Posted on 01/29/2019 11:02:15 AM PST by Red Badger
FULL TITLE:
Alexander the Great ‘was ALIVE while his body was prepared for burial’ – after rare disease left him paralysed for six days
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It has baffled boffins for decades, but we may finally know what killed one of history's finest military minds
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HE mystery over the death of Alexander the Great may have finally been solved – and his passing was grislier than historians had ever imagined.
The fearsome military genius succumbed to a rare disease that left him paralysed for six days, gradually robbing him of his ability to move, speak and breath, claims a new study.
It means the ancient Macedonian ruler was likely still alive while his loyal soldiers prepared his body for burial in 323 BC.
His muscles were paralysed to the point that doctors couldn't see he was still breathing, meaning he was pronounced dead nearly a week early.
One of history's finest warmongers, Alexander the Great established the largest empire the ancient world had ever seen through a series of ferocious military conquests.
At the age of 25, his army overcame overwhelming odds to crush the Persian territories of Asia Minor, Syria and Egypt without suffering a single defeat.
The towering leader fell ill suddenly in Babylon aged 32, and for decades historians have puzzled over what finished him off, with some blaming typhoid, alcoholism or even poison.
Now health boffins in New Zealand think they have the answer: A rare autoimmune disease that destroyed his body from the inside.
They suggest the condition left him paralysed and unable to speak, meaning his staff failed to recognise, for nearly a week, that their king was still alive.
"I wanted to stimulate new debate and discussion and possibly rewrite the history books by arguing Alexander's real death was six days later than previously accepted," said study author Dr Katherine Hall, of the Dunedin School of Medicine in New Zealand.
Alexander's astonishing military victories are depicted in hundreds of ancient artworks
Who was Alexander the Great?
Here's everything you need to know...
Alexander the Great is the outstanding military genius of antiquity — a seemingly invincible general who conquered half the known world in his short life. To the ancients he was the ultimate hero – unflinchingly brave, outrageously daring, generous to his enemies and devoted to his friends. But there was a darker side to Alexander and his life story is peppered with tales of drunken brutality and bloody purges. Alexander was born in 356 BC, the son of Philip II, king of the northern Greek state of Macedonia. As a child, he was taught by the great philosopher Aristotle, and became king of Macedon when Philip was assassinated by a disgruntled guardsman in 336 BC. One of history's finest warmongers, Alexander established the largest empire the ancient world had ever seen through a series of ferocious military conquests. At the age of 25, his army overcame overwhelming odds to crush the Persian territories of Asia Minor, Syria and Egypt without suffering a single defeat. His empire stretched across three continents, covering 2million square miles. Alexander inspired such loyalty in his men they’d follow him anywhere and, if necessary, die in the process. He passed away aged just 32 in Babylon, the metropolis he had planned to make his capital. The cause of his death is unknown, though historians have blamed typhoid, alcoholism or poison.
"His death may be the most famous case of pseudothanatos, or false diagnosis of death, ever recorded."
Dr Hall's team pored over ancient accounts of Alexander's symptoms, as well as modern medical textbooks, for their research.
His illness is said to have begun after a raucous night of drinking in which he downed 12 pints of wine.
Alexander complained of fatigue and "generalised aches" the next morning, but chose to power through another dozen pints of wine that evening.
A day later, and sharp abdominal pains plagued Alexander, while an increasingly severe fever took hold of the doomed warrior.
Bedridden and in excruciating pain, Alexander gradually lost his ability to move, only able to flicker his eyes and twitch his hands just eight days after his symptoms began.
By the eleventh day, the King of Macedonia and Persia was pronounced dead, though staff claimed he remained sound of mind right until the end.
Dr Hall says Alexander's symptoms match up with the brain disorder Guillain-Barré Syndrome (GBS).
The disease occurs when the body's immune system attacks its nervous system, gradually paralysing the victim.
It affects one in 100,000 people in the UK and US today.
Dr Hall says GBS would explain the fearsome warrior's paralysis, which first took the use of his legs and arms before rendering him unable to speak.
The disease, caused by a bacterial infection in the stomach, does not affect the brain, which matches reports that Alexander was sound of mind through his illness.
His new diagnosis raises the gruesome possibility that Alexander was still alive long after he was pronounced dead.
At the time, doctors didn't use your pulse to check if you were still alive, instead looking for signs you were still breathing.
The paralysis would have gradually restricted Alexander's respiratory muscles until his breaths were so small that doctors couldn't spot the movement of his chest.
Greek scholars later wrote that in the days after his death, Alexander's body didn't decompose, proving the warrior king was a god.
But Dr Hall says this may have been because he was in fact still alive.
She added that Alexander was likely was in a coma by the time preparations for his death began.
"It is very likely [he] was in a deep coma by this stage and would have had no awareness when they began their task," she said.
The research was published in the journal The Ancient History Bulletin.
PinGGG!....................
gradually robbing him of his ability to move, speak and breath,
Did they have a breathing machine back then?
Because if you can’t breathe, you are dead within minutes.
Thanks for posting this. Interesting story.
Thirty two pints of wine in two days. Four gallons? World class boozer.
If you can’t speak because of paralysis, how can you swallow?
Nobody lasts 8 days without water.
‘Wine’ back in those days was not what we would call ‘wine’ today....................
They probably mean voluntary vs involuntary.
One can only hope he was in a coma before the purging of fluids did begin.
Assuming this is not an exaggeration or matter of folklore,
that level of alcohol consumption; 12 pints in one night, followed by 12 MORE pints the next day; would be considered severely alcoholic today. Just by that, he may have weakened his immune system just enough to let some corrosive condition or debilitating bacteria flourish and then take over the body.
That’s why they called him “Alexander the Grape”.
I always enjoy British articles that use the word “boffin.”
He dies of AIDs???
(it was probbly those little Persian boys!!)
‘Wine’ back in those days would have been terrible:
Preservation efforts are the most noticeable culinary difference between ancient and modern wine. Modern bottles help protect wine today, but exposure to oxygen quickly spoiled ancient wines. Vintners tried to preserve them with resin, which made the wines sticky and thick. Other additives included lead, lye-ash, marble dust, salt, pepper, and random assortments of herbs that were used to make wine remotely palatable.
Thanks Red Badger.
Guillain-Barré Syndrome? What about AIDS? Maybe he died of AIDS, the first known case, y'know, because he was a flaming homo? /sarc
I'll stick with the poisoning hypothesis. Also, he was mighty hard on his own health during the years campaigning, recovering from life-threatening wounds at least twice.
Ten or so years ago a book came out claiming Alexander went crazy due to alcoholism.
And the dolt author of this piece is full of ****, A the G wasn't a warmonger.
Interest choice of words by someone who will most likely never make an impact on the world.
Campylobacter jejuni....................
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Campylobacter_jejuni
May have been in food ill-prepared..................
You know a lot about the history of wines.
All you described is new information to me.
I do recall hearing that many countries favored drinking wine when clean or potable water could not be guaranteed.
That’s one reason French and Italian children would be accustomed to wine at the dinner table.
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