Funeral Games

by Mary Renault

Book 3 in the Alexander the Great Trilogy series.

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Audio available 4.4

Alexander dies in Babylon without naming a capable adult successor. Perdiccas attempts to preserve the empire under the nominal kingship of Philip III and the unborn child of Roxana, while generals, infantry leaders and royal women compete to control the settlement.

Roxana eliminates rivals, Ptolemy diverts Alexander's funeral cortege to Egypt and the successors divide into hostile coalitions. The narrative follows Olympias, Eurydice, Antipater, Cassander and Antigonus through the wars that destroy Alexander's household and culminate in a Hellenistic world ruled by separate dynasties.

Historical periods

Ancient Greece Classical Greece Hellenistic Greece Alexander the Great Wars of the Diadochi Ancient World Ancient Egypt Ptolemaic Egypt

Genres

Court & Political Fiction War Fiction

Historical people

Alexander the Great357 BCE–324 BCE Antipater398 BCE–320 BCE Olympias376 BCE–317 BCE Ptolemy I Soterc. 360s BCE–c. 280s BCE Roxana348 BCE–311 BCE Perdiccas366 BCE–322 BCE Philip III of Macedon360 BCE–318 BCE Eurydice II of Macedon337 BCE–318 BCE Cassander356 BCE–297 BCE Antigonus I Monophthalmus383 BCE–302 BCE