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Hidden History with Dr. Harini Bhat
The Death of Alexander the Great: Two Weeks that Changed the Ancient World
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This is rewind. History says Alexander the Great died in 323 BCE at just 32 years old. But that's really all we know for sure. To this day, experts still debate the death of one of history's greatest warriors. How he died, why he died, and what happened to his remains. There are a lot of theories on the death and final resting place of Alexander the Great. And today we're getting into all of them. I'm Dr. Huni Bhatt and this is Hidden History, a rewind original powered by Pave Studios. On this show, we're exploring real events from history that have yet to be fully explained and examining all the different theories, from science to the supernatural and everything in between, from vanished civilizations and doomsday prophecies to paranormal experiences and unexplained phenomena. I'm looking at it all and I want you to join me. Before we begin, I'd love it if you could rate, review and follow Hidden History. Your support allows our community to grow and for other people to discover the show. We're also on YouTube with full video that brings each episode to Life. Just search HiddenHistoryPod and subscribe today. I'm talking about one of history's most debated deaths. Not jfk, not Marilyn Monroe, not Amelia Earhart. I'm talking about the warrior king, Alexander the Great, whose strange, prolonged death at just 32 years old has kept people guessing for over 2000 years. And it isn't just what killed Alexander the Great. It's that his remains are still missing to this day. Spoiler. We're not about to find them, but researchers might be closer than ever. And this story is definitely worth another look. May323BCE32 year old Alexander the Great is doing what 32 year old world conquerors do. Throwing parties in Babylon. And honestly, he'd earned it. Or at least he thought he had. In just 12 years as king of Macedonia, he conquered kingdoms from southeastern Europe all the way to the edge of India. Building an Empire spanning three continents and 2 million square miles. This young king seemed unstoppable, maybe even invincible. People across his empire were starting to wonder if the rumors were really true. That Alexander wasn't just a man. He was a God. Before long, they learn he was just as mortal as they were. But let's back up, because to understand how Alexander died, you need to understand how he lived. Alexander was born powerful in a way. He was the son of King Philip II and Queen Olympias of Macedonia. Not a bad position to be in. But here's where kind of powerful comes in. Because at the time Macedonia was a small scrappy kingdom in the northern part of the Greek peninsula. Most of the classical world looked down on it as a backwater full of unsophisticated people. Not exactly world beaters. But Philip II was determined to change all of that. And Alexander's mother, Queen Olympias, wasn't exactly keeping expectations reasonable. Before Alexander was even born, she claimed to have had a dream where she was struck by a thunderbolt. Which in the ancient world meant one she'd been touched by Zeus himself. So her son, part God. No pressure then. On the day Alexander was born in 356Bce, Philip led his army to victory in battle and his horses won the Olympics. What other explanation was there? This kid had to be divine. Omens aside, Alexander had a genuinely extraordinary upbringing. He could tame wild horses as a youth and from the time he was a teenager, his private tutor was none other than Aristotle. Yes, that Aristotle. But Alexander wasn't just studying philosophy. When a neighboring people attacked Macedonia while his father was away, 16 year old Alexander stepped up and crushed them. That victory set the tone for everything that came next. And it came a lot sooner than anyone expected. After Philip was assassinated in 336bce, Alexander's ascension wasn't guaranteed. Though he was technically only half Macedonian, his mother was from Epirus. But Alexander had already proven himself as a warrior and the army assembly immediately immediately proclaimed him the next king. Over the next 12 years, Alexander picked up where his father left off, conquering everything he could reach. And I mean everything. We're talking the modern day countries of Afghanistan, Egypt, Iran, Iraq, Pakistan, parts of India, Turkey and about a dozen more. His empire eventually stretched across three continents. Along the way he picked up a wife, Roxana, and an ever growing belief in his own legend. He founded or renamed roughly 20 to 30 cities after himself. Some ancient scholars such as Plutarch put that number closer to 70. Most of them called Alexandria. Subtle. His last campaign was India, where he took an arrow to the lungs. That made the trip back home a lot harder than the trip in. So in 323 BCE, 32 year old Alexander decided it was time for a break. He brought his very pregnant wife and his inner circle to Babylon. Babylon was the jewel of Mesopotamia, located in present day Iraq and what you've probably heard called the cradle of civilization. It was the heart of Alexander's empire. The city was protected by three layers of baked mud brick walls. And inside those walls were two absolutely breathtaking palaces. The southern palace had hundreds of rooms. And it's believed that the legendary hanging gardens were on the grounds which if they really existed, were one of the seven wonders of the ancient world. Vibe wise, Babylon was basically the Las Vegas of the ancient world, at least according to the Bible. Now could there have been an agenda there? Sure. Babylon's empire had destroyed Jerusalem, but either way with its lavish palaces and endless wine, Babylon was exactly the kind of place a king like Alexander could unwind. And Alexander absolutely took part in every indulgence Babylon had to offer. He was young, he was resilient, people thought he might be a God. What's the worst that could happen? As it turns out, a lot. On May 29, 323 BCE Alexander threw a huge banquet for his army to celebrate the end of the impending invasion of Arabia. The wine was flowing, animals were sacrificed to the gods, then eaten for dinner. Standard operating procedure from Macedonian king. But the real festivities started after dinner. Alexander and his guests downed glass after glass of wine. The goal was drinking to the point of unconsciousness. If that didn't happen, maybe a good time wasn't had by all. Alexander's closest companions were in the room. He drank an individual toast to every single one of them. But then he did something unusual for him anyway. He announced he was turning in early. The men in the room looked at each other. This wasn't the Alexander they knew, but they shrugged it off. Maybe he just wasn't feeling it. That night Alexander went to his chambers and took a bath. His usual pre bed ritual. But when he got out his friend Medius stopped by. There was an after party. Alexander was about to say no, but Medius insisted the king was never one to turn down one more drink, so he agreed. Alexander kept drinking at Metis party but still wasn't feeling 100%. So he excused himself and finally went to bed for real. The next day Alexander woke up achy and feverish, but he survived an arrow to the lung in India. Surely he could kick. Whatever this was, he just needed to take it easy. He spent the day in bed, then had a few close friends over for dinner. At one point Alexander dared a guest to down a crater of wine. Basically a giant bowl of it. And one thing to note, wine was different back then, more thick and syrupy and not quite as strong. So this wasn't the craziest challenge. It was still a lot to drink though. But the man did it. Then he challenged Alexander to do the same. So Alexander picked up the bowl and started to drink. Before he could finish Alexander dropped the bowl and cried out in pain. He said he felt like someone drove a spear into his back. He fell back onto his pillow. The party was over. Two days later, the fever still hadn't broken, but Alexander refused to look weak. He had his men carry him out on a couch so he could at least lead his daily prayers. He couldn't walk, but his mind was still sharp. He called his top commanders, Ptolemy, Perdiccas, Leonatus, Nearchus, and Eumenes to discuss the upcoming invasion of Arabia. An invasion Alexander fully intended to lead himself. But the next day, he still couldn't move. Not good for his health or the optics. So he had his men carry him up the Euphrates river to the other palace, the one with the hanging gardens. He thought the calm of the gardens might soothe him. Besides, this palace was more secluded. The last thing he needed was for his kingdom to see their king looking weak. But Alexander was weak, and he was getting worse. A few more days passed and his condition deteriorated further. His staff started to notice a great warrior and a man that meant many suspected wasn't even human, but surely had been able to overcome an illness in a few days. But Alexander couldn't. He wasn't going to let that stop him, though. Around June 5, after a week at the northern palace, Alexander was carried back to the southern palace. He told his commanders to meet him there. He planned to give them their marching orders for Arabia. There was just one problem. When he woke up the next morning, June 6, he could barely speak. His commanders gathered around his bed, waiting. Alexander motioned for his most senior general, Brydicus, to step forward. Then he reportedly removed his signet ring and handed it over. The room went silent. Everyone understood their invincible leader was transferring power. Maybe he was mortal after all. One of his men asked what they were all thinking. Quote, to whom do you leave the kingdom? End quote. Alexander summoned everything he had left to answer, quote to the strongest, end quote. Word got out fast. Rumors spread through the kingdom that Alexander was already dead. But he wasn't, not yet. His soldiers threatened to riot if they couldn't see him one last time. So they were let into his chambers to see what remained of the great warrior. Mute, paralyzed and barely conscious. A line formed out the door. One by one, soldiers filed past his bed. Alexander could only nod or blink. The next day, on June 10th or 11th, and Alexander the Great died of a mysterious illness that took only two weeks to kill him. And a major reason. We know the exact date. One anonymous Babylonian. This man kept an astronomical diary, a log of the stars and their Movements scratched onto clay tablets and right under the date he wrote three words, quote, the king died, end quote. A man who conquered 2 million square miles of earth reduced to a footnote in a stargazer's diary. Then, moving on to more important matters, he noted one word about why he hadn't recorded the stars that night. Clouds. End of entry. It's the only known contemporary record of the date of Alexander the Great's death. That stargazer might have had better things to do. But the rest of Alexander's empire, they were about to lose their collective minds. The second Alexander the Great died, his empire descended into chaos. Alexander hadn't exactly planned for anything beyond his death. The closest he'd come to a succession plan was handing Perdiccas his ring and saying to the strongest kind of vague, which is probably the last thing you'd want a succession plan to be. And that left a lot of people trying to decide who the strongest of them was. Literally just two days after Alexander's death, soldiers burst into his chamber and started physically fighting over who was in charge. And they did so right there in front of his body, which mysteriously hadn't even started to decompose despite the sweltering June heat. Once things calmed down, without any resolution, I should add, Babylonian priests finally started embalming the body six days after Alexander's death. But here's the strange part. The body still hadn't shown any signs of decomposition, which only made the Alexander was a God theory more convincing. Keep that detail in mind, it's going to come back later. His mummified remains were placed in a gold coffin to be buried In Macedonia, almost 1500 miles away. Craftsman began building a funeral carriage for the journey. But this wasn't any ordinary carriage. It was basically a temple on wheels, requiring 64 mules to pull it. It took two years to build. In the meantime, there was a fragile compromise over Alexander's succession. Roxana's newborn son Alexander IV and the boy's mentally ill uncle Philip were made co kings, with Perdiccas as regent. Safe to say, it wasn't going to last. So the infighting continued. And in 321 BCE, while the funeral procession was en route to Macedonia, Alexander's friend Ptolemy hijacked it and diverted the body to Egypt. It was a power grab, plain and simple. Alexander's remains never made it to Macedonia. They were first taken to Memphis, the Egyptian one, not the one in Tennessee with a giant bass pro shop pyramid, before finally being placed in a mausoleum in Alexandria, Egypt. Maybe the most Famous of the dozens of cities he'd named after himself, Alexander's tomb became a landmark. And over the next few centuries, it was visited by leaders from all over the world, including Julius Caesar and Augustus. But by the 4th century CE, the tomb just vanished. No one knows where it went. It may have been destroyed in a war or earthquake. Some historians believe it could be underwater. But the location of his tomb isn't the only mystery surrounding Alexander's death. There's a bigger one. What actually killed a healthy 32 year old warrior king in just two weeks? Let's dig into the theories, starting with what gets most of us in the disease. So what do we know for sure? We know that in the two weeks before his death, Alexander was running a fever, he was too tired to walk, and he had some shooting internal pain. Those symptoms could point to any number of things. Influenza, meningitis, pancreatitis, even typhoid. But there are a few additional factors that narrow the field, starting with malaria. The most common symptoms of malaria can look a lot lot like flu, fever, chills, extreme fatigue and muscle aches. Untreated, it can progress to respiratory and organ failure, which sounds a lot like what Alexander experienced. And his physical location strengthens the case. Malaria spreads through mosquito bites. And Babylon was surrounded by swamps mosquito heaven, especially in May and June when Alexander was there. So he could have died of malaria. Except the parasite behind deadly malaria is Plasmodium falciparum, and it typically causes a fever that swings dramatically between high and low temperatures. Alexander's fever was persistent, but didn't seem to follow that pattern. Plus, if malaria carrying mosquitoes were rampant in the Babylonian swamps, you'd expect a wider outbreak, not just one man getting sick. So maybe not malaria. Then what? In 2003, scientists at the Virginia Department of Health and Colorado State University proposed a different answer. West Nile virus. West Nile causes fever, aches, fatigue, rash and swollen lymph nodes. And when fatal, it can cause paralysis before death. Which is exactly what happened to Alexander. It wasn't the symptoms that clinched the theory for these researchers. And it was a flock of birds. The Greek biographer Plutarch documented something strange. When Alexander first entered Babylon, he noticed a flock of ravens acting erratically, flying into each other, pecking wildly. Then suddenly, they all dropped dead at Alexander's feet. For thousands of years, people wrote this off as a bad omen. But in 1999, when West Nile virus first appeared in the United States, that story took on a new meaning. Humans get West Nile virus from birds, but not directly Usually a mosquito bites an infected bird, picks up the virus, then passes it to a human. And right before the first human outbreaks in 1999, a wave of mysterious bird deaths. Eerily similar to what Plutarch described. But this theory has problems too. West Nile needs time to build up in mosquito and bird populations before it spills over into humans. Alexander got sick in late May and died in early June. In a climate like Babylon's, the peak spillover period wouldn't hit until July or later. So the timing doesn't quite work. And we can't even be sure the bird story really happened. Plutarch was writing centuries after the fact. It could have been symbolic foreshadowing, not journalism. But there's a more recent theory that takes a complete, completely different angle. Instead of asking what killed Alexander, it asks, why didn't his body decompose? And here's the chilling he wasn't actually dead. In 2018, Dr. Catherine hall at the University of Otago in New Zealand set out to find a scientific explanation for the non decomposition, one that didn't involve divinity. She found it in the detail of his paralysis. The ancient sources didn't describe Alexander as delusional or unaware, just unable to move or speak. Dr. Hall proposed that Alexander had contracted Guillain Barre syndrome, an autoimmune condition that attacks the nervous system. It can cause paralysis, but leaves the mind intact. Here's the key. Ancient doctors determined death by checking for breath, not pulse. So Guillain Barre can slow breathing to near undetectable levels. So there's a very real possibility that Alexander didn't decompose because he wasn't dead yet. And what actually killed him was the embalming process, which included a complete disemboweling of the body. It is possible that Alexander the Great was mummified alive. As chilling as that thought is, let's not get ahead of ourselves. These are modern conclusions reached over 2,000 years after the fact. But people at the time had their own theory. And it didn't blame a disease, it blamed a person. Which leads us to our next theory. At the time of Alexander's death, a story started to spread. Not about what killed him, but who. The narrative taking hold was that two people had conspired to murder the king. The first, a man named Antipater. As Alexander conquered more and more territory, he couldn't run it all himself. So he appointed regents, trusted generals or local leaders to govern in his absence. For his home kingdom of Macedonia, he chose Antipater, a trusted family friend who'd Served his father, King Philip ii. So why would a guy like that want Alexander dead? By the time Alexander died in 323Bce, Antipater was 70 years old and had been locked in a years long power struggle with Alexander's mother Olympias over who really ran Macedonia. Then shortly before Alexander's death, the king took a side. He stripped Antipater of the regency and summoned him to Babylon. Antipater suspected Alexander was planning to imprison or kill him. So he decided to strike first. But he needed help. He turned to the second person in this alleged conspiracy. His close friend and Alexander's former teacher, Aristotle. Aristotle and Alexander were no longer on good terms. The main reason? Alexander had imprisoned and executed one of Aristotle's other proteges. Alexander had his reasons. The man had refused to bow to him and was suspected of involvement in a conspiracy against Alexander a few years earlier. So Alexander had him killed and Aristotle never forgave him. According to this theory, Aristotle agreed with Antipater. Alexander had to be stopped. And the only way to stop a man like that was to kill him. Their plan? Poison. Now here's where we slide into a little mythology. According to the story, Aristotle sourced the poison from the river Styx, the mythical river connecting Earth to the underworld. Its water was supposedly so toxic it could eat through bronze, glass. Glass and clay maybe. Aristotle figured only water from the river of Death could kill a God king. He hid the poison inside a dead mule's hoof, the only vessel supposedly strong enough to hold it, and passed it to Antipater. Then Antipater sent word that he wouldn't be coming to Babylon after all. Instead he handed the hoof to his son Cassander, who went in his place. Cassander arrived in Babylon and slipped the poison to his brother and Iolaus, who just happened to be one of Alexander's official wine pours. Iolaus also had a lover, Alexander's friend Medius, who he convinced to arrange that party where Alexander was dared to drink a ton of wine. Medius reportedly even got generals like Leonidas and Iarchus in on the plot. Cut to the night of the party. Iolaus slipped the poison into Alexander's wine. Alexander drank, then cried out in pain. A frantic Alexander tried to make himself vomit. He asked Iolaus for a feather which Iolaus brought to the king. After dipping it in more poison, Alexander doubled over and took to his bed for days. When he started to improve, he asked Iolaus for water. Iolaus poured the rest of the poison and into the glass. Alexander drank it and was dead. Shortly after this version of the story is huge if it's true. But there are serious problems with it beyond the mythological poison. Alexander had enemies, sure, but his inner circle? He kept them happy with titles, wealth and endless festivities. It's hard to imagine medias casually signing up for a murder plot. And men like Leonnatus and Iarchus knew how good they had it. Kill the king and all that goes away. Why risk it? And the poison itself? Even if the River Six is a stand in for real substance, slow acting, extended release poison didn't exist in 323bte. Any poison potent enough to kill would have done so quickly, not over two weeks. And then there's Antipater himself. He was a seasoned politician who understood the real reason Alexander was replacing him. To separate two people who wouldn't stop fighting. His regent and his mother. Alexander actually respected Antipater, but Mom was Mom. No one was going to come before her. Antipater didn't love the situation, but he probably wasn't about to assassinate a king over it. The man was 70. Retirement probably didn't sound that bad. So who spread this story in the first place? Probably Antipater's actual rival, Alexander's mother, Queen Olympias. She likely spread the poisoning narrative to smear Antipater and ensure neither he nor his family held power again. That didn't exactly work, though. It was compelling gossip for a while, but ultimately it didn't stick. Nobody gave it serious away in the long run. Either way, Alexander was dead. And that created a problem for his legacy. Specifically the part where people believed he was a God. Which brings us to our next theory. And it's all about Alexander's divinity. Remember the lightning dream? Olympias believes Zeus had blessed her womb, making Alexander divine. And unlike the poisoning story, this one stuck. Much of the Empire genuinely believed it. But imagine thinking your king is a God, only for him to die from an illness just like any normal person. That's a hard thing to accept, unless a legend about his wife might help keep the myth alive. Roxana was by his side throughout his illness. The last thing she needed was for the father of her unborn child to die. Especially because Alexander wasn't exactly thinking about setting things up for the future. So one night in early June, when Alexander was already sick. The legend says that Roxana went to her husband's chamber. He wasn't in bed. She knew he could barely move on his own, so wherever he was, someone must have carried him. But then she noticed a secret passageway leading out of his chambers. It was open and would have only fit Alexander. Roxana ran out of the palace and found her husband alone, weakly crawling toward the Euphrates River. She threw her arms around him. He hugged her back, then pulled away. When she asked what was wrong, Alexander scolded her. She was stealing his immortality. It slowly dawned on Roxana. He was trying to drown himself. If his body disappeared into the river, no one would ever find it. And everyone would have to assume he really was a God. Because a dead God wouldn't leave any remains. Or the remains he did leave would stay perfectly pristine. Which Alexander didn't plan for. But is exactly what happened, confirming what everyone had already suspected. This man was a God, and his grave should be protected at all costs. Which brings us right back to the mystery of where his body is today. Remember, Alexander's body ended up in Alexandria, Egypt, after the funeral hijacking. But then it vanished. In the 4th century CE, as recently as 2025, a Greek researcher and archaeologist named Calliope Lemnaeus Papakasta says she's closer to finding his grave than anyone has ever been. She believes Alexander was buried in Alexandria, the last known location of his tomb. But the exact spot was deliberately hidden. But not from earthquakes or floods from invading Christians. In the late 4th century, Roman Emperor Theodosius, who was Christian, ordered the eradication of all pagan symbols throughout his empire. In 391ce, he approved an invasion of Alexandria and the burning of temples. Calliope believes a pagan priesthood, knowing the Christians were coming, hid Alexander's remains to prevent the Tomb's destruction. In 2009, she led a dig near today's Alexandria National Museum, searching for the intersection of two important ancient roads. She found a statue of Alexander instead. And now she believes the tomb is very close. You may have heard that Alexander isn't the only legendary ruler on the cusp of being found. A separate team believes they're close to locating Cleopatra's tomb. If both were discovered, we'd be living in a golden age of finding lost rulers. But until a dig produces remains definitively proven to be Alexander the Great, he stays missing and he may never be found. And maybe that's just how Alexander himself would want it. As human beings, we always want answers, especially surrounding death. And I don't mean the big cosmic questions, I mean the specific ones. How do they die? What happened in those final moments? Maybe we're so afraid of the unknown that any answer, even a painful one, feels better than none. Hearing that someone was in an accident or that they had cancer is enough to quiet the fear, at least temporarily. Or maybe we just need to know how someone's story ends rather than being left with a word. Worst cliffhanger imaginable. Either way, I usually want the answer, and sometimes I don't get it. That bothers me. But with someone like Alexander the Great dead for over 2000 years, I might just have to live with that itch. So after everything we've explored today, is one of these explanations more likely than the rest? For me, the most plausible answer is also the most disturbing. Guillain Barre syndrome. It explains both the illness and the eerie non decomposition. There's always a kernel of truth in myth. If his body truly stayed intact for six days in the Babylonian heat, this is likely why. And that's utterly terrifying. The idea that someone could be alive, possibly aware and completely powerless to stop his own embalming is something I barely want to think about. And if we do somehow find out that this was definitively how he died, then it's my own fault that I absolutely had to know. As for his remains, I think it's more likely that mother Nature claimed them. An earthquake, rising waters, the slow accumulation of centuries of sediment. If the priesthood had hidden him in Alexandria, I feel like we would have found him by now. But it doesn't mean I'm not rooting for the people who will never stop looking. So what would it look like if someone like Alexander the Great died under mysterious circumstances today? I don't think we have to imagine it. I think we already know. Think back to June 2009 and the death of Michael Jackson, One of the most famous people to have ever lived. Gone. And at first, nobody knew exactly what happened. Even the 2009 version of social media was on fire. Reports came in so fast that it was impossible to separate fact from fiction. Was he dead? Still alive? Maybe it was a hoax. For months, the world worked through its collective shock. New generations discovered his music, while older ones took comfort in it. Cable news was wall to wall coverage. Social media was an endless stream of Michael Jackson content. Now multiply that by a thousand for 2026. The speculation would be constant and relentless reaction videos to theories, then reactions to the reactions. There would be entire podcasts dedicated to the most minute medical details, influencers, live stream from outside the palace and the true crime ecosystem. I think it might actually eat itself. Conspiracy theories would be given equal weight with verified facts. Common threads would devolve into personal attacks and somehow real world threats. I'm honestly not sure we could handle something like that today. Back in 323Bce, the world seems to have handled it with more grace. If that stargazer's diary is any indication, the king died. Clouds End quote People had their questions and beliefs, but they seemed more willing to accept that their leader, who was probably a God, had simply been called back to the heavens. Besides, they were too busy fighting over who'd be the next leader to obsess over the last one. Or maybe they still did. They just had fewer ways of telling us about it. Thanks so much for joining me for this episode of hidden history. I'm Dr. Huni Bhat. Join me next time as we explore another unbelievable story from the past. What do you think really killed Alexander the Great? Any burning theories of your own? Let me know in the comments and I might bring them up in a future episode. And be sure to subscribe on YouTube or rate, review and follow if you're listening on audio so we can keep building this community together. See you next week for another episode of Hidden History.