[SunkenCiv]

Hey, I wonder if the Persian Empire would have survived to modern times if Alexander had not conquered it. ;')

Regarding that, no, probably not -- the Parthians (really the Persians, under a different dynasty) wound up getting destroyed by the Muzzie Arab invaders, and they didn't keep much intact.

On the other hand, Balkh, in Central Asia, they called "the Mother of Cities" (which it isn't, but anyway) was one city which thrived despite Moslem rule (there's something like forty mosques, or perhaps it's more, inside the capacious city wall circuit) and obviously impressed 'em. It was a major stop on the old silk route.

Alexander used it as one of his campaign HQs because of the massive walls; he had to recuperate over the winter after suffering some setbacks (troops on an away mission got massacred) and getting severely wounded. By spring he'd been reinforced to the tune (and I know this sounds amazing) of 200K troops, broke them into four columns of about 50K each, and proceeded to clear-cut four different river basins, simultaneously.

He's not called "the Great" for no reason.

[SunkenCiv]

some Balkh pix, roughly in order by size:

http://www.forumancientcoins.com/gallery/albums/userpics/10002/Walls%20of%20Balkh.jpg
http://i.pbase.com/g6/06/767706/2/78541508.VkBpaVNN.jpg
http://bp0.blogger.com/_-hqDH_BnWE0/R1oISJZ43_I/AAAAAAAABcc/inY7ne0b378/s320/Balkh3.jpg
http://img3.travelblog.org/Photos/45169/191684/t/1423566-Balkh-0.jpg
http://www.afghanmagazine.com/april98/journey/images/balkh.jpg

[dsc]

“By spring he’d been reinforced to the tune (and I know this sounds amazing) of 200K troops”

Amazing indeed.

How in the world did he persuade so many men to fight for him?