Alexander - The King is Down
"""Come now! Whoever of you has wounds, let him strip and show them, and I will show mine in turn; for there is no part of my body, in front at any rate, remaining free from wounds, nor is there any kind of weapon used either for close combat or for hurling at the enemy, the traces of which I do not bear on my person. ""
Alexander the Great
Leading from the front comes with consequences, and Alexander the Great took numerous injuries throughout his campaigns. He was wounded in the shoulder, head, thigh, and chest in as many different engagements. He took arrows through the leg, shoulder, and ankle. His worst injury came during the incident at the Mallian stronghold, while defending himself alone from the enemy onslaught within the walls. He was so dangerous in a direct fight that the Mallians took to shooting at him with their bows, and one found its mark. A large arrow pierced his chest on the left side, driving into the thoracic cavity and damaging his lung.
He fought on as long as he could, but eventually, loss of blood combined with the dizziness from a developing pneumothorax caused him to lose consciousness and collapse on his shield. The four men who had managed to scale the wall with him desperately defended their king, falling one by one to their own wounds. However, they managed to hold off the enemy just long enough for the Macedonians outside the walls, who were by now in frenzied fear for their beloved king, to claw their way over and through the walls. They cut the arrow out of Alexander’s chest, and amazingly he recovered.
On one occasion, a small group of men foraging away from the main body found a tiny dribble of water. They collected it in a helmet and eagerly took it to present to their king. Alexander, in what the historian Arrian calls one of his finest gestures, would not drink water that his men could not have. After thanking the group for their trouble in bringing it, he dumped it out, thereby significantly boosting the morale of his entire army.
Alexander the Great was a world-class leader with tremendous courage. He paid no heed to the dangers of the battlefield, so he was always in the front lines. However, his excessive courage put his life in danger.
Alexander said “But someone may say, that while you endured toil and fatigue, I have acquired these things as your leader, without myself sharing the toil and fatigue. But who is there of you who knows that he has endured greater toil for me than I have for him? Come now! Whoever of you has wounds, let him strip and show them, and I will show mine in turn; for there is no part of my body, in front at any rate, remaining free from wounds, nor is there any kind of weapon used either for close combat or for hurling at the enemy, the traces of which I do not bear on my person. For I have been wounded with the sword in close fight, I have been shot with arrows, and I have been struck with missiles projected from engines of war; and though oftentimes I have been hit with stones and bolts of wood for the sake of your lives, your glory, and your wealth, I am still leading you as conquerors over all the land and sea, all rivers, mountains, and plains”"