| The Royal Diaries report the matter as follows. (1) Following the after-dinner drinking, Alexander drank on in Medius’ quarters, then got up, took a bath and went to sleep. | |
| (2) He then had dinner once more with Medius, and again drank far into the night. Leaving the drinking session, he took a bath and, after the bath, ate a little and slept where he was, because he was already suffering from a fever. | The following account of the illness is given in the Ephemerides. On the 18th of Daesius he slept in the bathhouse because of his fever. |
| He was, however, carried out on a litter to perform the usual sacrifices for the day, and after discharging them he lay down in the officers’ mess until dusk. At that point he gave his officers their instructions vis-à-vis their forthcoming march or sea voyage, ordering those going on foot to be ready in three days, and those who were sailing to be ready for the voyage in four. From the mess he was taken on his litter to the river where he boarded a boat and crossed the river to the garden. Here he again bathed and took a rest, | The next day (Daesius 19) he took a bath and went back to his bedroom, where he spent the day playing dice with Medius. Then, late in the day, he bathed again and sacrificed to the gods, after which he took a bite and spent the night in a fever. |
| and the following day (4) he bathed once more and performed the customary sacrifices. He then went to his bed where he lay down, chatting to Medius, and gave orders to his officers to come to him at dawn. After this, he ate little at dinner and was once more taken back to his bed where he remained in the grip of the fever all night long. | On the 20th he bathed once more, and made his usual sacrifice. He then made his bed in the bathhouse and spent his time with Nearchus and his officers, listening to an account of their sea voyage and the ocean. |
| The next day (5) he took another bath and performed the appointed sacrifices, and from the point of his discharging his religious duties the fever never let up. Even so, he called his officers to his side and instructed them to have everything prepared for the sea voyage. In the evening he took his bath, after which he was now in a sorry state.(6) | The 21st he passed in the same manner, but his temperature was higher. He had a bad night |
| The next day (7) he was moved to the building by the swimming pool, and he performed the appointed sacrifices. He was suffering badly, but he none the less called to him his highest-ranking officers and issued further instructions about the voyage. | and the following day (Daesius 22) his fever was extremely high. Removed from the bathhouse he then lay by the large swimming pool, conversing here with his generals, assessing personnel with a view to filling the vacant posts in the army command (23). |
| It was only with difficulty that he could be carried out to offer the sacrifices the following day, but he still gave his orders to the officers with regard to the voyage. | On the 24th his fever was again extremely high, and he was carried outside to perform the sacrifice. He gave orders for his highest-ranking officers to remain in the court, and for the taxiarchs and pentacosiarchs to spend the night outside. |
| The day after that (9) he again offered the prescribed sacrifices, despite his poor state of health, but he gave orders for the officers to remain in the court, and the chiliarchs and pentacosiarchs were to remain before the doors. By now (10) he was in a very bad way, and was taken from the garden to the palace. His officers came to see him, and though he recognized them he no longer spoke to them – he had lost the power of speech. He remained in a high fever throughout the night | He was then transported on the 25th to the palace on the other river bank and here he slept a little, but the fever did not subside. When his generals came to his side he was unable to speak, |
| and the following day (11), as well as the next night | and that remained the case on the 26th. |
| and the day (12) that followed. Such is the account in the Royal Diaries, where another detail is added, namely that the soldiers wished to see him. Some simply wanted to see him alive, but as there were already reports of his passing I imagine that others speculated that his death was being concealed by his bodyguards. But most were prompted to force their way in to see Alexander simply by feelings of grief and regret at losing the king. They say that he had no ability to speak as the army filed past, but that he welcomed them individually by raising his head and giving a sign of recognition with his eyes. |
As a result the Macedonian rank and file thought he was dead. They came to the doors shouting and uttering threats to the Companions until they had to give in to them. The doors were flung open for them, and they filed past his bed, one by one, wearing only their tunics. |
| The Royal Diaries add that Pithon, Attalus, Demophon and Peucestas, along with Cleomenes, Menidas and Seleucus, slept in the shrine of Serapis. They asked the deity if Alexander would be better off being carried into the god’s temple where he could supplicate the god and be tended by him, but a reply came back to the effect that he should not be carried to the shrine, that it would be better for him to remain where he was. | That day (27th), Python and Seleucus were sent to the temple of Sarapis to ask if they should bring Alexander there, but the god's reply was that they should leave him where he was. |
| The Companions reported this and shortly afterwards Alexander breathed his last, revealing this now to be the “better” thing. | On the 28th, towards evening, he died. 77. Most of the above account follows the Ephemerides word for word. There was no suspicion of poisoning in the immediate aftermath, but they say that five years later Olympias was given information which led to her putting many to death and scattering the remains of Iolas, now dead, alleging that he had poured the poison for Alexander. |