Why did the Empire of Alexander the Great has Fall?

 

While this story is probably apocryphal, the 1st Century BC historian Diodorus Siculus tells us an amusing anecdote about Alexander on his deathbed that I think best illustrates the political situation after his death. Diadorus tells us, on being asked by his companions, to whom rule would pass of his empire after his death, Alexander replied "tôi kratistôi"—"to the strongest".

But let’s rewind a bit and look at the problems that Alexander’s vast empire faced on the death of this remarkable man. The first problem was the empire itself. The sheer logistics of ruling an empire the size of Alexander’s was mind-boggling. As you can see from any map of his empire, it extended from as far West as Greece to as far East as modern day India. In a period where travel was slow, it would have been extremely difficult under the best of circumstances for one person to administrate such a vast distance.

 

But this wasn’t the best of circumstances. This vast empire comprised of many cultures had never been entirely well-unified under the Persians that Alexander had defeated.

Even if you take the Hellenization (think, “Greekization”) that Alexander’s successors pushed, it would have been extremely difficult for one person to effectively deal with internal revolts and political crises that would inevitably pop up. Keep in mind, Alexander’s stormed over these regions. His entire military campaign was 11 years. That’s not long, and it’s very likely that some of these areas might have seen the new management as an opportunity to get out from under the heel of empire in general.

Another problem the empire faced was that of succession. 4th century Macedonian succession was messy and on occasion, bloody. Alexander’s father Philip II was murdered, and even after having proved his military acumen at the Battle of Chaeronea, Alexander’s rule was by no means assured.

As if Macedonia succession wasn’t already problematic, Alexander’s child wasn’t even born yet. When Alexander the Great (Alexander III) died in 323, his son Alexander IV was still in the womb of his wife Roxana. Obviously they didn’t know the gender of the child, but even if they knew that they were having a male child, passing rule of a vast empire to an unborn child would obviously not be a possibility. Even worse, Alexander’s death was not anticipated, as he was still fairly young (he died at the age of 32).

When Alexander died, his generals and companions did the only logical thing…they split it up. Although it’s probably more accurate to say that various leaders holed up and took control of the areas that they could. Within a year of his death, the First War of the Diadochi (Diadochi means “successor”) had broken out. In fact it broke out when Alexander’s general Ptolemy stole his body to take to his kingdom which was centered in Egypt.

The 20 years following Alexander’s death get complicated…there were four wars of the Diadochi, and things don’t really calm down until 275BC, 48 years after Alexander the Great’s death. By then, much of the empire had broken off into smaller parts, although there were two major players still around. The Seleucid Empire, named after Alexander’s general Seleucus, extended from most of modern day Turkey, to modern day Uzbekistan. The Ptolemaic Kingdom, named after Alexander’s friend and general Ptolemy, comprised modern day Egypt, Israel, and Lebanon.

Both the Ptolemaic and Seleucid kingdoms lasted for over 200 years. The Seleucid kingdom crumbled slowly, losing much bigger chunks in the East, especially to the emerging Parthians, who would be a thorn in the side of the later ruling Romans. By 63BC, the little bit of the Seleucid Empire that was left was absorbed by the growing Roman Empire.

The end of the Ptolemaics might be a bit more familiar, as it has been ingrained in our popular culture. The Ptolemaic Kingdom was also absorbed by the Roman Empire in 30BC (technically it was still the Roman Republic, but that was on its way out). By then, the Ptolemaic Kingdom was already under increasing control by the Romans. Rome simply needed a pretense to finish the job. It got that pretense when Octavian (who would eventually become the first Roman Emperor), sewing growing public opinion, declared war against the Ptolemaic ruler Cleopatra (yes, *that* Cleopatra).

Cleopatra had become lovers with the Roman general Marcus Antonius (aka Mark Antony), which had angered the Roman public. Octavian no doubt saw this as an opportunity to finish off a longtime political enemy of his. And the Roman people were not about to complain about taking over more territory, especially an incredibly lucrative territory that was acting as a breadbasket for the empire, in Egypt. Essentially, the Ptolemaic Kingdom had become a chess piece in the greater political game that had been started almost three decades earlier by Octavian’s adoptive uncle, Julius Caesar. Yes, *that* Julius Caesar.

However, the simple answer is “internal politics, and the Romans”.