Death of Alexander the Great

In June 323 BC, Alexander the Great died in Babylon, in the palace of the former Babylonian king Nebuchadnezzar, at just 32 years old. He had returned from India and was planning new campaigns, including an invasion of Arabia. After a night of heavy drinking at a banquet, he fell ill with a fever that grew steadily worse over about twelve days until he could no longer speak. The cause of his death has been debated ever since. Ancient rumors claimed he was poisoned, possibly by the family of his general Antipater. Modern suggestions include malaria, typhoid fever, liver failure from alcohol, or complications from his many wounds. According to one famous story, when asked on his deathbed to whom he left his empire, Alexander replied, to the strongest. He left no adult heir. His wife Roxana was pregnant, and his half-brother Philip Arrhidaeus was considered unfit to rule. His death plunged his vast empire into decades of conflict among his generals and marked the beginning of what historians call the Hellenistic Age.