Alexander the great biography death

When Alexander the Great died in Babylon in 323 B.C., his body didn’t begin to show signs of decomposition for a full six days, according to historical accounts.

To the ancient Greeks, this confirmed what they all thought about the young Macedonian king, and what Alexander believed about himself—that he was not an ordinary man, but a god.

Just 32 years old, he had conquered an empire stretching from the Balkans to modern Pakistan and was poised on the edge of another invasion when he fell ill and died after 12 days of excruciating suffering. Since then, historians have debated his cause of death, proposing everything from malaria, typhoid, and alcohol poisoning to assassination by one of his rivals.

Theories on Alexander the Great's Cause of Death

But in one theory, a scholar and practicing clinician suggests that Alexander may have suffered from the neurological disorder Guillain-Barré Syndrome (GBS), which caused his death. She also argues that people might not have noticed any immediate signs of decomposition on the body for one simple reason—because Alexander wasn’t dead yet.

As Dr. Katherine Hall, a senior lecturer at the Dunedin School of Medicine at the University of Otago, New Zealand, wrote in a 2018 article published in The Ancient History Bulletin, most other theories of what killed Alexander have focused on the agonizing fever and abdominal pain he suffered in the days before he died.

In fact, she points out, he was also known to have developed a “progressive, symmetrical, ascending paralysis” during his illness. And though he was very sick, he remained compos mentis (fully in control of his mental faculties) until just before his death.

Hall argues that GBS, a rare but serious autoimmune disorder in which the immune system attacks healthy cells in the nervous system, can explain this combination of symptoms better than the other theories advanced for

Where Was Alexander the Great From?

Alexander III was born in Pella, Macedonia, in 356 B.C. to King Philip II and Queen Olympias—although legend had it his father was none other than Zeus, the ruler of the Greek gods.

Philip II was an impressive military man in his own right. He turned Macedonia (a region on the northern part of the Greek peninsula) into a force to be reckoned with, and he fantasized about conquering the massive Persian Empire.

Bucephalus

At age 12, Alexander showed impressive courage when he tamed the wild horse Bucephalus, an enormous stallion with a furious demeanor. The horse became his battle companion for most of Alexander’s life.

When Alexander was 13, Philip called on the great philosopher Aristotle to tutor his son. Aristotle sparked and fostered Alexander’s interest in literature, science, medicine and philosophy.

Alexander was just 16 when Philip went off to battle and left his son in charge of Macedonia. In 338 B.C., Alexander saw the opportunity to prove his military worth and led a cavalry against the Sacred Band of Thebes—a supposedly unbeatable, select army made up entirely of male lovers—during the Battle of Chaeronea.

Alexander put his vigor and bravery on display, and his cavalry decimated the Sacred Band of Thebes.

Alexander Becomes King

In 336 B.C., Alexander’s father Philip was assassinated by his bodyguard Pausanias. Just 20 years old, Alexander claimed the Macedonian throne and killed his rivals before they could challenge his sovereignty.

He also quashed rebellions for independence in northern Greece. Once he’d cleaned house, Alexander left to follow in his father’s footsteps and continue Macedonia’s world domination.

Alexander appointed the general Antipater as regent and headed for Persia with his army. They crossed the Hellespont, a narro

Abstract

Alexander the Great (356 BC - 323 BC) was only 20 years old when he was named the next King of Macedonia after his father was assassinated. The following 11 years witnessed the evolution of an outstanding leader who expanded his empire from Egypt to the Indian frontier. Despite successfully conquering much of the world, he was afflicted with a febrile illness at the age of 32, which he battled for a mere 11 days before perishing. It has been almost 2,400 years since his death, but the exact cause remains a mystery. Did he die of natural causes or at the hands of conspirators? Numerous papers have been written about the illnesses suffered by Alexander, with the current evidence revealing a healthy 32-year-old man who developed fever and acute abdominal pain with rapid deterioration of his general condition leading to death within a short duration. We analyze various theories and discuss possible etiologies that may have contributed to his tragic death. Information was gathered from primary and secondary sources found through searching multiple online academic databases and the University of Southern California (USC), University of California Los Angeles (UCLA), and Harvard libraries. Unreliable sources and the unavailability of Alexander’s body for autopsy make reaching a definitive diagnosis an impossible task; however, based on existing information, we presume that he most probably died of a neurological cause due to acute necrotizing pancreatitis and encephalopathy secondary to peritonitis. Other potential causes include fulminant hepatic failure, acute demyelinating neuropathy or Guillain Barre Syndrome, and arsenic poisoning.

Keywords: history, cause of death, pancreatitis, encephalopathy, alexander the great

Introduction and background

In July of 356 BC, in Pella, the ancient capital of Macedonia, King Philip II and one of his wives, Olympias, Princess of Epirote, were blessed with a male child they named Alexander. From birth, it was prophesi

Alexander the Great in battle on his horse, Bucephalas  ©Alexander III of Macedon, better known as Alexander the Great, single-handedly changed the nature of the ancient world in little more than a decade.

Alexander was born in Pella, the ancient capital of Macedonia in July 356 BC. His parents were Philip II of Macedon and his wife Olympias. Alexander was educated by the philosopher Aristotle. Philip was assassinated in 336 BC and Alexander inherited a powerful yet volatile kingdom. He quickly dealt with his enemies at home and reasserted Macedonian power within Greece. He then set out to conquer the massive Persian Empire.

Against overwhelming odds, he led his army to victories across the Persian territories of Asia Minor, Syria and Egypt without suffering a single defeat. His greatest victory was at the Battle of Gaugamela, in what is now northern Iraq, in 331 BC. The young king of Macedonia, leader of the Greeks, overlord of Asia Minor and pharaoh of Egypt became 'great king' of Persia at the age of 25.

Over the next eight years, in his capacity as king, commander, politician, scholar and explorer, Alexander led his army a further 11,000 miles, founding over 70 cities and creating an empire that stretched across three continents and covered around two million square miles. The entire area from Greece in the west, north to the Danube, south into Egypt and as far to the east as the Indian Punjab, was linked together in a vast international network of trade and commerce. This was united by a common Greek language and culture, while the king himself adopted foreign customs in order to rule his millions of ethnically diverse subjects.

Alexander was acknowledged as a military genius who always led by example, although his belief in his own indestructibility meant he was often reckless with his own life and those of his soldiers. The fact that his army only refused to follow him once in 13 years of a reign during which