公元前323年春天，亚历山大大帝三十二岁。他已经打下了从希腊到印度的所有土地，从没输过一场仗。他带着大军回巴比伦——就是今天伊拉克境内那座古城。走到半路，一群巴比伦祭司骑马出来拦他：不要从西边进城，灾祸会来。亚历山大试着绕道，但沼泽挡住了去路。于是他直接从西门走了进去。此时距离他的死亡，只剩十一天。
0%
王冠与征服·2/6·1′
The place
Babylon
征服者之死
人类史上最强征服者的最后十一天，和一个两千三百年没有答案的谜
June 10 or 11, 323 BCE -- the death that shattered the ancient worldBabylon
故事寓意
“亚历山大征服了面前的每一个王国，唯一没有征服的，是他自己的身体。一个计划着走到天涯海角的人，最终连从床到门口的几步路都走不出去。他所有的军队，波斯的全部财富，埃及人所有的祈祷，都换不来他多活一秒。这不是说雄心壮志毫无意义——他三十二年的人生，比大多数文明几百年的成就还要多。这个故事真正告诉我们的是：你的身体不在乎你有多了不起。死亡来的时候，它不跟你谈条件。”
人物
A
Alexander the Great -- King of Macedon, conqueror of the Persian Empire, dead at thirty-twoM
Medius of Larissa -- the companion at whose drinking party Alexander's fatal illness beganH
Hephaestion -- Alexander's closest companion, whose death months earlier shattered the kingT
The Chaldean priests -- Babylonian astrologers who warned Alexander not to enter the cityP
Perdiccas -- general to whom Alexander may have given his signet ring来源
Arrian, Anabasis Alexandri, Book VII (primary account, based on Ptolemy and Aristobulus); Plutarch, Life of Alexander, 73-77; Diodorus Siculus, Bibliotheca Historica XVII.116-118; The Royal Diaries (Ephemerides) as preserved in Arrian and Plutarch; Hall, Katherine. 'Did Alexander the Great Die from Guillain-Barré Syndrome?,' The Ancient History Bulletin 32, 2018; Schep, Leo J. et al. 'Was the death of Alexander the Great due to poisoning? Was it Veratrum album?,' Clinical Toxicology 52, 2014; Oldach, David W. et al. 'A Mysterious Death,' New England Journal of Medicine 338, 1998; Bosworth, A.B. 'The Death of Alexander the Great: Rumour and Propaganda,' Classical Quarterly 21, 1971