Who Was Responsible For Alexander The Great's Death

From the moment he was born in late July, 357 B.C., Alexander the Great was destined to make his mark on history. The son of Philip II, king of Macedonia, and his princess wife Olympias, Alexander was practically born to be a leader. As the young prince grew, those around him came to realize he would someday be known far beyond the reaches of Macedonia, as evidenced in a famed interaction between Philip II and his son, in which Philip tells Alexander, "O my son, find yourself a kingdom equal to and worthy of your ambitions, for Macedonia is too little for you." At the age of 20, Alexander was chosen to rule Macedonia following the assassination of his father. For the next thirteen years he held this position as he led an unprecedented number of troops in sweeping military conquests which cemented his

An account of the days leading up to his death has survived, and it tells a harrowing tale of the onset and progression of his mystery illness. Within this account are many clues that provide evidence for and against various theories of what, or whom, was responsible for his death. A Greek historian named Arrian had the foresight to compose this record, though Alexander had been dead for some 350 years when he wrote it. Arrian sourced his knowledge of the event from the Royal Diaries, firsthand accounts of one of Alexander's military excursions. Arrian's account focuses more on Alexander's illness than on the events that preceded it. On the night Alexander fell ill, he was attending a celebration held in the name of the Greek demigod Heracles at the house of a foreign friend. His enjoyment of the festivities was cut short after he quickly downed a large, unmixed quantity of wine. He yelled in pain as if he had been struck and was unable to return to his chambers unassisted. When Alexander awoke he was afflicted with a fever , and it is at this point that Arian's record