Close call in Tarsus

[Raymond]

Alexander entered Tarsus on 3 September 333, after a minor confrontation with Arsames at the Cilician Gates. He and his troops were exhausted following their forced march from the foothills of the Taurus. It is well known that the Cilician Plain during the late summer is horrid. It is said that Alexander to escape the heat jumped into the River Cydnus which runs through the city. This River was cooled from the melting mountain snows. He cramped up immediately upon entering the River. His squires dove in and pulled him out. For days he was struck with a severe fever. Philip of Acarnania, Alexanders physician since he was boy, was the only one willing to treat him(all others feared that he would die in their care). Philip prepared a dose of medicine, then, a note was brought to Alexander from Parmenio- warning him that Philip had been bribed by the Great King. Alexander gave this letter to Philip, and while Philip was reading the letter, Alex drank the medicine. A few days later Alexander made a full recovery. Peter Green, imposes a very interesting question. "One cannot help wondering how matters would have turned out-both for him and for Parmenio-had he heeded the old marshal's warning." Any comments on the relationship between Alex and Parmenio.

[marcus]

If, of course, the story is true. If it is, then there are really onlt two hypotheses that I can think of:- Parmenion had heard a rumour that Darius had tried to suborn Alexander, and wrote to him out of concern (in which case, fortunately, the rumour was false)- Parmenion figured that Philip was the only doctor capable of curing Alexander, and was trying to kill Alexander by preventing him from taking Philip's medicine (unlikely, I would have thought)But, if Alexander had heeded Parmenion and not taken the medicine, would he have died, or might another doctor have managed to cure him? All the bestMarcus

[karen]

Hi all:I think the only plausible explanation for everyone's behaviour in this story is that the letter was a fake, cooked up as soon as Alexander was ill by a spy in Persian employ, who hoped to kill or at least weaken him by convincing him not to take any medicine. But Alexander would have known Parmenion's style of writing and signature well enough to recognize the fake; he also would have realized that if Parmenion had such important information he'd deliver it in person. This would explain not only why Alexander was willing to drink the medicine, but why Parmenion never got into trouble for bearing false witness, and continued to be trusted until his son got caught not reporting a plot.I think Alexander gave the letter to Philip the doctor and quaffed at once as something of a prank, as well as a demonstration of trust. In my book I'm going to have Philip say, totally unfazed, "I don't care how horrible it tastes, you're not going to get out of taking it *that* easily." ;-)Love & peace,
Karen

[Tre]

The treatment of illness in ancient times was, simply put, about as dangerous as any illness. Alexander had an extreme reaction to the purge and was lucky that alone didn't kill him. Note Alexander instructs a doctor to be careful on how to purge Krateros. It is quite likely other doctors would not have attempted to treat him - if it was thought a patient would die, a doctor was obligated to "first, do no harm," and not intercede if nothing could be done. A good case has been made for the illness being falciparum malaria. As for why we have the story of Parmenion - it probably has more to do with giving an excuse for Philotas to fail to tell Alexander of the plot on his life because his father was not believed, than anything else.Regards,Tre

[agesilaos]

As I recall Arrian retails this as a logos, ie an interesting tale whose veracity he doubts and it comes just after Parmenion's letter about an intercepted Persian with a bribe for Alexander Lykestis to assasinate ATG. The story is clearly meant as a contrast with Parmenion being believed in the former case and not in the later as well as demonsrating Alexander's complete faith in Philip. I do not think it is historical, more likely an embellishment of the fact that Alexander fell ill and Philip cured him by an author following the anti-Parmenion line, though not Kallisthenes.