On the morning of June 13, 323 BC, the city of Babylon was an utter chaos.

It seemed as if a manic frenzy had gripped the Macedonian soldiers garrisoned there.

The phalanjites and various infantry had taken up arms against the horsemen of the companion cavalry.

Open warfare was nearly at hand.

After spending 13 years campaigning together across the known world, sharing in the glory and hardship, what could have pushed the Macedonians

to prepare to kill one another like this? Well, the Macedonian king, Alexander the Great,

had died only a few days prior, and left behind

an empire so unimaginably vast and wealthy that it seemed ripe for the take.

It was a chilling preview for the next 30 years as the successors of Alexander, known

as the Diodohoj would become enraptured in the wars, political intrigue, and marriage alliances

that would draw the map of the Hellenistic world. Join me in our first episode of a new series

covering the Wars of the Dioidohoi entitled To the Strongest.

Hi there, you're listening to the Hellenistic Age podcast.

Episode 14, to the strongest.

The king is dead.

Long live the kings? Kings? In the wake of King Alexander's death, the leading officers and marshals of the Macedonian

army had arranged a meeting in the ancient city of Babylon to discuss the matter of kingship,

which had now been thrown into a succession crisis.

Alexander died before he was able to produce a male hair to the throne of Macedon,

and also failed to name a successor.

The council deliberated on the matter, and a number of options did come up.

The most immediate choice was a man named Auredeus, a son of Philip II and a half-brother of Alexander,

...