Hey all,
I’m announcing that, starting around now, I’m going to be shifting the focus of my blog, into more analysis and history as opposed to straight news. Particularly, I’ll be exploring topics in the past that interest me. I hope that you enjoy them too!
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In 323 BCE, Alexander the Great was the most powerful man on Earth. He had already brought to his feet one of the greatest armies the world had ever known, the Persian military, through shrewd strategy. Once the king of a small nation in Greece, it took Alexander only 13 years to bring most of the known world to his knees. He had proven himself worthy of the name, “the Great.”
But, Alexander stretched too far. Certain that he was the son of Zeus and a living god, Alexander the Great marched his army beyond the Middle East, and into India. But there, Alexander encountered entrenched resistance from warriors defending their homelands, and the Greek soldiers were terrified of the mighty war elephants. Alexander never actually lost a battle, but eventually, at the Hyphasis river, his troops refused to move forward. Alexander gave in, and the Greek war machine turned around. In 324 BCE, they arrived home, and Alexander the Great was able to truly enjoy the largest empire of the ancient world.
But then, he died, just a year later.
And to this day, historians can’t confirm why.
What We Know
There are a few facts that we can be reasonably confident about Alexander the Great’s death.
Alexander contracted a febrile illness (an illness marked by a fever of 99.5 F or more) in late May or early June of 323 BCE.
He suffered symptoms including: high fever, dehydration, abdominal pain, muscle weakness & paralysis, and delirium.
He was declared dead just 11 days after the illness began.
His body did not decompose for six days.
Theories abound, most focusing on one of more of these pieces of evidence to support their claim. I’ll go over the most common ones first, before getting into a new - and highly plausible theory.
Poisoning
Alexander the Great, as a result of his many conquests, had many enemies. It should therefore come as no surprise that poisoning was a possible cause of his death. Even way back then, potential assassins had plenty of poisons to choose from.
There’s arsenic, the invisible but deadly killer that could have caused Alexander’s symptoms of abdominal pain and muscle paralysis. Plutarch, one of the best ancient sources on Alexander, actually mentions that Alexander’s former teacher, Aristotle, obtained arsenic with the intent to kill his pupil. However, the flaw in this reasoning is that arsenic doesn’t usually cause a high fever.
Strychnine is an uncommon but highly dangerous poison, obtained from the Strychnine plant. This is the theory proposed by famous historical investigator and detective Graham Phillips. He believes that Roxana, a jealous wife of Alexander, murdered her husband. Roxana came from Afghanistan, the only home of the Strychnine plant, so she could have had knowledge of its use. It’s also possible that Roxana killed one of Alexander’s other wives, Barsine, which would mean that Roxana would’ve certainly been capable of murder. However, this theory falls short in that Strychnine poisoning is usually associated with convulsions - Alexander suffered from no such symptom.
There are many other poisoning theories to address, including lead and methanol poisoning. However, most of these theories fail to fulfill at least one of Alexander’s symptoms, usually the fever or abdominal pain. And, while this is not strictly considered “poisoning,” another possible cause of Alexander’s malady could’ve been his alcoholism. This could have caused a fever, abdominal pain, and a hasty demise. Once again, though, many of the symptoms do not match, leading to the likely conclusion that Alexander the Great’s death was not induced by alcohol.
Infectious Disease
This might’ve been the first conclusion that you reached when I began discussing the death of Alexander. And in many ways, that claim is a very reasonable one: during his conquests, Alexander the Great traveled through many malaria-infested areas, rife with mosquitos bearing deadly illnesses. While Alexander had previously contracted malaria but survived, malaria can be contracted more than once - this could’ve led to his death. Alternately, Alexander the Great may have gotten typhoid, another highly deadly disease. However, there are significant issues with both of these theories: malaria has several symptoms (slightly gross so I won’t describe them) that were not present during Alexander’s struggles. As for typhoid, typhoid is generally a very long-lasting illness, with new symptoms cropping up as late as 3 weeks after the beginning of the illness. However, the illness in question ended the Greek leader’s life after less than two weeks.
Another probable infectious disease that Alexander the Great could’ve died from is the West Nile Virus. This possibility is the focus of some of the most recent academic papers on the subject to date. The theory centers around a most peculiar fact in Alexander’s case: Plutarch described how a flock of ravens died after Alexander arrived in Babylon. The West Nile Virus is extremely deadly to birds, so Alexander and his entourage could have passed it to the birds. However, despite the support for this article by prominent researchers, I harbor many doubts about this claim. For starters, there is no guarantee that those birds actually died from the West Nile Virus, transmitted by Alexander. It could’ve been a different disease, or West Nile transmitted by someone (or something) else. In fact, there’s a fair chance it didn’t even happen: ancient scholars aren’t exactly known for their impeccable accuracy and journalistic integrity. Plutarch, admittedly, did his research and used all available sources, but even the primary sources weren’t necessarily accurate (eyewitness accounts in general are difficult to trust). Finally, even assuming that those birds did actually die, Alexander’s condition and symptoms don’t match up well with West Nile; for example, while the West Nile Virus often immediately causes confusion and aching, Alexander felt fine initially and performed his usual routines.
A New Theory
As you’ve seen, it doesn’t seem like any of the theories surrounding Alexander’s death match up quite right. However, there is a final, very recent theory, that could go a long way to explaining the death of the great leader: Guillain-Barré Syndrome, transmitted by an infection of the bacteria Campylobacter pylori. This is my favorite theory, not only because it seems highly probable, but because it only ratchets up the drama.
This theory, in a way similar to the West Nile Virus one, rests on a fact that has gone overlooked and unexplained by all the other possible causes of death: his body didn’t decompose for six days. Why? Dr. Katherine Hall of the University of Otago, New Zealand argues that it’s because he wasn’t dead yet.
In ancient times, doctors didn’t have a handy pulse monitor to check when the patient flatlines. Instead, they relied on monitoring the patient’s breathing. GBS causes muscular paralysis to its patients, which is what happened in Alexander’s case. As his body slowly froze, his breathing would have slowed to a near halt - but he would’ve still been alive. This could’ve caused his doctors to make the most infamous false death diagnosis in world history. The reason that Alexander was clearheaded during the initial onset of his disease could’ve been that the GBS he contracted didn’t cause immediate delirium or unconsciousness. Personally, I consider this to be the most plausible explanation for the death of Alexander the Great.
Unfortunately, just like all the other possibilities, it’s impossible to be sure if Alexander actually died from GBS, contracted through bacteria. Their reliance on ancient, perhaps fabricated accounts severely limits confidence. The only way we can truly confirm what brought down one of the most powerful leaders of the ancient world, is find the body of the man himself.
Sources:
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9078372/
https://www.history.com/news/alexander-the-great-death-cause-discovery
https://www.ancienthistorybulletin.org/subscribed-users-area/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/hall.pdf
https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/was-alexander-great-pronounced-dead-prematurely-180971419/