Royal Diary

For the illness he draws on the Royal Diary: Alexander developed a persistent fever, continued to order preparations for an expedition, became unable to speak and was seen by soldiers before he died. In the next chapter (7.27), just outside the prescribed passages, Arrian records stories that he was poisoned, but does not regard them as credible. The passage illustrates a useful distinction between a narrated sequence of illness and later attempts to explain its cause.