Why didn'y Alexander the Great's empire fail to survive after his death

-- Anonymous, May 17, 2002

Answers

The most important reason was that Alexander's infant son wasn't old enough to take his place. As the heir to the throne, if he had been ten or fifteen years older no one would have dared to oppose his right to ascend to power.

The next most important reason was that the men who battled one another for control of the empire were mostly very capable, but no one of them rose high above the others in ability. That created a stalemate that broke the empire apart. As it was, the three most capable generals emerged from the wars and several less capable men failed.

There is a sort of poetic justice to settling it all through incessant war, since it was Alexander's incessant war that gathered the empire together in the first place.

-- Anonymous, May 17, 2002