Any of you catch that channel 5 Brit production last night? Any thoughts? GA Hauser
http://www.authorga.com
ATG's Mysterious death revealed??
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Re: ATG's Mysterious death revealed??
I thought that the first part, - a 10-minute overview of Alexander's achievements & personality, was good. For this who didn't see the program, this section was presented by Robin Lane Fox & Barry Strauss of Cornell. After a eulogy on Alexander's exploits and brilliance, it set the scene for Alexander's death - showing the trauma inflicted by Hephaestion's death, the heavy drinking, the army's unhappiness at embarking on another desert campaign and their dissatisfaction with the orientalisation.
It ended with the question : why did Alexander die so early - was it alcohol, disease or murder ?The next part introduced the investigator, a retired high-ranking Scotland Yard detective, and it was at this stage that the program seemed to lose focus. He latched on to the tales of poisoning in the sources, overlooking the fact that Arrian mentioned them only to refute them. His experts identified white hellebore as the most likely poison, and they performed various simulations that would cause a death after 12 days, if the poison was administered several times in that period. Much was made of Iollas being able to add the poison to Alexander's wine. In the end the investigator concluded that it was likely that Alexander died of an accidental overdose - his physicians were treating him for stress & depression (after Hephaestion's death), he got a fever and wanted to be back on his feet for the Arabian expedition - so he took or was given too large a dose and died. This seemed rather contrived. I've only watched it once, so maybe there was something that I missed.I thought that it was certainly better than the magazine article had led me to expect, but I don't think that the case it made was very convincing. The actor looked quite like Alexander, though.RegardsSusan
It ended with the question : why did Alexander die so early - was it alcohol, disease or murder ?The next part introduced the investigator, a retired high-ranking Scotland Yard detective, and it was at this stage that the program seemed to lose focus. He latched on to the tales of poisoning in the sources, overlooking the fact that Arrian mentioned them only to refute them. His experts identified white hellebore as the most likely poison, and they performed various simulations that would cause a death after 12 days, if the poison was administered several times in that period. Much was made of Iollas being able to add the poison to Alexander's wine. In the end the investigator concluded that it was likely that Alexander died of an accidental overdose - his physicians were treating him for stress & depression (after Hephaestion's death), he got a fever and wanted to be back on his feet for the Arabian expedition - so he took or was given too large a dose and died. This seemed rather contrived. I've only watched it once, so maybe there was something that I missed.I thought that it was certainly better than the magazine article had led me to expect, but I don't think that the case it made was very convincing. The actor looked quite like Alexander, though.RegardsSusan
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Re: ATG's Mysterious death revealed??
Thanks, Susan.I had to get my sister to tape it for me, so I haven't seen it yet... but I look forward with bated breath to sitting down for a viewing.Marcus
Re: congrats with your book
Dear G.A. Hauser -Congrats with your book. Looks great! I think I will buy it pretty soon.Regards -Nick
Re: congrats with your book
Thanks, Nick! I hope you won't be disappointed.And I agree with Susan. They lost me the second half as well, and kept showing the same three clips over and over. (Especially the wine being poured!)
I liked the mosquito theory better!
But, the actor did appear a lot like him, even when they superimposed his face on the sculptures. Better than Oliver Stone's choice, eh, Susan?
I liked the mosquito theory better!
But, the actor did appear a lot like him, even when they superimposed his face on the sculptures. Better than Oliver Stone's choice, eh, Susan?
Synopsis of programme
I;ve written a synopsis of the TV programme for someone who couldn't see it - so I've posted it for others who can't yet see it
-------------------------------------------------The program started with a 10-minute overview of AlexanderGÇÖs life & personality. This was presented by Robin Lane Fox of New College, Oxford and Professor Barry Strauss of Cornell. It stresses AlexanderGÇÖs military genius GÇô highlighting the capture of the Sogdian Rock as an example. It also covered his brilliance at PR. After this eulogy, the program moved onto the darker side:- The history of blood-feuds & murder in Macedonia, PhilipGÇÖs assassination, the domineering nature of Olympias & the emulation of Achilles. - The Siwah revelations prompting AlexanderGÇÖs personality cult. - His destructive weakness for alcohol GÇô the burning of Persepolis, the murder of Cleitus.- His mental stability relied on Hephaestion, and the trauma of HephaestionGÇÖs death led to increased Orientalisation. Finally, the circumstances in June 323 are shown: the Arabian expedition being deeply unpopular with the Macedonian army, Alexander becoming violently ill at a banquet, and dying after 12 dayGÇÖs sickness. The programme asked the question: why did he die so early.. was it alcohol, disease or murder?
The investigator is John Grieve, a retired police commander from Scotland Yard GÇô ex head of the anti-terrorist division. For 35 years, he specialised in investigating lost, damaged or old scenes of crime, using fragmented evidence to solve complex crimes. His initial view was that Alexander was shortly to embark on another expedition of theft & violence when he died GÇô it was a suspicious death and the cast of suspects has never been resolved.Firstly he established the date of death, by reference to clay tablets in the British museum GÇô which gave it as June 11 323 BC. Next he reviewed the ancient sources, which he split into two groups: Those that mentioned a poison plot and Those that suggest a fever GÇô which he seemed to limit to the Royal diaries.
He used a virtual model of AlexanderGÇÖs body, in place of a post mortem. It showed the various wounds received throughout his career. The expert used was Robert Arnott, Expert in Ancient Medicine, Birmingham Medical School, UK. He talked about AlexanderGÇÖs body being riddled with wounds and possibly damaged by alcohol, and suggested that he might already be being treated for the effects of wounds and alcohol. The first natural cause
-------------------------------------------------The program started with a 10-minute overview of AlexanderGÇÖs life & personality. This was presented by Robin Lane Fox of New College, Oxford and Professor Barry Strauss of Cornell. It stresses AlexanderGÇÖs military genius GÇô highlighting the capture of the Sogdian Rock as an example. It also covered his brilliance at PR. After this eulogy, the program moved onto the darker side:- The history of blood-feuds & murder in Macedonia, PhilipGÇÖs assassination, the domineering nature of Olympias & the emulation of Achilles. - The Siwah revelations prompting AlexanderGÇÖs personality cult. - His destructive weakness for alcohol GÇô the burning of Persepolis, the murder of Cleitus.- His mental stability relied on Hephaestion, and the trauma of HephaestionGÇÖs death led to increased Orientalisation. Finally, the circumstances in June 323 are shown: the Arabian expedition being deeply unpopular with the Macedonian army, Alexander becoming violently ill at a banquet, and dying after 12 dayGÇÖs sickness. The programme asked the question: why did he die so early.. was it alcohol, disease or murder?
The investigator is John Grieve, a retired police commander from Scotland Yard GÇô ex head of the anti-terrorist division. For 35 years, he specialised in investigating lost, damaged or old scenes of crime, using fragmented evidence to solve complex crimes. His initial view was that Alexander was shortly to embark on another expedition of theft & violence when he died GÇô it was a suspicious death and the cast of suspects has never been resolved.Firstly he established the date of death, by reference to clay tablets in the British museum GÇô which gave it as June 11 323 BC. Next he reviewed the ancient sources, which he split into two groups: Those that mentioned a poison plot and Those that suggest a fever GÇô which he seemed to limit to the Royal diaries.
He used a virtual model of AlexanderGÇÖs body, in place of a post mortem. It showed the various wounds received throughout his career. The expert used was Robert Arnott, Expert in Ancient Medicine, Birmingham Medical School, UK. He talked about AlexanderGÇÖs body being riddled with wounds and possibly damaged by alcohol, and suggested that he might already be being treated for the effects of wounds and alcohol. The first natural cause
Re: Synopsis of programme (continued)
they looked at was malaria, in particular cerebral malaria, caught from the boating expedition GÇô but they decided that the symptoms didnGÇÖt match.
Next, Dr John Marr, an international Disease control expert, suggested that West Nile fever was the cause. The death of the birds on the entry to Babylon was not just an omen; it was a clue to a disease then prevalent. The symptoms were a high fever lasting for days, and a complication of encephalitis. They used the evidence that Alexander was paralysed in his lower body.
Then the programme stated that some historians have suggested that the fever story was fabricated 20 years later, to counter the murder accusations.
Poison & ConspiracyThe investigator moved onto the poisoning theory, looking for a conspiracy in Macedonia. The standard elements of the Antipater conspiracy theory were described, including the roles of Cassander, Iollas & Aristotle, and the subsequent deaths of Roxane & Alexander IV, although they neglected to mention that these happened 14 years later. The investigator said that he was deeply suspicious in the context of the murder of other members of AlexanderGÇÖs family by Cassander, and that the Macedonian royal family had a predisposition to murder. Moreover many other Macedonians had a motive for murder, due to dissatisfaction with the Susa marriages, the Arabian expedition, and simply increasing their chances of survival. The final banquet at MediusGÇÖ house was dramatised in some detail.
The next task was to identify the poison. The expert was Dr Leo Schep of the National Poisons Centre in New Zealand. He looked for poisons known to the ancient world which caused symptoms of: sharp pain after -+ hour, vomiting, difficulty in talking and increased weakness. Out of 25 such poisons, he discarded all but 2.
Strychnine, which had been previously suggested, caused different symptoms. He identified white hellebore as the most likely poison. Tests showed that it contained suitable toxins, and 1gram would be a fatal dose.
Looking at modern medical cases, there was a case of hellebore poisoning in the Korean War in the 1950s, where 14 soldiers were accidentally given it in vegetable soup. Within -+ hour symptoms appeared GÇô the most dangerous effect was the drastic slowing-down of their heart rate, and that they couldnGÇÖt respond to outside stimuli.The effects of hellebore were then tested, to see if it would fit the 12-day timescale, using a computer-controlled dummy simulation. Accordin
Next, Dr John Marr, an international Disease control expert, suggested that West Nile fever was the cause. The death of the birds on the entry to Babylon was not just an omen; it was a clue to a disease then prevalent. The symptoms were a high fever lasting for days, and a complication of encephalitis. They used the evidence that Alexander was paralysed in his lower body.
Then the programme stated that some historians have suggested that the fever story was fabricated 20 years later, to counter the murder accusations.
Poison & ConspiracyThe investigator moved onto the poisoning theory, looking for a conspiracy in Macedonia. The standard elements of the Antipater conspiracy theory were described, including the roles of Cassander, Iollas & Aristotle, and the subsequent deaths of Roxane & Alexander IV, although they neglected to mention that these happened 14 years later. The investigator said that he was deeply suspicious in the context of the murder of other members of AlexanderGÇÖs family by Cassander, and that the Macedonian royal family had a predisposition to murder. Moreover many other Macedonians had a motive for murder, due to dissatisfaction with the Susa marriages, the Arabian expedition, and simply increasing their chances of survival. The final banquet at MediusGÇÖ house was dramatised in some detail.
The next task was to identify the poison. The expert was Dr Leo Schep of the National Poisons Centre in New Zealand. He looked for poisons known to the ancient world which caused symptoms of: sharp pain after -+ hour, vomiting, difficulty in talking and increased weakness. Out of 25 such poisons, he discarded all but 2.
Strychnine, which had been previously suggested, caused different symptoms. He identified white hellebore as the most likely poison. Tests showed that it contained suitable toxins, and 1gram would be a fatal dose.
Looking at modern medical cases, there was a case of hellebore poisoning in the Korean War in the 1950s, where 14 soldiers were accidentally given it in vegetable soup. Within -+ hour symptoms appeared GÇô the most dangerous effect was the drastic slowing-down of their heart rate, and that they couldnGÇÖt respond to outside stimuli.The effects of hellebore were then tested, to see if it would fit the 12-day timescale, using a computer-controlled dummy simulation. Accordin
Re: Synopsis of programme (continued)
According to the program, the plot suggested that Alexander was given several doses:-+ The first dose at the banquet, causing a drop in heart-rate & blood-pressure-+ Later, the records say that he was given another dose, possibly on a feather when he was trying to vomit-+ The killer dose was given on the 12th day.Commander Grieve considered hellebore to be the likely cause, but had serious doubts about the poison plot; he doubted the role of Aristotle GÇô it would be GÇ£like killing his own sonGÇ¥, and thought that poison was not a favoured method for the Macedonians, who preferred a knife.AlexanderGÇÖs Medical careHe expressed surprise that no version gives details of AlexanderGÇÖs medical care, which appears at other times in his history. Hellebore was used as a purgative GÇô could he have taken it as a medicine because he was sick? He was already weakened by wounds, and suffering the effect of the loss of Hephaestion. The expert interviewed was Dr Harold Bursztajn, Forensic Psychiatrist, Harvard Medical School. It was suggested that he was poisoned as part of his medical treatment. The program examined the dosage used by ancient doctors and found that toxic doses were given as purgatives.ConclusionSo his conclusion was that Alexander died from a combination of his drive to succeed & a miscalculated dosage GÇô desperate to invade Arabia, he ordered the doctors to increase the dosage and accidentally overdosed.
Re: congrats with your book
Yes - he even had the bump above his eyebrows, and the blond hair didn't look out of place. You could imagine him being a natural leader.
I didn't think that Perdiccas or Hephaestion were quite right -Perdiccas had rather silly long hair, Hephaestion was just too effete ( I can't really think of another word for it), Cassander had long curly hair - it was a bit like an 80s glam-rock revival. Roxane wore the same shawl at her wedding in 327 and at Alexander's deathbed in 323 - rather a limited wardrobe. But, we'll be lucky if the films are better than this.Susan
I didn't think that Perdiccas or Hephaestion were quite right -Perdiccas had rather silly long hair, Hephaestion was just too effete ( I can't really think of another word for it), Cassander had long curly hair - it was a bit like an 80s glam-rock revival. Roxane wore the same shawl at her wedding in 327 and at Alexander's deathbed in 323 - rather a limited wardrobe. But, we'll be lucky if the films are better than this.Susan
Re: congrats with your book
I totally agree, Susan. The rest of the cast was pretty bad. Especially Hephaestion...yech. Oh well, ya can't have everything!