The relationship between Alexander and the advisors of his father had never been a good one. This is not really surprising as Alexander came to the throne after his father was murdered during an argument in a Macedonian palace. The first noticeable sign of this disagreement was after the battle of Issus. Darius offered Alexander the western half of his empire if he wanted to sign a peace treaty. The original goal of the expedition was now realised as Persia formed no longer a threat, but Alexander ignored the proposal against the will of his generals: he obviously wanted to destroy the Persian empire. This was very hard to accept for the Macedonian nobility as Alexander was just the primus inter pares, or first among equals. He might have more responsibilities, but was he certainly supposed to negotiate with them when he had to make such an important decision they reasoned. A year later Alexander's position became even more superior after he visited the oase of Siwa, where he became convinced that he was of divine birth.

There was more that annoyed the Macedonian nobility. After the victory at Gaugemela, and the conquest of Babylon, Susa and Persepolis Alexander called himself king of Persia, and he also started to act like one. He no longer was surrounded with Macedonians as he often allowed Persian administrators to continue their jobs. Slowly the idea evolved that the upper classes of his empire should consist of a mixture of Persians, Greeks and Macedonians. We also see this idea in his armies as the Greek mercenaries and Macedonian warriors were more and more replaced by Asians who were trained as a Macedonian. The fusion between Macedonians and Persians was encouraged even more when Alexander had to gain the respect of the lord castellans. In this time he introduced the Persian court-ceremonial, with the traditional proskynesis (= prostration). The divine position of Alexander was outlined with this as the Macedonians and Greeks would only throw themselves at the feet of a God.

Attempts to restore unity.

It is understandable that this irritated the Macedonian generals of Alexander. During his fights in the north and east of Persia the distrust between them reached its climax. The old Parmenion and his son were sentenced to death on the accusation of treachery. The historian Callisthenes, a cousin of the philosopher Aristotle, refused to take part in the new court-ceremonial and was also sentenced to death. More of these incidents took place, and as a result of this Alexander started to replace the high administrators of his empire by people who he completely trusted. Thanks to this, and his halo of invincibility as he had never lost a battle, he could afford himself to act as a despot. During his last years in Babylon he was successfully transforming the administrative system of his empire into one which was totally controlled by himself.