Alexandro Babylone mortuo

When Alexander the Great died in Babylon without an acknowledged heir, succession to the Macedonian throne and division of his empire presented problems of great political and constitutional complexity. Cornelius Nepos’ account, devoid of conflict and contestation, is markedly different from other extant sources for events in Babylon. As Nepos’ account is truncated and, in some respects, highly idiosyncratic, it has not attracted focused scholarly attention. This paper seeks to address this gap in the literature. Through a close reading of the various parallel sources and a commentary-style discussion of Eumenes 2.1-2, I demonstrate how and why Nepos constructed his account as he does and propose a possible solution for an often-cited ‘error’ in his version. My main conclusion is that Nepos includes only the political details necessary for his readers to understand this biography and shapes the material to help his distinctly Roman reader understand Macedonian culture, politics, and history — an audience that Nepos anticipates as being unfamiliar with Graecae litterae (praef. 2; Pelop 1.1).