Poison sprinkled with wine? Revenge of a wife or a hateful soldier? Or maybe rather ... an ordinary disease caused by a fly bite? What really caused the death of one of the greatest leaders in history?

What were Alexander the great's last moments in Babylon?

It was in June 323 BCE in this city, shaken by shivers. At the top of his power, after conquering the whole world, already full of new plans again, he died at the age of almost 33.

- described the specialist in forensic history Jürgen Thorwald in the book Ancient Medicine. Its secrets and power . The question of what did the Macedonian chief die after a few days of agony?

Defeated by Nergal

To those skilled in malaria, the description of his suffering bore the unmistakable features of the malaria disease. The epigastric pains Alexander suffered from due to the typical enlargement of the spleen was characteristic. The symptoms accompanying his illness in the form of mental disorders were considered significant, during which he once wanted to throw himself into the Euphrates and then again grabbed a dagger to commit suicide. The fate of the conqueror testified to the disastrous power of malaria on the Euphrates and the Tigris. .

Says Thorwald, describing the ruler's last days.

In the Mesopotamian belief system, Nergal was the undivided ruler of the underworld. After losing the fight for power over the heavenly kingdom, he was to take revenge by sending diseases and epidemics to people.

So malaria or the so-called pappataci fever? For thousands of years the people of Mesopotamia have been fighting sand flies ( Phlebotomus ) that transmit these diseases. They both chased them away with fans and tried out-of-this-world methods:in the Mesopotamian pantheon, the plague god Nergal appeared in the form of an insect, and among the Phoenicians the god of flies Baal-Zebul (the demon Beelzebub was later coined after his name). But the problem has not gone away - it remains relevant even today.

These flies enter the eyes, ears and nose, are even inhaled, cover dishes and food, and transmit severe gastrointestinal infections, jaundice, bronchitis, and severe eye infections - lists Thorwald on the worksheets Ancient Medicine. Its secrets and power . - The sting of a sandfly, which no modern mosquito net can protect against, causes blood red itchy patches. It causes fever with sweating, arthritis and is possibly the cause of boil-like swellings, so-called Baghdad or lumps, mainly located on the head and hands .

Was it possible that Alexander was knocked down by a fly ?! Not everyone believes it. Other hypotheses also arose.

The old conspiratorial guard

If not malaria, then what? One hypothesis is that the king suddenly fell ill after an all-night feast. Apparently not having enough fun, he arranged for himself and his closest companions an afterparty . Then he took the glass of wine and, while drinking, he suddenly groaned "as if a spear had pierced him." The first thing that comes to mind is poison. Alexander was a great leader, but he was not loved by everyone.

While in Babylon, he adopted the local tradition that his subjects worship their rulers. For Macedonians, it was unthinkable for the Greeks. So they started to grumble. The old warriors who still remembered Alexander's father - Philip of Macedon - did not like the new order. Alexander began to air the plot. He sentenced the experienced commander Parmenion and his son Philotas to death, and he also killed Klejtos, who was defending the veterans. Cassandra, who laughed seeing the Greeks falling on his face, the ruler simply beat up.

And it was Cassander who became one of the suspects of poisoning. He was the son of Antipater, ruling on behalf of the Macedonian conqueror in the European part of the empire. Summoned by the ruler to Babylon, Antipater sent Cassander there. After his arrival, Alexander was long dead. Was it then Cassander and the poison, most likely brought from Europe?

Hoof poison

Or maybe it was the wife of the ruler Roxana who took revenge on her unfaithful husband by giving him strychnine? Or maybe Aristotle himself, Alexander's teacher, was involved in the political conspiracy - because such rumors also appeared? "This poison was, as they say, some ice-cold water that flows in the form of delicate dew somewhere from a rock near the town of Nonakris" - described Plutarch of Cheronea (1st-2nd century CE). However, the continuation of his investigation into the killer substance from Nonakris (located in the northern part of Arcadia on the Peloponnesian Peninsula) is not convincing:

They grab it there and store it in a donkey's hoof. For in no other vessel is it possible to keep this water, the cold and sharpness of which eats up everything ”. Donkey hoof ?! It sounds like quite a fairy tale, even if according to some historians it was in fact "a lead can placed in a mule's hoof .

The Macedonian empire of Alexander the Great still arouses the admiration of historians today. The chief broke the power of the Persian Empire and by 327 BCE he took control of almost the entire country, only a moment later to move to India. His death was on the hand of many rulers of the time.

Plutarch himself stated that "most of the authors consider this poison story to be pure invention." Also, Flavius ​​Arrian (1st-2nd century CE), regarded today as a credible and well-read author, emphasized at best the bad omens accompanying Alexander before his death, and did not look for the poisoner's hand in its causes.

It is worth noting that soon after the death of the ruler, a journal was published (the so-called "Ephemeris") informing about the king's actions in order to dispel any doubts about his last moments. Unless this document has been manipulated? Either way, the rumors about the poison only gained strength a few years later, when the bloody game for Alexander's inheritance took place. It was easy to cast a shadow of suspicion on rivals back then.

One cup too many

To dispel any doubts, it would be easiest to examine the ruler's corpse. However, his tomb and mummified body have not yet been found. Therefore, more theories appear from time to time. One of them assumes that Alexander simply could not stand the lifestyle he led. Exhaustive long-term conquests, combined with sharply sprinkled feasts (during which a six-liter "cup of Heracles" circulated from the hands of the revelers!), Could lead to cirrhosis or pancreatitis.

19th-century depiction of the funeral trial of Alexander. This is how the departure of one of the greatest leaders in the history of the ancient world was imagined.

So the alcohol was to blame? Guilty or complicit. Toxicologist Leo Schepp and historian Pat Wheatley suggested a few years ago that Alexander might have poisoned himself with wine from fermented white hellebore ( Veratrum album ). It was known in antiquity as a means of inducing vomiting, but it could be overdosed. It would not kill the ruler immediately (like strychnine), but slowly - which would correspond to historical records of long agony, combined with stomach aches, nausea and weakness of the organism. The question is, would the doctors around Alexander not immediately recognize the poisoning with this plant?

So it seems that while there are many believers in deliberate poisoning and new diseases (typhus, West Nile fever, etc.) appear on the suspect list, malaria is a strong candidate. It also seems more likely than a certain macabre horror hypothesis - that Alexander did not die, but was only in a coma. After all, as Plutarch wrote, his corpse remained "clean and fresh." Then the lethargic ruler ... was put under the embalmer's knife. He woke up, but those who cared for Alexander's throne prevented his screams from being heard by anyone else.

It sounds dramatic, but the buzzing of flies and mosquitoes - those silent killers - is more convincing.