Bigger than life, at the zenith of their abilities, their greatness was their undoing. And if their downfalls smack of conspiracy then so much the better. Alexander the Great was as big as the best of them. By the time of his death in 323 BC, there was scarcely an acre of the ancient world he didn't rule. And at the tender age of 32, his demise had all the hallmarks of a textbook conspiracy.
Most historical accounts assume the Greek leader was poisoned.
People have often suspected a conspiracy when a famous young person dies unexpectedly. Yet in a study entitled 'A Mysterious Death', published in the June issue of the New England Journal of Medicine, Borza and physicians at the University of Maryland Medical Centre are challenging that theory. It was no human enemy that killed Alexander, they say, but a tiny intestinal bug. The military genius was a victim of typhoid. That conclusion is based on careful detective work involving available historical records and modern medical expertise.