Crown for the Admiral

Pasitigris River, 324 BC

After Alexander’s army marched through the brutal Gedrosian Desert (losing thousands of men), everyone feared that his admiral, Nearchus, and the fleet had been lost at sea. Months later, on the Pasitigris River (in modern Iraq), Nearchus suddenly appeared—his clothes caked with salt, his body thin as a skeleton from starvation and hardship. He had navigated unknown waters, fought storms, and kept his crew alive. When Alexander saw him, he broke down and wept. He embraced Nearchus and said, "You are worth more to me than all of Asia"—meaning that all the land he had conquered was worth less than this one loyal friend. Alexander placed a golden crown on Nearchus’s head, and the soldiers showered them both with ribbons. The fleet, which had explored the unknown seas from India to the Persian Gulf, sailed home in triumph. 

Moral: Loyalty outshines conquest.

Sham Misri