-

One of the world's greatest military generals, Alexander, King of Macedonia, created a vast empire that stretched from Macedonia to Egypt and from Greece to part of India. This allowed for Hellenistic culture to become widespread.

In fifteen years of fighting, Alexander the Great never lost a battle, conquering Greece, Illyria, Thrace, Danube Delta, Asia Minor, Syria, Phoenicia, Judea, Egypt, Mesopotamia, Babylonia, Persia, Sogdia, Bactria, Afghanistan, Taxila, India, Palestine, Israel, Jordan, Turkey.  Quite an impressive record for someone who died at age 33!

He died OTD in 323 BC.  I found this online:

Alexander, after conquering many kingdoms, was returning home. On the way, he fell ill and it took him to his death bed. With death staring him in his face, Alexander realized how his conquests, his great army, his sharp sword and all his wealth were of no consequence. He now longed to reach home to see his mother's face and bid her his last adieu. But, he had to accept the fact that his sinking health would not permit him to reach his distant homeland. So, the mighty conqueror lay prostrate and pale, helplessly waiting to breathe his last.

He called his generals and said, "I will depart from this world soon, I have three wishes, please carry them out without fail."

With tears flowing down their cheeks, the generals agreed to abide by their king's last wishes.

1) "My first desire is that", said Alexander, "My physicians alone must" carry my coffin."

2) After a pause, he continued, "Secondly, I desire that when my coffin is being carried to the grave, the path leading to the graveyard be strewn with gold, silver and precious stones which I have collected in my treasury".

3) The king felt exhausted after saying this. He took a minute's rest and continued. "My third and last wish is that both my hands be kept dangling out of my coffin".

The people who had gathered there wondered at the king's strange wishes. But no one dared bring the question to their lips.. Alexander's favorite general kissed his hand and pressed them to his heart.

"O king, we assure you that all your wishes will be fulfilled. But tell us why do you make such strange wishes?"

At this Alexander took a deep breath and said:"I would like the world to know of the three lessons I have just learnt. Lessons to be learnt from last 3 wishes of King Alexander...I want my physicians to carry my coffin because people should realize that no doctor on this earth can really cure any body. They are powerless and cannot save a person from the clutches of death. So let not people take life for granted.

The second wish of strewing gold, silver and other riches on the path to the graveyard is to tell People that not even a fraction of gold will come with me. I spent all my life Greed of Power, earning riches but cannot take anything with me. Let people realize that it is a sheer waste of time to chase wealth.

About my third wish of having my hands dangling out of the coffin, I wish people to know that I came empty handed into this world and empty handed I go out of this world".

With these words, the king closed his eyes. Soon he let death conquer him and breathed his last. . . .












Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

-
Image
 Was George Washington sterile? Today marks the 1731 birth of Martha Dandridge Custis Washington, our first "First Lady", although the term was not in use at the time.  She married for the first time at age 19 to Daniel Parke Custis who was almost 20 years her senior.  During their seven year marriage which ended with his death, Martha gave birth to four children, two survived to adulthood. Custis' death left Martha a very wealthy widow.  On her own she managed five plantations that were left to her, with 300 slaves and the equivalent of $4,000,000 in today's money.  And she apparently negotiated with her British factors in an able manner. Unlike the matronly, frumpish image we have of Lady Washington today, contemporary accounts demonstrate the 28 year old whom Washington (and others) courted to be attractive and lively.  Since early colonial days, in New England love was considered to be a necessary prerequisite for marriage.  Not so in Virginia wher...
Read more
-
Image
  At six o’clock in the evening on July 23, 1914, nearly one month after the assassination of Franz Ferdinand   and his wife by a young Serbian nationalist in Sarajevo, Bosnia, the ambassador of the Austro-Hungarian Empire to Serbia, delivered an ultimatum to the Serbian foreign ministry. Acting with the full support of its allies in Berlin, Austria-Hungary had determined in the aftermath of Franz Ferdinand’s assassination to pursue a hard-line policy towards Serbia. Their plan, developed in coordination with the German foreign office, was to force a military conflict that would, Vienna hoped, end quickly and decisively with a crushing Austrian victory before the rest of Europe—namely, Serbia’s powerful ally, Russia—had time to react. On receipt of the ultimatum, Serbia at once appealed to Russia, whose council of ministers met on July 24 to determine a course of action. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Sazonov voiced his belief that Germany was using the crisis over the archdu...
Read more
-
Image
  Professor Thaddeus Lowe was born August 20 in 1832. During the Civil War, Lowe became "Chief Aeronaut" for the U.S. Army after he ascended into the air above Washington to demonstrate for President Lincoln the usefulness of tethered observational balloons for map making, artillery spotting, and observing enemy movements. Lowe was just one of many accomplished balloonists to demonstrate the technology's usefulness, but by the end of the summer he took over the position from John Wise. Under Lowe, the Balloon Corps made over 3,000 ascensions and supported numerous campaigns. It disbanded in 1863 due to financial and personnel problems, but left its legacy as the first U.S. air force.
Read more