Original scientific paper
https://doi.org/10.31952/amha.18.2.1
THE TERMINAL APHONIA OF ALEXANDER THE GREAT, A SILENT HERALD OF AN ORDINARY DEATH
Ernesto Damiani
; Department of Biomedical Sciences, School of Medicine, University of Padova, Padova, Italy
Martina Elice
; Department of Historical and Geographic Sciences and the Ancient World, School of Human and Social Sciences and Cultural Heritage, University of Padova, Padova, Italy
Rita Peca Conti
; Retired Scholar
Abstract
Even though the absence of the body prevents sure conclusions, the death of Alexander the
Great remains a hot topic of retrospective diagnosis. Due to the serious mishandling of ancient
sources, the scientific literature had Alexander dying of every possible natural cause.
In previous works, the hypothesis that typhoid fever killed Alexander was proposed, based on
the presence of the remittent fever typical of this disease in the narrations of Plutarch and
Arrian. Here we provide additional evidence for the presence of stupor, the second distinctive
symptom of typhoid fever. In fact, based on the authority of Caelius Aurelianus and Galen,
we demonstrate that the word ἄφωνος, used to describe the last moments of Alexander, is a
technical word of the lexicon of the pathology of Hippocrates. Used by him, the word defines a
group of diseases sharing a serious depression of consciousness and motility. The association
of stupor with the remittent fever strengthens the typhoid fever hypothesis.
Keywords
Hrčak ID:
251589
URI
Publication date:
31.12.2020.
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