Turkey:The Top Ten

New York City

And now, for the post you've all been waiting for---Trip Top Ten Pearls--with a twist. Every day I'll post a pearl ( in descending order ) until I reach # 1. Stay tuned, dear readers.

Pearl # 10: Alexander The Great Rocks.

Consider this: By the age of 24, Alexander ruled not only the west but Asia Minor, and finally exotic Persia ( quite a lot of real estate in comparison to his Dad, Phillip, who only ruled little old Macedonia.) Before visiting Turkey and seeing the size of it, not to mention the mountainous, arid landscape, I couldn't fully appreciate his feat.

Prior to Alexander beginning his campaign against the Persians, he made a pilgrimage to Troy because of his special devotion to Athena. As an offering, he left his armor. In exchange, he replaced it with weapons that dated from the time of the Trojan War. Then, he anointed his body with oil, ran naked to the place where Achilles was buried, and, finally, put a wreath on his tomb. Got to love the guy's style.

By the way, he was almost certainly outnumbered by the Persians. In a famous battle near Anatakya ( Antioch on the Orontes ), the Persians had 100,000 troops versus Alexander's 35,000. At one point, he charged the Persian King, Darius, right into the center of the Persian army. Darius panicked and turned his chariot toward the hills according to the historians. When Alexander reached Darius' headquarters, he found Darius' wife, son, mother and sisters.Darius was long gone. The casualties for Alexander's troops? 300.

One of the secrets to his success? His top generals were boyhood friends from Macedonia who had grown up privileged just like him, and were very well educated Greek boys to men. They were known for their extraordinary loyalty and devotion to him. Nice to go into any battle with smart, loyal, devoted friends.

A final bit of trivia. He died on June 10, 323 B.C.E., at the age of 32. That was 2,329 years ago--yesterday.

Tomorrow Pearl #9..
M.C.