Alexander turned out to be the only individual whose personal authority could hold his huge empire together. Some of his followers, including the rank and file of the Macedonian army, wanted to preserve the empire, but with no successor named and no stable kingship to maintain what he had won, the empire immediately and rapidly began falling apart.
The power conflict among Alexander’s generals, who all wanted to carve out vast realms for themselves, lasted about 40 years, from 323 to 280 B. C.E. Through struggles and warfare, three generals, Ptolemy in Egypt,
Seleucus (c. 358-281 b. c.e.), and Antigonus (c. 382-301 B. C.E.), emerged as powerful contenders. Antigonus was initially the most powerful of the new kings, but he was defeated at the battle of Ipsos in 301 b. c.e. This battle among the kings put an end to all hopes of a reunification of Alexander’s domains.
From each of these three generals, a major dynasty emerged: the Ptolemies in what had been the Egyptian Empire (Egypt, Syria, Cyprus, the Agean Islands, and parts of Asia Minor) , the Seleucids in what had been the Persian Empire, and the Antigonids in Macedonia and Greece. Eventually, all three kingdoms were overtaken by the military might of the Roman Empire. The Romans ended political Hellenism, but Hellenic culture remained the basis of the civilization of the East even during the centuries of Roman domination.
The Egyptian Empire of Ptolemy was the richest, most powerful, and most stable of the kingdoms-as well as the longest lasting of the three.
World History
