On June 10, 323 BC, at about five o'clock in the afternoon, Alexander the Great died in Babylon. He was 32 years old. He was returning from a victorious campaign to Asia that had lasted more than 10 years. The king of Macedonia created his empire on the conquered lands in the east. Now he was about to move the army west.
The last feast
Alexander the Great unexpectedly fell ill after a friendly drinking party with his commanders. According to the records of the ancient Greek historian Diodorus of Siculus, at the height of the feast, Alexander drank a huge goblet of wine and suddenly cried out loudly. This episode later gave reason to assume that this was how the effect of the poison began. Poisoned wine could cause seizures.
Soon, Alexander developed a fever, which intensified every day. Convulsions continued, delirium began. Plutarch, Arrian and other ancient authors wrote about these symptoms. In the end, the patient was paralyzed. He could not only move, but even utter a word. The king died on the 10th day of illness.
Since it is impossible to name the cause of death only by symptoms, modern scientists offer three versions: illness, doctors' mistake, and poisoning.
World power
The king of Macedonia was brought to Babylon by the war against the main enemy of Greece - the powerful Persian Empire of the Achaemenids. It began in 334 BC, when Alexander crossed the Dardanelles to the Asian coast. He brought with him 50 thousand infantry and cavalry. Having defeated the Persian army in two battles, the Greeks occupied Asia Minor, Syria, Palestine, Phenicia and Egypt.
In 331 BC, the decisive battle of Gaugamela took place. The Macedonian army was at least five times smaller than the Persian, but won again. The capital of the Achaemenid state, Persepolis, fell. King Darius fled and was soon killed by his commanders.
For the next three years, Alexander was busy conquering the Central Asian satrapies of Persia. In 326 BC, he led an army to India, which then consisted of many states. Here, in the very first battle, he managed to defeat the strong army of King Porus. Even 130 war elephants did not help Tom. The Macedonians halted their attack and retaliated. The Indian army was surrounded. The King of Por, being wounded, dismounted from the elephant, surrendered.
This victory was the last in Alexander's life. He was going to continue the campaign and across the whole country to reach the great Indian river Ganges, but the army for the first time did not obey him. Ordinary soldiers and generals refused to go further. They are immensely tired over the years of an endless campaign of conquest with many battles. Many had lost their morale and spoke with dismay that huge new armies with thousands of elephants awaited them ahead. Alexander could do nothing. He had to turn back.
By this time, he had become the ruler of the largest power in history. It stretched from the Balkan Peninsula in Europe to India in Asia. Upon his return from the campaign, he declared Babylon the capital of his empire, but was not going to stay there for a long time. After victories in the east, Alexander decided to immediately move west, bypassing Macedonia.
While dying, he sometimes said deliriously that he would set out on a new campaign in a few days. His plans were the conquest of Arabia and Carthage, and later - the entire Mediterranean.
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The missing mummy
The embalmed body of Alexander the Great in a golden sarcophagus remained in Babylon for two years. Then the mummy was transported to Egyptian Alexandria, where it lay for six centuries. The underground tomb of Alexander was visited by famous Romans - Gnaeus Pompeii the Great, Guy Julius Caesar, emperors Octavian Augustus and Caligula. Septimius Sever, who became emperor in 193, ordered to wall up the mausoleum.
The last mention of the tomb dates back to 215. Then Caracalla (the Roman emperor from the Severian dynasty) ordered to open it. He placed his purple cloak and jewels on the sarcophagus. Since then, the historical chronicles have been silent about her. The sarcophagus also disappeared without a trace. Many historians believe that the tomb was destroyed in the 4th century, when Christianity became the state religion of the Roman Empire. The change of religions was accompanied by the destruction of non-Christian temples and relics.
However, historians and archaeologists still hope that, perhaps, someone managed to hide the sarcophagus. The search continues. The Supreme Council of Antiquities of Egypt, created back in 1859, has since given more than 140 permits for such work.
Perhaps someday the sarcophagus with the body of Alexander the Great will be found, and then modern science will make it possible to establish the cause of death of the great conqueror.
If we talk about fatal diseases, then among them are malaria, typhoid fever, smallpox … The body, especially weakened by long campaigns, could not resist them.
There is also an assumption of medical error. They could overdose by prescribing a poisonous white hellebore drink to the king. In small doses, this drug was a popular laxative in ancient times. This story was especially convincingly presented in the documentary "The Mysterious Death of Alexander the Great" by the leading toxicologist of the National Poison Center of New Zealand, Dr. Leo Shep and Scotland Yard detective John Grieve. The famous British Hellenist Richard Stoneman agrees with them. The mistake was possible, he suggests, if the Greek doctors failed to study Babylonian medicines well. They killed their master without any malicious intent.
Film version
In Oliver Stone's film Alexander, the king of Macedonia fell victim to a conspiracy by his military leaders. This is recognized by his best commander Ptolemy.
“The truth is, we killed him by tacit agreement. We could not go further with him, - he says in one of the key episodes of the film to his chronicler. However, after a little thought, Ptolemy immediately orders to replace this entry with another: - Write that he died of an illness.
In this case, artistic fiction does not contradict historical logic.
From the day Alexander took the throne, his wars continued for 13 years. In the end, even the best generals were drawn to a peaceful life. Moreover, each of the military leaders could hope to become the ruler of some of the captured countries. It cannot be ruled out that Ptolemy himself succumbed to such moods and led the conspiracy. In this case, his dreams have come true. After the death of Alexander during the division of his empire, he became the ruler of the fabulously wealthy Egypt.
British writer and historian Paul Dougherty in his book Alexander the Great. Death of God”suggests that the killers put arsenic in the wine. This poison has some mummification properties, so there was no sign of decomposition on the body of the poisoned for more than a week, despite the Babylonian heat.
Alexander's wife Roxanne, who also did not remain above suspicion, may have used strychnine. Plutarch wrote that she was extremely jealous and passionately hated his two Persian wives. But besides them, Alexander also had a young lover. Homosexuality and polygamy (Alexander's father, King Philip II, had seven wives) was not considered something reprehensible in ancient Greece. However, judging by the circumstances, who loved Alexander Roxana was tormented by jealousy. In Babylon, a real ancient Greek tragedy was played out. Poisoned Alexander died in Roxana's arms.
Another possible assassin could be the general Antipater. Going on an Asian campaign, Alexander left him as his governor in Macedonia. Returning after 10 years, he was going to replace Antipater with another person before the new wars. However, he did not want to part with the power and organized a conspiracy.
He ordered his son Cassander to go to Babylon and poison Alexander. His second son was the king's cupbearer, so the brothers could well have made an attempt, almost without risking. What kind of poison they used remains unknown.
There is, by the way, a mystical version: Alexander was allegedly poisoned with water from the river of the dead - Styx.
After several years of conspiracies and wars, Kassander became the ruler of Macedonia. He executed Alexander's mother Olympias, his wife Roxanne and his son, also named Alexander.
Magazine: Secrets of the 20th century №41. Author: Kirill Gorbachev