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.
‘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.
“...12 pints in one night, followed by 12 MORE pints the next day; would be considered severely alcoholic today...”
Stew bums die like that everyday in our wonderful big cities.