court. They

25:14

were the young sons of the

25:16

nobility. But

25:19

there were at least a

25:21

thousand soldiers following Melieger and

25:23

Philip now, and they

25:25

just knocked down the locked doors

25:27

to seize Alexander's body as a

25:30

symbol of their legitimacy. Perdicus

25:33

called on the mutineers to

25:35

abandon Philip and defend Alexander's

25:37

corpse, prompting an

25:40

indoor javelin battle as

25:42

spears flew through the air inside

25:44

the palace between both sides. Roman

25:48

soldiers on the pro-phillip camp

25:50

pushed their way into the

25:52

middle and pleaded with Perdicus

25:54

to stand aside and acknowledge

25:56

the king to avert further

25:59

bloodshed. because his side

26:01

was just too outnumbered to survive

26:03

a battle. Perdicus

26:05

and the anti-phillip group

26:07

did lay down their arms, but

26:10

they ran right out of the palace and

26:12

then out of Babylon altogether, rallying

26:14

with the cavalry at an impromptu

26:16

war camp in the plains outside

26:19

the city. What

26:21

had begun as a debate

26:23

between nobles was rapidly escalating

26:26

toward a Macedonian class war.

26:29

The cavalry were largely pulled from

26:31

the nobles and they had

26:34

already integrated with Iranian horsemen,

26:37

unlike the infantry who were generally

26:39

from the lower classes and

26:41

had yet to fully merge with

26:44

Alexander's phalanx of Persians. So

26:47

you have lower class

26:49

traditionalist infantry supporting Philip

26:51

Aridaius and Melieger, while

26:54

noble medizing cavalry supported

26:57

Perdicus and tentatively

26:59

Roxane's unborn child.

27:04

This created a terrifying scenario

27:06

for the people in and

27:08

around Babylon, the ordinary

27:10

Mesopotamians and settlers who actually lived

27:12

their lives here instead of viewing

27:14

the city as a political prize.

27:18

Perdicus and the cavalry were now

27:20

outside, and they instituted

27:23

a de facto siege by refusing

27:25

to allow merchants and supplies into

27:27

the city. This

27:29

caused the people of Babylon to

27:32

consider fleeing into the countryside before

27:34

the situation could escalate. At

27:37

the same time, the denizens of

27:39

the outer city and the surrounding

27:42

farmland worried that Perdicus's forces would

27:44

raid their homes and farms, and

27:47

began fleeing to the safety

27:49

behind Babylon's walls. Fearing

27:52

a riot or worse

27:54

widespread peasant revolt, Melieger

27:56

and Philip started sending messengers to

27:58

negotiate with the city. with Perdicus.

28:02

I think Perdicus understood the

28:04

score, or at least understood Philip

28:06

better than Melieger could in

28:08

that moment. His

28:10

demands were simple. Melieger and

28:13

the military leaders on his side

28:15

were at fault, not Aridaius or

28:17

his supporters in the infantry. The

28:21

latter would obey their chosen

28:23

king, and Perdicus would not

28:25

harm Aridaius if he

28:27

surrendered. Philip III

28:30

Aridaius chose to relinquish power and

28:32

avert a civil war, at least

28:34

for the time being, agreeing

28:36

to Perdicus's terms and removing

28:38

his diadem. Publicly,

28:42

Perdicus and Melieger became equal

28:44

partners, taking control

28:47

of the cavalry and infantry

28:49

respectively for a formal ceremony

28:52

of religious reunification. Privately,

28:56

Perdicus and Philip Aridaius

28:58

conspired together to take

29:00

out Melieger. During

29:03

the ceremony, Philip openly called

29:05

for Melieger's arrest and execution

29:07

alongside the 300

29:09

men who had led the attack to

29:11

steal Alexander's body. Those

29:14

300 mutineers were

29:16

bound and trampled by

29:18

war elephants, while

29:20

Melieger fled to a temple inside

29:22

the city for sanctuary. Unfortunately

29:26

for him, the local priests wanted

29:28

nothing to do with this fight

29:31

and handed him over to the first

29:33

of Perdicus's men who came looking. They

29:36

then summarily executed the

29:38

would-be kingmaker. Perdicus

29:42

reconvened the council to decide

29:44

the succession, and oddly enough,

29:46

everyone was a lot more

29:48

compliant after a near brush

29:50

with civil war and watching

29:52

300 men ground into

29:54

pace by elephant hooves. However,

29:57

it was also clear that some reconciliation was

29:59

not a good idea. affiliation was still needed.

30:02

Philip Aridius had proven

30:04

a popular candidate, and

30:07

as an adult his popularity

30:09

would be a threat to

30:11

Roxane and Alexander's unborn heir.

30:13

So they declared

30:15

that Philip III would indeed be

30:17

king, and rule as

30:19

co-monarch if Roxane gave birth to

30:22

a son. That

30:24

would at least give them a couple

30:26

decades to sort things out completely. They

30:29

also seized the opportunity to reconfigure

30:32

the leadership of the Empire and

30:34

its satrapies. At

30:36

this point, Alexander had shuffled his

30:39

governors around so many times that

30:41

the only real rule for who was

30:43

in charge of where was

30:45

that each man was loyal to

30:48

Alexander himself, and not

30:50

needed in the conquering army. However,

30:53

with Alexander dead and internal

30:55

tensions at an all-time high,

30:58

everyone recognized that their conquering

31:00

days were done, so the

31:03

leading nobles and generals would now

31:05

rule as satraps. Philip

31:08

Aridius's major satraps would be

31:10

Ptolemy in Egypt and Libya,

31:13

Laomidon, one of the last veterans

31:15

of Philip II's wars, would

31:18

govern Syria and the Levant, Philotas,

31:22

a distinguished officer, was given

31:25

Cilicia, Antigonus

31:27

Monopthalmos in Lycia

31:30

and Greater Phrygia, Cassander

31:33

in Caria, Menander,

31:35

commander of the Greek mercenaries

31:37

in Lydia, Leonotus,

31:40

Perdicus's second in command

31:42

in Hellespontine Phrygia, Eumenes

31:45

of Cardia in Cappadocia and

31:48

Paphlagonia now split off from

31:50

Phrygia altogether, Pathan

31:53

in Medea and Lysimachus

31:55

in Thrace, the

31:58

Eastern, or as they were on often called

32:00

in Greek literature after this point

32:03

upper satrapies, were

32:05

all left with their existing governors.

32:08

Perdicus himself took up a

32:10

position as Philip's primary advisor

32:13

and de facto regent. That's

32:16

a lot of names and

32:19

places, but hopefully you noticed

32:21

some interesting choices. Many

32:24

of those appointments make sense on

32:26

the surface, with prominent leaders taking

32:29

prominent satrapies. However

32:31

others, like putting Antigonus

32:33

in greater Phrygia and

32:35

the relatively unknown Menander

32:37

in wealthy and powerful

32:39

Lydia, do stand out.

32:43

Well secured but powerful

32:45

provinces went to less

32:47

influential commanders, while

32:49

less powerful satrapies went

32:52

to very influential officers.

32:55

This was a way of striking a balance

32:57

of power between the

32:59

most dangerous men in the

33:01

empire. The partial

33:04

exceptions come in places that

33:07

were most at risk of

33:09

facing native rebellions, like

33:11

Egypt and Cappadocia. In

33:14

fact one of Eumony's first

33:16

tasks in his new assignment

33:18

was to defeat Ariathris, the

33:21

Persian satrap of Cappadocia who

33:23

was still resisting the Macedonian

33:25

conquest. You

33:27

can also see how these

33:30

Greeks and Macedonians still prioritized

33:32

the familiar regions near Greece

33:35

itself, and just kind of

33:37

shrugged and left the east untouched. As

33:41

they saw it, future conflict

33:43

and competition for their people

33:45

would still be centered on

33:47

the Mediterranean, and they all

33:49

wanted their slice of that pie. The

33:52

upper satrapies just didn't have the

33:54

same lore for the generals as

33:56

they had for Alexander. The

33:59

exception seems to be putting Python

34:01

in media, where they took

34:04

this as an opportunity to remove

34:06

Atropetes, one of the

34:08

last Achaemenid satraps still in

34:10

power in his original Satrapy

34:12

under Macedonian rule, a decision

34:16

which would come back to haunt

34:18

at least Python. With

34:21

that, the Empire was at

34:23

rest for the moment, really

34:25

for the first time since Alexander

34:27

had invaded 11 years earlier. But

34:31

that still left the issue of

34:33

Alexander's body and funeral to attend

34:35

to. According to

34:37

Kurtius, a full week passed with

34:40

the body just lying there in

34:42

the palace under the sweltering heat

34:44

of the Middle Eastern summer. Yet,

34:48

miraculously, Alexander's divine

34:50

heritage was so great that

34:52

no decay would set in

34:54

and his body was still

34:56

in pristine condition

34:58

despite days of neglect. Dr.

35:02

Catherine Hall of the Dunedin

35:04

School of Medicine has suggested

35:06

possibly the most disturbing explanation

35:09

for Kurtius's story. Alexander

35:12

wasn't dead. In

35:15

2019, Dr. Hall proposed that

35:18

Alexander suffered from Guion-Barr syndrome,

35:20

a bacterial infection that

35:23

leads to autoimmune disorder resulting

35:25

in paralysis. Standard

35:28

Greek medical doctrine in antiquity was

35:30

to check for breathing rather than a

35:32

pulse, and in

35:34

a paralyzed state, breathing can be too

35:37

shallow to identify. The

35:39

gruesome part comes with the suggestion that

35:42

seven days later, Alexander

35:44

was still alive when he was taken

35:46

away to be embalmed. The

35:50

thing is, that would be

35:52

seven whole days without food or

35:54

water in an already perilous diseased

35:57

state that medicine at the time

35:59

could not possibly have saved

36:01

him from. Maybe

36:03

he wasn't dead on the 11th

36:05

of June after all, but

36:08

he probably would still have been dead by

36:10

the 18th. It's

36:12

also entirely likely that

36:14

this story is just made up and

36:17

Alexander was in fact starting to

36:19

fester by the time Perdicus got

36:21

around to dealing with his body.

36:24

Many theories have been put forward to

36:26

explain Alexander's death at just 33. One

36:28

popular theory

36:32

in antiquity was that Antipater,

36:34

still acting as regent in

36:36

Macedon, had him poisoned. Sure,

36:40

that's possible. The

36:42

motives are a bit weak and the

36:44

symptoms described in ancient sources could also

36:46

just point to basically

36:48

anything. As

36:50

the story goes Alexander fell ill after

36:52

a night of heavy drinking, woke up

36:54

with aches and pains all over, and

36:57

went to the classic hangover cure of a

37:00

morning of heavy drinking. That

37:03

escalated to debilitating pain and rising

37:05

fever until he could barely speak

37:08

or move his limbs. Like

37:10

I said, could be poison, could

37:13

be GBS, it

37:15

could also be malaria, common

37:18

enough in that region even

37:20

today. His symptoms are consistent

37:22

with so many infections and viruses

37:24

and chronic illnesses including

37:27

many associated with rampant

37:29

alcoholism that they're not even

37:31

worth listing. Historians,

37:33

doctors, biologists, and hobbyists

37:36

have all enjoyed putting forward

37:39

a new idea every few

37:41

years. But we're

37:43

also talking about a man who

37:45

had been impaled, wandered through the

37:48

scorching desert, nearly had his throat

37:50

cut, almost died of shock and

37:52

hypothermia in a river, been knocked

37:54

from his horse and surely suffered

37:57

a wide array of other minor

37:59

battlefield injuries. on top

38:01

of chronic alcoholism and feasting in

38:03

the 4th century BCE. It's

38:07

probably easier to rule out the

38:09

things that didn't contribute to his

38:11

death. It's really

38:13

a very silly branch of

38:15

speculative history, fueled

38:18

more by Alexander's ability to

38:20

grab headlines than anything of

38:23

actual importance. The

38:25

king is dead, and

38:29

he has more than earned

38:31

my patented royal death treatment.

38:34

So next time we

38:36

discuss religion, but

38:39

in this new phase of history, it's

38:42

high time we talk about a whole

38:44

new set of gods. And

38:47

with that, the

38:49

age of Alexander comes to an

38:51

end, as does the Achaemenid

38:53

era. Alexander

38:56

had carried on many Achaemenid

38:58

traditions and clearly focused on

39:00

ruling the Achaemenid Empire as

39:03

conquered territory. However,

39:05

with his death, his

39:08

Diodokhoi, the Greek

39:10

word for successors, shifted

39:13

their focus toward the looming

39:15

struggle for power with Perdicus,

39:18

Caimphilip Aridaius, and the pregnant

39:20

queen Roxane, all headed

39:22

for Macedon. And

39:25

Greek and Macedonian governors controlled

39:27

most of West Asia. This

39:31

is the dawning of the

39:33

so-called Hellenistic Age, and

39:36

the next major chapter in the

39:40

history of Persia. Pyre

40:02

was at rest for the moment, really

40:05

for the first time since Alexander

40:07

had invaded 11 years earlier. But

40:11

that still left the issue of Alexander's

40:14

body and funeral to attend to. According

40:17

to Curtius, a full week passed with

40:20

the body just lying there in the

40:22

palace under the sweltering heat of

40:24

the Middle Eastern summer. Yet

40:27

miraculously, Alexander's divine

40:30

heritage was so great that

40:32

no decay would set in,

40:34

and his body was

40:36

still in pristine condition despite

40:39

days of neglect. Dr.

40:42

Catherine Hall of the Dunedin

40:44

School of Medicine has suggested

40:47

possibly the most disturbing explanation

40:49

for Curtius's story. Alexander

40:52

wasn't dead. In

40:55

2019, Dr. Hall proposed that

40:58

Alexander suffered from Guion-Barr syndrome,

41:01

a bacterial infection that leads

41:03

to autoimmune disorder resulting in

41:06

paralysis. Standard

41:08

Greek medical doctrine in antiquity was

41:10

to check for breathing rather than

41:12

a pulse, and

41:14

in a paralyzed state, breathing can

41:16

be too shallow to identify. The

41:19

gruesome part comes with the suggestion

41:21

that seven days later, Alexander

41:24

was still alive when he was

41:26

taken away to be embalmed. The

41:29

thing is, that would

41:31

be seven whole days without food

41:34

or water in an already perilous

41:36

diseased state that medicine at the

41:38

time could not possibly have saved

41:41

him from. Maybe

41:43

he wasn't dead on the 11th of

41:46

June after all, but he

41:48

probably would still have been dead by the 18th. It's

41:52

also entirely likely that

41:54

this story is just made up, and

41:56

Alexander was in fact starting to

41:59

fester by the time Perdicus got

42:01

around to dealing with his body. Many

42:04

theories have been put forward to

42:06

explain Alexander's death at just 33.

42:10

One popular theory in antiquity

42:12

was that Antipater, still acting

42:15

as regent in Macedon, had

42:17

him poisoned. Sure,

42:19

that's possible. The

42:22

motives are a bit weak and the

42:24

symptoms described in ancient sources could also

42:26

just point to basically

42:28

anything. As

42:30

the story goes, Alexander fell ill after

42:32

a night of heavy drinking, woke up

42:34

with aches and pains all over, and

42:37

went to the classic hangover cure

42:39

of a morning of heavy drinking.

42:43

That escalated to debilitating pain and

42:45

rising fever until he could barely

42:47

speak or move his limbs. Like

42:50

I said, could be poison, could

42:53

be GBS. It

42:55

could also be malaria, common enough

42:57

in that region even today. His

43:01

symptoms are consistent with so many

43:03

infections and viruses and chronic illnesses,

43:06

including many associated with rampant

43:08

alcoholism, that they're not even

43:10

worth listing. Historians,

43:13

doctors, biologists, and hobbyists

43:16

have all enjoyed putting forward

43:18

a new idea every few

43:21

years. But

43:23

we're also talking about a man

43:25

who had been impaled, wandered through

43:27

the scorching desert, nearly had his

43:29

throat cut, almost died of shock

43:31

and hypothermia in a river, been

43:33

knocked from his horse, and

43:35

surely suffered a wide array

43:37

of other minor battlefield injuries

43:40

on top of chronic alcoholism

43:42

and feasting in the 4th

43:44

century BCE. It's

43:46

probably easier to rule out the

43:49

things that didn't contribute to his

43:51

death. It's really

43:53

a very silly branch of

43:55

speculative history, fueled

43:57

more by Alexander's ability to grab

44:00

headlines than anything of actual

44:03

importance. The

44:05

king is dead, and

44:09

he has more than earned

44:11

my patented royal death treatment.

44:14

So next time we

44:16

discuss religion, but

44:19

in this new phase of history, it's

44:22

high time we talk about a whole

44:24

new set of gods. And

44:27

with that, the

44:29

age of Alexander comes to an

44:31

end as does the

44:33

Achaemenid era. Alexander

44:36

had carried on many Achaemenid

44:38

traditions and clearly focused on

44:40

ruling the Achaemenid Empire as

44:43

conquered territory. However,

44:45

with his death, his

44:48

diadochoi, the Greek

44:50

word for successors, shifted

44:52

their focus toward the looming

44:55

struggle for power with Perdicus,

44:57

Caim Philip Aridaius, and the

44:59

pregnant Queen Roxane, all

45:02

headed for Macedon. And

45:05

Greek and Macedonian governors controlled

45:07

most of West Asia. This

45:11

is the dawning of the

45:13

so-called Hellenistic age, and

45:16

the next major chapter in the

45:20

history of Persia.