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[4] When he made no reply whatsoever,1 Alexander referred the portent to the seers for interpretation and put the man to death in accordance with their judgment, hoping that the trouble which was forecast by his act might light upon the man's own head.2 He picked up the clothing and sacrificed to the gods who avert evil, but continued to be seriously troubled. He recalled the prediction of the Chaldaeans and was angry with the philosophers who had persuaded him to enter Babylon. He was impressed anew with the skill of the Chaldaeans and their insight, and generally railed at those who used specious reasoning to argue away the power of Fate.

1 Either because he was too frightened to speak, or because he did not speak Greek. Plutarch makes him claim to have been inspired by Serapis, but this did not save him from execution.

2 Plut. Alexander 74.1. Arrian. 7.24.3 reports only that he was tortured to make him explain his actions.

Diodorus Siculus. Diodorus of Sicily in Twelve Volumes with an English Translation by C. H. Oldfather. Vol. 4-8. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press; London: William Heinemann, Ltd. 1989.

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