In May 323 BC Alexander of Macedon fell ill at Babylon, ten days later he was dead. Aged only 33 at the time of his death, Alexander had nonetheless shaken the pillars of the known world during the previous decade. In 334-33 this military genius from a small and unimpressive kingdom to the north west of Greece had raged like a wolf through the Persian Empire, conquering the lands of the Middle East, Egypt, Palestine, Syria, Turkey, Iraq and Iran, his armies penetrating into western Pakistan and the north-west frontier of India.Alexander saw it as his destiny to win everlasting glory by conquering everything in his path, to the ends of the earth. In this account, Paul Doherty analyses this outstanding figure who achieved so much so young. The conqueror appears an enigma, a man who wanted to be a god, a Greek who wanted to be Persian, a defender of liberty who spent most of his life taking away the liberties of others, and a compassionate friend and ruler who could yet ruthlessly wipe out an ancient city like Tyre and crucify 3,000 of its defenders.Against this backdrop Doherty examines the circumstances surrounding the young king's final hours, as he lay sweating beside a pool in the summer palace of the Persian kings. The traditional belief is that Alexander died of alcohol poisoning or was the victim of an acute bout of malaria. But were there other, more sinister factors involved? He had been warned not to enter Babylon: the holy man, Calanus of India, before he climbed on his own funeral pyre, had warned Alexander he would 'meet him in Babylon.' The great general had surrounded himself with outstanding captains of war. But did these aggressive, violent and ambitious men turn against their leader? They might have tired of Alexander's determination to march to the rim of the world, alienated by his increasingly despotic nature, as they watched so many of their colleagues die by accident or illness rather than in battle. Was it they who took the decision to bring this young god's life to an untimely end? Read Less