Zahhak-1

Current Year: 61

Shah Xerxes I leads the Persian navy to victory against the Greeks in the Battle of Salamis in 480 BC, followed by victories for the Persian army at the Battle of Plataea and the Battle of Mycale in 479 BC. This forces the city-states of Greece into retreat and surrender, marking total Persian victory in the Second Invasion of Greece and the Greco-Persian Wars as a whole.

Athens is sacked just like in our universe, but in this universe it is never rebuilt. Greek colonies founded by those fleeing Persian subjugation arise in North Africa and Southern Italy. Alexander the Great never rises to spread the influence of the Greek Empire to the Middle-East and Europe, instead replaced by a more gradual spreading of Persian influence.