Alexander the Great died in Babylon in 323 BC, but his “afterlife” quickly became politics. In the years that followed, his successors—the Diadochi—fought not only over provinces and armies, but over symbols powerful enough to make men obey. Nothing was more potent than Alexander’s own remains. Ancient writers describe a spectacular funerary carriage built under the supervision of Arrhidaeus: not a simple wagon, but a mobile shrine. Think of a temple facade on wheels—columns, gilded decoration,