The Day Alexander the Great Died

On June 11 323 BC, Alexander the Great died inside the royal palace of Babylon at just thirty two years old. He left behind an empire spanning three continents and no named heir. While his body lay untouched in the Mesopotamian heat, his generals locked themselves inside the palace to divide the known world. What began as political talks would eventually spiral into 40 years of war, betrayal, the total eradication of the ancient Argead bloodline, and the permanent fracturing of his empire. The immediate aftermath of Alexander's death led to the rise of figures like Ptolemy and Seleucus whilst damming the women in his life- Roxana, Olympias and Cleopatra- to death. The day itself and the immediate fall out all lead to one of the most interesting sequence of events in ancient history. If you enjoyed this video, you'll also enjoy my other essays covering Alexander and the Diadochi: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLIkWevj4zbOM chapters: 00:00 - begin here 01:11 - Babylon 05:14 - Bloodline 07:54 - Frontiers 10:52 - Paralysis 11:50 - Ashes Sources: Diodorus Siculus, Library of History Quintus Curtius Rufus, History of Alexander Babylonian Astronomical Diary Arrian, Anabasis Alexandri Royal Ephemerides quoted in Plutarch, Alexander Justin, Epitome of Pompeius Trogus Plutarch, Life of Alexander Dr. Katherine Hall, Ancient History Bulletin University of Swansea, Classics and Ancient History department Images used from public domain sites such as Wikimedia commons unless stated otherwise in the video. Please note: depictions of certain figures on screen are not accurate to historical reality. Instead nameless figures have been used as period accurate representations. AI usage: the usage of ai has been limited to sourcing the most relevant images as well as background removal of artwork, never to generate new images. I also use ai for research, source compilation and script refining but of course, all is fact checked personally. #alexanderthegreat #ancienthistory #documentary