Brandmeir Nicholas, Payne Russell, Rizk Elias, Tubbs R Shane, Arsuaga Juan Luis, Bartsiokas Antonis
Department of Neurosurgery, West Virginia University School of Medicine/Ruby Memorial Hospital.
Department of Neurosurgery, Penn State Milton S. Hershey Medical Center, Hershey, USA.
Cureus. 2018 Apr 18;10(4):e2501. doi: 10.7759/cureus.2501.
Objective King Philip II, the father of Alexander the Great, suffered a penetrating wound to the leg from a spear that left him severely handicapped. His skeletal remains represent the first and only case of an injury from ancient Greece that can be directly compared to its historical record. The objective of the study was to confirm the identity of the male occupant of Royal Tomb I in Vergina, Greece as Philip II of Macedonia by providing new evidence based on anatomical dissection and correlation with the historical description of the wounds. Methods Radiographs and photographs of the leg in Royal Tomb I in Vergina were examined. Anatomical dissection of a cadaver with a reconstructed wound similar to Philip's was also completed to identify associated soft-tissue injuries. Results The left leg was penetrated by an object at the knee which resulted in joint diastasis, external rotation of the tibia, knee ankylosis, and formation of a granuloma around the related object. This caused massive trauma to the joint but spared the popliteal artery. This resulted in ligamentous injury as well as injury to the peroneal nerve and probably the tibial nerve, resulting in a complete palsy of those nerves. Conclusion This evidence exactly matches the historical sources and shows conclusively that the leg and Tomb I belong to Philip II. The anatomic and archaeologic evidence also serve as independent verification of some of the historical record of that period, better enabling scholars to judge the reliability of various texts. Furthermore, it gives invaluable information about surgical practices in ancient Greece according to Hippocratic methods and their outcomes. Finally, this sheds new light on the occupants of Royal Tomb II including the fact that the armor recovered there may have belonged to Alexander the Great.
目的 亚历山大大帝的父亲腓力二世腿部被长矛刺伤，造成贯通伤，导致他严重残疾。他的骨骼遗骸是古希腊唯一一例可直接与其历史记录相比较的损伤案例。本研究的目的是通过基于解剖学剖析并与伤口的历史描述进行关联，提供新的证据，以确认希腊韦尔吉纳一号皇家陵墓男性墓主的身份为马其顿的腓力二世。方法 对希腊韦尔吉纳一号皇家陵墓中腿部的X光片和照片进行检查。还对一具伤口重建后与腓力伤口相似的尸体进行了解剖，以确定相关的软组织损伤。结果 左腿在膝盖处被物体穿透，导致关节分离、胫骨外旋、膝关节强直以及在相关物体周围形成肉芽肿。这对关节造成了巨大创伤，但腘动脉未受损伤。这导致了韧带损伤以及腓总神经可能还有胫神经的损伤，致使这些神经完全麻痹。结论 这一证据与历史资料完全相符，确凿地表明这条腿和一号陵墓属于腓力二世。解剖学和考古学证据也对那个时期的一些历史记录起到了独立验证作用，使学者们能更好地判断各种文献的可靠性。此外，它还提供了有关古希腊希波克拉底方法的外科手术实践及其结果的宝贵信息。最后，这为二号皇家陵墓的墓主身份带来了新的线索，包括在那里发现的盔甲可能属于亚历山大大帝这一事实。
