When presented with the possibility of dying immediately, the majority of people would likely become utterly terrified and follow instructions to prolong their lives.
This is why people dutifully dig their graves when a man with a gun is standing over them because deep down, they hope that everything will be okay.
We don’t condemn this, as we are scared shitless of death ourselves. But there are examples when people spit in the face of death and show that they are not afraid of it at all. They met their deaths with nobility and honor, which earned them eternal glory.
5 People who met their death with nobility and honor
1. Agis III
Agis III was the eldest son of Archidamus III and the 21st Eurypontid king of Sparta between 338 and 331 BC. He lived 100 years later than the famous Spartans and also died with honor. In 331, he revolted against the Macedonians and besieged the city of Megalopolis, which remained loyal to Macedonia.
However, the Macedonian commander, Antipater, gathered up to 40,000 men against the rebellious Greeks and engaged in battle against the Spartans.
Despite the numerical advantage, the rebels, commanded by Agis III, killed 3,500 Macedonians and lost 5,000 soldiers. Up to a quarter of all the full citizens of Sparta died in that battle.
Agis III took the hit on himself and fought to the very end, winning the battle. Realizing that loss was inevitable, he attempted to gain time for the injured to retreat. According to the historian Diodorus, the monarch engaged in valiant combat and only succumbed to several wounds after taking the lives of multiple enemy warriors.
2. Benjamin Guggenheim
In 1912, over 1,500 people lost their lives when the liner Titanic sank due to an iceberg collision on April 14. A businessman from America named Benjamin Guggenheim was also on board.
Benjamin Guggenheim assured his mistress that the ship would be repaired and they would see each other again shortly after the collision. However, it became evident that the ship was sinking, so he accompanied his mistress, French singer Leontine Aubard, and maid Emma Sogesser to the lifeboat.
However, Benjamin Guggenheim realized that the situation was much more severe than what could be remedied by repairs, so he returned to his cabin with his valet, Victor Guillot. They changed into dinner jackets and went to the central hall, where they leisurely sipped whisky and smoked cigars until the ship sank.
One survivor relayed Guggenheim’s last words, which sounded like, ‘If anything happens to me, tell my wife that I did my best in doing my duty.
3. Michelle Ney
The Emperor of France referred to Michel Ney, one of the most well-known marshals in Napoleon Bonaparte’s army, as the bravest of the brave.
Furthermore, the marshal never offered any grounds for questioning his bravery; therefore, he truly deserved these remarks. Ney lost five horses in the Battle of Waterloo in 1815 while fighting alongside Napoleon, but he kept finding new ones and led soldiers into combat despite his ragged clothing and blackened face from gunpowder cinders.
That was the moment when he said his well-known lines, “Watch how the Marshal of France dies!” Following the Napoleonic Wars, Michel Ney was apprehended and found guilty of high treason.
The court martial consisted of former marshal associates; no one dared convict Ney. The House of Peers then assumed the role of judge and issued a severe ruling that included the death penalty.
Michel Ney was sentenced to be shot, and he was not frightened by this judgment. On the contrary, with his last wish, he demanded that he be given command of his execution.
As Michelle Ney was given a death sentence, he refused to wear the blindfold as was customary. Instead, he asked to be given command over his execution.
Witnesses claim that he said to the firing squad, “Soldiers when I give the command to fire, shoot straight through my heart.” He then protested, saying, “I have fought a hundred battles for France and none against her,” before giving the order to fire. Michel Ney’s” bravery later led to the French erecting a statue of the marshal at the shooting scene.’
4. Sempronius Densus
One of the PraetoriNey’sard’s centurions in the first century was Sempronius Densus. He protected the emperor’s heir with his guards. Less than a year would be Emperor Servius Sulpicius Galba’s reign.
Due to his infertility, Galba adopted Lucemperor ’srnius Pison Frugi Licinianus, which infuriated his close companion Marcus Salvius Othon. The latter then decided to eliminate the emperor and become ruler of Rome himself.
On January 15, 69, a mob attacked Galba and Pison in the street. The crowd was joined by almost all the Praetorians, the emperor’s personal guard. Only one Sempronius Densus, whom Galba had appointed as Pizon’s personal bodyguard, did not defect to the enemy’s side and emperor’s retreat.
While his former associates tried to capture the emperor and his Pizon, Sempronius was undeterred and fought their enemy, allowing Pison to escape.
Sempronius fought off his opponents for several minutes before an enemy sword defeated him and fell in battle. This moment has been immortalized in Roman history as one of the noblest acts.
5. William Lewis Herndon
William Lewis Herndon, the captain of the steamship SS Central America, was caught in a three-day hurricane off Cape Hatteras in September 1857. Despite the captain and crew’s heroic efforts to withstand the weather, the ship started to sink.
This was caused by the steam boilers stopping up and a significant volume of water entering the ship. Crew, there were 15 tonnes of gold on board, in addition to 575 passengers. The ship was sinking fast, and the captain, instead of panicking, began to help the passengers get on board a brig of marines that had arrived to rescue them.
However, there was only enough room for 152 women and children. To one of the women, William Lewis Herndon gave his watch and asked her to give it to his wife, while he himself said he would not leave the ship as long as one person was left on it.
Unfortunately, the other ships were unable to reach the scene in time, causing the ship to sink and taking 423 men, including the captain, with it.
Those present stated that Captain William Lewis Herndon, dressed in full naval uniform at the helm, prayed in a low voice until the ship sank. In fact, his courage and morality moved the people of America so much that they named towns and erected a monument in his honor.
