Another of Alexander's legacies that would haunt and vex those left in the wake of his passing, besides leaving no heir or arranging for succession, was his request to be buried in Egypt, for he considered himself the son of the Egyptian god Ammon. But this request was unprecedented to the Macedonian mind, and it went against the Argead tradition of keeping the tradition of royal burial at Pella. Consequently, it would only add to the troubles that began right after he took his last breath.
The man who was named by Alexander to take charge had other worries in addition to the problem of Alexander's burial. He faced rebellion by the foot soldiers, even after the cavalry swore its allegiance to the new masters, a board of four comprised of Perdiccas, Lonnatus, Crateus, and Antipater. One reason for the rebellion had been Alexander's cultural fusion experiments, which saw not only mass wedding ceremony but also the inclusion of Asian recruits into the army. But the army had also evolved, growing more entitled and unhappy about its status even during Alexander's life. Conquest had changed the conquerors.
One man who would use this troublesome attitude of the army was Meleager, one of the top infantry leaders who supported the candidacy of Alexander's mentally impaired half-brother in an transparent plot to make himself the real ruler of empire. Meleager had a history of critical regard for Alexander's projects. Years before Alexander's death, Meleager bitterly criticized Alexander during a feast in India during which Alexander bestowed one thousand talents of silver on Ambhi, the local raja with whom Alexander made alliance. When Alexander was dead, Meleager opposed the plan put forth by Perdiccas and incited revolt as two main branches of Alexander's army drew swords upon each other. The first struggle for power ended when Perdiccas found a way to eliminate Meleager. Having rid of himself of the challenger, Perdiccas turned his sights to Alexander's wives, the Persian princesses, who were probably also pregnant and whose children would complicate the succession plans even more, and caused them to disappear. Then he partitioned the empire among his supporters. But his reign was brief, coming to an end in the bloody morass of a failed Egyptian invasion. If it was true that Alexander left his empire to the strongest, Perdiccas proved unworthy.
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