The Forgotten Massacre of Alexander the Great's Empire

When Alexander the Great died in 323 BC, he left behind an empire in turmoil and thousands of stranded Greek mercenaries in the far east. Desperate to return home these 20,000 Greeks heard the news of his death and marched west. What followed was one of the most ruthless betrayals in ancient history and the Massacre of the 20,000. In the power vacuum following Alexander's death, supreme regent Perdiccas and fellow diadochi Peithon found themselves in response to the massive Greek rebellion. But this is not the story of a simple battle, but a microcosm of the messy politics of the ancient world. Perdiccas and Peithon would find themselves locked in political combat whilst Alexander's legacy collapsed around them. Antipater and Craterus would quell a major war in Achaea and Ptolemy would force Perdiccas into a blunder which would eventually end his life. 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 01:01 - Golden Cage 06:59- Collapse 08:54 - Paranoia Sources: Diodorus Siculus, Library of History Arrian, Anabasis Alexandri Justin, Epitome of Pompeius Trogus 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