Many have speculated as to the causes of Alexander’s death. Was it malaria, poisoning or perhaps just physical and emotional exhaustion? Whatever the case may be, the histories agree that Alexander began to suffer a fever which he couldn’t shake, after which he died towards evening on the tenth of June, 323 B.C.
“Most of this account follows the version that is given in the journals almost word for word. Nobody had any suspicion at the time that Alexander had been poisoned, but it is said that five years afterwards some information was given, on the strength of which Olympias put many men to death.”
Plutarch
As ancient evidence stands, it seems probable that the immediate cause of Alexander’s death was as a result of a bout with malaria which claimed his life after so many years of hardship and physical exhaustion.
Michael Wood declares:
“There are other possibilities: pleurisy, inflamed by the wound he received at Multan; typhus, helped by alcohol abuse; excessive grief even. All or any could have fatally undermined his immune system. But, as always, we interpret evidence to suit the concerns of our own time.”[1]
According to the prophetic Scriptures, Alexander’s death was inevitable; for after God had removed the supernatural anointing, which alone animated Alexander’s accomplishments, there was no alternative but for the king to die as he had lived, shrouded in mystery.
The following points seem significant:
The immediate cause of Alexander’s death came, no doubt, as a result of a bout with malaria which he could not resist in a now exhausted condition.
Alexander’s death was preceded by his own inner realization that the favor of God, which he had known since his youth had now sadly lifted from his life.