Prior to his death, Alexander had already made plans for military and mercantile expansions into to the Arabian peninsula, after which he was to turn his armies to the west and (Carthage, Rome, and the Iberian Peninsula). His original vision had been to the east, though, to the ends of the world and the Great Outer Sea, as described by his boyhood tutor Aristotle. Alexander died in the palace of Nebuchadrezzar II of Babylon after twelve years of constant military campaigning. His early death may have been brought about by poisoning, typhoid fever or the consequences of alcoholism. His legacy and conquests lived on long after him, and ushered in centuries of Greek settlement and cultural influence (known as the Hellenistic Age) over distant areas. God prophesied through Daniel the reign of Alexander and what would happen to his family and vast empire after his death: "And the rough goat [is] the king of Grecia (Greece): and the great horn that [is] between his eyes [is] the first king. Now that being broken, whereas four stood up for it, four kingdoms shall stand up out of the nation, but not in his power. " (Daniel 8:21-22) "And a mighty king shall stand up, that shall rule with great dominion, and do according to his will. And when he shall stand up, his kingdom shall be broken, and shall be divided toward the four winds of heaven; and not to his posterity, nor according to his dominion which he ruled: for his kingdom shall be plucked up, even for others beside those. " (Daniel 11:3-4) After his death in 323 B.C. Alexander's world-ruling empire was not passed on to one of his two sons nor was the unified kingdom ruled by others in his family. Instead, his kingdom was divided up between his four chief generals ("the four winds of heaven"): In 321 B.C. Ptolemy took possession and eventually ruled Egypt (the southern part of the empire). In 317 B.C. Cassander assumed the government of Macedon (Macedonia), the western part of the empire. In 311 B.C. Seleucus took over Babylon and Syria (the eastern part of the empire). In 306 B.C. Antigonus declared himself king of Asia Minor (the northern part of the empire). He was slain in battle in 301 B.C. and was succeeded by Lysimachus. Soon after Alexander the Great's death his family came to a tragic end: His wife Statira was murdered soon after his death by his other wife Roxana. Alexander's brother Aridaeus who succeeded him was killed, together with his wife Euridice, by command of Olympias, Alexander’s mother, after he had been king about six years and some months. Olympias herself was killed by the soldiers in revenge. Alexander Aegus, his son, together with his mother Roxana was slain by order of Cassander. Two years after, his other son Hercules with his mother Barsine was privately murdered by Polysperchon. Within fifteen years after his death not one of Alexander's family or posterity remained alive! |
