When Alexander the Great's treasurer fled to Athens in 324 BC, three separate Macedonian embassies failed to secure his return. Blackwell's explanation of this event traces the history of Macedonian rule in Greece from 335 BC until the death of Alexander. This study probes political realities behind titles and treaties, and complex interactions among individuals, states, and institutions. "In the Absence of Alexander" describes a -Macedonian Hegemony- that held power without commanding authority, an empire that could not have hoped to survive the death of its king."