Alexander the Great Dies: Empire Shattered in Babylon
Alexander collapsed in Babylon after days of fever or agonizing pain from a bowl of wine, leaving no clear heir behind. His sudden death at thirty-two shattered the Macedonian aristocracy into warring factions, fracturing his empire among rival generals within years rather than decades.
June 11, 323 BC
Key Figures & Places
What Else Happened on June 11
Eratosthenes calculated that Greek forces sacked and burned Troy in 1184 BC, ending a decade-long siege that shattered the city's power and reshaped the Aegean …
A Roman army, cut off and dying of thirst in Moravia, was saved by a thunderstorm. That's the official story. But Marcus Aurelius, a Stoic philosopher who spent…
Eighty thousand people came home because of a gift basket. Emperor Taizong didn't send armies north to the Xueyantuo — he sent diplomats carrying gold and silk,…
Tang China was paying ransom for its own people — prisoners taken during the chaos of a civil war that had ended years earlier. Emperor Taizong sent envoys nort…
Two rival empires showed up at the same door on the same day and nearly started a war over who knocked first. The Abbasid Arabs and Uyghur Turks had both travel…
The Abbasids slaughtered their own cousins at Fakhkh, a valley just outside Mecca itself — sacred ground soaked in the blood of the Prophet's descendants. The u…
Talk to History
Have a conversation with historical figures who witnessed this era. Ask questions, explore perspectives, and bring history to life.