[The following is in regards to the death of Alexander the Great, of a mysterious illness.]
By the evening of 6 June he was almost past speech, and gave his ring to Perdiccas, as senior marshal, so that routine administration would continue to function smoothly. At this, not altogether surprisingly, a rumour spread through the camp that he was in fact dead. His Macedonian troops crowded round the palace, threatening to break down the doors if they were not let in to see him. Finally a second entrance was knocked through his bedroom wall, and an endless file of veterans passed slowly through to take their leave of him. Sometimes he would painfully raise his head a little; more often he could do no more than move his eyes in token of greeting and recognition.
During the night of 9-10 June a group of his officers kept vigil on his behalf in the nearby temple of ‘Sarapis’ (probably in fact that of Bel-Marduk). But when they asked the god if it would help Alexander to be moved into the shrine, the oracular response came that it would be better for him if he stayed where he was.
At this the king’s friends, gathered round his bedside, asked him – it was, after all, a vital question – to whom he bequeathed his kingdom. Weakly Alexander whispered: ‘To the strongest.’
His last, all too prophetic words were: ‘I foresee a great funeral contest over me.’
Early in the morning of 10 June 323 B.C., his eyes closed forever.
Source:
Green, Peter. “How Many Miles to Babylon?” Alexander of Macedon: 356-323 B.C.: A Historical Biography. Univ. of California Press, 2005. 474-75. Print.
Further Reading:
Alexander III of Macedon / Ἀλέξανδρος ὁ Μέγας (Alexander the Great)
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