What If Alexander Fought Rome?

What If Alexander Fought Rome?

From The Ancients by History Hit

May 14, 2026 · 1h 20m · Episode 661

About this episode

The episode explores a hypothetical scenario where Alexander the Great invades Italy and confronts the Roman Republic.

Rome vs Alexander. It's a counterfactual of suitably epic proportions, fit for movie theatres and sprawling strategy video games. What would've happen had the great Macedonian general not perished in Babylon and advanced on an emerging Roman Republic? Tristan Hughes is joined by Roman historian and friend of the show Steele Brand to ask - what would’ve happened had Alexander invaded Italy? They explore the work of Roman historian Livy, who wrote about this very scenario - would Rome have had enough to resist the mighty legions of an undefeated Macedonia, even before it had really started to forge it's empire? From the sparkling phalanxes of Alexander’s Asian realm to the Rome’s countless mass of citizen soldiers, find out which of these titans of history achieves ancient world domination. MORE Alexander the Great: Lord of Asia Listen on Apple Listen on Spotify The Battle of Phillipi: Death of the Roman Republic Listen on Apple Listen on Spotify Presented by Tristan Hughes. Audio editor is Aidan Lonergan. Producer is Joseph Knight. The senior producer is Anne-Marie Luff. All music courtesy of Epidemic Sounds The Ancients is a History Hit podcast. Sign up to History Hit for…

People in this episode

Host: Tristan Hughes

Guest: Steele Brand

Topics covered

  • counterfactual history
  • Alexander the Great
  • Roman Republic
  • military strategy
  • historical analysis

Keywords

  • Alexander the Great
  • Rome
  • counterfactual
  • Livy
  • military history
  • Macedonia
  • Roman Republic

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: History Hit, Epidemic Sounds

Books & works: Livy

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