Posted on 08/03/2004 11:38:37 AM PDT by blam
Alexander the Great's Death Debated
Aug. 2, 2004 — What killed ancient world conqueror Alexander the Great is still a mystery, pitting scientists who favor West Nile virus against those who lean toward a death from typhoid.
History says that Alexander, king of Macedonia, died at 32 in 323 B.C. after several days of fever in Babylon. However, the cause of the fever was always unclear.
Alexander In The Fog
Several hypotheses have been advanced: poisoning, malaria, or cirrhosis of the liver caused by Alexander's penchant for drink, as well as typhoid or west Nile virus.
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The dispute resurfaced in the July issue of "Emerging Infectious Diseases," published by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which published several arguments disputing the West Nile virus theory.
In a December 2003 article in the same publication, two U.S. scientists, John Marr, epidemiologist at the Virginia department of health, and Charles Calisher of Colorado State University, argued that Alexander's death as recounted by Greek biographer Plutarch several centuries later showed that he had encephalitis from West Nile virus.
The virus infects wild birds but can be transmitted to humans by infected mosquitos. The infection generally goes undetected or has influenza-like symptoms. In some cases, the disease becomes complicated by a menengoencephalitis.
Marr and Calister lean on Plutharch's account of the deaths of a flock of ravens as Alexander entered Babylon.
"The inexplicable behavior of ravens is reminiscent of avian illness and death weeks before the first human cases of West Nile virus infection were identified in the United States. We posit that Alexander may have died of West Nile virus encephalitis," said Marr and Calisher.
David Oldach of the University of Maryland School of Medicine, Baltimore, said Plutarch never meant to write a history and that Marr and Calisher were "perhaps unaware of the magnitude of Plutarch's obsession with avian auguries."
Six years ago, Oldach and his colleagues at the University of Maryland published an article in which they concluded that Alexander died of typhoid, also based on symptoms described by Plutarch.
Burke Cunha, of Winthrop-University Hospital in Mineola, New York, also has his doubts. "West Nile encephalitis begins acutely, with initial signs and symptoms of mental confusion and muscle weakness. Fevers are not usually the most conspicuous feature of West Nile encephalitis, and in most cases the fever does not usually increase or last more than a two-week period.
"Alexander's final illness is more characteristic of typhoid fever than West Nile encephalitis," he concluded.
Finally, Massimo Galli, of the University of Milan, Italy, said, "West Nile Virus is a relatively young virus and reduces the probability of incidental infections of humans before 1,000 years ago.
"Encephalitis itself became a frequent complication of West Nile Virus fever in 1996, which suggests the recent appearance of more pathogenic viral strains."
In response to his detractors, John Marr said, "We agree that typhoid fever remains high on the list of probable causes.
"Although individual cases of this disease usually occur in a camp setting, one would expect reports of other similar cases (the same for malaria), which was apparently not the case."
The dispute, already far from over, should get a new life in a few months, with the release of a film on Alexander, by director Oliver Stone and starring Irish actor Colin Farrell.
GGG Ping.
You mean he's still alive???
Typical. Not so much as a passing reference to my "Fatal Tractor Pull Injury" theory. Snobs.
Owl_Eagle
”Guns Before Butter.”
Thanks for the post.
West Nile (and 'new' West Nile) virus including Riff Valley,....are strains of modern warfare. (IMO)
AG......was poisoned......(IMO)
(The 'way' of the Greeks)
/sarcasm
AIDS
There's a very interesting BBC video done by Michael Wood a few years ago in which he retraced, with a camera and, obviously, a lot of work, the 20,000 mile journey, through 16 countries of today, of Alexander and his troops, interviewing and gleaning information from the locals whose stories of the conqueror are still being told. I got it from my library and found it a fascinating compaction of the historic journey without all the political correctness that would be included by many today.
I vote "Yes, he's dead".
Dang, ya beat me!
Forgot to say that he traveled through Afghanistan just ahead of the swarming, murdering Taliban in 1996 -- photos of that country, bombed out and war-torn, bring the Cause of today very close. Due to Saddam Hussein still being in power, he couldn't drive through parts of Iraq where Alexander traveled, where one of his big battles was fought, so he got a hop aboard a US AWACS plane to go over the site. Cool stuff.
One of the best features of the video is Wood's ability to connect with and draw out the locals who offered a (to me) fascinating view of the world that, in some places, doesn't appear to have changed much for centuries.
It's called "In the Footsteps of Alexander the Great" by Michael Wood.
Naw.
His girlfren' Wynona done caught him two-timin' down at the No-Tell Motel and done him in when he came staggering back all sloppy drunk to the trailer park.
'Least, thass' how I heerd it.
I have an ironclad alibi.
Er, that part is a 50-50 guess....
Alexander's death was predicted in the Bible decades before his birth. God killed him so that his "posterity" would not inherit his empire, thus giving rise to the Selucid kings and Ptolemies of Egypt, eventually culminating in Cleopatra. Her defeat along with Mark Anthony allowed Augustus Caesar to consolidate power and the Roman Empire was now ready for a census to be held.....and the rest is HIS-tory....
Actually his monkier "The Great" was given by his wife although technically, it was short for "It Would Be Great If You Took Out The Trash Now And Again, Mr BigShot General Who Never Has Time For His Family"
He's hanging out with Elvis.
It's Bush's fault.
AIDS = Anal Induced Death Sentence
Owl_Eagle
”Guns Before Butter.”
LMAO!
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