Class : Angiosperms
Division : Monocots
Order : Liliales
Family : Melanthiaceae
Genus : Veratrum
Species : Veratrum album
Historians have long assumed Alexander the Great died from typhoid fever or malaria. But there might be a more sinister explanation: He could have been poisoned by the toxic wine of a little white flowered plant, Veratrum album, also known as white hellebore. Ingesting the plant causes fever, pain, vomiting, and paralysis, which Alexander was said to have suffered in the days leading up to his death at age 32 in Babylon.
Though the fermented plant would've tasted bitter, Schep says whoever poisoned him may have masked the flavor with sweeter grape wine. When Alexander died, his officers couldn't maintain unity throughout his Macedonian empire, the largest kingdom the world had known and it fell back to the nations he had conquered. Alexander was paralyzed in his last hours, according to the Greek author Arrian of Nicomedia.
If these scientists are right, it could mean the resolution of a mystery lasting two millennia. The symptoms described in ancient texts are consistent with poisoning by the alkaloids present in the Veratrum album. It was capable of killing Alexander with comparable symptoms to those Alexander reportedly experienced over the 12 days of his illness. The research paper appears in this month's issue of the journal Clinical Toxicology.
Link to Original Paper: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
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