Wars of the Diadochi

In this episode, we explore the Wars of the Diadochi, a dramatic forty-year struggle that erupted after the death of Alexander the Great in 323 BCE, when his vast empire was left without a clear successor. This episode traces how his most powerful generals—figures like Antigonus I Monophthalmus, Seleucus I Nicator, and Ptolemy I Soter—formed and broke alliances while waging massive wars across Europe, Asia, and Africa. We examine how these conflicts shattered the unity of the Macedonian state, ended the Argead bloodline, and gave rise to powerful Hellenistic kingdoms such as the Ptolemaic and Seleucid realms, ultimately reshaping the Mediterranean world until the eventual rise of Rome.