Virgo triumphat Alexandri!

I just finished reading Nemesis Games, in which the characters wonder what would have happened if Darius III had not tried to retreat from the Battle of Gaugamela. The larger Persian army might well have won. Well? And then what?

Let’s say Alexander himself survives. There are good chances of that, either because he was good at not dying in battle or because he was captured and ransomed. He and his army still have control over a pretty big chunk of the known world, from the Danube to the upper Nile to (after some negotiations with the Persians) the river Euphrates.

So there is no Selucid Empire, and perhaps a smaller Maurya Empire with no vacuum to expand into. That might butterfly away Buddhism and Jainism, reduced to mere varieties of Hinduism. But there is still a Hellenistic period. In fact, with an Alexander allowed to die of old age, there might be a centralized Hellenistic Empire stretching west to include Carthage (cause who else did they have to invade?), running up against the territory of the expanding Roman Republic. Who wants to bet Alexander III does a better job against the Romans than Hannibal?