Toxicologist Dr Leo Schep suggested Alexander's could have been poisoned by a wine made from the plant Veratrum album, known as white hellebore. This plant was known to the Ancient Greeks and it can produce prolonged poisoning symptoms that match the course of events as described in the Alexander Romance. This theory is backed by the writings of Ancient Greek historian, Diodorus, who had recorded Alexander becoming "stricken with pain after drinking a large bowl of wine."