The seminal ancient account of Alexander’s death occurs in the work of the Sicilian Greek historian Diodorus. Diodorus relates that, although soothsayers were instructing Alexander to perform grand sacrifices, he was distracted by his retinue of official “Friends,” an inner circle of trusted lieutenants, and joined a carousal in honor of his ancestor Heracles. Although the Greeks normally diluted their wine with water, that night Alexander drank it undiluted, and (as often) in far too great a quantity.
