The Golden Carriage

Alexander's generals spent two years building a funeral carriage worthy of a god — a golden temple on wheels pulled by 64 mules, each wearing a gilded crown and a bell. Its vaulted roof glittered with jewels, and a crew of workmen went ahead to smooth the roads for it.

The whole structure was less a hearse than a moving monument. Ancient writers describe crowds gathering along the route just to watch it pass, a spectacle the like of which the ancient world had never seen.