Tristan Hughes

So you've got all of that stuff.

That's Alexander's army.

He's becoming more Persian in his outlook as well.

He's trying to figure out how to rule over this formidable army

empire that he did actually greatly admire and there's a lot of admiration for the persians and how they rule also respecting local cultures like in egypt there's a famous depiction of alexander as an egyptian pharaoh and luxor today at the heart of one of the temples

But if we focus on his army itself, one of the other keys to its success throughout his reign has been Alexander's dependable commanders beneath him.

Like you've got your Perdiccas, your Craterus, your Ptolemy, your Lysimachus and the like.

They are all either in Babylon or in different parts of Alexander's empire at that time doing what he wants them to do.

So he's got those capable commanders right next to him.

If Alexander the Great doesn't fall ill and die in 323 BC,

his empire still looks really strong.

In many ways, you can say that he is the thread that is holding it all together.

And that's epitomized by several revolts that do break out when he does die.

But if he doesn't, I mean, there's no reason to suggest that those rebellions would break out because people do fear Alexander.

He's a megalomaniac by this point.

He's a brilliant warlord.

He's won all of these battles.

And it's fair to say that whether it's

people who are angry against Macedonian hegemony in Athens in the West, or Greek soldiers who have been told they have to stay in Afghanistan and be a garrison there in the Far East.

They're probably not going to rebel if they haven't heard word that Alexander the Great has died.