Funeral Games

Name: Funeral Games
Rating: 4.4 (558 reviews)

by Mary Renault Book 3 in the Alexander the Great Trilogy series.

First published 1981

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4.4(558)

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

Alexander the Great336–323 BCE Lamian War323–322 BCE Battle of Ipsus301 BCE Ptolemaic Egypt305–30 BCE Partition of Babylon and Macedonian Succession323–320 BCE

Genres

Court & Political Fiction War Fiction

Historical people

Alexander the Great357 BCE–324 BCE Antipater398 BCE–320 BCE Olympias376 BCE–317 BCE Ptolemy I Soter369/368–282 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 Monophthalmusc. 382–301 BCE