Alexander the Great conquered a vast empire that stretched from the Balkans to modern-day Pakistan. However, if the Macedonian king had turned his attention westward, he would have been able to conquer Rome as well and most likely crush the Roman Empire before it had a chance to emerge.

So why didn’t Alexander the Great try to conquer Italy? The answer may be that he died before he got that chance.

The Macedonian king reigned from 336 BC. for example, until 323 BC, when he died of an unknown illness in Babylon at the age of 32. Alexander’s empire collapsed soon after his death. However, if he had not died, it is quite possible that Alexander would have targeted Rome and defeated the Eternal City with his considerable forces.

Some ancient texts suggest that Alexander the Great planned a military campaign in the West that included the conquest of parts of Italy as well as other places in the Mediterranean. The Roman historian Quintus Curtius Rufus, who lived in the 1st century AD, claimed that Alexander the Great planned a series of conquests that, if successful, would expand his empire to the present-day Strait of Gibraltar. Rufus noted that Alexander planned to build 700 ships to support this invasion. Other ancient writers made similar claims.

“The Romans were convinced that Alexander was trying to conquer Rome, but it is impossible for modern historians to say that,” Nikolaus Overthum, an assistant professor of history at Washington State University, told Live Science in an email.

Some ancient writers claimed that after Alexander’s death, his secretary Eumenes conveyed his plans, which included the conquest of parts of Italy, to Perdiccas, one of Alexander’s senior generals. water areasaid an independent scholar with experience studying the classics.

“Some scientists now believe that [плани] Waterfield said that “it is not real; perhaps it is a forgery of Eumenes, or perhaps the whole story did not come out until years, even decades later.” But “I think the evidence is real.”

What will the occupation be like?

It is unclear what would have happened if Alexander the Great had tried to invade Italy. The Romans were so convinced that Alexander would attempt an invasion that the historian Livy (lived from 59 BC to AD 17) wrote a text suggesting how the invasion would end, and Livy predicted that the Romans would defeat Alexander. Livy noted that Alexander’s uncle, Alexander I of Epirus, who ruled the kingdom of the same name, attempted to conquer part of Italy but was killed in battle in 331 BC.

Waterfield noted that accounts of Alexander’s plans indicate that he would invade other parts of the Mediterranean before landing on the Italian mainland. This suggests that Alexander’s forces would have been overwhelming even if the Romans had allies in the war against him.

“By the time he reached Italy and encountered the Roman Republic, he would have the resources of the entire Mediterranean (a large mercenary army) and control all the supply routes,” Waterfield said. “The only thing that could stop him was an internal rebellion or a mutiny by Macedonian troops.”

Philip Freeman, a professor of humanities at Pepperdine University in California, said that if Alexander had invaded Italy he probably would have been successful, noting that there were several Greek colonies in Italy that could have supported Alexander’s rule.

“The Romans were strong and would resist, but they were not yet a powerful force in the following centuries,” Freeman told Live Science in an email. “If Alexander had invaded, I think there would have been no Roman Empire, because Roman power would have been destroyed from the beginning.” Source