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Gesta Romanorum
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General SummaryThe Gesta Romanorum, the most popular story book of the Middle Ages, is a Latin collection of short, pithy tales probably compiled toward the end of the thirteenth century. Perhaps the collection began as a series of narratives from Roman history, but, if so, it was soon enlarged with stories derived from Oriental and other sources. The work owes its name, Deeds of the Romans, to the fact that every narrative in the original compilation is assigned to some emperor who had or had not reigned in Rome. Nothing at all is known as to the authorship of the book; we are not even sure whether it originated in Germany, France, or England. These tales were intended to be used by preachers to enforce and enliven their sermons from the pulpit. Each story, accordingly, concluded with an "Application" or "Moral." It must be admitted that the author or authors often displayed considerable ingenuity in extracting moral lessons from stories of the most fanciful sort. The Gesta Romanorum has a certain literary interest as the source from which such writers as Chaucer, Shakespeare, and Schiller drew materials for their own compositions.
Chapter XL Medieval Tales1
197. Dead Alexander2
We read that at the death of Alexander a golden sepulcher was constructed, and that a number of philosophers assembled
around it. One said, "Yesterday, Alexander made a treasure of gold; to-day, gold makes a treasure of him." Another observed, "Yesterday, the whole world was not enough to satisfy his ambition; to-day, three or four ells of cloth are more than sufficient." A third said, "Yesterday, Alexander commanded the people; to-day, the people command him." Another said, "Yesterday, Alexander could enfranchise thousands; to-day, he cannot free himself from the bonds of death." Another remarked, "Yesterday, he pressed the earth; to-day, it oppresses him." "Yesterday," continued another, "all men feared Alexander; to-day, men consider him nothing." Another said, "Yesterday, Alexander had a multitude of friends; to-day, not one." Another said, "Yesterday, Alexander led on an army; to-day, that army bears him to the grave."
Application. — My beloved, anyone may be called Alexander who is rich and worldly minded; and to him may the observations of the philosophers be truly applied.
1 , translated by Charles Swan, revised by Wynnard Hooper. London, 1877. George Bell and Sons.
2Gesta Romanorum, No. 31.
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Chicago: Charles Swan, trans., "Dead Alexander," Gesta Romanorum in Readings in Early European History, ed. Webster, Hutton (Boston: Ginn and Company, 1926), 419. Original Sources, accessed April 26, 2024, http://www.originalsources.com/Document.aspx?DocID=6LTA51K2JN6PX8S.
MLA: . "Dead Alexander." Gesta Romanorum, translted by Charles Swan, in Readings in Early European History, edited by Webster, Hutton, Boston, Ginn and Company, 1926, page 419. Original Sources. 26 Apr. 2024. http://www.originalsources.com/Document.aspx?DocID=6LTA51K2JN6PX8S.
Harvard: (trans.), 'Dead Alexander' in Gesta Romanorum. cited in 1926, Readings in Early European History, ed. , Ginn and Company, Boston, pp.419. Original Sources, retrieved 26 April 2024, from http://www.originalsources.com/Document.aspx?DocID=6LTA51K2JN6PX8S.
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